Finding Purpose

Part 1

(Just messing with Hajime Kanzaka's characters, in other words, the usual disclaimers of taking no profit.)

Ewww! She's pooped her pants, Poppa!" the young, red-eyed boy with long, red hair declared in disgust. The smell had assaulted him when he kissed his infant sister's forehead peeking out of the baby carry-sling that hung in front of his father's chest. They had stopped under a large shade tree to rest after a short walk from the nearest village. Because their goal was not that far ahead, the father had thanked the woman who had acted as a wet nurse among the group with which they had traveled. Accompanied by his children and pulling a small hand wagon, he had left the caravan at a near, major intersection before the village.

"What goes in has to come out, and at this stage, that's what babies do best," the swordsman gently explained to his son.

"It still stinks!" was the rejoinder made by the boy's high voice, distorted by a held nose.

"I'm running out of clean diapers. She's sleeping. We'll just have to wait until we get to your grandparents' and aunt's. It should be soon."

They walked a short distance, and the boy complained, "My legs are tired, Poppa. I wanna ride, but there's too much stuff in the wagon."

Gourry began to swing the boy to a sitting position on his shoulders.

"Stop, Pop!"

"What now, Merko?" his father sighed, holding the five year old in mid-air.

""Yuck! Baby barf on your left shoulder guard!"

Gourry wearily put his son down and took out a large handkerchief, which he wet down with a water bottle snatched from inside the small hand wagon he had been pulling behind him. He then wiped his shoulder guard. A passerby would have noticed the man's eyes were dull and had dark, puffy circles under them. His high cheekbones emphasized the hollowness of his cheeks. They and the blond stubble on his face contributed further to his haggard look, as did his black clothing and armor in contrast to his pale complexion. Although he tried to present a cheerful demeanor for the sake of the five year old boy, an aura of sorrow clung about him, a veritable feast for Xelloss, if he had been there.
"Ok now? You still want that ride on my shoulders, kiddo?" He reached for the older child.

"Wait a second. I wanna practice." The boy stepped behind his father and got an expression of concentration on his soft, little face. "Levitation!" Slowly he rose to Gourry's shoulder height and then settled himself on top of the shoulder guards. Each of his legs hung over the sides of his father's neck, and his hands were placed on the top of the swordsman's head. Leaning forward, he joyfully exclaimed, "I did it!"

"Of course you did. You're the son of sorcery genius Lina Inverse. Your momma taught you well." The man fought hard to keep his voice from breaking as he spoke. With one hand he pulled the hand wagon behind him as he trudged onward, and with the other he patted his son's right leg before cradling the sleeping baby in the sling again. The small family continued on in silence for a couple minutes.

"Do you really think Gran'ma Inverse can teach me more magic? Will she tell stories and kiss me goodnight, like Momma did?" The boy's lower lip trembled as he softly raised the questions and a worried, sad look grew on his sweet, chubby face.

"Where do you think your momma got the stories and kisses, kiddo? Your mother told me your granny was a sorceress before she settled down with your grandpa, so it's most likely she'll be able to teach you and your sister magic."

"But Poppa, you'll still teach me sword fighting and martial arts stuff, won't you? Momma said you were a great teacher."

Gourry didn't answer right away. "Poppa?"

"Your Auntie Luna works most of the time as a waitress, but she is an exceptional swordswoman. She may be better than me."

"No one is better than you!" the boy defended his father stoutly and leaning down slightly to side of his father's face, nodded his head emphatically..

"But she's the Knight of Ceiphied and has skills I don't." In his mind he added "With your two parents and vengeful mazoku still around, Lina's family, especially with Luna there, is the safest place I know for you."

"She sounds kinda scary." The child bit his lips and held on to his father's head tighter.

Gourry again patted Merko's right leg again to reassure the child, and comforted him, "She's still family and despite terrifying your mother, she trained and advised her out of love. Don't worry. She's also mellowed a bit with age."

With a child's ease of suddenly changing subjects, Merko declared, "I'm hungry!"

"You just ate. Guess you really are an Inverse-Gabriev. Proof we didn't find you under a cabbage leaf after all."

The boy made a rude noise with his tongue.

Gourry stiffened slightly and his eyes narrowed. "Do you think you've mastered Levitation really well?," he whispered as he dropped the handle of the hand wagon and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Hey, there young man, you should respect your poppa more, just like he should respect us and hand over his money and that fancy jar in the wagon. It'd be a shame if anything should happen to you and that little thing he's carrying." Three large bandits slid out of the bushes lining the side of the road.

Another added, "Yeah, that jar should bring a pretty penny, even there isn't a treasure in it."

Gourry was worried. If he put his children down, one of the bandits might snatch up the children to use as a shield. If he remained loaded down with his progeny, they could distract him and all of them could be hurt or killed. His heart sank as he glanced at the urn. A sad, little smile came over his face.

"Oh, yes, there is quite a treasure in it," he said in an even, tight voice.

He carefully squatted down, whispering to his son, "Word "now": Levitate. Tree." Then he picked up the urn, and as he rose, the bandits approached closer to look at it. Gourry shouted to his son, "Now!"

Merko indeed levitated from his father's shoulders, but reaching forward instead, quickly snatched the lid off the urn and threw a handful of the contents in the robbers' faces as they leaned forward in expectation. Then the boy did as he had been told and went up to a high branch overhead of an old oak, while his father reached for his sword to dispatch the coughing bandits. Gourry had taken care of one, when suddenly a purple and pink blur ran through the other two highwaymen and quickly dispatched them.

A female voice proclaimed, "That's what they get for being such lousy tippers, too."

Luna reached up to take her nephew as he levitated down, and the tired swordsman carefully sat down on a convenient flat boulder to change the diaper of the now squalling and squirming baby in the sling. He decided not to put it off any longer now that Lina's sister was there. Luna hugged the boy, and, putting him back on the ground, ruffled his hair. "I thought those three were up to no good when I saw them huddled together in the restaurant. There have been a couple of unsolved highway robberies lately," she then added with a dangerous glint in her eye and a smirk. "We usually don't have many."

"Guess that's to be expected with Inverses," Gourry attempted to tease, but his smile was strained. He looked regretfully inside the urn, which still had some remains in it, to his relief. A tiny, ironic chuckle found its way out. "Even in death, Lina defeats bandits."

Instead of responding to that, Luna observed, "You look like hell, brother-in-law."

"Babies don't let you sleep much," was his answer.

A sorrowful and knowing look came over her face as she gazed at the blond swordsman. "We got your message about Lina and have been expecting you. It's a good thing I came out to meet you. By the way, a wet nurse has been found. Not to worry, a very safe wet nurse." She gave a satisfied chuckle.

As he began to remove the diaper, Gourry spoke morosely, "I'm seven years older than Lina and stupider. I should have died before her."

After finishing the diapering, he looked around to dispose of the diaper's contents. Having made ropes out of the bandits' cut off clothes while she and Gourry spoke, Luna tied up the bandit Gourry had stripped and knocked out. She had permanently dealt with the other two. Now she took the offending diaper from Gourry and went off a ways. She came back with it wet and washed and saw the swordsman sitting and staring at nothing dejectedly, while gently rocking the infant. Merko was investigating an interesting bug on the ground. "May I have the baby?" she asked, and Gourry carefully handed the child to her. Holding the baby with one arm and hand, Luna smiled softly as the infant quieted and snuggled into the woman's shoulder. The soft, warm life felt so comforting.

Then Luna dispassionately slapped the tall blond upside the head with her free hand.

"Ow! I guess I deserve that and more," Gourry quietly agreed.

Merko looked ready to cast a spell at his frightening aunt, but Gourry turned and quickly grabbed and held the boy close.

"Yeah, you do, but not for the reason you think, Knight. We'll talk once we get home." To baby Anila she sighed in her tiny ear, "Oh, little sweetheart, you and your brother are going to cause such trouble, but it'll be worth it."

"Auntie Luna, what'll we do about this guy?" Merko pointed at the trussed up bandit.

"Leave 'im for the wolves and bears."

Gourry's kind heart had been passed on to his son, who looked shocked at his aunt's words.

Luna handed the baby girl back to Gourry and tapped her chin with a finger in mock thought. "Umm. Maybe not. That'd be cruelty to animals. Tell you what, you, your father, and sister go on head. I'll dispose of the other two, gather up what I can of your mother, and drag this jerk back to town."

And so the little family continued on to Zephilia. The only one who didn't feel any trepidation at living with Inverses was Anila, the infant.

Meanwhile, back at the attempted robbery site, Luna calmly called out, "Ok, Xelloss, reveal yourself. Without the sparkles. That's just an old joke." Keeping her eye on a certain spot, she carefully began picking up ashes and bits of bone and put them in her apron's pockets.

The mazoku phased in wearing a nursemaid's outfit. Luna just gave him a glare and stood up straight.

"No jokes, Lesser Beast. What are you up to? If it's any harm to my sister's children..."

"Not to worry, my dear Ceiphied's Soul. I wouldn't relish a fight with you." He bent down, and with a careful wave of his hand, caused the rest of Lina's remains to levitate and gather in his hand. He then offered the relics to Luna, who carefully poured them in a pocket.

Luna snorted in derision. She knew she and Xelloss were at least well matched, if she, as containing the soul of Ceiphied, were not more powerful than he, the minion of Xelas.

"It cannot be a secret to you, Miss Luna, that the well-being of those children could be of great interest to the mazoku as well as to the gods. But we cannot really tell anything about them until they reach adulthood, can we?. I'm most relieved you interceded just now. I'm not too sure Master Gourry would have welcomed my assistance." As he said this, mazoku wriggled a finger at the two dead bandits, and their bodies vanished. The remaining bandit whimpered.

"Oh, I don't know. The former paladin has become rather pragmatic. Um, I'll take the rest of Lina's remains, if you don't mind," and she slashed the bag at Xelloss' side and caught the contents in her weapon free hand. "I don't want your Master doing anything creative with them."

"Why, Miss Luna, I just wanted a cherished memento of my favorite human."

"Uh, huh, right. But I must get going." She reached for the still living, terrified bandit.

Xelloss opened his eyes half way and smirked, "The food is rather delicious here. My master loves take-out." With that, Xelloss grabbed the trussed up, screaming bandit and zapped out of sight.

"Oh, well. I really didn't fancy dragging that p.o.s. back for justice," Luna consoled herself. "He would have made me late to work."