Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Gypsy Moon ❯ Chapter 11: Full Moon Magic ( Chapter 11 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Queen Mab 
The moon is full and the magic of Queen Mab is revealed. In the mean time, Lestophel makes certain plans.
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.25.2002 | Pages: 7 | Words: 8.8K | Visits: 221 | Status: Work In Progress
The moon is full and the magic of Queen Mab is revealed. In the mean time, Lestophel makes certain plans.
Anime/Manga: Slayers Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Adventure | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 12.25.2002 | Pages: 7 | Words: 8.8K | Visits: 221 | Status: Work In Progress
Gypsy Moon
"O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep;"
-Romeo and Juliet, Act i 11: Full Moon MagicAmelia took her first step outside she had already expected music to be playing, and it was. Amelia picked up steady beat of drums and a whistling flute that went on its own pace. A tambourine and a different pipe joined the two sounds. The Princess dashed over to the fire where she saw her welcoming scene.
Lina and Gourry pulled the meat off of ribs while they grabbed for other foods that were on different plates. Aksin had set up his food to cook around the large fire and tapped his foot to the beat of the music as he turned the meats. Tybolt held a drum between his legs while he played the top with swishing hand movements. Dadan was playing an instrument that Amelia had only seen snake charmers play. He lifted the pipe up and down changing the tone while Ida moved her fingers across a cittern.
As for the flute that Amelia had heard, she saw Sasheem playing it. The Gypsy spun around the fire enough to make Amelia dizzy. He swishing moves and tapping feet were in unison with the note that she poured out from the flute.
Amelia watched the Gypsy's elegant moves. When she spun, she reminded Amelia of the wind. Her skirt seemed to flap in a breeze and her sashes trailed behind her trying to keep up with her moves. She blew through flickering sparks from the fire that shimmered around her. Amelia kept thinking that Sasheem would dance her way right into the fire, but each time the Gypsy came close she would turn on her foot.
The more Amelia watched, the more she felt the itch to run in next to the Gypsy and move to the beating of the drum and spin to the tunes from the flute. Melendil sat on a log with her mug of Ale by her feet and her hands clapping to music as it picked up pace. Xellos had decided to sit by Zelgadiss and cheer Sasheem on dancing, mainly to bug the Chimera and not let him eat in peace.
Amelia found herself standing by the end of a log and still watching the performance. Aksin lifted his head and motioned with his hand for Amelia to come over. Before Amelia took her first step, Sasheem quickly spun in front of her and did a fancy bow before she continued dancing around the fire and out of Amelia's way.
Amelia smiled and started to walk again till she was stopped in her path once more, and this time by Aksin. The young man bent down and put a plate of food in Amelia's hands. Amelia took the plate in and shifted her eyes to look up at Aksin. "Thank you!"
Before Aksin could answer, Sasheem came by again and whispered into the man's ear. "Steaks burning." With her final words, she lifted her flute to her mouth and trotted off around the fire.
Aksin's eyes widened. "Gotta' go," he snapped, and ran back to the steak that was leaning by the fire.
Amelia blinked and looked down at the plate that was put in her hands. She could tell it had just been taken off from the heat that steamed through the bottom. She hastily made her way to sit down and put the plate on her lap. With that out of the way, Amelia realized she was going to have some trouble eating. No fork and no knife. She looked up past the fire and saw everyone else picking up their food from the stick it had been cooking on.
"You gonna' eat that?" Amelia nearly fell over from the surprising voice that had caught her off guard.
She looked in front of her and saw Lina drooling over her plate. "Yes I am!" Amelia growled. She picked up her food and began to rip the meat off of the stick.
"Damn!" Lina marched over to Aksin and kneeled down to watch him cook. "Is it done yet?"
Aksin turned his head and looked at Lina. "No."
"Now?"
"No."
"Now?!"
"NO!"
The Princess sighed as she watched Lina argue her way to food. She took a glance to her left and watched Zelgadiss for a minute. He had on his usual poker face and watched Sasheem dance across the sand. Amelia slowly pulled at her food with her teeth and went back to watching Sasheem dance.
Xellos rested on his hand and grinned at Zelgadiss. At first the Chimera didn't notice this, but soon he turned and saw Xellos grinning in his usual way that Zelgadiss could only think meant trouble. "What is it, Xellos?"
"Oh nothing really," Xellos chirped.
Zelgadiss turned his gaze away from the Mazoku. "Well it has to be something because you won't stop looking at me! And if it is nothing, then I'm going to rip your eyes out!"
"What a horrible temper for such a nice night," said Xellos. "And I thought you might be in a good mood, too."
'Oh boy, this is going to be a long night,' Zelgadiss thought.
"Oh, I think I may have an idea on what might cheer you up!" Xellos chirped.
"How about you go away? I think that may work," Zelgadiss suggested with every ounce of sarcasm.
Xellos opened one of his violet eyes and put his finger up to his lip. "I think I have a better idea," he smirked.
"Oooh, I don't know, Xellos," said Zelgadiss. "Having you go away forever is rather tempting."
"More tempting then dancing with the Princess?" Xellos questioned.
Zelgadiss froze and narrowed his eyes. He glared at the grinning Mazoku and snapped the stick that held his food.
"Oh my, did I hit a weak point?" Xellos chimed.
'I will stay calm. I will not kill.' Zelgadiss told himself. Now the Chimera knew he needed Xellos gone. As Zelgadiss pondered a way to get Xellos out of his way, the Mazoku continued his speech.
"You did appear to be having a good time when she pulled you out to dance at that first dinner we were at."
'That idiot was watching us?' Zelgadiss mused.
"You were a very slick dancer that night, Zelgadiss. The way you tilted her back in you arms and-"got up from his seat. "Sasheem!"
Amelia turned from eating and watched Zelgadiss call out to the Gypsy. 'What's he doing?' she thought.
The Gypsy stopped her dancing and looked over at Zelgadiss from the other side of the fire. Zelgadiss grabbed Xellos by his collar and yanked him up from the log. "Xellos wants to dance with you!" he yelled.of the Mazoku's eyes flew open and his grin faded. "What?"
Lina finished swallowing her food. "Well that's different."
Sasheem's mouth curled. She strapped her flute on her hip and walked over to Zelgadiss and Xellos. The Mazoku moved his eyes over to look at the Gypsy staring him in his face. Zelgadiss pushed Xellos over to Sasheem. The Mazoku tripped and regained his balance in front of the Gypsy. "Well this is a pleasant surprise," Sasheem said in a blunt matter. She smiled and took Xellos's hand.
The Mazoku gave a quick turn to a now sneering chimera. "You win this round," he hissed.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sasheem snapped, as she pulled Xellos across the sand.
"That's a secret!" Xellos winked.
"Oh, I get it," Sasheem spoke. "You were tricked into dancing with me."
Xellos blinked and looked down at the poker-faced Gypsy. "Um... Yeah."
"Well no use in hiding it," said Sasheem. "If you really wanted to dance you would have come up to me and probably taken me into your arms."
Xellos spun the Gypsy out and pulled her back in. "Most likely," he said, getting his smile back.
The two continued dancing till the end of the song. Tybolt stretched his arms and put the drum aside. "I'm done. Lets eat," he motioned to Ida and Dadan.
Sasheem finished her dance with Xellos and came to a halt in her final spin. "Well, thank you for the dance," she cooed.put on a smile but a suspicious feeling crept up on him. "Yes, it was nice-well bye!" Xellos began to pace over to Zelgadiss when he jolted from someone grabbing the back of his shirt.
"You can sit with me," said an all to familiar voice.
Xellos jerked and felt the unknowing feeling of defeat creep up on him. 'I'll give in this time,' he thought. The Mazoku was pulled over to the other side by a staggering elf.
Amelia looked up from her staring down at her plate of food to watch Sasheem pick up the cittern and strum only a few strings with her delicate fingers. A melancholy look washed over her face and perplexed Amelia. The Princess felt quite an urge to jump and call Sasheem over and ask if she was okay, but the urge was pinned down by a different thought. 'Maybe that would be rude,' Amelia thought.
Amelia had realized that the Gypsy didn't seem to talk about herself much. The only way they had even found out about her past was because Lina kept pushing to know. She watched Sasheem standing still in front of the flame. She had begun to play a soothing tune on the string instrument.
'I know that tune,' Amelia thought. The memory returned to her mind. 'The same song that Zelgadiss was playing on the guitar at the dinner a few nights ago.'
Sasheem began a different song; something more upbeat and slow. Amelia looked over at Zelgadiss and watched him mindlessly staring out into the blue. Gathering her courage, Amelia stood up and made her way over to the lonely man.
Zelgadiss noticed a shadow cast over him and found Amelia standing next to him and smiling down. "Mind if I sit down here?" She asked, pointing to the obvious empty seat next to Zelgadiss.
"If you want."
Amelia turned and sat down next to Zelgadiss. She watched the still man for a moment and the fire's light illuminating his blue skin. She turned back to watch Sasheem play and pushed her fists in her skirt.
The Gypsy began to sway in unison with her music. The attention of her crowd was taken when the glowing fire in the circle slowly changed its color to green.
Lina jumped when she watched the fire flicker into its new color. "What's going on?"
"A trick," Sasheem chimed. She continued playing her music and swaying.
The fire stirred again and changed its color to a blue-green. Amelia smiled with pleasure at the show. "That's so pretty!" She watched the fire change to yellow and then a deep red.
Sasheem's music picked up and the fire began to sparkle and flail in every way, throwing sparks out of its pit. Zelgadiss was amused by the little trick, as was everyone else around the circle. He looked at Amelia and noted the look of bewilderment on her face.
Looking back at the fire, he watched the flames dance around in the air and go out. The fire was changing colors again, now a dark blue.
Sasheem smiled and took in a small breath. "Queen Mab is the Queen of the Fairies," she began. She stroked a few quick strings on the instrument.
There was movement in the fire. Out from the middle of the flire came small fairy shaped flames. They danced around in the air and circled around people's heads, leaving a trail of disappearing flames.
Lina reached out to touch one of the fairy flames. As the tip of her finger reached to touch it, the fairy shaped flame burst and vanished. "Hey!"
Gourry smiled and flicked one of the little fairies over in Lina's face. Taken off guard, Lina was shocked by the little thing coming in front of her. She lost her balance on her seat and began to fall back. Gourry reached over and caught the sorceress in his arms. Grinning down at her, he chuckled. "You can take on almost anything except fairies."
Lina blushed and waved her fist in the man's face. "You are going to wish you never said that comment!"
Zelgadiss's eyes followed a few of the flaming sprites that danced around his head and prayed that they wouldn't drop any flowers. He turned and saw Amelia laughing in a cheerful matter at his expense. Zelgadiss would have said something, but one of the blue flaming fairies floated in his face.
"Even fairies made of fire seem to like picking on you," Amelia giggled.
Zelgadiss found himself even annoyed by the fake fairies. In one quick breath, he blew the fairy away from his face. Amelia's eyes widened as she saw the flaming fairy blown away and tumble off while watching it slowly go out. She looked at Zelgadiss smile from his handy work. "Was that necessary?" She asked.
"It was in my way," he bluntly replied.
Sasheem spun around and continued talking. "Queen Mab, the Fairy's Midwife. But the Great Mab is no mere queen. She can be love, she can be fertility, and even healing. She is strength and will in the face of overwhelming problems and odds. To her people's enemies she is fierce and deadly, to her children and friends she is loving and kind." Sasheem played some strings and crossed to a different spot on the sand. "The Queen of Fae will come at night and give you a dream if she pleases. It can be a nightmare or a pleasant dream. These visions of night she can get by looking in your mind and seeing your thoughts. People have told that they have wandered into the Great Mab's forest and dreamt of their desires or pasts. Lovers can dream of kissing lips, and a warrior can dream of gaining great skills."
Lina became giddy by the thought. "And I dream of becoming the most beautiful and talented sorceress to ever live and...Oh wait, I already am!"
'Dreams, huh?' Zelgadiss thought to himself. 'If Queen Mab is real, and she gives dreams of deep thought...'
Zelgadiss stole a glance at Amelia sitting beside him. Despite the fact that the nights they had spent in the Forest of Spirits and in Cymbalien had either been chaotic or mind-boggling, Zelgadiss had still been waking up in the middle of the night from a reoccurring dream that wouldn't leave him alone. He waited patiently for Sasheem to continue talking about this Fairy Queen. She might just say something that could stop this dream of his.of the color changing fire, another creature began to appear. A long shifting snake slithered into the air and coiled around the Gypsy's body before it wove through the air and went around the heads of the group. Its color slowly changed along with the fire as it twirled around the people's bodies and moved across the sand.
"It is told that she is seen mostly in the Forest of Spirits, thus its name." Sasheem's words caught the attention of Lina, Gourry, Zelgadiss, and Amelia. The Gypsy grinned. "That is where her 'people' live, and so that is where the Fairies roam and play their tricks."
Amelia couldn't stop herself from turning to Zelgadiss as she thought about their 'experience' in the Forest of Spirits with the Fairies. To her surprise, she found Zelgadiss looking her as well. Both caught each others gaze for a moment and turned away the next.
"Not much is known of the Queen of Fae. Some people say that if you are in the Forest of Spirits and meet Queen Mab she will give you her mead as a sign of being accepted."
Melendil's eyes began to sparkle. "Mead....Oh how I always wished to try such a delicacy! The mead from Queen Mab is supposed to be the best ever!"
Lina raised one of her eyebrows. "Mead?"
"Why Lina, I would that you of all people would know what mead is," Xellos grinned wagging his finger.
"Well apparently I DON'T!" Lina snapped. She huffed and crouched in her seat with her arms folded across her chest. "Well do you know what it is Xellos?"
"Why yes, infect I do." The Mazoku turned and looked at the swaying Gypsy. "Sasheem, do you mind if I explain this little fact to our deprived sorceress here?" Lina felt her mind mentally snap.
"Go ahead, Xellos," the Gypsy slurred.
The Mazoku cleared his throat. "Mead is a red wine and known to b-"
"Okay, that's enough!" Lina interrupted. "Go on, Sasheem."
Slightly confused by Lina's attitude, but nevertheless willing to continue, Sasheem went on. She gracefully turned and plucked a few strings to turn the fire to a deep red. "The honorable Queen Mab was said to give this blood red wine to all of her consorts and accepted people. The wine is said to be 'the wine of women's wisdom', and all who are given it are loved by the Fae." The Gypsy stopped her playing of the instrument. The Fairies that had been flying around turned into flames and went out. The snake that weaved in the air and over the ground had slithered back into the fire. The melancholy look that Amelia had seen on Sasheem's face before came back. "But that is what I have heard."
The fire turned green and several snakes crawled out. They moved around Sasheem's legs and swirled around her spinning feet as she began to dance again. Her moves were slick and smooth as she moved like a serpent and danced with the snakes.
When the story ended, Lina became aware of the fact that the temperature had dropped around her. She put her hands out to the fire and felt the warmth on her fingers and slowly travel through her body. Sasheem stopped dancing and put the instrument down. The snakes vanished as she walked across the sand.
Amelia turned around and watched the Gypsy making her exit. "Wait, Sasheem-san!" She caught the Gypsy's attention and watched her slowly turned in the moonlight. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," she bluntly replied.
Amelia slowly walked up to Sasheem and whispered to her. "Alone...If that's okay with you..."
"Sure." Amelia felt relieved she saw the smallest smile appear on Sasheem's face.
Melendil watched the two walking off. "Hey, where are you guys going?!"
"Just for a talk, we'll be back later." Sasheem lead Amelia to her wagon and the two were gone.
"Everyone is acting weird tonight," Lina sourly replied. The thought of everyone acting weird led Lina to think of other things around the topic. She watched Tybolt talking with the three new guests they had just met.
Tybolt had a grin across his face as he made motions with his hands. "I heard that Queen Mab is supposed to be the most beautiful woman you would ever see! The mead that she gives you is supposed to be her blood."
"Blood that is wine," Melendil mused. "Lucky bitch!"
"You're rather drunk, aren't you?" Xellos asked the tipsy Elf.
"You shouldn't call the Queen of Fae a bitch, Melendil!" Ida screeched. "She is royalty!"
"Ida, it is true though," Aksin protested. "She s known to be a very jealous woman."
"Hey I gotta' ask you people something," Lina interrupted. The redhead strutted over and looked at the talking group. "Ida, Aksin, and Dadan. So what are you guys doing out here anyway?"
The three guests exchanged looks and all let out a sigh. "Well okay, I suppose we can tell," Ida began.
"We had just been doing a few deeds for the King and Lady Zelas," Dadan said bluntly.
"Really?" Lina glared at the three travelers who didn't seem to have a care in the world.
"Where the hell did Xellos go?" Melendil growled. Every looked to where Xellos was sitting and found him gone and only leaving his empty seat.
Lina stomped her foot several times on the ground. "Damn! Damn, damn, damn!"
Zelgadiss walked over by Lina and the others. "Forget him. We can see what's going from what these three tell us."
"Woah, hold on!" Ida took her ground. "What the hell is the big deal? Infect, something weird is going on, why does what we are doing suddenly matter?"
Lina grimaced and tried to put on a innocent act. "Nothing! Nothing really, uh..." She turned to Zelgadiss and saw him shrug. Turning back to Ida she tried her best to make something up. "Xellos...Is...Just a pain in the ass! He doesn't matter! We were...Just interested in what our Great King Lestophel was doing! And since you have seen him we are just sooooo interested in how he's been!"
Silence.
"I'm serious!"
"Okay, okay, calm down, Lina," said Ida. "We were with the King running some deeds for him, like I said before. So anyway, we had actually just come back from 'investigating' in the Elf's village and reporting back on what they have been up to."
Lina took a quick glance at Melendil. The Elf had passed out and was sound asleep. "Investigating on the Elf's village? Why?"
"For Lady Zelas, of course," Ida concluded.
"Why is Zelas interested in the Elves?" Zelgadiss asked.
"We aren't at liberty to tell you that, if you don't know then you will just have to find out some other way," Dadan spoke up.
Lina was getting sick of the three Gypsies but decided to put up with it. "That's fine. So how is it even possible for you guys to get to the village if the Elves and Gypsies aren't exactly at peace."
"Simple," Aksin smirked. "The Elven Council is gone. They went out to talk with the King of Saillune, so just the commoners were left."
"The Elven Council is in Saillune?" Lina repeated. She thought on the matter for a moment. "So what else are you doing with the King?"
Dadan seemed like he would speak but Ida kicked him in his leg. "We told you enough. We're going to bed now, good night." The three guests got up. Ida turned her head in curiosity. "Hey, where is Gourry?"
"Right here!" The swordsman came from behind a wagon stretching his arms out.
"Gourry, where were you?!" Lina snapped.
The blond frowned. "Uh, just had to go to the bathroom."
"Well that's always nice to know," Zelgadiss mumbled.
"Ida, I-" By the time Lina had turned back she found that none of the travelers where there.
Tybolt picked up his shovel and began to walk to his wagon. "They went off to bed," he said yawning. "Really weird people. Well, Xellos is gone. I get the wagon to myself!"
"Tybolt, wait." Lina grabbed the gravedigger's shoulder. "Do you know anything about this?"
Tybolt looked at the red-haired girl behind him with sincere eyes. "To be honest, no. Probably because I have refused to talk to the man ever since him and that Beast Master have been working together. It's because of them working together that he really hasn't died in war with Saillune. Whatever is going on with the Elves and them, well it's all a mystery to me. I just know," Tybolt took a breath and watched the stars in the sky. "Well...No, I don't really know anything." He looked back at the three people behind him and the one sleeping Elf. He put on his common cheerful smile and waved. "G'night."
He left to his wagon and shut the door. Gourry came up and tapped Lina on her shoulder. "Lina, I gotta' tell you something."
"What is it?" Lina was not in the mood for any stupid comment. Nothing was going right as far as she was concerned.
"Well, I didn't really go to the bathroom," the blond man stated.
Lina and Zelgadiss narrowed their eyes. They turned to Gourry with ghostly looks and sent shivers up the swordsman's back. "THAT is what you wanted to tell us?" Lina hissed.
"No, no, it's more then that!" Gourry protested. He got a serious look on his face and continued. "Well, while you and Zel were all talking to those new people I heard something moving around in Ida's wagon. I started to get up and no one noticed so I went behind the wagon and looked in the window. There was some blond man with pointy ears inside the wagon and he was tied up in a chair."
"A blond man with pointy ears? Like an Elf?" Lina asked.
"Probably," Gourry nodded and was slightly proud of his work.
"They're kidnapping Elves?" Zelgadiss asked no one unparticular.
Lina nodded. "That's sure what it seems like right now." She looked back up at Gourry who seemed to be waiting for some kind of reply. "You were smart enough to go and do this, I congratulate you, Gourry."
Gourry smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Thanks, Lina!"
"Why would they want an Elf?" Zelgadiss kept thinking.
"Never mind that, we have to go save that Elf!" Lina protested.
"We can't just barge in there and release that Elf, Lina!" Zelgadiss yelled back. "There could be more behind this!"
"What else could there be! They work for two bad guys and capture an Elf while investigating the Elven village! And I don't know what you're thinking, Zel, but I don't believe they were investigating the village!"
Zelgadiss didn't have much to say, but to his delight if he even did say something he would have been blocked off by Gourry's next words. "Watch out!" Gourry pushed Lina out of the way and Zelgadiss ran with him.
The wagons that the travelers had come in were being pulled by stampeding horses and heading right for the three friends. Lina jumped out from behind Gourry. "Dale Brando!"
Before her spell hit her target, the wagons vanished into the air and were gone. Lina, Zelgadiss, and Gourry were now staring at a blank space in the desert. The next few minutes were silent. Then Gourry spoke up. "What in the world just happened?"
"I don't know," Zelgadiss sighed. "But I'm going to bed." Since Amelia was in Sasheem's wagon, he decided to take this as an opportunity to go to sleep all alone. He figured Amelia could come in whenever she wanted and he would already be asleep.
Lina and Gourry were left alone still looking into the blank space. Gourry rocked back on his heels in boredom and decided to put up a suggestion. "Wanna' go bed?"
Lina blushed and punched the blond in his face. "You stay out of the wagon until I'm done changing and in bed! ALONE IN BED!"
"I never said I wanted to sleep with you!" Gourry yelled rubbing his face. "How am I supposed to know when you're done changing anyway? Why don't you just let me come in, I won't look."
Lina turned a full shade of red in her face. "I'll yell for you! Now stay out here!" She trudged off to the wagon and slammed the door shut behind her.
Zelgadiss finished getting ready to go to sleep. He folded his clothes and put them away in a drawer he found in the wagon. As he folded his last piece of clothing he mentally grumbled to himself. 'I really have to make up my mind,' he thought as he folded his boxers and put them next to his briefs. It was one of his more personal problems. Another thing he could try to sort out in life, as if he didn't have enough.
Before he closed the drawer, he saw another drawer opened underneath his. He closed the top drawer he had put his clothes in and looked in the slightly open drawer underneath. 'What is this?' he asked himself, slowly opening the drawer a little more. He felt blood run up into his face as he saw Amelia's clothes neatly folded in the drawer. Just his luck that her underwear and bras were on the top.
The Chimera stayed frozen looking at her belongings for a moment. He didn't even take into consideration what he was doing. To him, the baby blue lacey bra was what caught his eyes the most and made him stay planted in one place.
'What kind of pervert am I?!' he mentally slapped himself and slammed the drawer shut. 'I will not turn into Gourry, I will not turn into Gourry...' His mind yelled at him to go to bed and go NOW. Zelgadiss let go of the drawer's handles and marched over to the bed in the back. The one that was not close to the drawer. The one that was not close to the drawer the had Amelia's light blue lacey bra in it.
"Shut up!" Zelgadiss yelled, even though no one was in the room. He grabbed the pillow on his bed and pushed it in his face. 'Think about anything! Anything but that cute lacey and bra and those--you're thinking about it, stop!' Zelgadiss wished to every God he had not seen that. Mostly because he felt that thinking about it would make him a pervert and he did not want to be one.
Pushing the pillow back down on the bed, then pulling the covers up and over, Zelgadiss growled to himself as he got into bed. 'Just think about that dream you keep having, just think about the dream,' he told himself.
He turned over and blew out a candle that was beside him on a bedstead and left two smaller candles on for Amelia.
Amelia took a deep breath and let it out. The whole time she had kept asking Sasheem questions about Queen Mab. Some she even found herself repeating. Sasheem looked at Amelia with curiosity. "Amelia, I think it's fine that you are interested in Queen Mab, but you have been asking me questions about her for quite a while now." She drew a closer look at Amelia. "Are you sure this is all you are here for, because I don't get that feeling."
Amelia had asked Sasheem to talk with her for a different reason but at the same time she kept avoiding it. "I...did come for a different reason," she said shamefully. "I just wanted to make sure that I was thinking about this the right way."
"About what, Amelia?" Sasheem said, suddenly changing to a different tone of voice. "You can ask me anything, really! I mean, when you really think about it...we are cousins removed several times. So we can think of each other as family! What is wrong?"
Amelia smiled when she heard Sasheem talk about them being cousins. "Well, okay," she started. The Princess gathered up her thoughts and brought her head up. "You know how me, Lina-san, Gourry-san, and Zelgadiss-san, came her through the Forest of Spirits?" Sasheem nodded. "Well," Amelia blushed. "E-ever since that night we spent in the forest...I've been having this strange repeating dream every single night."
Sasheem sat up straight. "A repeating dream?" Amelia nodded. "Are by chance thinking that Queen Mab might have something to do with this repeating dream?" Another nod. "Well can you tell me what the dream is about? I won't tell anyone, I swear."
Amelia blushed a little more. She knew she would have to eventually. "Well, I can't fully remember it, so I'm really sorry."
"That's fine," Sasheem waved off. "Just go on."
"Okay. What basically happens is, um," Amelia turned very red in her face. "M-me and Zelgadiss-san are in the woods. And, well I'm not sure why we are there but we are." Amelia began to pull at her skirt slightly. "And Zelgadiss-san, well he starts to yell at me and tells me to 'shut-up' and accuses me of sayings things--but I didn't say any of those things, and that's what's weird!" She quickly added. The tension began to build up in her. "And then he suddenly gets very mad and pushes me up against a tree and is yelling at me!"
"Amelia, take it east." Sasheem quickly put her hand on Amelia's shoulder. The Princess was becoming nervous, her tense face was showing it.
"Well, he begins yelling at me and I seem very scared and, well I just can't remember what happens from there." Amelia went into a moment of thought. "Oh wait, he punches the tree next to me and I remember he just seems very sad." Amelia took a few minutes to herself and hugged her body. "I'm just not sure if it is just a dream," she moaned. "It seems so real."
Sasheem drew back into her seat after patting Amelia on the shoulder a few times. "Amelia, I need you to try and remember some things for me. I want to ask you a few questions."
Amelia slowly released her grip around her body and nodded. "Okay."
"You and Zelgadiss are in this dream, only you two right?"
"Yes," she said blushing a little.
"I know that the four of you went through the Forest of Spirits to come here, so was there any point in that time that maybe you and Zelgadiss were alone?"
Amelia tried to remember the time they had in the forest. "There was one time," she suddenly recalled. "Me and Zelgadiss-san were out in the forest getting some branches to make a fire and then these Fairies came and toyed with us,"
"Now we are starting to get somewhere," said Sasheem. Amelia just looked very confused. "I'm not making any promises, Amelia. But if the fairies were around this could be a trick of theirs. Zelgadiss wouldn't yell at you for any reason, so my best guess is that this is a trick. In your dream you were alone with Zelgadiss in the Forest of Spirits, and in real life you were alone with him in the forest as well."
"But what does that mean? How do I stop this?!"
Sasheem leaned back in her chair and held her chin in her hand. "Well I'm sorry to say that I am not positive at how to stop it, but I do have two ideas. One thing is for sure, it is no mistake that this is happening. I think you may have been on the right trail of this being a visit from Queen Mab, no matter how rare that really is."
With her theories in order, Sasheem leaned in to eye Amelia. "One possibility is that this could be a dream of something that really happened and Mab is making you remember it. If that is true, then Zelgadiss should be having the same dream. In the incident of this happening, if you and Zelgadiss talk this out, my guess is that the both of you can put two and two together and the memory should come back. You see, the Fairies could have made you forget that incident ever happened and are now making you remember it. Why they would do that I don't know."
Amelia shuddered. "But to do that, I would have to tell Zelgadiss-san," She choked. "That I'm dreaming about him."
"That is my best guess," the Gypsy sighed. "My last possible guess for getting this cured is a difficult skill that I have learned in the past but never used. It is a meditation technique that is supposed to let a person speak with Queen Mab. The only thing, hardly anyone ever uses it and most times it doesn't work or people are known to get trapped in their mind and not be able to come back to conscience. At least these are for cases that people have just been greedy and want to speak with Mab, in your case I am almost one hundred percent sure that this is her doing, so she may talk to you."
"I'm not to sure I want to do that one," Amelia mumbled, backing up in her seat slightly.
Sasheem grunted and crossed her legs in her chair and leaned her elbow on one leg and placed her head in her palm. With her two detailed suggestions out of the way she threw in her final result. "Well then all I can tell you is to duke it out and see if it goes away. Maybe it's supposed to be a sign of something, but I highly doubt that. How many nights has it been now? Four? Five? I think four, and this is night five. Whichever it is, I find it odd to have it go on that long."
"I know," Amelia whispered.
The Gypsy gazed at the worrisome girl and stood up. She took Amelia's hands and helped her up from the chair. "Amelia, I think if you told Zelgadiss he would understand. Really, I do." Amelia shrugged and let her hands fall to her side in defeat. "Even as cold as he can act, he wouldn't be offended or mad."
"He really is nice," Amelia pondered.
Sasheem folded her arms and spoke matter-of-factly. "He just may be having the same dream, and maybe if you do tell him it will all end." If Amelia could see the Gypsy's eyes she would see that she was winking. "Maybe this is all being done for a reason."
Amelia winced at Sasheem's words. "Wh-what reason could this possibly have?!"
The Gypsy only replied with a shrug. "It was just an idea." As Amelia headed for the door Sasheem realized she had one more thing to say. "Amelia,"
"Yes?"
"Will you be okay tonight? You know that you most likely will have that dream. You can stay here if you want."
"No, I'll be fine. That you, Sasheem-san." Already Amelia felt comfort by being in the same area as everyone else. She even got the sense that Sasheem was really watching her back more then she knew. Final good-byes over with, Amelia headed out the door.
~)*(~
Zelgadiss shot open his eyes and quickly sat up in bed. He took one minute to look at his surroundings. 'It's that wagon,' he said, trying to calm himself down mentally. Zelgadiss rubbed his temple slowly trying to remember why he had just broken out into a cold sweat and almost jumped out of his bed.
It all came back to him; he was having that dream again. The one where he kept hearing Amelia's voice all around him, spitting out comment after comment about his frightening appearance. Zelgadiss grimaced at the horrible thought. It was even getting to him through his dreams. The Chimera didn't even have to think about what happened next in the dream because he already knew. It was like every other night; he heard the melodious voice of Amelia say painful things to him and then he threw her against a tree and yelled at her. No, he attacked her. Then he watched her cry out every ounce of her fear.
Zelgadiss leaned his head against the back wall in thought. 'If I go back to sleep, I know I will just dream about it again,' he mused. The Chimera unknowingly closed his eyes as he sat in the silence. As much as he didn't want to sleep, his body was demanding it. Zelgadiss was physically and mentally tired. Not just because of the fact that he was awake in the middle of the night, but he was tired of waking up each night to the same dream. The same dream that left image of terrified innocence and words that hurt him run through his mind. They stayed there and let him think about them until he either fell asleep again or stayed up until the crack of dawn and only get one hour of rest.
Zelgadiss heard his mind begin to yell at him to open his eyes. Obeying his conscience, Zelgadiss open his eyes to the dark room. His vision had already adjusted to the lighting around him. He could make out the mirror and its small amount of moonlight that bounced off of it and hit the floor, making a spotlight. It was then that he realized the candles had burnt out. 'How long was Amelia out for?' he wondered.
His sensitive hearing picked up footsteps outside. The door was gently pushed open and then shut.
Amelia looked around the room. She could smell smoke in the air and let her gaze travel to find out where it was coming from. In the beam of moonlight, Amelia saw a thin stream of smoke twist and travel in the air. She let her eyes move down the stream to make out a pile of hardened wax dripping over a candleholder.
'He left a candle on for me?' she thought. The idea of Zelgadiss thinking of her made her heart flutter and her lips turn to a smile. Amelia looked to the back of the room at her sleeping friend. His back was turned to her and the covers were pulled up over his neck.
Amelia took a few steps closer and leaned in whispering. "Zelgadiss-san, are you awake?" She got no response and figured her was asleep; and in truth, the Chimera had fallen back asleep. She took her last steps in to get right by Zelgadiss and leaned over his sleeping body. His breathing was hard and Amelia could make out a drop of sweat that twinkled in the moonlight and ran down his blue skin.
'What's wrong with him?' Amelia became worried and ran over in her mind whether she should wake him up or let him sleep.
)*(
"You have no right, to be crying!" He barked.
"Zelgadiss-san, what's wrong with you?!"
"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?" He pulled back his fist and pounded it in the tree, hardly an inch from her face. Amelia let out quick gasp and froze. The chimera could see her breathing hard and sense every ounce of fear in her body. Her pupils were dilated and her mouth partially open. He got closer to her and yelled in her face. "You, ask ME 'what's wrong?'! How dense are you?! To say those things about me, and simply ask 'what's wrong?'!"
"Zelgadiss-san, are you awake?"
What kind of question was that? Zelgadiss brought up his heavy head and looked at Amelia.
)*(
Amelia had leaned over Zelgadiss again and whispered close to his face. "Zelgadiss-san, are you okay?"
)*(
Zelgadiss slowly opened his eyes. 'Is it morning?' He could hear a bird singing outside and felt a nice breeze blowing around him. He quickly sat up in bed and already knew something wasn't right. He was in a large king size bed covered in soft sheets. He looked at his arms and then pulled on the shirt he was wearing. Somehow he had gotten into blue silk pajamas. 'Okay, now where am I?' he thought.
It soon became clear to him. He was in the room he had stayed in when they were in Saillune. "Zelgadiss-san, are you okay?"
"What?" Zelgadiss turned around and saw Amelia standing by his bed. "Amelia?!" To his shock, Amelia was wearing a maids dress, complete with bonnet and frills. But what caught his attention was how the skirt was very short and the sleeves were like two puffs resting on her shoulders. "Amelia, what's going on?" he demanded. Amelia didn't answer, she only stood by his bedside smiling.
Zelgadiss then noticed Amelia holding a tray in her hands. On it was the most delicious breakfast he had ever seen that was on a silver plate. Zelgadiss then noted that all the silver wear was, well, shining silver. And here was Amelia serving him in a cute pink and white frilled maids outfit like he was a King. 'I don't deserve this!' he yelled at himself. The coffee in the mug began to smell really good and pulled at each of his senses, telling him to let Amelia do this. But the another part of his mind told him that this was wrong.
"Amelia, what are you doing?" he yelled. 'Shouldn't I be having that other dream?' he soon remembered.
The Princess, who was now a maid, put the tray down on Zelgadiss's lap and continued her happy smiling. Still bewildered, Zelgadiss looked around the room confused and had nothing to say.
)*(
Amelia watched as the Chimera's eyes seemed like they were trying to shut tighter. 'I can't stand to see him like this,' Amelia told herself. She put her face close to his and could hear his rapid breathing. Lifting a hand, she gently pushed back his thick bangs to get a better look at his face. The sweat was beginning to dry on his face and the moonlight kissed the rocks embodied around his eyes.
"Poor Zelgadiss-san," she whispered by his ear.
)*(
Amelia narrowed her eyes and leaned in close to the Chimera. "Poor Zelgadiss-san," she whispered close to his ear.
Zelgadiss gripped the sheets underneath him. "A-A-Amelia?!" He couldn't find it in himself to move, se he let the Princess do as she wanted. 'What kind of dream is this?' Zelgadiss soon thought his heart would fly out of his chest as Amelia's warm fingers touched his face and pushed his bangs out of the way. He noticed her warm breathing against his cheek and felt his mind go into a daze.
)*(
Amelia leaned in closer. She knew what she was doing and felt not regret in her actions. Slowly, she leaned closer and put her warm lips on his cheek and gaze the sleeping Chimera a soft kiss. To her delight, when she pulled back she saw the features of his face relax. His breathing became calm and low, and the hand that was clutched to the sheet had left go and now laid flat on the bed.
Amelia wasn't blushing, just smiling and feeling good. Now feeling that her sense of duty was done, she quietly walked over to her dresser to change for bed. Somehow the dream that she knew she would have that night didn't seem so bad at the moment.
~)*(~
Ida let the blond elf fall to his knees on the sand. Dadan and Aksin came out of the wagons and stepped near the frustrated fortuneteller. In front of them was a large stone temple that held an odd shape to it. Some red rocks framed different parts of the temple while certain carvings could be made out in the stone. The entire temple seemed to have its own field, for a large wall of stone cropped it inside.
Ida tapped her foot impatiently and folded her arms. The two Gypsy men let their gazes travel around to look at the setting they were now in. By this time, the Elf had given up on trying to escape and let his head fall in despair.
Dadan felt his mouth growing dry and he beat one foot in the sand anxiously. "Hey, Ida. Do we have any water left?"
The fortuneteller huffed. "No, we don't. That is why I need Lestophel to get here now!"
"Patience, patience, Ida," a smooth voice entered.
"Huh?" Ida focused back on the temple's entrance and saw Lestophel enter the doorway. "I-I'm sorry, sir!" The comment didn't seem to matter to the man. Lestophel smiled and raised his forefinger to conjure a canteen of water in each of the Gypsy's hands.
"Where did these canteens come from?" Aksin blinked at the object down in his hands.
"Who cares, just drink!" Ida hissed.
As the three drank their water, Lestophel calmly walked over to the weak Elf, and kneeled on the sand in front of it. The creature's elflocks covered its face in this strands and hid his blue eyes. "Wouldn't you like some water?" Lestophel gently questioned. The Elf raised his head to meet Lestophel's mysterious gaze with his eyes of exhaustion. The Elf didn't move his lips of focused look. "Most of the Elves that come here put up more of a fight. Shall I just take this as a 'no'?"
"To be honest, he put up quite a bit of a fight," Aksin stated, taking a breath from trying to drink down as much water as he could.
"Really?" Said Lestophel, lifting up the chin of the Elf. He examined the face of the creature that didn't protest one bit as he moved his face from left to right. "Elegant creatures, Elves are."
"Yes, and powerful too," Zelas cooed, coming up from behind. Her sharp eyes grazed over the three travelers. "Ida, Dadan, Aksin, so nice of you to come back," she spoke in a sharp manner. Zelas gave a wicked smile to the Elf kneeling on the sand. "Well, looks like you three did your job. How is the Elven race, anyway?"
"I think you will be happy to know that the Elven Council is in Saillune right now," Ida said with a maniacal grin.
"Really? Well that is always good to know." Zelas pulled on her cigarette and let out a long stream of smoke. "It looks like Mikau is back," she bluntly stated.
Lestophel turned his gaze and saw the assassin sitting on a stone slightly far from a round pool of water off to the left. He seemed hypnotized, for some time being, by the reflection in the water and stared at it with his usual icy look. Lestophel lifted his head higher and called out to the man. "Mikau!" The assassin's attention was caught and he turned to his master. "How did it go?"
Dropping his gaze, Mikau slipped off the rock and slowly walked over to Zelas and the Gypsy King. "Not as planned," he said in a sour manner.
Lestophel let out a half groan half sigh and averted his look in a different direction. It was at this time that Xellos teleported in by the depressed assassin. "Hello, Mikau. When was the last time we met?"
Mikau gave Xellos a cold glare and turned around to go back to the pool of water. Lestophel called once more. "Mikau, hold it." The assassin stopped in his path. "You had better bring the Princess of Saillune back here. This time alive. And you know what we may have to do if you don't."
"Yes."
"We already have the first army heading out their way. They should be there by the morning, I suppose."
Zelas looked at Mikau, who was still planted in one place. "Mikau," she purred. "Is there anything else you wish to tell us?"
A memory came back to Mikau's mind. He turned around and looked at his two masters. "There was a Chimera with them."
"A Chimera?" Lestophel repeated. Mikau simply nodded and kept his gaze down. "I want to speak to you about this later. You may go."
Ida and her two friends exchanged looks. They were beginning to become a little confused. "Sir, we ran into the-" The fortuneteller kicked Dadan in the leg and stopped his sentence.
"Quiet," she hissed.
Zelas felt she was no longer needed, and with that decided, she turned to her servant. "Well, Xellos, you are just in time." Zelas gave a kinder smile to Lestophel, and he returned her gaze and nodded.
Xellos smiled at both of them and then turned his smirk down at the Elf on the ground. The blond Elf now looked up to the two Mazoku and tears dripped form his eyes in steaming streams. "Please! Don't!" The Elf felt a cold chill run up his spine as he struggled with the ropes around his wrists. "Don't take me in there!" He begged. Zelas and Xellos both teleported away, taking the Elf with them.
The rest watched them go off. Lestophel glared back at the three Gypsies and sent a shiver up their spines this time. "If you see them," he spat. "Get the Princess to me alive. Only if you see them, that is." He reached behind his vest and tossed a bag of coins to Ida. "Your pay."
Lestophel turned around and walked back to the stone temple. As he breezed by, he came by Mikau and stopped. "You said they had a Chimera?"
"Yes."
The matter was thought on for a moment. "So there still are Chimeras," the Gypsy King mused. "Mikau, will you be able to get the Chimera here, or should I send someone else?"
Not wanting his fat at stake, Mikau went for the job. "I can get him here. Do you still want the Princess?"
"Yes, but let us see this Chimera as well. I want him in here no less then two days. If you get him here sooner, we can look into the deal for a sooner approach."
"As you want."
"O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep;"
-Romeo and Juliet, Act i 11: Full Moon MagicAmelia took her first step outside she had already expected music to be playing, and it was. Amelia picked up steady beat of drums and a whistling flute that went on its own pace. A tambourine and a different pipe joined the two sounds. The Princess dashed over to the fire where she saw her welcoming scene.
Lina and Gourry pulled the meat off of ribs while they grabbed for other foods that were on different plates. Aksin had set up his food to cook around the large fire and tapped his foot to the beat of the music as he turned the meats. Tybolt held a drum between his legs while he played the top with swishing hand movements. Dadan was playing an instrument that Amelia had only seen snake charmers play. He lifted the pipe up and down changing the tone while Ida moved her fingers across a cittern.
As for the flute that Amelia had heard, she saw Sasheem playing it. The Gypsy spun around the fire enough to make Amelia dizzy. He swishing moves and tapping feet were in unison with the note that she poured out from the flute.
Amelia watched the Gypsy's elegant moves. When she spun, she reminded Amelia of the wind. Her skirt seemed to flap in a breeze and her sashes trailed behind her trying to keep up with her moves. She blew through flickering sparks from the fire that shimmered around her. Amelia kept thinking that Sasheem would dance her way right into the fire, but each time the Gypsy came close she would turn on her foot.
The more Amelia watched, the more she felt the itch to run in next to the Gypsy and move to the beating of the drum and spin to the tunes from the flute. Melendil sat on a log with her mug of Ale by her feet and her hands clapping to music as it picked up pace. Xellos had decided to sit by Zelgadiss and cheer Sasheem on dancing, mainly to bug the Chimera and not let him eat in peace.
Amelia found herself standing by the end of a log and still watching the performance. Aksin lifted his head and motioned with his hand for Amelia to come over. Before Amelia took her first step, Sasheem quickly spun in front of her and did a fancy bow before she continued dancing around the fire and out of Amelia's way.
Amelia smiled and started to walk again till she was stopped in her path once more, and this time by Aksin. The young man bent down and put a plate of food in Amelia's hands. Amelia took the plate in and shifted her eyes to look up at Aksin. "Thank you!"
Before Aksin could answer, Sasheem came by again and whispered into the man's ear. "Steaks burning." With her final words, she lifted her flute to her mouth and trotted off around the fire.
Aksin's eyes widened. "Gotta' go," he snapped, and ran back to the steak that was leaning by the fire.
Amelia blinked and looked down at the plate that was put in her hands. She could tell it had just been taken off from the heat that steamed through the bottom. She hastily made her way to sit down and put the plate on her lap. With that out of the way, Amelia realized she was going to have some trouble eating. No fork and no knife. She looked up past the fire and saw everyone else picking up their food from the stick it had been cooking on.
"You gonna' eat that?" Amelia nearly fell over from the surprising voice that had caught her off guard.
She looked in front of her and saw Lina drooling over her plate. "Yes I am!" Amelia growled. She picked up her food and began to rip the meat off of the stick.
"Damn!" Lina marched over to Aksin and kneeled down to watch him cook. "Is it done yet?"
Aksin turned his head and looked at Lina. "No."
"Now?"
"No."
"Now?!"
"NO!"
The Princess sighed as she watched Lina argue her way to food. She took a glance to her left and watched Zelgadiss for a minute. He had on his usual poker face and watched Sasheem dance across the sand. Amelia slowly pulled at her food with her teeth and went back to watching Sasheem dance.
Xellos rested on his hand and grinned at Zelgadiss. At first the Chimera didn't notice this, but soon he turned and saw Xellos grinning in his usual way that Zelgadiss could only think meant trouble. "What is it, Xellos?"
"Oh nothing really," Xellos chirped.
Zelgadiss turned his gaze away from the Mazoku. "Well it has to be something because you won't stop looking at me! And if it is nothing, then I'm going to rip your eyes out!"
"What a horrible temper for such a nice night," said Xellos. "And I thought you might be in a good mood, too."
'Oh boy, this is going to be a long night,' Zelgadiss thought.
"Oh, I think I may have an idea on what might cheer you up!" Xellos chirped.
"How about you go away? I think that may work," Zelgadiss suggested with every ounce of sarcasm.
Xellos opened one of his violet eyes and put his finger up to his lip. "I think I have a better idea," he smirked.
"Oooh, I don't know, Xellos," said Zelgadiss. "Having you go away forever is rather tempting."
"More tempting then dancing with the Princess?" Xellos questioned.
Zelgadiss froze and narrowed his eyes. He glared at the grinning Mazoku and snapped the stick that held his food.
"Oh my, did I hit a weak point?" Xellos chimed.
'I will stay calm. I will not kill.' Zelgadiss told himself. Now the Chimera knew he needed Xellos gone. As Zelgadiss pondered a way to get Xellos out of his way, the Mazoku continued his speech.
"You did appear to be having a good time when she pulled you out to dance at that first dinner we were at."
'That idiot was watching us?' Zelgadiss mused.
"You were a very slick dancer that night, Zelgadiss. The way you tilted her back in you arms and-"got up from his seat. "Sasheem!"
Amelia turned from eating and watched Zelgadiss call out to the Gypsy. 'What's he doing?' she thought.
The Gypsy stopped her dancing and looked over at Zelgadiss from the other side of the fire. Zelgadiss grabbed Xellos by his collar and yanked him up from the log. "Xellos wants to dance with you!" he yelled.of the Mazoku's eyes flew open and his grin faded. "What?"
Lina finished swallowing her food. "Well that's different."
Sasheem's mouth curled. She strapped her flute on her hip and walked over to Zelgadiss and Xellos. The Mazoku moved his eyes over to look at the Gypsy staring him in his face. Zelgadiss pushed Xellos over to Sasheem. The Mazoku tripped and regained his balance in front of the Gypsy. "Well this is a pleasant surprise," Sasheem said in a blunt matter. She smiled and took Xellos's hand.
The Mazoku gave a quick turn to a now sneering chimera. "You win this round," he hissed.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sasheem snapped, as she pulled Xellos across the sand.
"That's a secret!" Xellos winked.
"Oh, I get it," Sasheem spoke. "You were tricked into dancing with me."
Xellos blinked and looked down at the poker-faced Gypsy. "Um... Yeah."
"Well no use in hiding it," said Sasheem. "If you really wanted to dance you would have come up to me and probably taken me into your arms."
Xellos spun the Gypsy out and pulled her back in. "Most likely," he said, getting his smile back.
The two continued dancing till the end of the song. Tybolt stretched his arms and put the drum aside. "I'm done. Lets eat," he motioned to Ida and Dadan.
Sasheem finished her dance with Xellos and came to a halt in her final spin. "Well, thank you for the dance," she cooed.put on a smile but a suspicious feeling crept up on him. "Yes, it was nice-well bye!" Xellos began to pace over to Zelgadiss when he jolted from someone grabbing the back of his shirt.
"You can sit with me," said an all to familiar voice.
Xellos jerked and felt the unknowing feeling of defeat creep up on him. 'I'll give in this time,' he thought. The Mazoku was pulled over to the other side by a staggering elf.
Amelia looked up from her staring down at her plate of food to watch Sasheem pick up the cittern and strum only a few strings with her delicate fingers. A melancholy look washed over her face and perplexed Amelia. The Princess felt quite an urge to jump and call Sasheem over and ask if she was okay, but the urge was pinned down by a different thought. 'Maybe that would be rude,' Amelia thought.
Amelia had realized that the Gypsy didn't seem to talk about herself much. The only way they had even found out about her past was because Lina kept pushing to know. She watched Sasheem standing still in front of the flame. She had begun to play a soothing tune on the string instrument.
'I know that tune,' Amelia thought. The memory returned to her mind. 'The same song that Zelgadiss was playing on the guitar at the dinner a few nights ago.'
Sasheem began a different song; something more upbeat and slow. Amelia looked over at Zelgadiss and watched him mindlessly staring out into the blue. Gathering her courage, Amelia stood up and made her way over to the lonely man.
Zelgadiss noticed a shadow cast over him and found Amelia standing next to him and smiling down. "Mind if I sit down here?" She asked, pointing to the obvious empty seat next to Zelgadiss.
"If you want."
Amelia turned and sat down next to Zelgadiss. She watched the still man for a moment and the fire's light illuminating his blue skin. She turned back to watch Sasheem play and pushed her fists in her skirt.
The Gypsy began to sway in unison with her music. The attention of her crowd was taken when the glowing fire in the circle slowly changed its color to green.
Lina jumped when she watched the fire flicker into its new color. "What's going on?"
"A trick," Sasheem chimed. She continued playing her music and swaying.
The fire stirred again and changed its color to a blue-green. Amelia smiled with pleasure at the show. "That's so pretty!" She watched the fire change to yellow and then a deep red.
Sasheem's music picked up and the fire began to sparkle and flail in every way, throwing sparks out of its pit. Zelgadiss was amused by the little trick, as was everyone else around the circle. He looked at Amelia and noted the look of bewilderment on her face.
Looking back at the fire, he watched the flames dance around in the air and go out. The fire was changing colors again, now a dark blue.
Sasheem smiled and took in a small breath. "Queen Mab is the Queen of the Fairies," she began. She stroked a few quick strings on the instrument.
There was movement in the fire. Out from the middle of the flire came small fairy shaped flames. They danced around in the air and circled around people's heads, leaving a trail of disappearing flames.
Lina reached out to touch one of the fairy flames. As the tip of her finger reached to touch it, the fairy shaped flame burst and vanished. "Hey!"
Gourry smiled and flicked one of the little fairies over in Lina's face. Taken off guard, Lina was shocked by the little thing coming in front of her. She lost her balance on her seat and began to fall back. Gourry reached over and caught the sorceress in his arms. Grinning down at her, he chuckled. "You can take on almost anything except fairies."
Lina blushed and waved her fist in the man's face. "You are going to wish you never said that comment!"
Zelgadiss's eyes followed a few of the flaming sprites that danced around his head and prayed that they wouldn't drop any flowers. He turned and saw Amelia laughing in a cheerful matter at his expense. Zelgadiss would have said something, but one of the blue flaming fairies floated in his face.
"Even fairies made of fire seem to like picking on you," Amelia giggled.
Zelgadiss found himself even annoyed by the fake fairies. In one quick breath, he blew the fairy away from his face. Amelia's eyes widened as she saw the flaming fairy blown away and tumble off while watching it slowly go out. She looked at Zelgadiss smile from his handy work. "Was that necessary?" She asked.
"It was in my way," he bluntly replied.
Sasheem spun around and continued talking. "Queen Mab, the Fairy's Midwife. But the Great Mab is no mere queen. She can be love, she can be fertility, and even healing. She is strength and will in the face of overwhelming problems and odds. To her people's enemies she is fierce and deadly, to her children and friends she is loving and kind." Sasheem played some strings and crossed to a different spot on the sand. "The Queen of Fae will come at night and give you a dream if she pleases. It can be a nightmare or a pleasant dream. These visions of night she can get by looking in your mind and seeing your thoughts. People have told that they have wandered into the Great Mab's forest and dreamt of their desires or pasts. Lovers can dream of kissing lips, and a warrior can dream of gaining great skills."
Lina became giddy by the thought. "And I dream of becoming the most beautiful and talented sorceress to ever live and...Oh wait, I already am!"
'Dreams, huh?' Zelgadiss thought to himself. 'If Queen Mab is real, and she gives dreams of deep thought...'
Zelgadiss stole a glance at Amelia sitting beside him. Despite the fact that the nights they had spent in the Forest of Spirits and in Cymbalien had either been chaotic or mind-boggling, Zelgadiss had still been waking up in the middle of the night from a reoccurring dream that wouldn't leave him alone. He waited patiently for Sasheem to continue talking about this Fairy Queen. She might just say something that could stop this dream of his.of the color changing fire, another creature began to appear. A long shifting snake slithered into the air and coiled around the Gypsy's body before it wove through the air and went around the heads of the group. Its color slowly changed along with the fire as it twirled around the people's bodies and moved across the sand.
"It is told that she is seen mostly in the Forest of Spirits, thus its name." Sasheem's words caught the attention of Lina, Gourry, Zelgadiss, and Amelia. The Gypsy grinned. "That is where her 'people' live, and so that is where the Fairies roam and play their tricks."
Amelia couldn't stop herself from turning to Zelgadiss as she thought about their 'experience' in the Forest of Spirits with the Fairies. To her surprise, she found Zelgadiss looking her as well. Both caught each others gaze for a moment and turned away the next.
"Not much is known of the Queen of Fae. Some people say that if you are in the Forest of Spirits and meet Queen Mab she will give you her mead as a sign of being accepted."
Melendil's eyes began to sparkle. "Mead....Oh how I always wished to try such a delicacy! The mead from Queen Mab is supposed to be the best ever!"
Lina raised one of her eyebrows. "Mead?"
"Why Lina, I would that you of all people would know what mead is," Xellos grinned wagging his finger.
"Well apparently I DON'T!" Lina snapped. She huffed and crouched in her seat with her arms folded across her chest. "Well do you know what it is Xellos?"
"Why yes, infect I do." The Mazoku turned and looked at the swaying Gypsy. "Sasheem, do you mind if I explain this little fact to our deprived sorceress here?" Lina felt her mind mentally snap.
"Go ahead, Xellos," the Gypsy slurred.
The Mazoku cleared his throat. "Mead is a red wine and known to b-"
"Okay, that's enough!" Lina interrupted. "Go on, Sasheem."
Slightly confused by Lina's attitude, but nevertheless willing to continue, Sasheem went on. She gracefully turned and plucked a few strings to turn the fire to a deep red. "The honorable Queen Mab was said to give this blood red wine to all of her consorts and accepted people. The wine is said to be 'the wine of women's wisdom', and all who are given it are loved by the Fae." The Gypsy stopped her playing of the instrument. The Fairies that had been flying around turned into flames and went out. The snake that weaved in the air and over the ground had slithered back into the fire. The melancholy look that Amelia had seen on Sasheem's face before came back. "But that is what I have heard."
The fire turned green and several snakes crawled out. They moved around Sasheem's legs and swirled around her spinning feet as she began to dance again. Her moves were slick and smooth as she moved like a serpent and danced with the snakes.
When the story ended, Lina became aware of the fact that the temperature had dropped around her. She put her hands out to the fire and felt the warmth on her fingers and slowly travel through her body. Sasheem stopped dancing and put the instrument down. The snakes vanished as she walked across the sand.
Amelia turned around and watched the Gypsy making her exit. "Wait, Sasheem-san!" She caught the Gypsy's attention and watched her slowly turned in the moonlight. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," she bluntly replied.
Amelia slowly walked up to Sasheem and whispered to her. "Alone...If that's okay with you..."
"Sure." Amelia felt relieved she saw the smallest smile appear on Sasheem's face.
Melendil watched the two walking off. "Hey, where are you guys going?!"
"Just for a talk, we'll be back later." Sasheem lead Amelia to her wagon and the two were gone.
"Everyone is acting weird tonight," Lina sourly replied. The thought of everyone acting weird led Lina to think of other things around the topic. She watched Tybolt talking with the three new guests they had just met.
Tybolt had a grin across his face as he made motions with his hands. "I heard that Queen Mab is supposed to be the most beautiful woman you would ever see! The mead that she gives you is supposed to be her blood."
"Blood that is wine," Melendil mused. "Lucky bitch!"
"You're rather drunk, aren't you?" Xellos asked the tipsy Elf.
"You shouldn't call the Queen of Fae a bitch, Melendil!" Ida screeched. "She is royalty!"
"Ida, it is true though," Aksin protested. "She s known to be a very jealous woman."
"Hey I gotta' ask you people something," Lina interrupted. The redhead strutted over and looked at the talking group. "Ida, Aksin, and Dadan. So what are you guys doing out here anyway?"
The three guests exchanged looks and all let out a sigh. "Well okay, I suppose we can tell," Ida began.
"We had just been doing a few deeds for the King and Lady Zelas," Dadan said bluntly.
"Really?" Lina glared at the three travelers who didn't seem to have a care in the world.
"Where the hell did Xellos go?" Melendil growled. Every looked to where Xellos was sitting and found him gone and only leaving his empty seat.
Lina stomped her foot several times on the ground. "Damn! Damn, damn, damn!"
Zelgadiss walked over by Lina and the others. "Forget him. We can see what's going from what these three tell us."
"Woah, hold on!" Ida took her ground. "What the hell is the big deal? Infect, something weird is going on, why does what we are doing suddenly matter?"
Lina grimaced and tried to put on a innocent act. "Nothing! Nothing really, uh..." She turned to Zelgadiss and saw him shrug. Turning back to Ida she tried her best to make something up. "Xellos...Is...Just a pain in the ass! He doesn't matter! We were...Just interested in what our Great King Lestophel was doing! And since you have seen him we are just sooooo interested in how he's been!"
Silence.
"I'm serious!"
"Okay, okay, calm down, Lina," said Ida. "We were with the King running some deeds for him, like I said before. So anyway, we had actually just come back from 'investigating' in the Elf's village and reporting back on what they have been up to."
Lina took a quick glance at Melendil. The Elf had passed out and was sound asleep. "Investigating on the Elf's village? Why?"
"For Lady Zelas, of course," Ida concluded.
"Why is Zelas interested in the Elves?" Zelgadiss asked.
"We aren't at liberty to tell you that, if you don't know then you will just have to find out some other way," Dadan spoke up.
Lina was getting sick of the three Gypsies but decided to put up with it. "That's fine. So how is it even possible for you guys to get to the village if the Elves and Gypsies aren't exactly at peace."
"Simple," Aksin smirked. "The Elven Council is gone. They went out to talk with the King of Saillune, so just the commoners were left."
"The Elven Council is in Saillune?" Lina repeated. She thought on the matter for a moment. "So what else are you doing with the King?"
Dadan seemed like he would speak but Ida kicked him in his leg. "We told you enough. We're going to bed now, good night." The three guests got up. Ida turned her head in curiosity. "Hey, where is Gourry?"
"Right here!" The swordsman came from behind a wagon stretching his arms out.
"Gourry, where were you?!" Lina snapped.
The blond frowned. "Uh, just had to go to the bathroom."
"Well that's always nice to know," Zelgadiss mumbled.
"Ida, I-" By the time Lina had turned back she found that none of the travelers where there.
Tybolt picked up his shovel and began to walk to his wagon. "They went off to bed," he said yawning. "Really weird people. Well, Xellos is gone. I get the wagon to myself!"
"Tybolt, wait." Lina grabbed the gravedigger's shoulder. "Do you know anything about this?"
Tybolt looked at the red-haired girl behind him with sincere eyes. "To be honest, no. Probably because I have refused to talk to the man ever since him and that Beast Master have been working together. It's because of them working together that he really hasn't died in war with Saillune. Whatever is going on with the Elves and them, well it's all a mystery to me. I just know," Tybolt took a breath and watched the stars in the sky. "Well...No, I don't really know anything." He looked back at the three people behind him and the one sleeping Elf. He put on his common cheerful smile and waved. "G'night."
He left to his wagon and shut the door. Gourry came up and tapped Lina on her shoulder. "Lina, I gotta' tell you something."
"What is it?" Lina was not in the mood for any stupid comment. Nothing was going right as far as she was concerned.
"Well, I didn't really go to the bathroom," the blond man stated.
Lina and Zelgadiss narrowed their eyes. They turned to Gourry with ghostly looks and sent shivers up the swordsman's back. "THAT is what you wanted to tell us?" Lina hissed.
"No, no, it's more then that!" Gourry protested. He got a serious look on his face and continued. "Well, while you and Zel were all talking to those new people I heard something moving around in Ida's wagon. I started to get up and no one noticed so I went behind the wagon and looked in the window. There was some blond man with pointy ears inside the wagon and he was tied up in a chair."
"A blond man with pointy ears? Like an Elf?" Lina asked.
"Probably," Gourry nodded and was slightly proud of his work.
"They're kidnapping Elves?" Zelgadiss asked no one unparticular.
Lina nodded. "That's sure what it seems like right now." She looked back up at Gourry who seemed to be waiting for some kind of reply. "You were smart enough to go and do this, I congratulate you, Gourry."
Gourry smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Thanks, Lina!"
"Why would they want an Elf?" Zelgadiss kept thinking.
"Never mind that, we have to go save that Elf!" Lina protested.
"We can't just barge in there and release that Elf, Lina!" Zelgadiss yelled back. "There could be more behind this!"
"What else could there be! They work for two bad guys and capture an Elf while investigating the Elven village! And I don't know what you're thinking, Zel, but I don't believe they were investigating the village!"
Zelgadiss didn't have much to say, but to his delight if he even did say something he would have been blocked off by Gourry's next words. "Watch out!" Gourry pushed Lina out of the way and Zelgadiss ran with him.
The wagons that the travelers had come in were being pulled by stampeding horses and heading right for the three friends. Lina jumped out from behind Gourry. "Dale Brando!"
Before her spell hit her target, the wagons vanished into the air and were gone. Lina, Zelgadiss, and Gourry were now staring at a blank space in the desert. The next few minutes were silent. Then Gourry spoke up. "What in the world just happened?"
"I don't know," Zelgadiss sighed. "But I'm going to bed." Since Amelia was in Sasheem's wagon, he decided to take this as an opportunity to go to sleep all alone. He figured Amelia could come in whenever she wanted and he would already be asleep.
Lina and Gourry were left alone still looking into the blank space. Gourry rocked back on his heels in boredom and decided to put up a suggestion. "Wanna' go bed?"
Lina blushed and punched the blond in his face. "You stay out of the wagon until I'm done changing and in bed! ALONE IN BED!"
"I never said I wanted to sleep with you!" Gourry yelled rubbing his face. "How am I supposed to know when you're done changing anyway? Why don't you just let me come in, I won't look."
Lina turned a full shade of red in her face. "I'll yell for you! Now stay out here!" She trudged off to the wagon and slammed the door shut behind her.
Zelgadiss finished getting ready to go to sleep. He folded his clothes and put them away in a drawer he found in the wagon. As he folded his last piece of clothing he mentally grumbled to himself. 'I really have to make up my mind,' he thought as he folded his boxers and put them next to his briefs. It was one of his more personal problems. Another thing he could try to sort out in life, as if he didn't have enough.
Before he closed the drawer, he saw another drawer opened underneath his. He closed the top drawer he had put his clothes in and looked in the slightly open drawer underneath. 'What is this?' he asked himself, slowly opening the drawer a little more. He felt blood run up into his face as he saw Amelia's clothes neatly folded in the drawer. Just his luck that her underwear and bras were on the top.
The Chimera stayed frozen looking at her belongings for a moment. He didn't even take into consideration what he was doing. To him, the baby blue lacey bra was what caught his eyes the most and made him stay planted in one place.
'What kind of pervert am I?!' he mentally slapped himself and slammed the drawer shut. 'I will not turn into Gourry, I will not turn into Gourry...' His mind yelled at him to go to bed and go NOW. Zelgadiss let go of the drawer's handles and marched over to the bed in the back. The one that was not close to the drawer. The one that was not close to the drawer the had Amelia's light blue lacey bra in it.
"Shut up!" Zelgadiss yelled, even though no one was in the room. He grabbed the pillow on his bed and pushed it in his face. 'Think about anything! Anything but that cute lacey and bra and those--you're thinking about it, stop!' Zelgadiss wished to every God he had not seen that. Mostly because he felt that thinking about it would make him a pervert and he did not want to be one.
Pushing the pillow back down on the bed, then pulling the covers up and over, Zelgadiss growled to himself as he got into bed. 'Just think about that dream you keep having, just think about the dream,' he told himself.
He turned over and blew out a candle that was beside him on a bedstead and left two smaller candles on for Amelia.
Amelia took a deep breath and let it out. The whole time she had kept asking Sasheem questions about Queen Mab. Some she even found herself repeating. Sasheem looked at Amelia with curiosity. "Amelia, I think it's fine that you are interested in Queen Mab, but you have been asking me questions about her for quite a while now." She drew a closer look at Amelia. "Are you sure this is all you are here for, because I don't get that feeling."
Amelia had asked Sasheem to talk with her for a different reason but at the same time she kept avoiding it. "I...did come for a different reason," she said shamefully. "I just wanted to make sure that I was thinking about this the right way."
"About what, Amelia?" Sasheem said, suddenly changing to a different tone of voice. "You can ask me anything, really! I mean, when you really think about it...we are cousins removed several times. So we can think of each other as family! What is wrong?"
Amelia smiled when she heard Sasheem talk about them being cousins. "Well, okay," she started. The Princess gathered up her thoughts and brought her head up. "You know how me, Lina-san, Gourry-san, and Zelgadiss-san, came her through the Forest of Spirits?" Sasheem nodded. "Well," Amelia blushed. "E-ever since that night we spent in the forest...I've been having this strange repeating dream every single night."
Sasheem sat up straight. "A repeating dream?" Amelia nodded. "Are by chance thinking that Queen Mab might have something to do with this repeating dream?" Another nod. "Well can you tell me what the dream is about? I won't tell anyone, I swear."
Amelia blushed a little more. She knew she would have to eventually. "Well, I can't fully remember it, so I'm really sorry."
"That's fine," Sasheem waved off. "Just go on."
"Okay. What basically happens is, um," Amelia turned very red in her face. "M-me and Zelgadiss-san are in the woods. And, well I'm not sure why we are there but we are." Amelia began to pull at her skirt slightly. "And Zelgadiss-san, well he starts to yell at me and tells me to 'shut-up' and accuses me of sayings things--but I didn't say any of those things, and that's what's weird!" She quickly added. The tension began to build up in her. "And then he suddenly gets very mad and pushes me up against a tree and is yelling at me!"
"Amelia, take it east." Sasheem quickly put her hand on Amelia's shoulder. The Princess was becoming nervous, her tense face was showing it.
"Well, he begins yelling at me and I seem very scared and, well I just can't remember what happens from there." Amelia went into a moment of thought. "Oh wait, he punches the tree next to me and I remember he just seems very sad." Amelia took a few minutes to herself and hugged her body. "I'm just not sure if it is just a dream," she moaned. "It seems so real."
Sasheem drew back into her seat after patting Amelia on the shoulder a few times. "Amelia, I need you to try and remember some things for me. I want to ask you a few questions."
Amelia slowly released her grip around her body and nodded. "Okay."
"You and Zelgadiss are in this dream, only you two right?"
"Yes," she said blushing a little.
"I know that the four of you went through the Forest of Spirits to come here, so was there any point in that time that maybe you and Zelgadiss were alone?"
Amelia tried to remember the time they had in the forest. "There was one time," she suddenly recalled. "Me and Zelgadiss-san were out in the forest getting some branches to make a fire and then these Fairies came and toyed with us,"
"Now we are starting to get somewhere," said Sasheem. Amelia just looked very confused. "I'm not making any promises, Amelia. But if the fairies were around this could be a trick of theirs. Zelgadiss wouldn't yell at you for any reason, so my best guess is that this is a trick. In your dream you were alone with Zelgadiss in the Forest of Spirits, and in real life you were alone with him in the forest as well."
"But what does that mean? How do I stop this?!"
Sasheem leaned back in her chair and held her chin in her hand. "Well I'm sorry to say that I am not positive at how to stop it, but I do have two ideas. One thing is for sure, it is no mistake that this is happening. I think you may have been on the right trail of this being a visit from Queen Mab, no matter how rare that really is."
With her theories in order, Sasheem leaned in to eye Amelia. "One possibility is that this could be a dream of something that really happened and Mab is making you remember it. If that is true, then Zelgadiss should be having the same dream. In the incident of this happening, if you and Zelgadiss talk this out, my guess is that the both of you can put two and two together and the memory should come back. You see, the Fairies could have made you forget that incident ever happened and are now making you remember it. Why they would do that I don't know."
Amelia shuddered. "But to do that, I would have to tell Zelgadiss-san," She choked. "That I'm dreaming about him."
"That is my best guess," the Gypsy sighed. "My last possible guess for getting this cured is a difficult skill that I have learned in the past but never used. It is a meditation technique that is supposed to let a person speak with Queen Mab. The only thing, hardly anyone ever uses it and most times it doesn't work or people are known to get trapped in their mind and not be able to come back to conscience. At least these are for cases that people have just been greedy and want to speak with Mab, in your case I am almost one hundred percent sure that this is her doing, so she may talk to you."
"I'm not to sure I want to do that one," Amelia mumbled, backing up in her seat slightly.
Sasheem grunted and crossed her legs in her chair and leaned her elbow on one leg and placed her head in her palm. With her two detailed suggestions out of the way she threw in her final result. "Well then all I can tell you is to duke it out and see if it goes away. Maybe it's supposed to be a sign of something, but I highly doubt that. How many nights has it been now? Four? Five? I think four, and this is night five. Whichever it is, I find it odd to have it go on that long."
"I know," Amelia whispered.
The Gypsy gazed at the worrisome girl and stood up. She took Amelia's hands and helped her up from the chair. "Amelia, I think if you told Zelgadiss he would understand. Really, I do." Amelia shrugged and let her hands fall to her side in defeat. "Even as cold as he can act, he wouldn't be offended or mad."
"He really is nice," Amelia pondered.
Sasheem folded her arms and spoke matter-of-factly. "He just may be having the same dream, and maybe if you do tell him it will all end." If Amelia could see the Gypsy's eyes she would see that she was winking. "Maybe this is all being done for a reason."
Amelia winced at Sasheem's words. "Wh-what reason could this possibly have?!"
The Gypsy only replied with a shrug. "It was just an idea." As Amelia headed for the door Sasheem realized she had one more thing to say. "Amelia,"
"Yes?"
"Will you be okay tonight? You know that you most likely will have that dream. You can stay here if you want."
"No, I'll be fine. That you, Sasheem-san." Already Amelia felt comfort by being in the same area as everyone else. She even got the sense that Sasheem was really watching her back more then she knew. Final good-byes over with, Amelia headed out the door.
~)*(~
Zelgadiss shot open his eyes and quickly sat up in bed. He took one minute to look at his surroundings. 'It's that wagon,' he said, trying to calm himself down mentally. Zelgadiss rubbed his temple slowly trying to remember why he had just broken out into a cold sweat and almost jumped out of his bed.
It all came back to him; he was having that dream again. The one where he kept hearing Amelia's voice all around him, spitting out comment after comment about his frightening appearance. Zelgadiss grimaced at the horrible thought. It was even getting to him through his dreams. The Chimera didn't even have to think about what happened next in the dream because he already knew. It was like every other night; he heard the melodious voice of Amelia say painful things to him and then he threw her against a tree and yelled at her. No, he attacked her. Then he watched her cry out every ounce of her fear.
Zelgadiss leaned his head against the back wall in thought. 'If I go back to sleep, I know I will just dream about it again,' he mused. The Chimera unknowingly closed his eyes as he sat in the silence. As much as he didn't want to sleep, his body was demanding it. Zelgadiss was physically and mentally tired. Not just because of the fact that he was awake in the middle of the night, but he was tired of waking up each night to the same dream. The same dream that left image of terrified innocence and words that hurt him run through his mind. They stayed there and let him think about them until he either fell asleep again or stayed up until the crack of dawn and only get one hour of rest.
Zelgadiss heard his mind begin to yell at him to open his eyes. Obeying his conscience, Zelgadiss open his eyes to the dark room. His vision had already adjusted to the lighting around him. He could make out the mirror and its small amount of moonlight that bounced off of it and hit the floor, making a spotlight. It was then that he realized the candles had burnt out. 'How long was Amelia out for?' he wondered.
His sensitive hearing picked up footsteps outside. The door was gently pushed open and then shut.
Amelia looked around the room. She could smell smoke in the air and let her gaze travel to find out where it was coming from. In the beam of moonlight, Amelia saw a thin stream of smoke twist and travel in the air. She let her eyes move down the stream to make out a pile of hardened wax dripping over a candleholder.
'He left a candle on for me?' she thought. The idea of Zelgadiss thinking of her made her heart flutter and her lips turn to a smile. Amelia looked to the back of the room at her sleeping friend. His back was turned to her and the covers were pulled up over his neck.
Amelia took a few steps closer and leaned in whispering. "Zelgadiss-san, are you awake?" She got no response and figured her was asleep; and in truth, the Chimera had fallen back asleep. She took her last steps in to get right by Zelgadiss and leaned over his sleeping body. His breathing was hard and Amelia could make out a drop of sweat that twinkled in the moonlight and ran down his blue skin.
'What's wrong with him?' Amelia became worried and ran over in her mind whether she should wake him up or let him sleep.
)*(
"You have no right, to be crying!" He barked.
"Zelgadiss-san, what's wrong with you?!"
"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?" He pulled back his fist and pounded it in the tree, hardly an inch from her face. Amelia let out quick gasp and froze. The chimera could see her breathing hard and sense every ounce of fear in her body. Her pupils were dilated and her mouth partially open. He got closer to her and yelled in her face. "You, ask ME 'what's wrong?'! How dense are you?! To say those things about me, and simply ask 'what's wrong?'!"
"Zelgadiss-san, are you awake?"
What kind of question was that? Zelgadiss brought up his heavy head and looked at Amelia.
)*(
Amelia had leaned over Zelgadiss again and whispered close to his face. "Zelgadiss-san, are you okay?"
)*(
Zelgadiss slowly opened his eyes. 'Is it morning?' He could hear a bird singing outside and felt a nice breeze blowing around him. He quickly sat up in bed and already knew something wasn't right. He was in a large king size bed covered in soft sheets. He looked at his arms and then pulled on the shirt he was wearing. Somehow he had gotten into blue silk pajamas. 'Okay, now where am I?' he thought.
It soon became clear to him. He was in the room he had stayed in when they were in Saillune. "Zelgadiss-san, are you okay?"
"What?" Zelgadiss turned around and saw Amelia standing by his bed. "Amelia?!" To his shock, Amelia was wearing a maids dress, complete with bonnet and frills. But what caught his attention was how the skirt was very short and the sleeves were like two puffs resting on her shoulders. "Amelia, what's going on?" he demanded. Amelia didn't answer, she only stood by his bedside smiling.
Zelgadiss then noticed Amelia holding a tray in her hands. On it was the most delicious breakfast he had ever seen that was on a silver plate. Zelgadiss then noted that all the silver wear was, well, shining silver. And here was Amelia serving him in a cute pink and white frilled maids outfit like he was a King. 'I don't deserve this!' he yelled at himself. The coffee in the mug began to smell really good and pulled at each of his senses, telling him to let Amelia do this. But the another part of his mind told him that this was wrong.
"Amelia, what are you doing?" he yelled. 'Shouldn't I be having that other dream?' he soon remembered.
The Princess, who was now a maid, put the tray down on Zelgadiss's lap and continued her happy smiling. Still bewildered, Zelgadiss looked around the room confused and had nothing to say.
)*(
Amelia watched as the Chimera's eyes seemed like they were trying to shut tighter. 'I can't stand to see him like this,' Amelia told herself. She put her face close to his and could hear his rapid breathing. Lifting a hand, she gently pushed back his thick bangs to get a better look at his face. The sweat was beginning to dry on his face and the moonlight kissed the rocks embodied around his eyes.
"Poor Zelgadiss-san," she whispered by his ear.
)*(
Amelia narrowed her eyes and leaned in close to the Chimera. "Poor Zelgadiss-san," she whispered close to his ear.
Zelgadiss gripped the sheets underneath him. "A-A-Amelia?!" He couldn't find it in himself to move, se he let the Princess do as she wanted. 'What kind of dream is this?' Zelgadiss soon thought his heart would fly out of his chest as Amelia's warm fingers touched his face and pushed his bangs out of the way. He noticed her warm breathing against his cheek and felt his mind go into a daze.
)*(
Amelia leaned in closer. She knew what she was doing and felt not regret in her actions. Slowly, she leaned closer and put her warm lips on his cheek and gaze the sleeping Chimera a soft kiss. To her delight, when she pulled back she saw the features of his face relax. His breathing became calm and low, and the hand that was clutched to the sheet had left go and now laid flat on the bed.
Amelia wasn't blushing, just smiling and feeling good. Now feeling that her sense of duty was done, she quietly walked over to her dresser to change for bed. Somehow the dream that she knew she would have that night didn't seem so bad at the moment.
~)*(~
Ida let the blond elf fall to his knees on the sand. Dadan and Aksin came out of the wagons and stepped near the frustrated fortuneteller. In front of them was a large stone temple that held an odd shape to it. Some red rocks framed different parts of the temple while certain carvings could be made out in the stone. The entire temple seemed to have its own field, for a large wall of stone cropped it inside.
Ida tapped her foot impatiently and folded her arms. The two Gypsy men let their gazes travel around to look at the setting they were now in. By this time, the Elf had given up on trying to escape and let his head fall in despair.
Dadan felt his mouth growing dry and he beat one foot in the sand anxiously. "Hey, Ida. Do we have any water left?"
The fortuneteller huffed. "No, we don't. That is why I need Lestophel to get here now!"
"Patience, patience, Ida," a smooth voice entered.
"Huh?" Ida focused back on the temple's entrance and saw Lestophel enter the doorway. "I-I'm sorry, sir!" The comment didn't seem to matter to the man. Lestophel smiled and raised his forefinger to conjure a canteen of water in each of the Gypsy's hands.
"Where did these canteens come from?" Aksin blinked at the object down in his hands.
"Who cares, just drink!" Ida hissed.
As the three drank their water, Lestophel calmly walked over to the weak Elf, and kneeled on the sand in front of it. The creature's elflocks covered its face in this strands and hid his blue eyes. "Wouldn't you like some water?" Lestophel gently questioned. The Elf raised his head to meet Lestophel's mysterious gaze with his eyes of exhaustion. The Elf didn't move his lips of focused look. "Most of the Elves that come here put up more of a fight. Shall I just take this as a 'no'?"
"To be honest, he put up quite a bit of a fight," Aksin stated, taking a breath from trying to drink down as much water as he could.
"Really?" Said Lestophel, lifting up the chin of the Elf. He examined the face of the creature that didn't protest one bit as he moved his face from left to right. "Elegant creatures, Elves are."
"Yes, and powerful too," Zelas cooed, coming up from behind. Her sharp eyes grazed over the three travelers. "Ida, Dadan, Aksin, so nice of you to come back," she spoke in a sharp manner. Zelas gave a wicked smile to the Elf kneeling on the sand. "Well, looks like you three did your job. How is the Elven race, anyway?"
"I think you will be happy to know that the Elven Council is in Saillune right now," Ida said with a maniacal grin.
"Really? Well that is always good to know." Zelas pulled on her cigarette and let out a long stream of smoke. "It looks like Mikau is back," she bluntly stated.
Lestophel turned his gaze and saw the assassin sitting on a stone slightly far from a round pool of water off to the left. He seemed hypnotized, for some time being, by the reflection in the water and stared at it with his usual icy look. Lestophel lifted his head higher and called out to the man. "Mikau!" The assassin's attention was caught and he turned to his master. "How did it go?"
Dropping his gaze, Mikau slipped off the rock and slowly walked over to Zelas and the Gypsy King. "Not as planned," he said in a sour manner.
Lestophel let out a half groan half sigh and averted his look in a different direction. It was at this time that Xellos teleported in by the depressed assassin. "Hello, Mikau. When was the last time we met?"
Mikau gave Xellos a cold glare and turned around to go back to the pool of water. Lestophel called once more. "Mikau, hold it." The assassin stopped in his path. "You had better bring the Princess of Saillune back here. This time alive. And you know what we may have to do if you don't."
"Yes."
"We already have the first army heading out their way. They should be there by the morning, I suppose."
Zelas looked at Mikau, who was still planted in one place. "Mikau," she purred. "Is there anything else you wish to tell us?"
A memory came back to Mikau's mind. He turned around and looked at his two masters. "There was a Chimera with them."
"A Chimera?" Lestophel repeated. Mikau simply nodded and kept his gaze down. "I want to speak to you about this later. You may go."
Ida and her two friends exchanged looks. They were beginning to become a little confused. "Sir, we ran into the-" The fortuneteller kicked Dadan in the leg and stopped his sentence.
"Quiet," she hissed.
Zelas felt she was no longer needed, and with that decided, she turned to her servant. "Well, Xellos, you are just in time." Zelas gave a kinder smile to Lestophel, and he returned her gaze and nodded.
Xellos smiled at both of them and then turned his smirk down at the Elf on the ground. The blond Elf now looked up to the two Mazoku and tears dripped form his eyes in steaming streams. "Please! Don't!" The Elf felt a cold chill run up his spine as he struggled with the ropes around his wrists. "Don't take me in there!" He begged. Zelas and Xellos both teleported away, taking the Elf with them.
The rest watched them go off. Lestophel glared back at the three Gypsies and sent a shiver up their spines this time. "If you see them," he spat. "Get the Princess to me alive. Only if you see them, that is." He reached behind his vest and tossed a bag of coins to Ida. "Your pay."
Lestophel turned around and walked back to the stone temple. As he breezed by, he came by Mikau and stopped. "You said they had a Chimera?"
"Yes."
The matter was thought on for a moment. "So there still are Chimeras," the Gypsy King mused. "Mikau, will you be able to get the Chimera here, or should I send someone else?"
Not wanting his fat at stake, Mikau went for the job. "I can get him here. Do you still want the Princess?"
"Yes, but let us see this Chimera as well. I want him in here no less then two days. If you get him here sooner, we can look into the deal for a sooner approach."
"As you want."