It's midterm season! What a perfect time to update!
I went through all my chapters and noticed all the typos! This is embarrassing.
Well, I've decided to go in a completely new direction with this story. Thankfully the story has been vague enough for me to do this without much trouble. I hope you like where it ends up. I'm afraid I will change it again later so I need to get this story out out before I change my mind! On the plus side I can finally fix Chapter 10 like I had been meaning to for months now.
Anyways here's what I got so far.
I felt really nauseous as we entered the city. I must have been much more nervous than I thought. Of course the first thin Gourry wanted to do was eat. He scoped out the first restaurant and immediately ordered several dishes.
"And for you miss?" the waiter asked me. I'm glad he didn't think I was going to partake in Gourry's feast.
"My stomach is upset. Can you bring me anything for that?"
"I'll see what I can do."
"You're not hungry?" Gourry asked me almost confused. I thought he'd be used to that by now.
"No…"
"You haven't been eating much lately." It was just a statement but very true.
"No, not even for me. I must be nervous."
"I hope that's it. Don't make me worry." He was half teasing but I wasn't going to let him get away with that talk.
"Well," I blurted out, "don't worry then!"
Our food (or rather Gourry's food) arrived soon after that. The waiter handed me a glass of wine. "I hope this helps miss."
"Yeah, me too." I went to take a drink when Gourry stepped in.
"Maybe you shouldn't."
"Gourry, I don't feel well…"
"This won't make you feel better." I had no idea where this was coming from but I was getting really annoyed.
"Yeah, well, maybe it will!"
"Trust me Lina, you don't handle your wine well." Oh from there.
Anger swelled up inside of me. "I'm NOT Lina!"
He stopped. I guess he didn't realize he called me that. It was a hollow victory but I took a few sips and it didn't help. I gave up. I looked over at Gourry and as soon as I did Gourry continued eating. Like I wouldn't notice that.
Suddenly a man in ridiculously fancy clothes walked into the restaurant. I watched as he looked around and his eyes eventually settle on our table. I stared him down as he walked towards us for no good reason other than boredom. I hoped he would be intimidated but he wasn't. Dammit.
"Gourry Gabriev?"
"Hmm?" his mouth was full so that was the best this guy was going to get.
"I have a letter for you."
"Oh!" he grabbed it and read it. The courier just stayed there watching. Why wasn't he leaving?
"Ok!" Gourry told the courier and then kept eating. The courier stayed in his spot.
"Are you going to stay here?" It was a valid question.
"Why, yes, I will be your escort."
"Escort?!" I yelled out. What was going on? I was confused and also not really excited to be seen with this loser in public.
"Yes to the castle, miss." Not the response I was expecting.
"Castle?!"
Gourry finished chewing, "Yeah, Ella. Sylphiel is currently studying with the palace healers, helping around stuff so we're going to see her there."
"And you couldn't tell me this before?!"
"It didn't seem important." I don't get his logic.
"If I didn't know you were like this I'd think that you did that on purpose." It somehow came out like a threat. I sat back down and tried to calm myself down. I was nervous before I knew we were going to the palace but now. I needed more wine.
"So do we walk or do we get a fancy carriage?" I sarcastically asked the courier.
"Just walking, it's not far." Gourry answered for him.
"Right." I finished off my wine. It seemed appropriate at a time like this.
Gourry seemed to know his way without the escort. I didn't really know why we had him to begin with.
We arrived at the palace gates and were let in through a majestic gate. We were walking through the gardens when we heard a voice calling.
"Gourry-sama!"
We turned around and saw a girl with long black hair running towards us.
"Sylphiel!" She hugged him.
"Oh Gourry-sama I'm so glad you've arrived." Gourry's popular with the ladies I see.
"It's good to see you Sylphiel."
I felt like the odd man out so I just stared with my arms crossed waiting for some acknowledgement. When that didn't come fast enough I started tapping my foot. That stupid escort left so I had nothing better to do while these two caught up.
"Oh yeah!" he finally remembered me. "This is Ella."
She turned to me, "Oh!" Did she just notice me? She then stared at me something heavy almost as if she were analyzing me. She eventually settled on me eyes and just stared back at me for the longest time.
"Is something wrong?" I half sarcastically asked her. If she really was Gourry's healer friend then maybe she noticed something. Oh no I was beginning to worry.
"Oh, nothing," She waved her hands for emphasis. "Come, let's get you settled in."
"Settled in?"
"Oh yes, in your rooms." She answered as if it were nothing! As if she did not just say that we were going to be staying within the grounds of the palace!
"What?! We're staying here?!" I turned to Gourry. "Gourry! What kind of connections do you have?!"
"Huh?" Typical response.
"Please calm down Miss Ella!" Sylphiel pleaded. "You'll attract attention."
"Sorry, I'm just... this is a lot to take in, and I don't feel well." I really didn't and to be honest, two weeks of travelling and sparing practice really did a number on me.
"She's been nauseous all morning." Gourry told her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sure there is some remedy in the healer's chambers." Sylphiel told us. "Let's go there first."
We went to the healer's temple. It seemed a bit unnecessary for a bit of nausea and exhaustion but I was hoping on getting checked out by them anyways. I sat on a bed while the preliminary questions were asked. When they were answered (all practically the same) I looked over to where Gourry was seated.
"Aren't they going to check you out too?" I asked.
"I'm not the one with amnesia." Is that why this was taking so long?
"Can you fix that?" I asked the person writing down my answers.
"In some cases, yes." That gave me hope.
"Am I one of those cases?" Hope! Hope! Hope!
"We'll see." The healer responded as she walked into the room. She sat down next to me, "So you are having trouble remembering who you are."
"Yeah, that's amnesia for you."
"And I see that you have white magic capabilities."
"Yeah…" I hadn't mentioned that yet. "I mean I can heal I guess. That's about it tho. How did you—?"
"The young man you were travelling with informed us."
"Oh." When did he have time for that? Wait his letter!
"Have you had any training on that matter?"
"Not that I'm aware of." Can't I just answer amnesia for everything? I thought the questions were done with.
"Well I'm sure we can take care of your nausea and your exhaustion by you taking a quick nap." And then she added, "This will be convenient for the next part."
"How?"
"To run some tests on your amnesia we need you unconscious." She responded as she waved her hand and everything went black.
"Was that really necessary?!" I shouted as I shot out of the bed. I guess I learned why I was on a bed to begin with.
"Sadly, yes." The person who took down my preliminary questions answered. "You were nervous already and couldn't have that interfering with the tests."
I looked around the room. It was just the two of us in there.
"So, where did Gourry and the healer go?"
"They're in the hallway."
I ran and opened the door. Sure enough there they were. They were talking and stopped when they saw me open the door.
"Obviously I'm not happy."I crossed my arms at stared at them mostly at the healer. "This can be changed based on what you say next."
"I'm sorry Miss Arella but it works better when you don't know." Some excuse.
"Well, good luck doing that again." And then I realized that I was talking to a full-fledged royal healer. "Not that it is necessary or anything! So any news?"
"Well," awkward pause, not good, "we didn't find anything wrong. No signs of past head trauma and your brain seems fine."
I unconsciously touched my head as she spoke. "So, there's no explanation?"
"We only checked for anything we could cure. I'm sad to say that your amnesia was not caused in the usual manner. It is not something we can pinpoint. Medically speaking everything is there. You're memories are there you just need to connect them." She sighed, "Do you know if there could be any traumatic events you are trying to hide?"
I looked down. "Gorin just found me on a dirt road in the rain with a fever."
"Your father?" She asked.
"I guess. I never called him father before…Well this was a big disappointment." Then it hit me, "Wait! Did you figure out why I can use white magic?"
"You just can. A lot of people have a latent ability."
"How anti-climactic." I sighed.
"Now we didn't give you a thorough look through but if you are still feeling badly we can do so."
"No, I actually feel better." It was the truth. "I guess I just needed a little rest."
"Very well then. Seeing as how you are well you are free to go."
"Yeah, Ella. Sylphiel is waiting to take us to dinner." Gourry chimed in.
"Dinner! How long was I out for?!" I turned and looked for the healer but she was gone.
"Just a few hours. She said you needed rest."
I couldn't deny that. "Alright. Let's go to dinner."
We walked down the stairs and saw Sylphiel there waiting for us. She ran over to me.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah, other than the amnesia it was nothing serious. I can stomach a meal now for sure though." I was finally hungry.
"Oh, so, you don't remember…?" she asked with genuine concern.
"Anything else?" I finished. "No."
She looked really disappointed.
I started to stammer. "You really empathize with people you've never met before don't you? I'm fine!"
She took in a breath and finally said, "I am trained to heal. It saddens me when nothing can be done."
"Well, don't worry. Even if I never get it back I must admit that I am happy with the way things are going."
Then she started to cry! She hugged me and sobbed into my shoulder. I looked at Gourry for any help.
"I don't know what to do here." I told him.
He pulled her off of me and whispered something to her ear. She straightened up and started leading us to the dining hall. I was still getting used to being within the palace walls. I was just staring in awe when I realized that we had walked into the main building. I grabbed Gourry's arm. This was new for me.
We reached the dining hall and walked in. I did not think that it would be full of people. We seemed to have been late because everyone was already eating. They stared at us as we walked around the table to our seats. I tried not to stare back but a girl can only do so much. At the end of the table there was a huge monster of a man who was also staring back at me. He whispered something to the young girl next to him. I must have stopped because I felt Gourry tug me and we kept going until we were seated right next to those two. I was seated right next to the girl.
"Gourry," I whispered. "Who are these people?"
"That's Amelia and that's her father Prince Phil." He whispered back.
"PRINCE!" I shouldn't have yelled that but I did. Now everyone was really staring at me.
"Ella," he hushed me cautiously.
"No! I mean why are we seated so close?!"
"Because we insisted upon it. Gourry is a brave warrior and a friend to my daughter and Sylphial is a great healer." Phil answered for me.
"Then perhaps I should be seated somewhere else. I don't exactly fit those parameters." I looked down as I spoke.
"Nonsense. You are welcome here young lady." And with that Prince Phil let out a hearty laugh. That calmed me down a bit.
"How are you feeling," Amelia asked me with concern. I wasn't sure what she knew.
"Surprisingly hungry." I admitted.
"Not really," Gourry added, "She hasn't been eating much lately."
"Well compared to you!" Everyone laughed. Everyone present must know about his eating habits.
Our plates were brought out and placed before us. I dug in. The food was really great, I shouldn't have expected any less. Gourry was through at his usually fast pace. I guess setting doesn't really matter to him. I finished rather quickly as well. I actually went for a second plate. When it was brought to me I noticed Amelia watching me. She was smiling.
"Is everything ok, Princess Amelia?" Her face dropped.
"Yes… everything is fine… I'm sorry I didn't quite catch your name."
"Oh, it's Arella, but I go by Ella." I answered.
She looked me in the eyes for a while. When she realized what she was doing she stopped and continued eating. I was half way through my second plate when she started talking again.
"Are you only going to have two plates?"
"Most likely. I was just hungrier than normal because I wasn't feeling well enough to eat I the morning but I'm better now."
"I see. So two plates at dinner is unusual for you?"
"Well, I've never really finished a second one. Back home my Jana used to bug me for wanting seconds but I never finished them so she shouldn't have been too mad." I chuckled. I was thinking about home for some reason. "Wow, I'm actually thinking about it as home."
I looked up and saw everyone one, Sylphiel and Gourry included, staring at me. I seriously had enough of that.
"Sorry, I think I'm getting homesick. I guess I miss my parents."
"You never willingly called them your parents before." Gourry pointed out.
"That's true. Maybe I'm just bummed after that not so helpful diagnosis." I looked back down at my food. "Can you please stop staring at me."
Everyone realized what they were doing at got back to their meals. I was no longer hungry so I just sat there staring at my meal. I felt a tugging at my arm and looked to see it was Amelia.
"Dinner is over Miss Ella." It was then that I realized that the room was empty. "If you would like I can show you around the palace and to your room."
"Right. I keep forgetting we're going to stay here. If it's not too much trouble."
"No, none at all. Let's go." She grabbed my hand and led me out of the dining hall into the rest of the palace that I could finally get a good look at.
Ending the chapter here because that's all I rewrote for now. I hope it's satisfactory. I'll try to get the rest up sooner but I don't like seeing my name on the top of the update list. I know... I'm weird. I guess the other authors should post more so that i can do so too... no? ok. I'll try but like I said it's midterm season.