Amelia tossed violently in her sleep, plagued by that horrifying dream...the dream which was once reality. Icy darkness pressing in on all sides. The feeling of being helpless, the feeling of absolute and utter terror. And pain, so much pain...still secondary to the fear felt rushing through a battered body. It grew worse with each passing second, binds cutting sharply into the wrists that pulled at them. Glimpses of purple hair caught through tear-filled eyes.
"Ame-chan." The voice sliced like a knife through her murky mind, waking her from her sleep. "Ame-chan!" Her eyes flew open, a startled scream escaping her lips as she recognized the purple hair hanging over her again. But wait...this was different from her memory. The room was friendlier, more light eliminating the shadows. His purple hair was neater, not drenched in sweat, and the look in his eyes was one of concern rather than hard lust. Not the Xelloss from the memory.
He must have sensed her initial fear; his face was twisted into an odd expression. A combination of hurt and regret, something not often seen on the Trickster's face. It was as if he already knew what was going on. "What's wrong?"
Amelia was still shaking, desperately trying to calm herself. It didn't help that he was in such close proximity to her, nor that he wasn't wearing...well, anything. Which was more a distraction than a threat, especially considering their recent nighttime activities. She pulled away from him and sat up, trying to force a smile onto her face. "N-Nothing. I'm fine. It was just a nightmare."
There was a pause. "I see."
She tried to avoid the uncomfortable silence, his penetrating gaze, and quickly slid out of bed. "I...Razilee is probably already awake," she said hastily, throwing on a robe. "I'll go make sure she gets her breakfast."
Xelloss watched her disappearing figure with growing anger. Frustrated, he slammed his fist into the wall.
Amelia hurried through the dank hallway, a frown etched into her features. Why am I the one who feels bad? she wondered darkly. He made me have that memory. It's all his fault. I shouldn't care if I hurt him by reminding him of that. An image of the Mazoku's face flashed into her mind, his expression sad and regretful. Her frown deepened. But I do. She always hated to see that look on his face whenever she relived that horrible night, the look on his face almost worse than the memory. The first situation had hurt her body, but his expression hurt her heart.
That's all Mazoku are good for, Amelia thought furiously. Pain, pain, and more pain. And... she blushed. That was another problem. She kept trying to force herself to hate the Trickster, to loathe and despise him. Her raging hormones were making it nearly impossible. That and the fact he was taking care of their daughter. There was nothing Amelia wanted more than Razilee's happiness. And if Xelloss was making the child happy, she couldn't hate him.
The former princess poked her head into her daughter's room, taking in the surroundings with a critical eye. The place had been baby-proofed a long time ago, even though the child wasn't a baby anymore. Razilee grew at a faster rate than humans, due to her Mazoku heritage, and was nearly at the physical age of five, though only two years had passed since they'd gone to live at the Beastmaster's castle. The room itself shone with starts, a magic-induced representation of the night sky. The child liked that; it seemed to calm her. Sturdy toys and books lined the numerous wall shelves, playthings any child would enjoy.
Amelia crept over to the small bed at the far wall, expecting to find her violet-haired daughter curled up under a mass of soft blankets. However, the bed was empty. "Razilee?" Amelia chanted a small light spell and was dismayed to find the rest of the room unoccupied as well. Panicked, she hurried out the door and down the hall, cursing the large size of the Beastmaster's lair. Razilee could be anywhere. Hundreds of dangerous situations ran through her mind, not trusting any of the lesser Mazoku on the island.
She paused before a set of great mahogany doors, hearing laughter from within. Amelia was still timid about entering Zelas Metallium's audience chamber, even after two whole years. She always got the feeling she was under some sort of scrutiny when in Zelas's presence.
The laughter was louder now and it was most certainly Razilee's. Amelia pushed open the doors and slipped quietly into the chamber, trying not to call attention to herself. Her daughter was playing on the floor with several small furred creatures, which Amelia recognized as one of the island's litters of wolf pups.
Zelas glanced up when she came in, sharp ears and eyes picking her out of the shadows. "Good morning, Amelia," she greeted pleasantly, raising an eyebrow at the girl's attire. "Didn't bother to get dressed, I see. Busy night?"
Amelia blushed and tried not to meet the woman's eyes. "G-Good morning, Juuou-sama." She averted her gaze to the child on the floor. "Razilee."
Her daughter waved. "Hi, Mommy! Look at the baby wolfies! Aren't they cute?"
"Why, yes they are, Razzy!" a distinct male voice cooed from behind Amelia, recognition sending shivers up her spine. Xelloss was smiling beatifically at the child. His smile faded as he glanced questioningly at Amelia, who quickly looked away.
Zelas watched the exchange with a vague interest as an awkward silence settled over the room. It wasn't anything new; those two were always having problems. They just couldn't seem to work anything out. Most likely due to the nature of their relationship, Zelas supposed. They hadn't exactly gotten off to the best start. The Beastmaster wondered if she should have a talk with her servant about this. Even little Razilee could feel the tension in the air; she'd stopped playing and was giving Zelas a pleading look, begging her to break the silence.
Her priest beat her to it. "You wanted me for something, Juuou-sama?" he asked, turning his back on Amelia.
The golden-haired woman nodded absently. "There's a little matter I want you to take care of regarding Lina Inverse." Zelas glanced at the black-haired girl out of the corner of her eye, noting a piqued interest, and decided to continue her instructions mentally. No need for her to know about this mission. "You may go now, Xelloss. I will give you further details later."
The Trickster gave his master a grin. "As you wish, my Lady." He bent to give his daughter a quick kiss, completely ignoring his lover. "Bai bai, Razzy," he told her before phazing out.
Amelia's eyes immediately dropped to the floor. She'd felt that stab quite well. So well, in fact, that her aching heart made her want to cry. "I...I...forgot to do something," she sputtered as she backed out the door, tears already beginning to blur her vision.
Zelas watched her leave and made a little 'tsk' sound with her tongue. "Well, Razilee, I have some business to attend to, so the wolves will have to go home for now."
"No!" the child protested, disappointed written across her features. "Can't they stay a little longer? Please?" she implored.
Zelas hesitated for a moment, feeling a shred of understanding towards the child's connection with the wolf pups. "Well...just one," she finally conceded. "The others have to go back to their mother."
A big grin spread across Razilee's adorable face. "Thank you, Juuou-sama!!" She eyed the pups critically, deciding upon the small silver-colored one with brown eyes. The others disappeared as soon as she'd made her silent choice, surprising her for a second. She looked at the silver pup again. "I wish I knew what its name is."
"Why don't you ask him?"
Razilee blinked her blue eyes at the Beastmaster. "Ask? I don't speak...uh, whatever it is wolfies speak."
"Wolfish. And you don't need to know how to speak it to understand him."
"I don't?"
Zelas smiled. "Come here. I'll teach you, my little student." She patted the little girl on the head as she climbed into her lap, hugging the silver pup to her chest. "You see, all the wolves on this island belong to me. They are my brothers and sisters. The wolves understand me because we are linked by blood. All of my servants share this link. And since your daddy is one of my servants, you share it, too."
The blue-eyed child considered this. "So all I have to do is ask?"
"That's all. Why don't you introduce yourself?"
She looked skeptically at the wolf pup. "Hello. My name's Razilee."
Took you long 'nuff to figure this out, she heard/felt the pup's consciousness say. He sounded amused.
Razilee stuck her lower lip out in a pout. "Be quiet, you. S'not nice."
Forgive me then, your royal highness.
She ignored the sarcastic comment. "I'm beginning to wish I hadn't picked you, you know." Razilee climbed out of Zelas's lap at her suggestion and took the wolf pup out of the room. The Beastmaster had a lot of things to do, and she didn't want to be in the way. "What's your name?"
Daertal. He sounded proud of it. I'm named after my father.
She set the pup out in the hallway and plunked down in front of it. "Ne...can I ask you a question?"
Sure.
She hesitated. "Do you think we could be friends?"
The pup almost seemed to shrug, though he made no physical motion. Yeah, I guess. You seem like a nice enough kid.
"Gee, thanks." The little girl rolled her eyes upward.
Daertal grinned at this, tongue lolling out in a laughing manner. You wanna play a game, Raz? Let's see if you can catch me!
Razilee dashed after the pup. "Slow down!!! Daer..."
Xelloss's dealings with Lina Inverse were quite short this time; all he needed to do was persuade her to take a certain quest that would benefit his master's interests. It was kind of nice to see her and her companions again, especially since he took the opportunity to play a couple of tricks on them. Just like old times.
And just like old times, they yelled at him and repeatedly tried to beat him for being so annoying. Except this time there was no Amelia to shout justice speeches at him. She never did that anymore, he'd noticed. Not even a glimmer of that former justice spark left in her actions.
Her absence in the group was painfully obvious. Well, to them, at least. They had no idea where she was, or if she was even alive. It showed that they'd all gained a few gray hairs from that experience. Xelloss wondered how Prince Phil was dealing with his daughter's disappearance. He didn't really care about the prince, but he imagined the pain Philionel felt on the day Amelia left must have been quite delicious. In a Mazoku's opinion, anyway.
He didn't really feel like dropping in on Seiryuun to check out the situation, but he did leave his little 'friends' with something to mull over. Before his last disappearance, the Trickster gave them quite a shock. "I'll see you again sometime," he'd said. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot...Amelia says hi."
The purple-haired Mazoku whistled to himself as he passed through the halls of his master's lair, stopping at his bedroom door and entering. "Konnichiwa, Ame-chan," he greeted the black-haired girl. She didn't reply, but ignored his presence. She's still mad at me... Xelloss crept over to the bed where she sat and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck. Amelia responded with a violent shove and turned her back to him.
The Trickster's mouth quickly turned down in disapproval. He was not pleased with this sudden rejection, and it showed. "Ame-chan. Turn around." She ignored him still. This infuriated the Mazoku. He roughly grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around, pinning her to the bed with the weight of his body.
She struggled beneath him. "Let me go!" she cried, suddenly panicked, and attempted to push him off her.
Xelloss wasn't listening anymore. It was almost as if something else had taken over his body...something animal and wild. He restrained her flailing limbs, arm to arm and leg to leg, and crushed his lips to hers in a frightening repetition of that horrible first night.
Amelia screamed loudly, knowing no one else in the castle could hear her. "Stop! Stop! Xelloss, please!! Please stop!" she begged, her voice choked with fear. "You promised! You promised you wouldn't hurt me anymore! You 'p romised'!!"
Something in her desperate tone must have reached him, something must have yanked him out of that trance, for his eyes suddenly cleared and he looked at her tearful face in absolute shock. Xelloss pulled off of her and backed away from the bed, staring at his hands in horror. His face twisted with realization and he fled from the room.