Slayers: Growing Up - Chapter Three

Ummm, it's been a while since I last worked on this, being
occupied more with Evil is Fun Too, and a few others that I'm working on,
but the next chapter was rattling around in my head, and the echoes were
getting to be too much for me. So here it is. Who will be the next
addition into the group? Read and find out.
All previously stated limitations/warnings/disclaimers apply. Enjoy
^_^.

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Lina Inverse loved the spotlight. This was something that was a
fundamental component of her nature, and to ignore it, to hide it away in
some dusty corner of her personality would have been a great crime.
However, when someone loves the spotlight as much as Lina did, one
would hope that one has some talent for it, if only for the sake of
everyone else who, not being in the spotlight, had to look at it. Luckily
for Lina, and the rest of the world's population, she had talent. For Lina,
standup presentations were a breeze, school productions were pieces of
cake, and she managed to pull them off so that no one was bored,
appalled, or asleep. Which is why, when she reached the mighty age of
eight, she nagged, begged, demanded, and generally harassed her older
sister into signing her up for a drama class. Please note that while Lina
attempts to do these things on a regular basis, usually they produce no
results. That Luna actually caved this time will be a source of mystery to
Lina for many years to come.

For now, Lina was simply reveling in the fact that she actually got
her way. There she was, standing just inside the doorway of what
appeared to be a large auditorium, flanked by the ever-present Xelloss
and a reluctant Zelgadiss. Yes, she managed to get Zelgadiss to come.
He had been adamantly refusing, until of course, Xelloss popped up and
reassured Zel that he would take good care of Lina-chan, no need for him
to worry. At which point Zelgadiss made an abrupt about face and
started to mutter about how 'anything that fruitcake can do, I can do too.'
Or something along those lines. Whatever the circumstances, he was
there now.

The approach of footsteps drew Lina's attention away from her
musings. The footsteps were being made by the feet of what appeared to
be a walking pile of silk scarves. They wafted in the breeze like the
hundreds of multi-coloured tentacles of some bizarre sea creature. With
the pile of silk scarves came a heavy fragrance that reminded Lina of a
dead seal she found on the shore of the beach one day. If that dead seal
had been marinated with rosewater for a week first, that is. This, added
to the odd silk tentacles made such a spectacle that Lina didn't know
whether to scream in fright or laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
Besides her, Xelloss had apparently decided on the later, and was
snickering to himself. On her other side, Zelgadiss had gone with the
former, and was quietly whimpering in abject terror. Lina resolved to
wait and see what happened.

It spoke. How it spoke without any evidence of a mouth is
unknown, but speak it did, and with a heavy Elmykian (my equivalent of
French) accent too. (For the sake of the sanity of the writer, the dialogue
will be written in regular English. Add the accent on your own.)
"Welcome, darlings, to Madame Peprika's School for Budding Thespians!
You must be the newest additions to our happy family, Mademoiselle
Inverse, Monsieur Metallium, and Monsieur Greywords." Hands emerged
from the billowing swaths of fabric and clasped each of their hands in
turn. "Delighted to meet you."

Lina hurriedly yanked her hand away from the strange creature that
was apparently a person. "Thespian? I don't wanna be a thespian, I
wanna be an actress!"

The scarves monster chuckled in amusement. "No no, do not worry
little Inverse. A thespian is someone who acts. Who strolls the stage!
Who enchants the unworthy masses with the brilliance of his
performance!"

Lina brightened up quickly. "Alright! I wanna do that! I wanna
enchant the unworthy masses!"

Xelloss grinned his goofy grin. "Aww, but Lina, you already
enchant me! Does that make me unworthy?" His grin turned to outright
laughter when she hit him over the head. Zelgadiss merely rolled his
eyes in exasperation.

Madame Peprika watched the interplay between the three, and
smiled to herself. What cute kids. Aloud, she clapped her hands
together. "Alright children, let's join the rest of the group." She led the
trio over to a larger group of children, all around the same age as the
rest. In fact, aside from one tiny brunette, Xelloss appeared to be the
youngest one there, though in fact he was the oldest, aside from Madame
Peprika. After making everyone introduce themselves, Madame Peprika
organized the children into groups of four. Since the latest three refused
to be separated, she brought a small, shy looking girl over and added her
to their group. Once the instructor had left, the shy girl blushed slightly,
and murmured something so quietly even Xelloss and Zelgadiss couldn't
hear her.

Lina looked at her curiously. "What was that? Sorry, I couldn't hear
you. I'm Lina by the way, and these are my buddies Xelloss and
Zelgadiss. What's your name?"

The girl fidgeted slightly, and when she spoke her voice was only
slightly louder than before. "Ah, I said Hello, is all. Pleased to meet you
Lina, Xelloss, Zelgadiss. My name is Sylphiel."

Lina beamed. "Nice to meet you too."

At this point, Madame Peprika clapped her hands again, calling
everyone's attention to her. Smiling, she spoke loud enough for everyone
to hear her. "Okay everyone, since this is the first day, we won't be doing
anything major. Each group will be assigned a fairy tale to act out, and
then you'll be given time to practice it. After the time is up, each group
will perform before the rest of the class. Now would each group please
pick a representative and send them up here to get your fairy tale?"

Lina was all starry eyed. "Oh wow, this is going to be so much fun!"
The others in her group nodded in agreement. After they had decided on
Lina (of course) being their group's representative, she trotted up to
Madame Peprika and reached into the bowl of folded pieces of paper.
After a bit of searching, she finally drew one out and gave it to the
teacher. Madame Peprika examined the slip of paper, then smiled and
handed Lina four slim scripts, simplified versions of the fairy tale.

"Wonderful choice, Lina. Your group should have lots of fun with
the Three Little Pigs.

Skipping back to the others with her prize, Lina opened one of the
scripts in big child-sized reading letters, and examined the cast. Three
little pigs, one for straw, one for sticks and one for bricks, and a big bad
wolf. It looked easy enough. Arriving at her group, she handed out the
scripts. "Okay guys, it's the Three Little Pigs. Who wants to be who?"

After a little bickering, it was decided Xelloss would be the Pig of
Straw, Lina would be the Pig of Sticks, Zelgadiss would be the Pig of
Bricks, and Sylphiel would be the Big Bad Wolf. With everyone in their
roles, they got to practicing.

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"Alright, now let's see what Lina's group managed to put together.
Their fairy tale is the Three Little Pigs."

Excited, the little group put out their cardboard houses, and then
got into their places. Sylphiel stood to the side, fidgeting and looking
rather terrified. After a few minutes of Sylphiel not doing anything, Lina
poked her head out of her cardboard House of Sticks. Looking a little
irritated, she called out, "C'mon Sylphiel, get things started!"

Sylphiel flinched slightly, then sighed. Moving very slowly, with
nervous glances towards the sea of children watching her, she crept up to
Xelloss's House of Straw. In a voice that was barely above a whisper, she
called out "Little pig, little pig, come out of your house."

Inside, Xelloss called out in a carrying, but suitably frightened
voice, "I'll never come out!"

Swallowing, Sylphiel started up again. "Come out, or I'll huff and
I'll puff, and I'll blow the house down!"

The tiniest girl in class, a hyperactive brunette called out to
Sylphiel. "Sylphiel, you've gotta be louder! Pretend your giving a justice
speech to bad guys, that always works for me!"

"Hush Amelia. Let Sylphiel find her own voice."

"Yes, Madame Peprika."

Sylphiel attempted to muster her courage, then took a deep breath,
and repeated her lines. "Come out, or I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow
the house down!" This time it was much louder, if not exactly
intimidating.

Xelloss was having a ball. "I'll never come out! Never, by the hairs
on my chinny chin-chin."

Sylphiel, getting more into the spirit of things, huffed and puffed,
and shoved the cardboard house over. Xelloss, uncovered, threw up his
hands and screamed girlishly, then grinning, raced over to Lina's house.
He knocked on the 'door'. "Lina-chan, there's a Big Bad Wolf after me!
Let me in, let me in!"

Lina poked her head out. "Do I have to?"

Xelloss stuck his tongue at her. "Yeah, you do." Shrugging, Lina
let Xelloss into the cardboard house.

Sylphiel, having managed to get over most of her shyness, stomped
up to Lina's House of Sticks. "Little pigs, little pigs, come out of your
house!"

Xelloss, never one to let an opportunity pass, glomped onto Lina in
pretended fright. Lina, thinking he was acting, clung back. Together,
they called out, "We'll never come out!"

"Come out, or I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow the house down!"
Sylphiel threatened.

"We'll never come out, never by the hairs on our chinny chin-chins."

So Sylphiel huffed, and puffed, and shoved the cardboard House of
Sticks over. This time, both Xelloss and Lina screamed, and they raced
over to Zelgadiss's cardboard house. Knocking on the door, Lina called
out, "Zel, there's a Big Bad Wolf after us. Let us in, let us in!"

Zelgadiss poked his head out of his House of Brick. "You can come
in Lina. Leave the fruitcake for the Big Bad Wolf." Moving back, Zel let
Lina crawl in, but closed the door in Xelloss's face.

Xelloss pouted. "You're so mean, Zel-kun." Shrugging, he hid
behind the 'house', so no one could see him, and phased out, popping
into the interior. He grinned at Lina's amused face, and Zel's irritated
one. "Nice and cozy in here, ne?"

Zel would have replied, but Sylphiel came up to the cardboard
house then. "Little pigs, little pigs, come out of your house!"

All together, the three children in the house called back. "We'll
never come out!"

"Come out, or I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll blow the house down!"

"We'll never come out, never by the hairs on our chinny chin-chins!"

So Sylphiel huffed, and puffed, and tried to push the house over.
But with Lina, Xelloss and Zelgadiss all holding the walls in place, the
house didn't even budge. So Sylphiel tried again. And again the house
didn't move. Finally, after a third try, Sylphiel died agonizingly from lack
of breath. Once she was good and dead, the three little 'pigs' came out
from Zelgadiss's sturdy House of Brick. Taking a bow, they announced,
"The End." Amid lots of clapping, Sylphiel also got up, and took her bow.

Madame Peprika smiled under her pile of scarves. "That was
wonderful, children. You're all destined for greatness, I can tell! Now if
you'd all come and sit in the audience we can get on to the next group."

Grinning, the children sat down amongst the other students. Lina
gave Sylphiel a hug. "You were great." She whispered.

Sylphiel beamed proudly.

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Okay, so that's finally done! Woo hoo! Read and Review, or email
me at madame_meow@hotmail.com.