Lina Inverse, sorcery genius, enemy of all bandits, and one of the biggest food lovers of all time, was bored out of her skull. I thought palaces were supposed to be fun, she thought sourly, looking up from the large, lengthy book in her hands. She let her gaze wander around her aesthetic surroundings, taking in the beautiful gardens just below the balcony she was sitting on, the scent of roses and lilies floating on the air, and just the general perfect feeling of the garden itself.
Gardens aren't supposed to be that perfect. I bet some of those flowers are fake, the sorceress guessed rather cynically. It wasn't often she was willing to stay put when she was bored. Usually she'd just fireball people or things till she got some entertainment in. But these were special circumstances. Her annoying, high-class friend, Princess Amelia wil tesla Seyruun, had invited her to a ball at Seyruun's palace just a little bit less than a week ago by means of a magical messenger. Lina had immediately wanted to go, but Gourry, her companion since she met him three years ago, when she was fifteen, had just as quickly refused to go. She'd been very disappointed, and tried to get him to agree to go, but he had a strong aversion to ballrooms for some reason he couldn't remember. At last they agreed it was a perfect opportunity to take some time off and have a vacation, just separately. He decided to go and visit Sylphiel in the distant city of Sairaag, while Lina went off to the party at Seyruun, and he'd come and meet up with her again in Seyruun in two months time.
So here she was, sitting in a wonderful room with a gorgeous view, and all she wanted to do was leave as soon as possible. It can't be natural to want to leave such a peaceful place. A side of her mouth moved up in a smirk as she thought, But I've never been very peaceful, have I?
Looking back at the book in her hands, she read for a few more minutes, trying to keep her attention focused on it, but without much success. Although she liked books, this particular one was dull, and her mind began to wander whenever she read it for any length of time. Another factor was that for the past day or two since she'd arrived, all she'd done was hang around the palace, not beating up any bad guys, not desperately trying to outwit an evil arch-nemesis or a demon, not doing anything that she usually did. It went against the grain, and she liked the tranquility less and less by the minute. Her naturally high energy was screaming for a release.
She got up from her comfortable chair on the balcony and stood at the railing, resting her arms against the top of it and leaning her body against the railing so she could look down with greater ease. A part of her saw the lush gardens, while another part of her churned and whirled with thoughts, for the ball was tonight. After that, she could simply entertain herself by kicking a few dozen bandit gang's butts, or perhaps find a short adventure to go on, and wait for Gourry to come back. Not that he was her keeper or anything, but he was a nice traveling companion, and she didn't want to lose him just yet.
If she didn't go completely insane before the ball, that is. As is was, she thought it a distinct possibility. Everything about this place was way too peaceful, way too tranquil. Nothing was supposed to be this boring; it went against the laws of nature! It was like being in the eye of a hurricane, or waiting for the other shoe to drop, and the longer the boredom lasted, the deadlier the hurricane became, and the bigger the shoe got. Leaving all the similes (or metaphores?) aside, she just wished something would happen, plain and simple. Anything! A giant rampaging the city, a demon on the loose, a horde of trolls; anything but this boredom!
As if her wish was granted, something did happen, though it came in the most unlikely form imaginable. A figure, graceful as a cat and strong as a giant, jumped onto her balcony, landing in a half-crouch which the figure quickly coiled out of, standing up straight and looking at Lina with perceptive, familiar dark blue eyes. If she hadn't already been holding onto something, she probably would have fallen over in shock, and she couldn't quite keep a surprised gasp from escaping her mouth. The person wore a long-sleeved, turtle-necked, cream colored tunic that reached his thighs, and ordinary, cream colored pants. His tunic held a hidden fold of cloth that served him at the moment as a mask covering up part of his nose and the rest of the lower part of his face. Around his waist were two, dark brown belts, one of which was tightly cinched at his waist, while the other was loose, hanging at an angle on his hips. From one belt hung a scabbard containing a beautiful sword decorated with gold and silver, and he wore plain, gray shoes on his feet. On his hands he wore wrist-length gloves, although the cloth that was supposed to cover his fingers wasn't there; instead, the gloves ended just a little ways up on his fingers. The finishing touch was the cream colored cloak with a light, grayish-turquoise interior. Attached to the cloak was a piece of cream colored cloth that encircled his shoulders, ending just above his elbows, which came together in the front, and had a hood as well that he was using at the present. Clasped to the front of the cloak, on the strip of cloth, was a large, round, red jewel set in silver, with two, black strings tied in a bow coming down from it. His skin, from what she could see of it, was a light blue, dotted with dark gray stone, while his hair gave off a metallic sheen and was light lavender in color.
"Z...Zelgadis?!" she cried, eyes wide in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"
"I was invited to the ball for tonight," he explained simply, crossing his arms in front of him. "It's nice to see you too, Lina," he added calmly, a hint of hurt mockery in his voice.
"Well, I'm not used to guys suddenly dropping onto my balcony," she muttered, unsuccessfully trying to keep a blush back. A small amount of pink crept onto her cheeks, and she hastily hid it by turning her head away from him.
He raised an eyebrow, for his keen sight had seen the slight blush, and asked rudely, "So what about Gourry? Hasn't he ever come in unannounced?"
Outrage filled her, quickly dissolving her embarrassment, and she responded bluntly, "He comes in normally, through the door! And he'd never come in without my approval first!" She looked at him again, and noticed for the first time how intimate this could seem to outsiders. Usually when men climbed onto someone's balcony (or in this case, probably levitated over), it implied the woman on that balcony and him were lovers, or at the very least, lovers-to-be. For a moment or two that was all her horrified brain could think of, churning it over and over. In the back of her mind, another thought intruded. Would she be worrying about this if Gourry was involved? Probably not.
She cleared her throat, trying to work through her paranoia and her embarrassment, and asked, "So, what convinced you to come? I know you, Zelgadis. You hate crowds and avoid them whenever possible. How did Amelia convince you to come?"
Zelgadis's expression was one of unruffled calm, from what she could make out through the cloth mask he still had over the lower part of his face and the hood partially hiding his eyes. He shrugged and admitted, "Amelia found a possible cure for my chimera state, and her price was that I attend tonight's party. I guess she wanted a friend or two at the ball, so she invited us." Just as dead serious, he added, "Although I'm surprised she invited us. We usually end up destroying things when we team up."
Lina chuckled and agreed, mentioning, "Could you have imagined the outcome if Gourry had decided to come as well? Suddenly I'm glad he's off visiting Sylphiel." Zelgadis nodded, still calm, though she thought he might be smiling a little.
Becoming more serious, she said, "I'm glad you came, though." He glanced sharply at her, eyes searching for something, his own eyes unreadable. "I've been bored out of my wits waiting for the ball to start!" she elaborated cheerfully, her mood swinging from serious to silly. Without thinking, still stuck in her silly mode, she grabbed one of his hands and lead him into her room. "Now I won't be quite as bored! Anything has to be better than this peace and tranquility." Still leading him, she added, "I'll show you all of the palace! It'll give me something to do."
"Uh...Lina...I was hoping to get settled in first..." he answered uneasily, letting her drag him along. They walked into the hallway, and she promptly turned to the left.
Turning her head to look at him over her shoulder, she smiled cutely and said, "No protesting! Don't worry, you'll be entertained, I promise. Besides, I'm not going to let you leave me all alone and bored out of my wits again, and you don't have any luggage, so you don't need to get settled in."
He sighed, knowing it was useless to argue with her when she was this determined, and simply let her pull him along. He was thankful he hadn't removed his hood or mask yet, for like this, he still appeared sort-of human at first glance, while without it covering him up, it became obvious he was anything but human. Damn you Rezo...the chimera thought darkly, swiftly becoming depressed.
Without warning, he felt an elbow knock him on top of his head, creating a slightly painful spot. He came out of his gloomy contemplation to look at a slightly mad Lina. She was rubbing her elbow as if it pained her, and glaring at him. Why, he wondered, was she mad at him?
"You were getting gloomy on me, Zel! No getting depressed around me; I strictly forbid it!" she said commandingly, as if she had just read his mind. Well that explained her anger. Her expression brightened as an idea occurred to her, and she grabbed him by the hand again and started off down the hallway.
Warily wondering what had just passed through her mind, he reluctantly let her drag him along as she had before. Lina was stubborn as an ox when she got a notion she liked, and it could be very, very difficult to dissuade her from her chosen course of action. What did she want to show him? The dungeon?
"Come on, hurry up! We're almost there!" Lina said, eyes shinning in merriment. He's never going to forgive me for this...But hey, he needs a little excitement in his life! Ah, there it is now!
"...The throne room...? Lina...?" he asked, praying that she wasn't about to do what he feared she was. "You're not going to...?"
The throne room doors opened when the guards saw her. He noted that they had traces of fear on their faces, and sweat rolled off their faces. He correctly guessed they'd had an encounter with her before.
All that fled from his mind as the massive doors swung open, revealing a large, white, marble room. Columns of gold and white marble stone stood close to the walls, with gold ribbon streaming from column to column. Courtiers with beautiful, sparkling clothing stood facing the throne, where Prince Philionel sat, grinning stupidly at everyone, looking like a particularly ugly bandit in the process, and wild, black hair spiked out despite all the royal hairdresser's ministrations. He wore a white tunic, embroidered with gold thread, and white tights over a massive, muscled, giant-like body. Phil, as all his friends called him, looked over at his daughter, Princess Amelia, who was standing next to him.
Amelia herself was quite lovely looking at the moment, and there was a royal grace and maturity in her bearing that hadn't been there three years ago. He doubted she klutzed out half as much anymore. She had smooth, black hair that curled outward, large, blue eyes, and she seemed to be taller, with bustier proportions and a slender body. The princess had on a plain, gold tiara, and a pink, silk dress that poofed out unnaturally at the waist.
He heard Lina mutter under her breath, so low only his chimera hearing enabled him to catch it, "...looks more like Naga every time I see her..." He suppressed a grin, wondering who this "Naga" was.
Amelia looked up, and suddenly her eyes went wide. She smiled and picked up her skirts, running towards them. "Miss Lina! Is that Mr. Zelgadis beside you?" Then again...I might be wrong about the maturity... Zelgadis thought, trying hard not to shake his head in disbelief.
Lina smiled cheerfully, and waved at the princess. "Hello again! I thought you'd want to know that Zelgadis arrived."
Shaking his head in embarrassment and fighting an overwhelming urge to blush, he waited for Amelia to reach them. She stopped before them, huffing and puffing. She needs to exercise more, Zelgadis thought in the back of his mind. "Hello Amelia," he greeted solemnly, bowing expertly at her.
She giggled in her silly way and curtsied, responding, "It's nice to see you again, Mr. Zelgadis." She stepped forward and gave him a quick, brotherly hug, utterly shocking everyone at the court and causing a unified gasp to go forth from the crowd of courtiers. Too stunned to do anything but go with it, Zelgadis allowed her to hug him, blushing furiously all the while. Lina was blushing as well, and for once, she was completely speechless. The only one who wasn't having a seizure over the unexpected turn of events was Prince Phil.
"Zelgadis! So, you came after all!" he greeted jovially, waving at them from his seat and laughing.
"Daddy, they're here!" She turned around and faced the crowd of courtiers. The courtiers, on their part, were whispering back and forth agitatedly, completely scandalized by her behavior. Gathering her courage, she addressed the court, saying in a loud, regal voice, "I would like to present my traveling companions from three years ago, Lina and Zelgadis. Lina is an expert at Black Magic, and Zelgadis is an expert in Shamanist Magic."
There was a collective sigh of relief. So the two were only traveling companions, huh? Good; that meant the man...Zeldigas?...Zeldagis?...wasn't a possible love interest; he was just a good friend of the princess's. In the back, one courtier in particular was watching the proceedings with interest. He was grinning from ear to ear, eyes hidden in shadow.
Zelgadis, now you'll pay for my humiliation from the last time we met... the sinister man thought, chuckling. He turned around and headed into a side hallway, plans swirling in his head. He had much to do before the ball tonight if he was going to exact his revenge properly.
Meanwhile, Zelgadis and Lina were considering beating a hasty retreat, because Amelia had gone back to her place by her father, so she wasn't there to shield them from the court. It wasn't pleasant having the eyes of the entire court on them, as they were finding out. Zelgadis glanced over at Lina, wondering if she wanted to leave as badly as he did. From her furtive glancing around the court, and the way she had backed up a step, he guessed she was regretting her decision to announce his presence before the whole court.
"Lina," he whispered silently, so low only she would hear it, "care to get out of here?" Not surprisingly, she nodded and glanced over his way.
"Courtiers are okay, but not when they're all staring at you as if you're a rotten hunk of meat they'd like to throw in the nearest trashcan," Lina whispered back.
"Eh...?" he frowned, confused. He pulled his attention back to the crowd, and listened to what they were whispering, deftly applying his chimera hearing while he did so.
"...what vulgar clothing..."
"...her taste is abominable! I can't believe she'd wear such flashy clothing when pastels are all the rage..."
"...Does that man...um, Zeldigas?...have blue skin, or is it just me?..."
"...I can't believe Amelia would travel with a girl who's so short, skinny, and ugly..."
"...Princess's shouldn't travel with peasants like that!..."
"...are they invited to the party tonight? Yes? That means I'll be forced to be polite..."
"...that girl has no breasts, I'd swear! She could pass for a boy if she wanted to! And she's so short..." Frowning at their descriptions, he glanced back over at Lina. It wasn't often she was submitted to the cruel tongues of others, and if she did, she usually ignored it or fireballed them. Unfortunately, this time it was different. If she fireballed them, she'd probably be killed by the guards, and besides, they were nobility! Nobility wasn't wrong about that stuff...were they? Zelgadis knew they were often wrong about such things, but Lina hadn't had much experience with people who were rich and had extremely high opinions of themselves.
Lina felt like sinking into a hole and disappearing. Either that or she was going to Dragon Slave the whole place out of anger. How dare they talk about her like that! She was the sorcery genius, Lina Inverse! Only her sister, Luna, was allowed to scare her! If they continue talking like that about me and Zel, I'm to get very, very angry...Humph, I'm already very, very angry!...It's just that...well...they're nobility! Amelia and her father never acted like royalty, so I treated them the same as I would everyone else, but these people in their court, they have the bearings of nobility, and they've certainly dressed like it. Maybe they're right; perhaps I'm ugly and have bad taste... NO! I can't give in to their way of thinking...but I've always been taught that nobility are right... I know they're not, but maybe they are in this case...
Zelgadis saw her expression go from incredibly angry to depressed, and felt like cursing. He could handle her when she was angry; he'd done that on plenty of occasions, but depression was another matter altogether. It took a lot to get Lina depressed...like a horde of blood-thirsty courtiers...so he'd never seen her like this. Normally, she was sure she was one of the most beautiful women on the planet. He wasn't sure what to do when she was like this.
"Hey...Lina..." he whispered. She turned and looked dully at him, much to his horror. If anything, her expression should be flashing with annoyance and anger, and there should have been a fireball on her fingertips. "Let's get out of here." She nodded, eyes becoming hopeful. He sidled up to her, put an arm around her thighs, another arm around her waist, scooped her up into his arms, and ran like hell, using all the demonic speed in his possession to beat a hasty retreat out of that place. He ran down hallways, and past servants who felt a cold breeze as he ran by, but saw nothing. Lina kept a scream from coming out through force of concentration and closing her eyes. It was rather disconcerting to see hallways go by as a blur. She gripped his shoulders, and lay her head against his chest to keep herself from looking where they were going. Finally they stopped just outside of her bedroom, much to Lina's relief, and she slid out of his arms, ignoring the urge to simply stay there.
Zelgadis asked her in a cold tone, "Why did you insist we go in there? If you'd really wanted to let Amelia know I was here, we could have done that after she got out of the great hall."
She noted the tone and flipped her hair behind her defiantly, responding, "I didn't know there'd be that many people in the great hall. The last time I went in there, she was pretty much alone. If I'd known the court was going to meet today, I would've avoided the place."
He raised an eyebrow and asked pointedly, "Didn't you know that resident nobility always meet with the King, Queen, Princes and Princesses before a ball?"
She shook her head, adding, "No. I've rarely had the opportunity to be around royal people, and I'm not royalty myself, so I don't know their customs." Something occurred to her, and she asked slyly, "So how did you know about it?"
Smoothly, he answered in the same cold tone, "I spent some time here before, looking through the library. Of necessity, I learned some of Seyruun's customs."
Deflated, Lina simply responded, "Oh." She sighed and sat down on the bed, murmuring, "I'm sorry about dragging you into the great hall. I didn't know all those courtiers would be there." Her mind, though, was already going back to the scene in the great hall, where she'd heard whispers that had shaken her to the core. Were they right about her? Was she really ugly, with no sense of style? She'd never thought so before, but she'd never had the opinions of nobility to worry about, either. In the back of her mind, she'd thought that perhaps she'd been invited to the ball because the nobility had wanted her to go, she, the famous Lina Inverse. Instead, it seemed they hadn't ever heard of her, and worse, though her...her...
A tear trickled down her face. She desperately felt like fireballing something, but common sense told her she'd never be able to pay for the damages.
Zelgadis watched her, trying to decide what to do to comfort her; he didn't have much experience with this sort of thing. Finally, he sat down on the bed and commented wryly, "Nobility isn't what you imagined it to be, is it? Just like Prince Phil wasn't what you thought he'd be."
Lina sniffled and nodded morosely. "Yeah. I thought all princes were supposed to have blond hair, blue eyes, be incredibly handsome, and ride on white horses." She gave a short crack of a laugh. "Well, Phil rides on a white horse, at least." She looked up at Zelgadis, and asked in a broken voice, "Am I really...ugly? Do I have bad taste?"
He sighed, cursing at the fates. Even when he'd been completely human, he hadn't dealt well with emotions, and now he was worse than before. He tended to blurt out what he was thinking if asked, and sometimes people didn't like that. Still, she needed reassurance. Perhaps she did deserve the truth; he was a terrible liar, anyway, and wouldn't convince her if he said something that he didn't believe.
"Lina, you are anything but ugly. Because you're pretty enough to show your real face and you don't need to use paints and oils to cover up blemishes, they get jealous of you. I swear to you, not a one of those women out there, besides Amelia, would dare show their real faces, without any makeup on. Even Amelia probably uses makeup," he admitted tenderly, wiping away the stray tear from her face. She sniffed, feeling better at his words.
"But what about my clothing?" she asked, getting worried again. She felt foolish, asking Zelgadis of all people these questions, questions she'd never thought about before. She'd been sure of the answers, until now.
The chimera next to her drew in a breath and pulled his hand away, leaning tensely back on the bed. Uh oh, she thought, frowning at him. That doesn't bode well...
It was time to choose his words well, while being truthful at the same time. "Although your taste isn't what people normally wear, it suits you. Unfortunately, different is generally bad when it comes to nobility. You prefer flashy, bright colors; they wear soft pastels. You want to wear tights and breeches; noble women only wear dresses that go down to their ankles or lower. You wear a tunic; the women wouldn't be caught dead without a bodice on." He shrugged, adding, "Amelia's a princess, so they don't dare openly criticize her, but you're just a traveling companion to them. Therefore, they don't try and hide their comments."
"...But why? Why did they criticize me like that? I've never met them before!" Lina nearly shouted, anger returning as her fears were soothed, ironically enough, by Zelgadis. She clenched her hands and squeezed her eyes tightly shut.
He shrugged casually. "They don't have anything better to do. You got bored being here just a day or two. Imagine their plight; they've been here most of their lives."
A look of terror crossed her face. "A lifetime...of this boredom? I'd go insane!"
He stood up, letting his face slip back into it's habitual calm expression. "So, now that that excitement is over, shall we go? You promised to show me the castle, and so far all I've seen is the great hall, interesting though that proved to be."
She smiled and stood up as well. "Thank you, Zel, for your kind words." Before she could talk herself out of it, she gave him a big hug, throwing her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest. She stepped away, and turned away, although not before she caught a beet-red blush on his cheeks, or before he caught the equally red blush on her cheeks.
"I-it's no trouble Lina," he gulped, slowly gaining back his normal calm as his heart stopped pounding and his blush receded.
A thought crossed her mind, and she confided to him after her blush disappeared, "I wish I could make the nobility regret sneering at me."
His eyes danced with mischief, and he couldn't help but return the sentiment. "So do I. Perhaps we'll be able to, too..."
Crossing her arms, she asked bluntly. "How? They weren't impressed with me before. How can we change that?"
"I have an idea..."