Sea Witch Ch.31

Ch.31: Love Story?   
'I've been out all night.' was the first thought that ran through my mind when I awoke in my own bed at first light. The sky was overcast with clouds but I felt strangely happy and paid no mind. I was too confounded, and lovestruck, to think straight.

My master had returned to me and the conditions of his arrival, though unexpected and rather cumbersome, had been a pleasant surprise. I had been flinging myself to my death because of him and then, out of nowhere, he narrowly saves me from the same. Not to mention the fact that after his daring rescue on silent wings, he had kissed me with a passion I had experienced only in my dreams. (He had probably flown me home afterwards. The kiss was the last thing I remembered though.)

I felt like I was in a movie. These things never happened to me; such fantasies and fairy stories were reserved for Melissa, the drop-dead gorgeous princess whose looks I could never live up to. The fact that such a thing had happened made me even more happy as I turned circles around my room.

"Melissa!" I exclaimed, coming to a sudden stop. "I'll doubt she was worried, but still she was bound to notice I was gone all night."

I hurried downstairs and onto the beach. Melissa and Mat were asleep on my couch together. (Apparently I wasn't the only one who'd been out all night.) In my romantic dizziness, my tongue got careless and I blurted "OMG! YOU TWO WERE SLEEPING TOGETHER!" randomly. (didn't care about it though)

Melissa jolted awake and more or less tried to convince me otherwise, but I was still too dizzy to listen to her. I snickered, "So, *snicker* when's the baby due?!  "

That did it. "You're ass is so dead when I get my hands on you!" Melissa screamed as Mat struggled to detain her from ripping my guts out. I saw an opportunity to leave and slunk away into the potions lab in a Peloponesian minute.

I came out a little later when I thought her "hot-headedness" had cooled down and my lovestruck high had worn off. She was asleep again, so Mat and I kept our voices down as he talked with me. "Has she chilled yet, or is she still trying to kill me?" I asked as I glanced over at the couch, kind of doubtful she was fully asleep.

"I think she's calmed down for now," said Mat (Phew!), "but really, you shouldn't have said that Ana. (There was an evenness to his tone as he said this, which made my insides turn into slightly depressed mush.) I'm not even sure if I can blame her for her reaction; it was uncalled-for Ana, and it wasn't unnecessary, whether you meant it jokingly or not."

He was right; what had I been thinking? Just because I had been in total bliss at that moment, like nothing could bring me down, didn't mean I had to go and make my best friend feel bad. I walked upstairs and after stopping briefly in the library to see to a certain book about Poseidon, I went out onto my balcony to think.

'Why did he stop me?' I thought as I stared out at the waves. 'Phoenix would miss me if I was gone, and even though I feel kind of good that he would, he's only one person. No one else really cares about me.'

"Don't think stuff like that." said a voice. I gasped as Flotsam wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a reverse hug. "One suicide attempt is enough. Don't you scare your friends about you like that ever again!"

"Yeah, what friends?" I said, turning around to face him. "They don't even know about that yet and... hey, how did you know about that?" Flotsam was silent. "Never mind. Melissa hates my guts, Mat just tolerates me because I'm her "friend", my family is sure to have forgotten about-"

I never finished that sentence for Flotsam hugged my body closer to his and pulled his lips into mine. This was awkward to say the least, on my part anyway, but it felt strangely familiar too. The passion behind his lips was foreign and yet I had the notion I had felt it before. This was why I didn't pull away from him; when he finally broke our, rather one-sided, kiss, he said, "I would miss you if you were gone, so please. Never leave me."
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A night and a day passed. During that time, I considered my options. On the one hand, I could keep Melissa away from Lelouch and see her in apparent misery until she forgot about him, and probably be more or less miserable myself. On the other hand, I could try and get them back together, let her be happy for a while, and then laugh when she finally admits that I was right about Lelouch being a bad boy. 'That's it!' I thought. 'Let them be together for a while and then break them up for good!'

I proposed this plan to Jareth that day at work. "Out of the question," he said, slamming his palm on the desk in his office. "We've both seen first-hand what my young Opera Ghost's intentions are."

"Which is why letting Melissa work here witll work to our advantage," I said for the fifth time. "Besides, you've seen how far my work here has brought us."

"And yet you have to hide your identity. I still can't get used to calling you Mei Li."

"Melissa won't have to do that. Lelouch knows and loves her, and I'll probably get a little more safety out of the bargain. He won't dare to touch me while Melissa's around."

"It would give me a chance to observe his workings at close range," Jareth mused thoughtfully. "All right. She starts work here tomorrow. Don't be late."
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I somehow managed to make it home before Melissa did. (Usually, she was home when I came home after work. But then, today had been an acting heavy day and therefore rather slow for the orchestra, so the members were allowed to go home early.) My excitement grew as I waited for her so that when she revved up the sand to my grotto on her motorcycle (Don't ask.) about half an hour later, with Mat sitting behind her, I was practically bursting with happiness. "Melissa, you're not going to believe this! I signed you up to work in Jareth's operahouse, as a chorus girl," I squeeled with fangirlish joy.

"WHAT?!" they both exclaimed. Mat dropped Melissa (  accidentally I hope) on the grotto floor and stared, and Melissa bit back the pain that had come from the fall and looked at me like "Are you serious?"

"Ana, are you out of your mind?!" Mat protested, apparently shocked and angry. "We can't let her work at the opera. We all know who's there, and he'd pounce on her as soon as he sees her."

I smiled and just gazed at Melissa. 'That's probably how I'd look if Erik asked me to marry him,' I thought dreamily. "Ana, are you even listening?!" snapped Mat. (Screw you for ruining my fantasy.) "Do you know what you've-"

"MAT! This isn't your choice," said Melissa, cutting him off. (This was the first time she had spoken.) "The choice stands with me now!"

I saw anger flare up in her eyes, darkness even. I flinched as she looked at me, but it was a half-pissed, well meaning look she had on her face. "Thank you, Ana." That made my happiness go up to "romantic fantasy meltdown". "Oh, Melissa! I knew you didn't hate me," I screamed with glee as I came to help her up. "Now let's tend to those wounds. I'm so-"

"For once, you did something right," she said, cutting me short of glomping her and in my joyful reverie. I broke down on the sand, crying, half from sadness, half from laughter. (I didn't let anyone see the laughter part though.) Melissa was still her normal self, or at least partially, and it seemed like that would never change. Flotsam slid to my side, out of nowhere, and comforted me as Melissa went into my bathroom upstairs. My crying resonated off the grotto walls, creating an eerie noise, and then all was quiet again.
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Mei Li had been told Melissa was coming today, so she was trying to be on her best behavior. (Besides, I had imagined a new outfit for her just for the occasion.) She recognized the pink-haired heiress instantly among the other chorus girls but stayed strictly in the orchestra pit. That didn't stop her from staring at my friend though. Eventually, her staring caused my friend to come over and inquire of us "Ana?"

I nodded, pissed, and relieved,vthat she had recognized me. (I wonder if it's because my favorite color is purple.) I hopped up on the stage, eager to get in on the action. If things were supposed to be by the book, the "New-Age Angel" would certainly drop in on today's rehersal of Hannibal and end the reign of the local diva. 'Just as well,' I thought. 'Mei Li and I both agree her voice is horrible.'

Wait! I had seen this girl before. That short hair, those brown eyes, that stupid "faux-regal" way she carried herself around. I couldn't stand this woman, and now I knew why: "Mme. Serena" was my one and only sister, Sophia, coming back to haunt me like a bad dream. (  Lelouch had something to do with this. I know it!)

I made gagging noises and drew my finger across my throat in a "Please, kill me" fashion, which caused Melissa to laugh. I looked out in the audience and saw my boys and Mat in the front rows. 'Right on schedule,' I thouht, 'but they probably had to drag him here because he doesn't look happy.  '

Jareth came in at some point during the rehersal, which halted my sister's horrible singing (if only for a moment); he baid us continue while he watched. (I was watching all right, watching the rafters and catwalks above us with Mat and Flet and Jet.) The chorus girls danced, the singers sang, and the diva complained until the male lead mispronounced "Rome" and the conductor stopped the orchestra and me. (Strangely, he didn't object to my being on stage. He had motioned to me to ge back in the pit but after Jareth gave him an "It's okay" nod, he quieted down.)

"An honor, Signior," said Jareth, addressing everyone on stage including my rather flirtatious sister. (She had been curtseying to him,fishing for compliments, but for once, Jareth didn't take the bait. Props to you, G-man!) "I'm amazed that such progress was made on such short notice, but I believe I'm keeping you from your rehersal. I will be here this evening to share your great triumph." And then, he stood to the side for the rest of the rehersal.

The rehersal continued just as in the story both Melissa and I knew well. I heard a few people comment on how good Melissa was at dancing. "Exceptional beauty." "Promising talent." "Wow, she's good."

I smiled, and unplugged my ears when my sister stopped singing. (She had learned how to hold notes for longer, for such breath control comes with age, but she hadn't done a thing for her tone and over-acting when she sang.  Ugh!) The smile quickly disappeared as she threw a tantrum (So like her.) and started fake crying. 'Lelouch,' I prayed silently, 'pleeeeeeeeeeeeease. Hurry up and drop that scene roll on my sister. Wait, oh no! Here it comes.'

Yes, "Think of Me", the all too fateful aria that would make or break Melissa. I knew my sister would flub it real bad, but I still plugged my ears nonetheless. I breathed a sigh of relief when the scene-roll came crashing down, but when Mat looked at me from the seats, I nodded. His, my, and Melissa's eyes were all focused on the catwalk; we knew who had dropped that scene-roll on Serena. I thought I glimpsed a shadowy figure above, but it quickly melted away into the shadows. 'Doesn't even wait for me to say thank you,' I thought. 'Oh well, that's Lelouch I guess.'

(Melissa's longing look towards that same shadow had not gone unnoticed by me. While I was thankful for Lelouch doing a favor for me, for once, I still had not forgotten his intentions. As Buquet set everything right again, and made fun of the Opera Ghost, I looked warily up at the catwalk as a letter fell from above. Jareth picked it up and brought it over.)

Great was my pleasure when Serena stormed out of the operahouse. I had to keep from smiling as my evil maestro asked Jareth if he was coming back. "I have a message from the opera ghost," he said, addressing everyone about the letter in his hand. "He welcomes us all to his operahouse. And he commands that we continue to leave Box 5 empty for his use, and reminds me that his salary is due. Well, obviously, we shall now have to cancel, as it appears we have lost our star." (He said that with a glance at me that said, 'I'm glad she's gone too.')

"Surely there's an understudy," a violin said. "There is no understudy for Mme. Serena," said another. "A full house, Monsieur Jareth," exclaimed the maestro. "We shall have to refund a full house."

"Melissa Sapphire Triton could sing it, sir," I said, knowing it was the right time to speak out. I knew she could do it, and so did Jareth. Everyone stared at me, including my friend (who looked rather angry and surprised). "What a chorus girl? Don't be silly Mei Li," said the conductor.

Hmm. Time to flatter Lelouch again. "She has been taking lessons from a great teacher."

"Who?" Jareth asked, even though he and I already knew who.

"I-I don't know his name, monsiuer," Melissa lied, fake-timidity in her voice.

"Let her sing for you monsieur," I continued, more confident now. "She has been well taught." Mat gave me a "What the Hell are you thinking?!" look as Jareth called her forward. "From the beginnning of the aria then, please, mademoiselle," said the maestro.

The orchestra started the beautiful music again. Melissa waited for her cue and then sang so as she should pierce a hundred-thousand hearts with her voice. I remember nearly tearing up as she gained confidence as the song went on. After the last note of the verse, everyone assembled was silent.

Thunderous applause filled the theater as everyone praised my friend's lovely voice. "We've found our star," said Jareth proudly, putting his arm around her shoulder. I knew that somewhere, Lelouch was probably watching and bursting with as much pride as I was; 'Let him be proud,' I thought. 'He deserves it, for once, and I'll get back at him later.'

"Hey guys!" I said, coming up to my friends. "An-" Melissa started to say, but I silenced her by putting a finger to her lips. "As long as we're in the operahouse, you will call me Mei Li," I told her flatly. "I think she already knows who you are, 'Mei Li'," said Mat jokingly, but a quick "You are so dead." look shut him up good.

"So, how does it feel to get the lead?" I asked after we had left the operahouse. "Good I guess," she replied, "but why'd you have to go and point me out?!  I didn't ask you to." She stormed off and Mat hurried after her. "Oh sure, take her side!" I shouted after him, not hiding that I was pissed.

Later that evening, I sat on the couch, brooding. My sister had appeared out of nowhere, which I was sure Lelouch had something to do with, today and at the worst of times. "Ana," said Melissa from behind me. (She had just finished her evening bath.) "I have a question... but.. what's wrong?"

I wouldn't stand for this.  Now she chooses to pity me?!  Now, she chooses to be concerned for me?!  This was unexceptable!!! "You drive me to the edge," I practically screamed at her. "I attempted suicide the other night and was pissed that I didn't succeed.

"You're driving me crazy! We used to be close friends, and now you're just a bitch to me! You're always being hostile and putting me down! You don't even appreciate the fact that I got you the part as the lead in Hannibal!

"Why don't you just go back to your Lelouch, get out of my house, or just leave me the hell alone bitch?!?!"

She started tearing up at that last sentence. I had finally got it out. I hoped it would make her cry; I had wanted to see her feel sorry for how she treated me, but even so, seeing my friend cry because of me was not a good thing. I lowered my voice and asked, "Melissa... are-are you okay?"

She looked up at me. "F-f-fine," she stuttered, trying to fight back tears. "I-i-i-f th-that's what you want, I'll leave." She went into her room and that was the end of our interactions for the day. Good thing too. I think I would have killed her if she had stayed longer.