The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Sixteen

"Well, thank you for your lunch and your hospitality. So sorry to crash your vacation, especially with news about school," Seishirou apologized.

"Oh, no problem!" Lina waved away his concerns.

"But Sei-chan!" Hokuto whined, "I wanted to hang out with you!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but duty calls. Don't worry! Now that we're all moving here, it'll be a lot easier to see each other. Right, Subaru?" Seishirou involved the other twin in the conversation.

"R-right!" Subaru said. "Besides, H-Hokuto, it's an emergency! That means some poor animal is in trouble."

And I don't want my baby brother to get sad," Hokuto sighed. "Well, okay." She tip-toed over to the older man and kissed him on the cheek. "But you're going to have to take me shopping to make up for it!"

"All right," Seishirou laughed. "We'll make it a date, right? Ahahahahaha!" He waved cheerfully and stepped outside, closing the door after himself.

"W-wait!" Subaru cried suddenly, and leapt up to his feet. "Excuse me," he told the assembled youth as he followed hot on Seishirou's footsteps.

"What's up with him?" Val snorted.

Hokuto shrugged. "Maybe he, uh, left something in the van. Or maybe he's professing his love to Sei-chan!" she giggled. "Either way, he'll be right back. Now, tell me—how come your parents will let you all stay here un-supervised and all?

"I got no parents, nor does Xelloss, but the girls… well… We are trust-wor-thee re-pre-sen-ta-tives of the male po-pu-la-tion," Val leered her way, then snorted back a laugh at her expression of incredulity.

From her standpoint, he didn't look like the type she'd trust being alone with for ten seconds! Standing about 6 foot 5 inches tall with gangly bronzed limbs, Val's vivid spiked green hair, tattoos, piercings and rings contributed to the dangerous, impressive aura he painstakingly cultivated.

"Aren't you kind of the same? Or is Seishirou your legal guardian?" Zel asked.

"Oh, no! He's just, well, a kind of family friend…it's complicated. But isn't he sooo cool! He's like a big kid—that can drive!"

"He sure knows some weird stuff," Lina mentioned.

"Well, sure, but so does Subaru, you know. Different shrines have different traditions," Hokuto said.

The sound of the van's engine revving and then pulling away issued from outside.

"Where IS Subaru, anyway?" Hokuto wondered.

"Maybe he decided to leave with Seishirou?" Xelloss suggested.

"Oh no!" Hokuto gasped. "They left without me! That must mean—that must mean---" she put a hand on her brow dramatically and looked away. "They've ELOPED!"

"H-hokuto!"

Subaru had re-entered the cabin during her speech, unnoticed, and heard enough to be blushing and pulling his hat down over his eyes to hide.

"Oh, there you are, Subaru! Ohohohoho!" she laughed it off. "I was scared that my two favorite guys were leaving me! What would I do, a sixteen-year-old girl, all by myself? What are horrible thought!"

"I'll say," Val muttered. Lina didn't hit him this time.

"What took you so long, Subaru?" Hokuto demanded.

"N-nothing!" he claimed, and found a chair to huddle in away from her evergreen-gaze.

"Well, now that we're all back together," Lina diverted the conversation, "What should we do? Oh, wait, I know!"

Since they all played music and enjoyed listening to it, Lina fired up the CD player and treated everyone to her 'download' selections and the Slayers 'demo' CD. It wasn't long before everyone was dancing and singing along.

"Hey, Zel!" Lina shouted. "You stuffed that guitar in the car, right?"

Yes, he did. Did he want it broadcast to everyone? No. No, he did not.

"Don't you give me that look, buster," she snarled at him. How dare he think he could defy her will! "Go get it! I got some new stuff to go over with ya!"

Well, that was a little better. Helping Lina write a new song... Yes, he'd be cooperative, now.

Val was grumbling to Gourry. "I don't like that guy. Something about him. Phony."

"Who? That one?" Gourry indicated Subaru with a toss of his braid.

"No, the one that left, Say-sheer-owe. He knows about the syndicate and bunches of other dark secrets, you can bet," Val grumbled, arms crossed and golden eyes hard and steely.

Hokuto poked at Amelia's arm, "I don't think your Mr. Val friend likes us very much."

Amelia snickered a little, "Oh, Mr. Val's in a bad mood because Miss Filia couldn't come along. He really likes her a lot and she…I think likes him too but they both flirt and tease each other."

"Oh…I get it…and he misses her. Poor baby," Hokuto giggled along with Amelia. "And did I cross some other barrier by doing the blonde's hair, who by the way is one gorgeous hunk."

Amelia gave a lightening quick glance Lina's way. Good, Lina is distracted and bickering with Zelgadiss. "Miss Lina kinda watches over us all…" she said cautiously. "But I think Mr. Gourry has eyes only for her. It's soooo romantic, I think."

"Oh, how cute! Okay, so then does Mr. Xelloss have a girlfriend?"

"No, but he's wanted one for the longest time. Why? Do you think he's cute?" Amelia asked conspiratorially. Not that she would dabble in any matchmaking stuff. Not after Sylphiel.

"Oh, man, YES!" Hokuto shrieked. "I can't believe he's not taken! He really can dance, too!"

"He's…new at school, in a way…then he was a novice part of last year…and…he's been real busy this summer. Up until now," Amelia was sweating bullets trying to pass over the bloody details and yet not make him sound like a weirdo. Sure…how easy that was! "Are you—"

"Interested in him? No way! I'll always be true to my Sei-chan!" Hokuto declared. "I just wish he'd stop aging for a while so I could catch up!" she winked at Amelia. Suddenly, she leaned in, eyes squinted nearly closed and her voice lowered "But…you like the elf guy…don'tcha?"

Amelia blushed and nodded, "Is it that obvious?"

"So what gives? He like you or what?" Hokuto asked.

"Um, he's just really shy, I think…" Amelia said. She wasn't in the mood to open up to this unknown element, just yet.

"Shy?" Hokuto started to argue but was interrupted by another shout.

"Hey, Amelia!" Lina shouted from the arm of the couch. Next to her was Zel, who was tuning his acoustic guitar. "I've got a song for yer sister I started when we were visiting her, but I think you could sing it. Its called Midnight Blue."

"And you?" Amelia whispered to Hokuto as they joined Lina and Zel. "Does Seishirou like you, too?"

"That's a secret!" Hokuto smiled and looked to the door to where her brother was reentering, head down in concentration. "That song Lina's working on--that's beautiful, ya know? You guys are really talented. What you need are hot, eye-catching costumes on stage, I bet!"

"Well, um…"

"I could design the best, just wait!"

"You need to talk to Lina about anything like that," Amelia warned the enthusiastic girl. "Then the whole band has to agree."

"I need ta see the water," Val growled. He stood up and stretched. "And feel the sun." His eyes met Gourry's, then asked, "You comin'?"

"Yup. Now that my hair's outta the way, it'll be easier to catch the waves," Gourry said as he shook the cobwebs out of his brain and woke up. "Gotta move…"

Zel and Lina discussed the song some more, until Lina declared it was time to get some fresh air and hopped up. Xelloss wandered over to where Amelia and Hokuto were sitting and offered them each a hand up. "Shall we go play a bit before dinner?" he asked.

Ring, ring!

"Whose?"

Ring, ring!

"Lina, it's your cellphone!" Zel called out to her. "Who is it? I don't know…HE didn't say," he smirked at her as he tossed the phone at her.

"Yeah?!" she shouted. "I'm on vacation and about to hit the sand so make it snappy!" She frowned, then smiled as she recognized the caller. "Tasuki! Hey, how goes it? Great…Who? You wanna talk to Xelloss? I'll give you his number, but he's right outside the door. What?! YOU MUST BE KIDDING! Yeah, well don't joke about stuff like that with me. I want no romantic ties, get it?! Okay…hold on."

She ran to the door and screamed, "X E L L O S S !"

"Yes, Lina?" he returned in a flash.

"Call fer ya…Tasuki," she added to answer his unasked question.

"My, my…Tasuki? What a surprise. My help? Replacing Nuriko? What's the matter? Oh…that's rough… For how long do you think? I see, well…I'll have to check with my boss…Lina, of course! Who else?" Xelloss smiled and asked, "Nuriko has laryngitis and the band has two more gigs. They need a stand in and I'm the only one they could think of who already knew their material and could learn the dance routines on such a short notice. They could live without me, but…I don't really care one way or the other… I'm a Slayer first and foremost, so…"

"Go ahead," Lina smiled. "Get yer mind on something else, eh? Oh, but ask him about the costume. I don't think you wanna start cross-dressing at eighteen years old, right?" she chuckled as his eyes widened.

"Oh, that's right! Thanks, I'd never considered that!" Xelloss turned back to the cellphone. "Tasuki, um, oh…you heard, well? No, definitely NOT! I have my own kimono top. I'll be less colorful, like the shadow of Nuriko, 'kay? So, how about a practice? Okay…my number is…"

"Waitaminute—Tasuki? Nuriko?" Hokuto squeaked. "You mean—you know the Suzaku Seven?!"

"Yep," Lina said. "Tasuki's an old friend of mine and Nuriko's one of Xelloss' and now we're all buddies. We toured with them earlier."

"And I guess I'm the new Nuriko," Xelloss sighed, turning off the phone and handing it to Lina.

"Yeah, well, he'd do it fer you—'cept I doubt he could play drums worth beans," Lina shrugged.

"Wow! Now that's four bands with connections!" Hokuto said. "You know…Subaru, isn't there a big competition coming up?"

"Y-yes, the Battle of the Bands…it's a fund-raiser for an out-reach program, if I remember correctly. But I'm not sure—"

"Yeah, you guys should definitely enter!" Hokuto said. "I'm sure the Suzaku Seven will, and the Seals and Harbingers certainly are. There's a whole bunch of other bands in the area, you know—like those Sailor girls and the Gun-damn guys or something… whatever they are. Of course the Seals are the best—or maybe the Harbingers are…Oooh! I can't choose! I just can't choose between my brother and my honey! Cruel fate!" she cried theatrically.

"H-hokuto," Subaru sighed.

"Pshht," Val spat. "I wouldn't get so riled up. WE can beat out both bands, any day of the week. The Slayers are NUMBA ONE, baby!" Val howled like a wolf.

"Hear, hear!" Lina agreed.

"Yay!" from Amelia.

"Yay. We're entering, aren't we?" Zel sighed. "No way I can talk you out of this--?"

"No way."

"I thought not," Zel gave up.

"Honey?" Xelloss whined.

"Lucky for you, she's taken," Zel commented unsympathetically. "Come on. I know where there are piles of logs waiting for construction."

Xelloss caught his friend's twinkling eye, "Forts… I'll pass it on to Val… and Gourry should love it, too. Why with him on the construction crew we should be able to build some really impressive stuff!"

"What's that?" Val asked.

"Zel's taking us to play with the big tinkertoys. You know, the ones for men. O-o-o-oh, Gour-ree?" Xelloss yodeled. "This'll be fun!"

Val actually was hoping that they'd be able to romp like kids again, but with the strangers and the girls, he wasn't so sure. He had an image to maintain. However, Xelloss did not, and so, he took it upon himself to gather everyone and cajole them all into participating with him as his 'therapy'. That worked too! Do it to help poor 'never had a childhood' Xelloss. Guilt-tripped them all, not that it was necessary, of course. Everyone wanted to build forts and 'houses' out of the huge driftwood beams scattered on part of the beach. They just didn't know how to get started…

"I-I've never quite…done this before," Subaru admitted, looking shyly at the piles of wood that the kids were picking through.

"Oh, look at this one! It's shaped like a 'Y'—a bet you can do something with this!" Hokuto exclaimed over a treasure.

"Yeah, that's big enough to be a support pillar!" Gourry appraised it. "Hey, Val! Help me haul this one out, if you're not busy."

Zel noticed that Subaru looked distressed and a little lost. How could he dig through the sand in delicate gloves? How could he lift chunks of wood with twiggy arms? He was very quiet, standing there looking past them all at the sea.

"Ah, Subaru?" Zel said in a low voice. "I could use a little help with mine, would you mind?"

"M-Me? I, well, of course. How can I assist you?" the delicate boy asked.

"Take that end, right, and lift it over there, while I take the other and it'll be turned around so that…" Zel began.

"Oh, yes! I-I can see now what you are trying to do! You'll need another log on top over there."

"Ah, yes. Well, we'll look for that next, then. I'm pretty strong, but the work goes faster with some help," Zel smiled slightly, reassuring the other guy of his usefulness.

Soon they were all building lodges', 'cottages', and– in Lina's case—sorceress' castles in varying degrees of ineptitude.

"And if you put that one on top, it'll look like a shrine gate!" Subaru said, excited. This was fun! If only his stupid gloves weren't in the way…

"Yeah, that'll look cool," Zel humored him. "Here, let's get that log over there…"

Lina's castle had a triangular archway entrance, with a single roof-beam balanced on top and lodged into a sand dune in the back. She was finding poles long enough to be stuck in the ground but still lean on the roof-beam to make walls and ceiling in one go. "But if I leave this section open, I can start another room in this section…" She looked up. "Amelia!"

"What?" Amelia asked.

"How's yours going?"

Amelia looked at her pile of sticks. Engineering just wasn't her strong suit…

"Sucky, huh? Well, then—join with me! Gimme your sticks and we'll finish the roof and start on this part," Lina ordered.

"Okay!" Amelia was actually somewhat relieved.

Xelloss had an idea. "Hokuto! Ours are right next to each other—what if we knocked out this section and combined them? We'd have the biggest fort of all!"

"Sure!" Hokuto's eyes gleamed. She was the competitive sort, at heart, and, well, she always secretly believed that she was the best anyway, so any outlet to prove it... "It'll be the best! What if we…" she whispered something in Xelloss' ear. When she noticed Val watching her, she stuck her tongue out at him and went back to talking to Xelloss.

"Uh…what're you doing?" Val asked Gourry.

"Huh? Oh, I'm building up sand around the base—a wind-shield, and it'll support the rest," he explained. His had pillars and triangles jutting up from the sand, ready to be filled in, and looked the most sturdy.

"Want help? You've gotta be good at this, since you're in the con-struc-tion biz and all…"

"Uh, sure…why does it matter?" Gourry scratched his head.

"'Cause that creepy little girl thinks that she and Xelly can make the best fort—and I'm gonna prove her dead wrong!" Val declared with fervor.

"Oh yeah?" Lina said, over-hearing him. "You've got some competition, you know! Me and Amelia—ours would win by artistic merit alone!"

"Screw artistic merit! Ours is gonna stand up if it gets hit with a typhoon!"

"You think you've taken us out of the running?" Xelloss piped up. "Ours is big AND well-designed, and we've got all sorts of plans!"

"Looks like a heap of crap to me!"

"Yeah, well, yours looks like a skeleton!" Hokuto sneered back at Val.

"And both of yours are hunks of junk compared to my castle!"

"Oh, dear…they look serious!" Subaru quavered quietly to Zel.

"They're always serious about trivial things. It helps distract them from the big things in life that they can't deal with," Zel told him. "Now, what if we dug this part out…"

"I see, like this…"

"I'll bet you never even get yours done!" Lina sniffed at Val.

"None of us will if we keep arguing!" Hokuto cried. "Come on, Xelloss! Let's get to work!"

"Fine! Come on, Amelia! We need more sticks!"

"Right!" Amelia found a pile. "Perfect!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Hokuto screeched. "I saw that pile first!"

"Well, we need them more!"

"Says who?"

"W-well, I do! As the champion of justice, I say finders keepers!"

"That's not justice!" Hokuto grabbed some sticks.

"Hey, that's stealing! Stealing's wrong!" Amelia grabbed them, too.

"Not if no one owns it!" Hokuto pulled, hoping to dislodge them from Amelia's grip. But the little girl was far stronger—and more tenacious—than Hokuto had expected…

"Um…I need another big log," Gourry mentioned to Val. "Like this size…" he pointed to one already standing.

"Sure—how's that one?"

"Perfect! You can handle that one yourself, I know. It'll go here…"

Val strode off to the debris pile containing the chosen log and wrapped his big, tan fingers around it.

"Hey, hands off our log!" It was Lina, before him, with her hands on the far end of the wood, trying to drag it away.

"Don't see yer name on it," Val snorted.

"It's right here!" Lina punched him.

"Hey!" he growled. "You've been whalin' on me all day—it really pisses me off!"

"Wanna make something of it? I'd love to see you fight back!" Lina challenged him.

"You asked for it, firebrand!" Val ran at her, and she nimbly jumped out of the way. He swung around and kicked the legs out from under her. From the ground, she dove at his and tripped him, too. And he, being taller, had a long way to fall… "Gaaa!"

In the meantime, Amelia and Hokuto were still playing tug-of-war with the sticks. Xelloss began wondering where his teammate had gone off to, and emerged from his project to find them childishly refusing to give in.

"Hello? Hello? Amelia, just give us the sticks. There are plenty more…"

"Then there are plenty more for you! Miss Lina wants these sticks!" Amelia protested.

"Oh, come on, Amelia—aren't you always complaining of being treated like a little kid?" Xelloss wrapped his fingers around the bundle, also…

By this time, Lina and Val were rolling over and over, grappling with blood-lust in their hearts. Both were volatile by nature, and had been deprived of any way to express their pent-up aggression. This felt great! Well, expect for the pain…

"Hmm…just a little more sand built up on this side, and—Subaru, will you drag over some of that washed-up kelp?"

"Sure!"

"Wait!" Zel noticed something. "Subaru, you're not wearing your gloves!"

"Y-yes," he blushed, hiding his white, barely sandy hands. "I couldn't dig with them on, you see…I'll go get that kelp!" he ran off to the lapping tide.

Zel shook his head. What a strange and mysterious kid…though he was sure that the more he knew about him, the stranger he'd be. What had taken him so long saying good-bye? What secrets did he have? Zel realized that he didn't want to know. It would be better if he didn't know this poor child's whole messed-up story…

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Both of you!" Xelloss tugged harder. "You're acting," he grunted with effort, "like children!"

"Damn you, bastard!"

"You little—"

Gourry watched his friends fight and sighed. Why couldn't they just be more reasonable? "Now, now," he walked over to the tussling Lina and Val. "Can you guys relax?"

"Stay out of this!" Lina warned him before biting one of Val's fingers that was heading for her throat.

Gourry furrowed his brow. Then relaxed and, with a sigh, returned to his project. If they didn't want his assistance...

Lina and Val were on their feet, when Lina leaped at his face, yanking his headband over his eyes. He blindly lashed out nearly catching her up in his talons, but rolled his foot over a pile of loose driftwood and fell backwards, flailing his arms and knocking down the 'front porch' of Lina and Amelia's place.

"OH!" Lina howled. Murder was in her eyes.

Amelia dropped the sticks, sending Hokuto to her ass. "Oh, no!" wailed Amelia. Her limpid eyes drew to steely hardness, determination creasing her brow. "We must take a stand for justice and strike back!"

"Oh, crap!" Val moaned, rubbing his twisted ankle and bruised shoulder. His head snapped up at the sound of Lina's little scuffling feet tearing off in the direction of his structure. "Noooooo, don't mess with my place, you little…"

Lina started messin'. Crash!

Xelloss helped Hokuto up in a very gentlemanly fashion and they returned to their building while Val, Lina, Amelia and Gourry were suitably occupied.

Gourry looked up from the log he had been toting down the beach to see Lina on a rampage through the structures with Val roaring in hot pursuit. Both of them were zeroing in on HIS well crafted, but as yet unfinished edifice. "Um, Lina? Linaaaaaa! Vaaaaal! That's my stuff!" he yelled and set off at full speed to intercept anyone attempting to bring down his masterpiece.

Oblivious to Xelloss, who was about to complete a rather delicate balancing act to complete his roof, Gourry gently nudged the smaller guy in his failed attempt to block Lina from her prize. "Um, sorry, Xelloss…" he muttered, then turned his attention to Lina. "Now, Lina, ya don't wanna mess with this stuff. It's mine and I've spent a lotta time on it." Gourry gave her a wide-eyed puppy-dog look sure to turn her from her path of certain destruction.

Xelloss, after being winged by Gourry who out-weighed him by 100 pounds, fell headlong into his main supporting wall, sending the roof rolling down on top of him. "Ughhhhh…"

"Oh, dear, Xelloss!" Hokuto exclaimed. "Are you all right?! Here—" she helped to dig him out of the debris in a less-than-ladylike manner.

"Come on, Miss Lina," Amelia urged her violent friend in a moment of reason. "It is Mr. Val we should be attacking, Not Mr. Gourry!"

"Fine!" And Lina was after Val's blood again, drawn away from Gourry, to his relief. However, the relief was not long-lived…

Xelloss was back on his feet, and he was coming.

Gourry stretched himself nearly ten feet in every direction blocking the path to his building. He was determined to shield it with his body, his greatest asset. Xelloss was smiling as his twirled a long thin pole of wood like one of his karate bo staves. "You should not have bumped me, Gourry. Now you shall pay…"

"Watch out!" Val cried, running past them at full bore away from Lina and ducking behind the nearest shelter (which was…?)

"Go get him, Xelloss!" Hokuto cheered.

"Vengeance!" Xelloss cried.

Ignoring the dynamic battle about to ensue, Lina propelled her little body like a missile right past Gourry and tackled the nearest pillar of the fortress. It wavered, listed heavily to the left, then slid inexorably down under the weight of the overloaded roof – due to Amelia's triumphant stance upon its top!

"Justice triumphs!" Amelia cried on her way down.

"…" Subaru flinched. "That didn't sound good."

"Better not look. I'm sure it's a disaster. See, this is a great roofing material, isn't it?" Zel said.

"It's perfect! And there's plenty of it, too. It'll go great with these," Subaru started weaving sticks in with the kelp, "now that they won't be needing them anymore," he smiled.

Zel shook his head, smiling as well. While the battle raged on behind them, the two boys wove sticks into a mat of seaweed for a rainproof roof.

"And this stump would make a great chair!" Subaru cooed.

Great. Now he was furnishing the darned thing! He was a little too into this… But Zel didn't have the evil drive to dishearten this poor kid. It was probably the first time he'd ever been out in unbridled nature left to his own devices, after all.

When the dust finally settled and the players, exhausted, lay their squabbles aside…all that was left standing which could be classified as a 'building' was Zel and Subaru's kelp shrine.

Val tried knocking the sand out of his hair, but it was pretty well glued together with his hair gel. He grumbled something deprecating about little girls, but not loudly enough for any one qualifying to be called that to overhear.

Gourry stood, arms folded and surveyed the damage. Yep, nothing he could ever build would ever be able to withstand a Lina-cane, unless… He pondered using steel I-beams the next time.

Amelia and Hokuto were scrabbling on the ground trying to help Xelloss find a contact lens which had relieved itself of its purpose and deposited itself under Lina's foot (unbeknownst to anyone).

Lina hopped to her feet, grinding the delicate little plastic disk into the sharp sand. "Well, looks like the last one standing is Zel and Subaru's."

"Oh loooooookie!" Hokuto crooned. "Isn't it precious! Subaru, you are so clever! Look how nicely woven the roof is! And the inside is all dug out and…it even has a place to sit inside!"

"That was my idea!" Subaru gushed.

"Of course it was," she smiled. "I'm just surprised your partner there let you get away with it!"

Both Zel and Subaru blushed on cue, sending Lina and company into gales of laughter. Even Xelloss laughed, glad not to be the one under scrutiny for odd behavior.

Zel tried to cover his embarrassment with a show of checking his watch. "You know, if you want dinner, we should be building a rock-lined pit and starting a fire."

"Yer got the Boy Scout ta do that fer ya," Val growled. "I'm showerin' this mess outta my hair." He leaned in closer to Zel as he passed him saying, "So, what was with the watch checkin' routine? Yer not even wearin' one."

"Hey, Xelloss!" Lina said. "You gonna let him do that? He and Gourry already have a head start on ya…" Xelloss looked blankly back at her. "You're usually two showers ahead of everyone by now," she added with a chuckle.

"I'm not that messy," he countered. "Am I?" he asked, then scratched his sandy scalp and watched a flurry of fine sand fall out. "Ewwww, now you've got me thinking about it! And I have to go find some glasses!"

"My fingernails are dirty…" Subaru gasped in a near whisper. He raised is watery green eyes up to Zel's and smiled. "I've never had dirty fingernails…with the gloves and all!"

"You wouldn't have," Zel replied with restraint.

Hokuto gasped. "Subaru! You-your gloves!"

"They're right here," he dug them out of his red coat pocket and showed them to her, blushing redder than Zel's sunburn.

"B-but!" she choked, "You've never taken them off before! Not—not like this!"

"You can't dig in sand with gloves on," he said, quietly.

"Subaru! You have to put them back on right away!" Hokuto dragged him off to the house after the sandy Val and the creeped-out, partially blind Xelloss, presumably to wash his hands.

Lina shook her head. "That is one bizarre kid."

"Tell me about it," Zel groaned.

"Nice, polite, and completely whipped into submission. He's even worse than you!"

"Thank you, Lina. Nice to know there's someone under me in the social order."

"Hey, you can't be on the bottom forever," Lina shrugged. "Let's dig that pit! I wanna eat when the wusses are done preening themselves."

"Amelia, would you go find the food?" Zel asked, and relayed a list of what they needed. Delighted to be useful to her beloved Zelgadiss, Amelia scurried to carry out the orders.

Zel smirked at Lina when the younger girl was out of sight.

"Yeah, yeah, I get your point," Lina conceded. Then re-conquered with, "But Amelia doesn't count."

Gourry's eyes followed Amelia for a few seconds before he called out to Lina, "Ah…guess I should help carry stuff, right Lina?"

"Then neither does Gourry for you," was Zel's satisfying rebuttal.

"Hey!" Lina growled. "Let's not go there, pal." Suddenly, Lina's warning look gave way to mirth. "But—did you see Val's hair? It was like a sandcastle on his head!"

"Hey, gimme that hotdog!" Lina yelled as hers slid off the end of her stick and into the coals. "I don't care if it's a little burned."

"More like charred, Lina," Zel noted as he gingerly rolled the meaty object into some ashes and stabbed at it with a shorter stick. "And I think it's still cold inside. There aren't any juices bubbling out."

"Zelgadiss, for the love of…I am hungry and I don't give a flying fig for your appraisal of my culinary expertise!" she said, batting away his hand and dumping the sad result onto her plate. "Now, gimme a bun, with catsup and mustard!"

"As you wish," Zel smirked. "And what is it that I can do for you, Val?"

"Show me how ya git yers so perfect," Val grumbled. His hotdog was splitting down the middle with blisters covering one end and the tell-tale signs of 'never been touched by warmth' on the other end.

"Patience, my man…patience," Zel smiled and gave his second stick a quarter turn. "Watch this…"

"Yeah, watch this!" Lina shouted. Then, without further warning she snagged his beautiful hotdog and jammed the entire thing into her mouth, chewed, then swallowed it in five seconds flat. "Whoooohooooo! Am I good or what!" she crowed.

Zelgadiss opened his mouth to complain, but decided against it, knowing that it wouldn't do any good anyway. Instead, he pierced another hotdog with his stick and began anew.

"What are you doing?" Zel asked the odd Subaru kid sitting beside him like a shadow.

"I-I…um…dropped it. I mean, I t-tried to turn it and it slipped right off and now…I think it fell somewhere back in these coals," the boy said sorrowfully.

"Just start over. There are plenty more—tofu dog, right? I'm glad you're eating them, because no one else does. We've got a vegetarian friend, and I forgot she wasn't coming so I picked up these by mistake. Here, let me do that. Don't those gloves bother you?" Zel said. He was getting exasperated by too many people around him.

"Y-Yes, they do, but…it doesn't matter. I have to wear them. Oh, thank you for fixing my hotdog. I see, you are using the rocks to wedge your stick in place so it doesn't fall!"

"Yesssss," Zel hissed. "You can watch mine as well, excuse me…"

He hurried off to an out-of-sight spot and huddled alone in the dark. Zel was not a party person; he needed his personal down time.

Xelloss took turns feeding either Hokuto or Lina bits of his food, while Hokuto offered him tastes of hers for comparison. Amelia giggled and told them they reminded her of cute little baby birds being fed by the big mother bird. That stifled the game immediately. Lina hated 'cute' more than she loved being fed, apparently, and Xelloss didn't feel very motherly toward either of the pretty birds eating out of his hands.

Gourry had learned his own tricks through Boy Scout training. Had anyone noticed, they would have seen how he had used two sticks running parallel through eight hotdogs in a row. None fell off. Everything cooked just fine. He wolfed them down before Lina moved over his way to check out his progress.

"Nothin' to eat?" she asked him.

"Um, ah…not now…" he said, gulping down the last remnants of hotdog number eight.

Shaking her head, Lina indicated her empathy for his situation. "Yeah, well, here…take this one. It was Zel's anyway and I know you need to eat to keep up your strength."

Gourry did a double take. Was Lina being…generous? "Um, gee, thanks Lina!" he sputtered out at last. "Are you sure?"

"You had better swallow it before she has second thoughts and takes off your hand in her haste to devour it!" Hokuto cautioned. A low growl from Lina signaled the error of her ways. "Oh, come on! It was just a joke…"

"Ha ha ha," Lina muttered.

She sniffed and turned to see Xelloss holding a flaming torch aloft. "What are you doing, Xelloss?!"

He winced a little behind his recently unearthed glasses, then smiled, "Marshmallows?"

Subaru was cowering back away from the flames, but his eyes were plastered to them. This was the most amazing day of his existence. He'd never done such…ordinary things with so many extra-ordinary kids his own age, or so he judged they were. Building forts, cooking out… Entranced by the dancing flames, he slowly leaned closer…

"Watch out!!!" someone shouted.

Val and Gourry dove for the poor kid, Val knocking him out of the way and Gourry scooping him up and carrying him away from the towering inferno.

"Suuuubaruuuuuu!" his sister cried out. "Are you okay?!"

"Y-Yes….I-I don't know…w-what happened just n-now?" he gasped, visibly shaken.

"You just about fell into the fire, little buddy," Gourry said patting him on the head. "Where's Zel? Hey, Val? You know where Zel is?"

"Yeah, he's shoulderin' the weight of the world off over that way, somewhere," Val squinted into the dark beyond the sheltering dune nearest him. "I'll go get him…"

He found Zel staring at the starless void overhead, contemplating his pointless existence, as usual.

"Yo, dude," Val growled. "Yer presence is needed by the fire to keep the space-case alive."

"Oh?" Zel said looking over toward the source of the noise. "He's all right, just…no odder than we must seem to him, I guess." He stood, agilely hopping over a pile of driftwood and rocks.

"He nearly burned up in the fire without you there to pro-tect him," Val snickered.

Zel heaved a snatch of wood at Val, clipping him on the side.

"Hey!"

"Hey, yourself, Val!" Zel smirked as he found a spot (which magically opened up as he showed up) between Subaru and Amelia. "Oh, joy…" he muttered.

Amelia was saying how scary it was all dark with only the fire for light. She used that as an excuse to draw closer to Zel. Zel sighed and looked around to see if anyone noticed. Xelloss smiled and shook his head from the other side of the fire.

"So now what? I'm not ready to go back to the house!" Hokuto said.

"We-el…" Xelloss drawled out the word as he lowered his voice. "I think…it…is…time for…tales…of terror…"

"Oh, Mr. Xelloss! I'm already all creeped out!" Amelia half cried, half giggled in her excitement. "He tells the absolutely most frightening stories, and they're mostly true, too!" she maintained.

"Well, now you've got him all worked up, there's no stopping him," Zel chastised her amiably.

Lina found a rock that yielded to her will and pulled a towel, which had materialized around her neck, over her skinny shoulders. Might as well get comfortable…

Gourry felt a sharp little shoulder blade dig into his side a moment and looked down to see Lina snuggling up. He draped a dry towel over her shoulders and smiled. Nothing could spoil this evening for him now…

Val settled down between the Lina-Gourry lump and Xelloss. He wished Filia had been able to come. Now would be the perfect time to watch the golden highlights in her hair sparkle in the flickering firelight. He picked up his discarded shirt and stuffed his arms into the sleeves, then fumbled for a cigarette. No…not tonight…and found his little notebook and a stub of a pencil. In the dusky light, he began a poem…

"In our school," Xelloss began, looking pointedly at the twins, "There are seven halls: the 100 hall, the 200, 300, 400, 500, and 700."

"You forgot the six-hundred hall," Hokuto piped up.

"Ah, but there is no six-hundred hall—or is there?" his eyes flashed as his voice grew hollow. "You can look for it, if you want. We'll give you a tour in September—the 100 hall has the Gym, nurse's office, health room, psychology room, home ec, and cooking type classes. 200 has foreign language and the computer lab, 300 is Social studies, 400 is English, 500 is science, and 700 is the second story with math. On one end is the gym, the other has the auditorium, and the cafeteria is in the middle."

"If this doesn't start getting scary, I'm gonna fall asleep!" Lina warned.

Xelloss ignored her. "For a long time, I thought that nobody knew anything about it—then I found the right people to ask, and with my keys…"

"His keys?" Subaru whispered to Zel for assistance.

"He has keys to every lock in the school. Don't ask why."

"Well, I couldn't get any solid information, but I did find out that there are secret passages in the school—and one door that I don't have a key to. So I asked around again, and eventually…

"You see, our school was built in the fifties. When it was being constructed, the original plans called for one hall to be on top—the second-story math hall, and one to be underneath—a bomb shelter. It was the fifties, after all. They used to have bomb drills and they'd lead all the students down there to cower in the semi-darkness every couple of months—like fire drills and lock-down drills today.

"But they stopped doing them far before they stopped showing 'duck and cover' film reels in classrooms—not because the nuclear scare was over, but because of…a tragedy."

Hokuto gasped. Xelloss smiled slightly, a sinister curling of his mouth and thought about how he'd love to scare this cutie and her brother! She might cling to him in fear a little—and Subaru might do something embarrassing to Zel. He continued.

"Once, after a drill, a couple of goof-off kids—freshmen just wanting to scare their teachers and have a good time, broke into the shelter a few days after their first drill-time visit, and hung out there for a few hours, glad to be skipping class. But when they decided that was enough, they wanted to come out and see the trouble they caused, they found that they couldn't open the door! Some well-meaning janitor had walked by and locked it, unaware of their presence and probably hoping to circumvent such a thing from happening.

"Well, after the initial panic, they thought they would be fine until the next drill—there was all of that canned food and those supplies down there, after all—enough to last a nuclear winter," Xelloss smiled fiendishly. "But they were wrong. They never saw the next drill, never saw the terrible trouble they caused.

"You see, there was a flaw in the building's construction. Somehow, the airflow to the six-hundred hall was cut off, and the central heating exhaust funneled into the bomb shelter. The six-hundred hall was a deathtrap. The boys suffocated to death on carbon monoxide."

"That's horrible!" Amelia and Hokuto both cried.

"And because they never got to see their school's reaction to their death… in life, they still haunt the bomb shelter—they still linger there to see if they can draw anyone in. Because they weren't the last kids to die down there. There were two more in the sixties, and another in the seventies. In fact, I found out about this from a teacher who went here back then and knew the kid who died. The kid was obsessed with finding out about the 600 hall—and that was his doom. The trouble-makers haven't claimed a victim in a long time. That's why there is no key to the door—they don't want us getting down there, for fear of the vengeful ghosts." He finished.

That was a scary one! Regardless of any 'Xelloss touches', it was a perfectly plausible story, and chillingly close to home. Somehow…it didn't seem like a lie.

"Why hasn't somebody put them to rest?"

Everybody jumped, then turned to look at Subaru, who had spoken.

"I mean, if they're dangerous, you can dispel them—help them pass on."

"Subaru!" Hokuto hissed in warning.

"What do you mean?" Amelia asked.

"Exorcism?" Lina perked up. "You talking about exorcism?"

"Well, yes," he blushed fiercely. "That's what…we do. The Sumeragi family…"

"Then maybe it's no accident you're going to Seyruun High!" Xelloss said, cryptically. This was unforeseen! He'd expected this girly wimp to be shaking in his shiny red boots—not competing with him for creepiness!

"Yes! We've got all sorts of ghosts!" Amelia quavered. "Xelloss, tell him the one about Old Tim!"

"Ah, yes…Old Tim…" Xelloss settled back into his mode of story telling. This story was a comfortable groove for him, and he hammed it up but good, sending Hokuto into a shriek at the end, but eliciting nothing but another strange statement from Subaru about how the bell tower should be purified. This annoyed him, so when Amelia said "Remember the time we thought we SAW Old Tim but it was really—I mean…" he was ready to turn that into a story as well. "But it was really something much worse," he said, looking into the fire so that the dancing flames reflected off his glasses eerily.

"Do I want to hear this?" Hokuto asked Amelia tremulously.

"If you want to know more about Mr. Xelloss…" Amelia answered cautiously.

"It was a dark and stormy night…" Val intoned darkly.

"Va-al!" Lina warned.

"Well, it was…"

"We were strolling by our high school one night after a long day…" Xelloss began.

"When Miss Sylphiel, ah…another…friend, kinda…" Amelia stammered. "She pointed out this, this…"

"Shadow…" Xelloss continued. "A figure… darker than the shadows cast by the moonlight through the tower windows as the clouds flew past…"

"See, what did I tell ya…daaark AND stormy AND night…" Val smirked, then returned to his poem.

"A shadow appeared in the tower opening. A voice shrieked in terror, Amelia cringed and fell, spraining her ankle and obliging my…friend, Zelgadiss here, to half carry her, while I carried her the other half of the way back to my…lair…um…"

Amelia blurted out, "It was our band's practice room until it got burned down last month by ...some very bad people!" She blushed at her near-mistake.

"Just…" Xelloss's eyes flickered a signal to Amelia before he went on with his tale, "…as we got settled in, the storm hit…"

"What did I say? Gotta storm now, too!" Val hollered. He thought he was funny anyway and laughed himself to the coughing stage. Lina got in a 'hit' this time, connecting her elbow between a couple of his ribs.

"The lights went out!" Xelloss slapped his hands together loudly. "No light, no, heat, no cellphones…"

"And a room full of horny teenagers!" Val hooted and rolled out of the way of Lina's fist.

"Sounds…interesting…" Hokuto smiled tentatively.

"More so in the telling than if you'd been there," Zel muttered.

"That's because you slept through all the fun parts!" Xelloss quipped. "Right, Amelia? I mean, that's what you were checking every few minutes…when you leaned in close and stared…"

Amelia looked into Xelloss' eyes, really terrified this time.

Once Zel's icy blues settled on him, Xelloss smiled, "Just kidding, of course. Amelia's ankle was all swollen and she couldn't budge an inch, which…made the situation all that much worse when there was a heavy knock on the door. Had the shadowy figure from the tower seen us? Followed us to our hideout? With nothing but the twenty-five cent lock on the door to separate us from tragedy…"

"So…who was it? The man in the tower? He didn't kill you, 'cause you're all here except for….that one Sylf-girl. Oh! No! She was killed?!?" Hokuto practically wailed.

Xelloss smiled, "No (such luck…). She's just fine. As it turned out the figure was a man and he eventually did track us down, Zelgadiss and I in particular. He had been my…stepfather, my second one. A child abuser and…he wanted to make one last memorable…"

"Xelloss," Zel said.

"Impression," Xelloss finished. "He captured Zelgadiss and me and locked us up in that tower and…Gourry and Lina led a posse to save us and here we are."

"Thanks to your old wolf-dog, and after a few weeks stay in the hospital…Which reminds me," Lina kicked at Zel's elbow. "Where is your dog?"

"Sleeping peacefully on MY bed. Keeping it warm and protecting it from intruders," Zel said.

Subaru looked up. "You have a dog?"

"No, we have a vicious, feral wolf who like to gnaw the faces off of delicate young—"

"We have a sweet, mostly blind old dog who's a wonderful companion, even in its old age," Zel corrected Xelloss before he insulted two creatures who couldn't stand up for themselves. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing, sorry to interrupt, but I love dogs…all animals, really, but dogs especially. They're so human! I can recognize ones I'm friends with by their bark—like voices. When my dog died…" he shook his head. "Never mind. Sorry, I interrupted your story, and it is a very important one, I think." Then he looked deeply into Xelloss' eyes. "That man, he hurt you, didn't he?"

"Nearly killed him twice by my reckoning," Lina inserted. "But he's dead now. Xelloss' mother shot him." She yawned and stretched before adding, "That woman killed all the men in her life, the old spider."

"Not quite, Lina," Xelloss smiled. "Rezo is still alive." He turned to Hokuto to explain, "He's letting us have these houses instead of some university chums. Oh, and he's Zelgadiss' father who married my mother, making him my third and last stepfather, and…then Val's his foster son!"

Hokuto was certainly disturbed. "I—I don't believe that!"

"But it's true!" Xelloss giggled. "Not only that…"

"Xelloss…"

"But Val's stepfather was my second stepfather and Zelgadiss' mother was my sister… Let's see…Zelgadiss' grandfather killed Lina's father and Sylphiel's real mother and father, Filia's relatives, somewhat removed, killed off Val's family, except for his mother whom…our shared stepfather most likely killed. And finally, some lunatic assassin blew up the helicopter my mother and real father were riding in…killing them both…finally! Gee, Amelia, you and Gourry are just so pure!"

"What a load of crap!" Hokuto grunted.

"Yeah, when you put it that way, 'I'm my own grandpa' sounds less ludicrous!" Lina sighed.

"I-I think that Mr. Xelloss is telling us the truth, H-Hokuto! A-aren't you?" Subaru looked at Xelloss with those big, emerald green eyes full of depth and sincerity. Then he looked down. "I'm so sorry that you've all been through such pain. I truly am. No one should have to be put through that sort of thing. When adults make evil choices, children shouldn't have to suffer… I'm sorry."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault! Don't worry about it, we're pretty much together, you know. Sometimes you just have to put the past behind you. Tomorrow is always there, undecided, ready to be discovered, and you can't just cling to all the bad things that have happened to you as an excuse for being to scared to face it!" Lina said.

Subaru nodded. "But you can't ignore the past, either. Things happen for a reason, and past events cause future ones…" he swallowed. "So the future isn't as free as you say, I fear."

They thought about it for a moment.

"Oh!!! That's too deep for me right now!" Hokuto moaned. "Come on, let's have another story!"

"I'm sort of out…do you have one, Subaru?" Xelloss asked, looking at him slyly.

"W-well, I, um…" Subaru deliberated for a moment.

"If he doesn't want to, don't force him—" Zel sighed, but before he could finish, Subaru began unexpectedly.

"Sakura is pink but it wasn't always so

It used to be white, as white as the snow

But under every cherry tree

Lies a buried dead body

The roots drunk up all the blood

The bodies turned all into mud

Now the petals are as pink

As the purest child's cheek."

Val looked up. Poetry…creepy poetry—too close to home. Everyone shivered and found themselves looking at Subaru with new eyes.

"Where'd you hear that?" Xelloss asked.

"I—I don't know, exactly," Subaru was blushing now, though he'd been pale and ghostly during the recitation. "Somebody told it to me once…under a cherry tree…

"It was spring, and I was visiting the Sakura Burial Mounds with my grandmother, receiving training, you see. And I…don't know what happened, but I was wandering around—sakura is so beautiful!—and I saw this person…" he closed his eyes. "I was seven. I don't really remember, but this seems somehow important. I can't let go of it, even though I don't really remember. I saw this person, a young man in a high school uniform. It was strange that anyone would be there, since it's private property, but I didn't think about that at the time. I asked what he was doing, and he said that poem, told me to remember… It's called 'The Sakura Murders,' I think. And then he said…" he stopped and swallowed. "He made a promise, but I can't quite remember…but I know that he said we'd meet again someday. And…I believe him. The future…isn't as undecided as you say…" he trailed off.

While the others exclaimed about how ominous and creepy that was, Xelloss was thinking. The 'Sakura Burial Mounds,' eh? That seemed familiar… Something he wanted to forget…

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Sixteen. ~*~