Inside, he had taken time to try to investigate the house for any clues on the previous owners where abouts. He found absolutely nothing, except some half finished pictures- that were very dark but extremely well presented- and a closet full of clothes that was strangely his size and a closet full of women’s clothing. They must have been artistically inclined people, he noted. There was a kitchen, loaded with food that was surprisingly not mouldy and grimy. The previously owners must have left pretty recently, he thought, as he checked the inventory before shutting the fridge.

He slumped back on the couch, exhausted by the premises search he had performed all through the day. By now, the summer stars were out and a full moon shone its silver light through the living room window. He heard the sound of the door creaking open.

"Amelia?"

She padded inside softly. She was soaked. Which made her clothes especially revealing of her figure. He couldn’t help but stare, but quickly turned away when he saw her blushing at him.

"I looked all over the house, the previous owners seemed to have left without a trace. They even left behind their clothes."

A sudden growl sounded and Zelogadis shook his head.

"There’s edible food in the fridge, help yourself. I’m going to sleep." Zelogadis got up and stepped briskly past Amelia -- who was looking at the floor like it was the most interesting thing since sliced bread.

He walked down the wooden hallway and entered the man’s room to the left. He stripped, showered and pulled on some navy blue pajamas before shutting off the lights and climbing into bed. Before sleep came to him, he heard the padding of footsteps and the hollow creak of a door opening. He frowned, it seemed she didn’t grab anything to eat. He shut his eyes.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Amelia took a quick shower and dressed in a long sleeveless blue night-gown. It was odd how all the clothes fit her so well. The amazing thing was the clothes were beautiful and fit her up to par. Which was kind of freaky, since she had a bust size that exceeded any girl with a petite frame like hers.

She hopped into bed and turned off the floral designed lamp beside her. Elusively, her thoughts drifted to Zelogadis. She curled up in a ball and stared into empty space. Her mind dwelled on the fact that he was treating her like the worst thing that could happen to him. She felt like she was hitting a new low. Her head hurt, her stomach hurt, her body hurt. And her eyes. She forced back the salty tears and bit her lip. When she returned, she would give up on him, she promised herself. Her eyes closed and sleep quickly claimed her.

**************************************************************************************

Amelia basked in the warmth of the hot sun, feeling nothing but overwhelming pleasure take her. Blue skies stretched to the four corners of the world. The air was perfumed with the smell of roses, and the salty sea breeze swept across the meadow where she was laying.

"So this is what it feels like when the world is at peace and justice." She sighed. Lately, she’d be lucky to lie down and enjoy the weather with out thoughts of *him* popping into her head.

Which leaves off as a perfect entrance cue. She groaned and turned over, picking at the stems of grass. Now she knew she wouldn’t be able to get him out of her mind.

She liked him... So much it hurt. Amelia couldn’t quite place a finger on what exactly attracted her to the depressed chimera. He was gorgeous, with his blue skin and cool, calm demeanour. He also had the smarts to boot. He was one of the most intelligent guys she had ever met. Which was pretty big since she spent a lot of time in the confines of her palace, which were crawling with smart tutors and scholars. But, Zelogadis, he was different. It wasn’t so much that he was exceedingly smart, it was just he was mature about everything. It made him look like he had no childhood... Like he went from three to ten in a year. But the thing she found most attractive about him, she had yet to find out.

"Amelia."

His calm, handsome face hovered over hers and she blushed as she stared intently into his. He knelt down and touched her shoulder.

"Zelogadis-san?" Amelia murmured softly. Zelogadis leaned closer, until his breath mingled with hers.

The touch on her shoulder turned to a real he-man grip, and Amelia screamed out in pain. His grip on her shoulder tightened. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked into the cold sapphires that were his eyes. Cold, like jade.

"Why? Why?" Amelia asked, writhing under his grip. Silently he climbed over her so that he could grip her other shoulder and stare into her tear-streaked face. His expression was ice, too icy. It almost looked artificial.

He said nothing, but wept a bloody tear that landed on Amelia’s check. She looked up at him, stunned.

"Help me..."

It was a sad whisper. A plea for help.

**************************************************************************************

Amelia woke up to the sounds of birds chirping and the lull of ocean waves. Like any other morning. But she had a bad feeling that grew from the pit of her stomach to the reserves of her brain. She shivered. It was one of those days...

That dream was not something to take lightly, that’s all she knew.

Amelia got up and made her bed. Looking into the closet, she selected a some cut off jean shorts and a white turtle-neck tank top.

The house was empty. Which meant that Zelogadis was already up and about outside. Back to work already, Amelia thought with a sigh. She was extremely hungry, so she grabbed a foot long sub from the fridge before bouncing out the door.

She was surprised when she found Zelogadis outside, painting.

He was painting from underneath a tall tree that stood on the cliff, facing the ocean. His canvas was fairly large and beside him, on a small wooden table, was various shades of paints. He was dressed casually, in beige cargo pants and a long sleeved, black v-neck. Again, it stunned her on how wonderful he looked, no matter where he was or what he wore. Amelia smiled and silently crept up to him. She shielded her eyes from the sun with a hand while marvelling at how wonderful the painting was.

His use of pigments and strokes was one that matched, or even exceeded, the many artists that travelled to the royal palace. And he moved his brush back and fourth with such grace, it was like he had been painting all his life.

"It’s wonderful." Amelia breathed. Zelogadis put the brush down.

"It’s nothing." he muttered, standing up. Picking up his paints and brushes, he walked back to the house. Not even bothering to flash her any kind of look. He was being way too professional about everything, Amelia sighed. She looked at the painting one more time, before lay-winging herself into the forest.

Amelia searched the wild tropical forest for a couple of hours before taking a break at a natural spring. She took a sip of the sweet liquid before sitting against a tall rock. The forest ceiling was pretty dense, meaning the sun came in small doses. Which was nice. It was cool and relaxing.

"Amelia."

She turned her head drowsily and watched as Zelogadis approached her. .

"I haven’t found anything yet." She replied to his un-spoken question. He nodded.

"Me neither." He paused. "But I feel like I’ve been here before."

"Think you’ve been in the sun too long, Zelogadis-san." She stuck out her tongue before smiling at him. He turned away.

"Well anyways, I’ll meet you at the house."

"Wait." Amelia stood up. "I’ll come with you."

"If we take different routes back, we’ll cover more ground." Was his brisk, cold reply. She knew what the outcome would be before the dust cleared. But this time, she would stand her ground.

"We’ve done enough ‘covering’ for the day, lets just go back and eat. We can start again when we get our second wind."

"No." He replied, walking away. She sighed. So much for her first line of defence. She turned and walked in the opposite direction.

She walked for quite a while before she realised that she was totally lost. After another hour of circling around the forest, she sank to the ground clutching her stomach.

"Uh... I’m so hungry." She wailed. She heard a growl, and deftly patted her stomach.

"I know, I know..." She sighed. "I’ll get some food in you, just wait."

It growled again, only more louder and fiercer. Amelia sweatdropped. Than, slowly, she turned her face to see a big, white tiger bearing its fangs in a snarl.

Amelia calmly stood up, never taking her eyes of the tiger. The tiger pounced, she held her hands out.

"Fireball!"

Nothing. The tiger jumped on top of her, digging its claws into her shoulders. She screamed as she felt her flesh burn in pain while blood poured out of her open wounds.

"Amelia!"

She heard Zelogadis’s voice seconds before she saw him catch the tiger in a flying tackle. She painfully got up and applied ‘Recovery’ to her wounds. Her magic worked smoothly as it usual did.

So what was with the blanch a minute ago?

Her gaze turned to Zelogadis who was readying himself for the spell ‘La Tilt’. When the second came that the spell was supposed to be released. Nothing happened.

Zelogadis stared at his hands in confusion. The tiger growled, crouching back into a pouncing position.

Amelia reacted fast. She dove infront of a bewildered Zelogadis and set up a barrier. It worked, the Tiger bounced off the barrier and from behind her, Zelogadis took his sword and leapt at the animal. He neatly stabbed the enraged tiger in the back, before drawing back and watching the animal slump to the ground. Zelogadis turned around to face Amelia, his eyes flashing with anger.

"Baka! What if the barrier didn’t work? You could’ve been seriously hurt!"

"Well, I had to do something! You were in danger!" Amelia snapped back. Zelogadis opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. His sapphire eyes were wild with anger. But it was a different kind of anger.

He was worried.

Amelia stepped up to him, and he promptly faltered back, but she reached out to grab his hand. She wouldn’t let him go this time.

"Zelogadis-san, I thought you headed for another route?"

He looked away from her, trying to withdraw his hand, but Amelia’s other hand came to his wrist.

"Were you following me?"

She closed the space between them with a single step, looking up into his eyes with wonder. He stared back with weary eyes. Sad. Amelia frowned, her expression a silent plea.

"Please, Zelogadis-san, be honest with me."

______________________________________________________________________________________

It was absolutely miserable staring into those deep blue eyes. They were so warm and inviting and filled with sweet concern... So much, it almost made him crack. He couldn’t even talk, because he knew it would just make things more difficult.

She released the hand on his wrist and gently glided it up his torso. He tried again to pull away, but her grip was strong. Or maybe he wasn’t putting enough effort into getting away...

Her warm fingers came to the cold, stone flesh of his face. And he felt pangs of guilt and pain, each time her fingers brushed against his skin. She rested two fingers on his lips, and he could feel his heart leap. And the only thing that kept him from taking her and filling his empty void with her physical and emotional heaven was his conscious. Heavy and deep. He began to tremble, and she retracted when she saw the look of anger and anguish he was showing her.

"I didn’t mean to hurt you..." she said. Amelia was blaming herself. He was causing her emotional distress. Him. Him.

Him.

"Gah!" Zelogadis turned and fled. He made haste blindly in the forest, pushing everything aside or ramming head first into anything that got in his way. He tripped over a branch and landed heavily on the ground.

Panting, he lifted his head and saw himself. His ugly, monster reflection staring back at him from a still pool of water. He growled and slashed at the reflection.

He shakily got up, only to fall to his knees. Blood was dripping down the side of his head and everything was in a red haze. He coughed up some blood into his hands and stared at his hand with a blanched expression.

"What could you offer her?"

Zelogadis held his head in his hands. The shaking would not stop....

"The more an impression of you is taken in one’s mind, the more sick and diseased one becomes."

"Just to gain your corrupt desires...."

The last thing he heard was his own scream.

**************************************************************************************

What is love?

Cloaked in warmth in times of despair,

An emotional barrier,

Stronger with each blow,

Growing with each strike.

A longing to be,

To hope,

To dream,

To desire.

With the one that holds,

your heart on her sleeve,

And knows,

it would take one word,

To crush it.

"I don’t know.... what this means..."

**************************************************************************************

Zelogadis opened his eyes and stared up at total whiteness. Maybe he had gone insane. The ache in his head returned, full blunt, and he tried to reach a hand to his face but found something warm weighing it down.

His vision blurred as he looked down, and it took him a few seconds for the images to pull together.

Amelia’s head was cuddled against his palm, one arm draped lazily over his stomach. Zelogadis frowned and slid his hand from underneath her sleeping face. Her eyes fluttered open. Zelogadis slid off the bed, and walked over to the door.

"Zelogadis-san?" Her voice drowsy but worn with concern. He paused in the doorway.

"I’m fine."

He walked out the door and gently shut it behind him. Leaning up against the door frame, he exhaled a long, heavy breath.

His mind was a lot more clearer now than it was before. Briskly, he made way down the hall way and collapsed on the living room couch. Looking through the window, it seemed that the beginnings of dusk was about to stroke its fiery fingers through the blue sky. Which meant he had crashed for a very long time.

Assessment. He needed to list the problems.

One: It seemed that black magic didn’t work here.

Two: There was no sailing equipment anywhere on the island. The previous people must have only built one boat. And they had escaped with it.

Three: He still couldn’t remember where he had come from.

And four: He couldn’t remember the names or the looks of the two companions he had, maybe, been travelling with before the whole island incident.

It was horrible, it was like his memory was depleting as time went on. It had something to do with this island. He was sure of it.

The more they stayed here, the more their identities were in danger.

Thinking too much wasn’t going to get him anywhere unless he had information to think about. Zelogadis decided to take a break. He stood up and walked into the arts room. The artist was extraordinary- with artistic abilities that exceeded his own, a thousand fold- but indeed a very depressed individual. The creations were morbid, with a very defiant dark mood portrayed in every single piece.

He walked around and examined them more closer. Many paintings were miserable children, crying into their hands while blood pooled around them. Others were of demons, angrily towering over helpless people. There were numerous scenic pictures of stormy nights or desolate chambers. In these ones that mood was sad. Lonely.

But there was one picture that was different.

It wasn’t as good as the rest, in fact, it looked like the artist had started with this painting, but never finished it. It was done in warm tones, the atsmophere cheery. He could tell the young girl in the picture was an angel, he could see the tips of her wings. The artist had started the painting in an unusual fashion, starting from the feet up. The girl was dressed in long white robes that flared all around her like a virgin bell flower. He could see that she was extremely pretty, her body was so beautiful it could’ve been sinful. But the artist left the neck up, unfinished. Judging by the artist’s other works, he probably would’ve completed the work by painting an ugly monster’s head. Or he gave up on the whole idea of having angels among us. Saviours. Zelogadis couldn’t have agreed more.

Needless to say, the artistic performance in detail and structure in this picture paled in comparison to the rest of the other works. It seemed the artist could best express emotions, through things that he felt and knew. Zelogadis knew that all the paintings in the room, had a part of the artist in them.

The works seemed oddly familiar to him.

Zelogadis shook his head and thought carefully. It was strange; the artist was on a beautiful island with a companion- whether the artist was the girl or the boy- surrounded by the lull of the beautiful ocean and tropical forest. But the pictures produced were of a darker manifestation, one that could not have been incited by events on the island. And the people were so realistic, but they could not have come from examples from this place. And yet, Zelogadis knew that the works were created here. Substantial proof was that he had found numerous paint bottles that were either empty or getting there, especially pigments such as black and blue. Nothing dried up or ancient, everything was fairly new. There was also canvases that were still not finished.

But besides that, he had an intense feeling that the artist had painted from his own emotional trauma. Keeping it a secret that would go no farther than himself, this island, and his girl companion.

Why did he suddenly know the artist was the man? He couldn’t figure that out... But he was almost sure the artist was the previous male occupant of this house.

"Zelogadis-san?"

Instead of greeting the voice behind him, he glanced up at the clock and found that he had been staring at the pictures for over three hours.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Amelia pouted when he chose to ignore her. She had dragged him across the threshold, and he couldn’t even say one word about it. Two could play at this game. If he would ignore her, than she would talk up a storm. Even more than she did before. He would have to pay attention to her then.

She came around and looked at the wall of paintings. The ocean breeze from an open window twirling her white summer dress and brushing through her wet hair. She had just taken a shower, and the wind striked her as a little chilly. She ignored the goosebumbs on her arms and examined the wall of paintings with curious eyes.

First thing that struck her was the darkness of all of them. The personification of the artists emotional torment. But they were so detailed and very skilfully created, that she had to call the paintings ‘beautiful’.

"They’re all so cold." Amelia hugged herself, staring at the section of paintings that belonged to lonely, mourning children awashed in the blood of others.

"The artist must have been a sad and lonely individual. A person that knew nothing about love, hope and desires. Somebody that suffered deep internal conflict, and the darkness won."

Amelia lowered her head, her eyes watering, making the floor a blurry mess.

"I feel he wanted something. He was terribly empty. That’s not justice at all...." She ended with tears dropping to the wooden floor. Hastily she wiped at her eyes, but the tears wouldn’t stop. Even when she told herself how stupid she must have looked.