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Chapter 3-A Matter of the Heart

“Melody’s at my house?” I asked. “What’s she doing over here!?”

“How should I know?” Sha asked. “I just know that she seemed really edgy when she called me earlier… Something happen that I don’t know about?”

“Not that I know of…” I muttered. Arianna tugged on my sleeve. “Not now, Arianna, I’m busy.” I said, tugging my sleeve away. “Melody usually sends word before she comes, something about regulations—“ I was interrupted by more insistent tugging by Arianna. “Arianna, what’s so important? And why the heck am I asking; I can’t understand a word you say!”

“Yulan miskura wraghla.” The girl said, pointing out the window. I looked in the direction she was pointing, and paled somewhat. There was a whole group of motorcycle gang members riding around our vehicle. I recognized the markings; it was of a group that did a lot of carjacking.

“Oh, crap. Figures jerks like them would show up now.” I said. “Hey, Uncle, can you lower the window?”

“Of course.” Uncle Shadar said, lowering the window. Sha smiled and scooted over, giving me more room to aim. After a second, I pulled out a small crystal from inside my shirt, and held it with my left hand. A bow of pure energy appeared, and I drew back a string that hadn’t been there before. An arrow appeared.

“Kasu luni ro tessa.” Arianna said breathlessly. I made sure to make the arrow dulled, then let the bolt fly. It punched straight through the front section of one of the motorcycles. After a moment, the others veered off.

“Bandits. Hate ‘em.” I said, letting the bow vanish. That was one of the special weapons I had, and very useful at times. It never ran out of arrows, and the arrows always hit their target, no matter where you aimed. Sure, it was cheap, but it’s not like I used it all that much! That just wouldn’t be as fun.

The rest of the trip home was fairly uneventful. Arianna seemed fascinated by some of the things she saw, but nobody bothered explaining them. After all, it’s not like she could understand us. Arianna and I were dropped off with our things in front of our house, and after a cheerful good-bye, Sha and Uncle Shadar drove off. I lead Arianna up to the house.

And, as anybody not blind would’ve noticed, I saw the vehicle parked next to the house. It wasn’t a normal vehicle; it was Melody’s one-of-a-kind transdimensional thermoaqualia engine phaseshifting travel vehicle. Or, as everybody preferred to call it, ‘The Carriage’.

“Elay krinal.” Arianna said quietly. I shrugged, once again wishing that I actually knew what she was saying.

“Come on, Arianna, we should go meet Melody before something crazier happens.” I told the girl. Blinking, she followed me up the steps and into my house.

“It’s about time you got here!” a voice called. I hurried into the living room. A girl who appeared to be the same age as Arianna and me (I’d like to note here that she isn’t, you’ll see why later) was standing in the room, looking rather disheveled.

I raised an eyebrow. Melody was usually almost flawless in her looks. I remembered something about a spell she used to keep her snow-white hair looking good and such. Actually seeing her in a state of disarray was a bit of a treat.

“What’s this about you having a fiancée!?” Melody blurted out. I groaned and sat down.

“I thought you needed me to save your hides or something!” I said. “You’re telling me that you passed all of the usual regulations, ignored your beauty spells, and came all the way here just to ask me that!?”

“Hey! I’m serious!” Melody said indignantly. “The news of that has my parent’s castle in an uproar! I mean—“ she suddenly caught herself.

“Oh no…” I said. “Oh, don’t tell me—“

“They—“

“I said not to tell me!” I quickly yelled. “Don’t say it!”

“They had—“

“No! Close your mouth! Now!”

“—had decided—“ the girl said, trying to get in through my words.

“Quiet! No talking!”

“—that it would be best if—“ Melody continued. I tackled her and clamped my hands over her mouth. Arianna just stared cluelessly. I suddenly envied her.

“I told you not to say it.” I said quietly. “Do not tell me. My life is crazy enough right now as it is. If you tell me, then I won’t be able to convince myself that you meant something else. So stay quiet.”

“Mmpf!” Melody replied. I growled. “Eep!”

“Now… Will you promise not to say it?” I asked quietly. Melody nodded, and I slowly released my hands. “Good… Because I don’t want to hear it.”

“But—“

“But is what you sit on!” I replied sharply, heading back to the couch to sit on my own. Melody groaned. “Oh, be quiet. It wasn’t that bad. I know all about what your parents intended. It’s just that my parents had a different plan in mind.” I paused, then beckoned for Arianna to come over. The girl did so, and sat nervously next to me. Melody carefully got up herself and sat on one of those single person couches. I forgot what people call them.

“So that’s—“

“Yes.”

“And you—“

“Yes.”

“But you don’t—“

“No.”

“How—“

“I just can.”

“Geez… You can’t know what I’m going to say before I say it!” Melody said.

“No… But you’re predictable enough that I can guess.” I replied. There was a long silence.

“Okay…” Melody said. “But, um… I didn’t need to go through the procedures to come here, because I sort of, um… Got permission from both my parents and yours to—“

“To be a transfer student to my school and live in my house?” I asked, rolling my eyes. Melody nodded. “Ugh. Figures. This is just my luck… I don’t suppose you speak jibberish?”

“Huh?” Melody asked. I pointed to Arianna, who blinked.

“Kamn rutalg wrenshyoal?” the girl asked.

“Say what?” Melody asked. “No… I’ve no idea what she’s saying. Why?”

“I don’t either, of course.” I replied. “That’s most of the problem; I never have any idea what she actually wants.” Arianna just looked at me for a moment, then sat down next to me, looking nervously at Melody.

“I can see why that would be a problem. I should have paid attention in class, then I’d know how to understand her.” Melody muttered. “Oh, well. Are you going to help me unpack?”

“…Sure, why not?” I replied. I looked at Arianna, and mimed taking something from the carriage and setting it on the living room floor. Judging from how she did exactly what I wanted when we started unpacking Melody’s things, I figured that she understood what I meant.

It didn’t take a particularly long amount of time to bring in all her things, considering that there were only three of us working. Once it had all been unloaded, though, Melody was very insistent that she wouldn’t get hurt or anything while carrying it all upstairs herself. I believed her.

In the meantime, however, I sat back on the couch and began thinking. Arianna rested her head in my lap a moment later, and dozed off. I smiled slightly. The girl was obviously exhausted, probably because of the hectic morning and that fact that her jet lag was finally catching up with her.

Time slowly passed. Around noon, I slid out from under Arianna and made some lunch, a plate of which I stuck by the girl’s nose.

“Esuro.” She whispered, quickly sitting up to eat her meal. I relaxed on the couch next to her for a few minutes, before the doorbell rang. I hurried over and opened it.

“James!” My mother shrieked, wrapping me in a massive hug. “Are you all right? The bandages, what—“

“It’s nothing, mom!” I said firmly. “Just a few scratches. But why didn’t you tell me Melody was coming over?”

“Oh, that. I… Uh… Forgot.” My mother said, looking distinctly embarrassed. I sighed, slowly shook my head, and headed back into the living room. Arianna looked up, stood up, bowed to my mother, then sat down again and finished eating. As she was supposed to, she put her plate and utensils in the dishwasher before returning to the room.

I took a few deep breaths, and was about to start talking, but Arianna had decided she wanted to hug me and did just that, making it almost impossible for me to breathe for several moments.

“Hmm… I think you two are doing all right.” My mother said, laughing. I glared at her, then pat Arianna on the back a few times. She pulled away, almost glowing. I assumed that to be an indicator of how she was feeling at the moment, which was obviously pretty darn good.

Melody reappeared in the room a moment later, exchanged greetings with my mother, then sat down next to Arianna and began talking to her. We all knew she didn’t understand, but I had the feeling that Melody wanted to do it anyways. I paused.

“This is Mel we’re talking about, so…” I muttered. “Hmm. Maybe Ari can understand her after all.”

“Nope.” Melody replied. “Can’t understand a word of her jibberish.” I sighed.

“You’re right, your skill doesn’t do that, huh?” I asked. Melody shrugged.

“Not unless it’ll keep me safe. This is far from qualifying.” She replied. The girl smiled at Arianna, who blinked, but smiled back. I laughed and ruffled Arianna’s hair before getting up and heading to the Living Room. To nobody’s surprise, Arianna followed me, going so far as to sit next to me when I turned on some cartoons to watch. Melody headed upstairs, to do whatever it was she did.

That made me pause and think. I knew a few things about Melody.

She was a princess of an alternate world that had a lot of magic.

She was nice.

She was quite literally invincible; her unique magic protected her from anything harmful.

I thought, but realized that was about all I knew about her. Shrugging, I returned to watching the cartoons, eventually putting an arm around Arianna’s shoulders in an attempt to try and get closer emotionally to her.

It worked.

Hours later, at about four o’ clock, I yawned, stretched, and began to head upstairs. As usual, Arianna followed me. To my surprise, however, she did not come into my room. Instead, she went into her own to do something. I shrugged, went into my own room, and left my door open in case she wanted to come in. A closed door usually signified the desire for people to stay out, after all.

Having little else to do, I pulled out a book. Ten seconds later, my mother stuck her head in.

“What are you doing!? You’re supposed to be getting ready to go!” she shrieked. “Get changed into something nice, young man!”

“…Huh? What’re you talking about?” I asked. My mother sighed, then pulled out an invitation.

“It’s the Charity Dinner, where all of the most important government officials, and a number of celebrities, are going to be dining to help raise money for needy people overseas.” She explained. “You, Melody, and Arianna are all attending.” I jolted upright, then hurried into my closet and began putting on a nice set of clothing. Ten minutes later, I walked out into the hall wearing a set of casual clothing that wasn’t too different from what I usually wore, as well as a sword which I strapped to my waist. My mother sighed.

“Hey, I did comb my hair.” I pointed out. Melody was standing next to me, wearing a white, strapless gown that complemented her hair nicely. She also had on a pair of very long gloves, the kind that reach about three quarters of the way up your arm. Then Arianna walked out of her room and I completely forgot about Melody.

The girl, looking slightly embarrassed, had decided to wear a slightly more revealing outfit then she normally did (not that that’s saying much; it was still pretty modest), but the real clincher was that the dress was simple. It was not elaborate, or encrusted with gems, or anything like that. It was in 2 pieces, and a bit small, but not so small that any of her body was truly revealed.

The fact was that she simply looked so good that the clothes only helped draw attention to her face. I gulped nervously, trying to get my heart to stop beating so fast, and held out my left arm. Smiling, the girl rested her right hand on it and allowed me to properly escort her outside and into the vehicle.

“And I thought I looked good…” I’d heard Melody whisper. Even my mom looked impressed with Arianna. I stared out the window to clear my thoughts, focusing on the buildings our chauffeur for the afternoon was driving us by.

Soon enough, we reached a massive building, and walked down the red carpet as photographers began taking pictures. Acting against my nature, that is, as a gentleman, I lead both Arianna and Melody down the carpet and into the main event area. The white-haired girl suddenly began laughing. I looked around, and noticed a few people garbed in illusion spells. While they looked like normal security people, I realized that they were actually soldiers from her lands sent to protect her. The swords were what really gave them away. Smirking, I waved cheerfully to them and lead Arianna to a large table. I noticed one of them whisper something to the other, and they both headed outside to guard her from there.

Not that she needed it.

Arianna smiled gently as she took the offered seat at our table, and looked around in an embarrassed way. People continued filing into the room, and I noted government officials, movie stars, the voice actor of Colin the Constipated Clown (here, I groaned), and about twenty five gorgeous models, all blonde and air-headed. I couldn’t tell the difference between them, and besides, Arianna was getting slightly more attention. I concentrated on the sound of one reporter’s voice, mentally tuning out everything else.

“And over at table seven are some of the most prominent yet least known about guests, including James Aquarius, we all know who he is, and no less than two princesses, one of which is supposedly his fiancée. As some people are aware—“ I tuned him out and started listening around again. Then I just looked, decided nothing was wrong, shrugged, and started talking with Melody.

Arianna looked faintly envious of the fact that Melody and I could talk to each other, while she couldn’t talk to either of us, but took it in good cheer and began looking at all of the celebrities. People quieted down as a man got onto a podium.

“Well, I would like to thank everybody here for coming to this dinner, an event that we hope will raise enough funds to bring many, many children full bellies.” He said, to applause from the seated celebrities. “Now, as we get started, please give a warm round to The Thunderheads, who have agreed to donate their profits from this evening to the children.” There was a round of applause as a by band, each member of which had spiked yellow hair, brought their equipment onto the stage and began playing.

Arianna smiled for a moment before resting her head against me, probably wondering what to do in the hour and a half before the dinner truly began and we got to eat. I smiled and looked around, eventually spotting a group of movie stars my age who were busy playing games on consoles that had been set up for that very purpose. Laughing, I lead Arianna over to them, picked up a spare controller, and joined in. They were so intent on playing that they didn’t notice me until I soundly defeated all of them in a free-for-all.

“No way! Who—Whoa.” One of them said, looking at me. “Hey, uh, how’s it going?” I laughed inwardly. These guys were struck with awe, and they were movie stars. It was insane.

“Oh, average.” I said, smiling. I handed the controller to Arianna who, not playing against me, was actually pretty good. She still lost, though, but not by much. I got up and slowly ambled towards the main doors, gesturing for Arianna to return to our table. Confused, the girl did so, but suddenly screamed as gunshots sounded from right outside. “I knew it.” I said, narrowing my eyes. “At such a high-profile event, there were bound to be freaks trying to steal the money.” I calmly ran towards the door, just as a group of masked gunmen barged in and began aiming at the highest-profile people.

“Freeze!” one of them yelled.

“Why don’t you freeze yourself!?” I replied, pulling out my sword. They were never entirely sure what hit them. I usually didn’t move so fast, because it wasn’t as fun, but there was no way I was going to let there be any chance of them hurting Arianna. Anyways, once I’d finished, they were all lying unconscious on the ground. I hurried back over to Arianna, shooing away reporters, but slowed as I saw her face.

She looked even more terrified then she had when she’d been alone for several hours. Wordlessly, I resheathed my blade and gave her a hug, trying to convey by emotions that it was going to be okay.

“Kali negthra wriya pollunk frannalso dekki!” the girl babbled. I put a finger over her mouth.

“You’re fine, Arianna.” I whispered. “You’re not going to be hurt or anything. Okay?” the girl just shook her head and trembled, inexplicably scared to her core of something. My mother sighed.

“We should get her home.” She said, standing up. Leaving a check for about three thousand dollars on the table, she helped me bring Ari out to a waiting car. Melody followed us, looking worried. Once we were away from the building, Arianna slowly began to calm down. If she hadn’t, I’d’ve just put her to sleep with a touch of magic, but I was glad to not have to do that.

“Dakki…” the girl whispered. “Dakkiko nira malkazura.” Crying, she hugged me as hard as she could and kept hugging. I awkwardly pat her back, trying to comfort her. More then ever, I wished I could understand what she was saying. However, I couldn’t, and wishing I could wasn’t going to do anything constructive.

As soon as we got home, I carried Arianna upstairs, and gently set her on my bed. She collapsed gratefully on it and stayed like that for a long time. Then she crawled under the covers, still shaking. I sighed and got the phone from downstairs, hurrying back so she wouldn’t get even more scared.

“Let’s see… Nine four two… Oh three three… Five six two two…” I muttered, punching in the numbers. The phone rang for several moments, then my dad answered.

“Ugh… Do you know what time it is over here?” he asked, yawning. “This is way too early if it’s business.”

“Dad...” I said warningly. “Look, you know that charity dinner thing?”

“Oh, James? Mm-hmm… Let’s see…” I heard the sounds of a TV being turned on. “So, where are you guys? They’re showing— Holy, what happened there!?”

“Gunmen.” I replied. “Which is part of the reason I’m calling. Arianna’s completely freaked, and I think it was the guns that did it. What the heck am I supposed to do?” My dad was silent for a long moment, thinking.

“The guns, huh?” he asked quietly, dead-serious. “I thought that may have been it… Along with everything else, she’s scared stiff of them. Her older brother was nearly killed by one while she was forced to watch, and so the sound of them has left her deeply scarred. Let’s see… In a situation like this, what was it… Oh, right. Her dad said that you have permission to do anything to make her feel better that you need to. Boy, this is extremely important. Get her mind off of it, or she’ll stay terrified for possibly the rest of her life. Okay? Good. Now do it.” And with that, he hung up. Sighing, I blinked, turned my phone off, set it on a stand, and placed a hand on Arianna’s forehead.

“Keka… Keka…” she was whispering, sweating rather like a pig. I knew I was going to have to change the sheets before I slept in the bed again.

“Arianna… Maybe this will work.” I muttered, leaning close. The girl’s eyes widened even further then they already had as I gently kissed her on the lips. She slowly stopped trembling, then kissed me back, wrapping her arms around my neck so she could pull me in.

“Esuro…” she whispered as she pulled her face back. Smiling, she hugged me again, and allowed herself to be pulled out of the bed and set on her feet. “James, milay kotu.” She blushed as she stood in front of me, looking towards the ground.

“Ssh… It’s okay.” I told her, smiling gently. She nodded.

For the rest of the day, Arianna didn’t speak a word. Dinner, which was quick, was an almost silent affair. Afterwards, Arianna quickly fell asleep, and I put her back on my bed, under some clean sheets. The last thing that I remembered of that night was falling asleep as I sat next to her.

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TRANSLATIONS(By sentence):

For those who haven’t noticed, I updated the earlier chapters with these rough translations for Arianna’s talk. Do NOT read this before the normal chapter, ever.

Yulan miskura wraghla. There’re some creepy guys around us, and I don’t like it.

Kasu luni ro tessa. That’s amazing… I would give anything to be able to do that.

Elay krinal. That’s new.

Kamn rutalg wrenshyoal? Did you need something from me?

Esuro. Thanks.

Kali negthra wriya pollunk frannalso dekki! The… The screams of my brother, they won’t go away! Help me!

Dakki… Dakkiko nira malkazura. Sorry… I’m so sorry… Please just help me, I can’t stand any more of this.

Keka… Keka… No… No… Stop it…

Esuro… Thanks…

James, milay kotu. James, (Untranslatable). (Yrathian expression of ultimate and undying love, used when one is grateful from the depths of their soul to their husband/wife/fiancée.)