As always, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!
Chapter 2
Ten-'o-clock was a terrible time to have to be somewhere on a Sunday morning, but the temptation of all-you-can-eat snacks was something that Lina and her pals couldn't pass up. It was a rainy day, and the bus dropped them off a few blocks down from the church, so when they got there they were cold and soaked and more than ready to inhale a few dozen donuts each.
The building was old, and Pokota mentioned that it smelled funny- an observation that no one argued with. After a few minutes of searching the hallways, they found a sign that held what they were looking for. Children's Sunday School in the Fellowship Hall today: begin rehearsals for Christmas Pageant, it read.
"…what's a pageant?" Pokota murmured.
"Ohoho, you don't even know what a pageant is?" Naga laughed.
"I'm only in the third grade, you know!" he defended. "Why don't you tell me what it is?"
Naga stopped laughing. "…uh, well…"
In the meantime, a short distance down the hallway, Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova was in the women's restroom applying makeup in front of the mirror. She was a star all year long of course, but the Christmas pageant was the one time of year when she shone more brightly than any other time, and she was determined to impress everyone. She didn't think much when she heard the door open and close, but the sound of someone clearing their throat drew her attention, and when she looked up, she froze at the sight she saw in the mirror.
"Hey, Martina," Lina knew the girl well- they'd been in the same class for the past three years. "what's a pageant?"
Martina had to stare and blink a few times to make sure that the girl she was seeing wasn't an apparition. "…I-it's a play."
Lina raised an eyebrow. "Like on TV?"
"Sort of."
"What's it about?"
"About?" Martina wasn't sure how to condense the meaning of Christmas into a form that Lina Inverse would understand. "It's about Jesus."
"Everything here is…" Lina muttered with an eye-roll, clearly unimpressed.
"A-and it's about Mary." Martina stammered, her vanity getting the better of her. "Mostly it's about Mary."
Lina was intrigued. "Who's Mary?"
"I am." Martina blurted out without thinking. "Er, probably I am. I know the part."
She turned back around to her makeup, trying her best to ignore Lina, but Lina wasn't ready to end the conversation just yet.
"…Mary, huh? We'll see about that…"
The Fellowship Hall was in total disarray when Filia walked in with Val and Odilia. Filia hoped that her kids would help her corral the unruly children, but they immediately ran to join their friends and began contributing to the clamor.
"K-kids… come on, now. Settle down… this will all go much more smoothly if we can all just- I mean- hey, everyone- please…" Filia was trying her best to be kind and gentle with the church children, but the noise was grating on her nerves and she didn't know what else to do. "…please… everyone… everyone… QUIET!"
The Fellowship Hall fell silent immediately. The kids all realized that their new director meant business and sat down obediently. Filia took a deep breath and finally continued.
"Thank you. Now, this will all go much more smoothly if we all just settle down. Today we're going choose who's going to play the main parts in our Christmas Pageant." Filia began pacing back and forth, clutching the clipboard with all her personal notes on it. "Of course, you will all have an important role to play. You know what Dr. Nisery always says-"
"THERE ARE NO SMALL PARTS, ONLY SMALL ACTORS." the chorus of children all chimed.
Filia blinked in surprise. "Well, isn't that what he always says?"
One child sitting on the edge of the stage raised his hand and answered. "That's what he says, but he never says what it means."
"Don't you know what it means?"
Val's best friend, Sylphiel, jumped up from her bench, almost knocking Val off the side. "I know what it means! It means that the short kids have to stand in the front row of the angel choir, or else no one can see them."
There was a murmur of laughter from the children, and Val tugged at Sylphiel's sleeve in an attempt to get her to sit back down. Filia herself couldn't help a smile, but she wouldn't dare laugh at a young girl's honest reply.
"Thank you, Sylphiel, but… not exactly. It really means that even the smallest baby angel is just as important as Mary."
Martina, who was sitting on the other side of Sylphiel, looked as though she'd been punched in the gut. "I don't think anyone is as important as Mary!" she gasped.
"Well, naturally that's what you'd think, Martina." Val rolled his eyes. "I think the baby Jesus is more important."
The whole bench, Val, Sylphiel, and Martina, burst into an argument over the most important character in the pageant. Martina stuck up for her beloved Mary, while Val argued the importance of the Christ child. Sylphiel tried to get a word in edgewise about the short kids, but being in the middle of two strong-willed friends silenced her.
"Hey, hey! Calm down!" Filia scolded. "Everyone is important- Mary, Jesus, and the short kids!" She sighed in relief as the hall fell silent again. "Now, is everyone here? Hey, uh, Beverly, will you go out into the hall and see if anyone else is coming?"
"Yes ma'am." The girl smiled and scurried out into the hallway while Filia continued lecturing.
"Okay, our little kids will be the baby angels and sheep, so you'll need to prepare your costumes… angels will need to bring in bed sheets for costumes, and shepherds will need bathrobes-"
A small murmur in the crowd of children grew into a commotion. Filia tried to talk over them, but she couldn't help notice that they were all staring in fear at something… something behind her. She turned, not sure what she was going to face, but she never would have expected the sight she saw.
It was a group of children she'd never seen before… or, no, that wasn't quite true. She knew she'd seen the little boy with the mohawk and earrings at least once before in the principal's office when she'd gone to collect Odilia. In fact, she recognized the red-headed girl and the tall blond boy from her office visits on behalf of the PTA- they were there constantly and on a first-name basis with the principal, and while Filia had originally assumed that to be a good thing, now she wasn't so sure. Besides them, there was a pair of sisters, the younger of whom couldn't be older than six and was perched on her sister's shoulders, and a boy who, as though his large headphones weren't enough to discourage interaction with him, had a scowl on his face that looked as though someone had just sat on his hamster.
Filia knew right away just who the leader of the group was.
"…um, alright, then… let's make some room for Lina and her friends…"
Filia's abstract hand gestures were not necessary- as Lina and her pals took seats on the benches, the other kids moved out of the way like a school of fish around a shark. The tension that filled the air made Filia uncomfortable, and she wanted to continue as though she'd never been interrupted, but she noticed that something- or someone- was missing.
"Does anyone know what happened to Beverly?"
Amelia, still sitting on her sister's shoulders, raised her hand. "I think she went home. I think she got sick."
Filia regarded the little girl curiously. "Did she say that she was sick?"
"She just left." Amelia responded. "All I did was, I just said 'hi, Beverly,' and she just left."
The little girl seemed friendly enough, but the haughty glare on her sister's face was enough to scare away any small child. Filia didn't have to ask again.
"W-well, will someone be sure to tell Beverly about our rehearsals? It'll be the next four Wednesdays after school, so you'll have to plan to be here for every one."
Zangulus, who was sitting in the back, raised his hand and blurted out "What if we get sick?"
"You won't get sick." Filia replied and continued. "Now, Mary and Joseph will absolutely have to be here for every rehearsal-"
"-what if they get sick?"
"They won't get sick, Zangulus."
"Well, Beverly got sick, and we didn't even start yet."
There was an awkward pause. Filia glanced over to Amelia and Naga.
"We don't know that Beverly got… sick…" She quickly waved her clipboard around to change the subject. "Okay! I want you all to think about Mary, and what kind of person she was. She was quiet and gentle and kind, and the girl who plays Mary should try to be that kind of person. Now, who would like to play Mary?"
Only one hand went up.
"…Lina, do you have a question?"
"No." Lina shot back with an indignant scowl. "I wanna be Mary. And Gourry here- he wants to be Joseph."
Gourry had been daydreaming, looking at the posters on the walls, and snapped to attention when Lina said his name. He wasn't quite sure what she was volunteering him for, but he'd learned by now just to follow her lead. "Y-yeah! Right!"
"…" Filia's mouth hung open for a brief moment. She wasn't sure what to do- what could she do in this situation? "Um… why don't I write down the names of everyone who volunteers, and then we'll all decide? So, uh, Gourry Gabriev…" She jotted the name down. "Who else can I add to this list? Anyone? Any of you shepherds?"
Every one of the shepherds suddenly became preoccupied with their shoelaces or the dust floating in the air. Not one of them looked at Filia.
Her shoulders drooping in defeat, Filia circled the name she'd just written down. "Very well, then. Gourry will be our Joseph. And then Lina Inverse has volunteered to be Mary… I'll write that down…" She looked up, desperate to recruit someone else. "Doesn't anyone else want to be Mary? Penny?"
"No."
"Sylphiel?"
"No thank you."
"Martina. Don't you want to volunteer?"
Filia's eyes were pleading for help. Martina turned her head away to avoid looking at her.
"N-no…" the girl choked. "…I don't want to…"
"I'll be Mary!" Naga began waving her hands eagerly, but Lina cut her off.
"Shut up, Naga- I'm already Mary. You be a…" Her voice trailed off and she walked over to read off of Filia's clipboard. "…a wise man."
"Well, the three wise men are generally boys," Filia murmured, "but they don't have to be."
"I'll be a wise man, then." Naga laughed.
Pokota raised his hand. "I'll be a wise man too! Hey, Zelgadis, you want to be a wise man? Raise your hand."
Zelgadis pulled his headphones off of his ears. "What's a wise man? Are they, like, schoolteachers or something?"
"No, dummy." Naga rolled her eyes. "It's like the president of the United States."
Zelgadis didn't look enthusiastic, but Lina punched him in the arm, and he reluctantly raised it. Amelia looked around in confusion.
"What's left to be?"
Lina leaned over Filia's clipboard again. "Some angel."
Amelia's eyes lit up at the word 'angel.' "Oooh, oooh! I'll be that! What is it?"
"It's the Angel of the Lord," Filia spoke, tugging her clipboard away from Lina, "who brings the Good News to the shepherds."
"Cool!" Amelia chimed.
Within a split second, every shepherd and sheep in the cast had their hands raised.
Filia clapped her hands in delight. "Oh, look, we do have some volunteers after all! Yes, Clark, do you want to be a wise man?"
"N-no." the boy shook his head. "I was just going to say that I can't be a sheep. We're, uh, going to Philadelphia."
"…why didn't you say so before."
"I… just remembered?"
"My mother doesn't want me to be a shepherd." another boy chimed in.
"Why is that?"
"I don't know, she just said 'don't be a shepherd."
Odilia turned her head away in defiance. "I'm not going to be a sheep."
"Oh yes you are." Filia replied with a glare. "What's the matter with all of you?"
"I don't want to be a sheep!" Odilia insisted. "Amelia punches too hard!"
"Odile," Filia growled, grabbing the girl by the arm. "Amelia is not going to punch anyone. She's just the angel who brings the Good News to the shepherds in the fields and tells them that Jesus is born."
"And then punches them!" Odilia insisted.
"That's enough! I don't want to hear any more of that- from any of you." Filia scanned the room, keeping her grip on Odilia firm. "No shepherds or sheep may quit-"
All the hands went up.
"-or get sick."
The hands retreated again.
Filia heaved a sigh and let go of Odilia so that she could massage her temples. "Now… that's really all for today, boys and girls. You may go-"
The room erupted into chaos. All the kids were running in different directions, some yelling or screaming as they were approached by Lina or one of her friends. Filia hadn't been finished with what she was saying, and was trying to get the kids' attention once again, but it was no use. Children could be a terrifying force when they were all yelling at once.
"…but please… make sure you're here… f-for rehearsal next Wednesday…" Filia's voice trailed off and she spotted Val in the crowd, making a beeline for where he was sitting. However, her son wasn't the one she wanted to talk to just now. "Martina!"
Martina stiffened and buried her head in her diary, though that didn't deter Filia.
"Martina, what's wrong with you? Why in the world didn't you raise your hand?"
"…I don't know…"
"You don't know? Martina, I expected you to-"
"MISS UL COPT!" A child's voice from the hallway interrupted them. "ZANGULUS AND GOURRY ARE FIGHTING IN THE PROP ROOM! MISS U-"
"-don't you want to be Mary?"
"MISS UL COPT!"
Filia sighed in defeat and ran out the door in the direction of the prop room and the crying child. The fellowship hall had pretty much vacated by now, and Val and Sylphiel would've expected Martina to have run off to scold her boyfriend for causing such a commotion. But… she hadn't.
"Come on, Martina." Val groaned, shaking his head at her. "I don't know?"
"I didn't dare raise my hand!" Martina snapped, turning at him with angry tears in her eyes. "Lina Inverse would've killed me! She said-" the girl put on her best evil act, complete with a low voice and a menacing scowl, "-I'm going to be Mary in this play, and if you open your mouth or raise your hand, you'll wish you didn't. And I said-" Martina's countenance once again turned innocent, "-but I'm always Mary in the Christmas Pageant. And she said- go ahead, then. And next spring, when the dogwoods come out, I'll stick a dogwood so far down your ear that no one will be able to get it. And it'll sprout there, and grow, and grow, and you'll spend the rest of your life with a dogwoOD TREE GROWING OUT OF YOUR EAR!"
"You know she wouldn't do that."
"She would, too! Lina Inverse would do anything!" Martina shoved her pencil in Val's face. "You just watch. She'll do something terrible, and ruin the whole pageant, and it's ALL. YOUR. MOTHER'S. FAULT."
Martina stormed out of the fellowship hall, yelling down the hallway for Zangulus. The commotion had died down, so there probably wasn't anything to worry about, but Martina's outburst had left Val and Sylphiel stunned. Sylphiel noticed Val's expression and reached out to him.
"I'm so sorry-"
"No." Val batted her hand away. "Don't apologize. She might be right."
The next day, Xellos went with Maria Nisery to visit her husband in the hospital and give him an update as to how the pageant was progressing in his absence.
Needless to say, he was not thrilled.
"WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? WHO LET THEM IN? LINA INVERSE- WHAT KIND OF CHILD IS THAT TO PLAY MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS? How did all six of them end up in the Christmas pageant when they ought to be in jail? Oh… I feel so responsible… if I'd been up and around, this never would have happened…"
"…If I'd been up and around, this never would have happened…" Filia grumbled to herself as she marched through the mall parking lot, her hands, arms, and shoulders loaded up with boxes and bags from Christmas shopping. "Well, let me tell you-"
"Don't tell me, Filia. I'm on your side." Xellos walked beside her, leisurely sipping his peppermint latte. "The car is over there, by the way-"
"Pestis Nisery is not the only man alive who can direct a Christmas pageant! I promised myself that I'd do the best I could, given the circumstances, but now… now, I'm going to make this the best Christmas pageant we've ever had…" Filia fumed angrily. "…and I'm going to do it with Lina and them! After all, THEY'RE the only ones who raised their hands, and NO ONE ELSE did, and I DON'T CARE-"
"Good for you, Filia. The car is over there-"
"And YOU-" Filia abruptly turned toward Xellos, pointing at him, dropping several boxes in the process. "-are going to help me!"
Xellos stared at her as she struggled to pick up the boxes, thinking over what she'd said.
"Filia, does that mean…?"
"YOU HAVE TO GO."
