Lina and Zelgadis didn’t
know what to make of Amelia and Jedah. The mere fact that they were standing
in the center of the Hall making eyes at each other was more than alarming,
although Lina personally thought it was a good idea, and that the two would
get along well together. Zelgadis was afraid that Jedah was going to get
in over his head. But as the older couple stood and watched in shock, Amelia
somehow managed to recover herself and turn to look at them.
“Lina, Zelgadis, what are
you two staring at? It’s your dance down here, so get down here and dance!”
Amelia didn’t mention the
kiss that had just passed between herself and Zelgadis’ brother.
Nor did she mention the
fact that they’d stared at each other blushing and stammering afterward.
It was as if it had simply
happened and ‘oh well that’s nice.’
But then… that was Amelia.
Zelgadis pondered for a
moment, and then decided that if Lina hadn’t killed him for any of this
yet, she might not kill him after all. So grabbing the startled redhead’s
hand and heading down the stairs into the dance floor, he called out. “Fine!
We’ll dance. Play the music.”
Everyone who knew Zelgadis
stared. Well, everyone but Jedah. Jedah just grinned conspiratorially at
Amelia. “Get them to play a waltz. I want to see if he takes the bait.”
Amelia grinned at Jedah,
but the music had already started. She couldn’t do anything about this
dance… but she could try for the next. She tiptoed through the people watching
and whispered to a musician, who nodded in reply.
Zelgadis guided Lina across
the floor, and it was all that the sorceress could do to stay on her feet
and not Zelgadis’. She wasn’t much of a dancer for this type of music,
and where in the world had Zelgadis learned to dance? “Zel… everyone’s
watching…”
“Let them,” came his reply,
and she looked at him in surprise. He seemed to be enjoying himself, so
she did her best to follow along. When the song came to an end, Lina secretly
hoped that he wouldn’t want to dance again. She’d caught sight of the buffet,
and she was kind of hungry…
Three successive taps signaled
the next dance. It was a waltz, and while Lina felt Zelgadis stiffen, she
grinned. This was the only dance she knew… and she knew it quiet well,
thanks to the wine festivals. Forget the buffet, she wanted to show Zelgadis
that she was more than the two left feet that she seemed to be during that
last dance. But he didn’t seem very interested, moving stiffly.
“Zel…?” Her eyes searched
his, and for a moment, she saw the stony walls lifting within his gaze.
But he looked into her eyes, and suddenly his movements became more fluid,
his touch certain, and she felt him shift into the music with ease.
The two danced, moving as
if they were of one mind. Lina felt the waltz becoming more than a simple
dance… as if she and Zelgadis were casting a spell with their very movements.
She looked into his eyes and saw that he was watching her intently. She
could see it all there in his eyes, everything that he wanted to tell her.
She knew everything that he seemed afraid to say. She smiled at him, aware
of the bond forming between them. It was tangible, a force that drew them
to each other and sparked a fire in his eyes that she’d never seen before.
It nearly took her breath away.
Jedah and Amelia watched
with awe as Lina and Zelgadis waltzed across the floor, and Amelia looked
to Jedah. “Wow.”
Jedah grinned with all the
excitedness of a boy getting a new puppy. “Isn’t my brother just too cool?”
Amelia nodded without being
aware that she was agreeing with Jedah. “It’s like there’s… magic between
them. They’re meant to be together for all eternity!”
Only six people didn’t sweatdrop,
and that was because two of them were too busy dancing and didn’t hear
her, two of them were sleeping soundly, and Jedah and Amelia were too caught
up in the moment.
The waltz came to an end,
and the two dancers came to a halt, staring intently at each other. Applause
burst out throughout the room and Lina and Zelgadis looked around, blushing.
Zelgadis spotted the bouncing
Jedah and gave Lina’s shoulder a squeeze before heading towards his over-exuberant
younger sibling. Lina watched Jedah flash a grin at Zelgadis, then take
off running out of the hall. With a muttered comment under his breath Zelgadis
gave pursuit, and Lina shook her head in amusement as she walked over to
the buffet. That last dance had really worked up her appetite.
“Oh, Lina. You and Mister
Zelgadis looked so perfect out there!”
Lina turned as she stuffed
a cheese-laden cracker in her mouth. Sylphiel stood there smiling so brightly
that Lina instinctively cringed. “Oi, Sylphiel. We were only dancing.”
“She’s right, Lina! You
two are meant to be together!” Amelia bubbled. “I was wrong to think that
Zelgadis was meant for me.”
“Yeah, you and his brother
get along much better, neh Amelia?” Lina said after she’d swallowed both
the cracker and her embarrassment.
Amelia blinked at Lina,
looking down at her hands in an attempt to hide her own embarrassment.
“I don’t know what you mean, Lina. Jedah’s very sweet and kind…”
Lina rolled her eyes. “You
kissed him, Amelia! You don’t just kiss everyone who is sweet and kind…
I’d be afraid of your father finding out. You’re lucky that he’s out of
town with that meeting.”
“Well,” Sylphiel began.
“Xellos did push Jedah into her… it was purely accidental. I’m sure Prince
Phil would understand…”
“If you can call anything
that perverted Mazoku does accidental, Sylphiel.” Lina shot at the raven-haired
Cleric. “So come on, Amelia. Give it up. We know you like him,” Lina said,
hoping the redirect would focus them on someone other than herself and
Zelgadis.
“Well… I, er… That is…”
Amelia began.
“Yes?” Both Lina and Sylphiel
chorused, leaning into hear what Amelia was whispering.
“I give in, okay! I did it!
I got Amelia to ask for a waltz! Now will you get off?” Jedah tried the
poor-pitiful-me act.
The older brother sat quietly
on his younger sibling, contemplating his fingernails. “And do you want
to tell me why you asked for a waltz?” He obviously wasn’t falling for
the act.
“Because you’re so cool
when you’re dressed in black, and I wanted everyone to see how great you
are!” Jedah paused. “You waltz really well, and when you were dancing with
Lina… it was like magic.”
Zelgadis sighed the heavy
sigh of an older brother who gets only a fraction of the respect that he
deserves from his younger sibling. “Jedah… tell me, is it your one goal
in life to embarrass me?”
Jedah stopped squirming,
thinking for a moment. With an impish grin, he offered an answer. “Um…
well, it’s not my only goal… I mean, seeing you and Lina get married ranks
higher.” That should do it…
Zelgadis fell over, which
allowed Jedah to scramble to his feet and take off out of the room. Antagonizing
his brother was something that he thoroughly enjoyed, and it helped to
know that his brother wouldn’t hurt him too much. Not only would it be
hard to do that, but also Jedah knew Zelgadis. The sibling bond ran too
strong. And Zelgadis was just too easy to antagonize.
Inside the room, Zelgadis
stood up shaking his head. He’d fallen into that trap, hadn’t he? Jedah
was possibly the only person other than Lina who could bait him so well
that he didn’t see it coming. Even Xellos was starting to become see-through.
Speaking of the fruitcake,
he could sense him around here. Now what did he want?
A split-second later, a
loud feminine scream echoed through the hallways.
One thing that Zelgadis and
Jedah shared was that they were equally quick on the uptake. They both
came to the conclusion that Amelia had been the one to scream, and that
the reason must be related to Xellos.
So it came no surprise to
either of them as they met at the door to the Great Hall and burst through
it. What came as a surprise to one of them was that Jedah was armed with
a quarterstaff. Zelgadis decided to ask later, and scanned the room for
Amelia.
She was standing in the
middle of the dance floor, beet red, and Xellos was standing in front of
her, grinning hugely.
Before Zelgadis could take
action, Jedah dashed across the room, taking up position beside Amelia.
“Amelia! What’s wrong?”
Amelia looked at Jedah with
wide eyes. “He kissed me! He just appeared out of nowhere and he… kissed
me!”
Lina alighted beside Zelgadis,
the velvet skirt of her evening gown pooling around her feet as she had
taken her heels off in anticipation of battle. When she looked to Zelgadis,
her eyes were dark and narrowed. “Perverted Mazoku. I’ll take him out right
now.” She turned back to prepare to aim a fireball at Xellos.
Zelgadis put his hand out,
staying Lina. When she looked at him in confusion, he simply pointed to
his younger brother.
A good deal of anger was
rolling off of Jedah, but it was quite clear that the anger wasn’t anything
that Xellos could process. In fact, Xellos looked a little unnerved by
the young man glaring at him.
Lina leaned into Zelgadis.
“What is Jedah doing?”
Zelgadis smiled darkly.
“Righteous anger, Lina. It’s an emotion that Mazoku can’t feed off of.
And unless I miss my guess, Jedah’s about to use that to his advantage.”
Huh? Lina thought
as she watched.
As Zelgadis watched his
sibling, he could have sworn that in the buildup of anger his brother had
grown up by several years. Or maybe that was because Jedah wasn’t smiling
and boyish like he tended to be, and the impression of youth was merely
an illusion.
“Xellos, you should know
better than to tarnish the virtue of a beautiful woman. What you’ve done
is unforgivable, and you leave me no choice but to show you the errors
of your ways, in the name of Love and Justice!” Jedah started, and Amelia
looked to him with stars in her eyes. A Speech of Justice and Love! From
Jedah! She thought she’d swoon.
Xellos faltered, feeling
slightly queasy from the aura building off of Jedah. The boy was going
to rattle off a speech like Amelia? The two were perfect for each other.
Perfectly disgusting, in the eyes of a Mazoku.
Jedah glanced at Amelia.
“Ready?”
Amelia nodded, stars still
glinting in her eyes.
Jedah dropped his staff,
clasped a hand with Amelia, and the two reached out to Xellos, grabbing
him into an embrace before the startled Mazoku could blink. Lina choked.
Zelgadis resisted the urge to fall over. Sylphiel stared. Gourry and Naga
snored.
Jedah and Amelia began professing
how lovely it was that Xellos wanted to be with them, and Lina couldn’t
stand it. As the two continued to express exuberance and hug the Trickster
Priest it was getting so sickeningly sweet that Lina either had to gather
her skirt and leave the room or lose everything that she’d just eaten at
the buffet.
Wait a minute… if I feel
as nauseated as this from that… Lina thought from just outside the
door. She started to laugh as she realized what this expression of emotions
must be doing to Xellos. When she stuck her head in the door, she was rewarded
with the sight of a very greenish-faced and wilting Mazoku trapped in the
arms of the high-spirited Amelia and Jedah as the two continued to babble
with love and cheer.
Lina couldn’t help it. She
started to laugh harder, far harder than she’d laughed in a good long time.
She slid down the doorframe into a pool of green velvet, tears rolling
down her cheeks.
And that was how Zelgadis
found her outside the Great Hall. He sat down beside her, chuckling slightly
as the Great Hall was quickly being emptied as all the party-goers tried
to escape the happy-fuzzy feelings.
“Are they… still…?” Lina
managed between laughing. She was practically helpless with mirth, laughing
so hard that her sides were beginning to hurt.
Zelgadis peeked back in
the room. “Looks like it. And I don’t feel sorry for Xellos, either,” he
chuckled. Sure enough, Xellos was starting to look a little gaunt. With
all that positive energy, there was nothing to feed from.
As he watched, Jedah and
Amelia dropped the act and the Mazoku crumpled to the floor. The two exuberant
youths laughed in delight and Amelia gave Xellos a kick that rivaled some
of Lina’s.
Xellos either didn’t have
the energy to block it, or didn’t care to, for he went sailing out of the
room and vanished into the evening.
Gourry and Naga slept on.