"She really is excited isn't she?" Gourry glanced fondly at the sleeping princess.
"Well, she hasn't been home in awhile."
"That's true... Are you sure you don't want me to take the first watch, Lina?"
"I'm fine." She grinned at him and his concern. "Go to sleep," she chided, pointing over to his place by the fire between her and Zel.
"You sure?"
"Yes, yes." She watched him settle down into sleep's embrace with not a little fondness. Gourry's so protective and thoughtful, just like him when... She cut off the thought until it could finish its formation - it was too painful. Sighing, she turned back to Amelia. Gloved hands gently ran through soft ebony hair. Her hair, her eyes.... her coloring - no!! Don't think about it.
Don't worry Ame-chan, you'll be home soon.
"Daddy!!" With enough sugar energy to keep Xelloss nauseous for a week, Amelia hurled herself at her father, who returned her fierce bear hug. "It's been so long!!"
"Ahahahahaha!! So it has!! My Dear, have you grown?!"
beam "Yes Daddy!! In fact - "
Lina watched the happy scene with a sad smile. Normally she'd groan and storm off with Gourry and Zel till they finished their love fest but....
It was that time of the year.
The only time she couldn't keep her facade.
"Oi, Lina?" Gourry waved his hand in front of her face.
"Eh?" blinkblink
"You're acting strange," commented Zel.
She raised her eyes - Prince Phillionel was looking at her questioningly as was Amelia.
I can't take this today.
"Yeah," she shrugged. "I guess I am." With that, she simply turned and walked out of the room.
She was later found wondering the palace halls, admiring the various portraits of the Royal Family. "Lina-san?"
"Yes, Amelia?" She didn't bother turning around from the picture she was studying.
"Umm... Daddy's throwing a ball for my birthday and... Iwaswonderingifyou'dlookforadresswithme."
"Sure."
"Pleeeeaaaase, Lina-sa - " shock "eh?"
Lina smiled gently at the small princess. "It is your birthday after all."
"Oh, thank you!!" glomp
They laughed together at Amelia's exuberance. "Ne, Amelia?"
"Yes?"
"Is this a portrait of the late Crown Princess?"
"Yes, it is." The lady in the painting was regal and elegant, but somehow managed to emit a gentle soul. Her long purple hair flowed free from fancy combs and her clear blue eyes told of a wise a compassionate person. Her smile was carefree and not forced, something the Ruling Royal Family was noted for.
"She was lovely."
Amelia gently touched the base of the painting. "I know."
"Was she really as kind as they say?"
"Yes. Momma was noted for her fairness. I wish..." her voice took on a wistful tone. "That I could be more like her."
"Oh?"
"I take after Daddy I guess... Gracia Onee-sama looks more like her than I ever will." She looked up as a gloved hand rested comfortingly on her shoulder. "Lina-san?"
"Amelia, you're fine the way you are. You don't need to wish that you look like anyone but you, you're very pretty."
"Thank you, Lina-san." She smiled up at the taller girl... well, she wouldn't be taller for long.
From around the corner, wise blue eyes shone with understanding.
Lina breathed a sigh of relief as she exited the party, wondering into the gardens. Her yellow evening gown brushed the ground as she walked, she couldn't stay in there another minute or she'd....
Straiten up. Calm down.
She needed something, anything to calm herself down. Flowers, yes that would do nicely. Forcing herself to breath, she settled down to admire the garden's various exotic plants. It was so easy to lose control of her emotions at this time of year... but she wouldn't. It made her feel so much better to know that the late Crown Princess was a good person, but that made it harder to...
"Not enjoying the party Lina-san?"
"Phil!!" she hissed, not wanting to admit how much he had startled her. "What are you doing out here?!"
"Looking for you. It's not like you to just run off."
What do you know, you, you.... She leaned back till the night's shadows covered most of her strained smile. "I was just hot, that's all."
"Is it really so hard to look at me?"
".......... Anyway, Amelia will be worried," she informed, feigning innocence at his comment. She started back for the hated party but he reached out and grabbed her wrist.
"Wait, Celina," he pleaded.
Her eyes widened. "You..."
"You can't hide it any more. I know."
"How long?!" she demanded, tearing her arm away from him.
"I've always had a feeling.. but I never dreamt... then today, it just all made sense. Celina, why?"
"Why do you think?!" she snapped.
His eyes where hurt and searching. "Celina..."
"J-just stop, ok!? That was a long time ago and - " He enveloped her in a gentle hug before she could continue. "I've missed
you."
"..." She pulled away just enough to look into his face; his aged, roughened face. Where was the charming young man who... wait.. his eyes, clear blue - - the same. She felt the tears mist around her own pained eyes. "Phil..."
It had shocked the entire continent when Ashremu [1] had declared war on Seyruun, the most peaceful and powerful country within the land. Ashremu was a border's country, a merging spot for goods and people traveling from place to place. Never had it showed aggression or resentment towards its role, but the massive army had been built and the message sent; Now is the Time for War. Rumors of the Mazoku's involvement were abound and by no means a passing notion.
But Seyruun was never a country to be messed with. Seyruun's military and magic might were always formidable incase of a ruckus in other countries. The Royals themselves were often trained in the art of war.
And thus a battle did begin, though not a particularly gory or spectacular war. In fact the fighting was very short lived, Ashremu was simply no match for Seyruun...
But it was still a war.
And war is terror.
The Crown Prince himself led the final battle of the not so memorable war. The Prince hated combat and everything it stood for. But he had a duty to his country, to his Crown.
So he set out to lead his troops to glory, leaving behind his wife and four year old daughter.
Seyruun won the war...
But war is hell.
And there are always casualties.
Experimenting, Phillionel tried to twitch his bloodied fingers.
Move, damn you.
To his great relief, his hand responded. Smiling sadly, he let his tired
hand fall back into the pool of blood caressing him. He could hear voices
in the distance, but they didn't seem to belong to any of his troops. He
was lost to the world. I... would have liked to see Gracia again...
"Nee-chan!!" cried a frantic voice... above him? Why couldn't he see... oh
right, too tired to open eyes. "Look, this one's alive!!"
"Get away from him!"
"We can't just leave him here!"
"I understand that, but he has already lost too much blood."
"Who is the Healer here, Nee-chan?! I'm telling you, I can save him.."
Phill forced his eyes open. His vision was too poor at the moment to get a
good look at the figures above him. Both wore long brown cloaks with the
hoods drawn up. From the looks of it, both were female...oh, that's enough
thinking for know. The effort proved to be too much and the entire world
fell into darkness.
Sensations came back slowly, ever so slowly. Somewhere, the air carried
a soft tune, a gentle hum that soothed his war torn soul. Gentle, gentle
humming... a Zephilian song? Something cool and wet touched down on what he
realized to be his forehead... sweet sound, cool cloth, both lovingly,
carefully freeing him from his wounds' burning heat and mind's dull silence.
"It's ok to wake up now," soothed a soft voice. "Are you alright? You're
safe here, you know."
He opened his eyes to look into red. Red irises? He had never seen eyes
like that before. She leaned over as she continued to wipe the sweat from
his brow, her shiny, red-gold hair falling down to frame her face.
She blushed as he continued to stare. Sure he had just woken up, but
still!! It was embarrassing! "Knock it off!"
She just... she must not realize who I am. Why else would she speak in
such a tone? And why was he so glad that she didn't know?
The red head crinkled her nose at him. Sure he was handsome, ok, VERY
handsome, with a strong face, spiky black hair and clear blue eyes. That
still didn't give him any right to make a girl nervous! "How do you feel?"
He sat up in bed and flexed his fingers. No twitching. he rotated his
right arm.. A OK. All the wounds that hadn't been treated with magic were
expertly bandaged with neat white cloth. He looked around the small room...
filled to the brim with medicines and herbs... she was apparently a healer.
It was rather cozy in a pack rat sort of way. "I'm fine, thanks to you I
presume?"
Her pretty face flushed and she looked away. "I couldn't leave you bleeding
to death, now could I?"
"Then I'm indebted, miss...?"
"Celina."
"Celina...?"
Nervously, she bit her lower lip. Nee-chan had told her specifically not to
inform him her real name... but she could always make one up, right?
"Vesrine."
"Celina Vesrine," he repeated, a sleepy smile forming on his tired lips.
"A-and you are?" She looked away again and used her most annoyed tone. How
dare he make her feel so weird after she had saved him!! And what was that
funny feeling in her stomach? ...must be hungry.
The name came out naturally, as if it was the Truth. Perhaps it was the
name of the person the young prince had always secretly wished to be.
"Philip. My name is Philip Yeres."
His recovery was very short lived, Celina was a talented healer. However, except the time to repair the life threatening gashes and cuts, she had used little magic. Puzzling, considering it would have sped up the process considerably. When he asked her about it, she dismissed his question, saying that one shouldn't use magic in vain, and he didn't really need it. He could understand that...
He stayed in that town with Celina and her older sister, despite their protests that they should find his family. He insisted that it wasn't necessary, that he had no family. Because it was during his recovery that he realized -
He was free. As far as anyone knew, Phillionel was dead, lost in a tragic war, dying a hero. This left him free of battle, free of court life and free to be his own person.
Of course, his daughter was in Seyruun, and that caused him grief but...
He was free here. She would be raised lovingly, he knew. Her mother was a kind person, Gracia would be fine...
He was free.
And Celina was here. He had to stay near her, he was indebted to her at the moment.
It all started innocently enough, after her initial frustration with the man who refused to leave, they slowly became good friends. Philip was a wonderful person to talk to... he was a bit over enthusiastic on the notion of 'justice', but still...
It was nice to talk to someone who didn't know who she was.
He could never get her to talk of her past. The most he could ever get out about her family was that she was traveling around the world with her older sister for training. Training for a very important job. So neither knew the history of the other, just enjoyed one another's company. Turnabout is fair play, after all.
But Phil also understood how she felt that she was living in her sister's shadow. She didn't need to say anything, he could simply tell it was the case. Why she felt that way eluded him, but he understood. After all, how could he live up to one of the greatest kings Seyruun had ever known?
Kindred souls, they were.
Good times of joy, laughter, and a new appreciation for the smaller things in life...
And then there was the day at the creek.
"...Wow." That was the most intelligent comment
he could come up with at
the moment. Celina continued to pull fish after fish out of the water,
using only a strand of her hair. "I'm impressed."
She winked up at him. "You should be."
"Is that so?"
"Better believe it."
"Perhaps you just have a way with fish," he grinned.
"And what are you tryi - AAAUUUGH!!" She sputtered angrily as the spray of
water came in crashing contact with her face. She glared at the culprit
through dripping bangs.
Said culprit was holding his sides, laughing hysterically. "You aha
should, heeeheee HAVE SEEN YOUR FACE!!"
Slowly, she stood up, glaring at the poor fool.
He gulped. "Celina-san, I'm wounded," he whimpered.
"That won't work!" She cried, grinning disturbingly. She lunged at him,
sending him sprawling towards the shallow pool. Desperately, he reached out
and grabbed her arm, pulling her down with him. They fell into the creek in
a spectacular heap, water splashing everywhere.
Hmm, already soaked soooo... get each other muddy!!
They rolled around playfully on the creek's beach, each trying to get the
other dirtier. Neither were really gaining an advantage, but all things
take time. But when she accidentally slipped...
He caught her as she fell, her small body pressed against his, red orbs on
blue. Her hair is so nice...
She blushed as she fell on top of him, in their very... questionable
state. His arms were so strong...
Face to face.
Nose to nose.
Eyes locked.
Kiss.
It's over.
Celina waved at Luna's retreating form. She had made up a reason to stay
in the back water little town. These people needed help, right? A good
Priestess needed humility, right? She would catch up later... promise.
No....
Here, she could be with him.
Because no one knew.
As she watched her sister fade from view, Celina wondered (not for the first
time) if Luna knew what was going on. Did that mean that... she approved?
Celina let her heart flutter for a moment.. did she? Or did it matter? She
rested her hand on her stomach. Either way, she was going to build a new
life...
With Philip.
"You may go in now," the wrinkled old woman smiled.
Phil nearly jumped out of his skin. His pacing stopped and he zoomed into
the modest house. Before reaching the door to the bed room, he took a few
deep breaths and quietly opened the door. Celina lay amidst fresh sheets
and pillows, exhaustion clearly written over her pale features. "Hey," he
said softly.
"Hey yourself," she retorted with a tired smile, her voice holding no
animosity.
The muscular man bent over and kissed the tired woman on the forehead,
noting how warm her still flushed skin was. "How is she?"
Celina smiled at him. "How did you know?"
"Father's intuition?"
She laughed lightly and adjusted the bundle held in her arms. The newborn
looked at her father with bright blue eyes hidden under a shock of black
hair. "Beautiful, ne?"
"Lovely," he breathed as he touched her tiny, perfect toes. "What should we
name her? Celina?"
"Hmm?" Her head was beginning to drop and her eyes became lidded.
He lovingly brushed back her wild, sweaty bangs, taking extra care to push
the matted hair aside from her skin. "Do you have a name?"
She took back the baby and snuggled into his chest. "Amelia... I always
liked that name," she yawned.
After her breathing had evened out, he took the child from her arms and laid
her back onto the pillows. He carefully studied his new daughter. She
looked just like Celina, but with his coloring. "Amelia?" He offered her
his finger, but she just stared with tired, new eyes. "It fits you, ne?"
Celina scowled slightly as the rapping on the door became slightly more
insistent. Couldn't whoever it was WAIT for a minute. She desperately
began to toss the ingredients into the stew. Couldn't leave it right now...
"Could you get that for me, Phil?" she called, slicing a carrot.
"Of course," he brushed past her and walked into the main room. Who would
be visiting them now? Perhaps someone needed medical attention. "Can I
help - " He stopped cold as he looked into a face he was sure he'd never see
again.
"Brother!! It is you!! Oh thank Cephied!!" The smaller man threw himself
before the once prince, enveloping him in a tight hug. "We all thought for
sure you were dead!! Why didn't you contact us?!"
"Chr-christopher?" he squeaked. No.. His gaze filtered out the door to
the sizable party outside his new home. The party holding the Seyruun
emblem. nononononononono
"Your wife will be so happy!! She hasn't left her apartments since the word
of your fall reached her!!"
"Christopher!" He tried to push his younger brother away. No, not now!!
"So who was it?" Celina walked from the kitchen and paused, Amelia on her
hip.
Christopher looked past his sibling and blanched at the woman.
"Phillionel.... you didn't...."
Celina narrowed her ruby eyes at the strange man. "Phillionel? Who's
Phillionel?"
"He is Phillionel," stated an authoritative figure. An older man walked
into the room, pointing at Phil. His white robes and crest easily gave his
identity away. "The First Prince of Seyruun."
It was all Phil could do to bow his head before his father.
He had been foolish to think it could go on forever. You should never
run away from duty, and that's exactly what he was doing. No matter how
happy he was, the people came first. He had to return. Besides, the
conditions his father had set were too good to pass up. But how would
Celina take it?
"PRINCE?!" she shrieked, throwing a vase at him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL
ME?!?!?!?!"
Taking it as suspected. His father and brother had agreed to allot him some
time to 'discuss' matters with his lover....
"You lying, heartless jerk!!"
It wasn't going well.
Celina ignored the tiny part of her mind arguing that she wasn't completely
honest with him either. He had no idea what she had given up for him, to
be with him. All that she gave up... and he was going to return?!
"Celina, I have no choice."
She stamped her foot. "Everyone has a choice!"
"I'm sorry, I can't expect you to understand, but..." He looked away.
You have no idea.
"I'm married... I, I have another little girl."
"That's another thing!!" She grabbed him by the collar and shook him
roughly. "WHEN WERE YOU PLANNING ON TELLING ME?!"
"Celina..."
"Do you love her?! Do you!?!"
"Stop!" He grabbed her small shoulders. Desperately, he pulled her close.
"I love you. I know that you must be having a hard time realizing it, and
you might even hate me for what I've done, but.. I love you."
"It was an arranged marriage," he continued. "I'm fond of her but... I
don't feel the same as I do about you."
She allowed herself to sob in his shirt, robbed of all her true rage. She
loved him too much... damn him. "And Amelia and me?" Are you just going
to throw us away, o' prince?
"That is one of the reasons that I should go back." He wove his hands
through her fiery hair. "My wife hasn't been seen by the public (or most of
the castle) for quite some time. Amelia will be raised as a princess, as
her daughter. No one will know."
"That's cruel," she murmured, her voice muffled by his shirt. "How could
you think you could coerce that poor woman into - "
"Jurai, where she is from, a husband often takes more than one wife. She
will not be hurt knowing I have another child. Please, she is a kind woman
and would never hurt a soul."
She closed her eyes, feeling the impending dread. "Any me?"
"...a consort."
".... A what?"
The tears ran swift and quick down his face. "I can't divorce my wife and I
can't take another. But this way.. we can be together!! Please, I can't
just turn my back on - "
She placed a slender hand over his mouth. "Don't." She felt... did she
feel anything? Something must have snapped. But she knew what she had to
do. "I don't want to hear it. Take Amelia, Phil."
"Celina?"
Oh, there was the pain. The tears welled up slightly. "You can raise her
better than I could by myself... it seems that she'll have a cushy life."
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
She pulled away, never answering. She walked over to the Amelia's crib and
kissed her daughters pudgy cheek.
"Celina!" the panic rose in his voice.
She swiftly pulled her cloak from its hook and walked out the door, taking
nothing with her. She didn't want it. She didn't need it. She was going a
different path from now on.
Phil fell to the floor in shock, eying the empty room. Somewhere in his
mind, he noted Amelia was crying. But the only thing he could really
concentrate on....
Was the painful fact he was alone.
Alone and no longer free.
"Why have you gone so long without telling me?" Seyruun's ruler gently demanded the feared sorceress.
Angered again, she shoved his massive frame away. "Well, I sure as hell didn't recognize you at first, ok?! You... you..." She grabbed his hand with gloved fingers, studying the lines wrote by years. "You aged with out me," she said sadly.
He made the slightest motion to comfort her, but she pulled away, trembling with rage. "You ruined my life!! I was set!! You went back to your mortal kingdom, but do you have any idea what I gave up, or do you even care? I was going to be the PRIESTESS OF CEPHIED!!"
His eyes widened slightly. I didn't know...
Lina laughed bitterly. "Yes, I, Lina Inverse, the Bandit Killer, the Dra Matta and Enemy of All Who Live was once a White Mage bound for working directly for a god. But I gave it all up!! All for you!!! My title, my family, my power and rank, all for you!!! AND YOU THREW IT ALL AWAY!!"
"Celina..."
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT!!" She pulled at her hair, freeing it from its upsweep, then she all but tore the jewelry from her neck and wrists. "Celina is dead. She died the moment you made your decision. She could never handle a world were the story doesn't always end happily!!"
Lina finally stopped long enough to catch her breath. She snapped her head back at him, breathing raggedly. "After you left, I was determined to prove you wrong, that you can change your so called fate, that you can run away from anything you choose. I disavowed White Magic and threw myself completely into the Dark Arts. Look at me!! I got so good I REVERSED my age a little!! I'm forever like this because of you!!"
He thought he knew heartache till now. "Please, let me try to help," he pleaded sincerely.
"What can you do?" she asked dully, finally calmed down. "It doesn't matter. The day we parted I saw what happens when people grow up. I vowed to never be an adult again, and I haven't, not since that day. But then... then I learned who you really were and..." the tears made bright streaks down her face. "You betrayed me all over again, you aged."
"... I couldn't help that."
She went on as if she didn't hear him, a broken doll. "You realize that the Giga Slave is your fault too - "
He pulled her to him, as he often did so many years ago. Lina froze at the familiarity of him, he felt his mind and body relax as the person he so missed was where she belonged. "Celina - Lina, if you hadn't learned of the Giga Slave, what would have become of the world?"
"..."
"It was fate," he whispered, curling his big hands in her hair. "Circumstance drove us apart and Fate brought us back to one another... just like it led us to each other, just as it showed you your true path in life."
"I don't belive in fate," she murmured into his shirt.
He continued to weave his hand through her soft hair. "There is no longer anything standing between us."
"Our lives are too different, Phil - "
"I don't care. I'm doing this for us."
She smiled up at him, slightly bitter. "I learned a long time ago that there's no such thing as ever after.
He stopped playing with her hair and cupped her chin. "Who says that there has to be? We can live for now... and you could give this grizzly, bandit like older man some brief years of happiness."
Nearly every part of her screamed and kicked at the notion. A million reasons why it wouldn't work and reminding her that she was likely to get hurt again. Besides, what would poor Amelia think? She took in his not quite handsome face... a face she had loved more than anything. He wasn't the same....
His eyes...
They... were the same.
"Celina, Lina, whomever you think you are..." he nestled his roughened forehead on hers as he used to. "Let me try and make it up somewhat."
No..
Couldn't possibly.
But his eyes...
Youth was still there, in his gaze.
As was his love.
She could cry, she had kept her youth, but were her eyes the same? Did she hold any of her old self in them, or did she burn it all away. Could you see her old self?
He could.
A locked gaze.
Reconciliation.
A kiss.
... it's over.
Whee, that fic was so eeevil, it was a blast to write!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA. Like I said, no evidence of the story, just my twisted lil imagination. I really butchured the characters' histories, ne? Oh well...
1 - just made the place up.
2 - I know it's a different anime, but it was convientient to use!!
giggles Now we all now why Amelia's eyes turn red so many time in Next, hehehehehehee. While i'm here, anyone have an idea for a title?