Lina winced as something sticky hit the back of her head. "Oh ho ho!" sounded through the room in a high pitched baby tone that was an eerie predecessor to Naga's wails of laughter, and Lina turned behind her to see Justina with an impish grin on her face, her fist covered in green gooey baby food. Lina put her hand on the back of her head and brought it to her face and saw it was covered in the same goo. She made a face as she grabbed a napkin and wiped her hand with a sigh. Well, given the things she'd had splatter on her during her days as a warrior, mashed peas wasn't too bad.
"Sorry." Amelia said sheepishly as Midas lobbed his own glob of food back at Justina, who stopped laughing the instant it landed on her as she started crying.
"Yay Midas!" Lina cheered as she tickled him under the chin, "Nine months old and already defending me."
"Like you need it." Gourry said.
"Shut your mouth." Lina snapped as she smiled and reflected on how little boys loved their mothers.
Meanwhile, Amelia sighed as she pulled Justina out of the high chair, "I think that's enough for now."
"You might want to feed them in a different room until they outgrow this." Han said.
"At least you have a maid to clean all of this up." Leia said as she shook her head. "I always hated cleaning up after you girls when you were that age."
"We do live such a life of ease now." Han said as he dug into his pancakes as Lina and Gourry finished feeding the twins. "Still, even though we have a generous summer vacation now, something we never had while running the store, it never feels like enough. Three weeks! We have three weeks till the kids come back."
Lina felt a weight grow on her shoulders. Three weeks before the kids returned and she was already busy with the administrative tasks of running their growing school. Success had been a double edged sword. She certainly did not want to rest on their previous success and count on that to continue to cut it. She wanted to look at how to better improve the quality of education at Maninstit. But success had brought more extraordinary people out of hiding. And Luna had been busy vetting them. In addition to around fifteen students she had found from Zeferia, there was the twenty she had rounded up from the Elmekian Empire. It was their largest incoming class ever! And it meant they would have to divide the classes into beginner and advanced groups.
Which meant that in addition to the increase in her duties as headmistress, there would be more classes that would also be larger. For the past month Lina could hardly say she had been on vacation! And worse, finding teachers to help with the increase had been hard. Which meant…
"Shut your mouth." Leia said, "We still have three weeks before classes start again. I intend to fully enjoy them."
"Who said I don't intend the same?" Han asked. "All I'm saying is that I'd like more time."
"I'll take them up to the nursery." Moe offered as Lina grabbed a napkin to wipe Midas down with.
"Thank you." Lina said as she finally turned to her own breakfast as Moe walked out with the babies just as Jeeves walked in.
"The morning mail has arrived." Jeeves announced as he handed Lina a thick envelope addressed in Luna's distinctive handwriting.
"Looks like Sis has finally put together the new student lists." Lina said as she ate her toast with one hand while she opened the letter with the other one.
"Are there any students whose names begin with M?" Gourry asked as Lina opened the letter.
Lina scanned the student list and replied, "There's a Morticia Addams."
"Morticia?" Amelia repeated as she stared in disgust at the green goo stains on her pretty pink dress, "Well, that sounds…morbid."
"What's morbid about it?" Gourry asked.
"Morticia? Mortician?" Lina said.
"What's a mortician?" Gourry asked.
"Oh for crying out loud, are you serious?"
"To be fair, in some places they don't call them morticians." Zelgadis explained. "They're funeral directors."
"Ohhh…" Gourry said. "So her mother named her after a funeral director?"
Amelia shuddered, "Well if that's not creepy, then I don't know what is! It is certainly suspicious if you ask me."
"Well, it is a morbid name," Sylphiel agreed, "But it doesn't mean that she's the M. Is she one of the Elmekians? Perhaps the name means something different to the locals there."
"What does it say about her?" Gourry asked.
"That she's a powerful sorceress." Lina said as her eyebrows hit her hairline, "And her mother was married ten times!"
"Divorced?" Leia asked, and then her voice dropped lower, "Or widowed?"
"Doesn't say." Lina said, and then she started to read what little information Luna had provided. "Morticia distinguished herself when she saved the village of Conecta from the demon uprisings. Looks like her specialty is black magic, curses specifically. Hm. Well, what do you think, Gourry? Could this be the mysterious M?"
Gourry thought for a moment as he swallowed his toast and then took a drink of tea, "Hard to say, really. There's not much information to go on. Are there any other Ms in the group?"
"No," Lina said. "We have an Anne, a Tom, a Will and a host of other names that don't begin with M." Lina suddenly looked at Gourry as a strange look passed over his eyes, "You okay?"
"What did you say?" he asked.
"Ugh, can't you pay attention for once?" she snapped.
"It's such a broad period of time." Zelgadis commented, "For all we know the M may not show up for a few years."
"But whose mother gets married ten times?" Leia mused, "That indicates a certain amount of instability."
"Even if it does," Gourry said quietly, "It doesn't mean her daughter will be unstable."
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that Gourry." Leia rushed to assure him as she put a hand on his arm.
"Don't worry about it." He said.
"Gourry, you still haven't had anymore dreams since you saw your death bed?" Han asked contemplatively.
"Not that I can remember." Gourry confirmed, "If there was a plan to help me figure out who M was, it seems it didn't work."
"So we're just left guessing." Zelgadis said.
"Well, it definitely evokes an image of a greasy haired witch who spends her time in cemeteries, but that doesn't necessarily translate to reviving the Dark Lord, does it?" Lina said.
"What's this about reviving the Dark Lord?" Naga asked as she seemed to materialize from nowhere. To Lina's relief she had ditched the black bikini and lethal shoulder guards and was wearing a blue velvet traveling outfit. It would definitely make it easier to do what she needed to do.
"Sis! You're back!" Amelia cried as she ran and hugged her as Leia got up and walked into the kitchen, "How was your trip?"
"Good enough." Naga said as she drew apart from Amelia and they both sat down, "Maeve had a lovely dual wedding and coronation and has been safely installed in Dils. I'll say it's a damn bit nicer spending summers up north where it is cooler than it is down here."
"Fall will come soon enough." Lina said as Leia came out with a plate and sat it in front of Naga with a knowing smile, "This school is growing by leaps and bounds. I just hope we have enough time before classes resume in a few weeks to get everything ready..."
Lina's voice trailed off as she saw Naga set aside some pickles, and she looked across the table at Amelia and they both shook their heads in terror. "What?" Naga asked as she looked at them, confused.
"Nothing." Lina said quickly as Leia sipped her coffee, "Though you may want to talk to Sylphiel after breakfast."
Sylphiel looked up from burping Erik, "Huh?"
"Anyway," Lina said, "Between the Elmekian students and a few people rounded up from Zeferia, we're going to have over thirty new ones. Maeve, Susan, Marcus and Kara are moving on to bigger and better things. Indy and Jean-Luc wanted to graduate so they could go adventuring, but I convinced them to stick around for another year, keep up their work in Hypatia's tunnels."
"Whose tunnels?" Naga asked.
"We've got a lot to fill you in on." Lina muttered. "Back to my point, even with the people graduating, the population of our school is expected to double. So we're going to need more teachers, and I'm going to have to put in more work running the school, which means…"
Lina's stomach rumbled as she thought of all the ways this could go wrong as Naga looked at her expectantly. But she was desperate, and desperate times called for desperate measures, "Naga. You're taking over my Black Magic classes and doing a class on Golems."
Naga smiled and she took a bite of toast and a look of smug satisfaction settled onto her features, "It's about time you offered me this job."
"Just don't make me regret it." Lina said.
As soon as Naga stepped outside the dining room to see Moe, she was surrounded by Lina, Amelia and Sylphiel who stopped her in the hallway before she could get too far, "It's so exciting! I'm so happy for you!" Amelia said as she hugged her.
Naga looked confused, "I know, you told me the morning after we eloped."
Lina raised an eyebrow as she looked at Sylphiel, "Does that mean she doesn't know?"
"Know what?" Naga asked.
"How can you not know?" Amelia asked. "I mean, the last time you saw Moe was three months ago!"
"Somehow it makes perfect sense that she wouldn't know." Lina said.
"Well cut the suspense and tell me what I don't know." Naga said.
"Miss Leia gave you pickles. That means that you're in the club." Amelia explained.
Naga laughed, "Nice one."
"She's not joking." Sylphiel said as she scrutinized Naga before putting a hand on her lower abdomen, "Yes, everything measures up. I'd estimate that you're three months gone, which fits nicely. It's a honeymoon baby."
"It's so romantic!" Amelia sighed as a soppy expression settled on her face, and Lina internally vomited.
Naga shook her head, "Really, you have to be joking! I had a spell cast to make sure that didn't happen."
"Did you recast it after the battle?" Amelia asked, "If anyone cast a Flow Break spell it would have nullified it if you didn't."
Naga turned red as she yelled, "You have to be joking!"
Amelia looked confused as she exchanged a glance with Lina, "Sis…you aren't happy about this?"
"I'm surprised," Lina said, "I thought you and Moe would have wanted to get in the club quickly. I mean, he's definitely father material."
"But am I mother material!?" Naga snapped back, and Lina had to admit that she had her there.
"It's a lot to take in, especially when you weren't expecting it." Sylphiel said understandingly.
"And you're so much like our mother." Amelia said, "And we adored her."
Naga continued to shake her head in disbelief, "I need a moment."
As Naga ran off, Lina, Amelia and Sylphiel stood behind looking after her in surprise. "Well, every woman takes the news differently. She'll come around." Sylphiel said.
"But you don't understand." Amelia said, "Sis and I are royal princesses. The only thing expected of us is to make a good match, be faithful to our husbands and to bear as many children as possible, with bearing as many children as possible being the most important thing."
"Well, no offense to Zel or Moe, but they're not exactly matches befitting Saillune princesses." Lina pointed out.
"Yes, but there are accepted ways to rebel and eloping with a lover is one." Amelia said, "A good match can be good politically or a good love match. But regardless of whether a princess marries politically or for love, we're still expected to have as many children as we can. It broke my parents' hearts that they didn't have more. And Daddy is making up for it with my stepmother."
"Huh?" Lina said with a shudder.
"I'm getting another brother or sister." Amelia said.
"So soon?" Lina said as she had to resist the urge to hurl at the thought of carrying a spawn of Phil's.
"The announcement was in the morning mail."
"While I'm happy for your family, I'd caution you to wait and let your body rest and recover before you get back in the club." Sylphiel said.
"Oh, don't worry about that." Amelia said, "We're in no rush. For now at least. I just don't understand how this can't be everything that Sis would want."
Lina was silent for a moment before she said, "Well, no offense, but when Naga asked if she was mother material…she wasn't exactly without cause for doubt, was she?"
Amelia folded her arms under her breasts and held her nose up as she said, "I have absolutely no idea what you mean."
"It's been three weeks now," Sylphiel said as she sat in the downstairs parlor with Lina and Amelia, "And Princess Naga still hasn't come to see me for an exam. I'm starting to worry about this."
"She hasn't made an announcement either." Amelia added, "And Zel thinks that Moe doesn't know."
"Yeah, he doesn't have that I'm about to be a dad glow." Lina said. "And she's tall enough that she's not showing as much as you would expect by this time either."
Amelia opened her mouth to speak, but Gourry walked in with Zelgadis and announced, "They just pulled in and are unloading from the wagons."
"Looks like the break is over." Han said as he followed them in with Leia and Rick.
Lina felt a weight press against her shoulders as she thought of the year that lay ahead and the expanded duties she would have as headmistress. She then pushed it from her mind, "So, is everyone ready to meet Morticia?"
There was a smattering of conversation, but eventually Zel broke through to caution, "Keep in mind, she may not be the mysterious M. Let's assume she's innocent until we have reason to suspect something dastardly about her."
"Right, right." Lina said dismissively. "Really Gourry's gut feeling is going to be the most important thing here."
From the foyer they could hear the door open, and Leia said, "Looks like the vacation really is over. Well, let's go out and give everyone a warm welcome."
Lina filed out with the rest of them and walked towards the foyer, and soon was surrounded by a sea of familiar faces. It looked as though the returning students had walked in first. "Dame Lina!" Dave yelled, "Good to see you!"
"Welcome back." Lina said with a smile.
"Duke!" Ace called as she ran up to Zelgadis while holding some parchment, "Look at what I've been working on this summer."
"This will be our last year here." Jean-Luc explained as he walked with Indiana and Danielle, "Next year we're going to explore the Desert of Destruction…"
"Sir Gourry," Owen said as he walked up to shake his hand.
"Welcome back." Gourry said as various students came up to whichever teacher they had bonded the most with to say hello.
"It's going to get so much more crowded here with all the new ones." Bruce said as Nerys as they meandered their way through the crowded foyer.
"Suck it up, preppy." Nerys replied, "A crowded dormitory is a palace compared to what I had growing up. Most kids don't have their own rooms much less their own damn castles."
More people started to come inside as the foyer became unbearably crowded. And then Luna walked in and produced a force that seemed to repel the students away from her, causing several people to bump into each other. Bruce went walking straight into Zelgadis, and he looked at him in horror for a moment as Nerys put a hand on his shoulder, "He's sorry." She said.
"Don't mention it." Zelgadis said as Nerys steered Bruce to the hallway where the dorms were.
"If the new students could follow the returning students and put their stuff in the dormitory and take a few minutes to get settled. We will be meeting in the great dining hall in one hour." Luna yelled as Naga came down the stairs, dressed in a severely modest grey dress with her hair pulled back into a bun and slipped quietly into the foyer and beside Lina.
"Any sign of this mysterious Morticia?" she asked.
"Just the returning students so far." Lina said as her eyes finally spotted a new girl with flaming red hair kept in braided pigtails who was wearing one of the thinnest and more ragged dresses that Lina had ever seen as she walked beside Pippi and talked.
"Well, it's good to know I'm not the only one who is cursed with red hair here." The girl said.
"What's wrong with red hair?" Pippi asked.
"Everyone says it's bad and ugly, I so wish…"
"But I like my hair!" Pippi protested.
"That's incredible!" The other girl said as she broke into a wide grin, "Oh how I wish I could learn to like mine. It would make things so much easier. All these years all I've thought about is how to change my hair color, but I never gave a moment's thought to trying to like what I have…"
"Somehow I don't think that's Morticia." Lina said to Naga and Gourry.
"Is it me, or is it cold?" Gourry asked.
Lina gave him a strange look. Between the summer heat and the crowd it was far from cold! But before she could say anything the energy in the room changed, and Lina turned to see a tall and skeletally thin girl walk in with such poise that she commanded the gaze of everyone else in the hallway. Lina exhaled and reflected that there was nothing about her features that should work. She had a gaunt and haunted look about her that should have been unattractive, but somehow in her case, she pulled off so that quite to the contrary she was an unparalleled beauty dressed entirely in black. She glided into Maninstit, her arms crossed under her breasts, her pale face composed into a look of careful neutrality as she considered her surroundings before she broke into a small grin of approval.
"Morticia." Naga said.
"Morticia." Lina agreed.
"Let's not…" Gourry said as he put a hand on Lina's shoulder, and she looked up in surprise as she realized he was breaking into a cold sweat.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine." He said quickly.
From the corner of her eye, Lina saw Gomez smile as he stepped forward and bowed before the woman in black and took her hand, "My dear, please forgive me for being so forward, but I am so affected by your beauty that I had to introduce myself. I am Gomez."
The girl smiled as Gomez kissed her hand. "I am pleased to meet you. I am called Morticia."
"Called it." Naga said.
Lina focused back on Gourry again, who was still sweating as she struggled to determine whether or not to take him to sit down in the parlor. Somehow she had the feeling that he would refuse, so instead she asked, "I think we might be in trouble. Do you think she's M?"
Suddenly the color drained from his face, leaving him ghastly pale as Lina's alarm rose. She grabbed his arm and held it tight, "We're going to the parlor."
They walked forward and did their best to navigate through the chaotic crowd as they bumped into a group of new boys who were walking to the dormitory. "Hey!" a boy with dark hair and a somber expression cried.
"I…" Gourry said as his eyes rolled up into his head, "I…"
And then to Lina's alarm he threw his hands high up into the air before he collapsed onto the ground and started to convulse.
AN: Once again, the new students are based on characters from other books/shows/movies, etc, some more obvious than others. Have fun guessing! And as someone who is tall, I didn't show with my first child until I was ready to pop and had a boss even introduce me as the new person who is seven months pregnant but didn't look seven months pregnant, so I figure someone like Naga likely wouldn't show much.
