tampered | Log: Ongoing

Log: Ongoing

When; May 13th, evening
Rating; G - PG
Characters; Lina Inverse

dragonslaving and Amelia wil Tesla Saillune

fistsofjustice
Summary; An earlier conversation with Lina makes Amelia recall something that's worrying her.
Log;

Late evening.

Amelia lingered outside the door to Lina's room, hesitating in front of the closed door, her hand raised as though to knock. She'd had it raised for some minutes, having yet to actually touch the wood itself.

It was important. It wasn't anything that should be said. Something should be done. It was something given to her in confidence that should never be touched. The thoughts fell like the petals of a love-me, love-me-not flower, flitting out one by one to still her hand.

Before she could even stop to think, her voice broke out instead: "Lina-san?"

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Lina had gone off on her own to have some alone time.

Alone time being: sorting out all the crap she ever so righteously stole from the stray bandits wandering around the city forest. She had to say - she was pleasantly surprised. They were low-rate and downright stupid (but then again, she's never met a bandit group that was actually, you know, smart), but dealing with the stupid cliches and screaming the frying bandits brought to her life was like being reborn again.

No, Lina, being poetic won't wash away the fact that you almost caused a forest fire. Don't even ask.

She was sifting through some flawed jewels and numerous funny looking trinkets when Amelia's voice was heard. She blinked from her pile of goods and stretched in her spot, and got up to saunter over to the door to open it, blinking a few times.

"Yeah? What's up?"

Always be careful when broaching the dragon in her lair -- especially when it's a hording dragon. Amelia looked almost startled as the door swung open, stepping back, staring inward at the pile of items on the floor, she sweatdropped.

"Ah! You're busy! Maybe another time . . . !" And started to edge away again.

Well, that was random.

Lina blinked a few times and raised an eyebrow, and briefly looked over her shoulder to the pile of assorted treasure scattered on her floor in classified sections, and shrugged.

"Well, it's not like I'm in a rush or anything. What's the matter? You're actin' kinda funny."

Amelia, funny? No, never. The massive sweatdropping, the hands behind her back with the fingers practically curled into a knot -- nope. Not at all funny. "It's nothing!"

Somehow here, actually standing in front of Lina, made things all the more difficult to say. Maybe she really *shouldn't* have been there.

You're very convincing, Amelia.

...

Not.

"Yeah, okay, sure." Lina rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping from her words. She stepped back into her room and held the door open. "You obviously called my name for something. Is it about that guy you wanna help?"

"Nuh-uh . . ." Amelia backed a little further away into the hallway, eyes falling. "Not really . . ."

Hesitation.

"Lina-san, what if you *knew* something and you didn't think you were supposed to tell, but it seemed like it was a good thing to tell?"

Okay, what?

Lina had no idea what she was talking about, but now she was mighty curious. And we all know - when Lina Inverse gets curious, she finds things out. Or she gets obnoxious about them. Maybe both.

"Um, it depends..." she replied slowly and wrinkled her nose, and sighed, a little exasperated. "Look, I'm assuming since you came to me, it's probably a private matter. Come in already. I don't know where the hell Zel is, but he's more likely to drop in some place that isn't my room."

But if she went in, she was kind of trapped -- though it was kind of silly to think that way, wasn't it? It wasn't like Lina would *torture* it out of her or that she wasn't ever free to leave.

And if Zelgadiss *did* return . . .

Finally, "'kay . . ." And she padded inward.

Lina closed the door once Amelia was in and flopped onto her bed, crossing her arms. Her room, as expected, was a mess - everything and anything was just thrown on the floor.

"Okay, rewind, and start from the beginning. What, exactly, are, you talking about?"

"You have to answer my question first." Amelia blinked, taking in the room's chaos, staying where she was.

". . . Lina-san, don't you ever clean up?"

Lina snapped and flailed a little. "HEY! Let's stay on the subject, okay?!"

Ahem.

Anyway.

"And I did answer your question," she grumbled. "I said it depends. On the severity. Like--okay--let's say someone decided to be angsty and mopey and told you that they were going to kill themselves and not to tell anyone. And you should go tell someone. You know, something like that."

Pause.

"...okay, that was a morbid example, but, you know. You get me?"

Amelia gave the room -- and Lina -- one last eyeing, but let it go. Not worth incurring wrath, and besides, there were other things to discuss.

"Well, you didn't say *that* part." So there.

Her bare toes ground against the floorboards, taking in the example. "And . . . I guess it's kind of like that -- butnoone'sgoingtokillthemselves,sodon'tworryaboutthat!" Time to awkwardly rub at the back of her head and look nonchalant. "But it *could* be bad, I guess . . . Except he really wouldn't want me to tell, and he even *told* me I shouldn't tell, but what if he goes and *does* something when I can't *do* anything and it turns out really bad?"

Start from the beginning, what?

Yeah, what?

Lina wasn't sure if she liked where this was going, and she raised a questioning brow at Amelia, cocking her head to the side. She was downright confused, and curiosity was eating out her insides.

"...okay, you definitely lost me there. It would help if you told me who you're talking about and exactly what they're trying to do."

Amelia was silent for long moments, staring down at her toes as her moral balance tottered slowly on its midpoint between two loyalties.

At last one side dipped farther than the other.

"That night . . . that night when we were older, Zelgadiss-san told me he's still looking for a cure. He told me he plans on looking into talking to the deities that everyone talks about . . . and that he's heard they'll do it -- for a price. It has to be something important that belongs to him. He used his memories as an example. He'd give up that in order to be human again."

Her voice, small before, turned completely tiny. "He's going to be really mad at me . . ."

Oh, this was about Zelgadiss.

She shouldn't be surprised. She really shouldn't - and she wasn't surprised, exactly. She seemed a lot more...annoyed, with the way her eyebrow twitched and the way she scowled.

Well, she did know before that Zelgadiss was interesting in striking a deal with the deities, but that was quickly abandoned, she thought. She hoped her bitching would've gotten through him, but apparently? It didn't.

"Oh, you can't be serious," Lina let out a groan with her words and smacked her forehead. "Is he that stupid? Honestly?"

Her eyes darted upward uncertainly. "Eh . . . ?"

"He's an idiot," Lina declared bluntly and shook her head. "Not the Gourry-type of idiot, either. At least that earns some forgiveness."

She looked downright annoyed.

"Seriously. He's going to be doing the same mistake he did with Rezo. Wanting something in exchange for a price he thinks he can pay, and then later he's going to regret it and try getting back what he lost."

Okay, maybe that was a little too cynical for her taste. She smacked her forehead again.

"Okay, so, maybe it won't exactly happen like that. Maybe he can trade a turtle to get his body back. Who the hell knows? But I really wonder if he wants to risk another exchange."

"Nuh-uh." Amelia shook her head quickly. "I think he has to trade something that belongs to him -- that's important. I . . . don't think a turtle is very important to him.

But that's what I'm worried about. If he trades something like his memories, he'll forget *everything* . . . Or even if he trades anything else, it'll be important somehow! But that doesn't seem to matter to him at all, and . . .

"

She pushed on. "I *know* this is really important to him. I do! And if it's what he really, really wants, I'd like to see him happy. But this way . . . I don't think it's the right way at all."

"Again, it's like what he did with Rezo. He traded most of his human body for power." She shrugged and grumbled, crossing her arms. "It's no different."

She shook her head and unfolded her arms to scratch her head. "We can confine him into the apartment and try to persuade him otherwise. Or, you know, we can let him do what he wants and let him deal with the consequences."

Except, well, while the latter was certainly easier - Zelgadiss, as stupid as he was, was a very good friend of hers, and, well...

She honestly had to agree with Amelia there.

"Well, do you have a plan?"

"Well, he told me he'd tell me before he went to do anything." Amelia's fingers were winding a slow knot again. "I'm not sure what to do. I think he should be stopped because this isn't right and he might end up worse, but . . . Zelgadiss-san is really determined, too. I don't think he'd listen, and since I wasn't supposed to tell you in the first place, I think he'd get really mad at both of us and we wouldn't do much good unless you Dragon Slaved him -- which wouldn't be much help either."

This was a morally gray area with no clear answer, and Amelia was floundering.

"I just don't understand why he has to do it in the first place. He's good as he is!"

"Well, apparently he doesn't think so." Great. Messy situation.

Of course, she could always just sit back and watch and let the damn guy do his thing and see how it goes. She wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do, or if there was a right thing about this, since there are unknown variables that she can't even be sure of.

"And I don't think he'll be too mad, anyway," she swung her legs off the bed and kicked them into the air a little. "Before you came, he mentioned about being interested in striking an exchange with the deities. I told him it was the stupidest idea ever. Although I really should have expected him to not listen, because he's a stubborn git."

"This is the thing Zelgadiss-san wants the very most," was the murmured reply. "I don't think he'll give up."

She glanced up hopefully. "Though maybe a proper reminder about Justice would help?"

. . . Though how Justice actually pertained to the situation was anyone's guess.

"But other than that . . ." She trailed off for a moment. "Maybe you're right; maybe it's best to just wait and see."

Rare restraint and rare thought . . . but when it came down to it, Amelia honestly believed that there was little that could be done to prevent a Zelgadiss who had his mind made up. It just would have been nice not to feel so helpless about it.

Edited 2008-05-17 03:50 (UTC)

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Log: Ongoing

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