Amelia stood in front of the Sword master, and bowed. "Master, I want to thank you for all that you have taught me."
"So, you're leaving us now?" the Sword master asked. "I had hoped that you would abandon your plans and stay with us to become a teacher as well."
"I cannot do that," Amelia replied. "I am being hunted, and three years is to long a time for me to have stayed in one place. I have put you in danger by being here, and I would like to apologize for doing so."
"No need to apologize," the Sword master said. "Just know that my prayers and well wishes go with you when you leave."
"Many thanks, Master," Amelia said, and left the office, returning to the tiny room she had called home for three years, carefully packed up her stuff, and walked away from the school, once again without looking back.
As she stepped through the front gate of the school, her heart began to beat faster, and her adrenalin level rose. Now, instead of being the hunted, she was the huntress, intent on tracking down her prey, or at least luring him to where she was so that she could finally fulfill the vow she had made so many years ago. "Here I come, Xelloss," she whispered softly, and sprinted into the woods that surrounded the humble swords school, only the whisper of the leaves giving proof to her passage. As she made her way soundlessly through the woods, she thought about her quarry, determined not to underestimate Xelloss in any way, shape or form. Knowing him, he would probably set her up against some lesser mazoku in order to test her strength since he probably knew that she had been hunting down any and all ways to destroy a mazoku such as himself. Amelia smiled grimly and ducked under an overhanging branch. Let the lesser demon's come, she felt more than ready to take them on. "Don't become to confident," Amelia lectured herself. "After all, some of the methods that you've learned are still in the experimental stage and not guaranteed to work." Still, she knew she had a bit of an ace in the hole with that emotional/happy feeling addition to any Astral spell. She wasn't, however, going to play her truly secret trump card with Xelloss. That card was reserved for Beast master only, because she's the one who ordered the deaths of her and her loved ones in the first place. "I'm going to enjoy watching Xelloss and Beast master shrivel up and die," Amelia murmured. "I just wish . . . ," she trailed off and put an end to that line of thinking. If wishes had been horses, she rationalized, then beggars would ride. Besides, making useless wishes only lowered her morale and resolve, insuring that she would be locked away in her memories forever, when she needed to be clear headed and cool when facing her enemy.
Several quiet days passed, with Amelia on the move but doing nothing to conceal her where abouts. "Damnit, Xelloss, why haven't you come after me?" she muttered as she stepped out of the forest and onto a trade road. It was then that she realized in a flash of clarity where Xelloss was most likely to show up. He was no body's fool, and had probably known from the moment she had escaped that she would come after him. She felt a shudder of dread as she realized just where Xelloss had planned for their final meeting to be, and taking a deep breath, she turned her steps towards the ruined kingdom she had once called home.
As she traveled down the road, most of the pedestrians and tradesmen that she encountered avoided any contact with her. No one wanted to come near the young woman who was dressed all in black, wore twin blades on her back, bore the face of an angle with eyes that burned with the lust for someone's blood. Those that did venture near found her untalkative, except when asking questions about the old ruins of the Saillune Kingdom. The area where the kingdom had once stood, the travelers had been willing to tell her, was cursed. No one dared to try and rebuild anywhere within a hundred miles of where the palace had once stood, preferring to leave the area a barren wasteland rather than to risk the possibility of setting the curse off again. The young woman's jaw had clenched at this news, and her eyes blazed for a few seconds before a cold mask slipped over her features. She thanked the travelers, and continued on her way, leaving behind whispers and rumors that would quickly fade with time.
Amelia paid them no heed, her destination less than two day's hike away from her current position, and she kept having to pause to gather her resolve around her, as every step that brought her closer to the area where Saillune had once stood caused her to break out into a cold sweat. "Damnit, Amelia," she swore to herself, "This is no time to be getting cold feet! What would Lina, Zelgadis, Gourry, or Daddy think if they could see you now?" Mentioning her friends and her father helped to calm her nerves, and she squared her shoulder and quickened her pace. She was so close to her goal, she wasn't about to let Xelloss win by just psychological warfare alone, though L-sama knew he was damn good at it. She would let him choose the battle ground, but she was going to win the fight. Though now she began to doubt that it would be as simple as she had deluded herself into believing it would be.
"Of course it's not going to be simple, Amelia!" she could practically hear Lina scold her. "This is Xelloss you're talking about! Mr. Over-1000-years-old-and-destroyed-almost-an-entire-clan-of-dragons-with-a-single-finger! You're lucky to still be alive after escaping Wolf Pack Island, and you damn well know it! Get your act together and keep it together!" Amelia smiled slightly, and whispered, "Hai, Lina-san."
To be honest, Amelia had often felt like her escape from the cell had been almost too easy. From what little she could glean from the blur that part of her memory was, she had encountered no resistance, and there had been no alarms or lesser mazoku sent after her. She paused in her trek, and wondered out loud, "Did he let me go on purpose?"
Amelia shook her head and continued on her journey. Trying to get into the Trickster's head was causing a minor headache to build up behind her eyes, and she didn't have time to stop if a migraine hit. That night, she bedded down underneath an old oak tree near the side of the road, knowing that Xelloss didn't plan on any attacks in the night. No, he was waiting patiently in the ruins of Saillune, knowing that that was where she was headed. Amelia's thoughts faded as sleep over took her, and she dreamed once again of the cell and her friend's deaths.
Amelia jerked upright with a gasp, and narrowed her eyes painfully at the glare of the newly rising sun. Once again she'd dreamed of those horrible days and nights, and once again she was left with an utterly cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. She shuddered and clutched her arms around herself, closing her eyes against the images of blood and terror that always took over her nightly rest. She drew in a shuddery breath, and let it out, feeling her muscles relax and her mind clear. Once she had her body and mind under control again, she continued towards Saillune, quickening her steps into a ground eating trot that took up little energy. She could stay at that pace all day and not feel any effects as long as she didn't try to extend her stamina into lasting all night, as well. At this speed, she would reach Saillune a day early, and she schooled herself to expect three things. One, Xelloss would be waiting for her, two, he wouldn't be there at all and would make her wait, or three, he would be there and as soon as she showed her face he would attack. She also schooled herself to expect the unexpected, especially where the Trickster was concerned.
That night, Amelia bedded down on the other side of the last hill that separated her from her once homeland, and her sleep was anything but peaceful as images of her friends and her father invaded her dreams. She awoke just as the sun was starting to rise, and proceeded to crest that final to her destination. She wasn't surprised by what she saw this time. Time had worked it's magic, and the majority of the ruined area had been covered with a soft carpet of green grass had covered over most of the desolation, only a few blackened, crumbling pieces of wood and marble still withstood against the onslaught of nature to stand silent sentinel for the lives that were lost so long ago.
As Amelia made her way towards the nearly level area, she kept all her sense on the alert and in full swing, scanning the area visually as well as magically, trying to sense Xelloss location before the Trickster could take her unawares. When she placed her foot over the area where the border of Saillune had once been, she felt rather than heard something move behind her. In a flash, she had both swords out in her hands and twirled on her toe, slashing horizontally through the body of a lesser mazoku that had come up behind her. In a move so fast that it was a blur, she swung upwards with her left sword, and neatly quartered the pathetic creature who died before it knew what had hit it.
Clapping caught her attention, and she whirled, crouching in an offensive position with both swords held challengingly in front of her body. Her eyes narrowed and hatred threatened to choke her as she beheld Xelloss casually sitting cross legged in midair, his staff tucked underneath his arm as he applauded, smiling at her all the while.
"My, you certainly have gotten stronger since I last saw you," he said amiably. "I didn't expect you to dispatch poor Lear so fast."
Despite his lack of threatening moves, Amelia refused to slacken her stance. This lack of response caused Xelloss to smile more broadly, if that were possible. "Not willing to speak I see," he said. "Strange, last time I talked with you you were very vocal about how your father was going to save you, if I recall correctly."
"Yeah, that was shortly before you were kind enough to show me his head," Amelia snarled softly, her hands tightening on the hilts of her swords. "Easy Amelia," she said to herself, "He's trying to get you off guard."
"I'm taking it you didn't like my little present," Xelloss pouted. "I only did it for your benefit."
"And I suppose raping Lina and me was for our benefit, as well," Amelia sneered, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Well, no, that was for my benefit. How surprising, though," Xelloss said, looking thoughtful. "I never would have pinned you to be the one to escape. I had my bet on either the chimera or the swordsman, especially when the real fun began."
"What do you mean?" Amelia asked, a cold knot forming in her belly.
"Why, the cell was designed to let at least one of you escape," Xelloss said cheerfully. "The only one who was really and truly restrained the whole time was Lina. The rest of you had defective blocks that your chains were attached to, and could have escaped the same way you did. Just think, you and the chimera could have both escaped to live together, but he died because you were to weak to figure that out."
Amelia stared at the Trickster, feeling her entire world twist in on itself as a wave of grief and guilt washed over her. It was her fault, her fault that Zelgadis and the others had died, her fault that Phil had been murdered, her fault that Saillune had been destroyed. If only she had been strong and smart enough, she could have prevented the whole catastrophe. A movement out of the corner of her eye snapped her out of her near trance like state, and she snapped her swords into an X in front of her face just in time to prevent Xelloss staff from going through her head. His staff ricochet off, and he floated a little ways away from her, his happy mask not slipping an inch, while she berated herself for being such an idiot as to let her guard down and allow him to manipulate her emotions.
"Very nice move, princess," Xelloss said. "Apparently you've learned from past mistakes."
In a flash, Amelia realized just what Xelloss was trying to do, and the realization caused her to suddenly smile, and then to laugh. "Nice try, mazoku," she chuckled, and Xelloss frowned. She wasn't supposed to be laughing, she was supposed to be a pathetic emotional wreck at his feet and no challenge at all.
"Oh? And what was a nice try?" Xelloss asked.
"That little bit about the cell being rigged so that we could have escaped anytime we wanted. That's pure bullshit, and you know it," Amelia grinned at him when her words caused his frown to darken. "Admit it, you were just to cocky and sure of yourself to expect that little Amelia Saillune would have found the determination and strength to break free of that Hell Hole, especially after your considerate little 'presents' that you left on the table. You royally screwed up, Trickster, and I'm willing to bet that your mistress wasn't to pleased when she found out that I was gone."
Xelloss was scowling now, his face twisted into a mask of loathing as his open, violet eyes glared into cold, blue ones. "Yes, you've been chasing me for quite a while, and couldn't find me, could you? Beast master is probably getting really impatient with you," Amelia taunted, enjoying turning Xelloss' own game against him.
"You uppity bitch," Xelloss swore at her, his composure coming apart for a brief instant and allowing Amelia to see that her words had been true. Then Xelloss smiled coldly, his eyes wide open as he said, "You know, Zelgadis really enjoyed it when I used his body to rape you. He would never admit it, of course, but since I was controlling his mind I got a rather interesting glimpse into his subconscious. He'd been thinking about screwing you for quite a while."
Amelia's jaw clenched as the hatred she felt for Xelloss broke free of her tight rein, and she lunged at the mazoku priest, swinging furiously with both swords as Xelloss continued to grin and deflected her blows easily. It was only when she felt the pointed tip of his staff graze her arm was she shocked out of the red haze that had clouded her vision, and she back flipped away from the Trickster, regrouping her scattered senses as she flew through the air. "Damnit damnit damnit!" she swore, "Is this what you've trained for? To let him undo you with a few words?!"
Amelia shook her head and landed gracefully on her feet, once again in full control of her mind and body as she glared every ounce of hatred she felt in her heart and soul at the creature who had caused her entire world to be shattered and broken. She then lunged at him, swinging her right sword smoothly as she pulled her left sword back, watching as Xelloss countered her right sword with his staff, and she used that leverage to help move his staff as she brought her left sword up and under his body, slicing into his thigh before once again leaping away, the tip of her left sword covered with a strange black substance.
"Very nice," Xelloss commented as he gazed at his wound. "You managed to get underneath my guard, I'm impressed."
Amelia remained silent and focused, and it was a good thing that she did. Xelloss suddenly vanished, and some inner voice told Amelia to duck and roll, which she did just as Xelloss appeared behind her and swung at her head with his staff. She quickly got to her feet, and decided to take advantage of Xelloss momentary pause by hurling an Elmekia Lance at him. The spell hit Xelloss, and he grimaced slightly, saying, "You've gotten stronger in the magic aspect, as well."
"I've studied with the best," Amelia growled softly as Xelloss again vanished, and the battle began in earnest. At first the two were cautious, testing the other for strengths and weaknesses, and then the spells, swords, and staff really began to fly. Amelia found herself very thankful that she had had the foresight to add Orihalcon to the combination of metals and stone she had used to make her swords. The Orihalcon saved her several times as she used her swords to deflect spells that were flung at her at inhuman speed, and she returned the favor, using the magical enhancement spells she had learned over the last eight years to help boost her power. However, despite all her training and preparation, she slowly began to tire out as Xelloss continued his barrage of spells and physical attacks, occasionally adding in a little jab or reminder about her stay on Wolf Pack Island in an attempt to break her down emotionally. It didn't help that the Trickster was also using his flying and teleportation skills to the max.
Amelia slowly began to despair of ever defeating the Trickster, and by the large smile on his face he was eagerly lapping up her negative emotions and wanting more. She had tried a couple of the experimental spells, and knew that if she did indeed survive this encounter she was going to let the originators of those spells know that their ideas of anti-mazoku power was a total flop. She hadn't had a chance to try an emotionally enhanced spell because of Xelloss' constant moving around. She needed him to stay in one place, but she knew that would be like asking Lina to take her time while eating.
Thinking about Lina stirred something in the backs of Amelia's mind, so she went on the defensive while the tried to remember what it was. It had happened years ago, right after she had first met Zelgadis. They had been fighting the Vrumegan copies, and Lina had used her sword to dispatch one instead of her magic. When Amelia had asked her about it later, Lina had answered, "I knew he was expecting me to use my magic, and in that scenario he wasn't allowing me to use my really big spells. So I used my sword instead. Sometimes you have to do something that your enemy sees as either useless or stupid in order to archive your goal." Amelia blinked as Xelloss swung at her again, and dodged to the side, letting his staff pass within a hairs breath of her head. As she watched him vanish again, she realized that she was going to have to do something drastic, and the more she thought about it, the more she didn't like it, the more she knew she had no choice in the matter.
Amelia took a deep breath, and readied herself, knowing that if she messed up or miscalculated, her life would be forfeited. "Don't think," she muttered to herself. "Just do it." As soon as Xelloss appeared again, Amelia threw her two swords at him with all her might. Just as she had expected, he easily dodged the projectile weapons, then paused to watch them sail through the air and embed themselves into the ground. He then turned with a raised eyebrow to Amelia. "Well, that was stupid," he said. "Didn't you ever learn not to throw down your weapons? Or are you surrendering to me?"
"Like hell," Amelia said, and finished the spell she had been chanting while Xelloss had been occupied. "Let the power that is hidden within my soul be called forth from the infinent! RA TILT!" The blast of blue white energy smashed into Xelloss, surrounding him, and he recoiled a bit while grimacing from the pain, then he smiled. "Nice job, princess," he said mockingly, "But surely you know that a mere Ra Tilt will only scratch me up a bit?"
"Of course I know that," Amelia replied. "It kept you in place long enough for my next installment! Source of all souls which dwell in eternal and infinite. Everlasting flame of blue, let the power hidden in my soul be called forth from the Infinite. RA-TILT!" The second ball of energy smashed into Xelloss and added it's strength to the first blast, causing him to grimace yet again.
"Nice . . . try," he gritted out while he began casting a spell to counter affect the Ra Tilt, when suddenly something in his head began to buzz. At first, it was annoying, but as it went on it got stronger in it's intensity, causing him to reach up and grab the sides of his head as the Ra Tilt's energy finally wore down and dispersed itself. The buzzing went on, and then it suddenly turned into full blown pain that raced up and down his spine and twisted inside of his body, wrapping around every fiber of his being until he was nothing but a huge walking mass of agony. He felt like he was being taken apart molecule by molecule as every single positive emotion that was known to man kind shot through his system, and he began to scream.
Amelia watched impassively as Xelloss began to thrash around, his head in his hands, looking for all the world like he would dearly love to rip it off his shoulders. Amelia walked over to where her swords were, and pulled them out of the ground. She was surprised the emotional enhancement to the Ra Tilt had worked so well, but she wasn't questioning it. Xelloss screams gradually got softer and softer as his voice went, and Amelia noticed that large chunks of his body was beginning to vanish, as well.
"What did you do to me, you bitch?" Xelloss hissed at her, opening his eyes and glaring into her cold blue ones.
"Emotional enhancement spell. I was able to hit you with every single positive emotion I've ever felt in my entire life. If I'm right about the workings of this spell, then the positive emotions should be ripping away every single shred of what you are, and since I'm the only source of negative emotions within a hundred miles, that source isn't large enough to counteract the effects of this particular addition to the Ra Tilt," Amelia said coldly.
"You . . . ," Xelloss trailed off as the pain continued and more of him vanished. Angry, pain filled violet eyes met cold, calm blue eyes that held no forgiveness nor compassion for him. "You . . . once . . . would . . . have . . . forgiven . . . me . . ."
"You killed that me," Amelia said quietly. "there is no forgiveness for what you have done." Xelloss convulsed some more as the rest of him began to vanish. He found that he couldn't look away from those compelling blue eyes that had once held such innocence and a love for life in them. For the first time in his long existence, he felt a small pang of regret for what he had done. It was the last thing he ever felt as his entire essence vanished.
Amelia bowed forward, her body shuddering with reaction to what had just occurred. Tears filled her eyes and slipped down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock slowly back and forth as she sobbed. Years of tears flowed out from her heart, and she didn't even pay attention to the stings as some of those tears hit wounds that Xelloss had inflicted. She didn't pay any attention to them, because none were particularly life threatening. She cried for herself, she cried for her father and friends, and she cried for the city that had once been where she now knelt, the people undeserving of their untimely end.
She wasn't sure how long she knelt there, letting her tears fall onto the grass, but she knew it has been a good while because her shadow had moved as the sun had moved, and she quickly cast a healing spell on her injuries. She felt both exhausted and triumphant. Half of her goal was accomplished, but what was up coming was most likely going to be much worse unless she pulled off her plan and wasn't seen. She didn't really hold out hope that the whole plan would go off without incident, but she prayed to whomever was listening that at least the most important part was carried off.
Once she had healed her wounds, she brought her swords in close to her body, and examined them for a few moments. She then gently released a catch in the center of the blades, and watched as her twin swords fell apart straight down the middle, becoming four long stakes with half a hilt and a very sharp, pointed end. She gave a half nod, stood, and started to walk away, but something made her stop and turn back to gaze at the few reminders of the once beautiful city. "Forgive me," she whispered, a light breeze carrying her words away as she said them, and she felt something touch her soul and fill her heart with warmth. She knew that was the spirits way of assuring her of their forgiveness, and with a bow to honor the dead, she turned her back once again on Saillune, and walked off.
She had a long way to go to get to the coast, and she knew she had to make good time. In order to save her strength and give her body a little bit of a rest, she rented the best horse in the first stable she came to, and proceeded to ride as if all of Hell's Angels were after her. At this pace, it would take only a few days to reach a tiny fishing village on the coast, and Amelia made sure that she exchanged her mount for a fresh one every stable that she came to. The first two nights she slept on the hard ground with only a campfire to provide comfort, and the third night she stayed in the stable because the local inn was full. She didn't mind, she was once again completely focused on archiving her goal, and blocked out any and all things around her.
Once she reached the tiny fishing village, she traded the horse for a tiny little skiff, ignoring the men when they tried to insist that she buy a better boat for the journey across the ocean. Every one of them claimed that the tiny skiff wouldn't be able to carry her to Wolf Pack Island and back safely, though a couple murmured that if she even made it to Wolf Pack Island it would be a miracle. Amelia simply smiled at them, and pushed her skiff into the water, being careful to steer around the small coral reef that lurked just off shore from the beach. For once fate seemed to favor her, and she had a fair wind on the ocean with very little rough seas. It was only a couple of hours before she could make out the form of the island on the horizon, and Amelia stood up to take the four sword stakes out of their sheaths, and held them in her arms.
"LEVITATION!" she chanted, and abandoned the tiny boat to it's own fate as she flew towards the island. This was to be the trickiest part of her plan, because she had to hover over the direct center of the island without being detected for several moments. Amelia clenched her jaw as she passed over the shoreline, and in a few moments she was directly over the center of the island. Turning in a circle, she hurled her four stakes away from her, one to the north, another to the south, and the other two to the east and west, knowing that they would hit the ground at the furthest most points on the island. She followed after the one she hurled to the north, and once it embedded it's tip in the ground, she landed and knelt next to it, focusing her inner thoughts and stilling her anxiety. She chanted a spell underneath her breath, then opened her eyes and watched as the sword shard began to glow with an eerie blue light for a few moments, and then the light suddenly exploded and raced around the island, touching each of the shards and growing until it encompassed the entire island in a powerful protective shield.
With a sigh, Amelia got to her feet and turned to face the interior of the island, knowing that Zelas was lurking somewhere in the jungle. She had only taken a few steps into the dense foliage when a large shape barreled out of the jungle, and almost smashed into her. She leapt to the side and turned to face the largest wolf she had ever seen in her entire life. The wolf's lips were curled back in a snarl, exposing long, razor sharp teeth. It's eyes were large and filled with intelligence, and were the coldest shade of blue Amelia had ever seen. The wolf lunged again, and Amelia twisted her body out of the way, reaching into her waist band to draw out the small knife that she bought from the same men she bought the little skiff from.
"Hello Zelas Metallium," Amelia growled, knowing that wolf couldn't be anyone other than the Beast Master.
The wolf snarled at her again, then it began to change. Amelia watched in utter fascination as the large, four legged body was slowly dissolved and reformed as an incredibly beautiful woman. Zelas Metallium was a good six inches taller than Amelia, and her wavy hair cascaded down her back like a golden waterfall. She wore a form fitting white slip of cloth that showed off her incredibly curvy body, and elegance radiated from her every pore. But her eyes, they remained a cold slate blue, no emotion portrayed in their depths despite how hard Amelia looked.
"Well, Princess Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune," Zelas said, her voice sounding like the howling of a thousand wolves and as soft as a baby's sigh. "I didn't expect you to be able to come this far. My congratulations."
"Xelloss didn't expect it, either, and he's dead," Amelia said, stating the obvious and watching as Zelas' features twisted for a second.
"Indeed, I knew the moment he vanished. Very interesting method you used, but surely you don't think it will work on me," Zelas replied.