The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel
~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~
Part Twenty-eight
~*~
"Xelloss, what are you doing here?" Lina asked through a yawn. She squinted through her bangs at the cheerful visage on the other side of the threshold. "And at this hour of the morning?"
"I brought you a song, another song for a duet."
"Couldn't this have waited until we were at the school later? In fact…shouldn't you be at the university now?" Narrowing her eyes, Lina said to his answering shrug, "We need more new songs?"
"I think...just this one more. I downloaded the music onto this CD and printed out a translation. It's all in the envelope."
"I suppose," Lina said as she took the proffered document, "that you want to come in and listen to it with me."
"Well," he smiled. "I'd like to...but I have to meet Zelgadiss over at Rezo's house. Zel dropped me here after classes." He stepped back from the door, turning slightly toward the street. "I'd better get going. It doesn't do to be late when either of those two are part of the appointment... and doing me a favor."
"Both the Greywords boys are into doing favors these days?" she smirked.
"No, not really. That Rezo is willing to let me back in his house is a favor on his part. That Zelgadiss is acting as an intermediary forwarding my cause is another favor of sorts."
"Xelloss..." Lina whispered. "What did you do to the poor man? It's bad luck messin' with a blind man!" Then a realization flooded her mind. "This has something to do with why you were so late to the contest yesterday, doesn't it? Oh…and you thought I'd forgotten about that, huh?!"
But he didn't answer. His smile was gone.
"Oh, hey...was it so very terrible...what you did?" At first, Lina spoke lightly, but when he hid his face and nodded, she jumped in his path. "Xelloss..." She grabbed his head and swept away the hair from his face. "Tears? Xelloss, dammit, what happened?"
He brushed away the remnants of moisture from his eyes briskly. Now that was an affliction he'd like to grow out of: crying like a baby… "Lina, I...I'm the blind one, I guess. I thought she liked me...the real me!" He barked a laugh, "Not as some go-between for her and her…mentor. I mean, I didn't ask for much. Nothing deep and meaningful...no love...or anything. Just...someone to like me for who I am, the way I am now with no past. What an idiot, right? Just like you always said...like you always knew, huh?"
Lina scrunched up her face. "'Have known'," she corrected him. "Uh, depends. I'll walk you over there, 'kay? Keep talking, then I'll decide what you are."
He caught her in a little half-smile and returned it. "Okay. You going outside dressed in that?" Adding in a rush, "Notthatthere's anythingwrongwiththewayyoulook!"
She froze in place. The t-shirt was fine, but… "Give me a sec to put on some shorts!" she said with a blush painting her cheeks.
They walked in mutual silence past a few houses. "So I take it you and Eris broke up..."
"You're getting hot..."
Lina smiled, "... and from what I can figure out it involved her work with Rezo. Close?"
"Hotter still."
"She tried to make you...she used $ex to lure you...then to get you to do something to Rezo, didn't she?"
"Ouch!" he winced. "Lina! You make me sound cheap and easy."
"What did you do, Xelloss?" Lina demanded. "You didn't...HURT the man, did you?"
"Brrrr..." Xelloss frowned. "Getting cold now. No. Lina, I'm not that desperate-- or that evil. You know that, don't you?"
"Yeah, sure," she acquiesced. "I just can't imagine what she wanted from you."
"You mean besides my fascinating conversational skills and hot young body?" His turn to smirk as she frowned. "Well, there was something else I could do for her. Something Zelgadiss wouldn't. Once again, Zelgadiss proves that he's the better man. A man of honor..."
"Eh, he's just a guy with his own faults too, Xelloss. Girls aren't his weakness though, that or beating up on old blind guys."
Xelloss shrugged noncommittally. "Okay, I might as well tell you before you fabricate another even worse scenario for me." He sighed then began again, "She wanted to help Rezo- she, meaning Eris. She idolizes the man. She wanted to get his notes back, reassemble the data, and recreate the experiment that...that...went wrong and nearly killed Zelgadiss. She wanted to be the one to cure Rezo's blindness."
"Well, that sounds rather high and mighty of her but surely nothing too awful..."
Xelloss raised a hand to stop her. "I broke into his lab, Lina. The one in the basement of his house that he had sealed after the explosion. He was supposed to be out all morning. We only needed a few minutes...I only had an hour before I was supposed to meet Zelgadiss back home for a ride to the contest. But...it had an encoded lock, which I had to break physically since I'm not as talented at lock picking as Zelgadiss. Then the door wouldn't budge. Then...well...it took most of my time just getting past the seal. I had time to scoop up all the papers I could find and check the lockers and desk drawers for other files or notebooks, when Rezo came home. He heard me climbing up the stairs from the basement and...He could smell the chemicals and dust on me. He figured out what I had done immediately and went ballistic, not that I can blame him really. I knew I'd been wrong to do it, even if it was for a good cause. I knew it was out of bounds and that he had trusted both Zelgadiss and me—Val, too—not to go exploring when we had the chance. But, well, there I was caught red-handed."
"But surely Eris is at fault as much as you!"
"Ah...not so..."
"He knows, doesn't he? He knows that it was Eris who wanted that stuff, right? You did tell him that, didn't you?" Lina grabbed him by the arm and squeezed tight enough to make him gasp.
"No..."
"No? Well what did you tell him? You had to have said something!"
"Well, yes...I said... 'That's a secret!' And he was...not pleased. He threw me out and told me that...he never wanted to hear my voice in his house again. Then..." Xelloss' voice cracked with emotion. "He told Mrs. Scherer...that I was no longer welcome in their home."
"Oh, Xelloss..." Lina said gently. She patted him gingerly on the back a couple times. "I'm sorry."
A few houses further and Rezo's home was in view.
"Well that was a bit rash on his part. He must agree since he's ready to listen to you now. And you must tell him the truth. He may already know it from her or from some other source. Lying will only make the situation worse. You know that certainly!"
Xelloss nodded. "I'm not without any values, Lina. But telling on her...that would be wrong, too."
"That's her problem. You've already decided the romance is over so...time to come clean. You have nothing to lose at this point." Uncertain whether or not she was getting through to him she added, "If you don't...I will."
"Lina!" He whined. He was horrified, and—yep-- she'd do it!
"I got my own honor code, buster. Now go in there and settle this now. Do it for Zel, if not for yourself." And with those words, Lina turned to sit on the hood of Zel's car. "I'll be waiting right here."
Eris pulled up at that moment in a friend's borrowed car. Lina started to get up and intercept her, but thought the better for it and held her position. "This should be interesting," she thought. "And I'm always here to break things up if they get TOO interesting…"
Eris slammed the door shut and ran after Xelloss, catching him as he was starting up the walk to the house. "Xelloss! Wait a sec!"
"Eris? Oh, ah…hello."
Lina could only hear bits and snatches of what was being said, wishing she magically had Zel's wonderful hearing. She could make out Eris apologizing. She had tried to call Xelloss but he hadn't been home yesterday. Lina snorted to herself, "Well, duh! Lady, don't you pay attention to his life? He only had the most important contest to play for all afternoon and evening!"
Eris felt bad about forcing Xelloss to do…something…wrong. Lina wrinkled up her nose as Eris assured Xelloss that she loved him and would make it up to him. Really.
"Bullshit," Lina muttered. Xelloss, however, was softening, she could tell. His posture was compliant, his face docile. Lina felt sick and angry all of a sudden.
Eris was finishing up, "I really will, but…"
"But, but?!" Lina burst on the scene ready to stand up to this victimizing witch. "But, don't tell Rezo of your plans, ya mean? What's Xelloss supposed to tell the man, his step-father – or nearly, but that's just a detail that we needn't bother about right now—huh?" Lina drew a deep breath, then continued before anyone else could stop her. "You think he oughta stand by some dumb story like 'it was just a sudden impulse I had'? Rezo may be blind, but he's not stupid!"
Using Xelloss like a shield to screen herself from Lina's onslaught, Eris was unnerved at first. Then as her anger stirred she hissed into his ear, "Aren't you gonna stand up for me?"
Then Lina figured it out. Eris, the older woman, the controlling woman; she reminded her of another who had once used Xelloss for her own foul purposes. Xelloss was putty in her hands, conditioned to listen-and-obey…by Zelas.
Lina did not give her a chance for a quick comeback. "If you really—gulp—have feelings for Xelloss, then you'll walk in there and explain to Rezo why Xelloss broke into his lab to steal his research papers. If you don't, Xelloss will know that you actually don't care about him very much at all, and I will go in there and tell Rezo the truth! Yeah, and he'll believe what I have ta say 'cause…he's a sharp cookie who recognizes my superior honesty—er, something like that…"
Maybe Lina was hoping that Eris would just back down with a reasonable line like, 'You are right of course, Lina'. It didn't happen that way though, but what occurred instead was perhaps better for Xelloss in the long run.
Eris bristled, grabbed Xelloss by the elbow and pushed him ahead of her toward her car. "Little bitch…" she hissed under her breath.
Xelloss heard that. That single word spoken out of anger and her embarrassment – the embarrassment born when Lina revealed the truth about the shallowness of her feelings toward Xelloss— impressed him. That one word, more than anything else he had heard in the two girls' exchanges, acted like a jolt of electricity to his brain waking him up. Eris calling Miss Lina a 'bitch' opened his eyes. And how it affected him! His heart had been breaking under the verbal attack, but that word, said like a curse upon the 'light of his life', stabbed directly at his heart, cauterizing the wound. And as the injury sealed over, even some of the pain began to trickle away, but so did his happiness, however temporary it had been. He removed her hand from his arm. "I'm going in now. Eris, you may come or go as you like. It's your choice." His hollow tone warned her of his altered state of mind and heart.
Eris followed him into the house, but she was not happy.
Half an hour later, Xelloss and Zelgadiss emerged. Xelloss smiled to see Lina had waited for them.
"Well, that's that," Zel sighed.
"Yes, and thanks again for being our mediator. I broke a trust and I know Rezo's still a bit mad, but we're family again."
"Yeah? Good ta hear that! Families gotta forgive and forget and stick together," Lina declared. She visibly relaxed now that her extended family was again playing in concert.
Zel checked his watch, "We still have time for lunch before heading off to the school to waste a bit more of my life." He met Xelloss' eyes.
"Shall we invite Miss Lina along to sup as well?" Xelloss smiled.
"Why not?" Zel smiled in return. "Lina?"
"You have ta ask? Just drive on!" Lina shouted from the back seat of his car into which she had already crammed her petite frame.
"Yes, Jeeves," Xelloss chuckled at Zel. "Heave HO!"
Zel chuckled and slipped into his comfortable bucket seat. "Oh joy…"
~*~
Later that evening, Val was studying a photograph that he held in his hands. Musing.
"What's that?" Xelloss asked in passing. On closer inspection, he recognized the people pictured. "Oh…"
"'S all right," Val said in a rare softened voice. "I do this every so often."
"Your family," Xelloss whispered.
"Yeah. The whole bunch." Val blinked away his blurring vision.
Val and Xelloss fell into mutual silence a moment.
"Sometimes, when I have ta think 'bout somethin' important and make a decision, I look at these and wonder what that boy woulda done. What stupid things I could have avoided, bein' him…with them. Helps with choices, I think."
Xelloss sat on the arm of the couch beside Val and asked, "You've come to a decision about something recently?"
"Yeah." Val looked up at Xelloss then added, "I'm gonna change ma last name. I'm no 'Gaav' anymore. I'm gonna be one of these guys, the Agares. Val…well, Valentine Agares, from now on. Called our law-yer an' the papers shoulda been filed today. So… whadaya think?"
Xelloss smiled and squeezed his friend's shoulder. "I think that's great, Val Agares." Then, thinking he might be becoming a bit too mushy and serious, he added in jest, "Does that mean you are going to cut your hair and start wearing polo shirts? Maybe 'go out for the team'?"
Val's golden eyes narrowed and darted up to meet Xelloss' disappearing ones, then softened again. "Ah, naw…" then he chuckled a bit. "Just 'cause I'm changin' ma name don't mean I 'm changin' ma aa-pear-ance none! Hey, this little kid—me—might'a grown up with these brothers and sisters, but that don't mean he didn't turn out cool!"
Xelloss opened his eyes in surprise, then joined Val in a gasping laugh.
After a minute or two, Xelloss started to get up. Val stopped him, "Ya know, you could do the same thing. For real this time."
Xelloss reset himself. "Oh. Well… I can't really be a 'Greywords'. Rezo didn't adopt me and…it wouldn't be fair to Zelgadiss, as good a friend as he's been. A constant reminder of our connectedness would be like a slap in the face to him. Yes, I have that much sensitivity! No, Metallium I was born and shall remain. Maybe I can be the one to set the name straight and leave a legacy behind to be proud of, eh?"
Val nodded, "Just don't treat it like a curse."
"Curse, you say? No, that's my little brother you're thinking of!" Xelloss giggled and poked Val in the arm. "Oh, and speaking of Zelgadiss…"
"Dinner's done, if you two are hungry," Zel said as he entered the front room drying his hands on a kitchen towel. "We have an appointment with Dr. Lester, remember Xelloss? We were lucky that he could slip us in for his last appointment. So, we have to eat early and run. Anyway, I tried something different this time with the seasoning of the…What? Why are you both smiling? Not another practical joke! No!" Zel hoped anyway.
~*~
Knock, knock!
"Addendum to notes-- Subject: Abuse of children and the consequences when they grow up." Dr. Lester made a note on the paper, and then looked up at the knock at the office door. "Come in, boys. It's been a few weeks. How was...let's see now... Your battle of the bands contest? That must be over by now."
"Your memory is correct, Dr. Lester!" Xelloss smiled. "We did great! First place in the new band category! Next year we'll have to tough it out with the pros."
"Good thing we took an award this year," muttered Zel.
"Congratulations!" Dr. Lester looked at Zelgadiss a moment. "How's the university?"
"Fine. The work's fine. Course, with the going back and forth from there to the high school is going to be hectic. Classes for the upper classmen don't actually start until Thursday, but…Xelloss and I might skip until next week. It's just been…" Zelgadiss hunted for the best descriptive word.
"Stressful." The doctor supplied it. "And that's not good for either of you. How about the early entry program for the university? You were looking into that for winter, weren't you? You'd have only one school to work your schedule around then."
"Yes. We got in, but we don't have to go if we change our minds. We have some time to consider it," Zel answered.
"We have our friends at school!" Xelloss inserted. "I kinda look forward to seeing them."
"Someone special? Dr. Lester winked knowingly. He was leading Xelloss into opening up about his private life, which was always in a shambles.
"Just our friends...from the band and all," Zel said. "A few others we'd not see otherwise."
"I'm giving up on girls," Xelloss asserted.
The good doctor raised his eyebrows in question to Xelloss, but it was Zelgadiss who answered, "He's in-between favorites right now."
"Ah...I see. Got burned on one eh?" Dr. Lester chuckled slightly.
"Toasted..." Xelloss muttered in defeat as he gestured with his arms outspread, and then sighed.
"I know the feeling." The doctor commiserated with Xelloss for a short time then brought the conversation around to the main topic. "...So, your phone message said here that the dojo needs my okay before you can return to work there. Apparently, their insurance will not cover you after sustaining such serious head injuries. Tell me, Xelloss, what kind of work would you be doing?"
"Teaching mostly. I'd work with the advanced students, I guess. I need to workout and keep in shape. As a drummer, I burn up calories like crazy, and if I'm not in condition, I can't keep it up for an hour. I can feel the muscles deteriorating as we speak!" Xelloss collapsed dramatically, wilting across the table.
"Advanced, you say? Dangerous? Guys coming at you with deadly intent, bo staffs, callused feet to the head?" Dr. Lester shook his head. "What do you think your friend should do, Zelgadiss?"
"Something else, but I'm the worry-wort, so he says..." Zel said sarcastically.
"And you are!" Xelloss snorted. "I never get hurt at the dojo! I never have...ever!"
"Then the odds aren't in your favor for the future!" Zel snapped back. He flipped a hand to the side, but hadn't budged from his seat.
"I'd like you to meet a patient of mine. You two have an hour or so to spare me? And did you have dinner already?" The doctor asked deterring an argument, which he figured had been voiced before.
"Dinner, yes. Zel? Are we free?" Xelloss deferred to his best friend and brother by marriage. Zel kept their schedule, calendar, and appointments in his personal planner.
This time, Zel didn't bother to check it. Zel nodded. No matter what, this was more important, he knew.
"Okay with me, then, but your opinion about my condition is all I came for," Xelloss told the doctor. "That and your signature on the line...right...there." He pointed with a finger, then tapped it lightly on the paper in question.
"You'll get that too," the good doctor smiled as he led the two boys out the back door to his car. "My opinion, that is. Where we are headed, you ask? It isn't far, the Center for Neuro Skills. I have several patients in long-term care there, and more that receive a few weeks intensive care then go home."
"I'm not getting worse, am I?" Xelloss asked half-mocking.
"No," the doctor smiled. He opened the back door of his car for Zelgadiss, then his own. "It's a rehabilitation clinic for brain-injury victims."
They rode in silence for the fifteen minutes trip through traffic to the relative calm on the outskirts of town. "I wasn't thinking of admitting you, Xelloss. There is a young man there whom I'd like you to meet. He can probably use a little hope right now. Last year he was voted the most inspirational player on his football team. Before the accident, he drove his own car, had a new girlfriend, a 3.9 grade point average." Lester spoke over his shoulder at Zel a moment, "He was a real math whiz at GW tech and a jokester."
"What accident?" Zel asked.
"That's the funny thing, there wasn't one single hit that could be blamed. We believe it was the final pin to the ground he received from a play late in the game that may have set it off. Just one in a series of repeated head injuries, all slight, causing mild headaches, but the last one resulted in a subdural hematoma– a rapidly forming blood clot on part of the brain covering. Here we are. Follow me in and just wait in the conference room. I'll bring Curtis there."
Xelloss and Zel found the room and each took a seat. They hadn't long to wait before the doctor opened the room with a kid nearly six feet tall in tow. "I'd like you to meet a couple of friends of mine," Dr. Lester said by way of an introduction. The tall, nice-looking kid at the table looked over his glasses at Xelloss and Zel, two strangers. "Curtis, this is Xelloss..." Xelloss smiled, "...and Zel. Xelloss is a patent of mine who has suffered four close calls and has recovered."
"You think so?" Xelloss said goofily. "I am so relieved. I thought you were about to have me committed or something!"
Zel's eyes went wide. What if this poor kid thought that was an insult? What was the good doctor thinking of, bringing Xelloss here?
Curtis, though, smiled slightly.
Dr Lester continued talking. He asked Curtis about his headaches, behavior problems, plans.
Curtis shook his head, "I wanna go home. I can deal with it. I'm not gonna die." Turning to Xelloss he said, "I'm gonna be a sportswriter. It's my career dream. It's just...just..."
"When he woke up out of a two month coma and went home, things were rough. Then they got worse so that now...Curtis needs more. Here he gets physical therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, mostly for your short-term memory, right Curtis?"
"Yeah," Curtis looked down at his hands. "I get frustrated...lots."
"But you shouldn't take it out on the staff or your roommate." To Zel, the doctor clarified, "He's big and strong and he rages, yells and punches. Punches hard. Damage to his frontal and temporal lobes has destroyed his sense of impulse control. It's something to work on." Turning back to Curtis he added, "It's imperative to correct your behavior in order to be successful in the workplace."
Curtis nodded, "I...know."
"At nineteen you have college to look forward to. All of life."
"I keep a journal. To remember stuff, everything that's happened each day, so I know. So I can keep remembering. But..." He shook his head hopelessly and looked away.
"Curtis must eat from a special menu, work with speech therapists... He can't drive or remember names... Curtis? Can you tell me the names of these two guys?"
"Ah...Zeeel something. I'm sorry..." Curtis looked at first Xelloss, then Zel. "Sorry..."
"Hey, that's my name!" Both Xelloss and Zel said simultaneously.
"No it's not. 'Zel' is my name. You are called 'Xelloss'."
"Oh well, that's now. Once I was called 'Xel'... and you are 'Zel-gaaa-diss'!"
"Only to you. Everyone else calls me 'Zel'... and Curtis? You can too."
"And he can call me 'Xel' also," Xelloss assured the patient with a goofy grin.
"Xelloss and Zelgaaadiss," Curtis smiled triumphantly, with even a hint of humor. "I got it now."
"Xelloss, why don't you walk Curtis over to his next appointment. Zelgadiss and I will meet you back at the car."
"Sure!" Xelloss smiled. "So, where are we going, Curtis?"
"Ah...call me Curt, 'kay?"
"Okay, but if I forget and call you Curtis, don't get mad, promise?" Xelloss giggled.
"I'll try," Curtis replied, but he was serious.
When they were out of sight down the hall, Dr. Lester said to Zelgadiss, "That kid needs to see someone who has succeeded to overcome many obstacles, and recovered for the most part. I'm hoping Xelloss can be a role model of sorts for him."
"That's a first. Xelloss being a role model for improved behavior. He'll be amazed to hear that. But I think you have another motivation behind this meeting."
"You do? And what, Dr. Zelgadiss, would that be?" Dr. Lester teased gently.
"I think you want Curtis to be an anti-role model for Xelloss. 'This could be you after the next injury'." Zel stopped at the door to the car. "And I hope it works. I have tried to talk him out of the dojo work. He needs another form of exercise."
"I agree," Dr. Lester said not bothering to comment on Zelgadiss' correct guess. "Would you go with him? You know, workout or run or whatever I set up for him...to get him started and keep him motivated? I hate to load responsibility on your shoulders, Zelgadiss, so if you are reluctant, just say so. I'll find another way to help Xelloss, don't worry."
"That's all right, doctor. I need a change of venue myself. It would be awkward for me to continue at the dojo without him anyway. Now I don't mind the running, but he's not so keen on just pure exercise without something more...simulating to go with it."
"I see. Then I think I have the perfect solution. Let me try out a few ideas with him first, though." He slowed as Xelloss trotted up to the car. "Oh...Xelloss, thanks for doing escort duty for me. Shall we go back to my office for a few minutes and finish up our appointment?"
"No problemo, Doc!" Xelloss smiled, and settled into his car seat. "So you tell me, what's Curtis' prognosis?"
"Sadly, not good. If he doesn't improve his behavior soon, he'll become a candidate for lifelong institutionalization in the Adult Activities Center for clients with unpredictable behavior. Of the 42 clients at he center, nearly 30 of them have been there over ten years. That's a pretty grim outlook for a young man who was at the top of his world only a year ago."
Xelloss sobered instantly. It could be his story just as easily. "That care must be expensive. Can his parents afford it?"
"They have a lawsuit pending and a large insurance settlement from the school. Yes, he's fine in that respect, although...there are many who aren't as fortunate."
"I'd like to help, both financially and as a friend to him," Xelloss said suddenly. "I can have my lawyer set up an endowment to the center for kids that can't afford the kind of treatment needed. Would that work? I-I told Curtis that I'd come visit him again. I told him, and I hope it wasn't the wrong thing, I told him that if I could survive, then he could and that I'd bring Zelgadiss to play math puzzles with him. Ah...Zelgadiss? That's okay, isn't it?"
Zel nodded and smiled, "Fine with me, Xelloss."
Dr. Lester nodded as well as he started the car. "Think about it some, Xelloss. Before you leave the office today, I'll have the receptionist give you the number for the director of the center for your lawyer to contact. He should advise you as to the impact on your personal finances as well. You have to take care of yourself too."
"Oh, I have plenty of money," Xelloss smiled and closed his eyes. He leaned back on the seat and said, "And I got your point. That could be me someday, right?"
"Yes. The next blow to your head, no matter how insignificant, could set off a..."
"Mind-blowing experience, yeah!" Xelloss laughed. "Anyway…So, what would you have me do at the dojo?"
"Well...for starters...you could teach the beginners, the children only."
Xelloss made a face. "That's not much exercise. Besides..."
"You could work out alone as well..." Dr Lester tried to suggest.
"Besides..." Xelloss repeated. "Zelgadiss has been asked to do that and I wouldn't want to spoil his opportunity."
"Oh, that's all right, Xelloss," Zel began.
"And then it would be boring and... and..." Xelloss frowned. He seemed unable to formulate his thoughts into words, curiously enough.
"You're worried about working with children?" Dr Lester asked. He was a psychiatrist and a smart insightful man who liked his teen patients.
"That can't be true," Zel said in response. "He's always saying he wants to get married and have a bunch of kids."
Xelloss wouldn't meet the doctor's eyes. He stared out the car window intent on the traffic flow as they re-entered the city proper. This was not a topic he wanted to open now...or any time.
"Xelloss?" Zel asked. "Tell him!"
"Let's go inside and talk about this," the doctor suggested. There was something bothering Xelloss and he knew that he'd have to get to the heart of the problem immediately before it had a chance to eat away at the sensitive kid. "Zelgadiss, maybe you should wait in the reception area."
"No!" Xelloss shouted. He stepped around the car and lowered his voice to say, "Its okay, sorry... He can hear whatever I ... we... we have to say. I have nothing to hide from Zelgadiss; that is, if he doesn't mind."
Zel sighed, "I don't know if I want to... Oh, I'll go, but I warn you, I might want to leave!"
"Very well. We'll start as a group, then allow your friend to come and go as he likes..."
"Or can tolerate," Zel muttered.
Seated around the doctor's desk, sodas in hand, Lester began by repeating his question from earlier. "You have a concern about working with children?"
Xelloss took a deep breath, then said quietly, "When I began taking lessons at the dojo, Sensei, the teacher at the dojo, was informed that I had been severely abused, and that I should be watched. Well, in time I proved to everyone that I was able to control myself, obey the rules, everything. I was the model student, speaking of role models, and well thought of there."
"Highly regarded," Zel muttered.
"But..." prompted the doctor.
"Yes, there's always a 'but' to add, isn't there-- when there's something good to be said about me?" Xelloss said acidly. He didn't pause to hear their remarks, but plowed on. "So, the dojo had to sign an agreement not to allow me to be left with the children...alone. A few times they did...Sensei forgot. I did some teaching but with another student-teacher present. It was...demeaning and chilling to think it was necessary."
"Abuse as a child doesn't make you abuse others as an adult," Dr. Lester tried to assure him immediately. "Police, academics... generally agree that most boys who grow up in abusive homes don't grow up to be abusive in adult relationships. Of course, most people incarcerated for crimes against people were abused as children. However," he held up a hand to stem the flow of objections from Xelloss. "Just let me finish… There are also studies that show that most people who were abused as children do not grow up to abuse others."
"Yeah, but… abuse increases the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 53 percent, and as an adult by 38 percent," Xelloss recited his own memorized information on the subject. "And… the numbers support the fact that those who DID grow up normally had a relationship with a nurturing adult. I didn't. Who knows what I'll do? Maybe I'll become a rapist or a child molester!" Xelloss cried out.
Zelgadiss jumped in his seat at the outburst. "Nonsense. You're nuts, I'll give you that, but not...that way—never!"
Dr. Lester nodded, "Zelgadiss has a point."
For the next few minutes, the doctor continued delving into Xelloss' concerns hopefully ameliorating them in the process. "Now, stop reading all those half-cocked Internet studies and just live a little. If you have questions or problems call me first. Agreed?"
Xelloss smiled. "Okay-dokay doc!"
"By the way, tell me about the women in your life now," Dr. Lester smiled in a relaxed manner.
Xelloss frowned at Zelgadiss, who pretended to cough as he laughed and shook his head in response. "I didn't say a thing. Your love-life is not my business, most of the time…"
"You mentioned problems?" The doctor turned the conversation back to him.
"Um...I'm kinda breaking up with my current girlfriend."
"Kinda? How's that work?"
"I want to, um... see others and she wants me exclusively."
Zelgadiss raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound like Xelloss. He was the one looking for a commitment, usually. He also knew Xelloss might be trying to protect his rather fragile ego.
"Domineering sort? Older, too?" The doctor asked.
"H-How did you know...guess?" Xelloss stammered.
"You seem attracted to that type."
Zelgadiss wondered at that. Lina was unarguably domineering, but not older. Filia too, for that matter, although…no, she and Xelloss scarcely got along. Now, Eris was definitely the little dictator sort. And his mother, Zelas...had been…oh, most definitely, definitely.
The doctor examined and delved into the mother-son problems, ending the discussion with a warning. "If the girl's trying to get you to do things that are wrong, that you feel uncomfortable with or are downright illegal, then speak out and end it if you want. You want to be accepted and loved, we all do, but your neediness might be used against you by others."
"You think he seeks out girls like his mother to abuse him?" Zel blurted out.
"Not exactly," Dr Lester replied. "Not on purpose. It's something for you, Xelloss, to be aware of and to avoid."
Xelloss nodded silently, and then said in a small voice, "You're right. She got me into a bit of trouble with Rezo. It's all mostly settled now, I think, but it left me wondering and wanting out of the relationship. I know what I want...in a girlfriend. The one I'm thinking of, well, she's bossy but not mean and she'd never ever try and get me into any kind of trouble– more the opposite."
"Sounds okay. Anyone I know?" The doctor smiled. "No, you don't have to tell me. So, can you tell if she's interested in you?"
"Ah, that's the problem. She's...not interested at all yet. Guys like me are friends, at best, and romance belongs in novels– that's her attitude."
"Not to mention another one of the band is crazy about her and seems to have a special thing with her, Xelloss," Zelgadiss added.
"Just go back to your own shell and keep your advice to yourself," Xelloss retorted. He was sensitive about the band inter-relationships, especially when Zel was applying his superior attitude liberally.
"My shell? How about your dreamland romantic notions?" Zel was not to be outdone.
"Now, now, cut the bickering or we'll not have time for our regular topic for both you guys."
Bickering? Xelloss and Zel looked at one another and shrugged. They thought they were carrying on an ordinary dialogue. The doctor did manage to stifle that, however.
"How are the mood swings these days?" This Dr. Lester directed at no particular boy. The doctor was looking at his notepad.
He received no reply either. After another moment of silence he expanded on the theme. "You know the signs I'm looking out for: extreme irritability, changes in sleep patterns or appetite, inability to concentrate, low energy level, frequent complaints of head or stomach aches, excessive guilt, suicidal thoughts or behavior, and an inability to experience pleasure."
"You just ran through Zelgadiss' inventory of behaviors!" Xelloss said jokingly.
Zel's warning growl barely preceded his punch to Xelloss' arm. "I'm not depressed. You make me irritable, but for obvious reasons. I sleep just fine, when I'm at home, now that I HAVE a home to go home to. I also eat just fine, if I'm the cook… And, if you think that I can't concentrate, then... Put down that paperclip before you..."
ping
Xelloss had bent the clip into a spring and sent it flying into the air.
"Now where was I? Oh, yes...why I can't seem to concentrate... I wonder?! What else…oh, yes… Energy level... Well, when I do eat and sleep and I am not climbing mountains, stealing cars, and fighting for my life, then my energy level is just fine to stay up doing chemistry lab write-ups or study notes or practicing for stressful band concerts!"
"You can't deny the aches and pains!" Xelloss pointed out with a smile.
"You're right. When I'm upset, I get stomach aches. You get migraines. It was worse when we were living with shudder Rezo and Zelas. That was a slow but inevitable death by association with the devil and her spouse!"
"We could have moved out or run away. But YOU wanted to stay. I call that suicidal." Xelloss was truly enjoying himself now. Persecuting Zelgadiss, when he was also in the mood to wrangle in return was so much fun.
"I-I wish we had, actually. It wasn't right, I thought at the time, but now... Maybe we could have avoided so much if we had run off. I feel bad about it..." Zel began.
"Guilt! You heard him doctor! And I can tell you, forget about him experiencing pleeeeeasure. Not my little brother!" Xelloss ducked another blow, this time a fist aimed at his head. Not a serious attempt, however, since Zel was so quick he could have connected had he meant to.
"Okay boys..." the doctor cajoled. "I get the point. You're not depressed, but you have more than your share of problems. I'd like to treat you both as if you were at risk, though, and recommend a plan of treatment..."
"No meds, pills, drugs of any kind!" Xelloss insisted. "NO PROZAC! I'll not buy or take them."
"Xelloss settle down and listen, please." Dr. Lester sighed and continued. "I wasn't going to prescribe any drugs, just advise you both. Here, I'll write it out: 1) Xelloss--return to your priest duties. 2) Zelgadiss– ask Mrs. Scherer, your father's housekeeper, to fix up your dinners Monday through Thursday. 3) Both of you-- reduce your workload at school to the bare minimum, say… part-time at the university by winter break... and get more exercise...swimming."
"Swimming?!" Both Xelloss and Zel croaked.
"Yes. There's a university pool, one at the community center, and a few private ones not far from..." The doctor paused. "What's the problem? You both can swim, can't you?"
Xelloss frowned and shook his head side-to-side, "Noooooooo..."
Zelgadiss explained, "I learned, but I can't float. I just sink. And, Xelloss never had lessons. Not to mention our…skin flaws…"
"I see. Just a minute. Lucille?" The doctor called his receptionist into the room. "Is your daughter still at the Athletic Club? I need to find a swim teacher for these boys and I hope she might know of a good one."
"Well, Dr. Lester, you are in luck. Both my daughters work there now, and the youngest is going to be the children's swim instructor. You boys look a bit old, though. How old are you?"
"Nineteen," Xelloss asserted.
"Nearly," Zel corrected him.
"Oh, you're just her age then. I bet she'd get a kick out of having you two nice boys to train. Give me a minute and I'll give her a call."
Before they could protest, Lucille was gone.
"Oh, joy..."
"My thoughts exactly... Xelloss groused mostly to himself. "I hate getting my hair wet. Even conditioner won't save it from the chlorine! What if it bleaches to lavender, Zelgadiss? Then there's the water in my nose...ears...nasty, nasty stuff. Full of germs and baby pee..."
With the air of professionalism one would expect from the best of office help, Lucille knocked first, then entered, "Good news, boys! Monday through Friday evenings from 7 to 8. You're booked!"
Xelloss smiled, "Ah, too bad...we have chemistry lab on Thursday night. I guess we'll have to put it off till another time."
"Oh, just go in on Saturday morning, 5:30 AM. She'll fit you in with the lap swimmers. It's important that you go frequently to build the muscle and practice, practice, practice. Will there be anything else, doctor?"
"Yes, Xelloss needs the number for the director for the Center for Neuro Skills and Adult Activities Center, please." Dr Lester said with difficulty keeping his professional demeanor. He nearly burst at the seams from trying to hold in the laughter bubbling up. Zel and Xelloss looked miserable and beaten. "Now guys, just give it a go for a few months...until winter, deal? Take this list and let's fight the stress with counseling, activity, and fun with your friends."
There was another knock at the door. "Yes, Lucille?"
"I have a picture here of the pool. There's a weight room too, if you boys want to bulk up a bit." She handed Zelgadiss a brochure from the Athletic Club and Xelloss and a business card with the Neuro center information. Pointing to the brochure in Zel's hand she said, "That's my oldest, in the photo page 3...and there's my youngest in the picture below that. Isn't she a peach?"
Xelloss peeked over Zel's shoulder. Oh wow. He could appreciate beauty, too.
"They're both...lovely women, Mrs.?" Xelloss began.
"Lucille. Call me Lucille. Yes, they certainly are, as you say, lovely women. I think so too. Enjoy the lessons."
Xelloss smiled at Zel and said, "Well, let's look on the bright side..."
"You're not giving up girls now are you?" Zel said with a little smirk.
"No, not juuuuust yet, I guess!" And Xelloss giggled in excitement.
"And now, it is time for me to lock up and go home," said the doctor, standing.
"To your wife and kids?" Xelloss asked. He was feeling much better now.
"Ah...not exactly. Something like that, though."
"You are being evasive, aren't you?"
"And you are prying. I'm paid to pry, not you."
Xelloss laughed, "I just say 'that's a secret'!"
"And piss off everybody," Zel added. "Good night, Dr. Lester. Thanks for all the advice and time. Come on, brother-you're-not, let's leave this poor man to his private life and get back to our own. We have a couple stops to make on the way." He smiled at the doctor on the way out, and then said, "Mrs. Scherer is one and the shrine is the other."
Dr. Lester returned Xelloss' wave and Zel's smile, "Bye... Until next month...take care and remember, Xelloss, you have a good heart but you mustn't feel obliged to pour money into every needy organization."
"I don't," Xelloss insisted. "I think of it as a way to help other kids that were victims of abuse or something…either that or I'm simply investing in my retirement villa!" He may have been serious, or not-- couldn't tell by his smile.
Dr. Lester was left with his final musings and notes to write. He had been worried about them since the numerous phone calls he'd received from a few of the boys' concerned friends. Luna had called him to report her apprehensions for Xelloss and his unhealthy involvement with older women. Lina-- that was a surprise, getting a phone call from her-- had mentioned the same thing, but seemed more bothered about Zelgadiss' moodiness and growing paranoia. Val had called to discuss changing his last name, and then he added a few well-chosen words of his own describing the chaos at home. Val, bothered by chaos? Zelgadiss was impatient, demanding… stretched. Xelloss was acting like an airhead, half there at times, always running late.
So after seeing and talking to these two, how did he feel about them now? He frowned and rubbed his temples. Unfortunately, the doctor felt no better about two of his three 'boys', his disturbed teenage boys. Val, the new guy, er, dude. For all his problems in the past, he was starting out his last year of high school with the best mental attitude ever. Of the three, he was the most improved. Xelloss, chaos kid. He continued to be shattered and scattered. He might never progress much further. Zelgadiss, at risk. He was in the high category for a kid at risk of depression without more help. Dr. Lester wrote: 'Ask Dr. Adams about scar removal', and underlined it twice. He closed the folder, grabbed his jacket, and left the office for the day.
~*~
Knock, knock
Val opened the door expecting Zel or Xelloss, but was pleasantly surprised. "Lina? Hey, it's been…a few hours. Come on in and take a load off. Wanna soda? Uh, I ain't cleaned up the leftovers yet, want somethin'? Zel cooked it. Gour-may Chinese chicken salad."
"Yeah, yes to it all," Lina said as she fell into a chair by the table. "Nice place, Val. I get a tour ta go with all this?"
"Yeah. Thought you'd rather eat first."
"Like taming the beast?" Lina laughed. "I already ate before comin'. Hey, put that back! I didn't say I wouldn't eat that, just later, after the tour! Now show me your room."
"I love it when chicks tell me that," Val quipped, wagging his eyebrows at her.
"You wish…" she returned, swiping at him and connecting with his arm. "Black! Gods, Val, how do you find anything in here? This is really awful and…I like it!"
"I do it by touch," he said, then added in a husky voice, "Just step a little closer… OUCH! Hey! I was just jokin' kiddo!"
"I know, that's why I didn't hit hard," Lina chuckled at her own joke. "Now Zel's. No, let me guess… this one with the KEEP OUT sign."
Val nodded and she opened the door. "Beast!" Lina greeted the bounding dog. "Did I wake you up big boy? You happy here in your new digs, yeah? Wow, he keeps it clean, eh?"
"He's not here much. We just moved in. He's a slob at heart, give him time." Val closed Zel's door after Lina and the dog left.
"WOW…Xelloss' room, right? Nice décor. He outta be a decorator... No, scratch that. Clean and tasteful. No dust. He live here?"
"Not much," Val said. "'Course, I'm gone on weekends mostly."
Breezily Lina said, "He'll be around more, now that Eris is out of the picture."
That Val didn't know. As Lina filled him in on the Eris-Rezo story of late, Val became more thoughtful; his mind traveling far and wide. And he had thought Filia was safe going with Xelloss. Now he wasn't so sure.
"So, you guys getting along okay here together?" Lina asked, bringing him back into this time zone.
"Yeah. Now that classes are about ta start and that contest is over, I'm feelin' better."
"Tangible stress, huh? I bet with Zel and Xelloss around."
"Yeah, that's what the problem was. I, uh, called that shrink, Dr. Lester."
"Eh?" Lina was curious now.
"Yeah, I wanted ta pass some ideas to him. Oh, by the way—you may call me Mr. Agares from now on." He grinned proudly at having pulled one on Lina.
"Agares? A-gaar-ays? Huh?"
"I dropped the Gaav and went back to my family name. All formal and on the books."
"Val Agares…" Lina repeated in wonderment. "Good job! I like the sound of that!" She clapped him on the bare back for good measure.
He chuckled at the thought of all the bruises he'd have after just one of Lina's friendly visits. "Outside, we're puttin' in the hottub, decking, showers over there, changin' room for the shy, and some garden stuff. 'Bout done by the weekend, I hope."
"Did you say anything else? To the Shrink. About…Zel and Xelloss, I mean." Lina shot Val a quick look to the side, then back to the door as they re-entered the kitchen.
"Yeah. I'm thinkin' now I outta call him back and tell him I was fulla shit. They're not as screwed up as I made 'em out ta be, just …"
Lina nodded and finished for him, "Two more messed up teenage guys doing all right for themselves. Yeah…I called the doc too. Mostly about Zel. He was getting' all paranoid on me, but then, he was just bein' watchful and caring, now that I think about it. Xelloss, I was worried about that Eris witch, but he was able to take care of her too, with just a bit of unveiling work on my part." Lina downed her soda and started on the salad.
"They should be getting' back from seein' him soon. Probably made a stop or two on the way home, or they'd be here by now," Val said checking the new clock Zel had hung up recently over the table and beside the wall-mounted calendar.
"I hear Zel's car," Lina mumbled through a mouthful of food.
"Ahooooooooooooooooo…"
"So does Beast," Val agreed.
Zelgadiss and Xelloss entered the house looking worn and shell-shocked. Lina noticed immediately and felt guilty somehow. The good head doctor probably put them through the wringer, and for what? Because she had called like Val had, beset with worries, setting them up for a lengthy trial.
"Hey guys, listen, I gotta tell you that...I'm really sorry 'bout all that," she began. Waiting until they both got over the shock of hearing her apologize, she continued. "I was me, my fault. I called the shrink cause I was all messed up 'bout Zel and his rising paranoia, which was just him carin' 'bout us and all…"
"Yeah, an' I, well…" Val interrupted. "I called him too. I mighta mentioned how screwed up things were 'round here, but…hey…dudes…we just moved in and its been one thing after another, right? I was outta line callin' him…"
"I feel bad. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have butted in. Yeah. I mean, especially since everything but that band-relations stuff was really just caring…"
Now by this time Lina expected one or both of the guys to come around and spout some soothing platitude like: 'Thanks for telling us. No problem. You were just doing what you thought was best for us. We understand.' You know the lines, right? Well, they didn't. Their dower, stunned (dazed on Xelloss' part) countenances remained unchanged.
"Zel? Xelloss? I mean, I'm really sorry. I'll call the guy and clear it all up right now, if you like." She actually got as far as picking up the receiver to place the call when Zel's hand on her arm stopped her.
"Sit down, Lina. Please."
The look on Zel's face killed all further impulse to speak or move on her part. "Oh, gods…" she thought.
Val nudged her over to one of the chairs while he took another. "Okay. Shoot."
"On our way back from Dr. Lester's we made a couple stops, the last at my father's place. We heard sirens." Zel took a ragged breath.
"Oh, please…" Lina thought to herself. "Please…not Rezo…please…"
"We were just leaving his house," Xelloss continued where Zel had left off. "A-and noticed the sounds came from a short distance away…"
"N-not… Gourry's house!" Lina practically screamed in her head.
"…The park, as it turned out," Xelloss said at last. "We just ran to find out what was going on. Zelgadiss…got there first."
Zel had mustered the strength of mind to go on, when Lina blew, unable to contain her panic. "Something bad's happened to someone I know, right?! Who?!"
"Lina," Zel grabbed her hand, which abruptly shut off her monologue. "H-hokuto. She's been killed."
Xelloss quietly left the room and closed the door to his room as he disappeared inside. Val stared out the window wondering why…why…
Lina crumpled into Zel's arms a moment trembling as sobs poured forth. But only a moment. She pulled herself together and began to talk, "What happened? Tell me…"
"McGywn was there so we learned more than expected. It was like an assassination from a hit man. Quick, direct, then gone." Zel said tonelessly. "Subaru…I told McGywn about him and how close he and his twin sister are…were…and about the grandmother. He's on his way over now to give him the news. I…I identified the body so he won't have to. We'll need to go visit him."
Lina nodded mutely. What could she say? A vibrant, life-loving soul was just blinked out of existence for all time. A friend. Gone.
Zelgadiss stood up. He had no more solace to offer either. Subaru would never get over the loss. "Better check on Xelloss," he muttered standing to leave.
Xelloss however, stormed out of his room, "I should have known!" he shouted angrily. "I should have looked this stuff up a long time ago. I could have stopped it! It's my fault that she died! I could have stopped it!" Tears were streaming down his face. He tore at his hair and pounded the back of a wooden chair hard enough to crack it.
"Xelloss!" Val, Zel, and Lina shouted.
"At the beach house…at the contest… 'The Sakura Burial Mounds' and that poem, called 'The Sakura Murders,' that place is a syndicate headquarters for the Chaotic Blue organization. Don't you get it? That guy, Seishirou, is an assassin from that place! Why he was after Hokuto, I can't imagine, but it was a hit job in their style. Damn! Why hadn't I put it all together before! See! I could have warned them, blown his cover, sent him packing!" Then a strange look crept into his eyes and he whispered, "…packing…I must go…"
"Just a minute, buster!" Lina said backing him up to the couch and pushing him down. "You listen up, and listen good. You are not going anywhere. Hear me?!"
Val stood at the door, arms crossed as if to dare him to get past him first. Zel stood back to Xelloss' bedroom door, stone-faced. Xelloss wasn't going that way either.
Xelloss wiped the moisture from his cheeks furiously, and then hid his face on his knees, which were drawn up to his chest.
Lina decided that he was ready to listen. "First of all, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done a thing. It happened too fast. Secondly, it's not your fight. That's right. Another group, another place. McGywn's no doubt got the CIA on it as we speak." She looked up at Zelgadiss who was nodding his concurrence before going on. "He musta said something about that to ya at the park, right? Yeah, he's no dummy, Xelloss. Let them take care of this, this time. Had you supposed to have been involved, doncha think Seishirou would have used you? He didn't, did he? No. See? Even he knew that it wasn't your fight. Ya gotta let this go. If you must do something, go with Zel to Subaru. Now there's a kid you can do something for. He's got ta live with the loss for the rest of his life! Imagine what all he must have known about that guy, all the clues, the secrets—and he couldn't stop it. He'll be blaming himself forever. Don't you do the same, 'kay?"
Xelloss sniffled, desperately trying to get his voice under control to speak coherently. "I-I gotta go. I…have to stop the syndicate, no matter where. Tear them all down. S-stop them all! That's all I'm good for."
That sniveling, self-indulgent jabber earned him a painful punch in the arm from Lina. "Oh, stop with the self-absorbed pathetic blather, you idiot!" Lina said tenderly. "Nonsense! All of it! You can do lots of things. You have countless options!"
Xelloss looked up and rubbed his blood-shot eyes, "Right. I count, ah…none. Yeah that's countless, thanks."
This time Lina whacked him on the head with a pillow. Zelgadiss quickly sped to the couch and removed all the pillows, including that one. The couch was new! "Who said you could talk?!" she yelled. "It's my turn to rant! You're in college already. You can be a scientist or something!"
"I can't concentrate on that stuff, Lina."
"You're a computer whiz. Lots of jobs there!"
Xelloss shrugged. Not interested. "And don't mention the karate job because that's out for good, thanks to my helpful doctor! I'm more likely to be committed again, I just know! I even got a look inside my future nuthouse!"
Lina winced a bit, remembering her perceived role in all that. "Yeah, well…about the shrink…I have a confession to make about that…"
"Me too," Val added. "Let me, Lina. We, ah… both called him to complain a bit about you both…"
Zel raised his eyebrows at that.
"But we got ta talkin' and comparin' notes and, well, yer not getting' worse or par-a-noid or nothin' new… We were all stressed, what with the screwed up summer and the contest an' all." Val looked away, regretting that phone call more and more.
"Yeah, and we were about to call him back and tell him..." Lina began.
"…We were fulla shit and yer both okay. Better than that…tough." Val pounded his fist into his open hand, emphasizing his words.
"Ah…thanks," Zel murmured. "The doctor didn't think we were doing particularly great. He's probably telling Dr. Adams to find me a skin cure immediately or I'll jump off a cliff. He thinks I'm depressed, I think."
"Depressed?" Lina shot her old buddy a quick ruby look. "He just doesn't know ya, either of ya! Xelloss, yer not nuts and Zel's not clinical. That shrink doesn't know you guys like I do, right Val?"
Val nodded. "The man don't know shit. I had ta explain why I wanted to keep my first name Valentine and just change the last. I had to tell him that I wanted my birthright back, all of it. It wasn't just about droppin' the Gaav name. He wanted to discuss my 'feeeee-lings' about havin' a name like that. Buncha crap…"
"Back to Xelloss…" Lina reminded him.
"You own a dance studio," Zel said. "Right, Xelloss?"
"Yeah. Oh sure, I can be a dancer. Like that will win me dozens of points with the girls…" Xelloss sighed.
"Do I have to get rough with you?" Lina asked, poking Xelloss in the ribs. "You don't have to dance…you can, what? You have money, a studio, you like musicals…" Her face lit up. "I got it! You can produce musicals! Your studio expands!"
Xelloss sparked by Lina's enthusiasm, smiled a bit and repeated, "Musicals."
"Yeah… We have a band, we write music-- why not an entire musical?!" Lina shouted.
"Certainly, why not several?" Zel muttered half to himself.
Lina cast him fiery glare, "Will the cynic please clam up?!"
"We can write one, together," Xelloss said.
"Yeah! We can tell our story to the world!" Lina laughed.
"Oh, joy…"
"Change the names, okay?" asked Val.
"Maybe we shouldn't be high school kids either."
"No?" Xelloss wondered at Lina. "What should we be, sorcerers and demons? Dragons and magic users?"
Lina's eyes flamed up, "Yes! We're sorcerers, at least I'm the greatest sorceress of all time, Amelia a lesser one—all good and full of hope and duty."
"And a princess, of Seyruun, I think," Xelloss added.
"I get a sword at least," Zel said. "Or leave me out altogether."
"Oh, no…you'll be in it for sure, only you can be…a shaman master. Yes…and Filia…what's she?" Lina looked thoughtful a second.
"She likes fairy-stuff and dragons a lot," Val offered, getting into it now.
"Fairy…no, too trite… A dragon, I think. She'll be a dragon princess or something." Lina smiled.
"Priestess," Xelloss corrected Lina. "Like she is now, but a dragon one. Sylphiel…"
"Yeah, she and Amelia can be White Shrine priestesses with some magic thrown in to make them interesting," Lina said.
Frowning a bit, Val noted, "Does that make me a dragon too?"
"Yeah, but a special, dark one…the last of your kind, twisted and bent up by…the evil… demons!" Lina chortled in glee.
"Demons. I suppose I am a prince then?" Xelloss asked.
"Prince?" Lina laughed. "Priest!"
"That sounds dull," Xelloss maintained.
"A priest to a dark demon lord. Her servant sent to track us and lead us into sordid missions of your own tortuous concoction," Lina dropped her voice menacingly.
Xelloss smiled, "Oh, I get it! I get to be Puck all over again!"
"Oh, joy…" Zel repeated in a sigh. Val muttered something less complimentary.
"Oh, and I'm not through with you, Zel my friend," Lina promised with an odd gleam in her eye. "Gourry will be a …"
"Knight in shining armor?" Xelloss proposed.
"Eh? Too dignified, but something like that…" Lina answered.
"A mercenary, to protect you from the ruffians you haven't the time to take care of yourself," Zel smirked.
"Okay, that will do for him," Lina grinned a dreadfully evil grin. "You will be…part demon, part human…trapped in body of…stone! Cursed by your own grandfather! Strong and powerful…"
"Beloved by the little princess despite your appearance," Xelloss smiled at Zel's discomfort. "Oh, I like this, Lina. I like this a lot! Will you really so this with me? Write it and all?"
"Oh yeah! Much better than our true story, in a way. This musical will be more believable!" Lina laughed.
Val and Zel shook their heads. "I can't believe this…"
"Yeah! And we'll call it THE SLAYERS!" Lina and Xelloss exclaimed in agreement.
This is the end of the summer special story. Why? Because the summer is over! Now that the new school year is beginning for the Slayers, look for the next sequel called:
Seyruun High Jinx-- NEXT!
~*~ End Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twenty-eight, Done. ~*~
