Tucked away in a valley of snow a little town was protected by the harsh winds and the blowing snowstorm. The morning just falling on the little town and everyone was merry with holiday spirit. Or at least almost everyone.
In a small house in the middle of the town, in a little room near the top floor of the house, five people gathered around a little bed. In the bed lay the seeming sleeping form of a beautiful young woman with long raven black hair and very pale white skin. Her skin was so white that it almost seemed to be the color of snow. She looked so pretty and peaceful in her sleep, but sadness all around in the room in the five people who stood by this beautiful sleeping girl, who would now be forever asleep, gone to the world.
"I wish this damn day had never come!" A young man cried out who was one of the five people in the room with the girl.
"Ethan! You can't curse this day! Today is supposed to be a happy and wonderful time!" An older woman very much resembling the girl in the bed said with tears in her eyes.
"How can you say that?! How could this day be happy?! Damnit you lost your daughter today! If this day hadn't happened Angel would still be here!" Ethan yelled at the crying woman whom presumably was Angel's mother.
"Now, Ethan we know how much you loved Angel, but you can lose control like this. We all knew that she was sick and that she wasn't going to live forever." Angel's father tried to console Ethan.
"No! She shouldn't have died!" Ethan cried out.
"Ethan honey please stop yelling at everyone. You are going to have to let go of her. Angel is gone and not coming back." Ethan's mother said while Ethan's father held her hand.
"No I wont let her go! She will come back! And this day will never happen!!! Never again!!!!!" Ethan screamed at them and ran down the stairs in a mad dash.
The icy wind blew with a white fury of constant falling snowflakes that never seemed to end. Everything was covered with blankets of snow, even the four weary travelers caught in the snowstorm. They still moved on even though their bodies were screaming at them to stop.
"Miss Lina are you sure there's a town nearby?!" Amelia shouted to the fiery redhead leading the group of four. But the wind carried her words away leaving only a faint few unable sounds.
"What?!" Lina yelled back.
"I SAID ARE WE NEAR A TOWN!!!"
"WHAT?!"
"I SAID -- Oh nevermind!!!!"
"WHAT?!"
Amelia shook her head and Lina took that as a hint to not bother pursuing the conversation.
They had gotten caught in this storm after going on another crazy adventure searching for treasure and a chimera cure lead. Unfortunately they found neither and due to a rather unruly creature they were really low on supplies. So the only choice they had was to make their way to the closest town, even though the weather was a bit unsavory for traveling. But the nearest town was more then a day away. Luckily they did have enough supplies for at least one more day, but they would still be cutting it close.
So now they were on their way to a town called 'Wislinn' which people couldn't enter any other time of the year besides winter. For every other season there's a large barrier around the whole town making it impossible for people to enter. But on the first day of winter the barrier seemed to disappear making it possible for people to go into the town again. Though people could enter the town during the winter, no had been to the town almost ever since the barrier had appeared around the town. Because in the same year that the barrier was created the weather in the area around the town became much more harsher then it had been before. The summers were extremely hot, the springs were much more windier and colder, the autumns were much more rainier and the winters were much more colder and snowy. In fact the winters were the worst. They were extremely cold, very windy, and there were many feet of snow falling everyday at every hour. It was a nonstop constant falling of snow that didn't stop falling till winter was over.
This wouldn't have been one of Lina's first choices of places to go, but unfortunately they didn't really have a choice.
Lina frowned as she tried to get a better look at the map in her hands. Though she had her gloves on, her hands were completely frozen so just holding the map steady was a problem for her. According to the map there were a network of caves to the northeast of them which was on the way to the town. Seeing how the weather was and how close it was to night, Lina figured that it would be a better idea to take refuge in a cave for the night rather then risk hypothermia while continuing traveling.
The only problem was Lina wasn't entirely sure if she was reading the map correctly. It was very hard to concentrate when you can barely see three feet in front of you and half your body was numb from the cold. Lina wanted to ask Zelgadis what he thought but since they got into this harsh weather terrain he'd completely blanked out from everyone. He didn't seem to be aware at all at the things around him. All he did was follow Lina, but otherwise it was like his body was there and his mind wasn't. And Lina knew why too. In his chimera form Zelgadis' hearing was very sensitive to sounds. That he had proven many times before. It was one of the advantages he had in this form. But while it was an advantage it was also a big disadvantage. In a place like this were the winds screamed with icy fury, Zelgadis' chimera hearing proved to be a painful thing to have. And in a way of coping with the sounds his chimera body almost literally itself down to only the basic functions. It was a wonder that he could still move and follow them.
I don't think it's healthy for him to stay like this for too long, we've got to get out of this cold soon. But are we going the right way? Lina's brow creased in worry. There was nothing she could do but lead on with what she thought was the right way. It's not like she could ask Amelia or Gourry what they thought. The wind made verbal communication impossible.
Lina led on the group for countless hours, but they still hadn't got to the caves yet. The more Lina leaded them on following the map, the more Lina was worried. She was almost certain that she had messed up and that they were lost and traveling aimlessly. Of course this map could have been faulty right from the start. Lina thought bitterly while her teeth chattered away.
It was now very dark out, and visibility was much less then before. They could only see less then a foot in front of them at a time. It was a wonder that they hadn't gotten separated yet. But that wasn't the worst of it. The snow was coming down much more harder then before and it was so much more colder. Lina couldn't feel her body at all while she walked and neither could anyone else. Though they still trekked on, they walked a fine line between consciousness and unconsciousness.
Amelia's eyelids felt like they weighted a ton. The urge to go to sleep was very strong and it took most of her concentration to stay awake. But the longer she walked, the more harder it was.
They went on for another hour before one of them collapsed. Amelia was the first to fall. It took Lina almost a minute to realize the Sailune princess wasn't among them. She turned around and found Amelia a little bit behind them sprawled out on the snowy ground. As she trudged over to the fallen princess Gourry was the second to go down. Lina looked desperately between the two of them. She didn't know what to do. Zelgadis and her were the only ones left standing.
Lina went over to Zelgadis to pull him over to help her get Amelia first. But as she grabbed Zelgadis' hand Zelgadis fell forward into Lina causing them both to fall to the ground. Zelgadis was unconscious upon contact and Lina didn't have the strength to push him off her. She succumbed to sleep as quickly as everyone else.
Lina mumbled in content as she snuggled up in the warm sheets that covered her. Wonderful aromas of sweet baked goods filled her noise and if it had not been for her comfortable bed and the allure of sleep, Lina would be up and racing to where the food was and pigged out. She was so happy and comfortable that she didn't want to never get out of bed. But then reality hit her right in the face.
Lina sprang up right from her bed and looked at her surrounding suspiciously. The room that she was in was a nice wood furnished room with a large comfortable bed with a wood frame, little table off the side with some chairs and a few dressers and a closet. Her clothes were laid out neatly over one of the chairs all washed and dried.
That's when Lina noticed what she was wearing. She was wearing a long white nightgown with lace trimming. Her hair had been tied up in a white ribbon and she was wearing white socks. A pair of white slippers were placed right side the bed.
Before Lina could decide what to do she heard a knock on the door. An elderly lady with a tray of food in hand came in baring a smile.
"Oh good morning dear! I was so afraid that you weren't going to wake up! How are you feeling? Are you warm? You were so dreadfully cold when they brought you here. You're not feeling sick are you from the snow are you?" The lady said while setting up the tray in front of Lina on the bed. On the tray before Lina laid a bowl of wonderful smelling and looking soup, two small oranges, a breakfast roll, a glass of water, a glass of milk, and an apple cinnamon tart. "There, now eat up. If you are hungry after this like your blond friend then just let me know, I've lots more food ready to be eaten." The lady flashed her a very warm smile.
Lina was so dumbfounded that all she could do was stare at the woman with confusion. But after a moment Lina regained her voice. "Where are am I? And where are my friends? What happened?"
"Oh yes dear I should have told you that from the start! It must be very confusing to end up in a place like this with no memory of coming here! Okay I'll explain first by telling you my name. My name's Meredith Knight and right now you are in an inn that my husband Harris and I run. And the town that you are in is Wislinn. Some of the townspeople found you are your three friends unconscious in the snow near the town. And I have to say I was extremely surprised and worried when they brought you three here. You were all so frozen to the bone and so blue in the face. Especially that stony friend of yours, but I have the feeling he's blue on a normal basis. Well they brought you four here because we have the room. And I have to say I'm very happy that you all seem to be better now. You all had me so worried."
Lina had a very small feeling that there was something wrong with this picture but she didn't know why. The whole story seemed to make sense and the food in front of her did look very delicious. It was taking most of her control to keep from eating right away. "And where are my friends?"
"Well you're blond friend whom I believe is named Gourry, was up right after I started cooking. Your polite friend named Amelia came down shortly after Gourry just as I was about to bring her up some food. And as for your stony friend who was I told is named Zelgadis is still in his room sleeping. He seemed to be the worst of the four of you when you were all brought in. Why don't you eat up and go see him? He's in the room right next to you on the left. Well I'll leave you to eat. If you need anything I'll be downstairs." Mrs. Knight gave Lina one last warm smile before she left Lina alone in her room.
Immediately right after Lina was alone she dived right into her food. Within seconds it was all gone and Lina was still hungry. It seems that she was going to have to take Mrs. Knight on her food offer. But she was going to do that later. First she wanted to check on Zelgadis.
Lina crept quietly over into Zelgadis' room. And as expected Zelgadis was asleep in his bed. He didn't seem to be sick or anything. He looked perfectly fine to Lina's eyes.
In fact Zelgadis was sleeping so peacefully that Lina almost didn't want to wake him up. Almost.
"Hey Zel! Wake up!" Lina yelled at him.
Zelgadis woke up with a start. "What the?!"
"Good morning Zel." Lina said with a mischievous grin.
Zelgadis groaned. "Why did you have to wake me up? I was having a nice dream... And why are you dressed like that?" Zelgadis asked eying the not so typical sleeping outfit that Lina was dressed in.
Lina looked at herself and blushed. She forgot that she was still wearing the nightgown. But then she noted what Zelgadis wearing. "Well I could ask you the same question."
Zelgadis looked himself over and saw that he wasn't wearing his normal ivory outfit. He had on a silky blue matching shirt and pants. He blushed bright red, which was a nice contrast to all the blue. "Where are we and why am I dressed like this?!"
Lina laughed. "Well we didn't make it to Wislinn. We all ended up collapsing in the snow. But luckily some of the townspeople found us and brought us into town. And your probably dressed like that because your clothes were wet and you needed something dry and warm to wear." Lina looked around the room to table and chairs in the room where Zelgadis' clothes should been. But surprisingly enough his clothes weren't there. In fact his clothes didn't seem to be anywhere in his room. "Well looks like your clothes are still wet. Guess you'll have to walk around in your pajamas for a little while." Lina said while walking out of the room.
"Where are you going?"
"To go get changed back into my clothes and go downstairs to get some more to eat. I guess I'll see you downstairs Zel."
"Hey! Why do you get to wear your normal clothes and I don't?! You should suffer just as much as me." Zelgadis said darkly.
"Ha ha Zel, too bad." Lina chuckled and walked off.
Later on Zelgadis finally came downstairs to met Lina and the others, still in his pajamas. He was quite discontented about not being able to wear his own clothes.
"Oh hello dear you're up! I'm so sorry about you're clothes. I'll get them to you as soon as they are dry. They shouldn't take much longer I've got them drying over the fire." Mrs. Knight apologized before going back into the kitchen.
Zelgadis mumbled a thank you while taking a seat next to the others. Fortunately for Zelgadis there were no other people staying at the inn so there was no one else to see him besides Lina and the others.
Mrs. Knight returned with breakfast for Zelgadis and more food for Lina and Gourry.
"Thank you Mrs. Knight." Gourry said with his mouth full of food.
"Well you all eat up dears. I'm going to go check on my daughter right now."
"Isn't this place so nice?" Amelia gushed shortly after Mrs. Knight had left.
"Yeah! Free food!" Lina cheered.
"No Miss Lina that's not what I meant!! Everyone here is so nice. And according to Mrs. Knight tomorrow is this towns' annual winter celebration."
"Really what do they do for their celebration?"
"They apparently have lots of food, singing, dancing, and gifts. And it's a six day celebration that ends with the lasts day with fireworks and large feast where everyone exchanges gifts."
"And which day is tomorrow? The first day?"
"No it's the last day."
Lina grinned with a large evil grin. "If tomorrow is the last day, then that means this is the fifth day and that means more free food!!!"
Amelia and Zelgadis both sweatdropped.
"Miss Lina..."
"Well I'll have to make sure I take advantage of this opportunity, OHOHOHOHOHOH!!" Lina laughed and then cringed once she realized who she just sounded like.
With a bouquet of red roses in hand and a vile of a strange purple potion, a young man with short light blue hair and brown eyes knocked on the Wislinn Inn.
Mrs. Knight answered the door with the same cheery smile she always has. "Why hello there deary, please come in!"
"Good morning Mrs. Knight, I was wondering if I could see your daughter is she's okay to see company this morning." The young man asked in the most polite he muster.
"Why of course you can sonny. I'm so lucky that my little baby has got such a wonderful young man for a fiancé. Makes me happy to know that she'll be very happy in the future." Mrs. Knight gushed as she leaded the young man to her daughter's room.
"Hello darling." The young man said to Mrs. Knight's daughter.
"Oh Ethan you can to visit me!"
"Of course I did Angel. I wouldn't go a day without seeing your beautiful face. Angel darling I've got a potion for you that might make you feel better." Ethan held up the vile of the purple potion in his hands.
Many hours later Lina and the others made it back to the inn with her full stomachs and armloads of free stuff. They had decided that they were going to at least stay for the last day of the celebration so they would do their shopping for supplies another day. And since Mrs. Knight had offered for them to stay as long as they for free they were going to at least stay one or two more days.
"Oh that was fun! I can't wait till tomorrow!" Amelia said with a contented smile.
"I'm stuffed!" Lina said while patting her stomach.
"I didn't think that was possible..." Gourry said with amazement.
Lina hit him over the head, hard before retiring to her room to sleep.
The next morning Lina mumbled half asleep in her room. The smells of sweet baked goods woke her up. Just as she got up she heard a knock on her door and Mrs. Knight came in. She came in holding the same tray with the exact same breakfast that she had brought to Lina the day before. She was even sporting the exact same smile, and not to mention she was wearing the exact same clothes too.
"Oh good morning dear! I was so afraid that you weren't going to wake up! How are you feeling? Are you warm? You were so dreadfully cold when they brought you here. You're not feeling sick are you from the snow are you?"