It's always been like this, Lina thought gloomily as she sipped on her luke-warm punch. I go to a party with a vision of dancing all night in some handsome man's arms, with all the rest of the guys in the room fawning over me. Then I get there, and I end up standing against the wall all night. Covertly, she scanned the ballroom for Zelgadis. The ball had begun only about fifteen minutes ago, but he'd disappeared into the garden within the last few minutes, claiming he needed to check something out. It was probably just an excuse to get away, but truthfully, she couldn't blame him; she'd get away too if she could. Unfortunately, there seemed to be something about her tonight that was attracting the weirdest people imaginable, and every time she tried to sneak out into the garden for a little fresh air, another one would get her attention just as she was about to leave. If I'm not able to get away soon, I'm going to start showing them what an enraged sorceress can do...
A cheery voice interrupted her thoughts, pulling her back to harsh reality. "Miss Lina, what are you doing all by yourself? And where did Mr. Zelgadis go? I thought he said he'd be here till the ball ended," Amelia asked, her blue eyes twinkling with excitement.
"Hi Amelia. He...uh...slipped off to...get...get a snack for me," Lina lied badly, laughing and scratching the back of her head with embarrassment. I'd better find Zel, Lina thought worriedly, trying not to peak around Amelia to see if Zelgadis was nearby.
The princess's cheery face went down a notch, and she asked in a more solemn tone, "He didn't sneak off, did he? Our deal was that he'd be here for the party if he wanted the information I have."
The information she has...? Oh yeah, now I remember. If Zelgadis comes to the ball, then Amelia tells him about a possible cure for his chimera state. "He wouldn't sneak off with that hanging over his head," Lina smiled. Usually that was true; he'd do just about anything to get a cure. She wondered what had compelled him to risk it.
"Hm...I wonder... Oh well. Tell me if you see him, will you?" Amelia requested, already turning her attention to a threesome of round, red-faced nobility. After Lina agreed, Amelia walked off, looking very regal and cheerful as she did. If I hear her laugh like Naga does, I'm running for the hills, Lina thought grimly as she turned and walked toward the garden doors. For a moment, she waited for someone to call out her name and pull her back into conversation, but miraculously all she heard was loud chatter, and she took advantage of the fact to slip away.
The garden was as beautiful at night as it was during the day. She sighed in relief as she felt the evening's stresses lift off her shoulders, and lifted her head to catch the soothing night air on her face. Not letting herself think about anything for that half a minute did wonders for her stress level, lowering it to a rate where she could start to see how foolish it was to worry about being a wallflower all night. Her mind turned to a pleasant image of Zelgadis dancing with her in the ballroom while all the nobles looked on in awe. But...how come I see myself dancing with Zel? Why not some faceless courtier, or Gourry? Why Zel? With a frown, she added mentally, And how come I feel sad when I think of him leaving after the ball? She sighed, and muttered out loud, "Probably just because I know I'll be bored out of my mind again, and he's a friend. It couldn't be anything more."
There was a hot breeze against her cheek, making her turn in that direction, curious as to what was it was. To her amazement, she saw a huge, round ball of pure fire about two times the size of Lina's head heading straight for her. She grimaced in disgust.
"Amateurs," she scoffed lightly. "Freeze Arrow!" Lina raised her hands above her and closed her eyes to concentrate. In her hands grew a spear-like arrow made of pure ice, as cold as a winter storm and twice as deadly. She opened her eyes to see the fireball coming in rapidly, and threw the arrow as fast as she could at the target. The two forces met and clashed, ending with a large, ringing explosion that rocked the ground and made it shudder.
Unfortunately, the fireball was only a distraction, as she realized too late. At her back was an even deadlier threat; a large group of lightning bolts were charging straight for her, and were only a few seconds away from impacting on her body. She turned around to face it, realized she didn't have enough time to move out of the way of the spell, and closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to watch it hit her. A moment later, she felt a hard force slam into her body and push her down onto the ground, knocking the breath out of her.
Lina opened her eyes curiously, wondering why there wasn't more pain, and saw the answer immediately...Zelgadis. Quickly she deduced that he'd come just in time to push her onto the ground, thus saving her from the digger bolts' nasty shock. "Zel...?"
"Are you all right? I saw you deflect a fireball, and realized you wouldn't see the digger bolts coming at you from behind until too late," he explained unnecessarily.
"I guessed as much," she scoffed. But she was noticing their position on the ground, so her answer came off nicer than she'd intended it. Zelgadis's hands were on either side of her head, and his chest was just above her own, with his legs off to the right of her body, almost touching hers. If someone saw us like this, they'd think...we'd... A blush crept onto her cheeks as she thought this. "Thank you, Zelgadis. Now will you get off of me?!" Lina said forcefully, trying to ignore her disturbing thought.
He gave a small sigh of relief and pushed himself away, standing up as he did so with a clear, graceful movement. Lina quickly followed suit, and turned back towards the ballroom, her face grimly set at having to go back.
"Well, let's get this over with, and fast!" Lina muttered, stomping off toward the lights of the ballroom.
A gentle but firm hand on her shoulder stopped her cold. "What?" she asked Zelgadis rudely.
"If you're going to impress the nobility, you'll have to act like you enjoy the ball. As it is, you're acting more like you're going back to an unpleasant funeral," Zelgadis pointed out logically.
"But...but those people are all so...stuck up...and arrogant!" she protested. "How am I supposed to have fun?"
"Dance, laugh a lot, pretend you're listening to the most witty and enthusiastic conversationalist in the world," he suggested. He sighed and added, "What we really need right now is a chance to show off your magical skills to them. You'd be surprised how much they respect magic."
She grinned and asked mischievously, "I don't suppose whatever tried to attack us just now is going to come back?"
He glanced at her in surprise, and mussed, "You know, you might be right...and it'll be the perfect chance..."