Seyruun High Jinx

by Kaeru Shisho

The Slayers characters experience the highs & lows of a high school year and band formation. This is the first in a series of four stories. The next story tells of their summer adventures. Completely updated for formatting errors December 2003.

12. Chapter 12 121803

(((.-) Zel ||~.^|| Xelloss {{$.$}} Lina ((.^)|| Gourry ((^.^))Amelia



Seyruun High Jinx

Chapter 12

Note:  Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Inu are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Inu Yasha.  Wufei of Gundam Wing fame, is not ours either.   Sano is borrowed from Nobuhiro Watsuki, Rurouni Kenshin.

Friday morning was gray with a drizzling fine misty rain. The morning's announcements included a reminder for the play tryouts Monday after school, football game at home Saturday, fencing team that evening, and dismissal today at 12:00 noon. No amount of rain could spoil the jubilant mood of the students. Classes were only twenty minutes long so mostly the teachers let kids talk, read, or catch up on overdue work.

Gourry and Zel met with the fencing coach over lunch to review strategy and schedules, since they had missed Wednesday's meeting. Likewise, the cheerleaders had an impromptu lunch gathering to review the Saturday football game preparations. This left Lina's table emptier than usual. She was munching on a tuna salad sandwich when Amelia and Val approached from opposite sides and claimed chairs beside Lina. Xelloss slinked in across from Lina, sipping a can of carrot juice.

"Hello everyone," he smiled.

"H'lo," murmured Val, who was trying to sneak Lina's potato chips.

Lina waved and returned to eating and looking over a page of sheet music.  She batted at Val's paw until it moved off.

Amelia smiled. "Sure is quiet without the rest."

"Actually, Zel hardly speaks at all," Xelloss pointed out.

"I was thinking of Mr. Gourry and Miss Filia…and Miss Sylphiel too!" Amelia cried defensively.

"Were you?" Xelloss grinned. "What music is that, Lina? Can I see?"

"Inna minute," Lina answered, thoroughly engrossed in eating and scanning the paper.

Xelloss snatched the paper out of her hand when her attention drifted back to her lunch.

"Humm," he furrowed his brow, unable to decipher the notations.

Lina grasped his wrist and pried open his fingers, "I said… IN A MINUTE! Besides, you can't read music anyway…right?"

"Nooo...but there might have been words," he admitted sulkily.

"Ah, the Re-nais-sance man can't do something? Where's the little geek so I can record this momentous occasion on his cal-en-dar?" cracked Val.

"That's an awfully big word for a punk to use," chided Xelloss.

"ZEL and Gourry are doing some fencing thing," answered Lina loud enough to break up the taught-fest,  "…and this," waving the music, "is the music to the song I wrote. Tasuki wrote it out for me and I'm editing it, though, Val, I betcha you can figure it out better."

"Maybe," he pulled his chair closer to Lina, "That's okay, you hold it. I'll read over your shoulder."

His face was very close to Lina's ear. She could hear him hum the tune as he went along.  "That's not right it goes ...mmmhmmm…" she corrected.

"Well then… these notes should be like this," and Val took the proffered paper and corrected the markings with Amelia's bright blue pen.

He started the measure over and continued a bit and stopped. "What so you think of this?" And he whistled a measure or two.

"Then it goes on…" and he hummed the next part.

"Yeah, I like that idea. Kind of a musical interlude between  line there and the chorus?" asked Lina.

"Yeah," and Val continued to hum to the end. "The ending can be pumped up a bit, but Zel and I can figure out the instrumental part together tonight."

"Can you hum that whole thing again while I try the words?" asked Lina.

"Okay… Here goes...1 & 2 &..."

Lina whispered the lyrics, while Amelia hurriedly wrote them down. Xelloss snapped a simple rhythm, sketching an entire percussion section in his mind.

Zel was standing at 'their' locker wondering how he was going to carry his fencing gear bag, change of clothes, his backpack loaded with extra Shakespeare books he checked out of library before school, and his guitar.

"My, my, don't look so glum, Zelgadiss," laughed Xelloss dropping his nearly empty bag on the floor.

"I'll be worn out just getting to your… the band practice. After playing, I doubt I'll be able to even lift a foil. Maybe I'll just pass on band today.  Hey wait!  That's okay...I can...oh well...I give up," Zel moaned as Xelloss threw Zel's backpack on and picked up both his own book bag and Zel's fencing gear.

"You're not skipping out on band practice today. Lina has brought her song and Val wants to work out some instrumental parts with you. Hey, he even referred to you by name, so he must have been serious. Come on, let's go. Everything will be all right!"

Zel hurried to catch up with the purple haired guy.

"You know, you can leave your guitar with me. I take very good care of my things and I know you don't have time to play at home, do you?" asked Xelloss crossing the street. "Want to stop at the market here and pick up something to eat?"

"No."

"Okay."

They walked on in silence a while longer. The rain had turned to mist and the sun glowed dully.

Xelloss started to hum Lina's tune.

"Can't you just be quiet," snapped Zel, stepping up his pace.

"Okay."

Xelloss gave up trying to walk beside him, and fell in step behind him instead. He didn't understand what Zel's problem was and he was hurt by his sharpness. He stepped up his pace again and caught up to the irritated boy.

"Are you thinking that Lina's crush on you stopped after your accident. And now you're worried that no one else can ever really like you that way again?" Xelloss asked, throwing caution to the wind.

Zel stopped so abruptly that Xelloss fell into him.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Zel shouted pushing Xelloss roughly. "Stay out of my life! You have NO idea how I think or what I feel. Now give me my stuff!"

Xelloss was angry now.  "You are right. I have no idea how you think. That's why I was asking you questions. I like you. I thought we were friends. I-I just wanted to help," Xelloss shouted back.

"I don't want your help. I have no friends. And I CAN'T STAND YOU! I'll take my things now. Tell Lina I am sorry to miss her song today. I'm going home."  And with that, he grabbed his heavy bags and stomped off down his street.

Coming out of the corner market, Lina and Gourry nearly bumped into Kagome and Inu.  "Oh Lina! I am so glad to find you. Do you know where I can find Zel?" Kagome asked breathlessly from running.

"Yeah sure. We're going to band practice. He's probably there already," said Lina casually ripping open a bag of potato chips.

"Hey, Inu," greeted Gourry.

"Hey, yourself.  Tournament later?" asked the much shorter boy with a husky voice.

"Yep. You?"

"Yeah, unless I get drug off on one of her causes," Inu grumbled, his voice becoming gruffer.

"Who, Kagome? Doesn't sound bad to me. She's smart and cute and has a great figure. She's very popular." Gourry's voice trailed off as what could only be called a dangerous growl emanated from the possessive Inu, "Ah…with the other girls. Hey don't worry she's never around any of the guys…  'cept Zel, but that's to talk archery and all."

"You seem to notice her." Inu tested, but he could tell that the tall blonde's interest lay exclusively with a certain energetic red head.

"Yep. I think girls are more fun to watch then guys, right?" and they both chuckled.

Meanwhile Kagome was explaining her problems to Lina, "We don't know who would have done it! Most of the archery equipment was stolen and our club hasn't the money to replace it all. I need ideas for fundraising."

"And you think Zel can help?" Lina grinned, "Think again. We had better come up with an idea, and then rope him into helping."

"Lina, I knew I needed you for something!" the taller pretty brunette laughed.

Xelloss reached the practice room first, unlocked the doors and looked around. Yesterday the beanbags chairs had been delivered, clean and dust- free. He had stacked them all neatly in a giant pyramid along the wall opposite the door. He imagined kicking the stuffing out of each and every one of them, but stopped himself. Too much work to clean in all up again. Drawing a single finger through the air in front of him, he imagined slicing through all those ugly bags, spilling their nasty, pilly guts, and sending them to their deaths. Satisfying!

"Yo, dude! Anybody here?" called Val at the open door.

Gourry and Lina were right behind him, with Kagome and her friend Inu in attendance.

"Yeah," called Xelloss from his loft above. "I'm almost done sending an E- mail off. Go ahead and set up.   I'll be down in a sec."

"Here we are. This is our practice place. It belongs to Xelloss, so be nice," added Lina standing outside the door.

"Xelloss lives here? Cool digs. He's very quiet, so I don't know him well," said Kagome.

"I have respect for the guy," said Inu, "I've seen him fight many times. He's very serious and focused…and never loses."

Lina looked bemused. "Well today you'll meet the other Xelloss, kinda of a goofy fruitcake."

Inu looked uncertain, "..."

"He's a really good drummer," added Gourry, entering the doorway. "Hey, Zel, you've got visitors!"

"The geek's not here. And Goofball says he went home," sneered Val, looking down at Inu then appreciatively at Kagome. "Ah, Kagome, friend of Sango's."

"So… where's Zel?" asked Gourry looking under some beanbag chairs.

"He went home. He said to tell Lina he's sorry to miss your song. He seemed...tired, I think," answered Xelloss as he typed away.

"Tired? That asshole...  Xelloss, damnit!  Where are you? Get down here!"

"My, my, Lina… Aren't you testy? I'm just about finished...there finishing touch...and… Okay-dokay, Lina-chan," he shouted, then hopped down the stairs from his loft above, ending with a flying leap, twirl, and landed to her feet. "At your service. Oh, ah…hi!" he added a tad self-consciously to the newcomers.

"So, who saw Zel last?" demanded Lina.

"That would be…me, I suppose," Xelloss said quietly.

"So… what really happened?" Lina asked.

"He had lots to carry home, so I offered to help. He told me to shut up...  Let's see…he got mad…he took his stuff… and… went home." Xelloss finished the count-down on his fingers.

"I don't suppose you know what set him off this time?" Lina's ruby-red eyes were beginning to flare up. "I just want to be prepared for when I...encounter… him at home."

The purple haired kid sighed, "He seemed distressed that you knew and shared all his secrets. So I thought he'd feel better if he knew one of yours."

"Which was?"

"Which was… that you had drawn a heart around his fifth grade graduation picture in your yearbook," he said, his voice trailing off.

"WHAT!!! What makes you think I did that!" she yelled.

"It was your yearbook?" he moaned.

"You supreme idiot! What? There's more?"

"So after school he seemed angry. I tried to get him to open up a little."

"Bad idea," Lina shook her head.

"You're telling ME. I figured that he was upset because…after his accident… you… no longer felt the same way, and so… didn't think anyone would ever again."

"YOU TOLD HIM THAT?" Lina bellowed.  She was about to strangle his skinny white neck, but decided to attack instead.

"Kinda..." Xelloss jumped to the side to miss punch number one, but wasn't quick enough for the kick to the shins.  "Ouch!"

"Come on, Kagome. Let's go talk to Zel. I'll think of something for damage control."  Turning to the guys sitting around (and wishing to be anyplace else), Lina added, "And don't any of you think of coming along."

"Ah, Kagome, let's just leave. You can talk to Zel after the match tonight," Inu growled as he grabbed her wrist and yanked her toward the door.

"Stop it Inu! Lina and I are going to Zel's house. I'll be back as soon as we are done. I won't be long."

"But we have...stuff to do…maybe find that lost crap," he insisted.

"Inu, please let go of me. I said I'd come back and I will!"  She unlatched his grip and pushed him hard enough to send him careening into the beanbag chair pyramid. Of course, the bags collapsed on the boy, pinning him to the ground.

"Now SIT! And be polite!" she shouted as she ran out the door.

"BITCH!" he yelled.

"JERK!" she rejoined from the sidewalk.

"Wow, that was harsh!" said Val.

"I am not alone…" mused Gourry.

Amelia, Filia, and Sylphiel reached the door as Lina and Kagome hit the pavement.  "Go in. Keep them occupied. We may be gone awhile," Lina ordered from the sidewalk out front.



After helping themselves to drinks, the girls retired to the grass outside the room. Soon they were assisting one another choosing and applying nail polish.

"You know, the guys must be getting bored by now, and Miss Lina did say to keep them occupied." Amelia's eyes gleamed.

Filia waved a bottle of black nail polish. "Are you thinking, what I'm thinking?"

Sylphiel giggled, "This won't be easy."

Filia sniffed, "Then you don't know guys. Watch and learn."

Val was practicing Lina's tune. Gourry and Inu were air fencing. Xelloss was back up in his loft sulking.

Amelia nodded to Filia then called, "Oh   Mr. Xel-loss? Would you please come down?  I need you."

He sighed and thumped down the stairs. "Yes, Amelia? What's up?"

"This!" and Filia and Sylphiel each grabbed and arm and dragged him outside.

"What do you suppose they're going to do?" wondered Gourry aloud.

"AHHHHHKKKKKKK! HELP!!!"

"Do you think we ought to go look?" Gourry asked, but did not actually move.

"EEEEUUUWWWWW!"

"No. No I don't," answered Val.

"Yeah, he can take care of a couple girls. I wouldn't worry," sniffed Inu.

"'Kay," said Gourry, picking up his bass, "Wanna go over that first part again, Val?"

A few minutes later Xelloss and the girls re-entered the room. His fingernails were painted alternating black and purple.

"See that wasn't so bad, was it?" asked Filia.

Xelloss wasn't so sure, but felt better when he saw them pounce on their next victim.

"Oh  Mr.Inu? Let me see your hands," Amelia cooed.

Not to be cowed by a little girl, Inu folded his arms and shook his head. "You're not going to do anything..."

"Oooooh...look how long his nails are!" the girls squealed.

"Claws, they're like claws, get it!" he snarled defensively.

By this time they had him outside, and then they lowered their kill to the ground. "Umm, yes…"

"What's that?" he snarled defensively.

"Black and...let's see…red. That's your color, isn't it with all this gorgeous hair.You do like red, don't you?" Filia purred. This was so fun.

"Yelp!"

Whimper

Inu was quite pleased with the results and proudly showed them off to Xelloss. "Black claws with bloody red tips, cool eh?"

Xelloss nodded, then smiled as he watched Filia creep up on Val. Amelia hung back a moment, then followed Sylphiel sauntering up to Gourry.

"Oh Va-al, let me see those hands." Filia reached forward and pulled his hands off the keyboard and gingerly turned them over, inspecting them closely. "Oh my..."

"What? What?!" he asked.

"Come this way and let Filia make it better," she purred and lead her victim to the bathroom. She turned on the water, stoppered the sink and plunged both his hands under. Good, prey was immobilized. Next she picked up the bar of creamy white soap and lathered the boy's arms. Pulling up one hand, she rubbed the soap over and scrubbed lightly with the nailbrush. Val's knees turned to jelly. It felt so nice to be touched with kindness. Filia slid the soap over his other hand and rubbed it clean, too.

"There now," she said while patting the astonished boy's hands and arms dry, "Yuck…purple towels too, wouldn't you know?  Better, yes?"

Val nodded and let her lead him to the slaughter; that is, the outside parlor.

"Black, of course…and green."

Val lost.

Gourry was putting up a good fight, probably because he had all those little brothers and sisters to contend with, not to mention Lina. Of course, Sylphiel was not as manipulative as Filia, but she was learning fast.

"Not my hands, please. The strings will just wear it off when I play, see? " he explained.

Sylphiel ran her fingers across his toes. "You're wearing sandals on a rainy day? Nice clean toes."

"Huh?"

"I've got a wonderful idea. Come with me," said the spider to the flea.

Gourry passed Val at the door.

Val smiled and dangled his fingers loosely in front of Gourry's face. "Black with green swirls, like marble, huh?"

Gourry nodded vacantly. "Where are we going?"

"Don't worry, we are already here. Sit here and watch," Sylphiel smiled.

"I can do that," he smiled, caught at last.

Twenty minutes later, Gourry followed Sylphiel into the practice room, staring at his toes. They were painted sky blue. He blinked. Each big toe sported a tiny, white painted daisy with a yellow eye, centered perfectly. "Nice job."

Val and Xelloss, Inu and Gourry all took a moment to admire the Sirens' handiwork. Filia, Amelia, and Sylphiel smiled with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away…Lina and Kagome pounded on Zel's door.

"Stop that noise. I'm blind not deaf. Zelgadiss! Get the door before they break it down!"

Zel stumbled down stairs, tripping over his grandfather's dropped things. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming! You left your slippers on the stairs again. I could have fallen and broken my neck!"

"Are you complaining again, boy? If you spent more time doing your chores and not gallivanting around, there would be less mess."

Zel shook his head and opened the door, then gasped when he saw the two girls.  "Lina? Kagome? What are you doing here?"

"Better question is, what are you doing here? We are here to drag your sorry ass back. There's band practice and fencing and dinner and Kagome really needs your help."

Now Zel could have overcome Lina, he was stubborn, but Kagome too, that was another thing. Kagome was so sweet and…now she needed his help.

"Sure, Kagome, I'll do what I can, but what's this all about?" he asked, suspicion rising.

"We'll tell you on the way to practice. Now where's your stuff?" demanded Lina.

Zel sighed. He did really want to be with his friends. He was mad at Xelloss, but not at the others. And he really didn't want to stay home with his demanding grandfather.

"Okay, Lina," he handed her a bag, slung another over his shoulder, and grabbed his guitar. "Grandfather, I'm going with Lina now. Dinner's in the oven on low. Just turn it off and don't burn down the house."

"So what's the problem, Kagome?" he asked.

She explained what had happened to the archery equipment. "…And Lina's come up with the best idea for a fundraiser-- a bake sale, or two, if needed. She tells me you are a good cook; do you think you can bake a pie?"

Zel glared at Lina, who spoke for him. "Pies, quiche, whatever you need. And I'm sure I can get my sister to get donations from her restaurant."

By the time they had reached the practice room, Zel was committed to the plan and relatively relaxed and happy. All he had to do was bake. The others would be roped into selling the goodies at booths.

When Lina opened the practice room door she, Zel and Kagome saw the unexpected sight of the boys admiring one another's nail polish, while the girls aimed darts at Xelloss' new dart board. They did a double take.

"What the Hell's been going on here?" cried Lina.

"Inu? What's on your nails…?  Oh my Gods… look at their fingernails!" cried Kagome.

"Whoa, Gourry, your toes are..." began Zel.

"Awesome, huh?" Gourry grinned.

Zel felt the chuckle rumble up and burst out in real laughter. "Lina, your girlfriends painted your boy-friends' nails!"

Kagome shook her head. "INU! I can't leave you a minute without you getting into trouble!" She smiled affectionately. "I better take you home before they start on your hair. Hey, thanks everyone for volunteering. See you later!"

"Uh, Lina, what did we volunteer to do?" Gourry asked anxiously.

"The archery club had a bunch of their equipment stolen. We are helping with the fundraising effort. Zel and I can supply baked goods. The rest of you will sell it or make more. Kagome's handling advertising. Any questions?"

Sylphiel and Amelia offered to bake. Filia, Val, Gourry, and Xelloss agreed to operate the sales booth.

"Now that that's settled, I want you to hear what Val and I have done with my song."  Back to business as usual with Lina.

Well almost. Zel had not yet made eye contact with Xelloss, and was certain not to speak to him. Instead, he and Val worked closely on the instrumentals. Gourry listened in, providing a sounding board for their ideas and developed the bass line. Lina bounced from the Val group to the singers' group, teaching the lyrics and suggesting harmonies. Xelloss wandered around like a lost puppy, something not lost on Lina. With a surprising amount of sensitivity, Lina took a break from the others and pulled Xelloss aside.

"Listen, Xelloss, quit sulking around like you've lost your best friend."

"I did!  He made that clear.  Besides, there's nothing for me to do with the song until the instrumentals are worked out. I'll just annoy everyone."

"That's never stopped you before," she laughed, but seeing the hurt in his eyes she added, "Just kidding.  Look, I've known Zel a long time. He gets this way too much and I would kick him into submission if I thought it would help, but it doesn't. If it makes you feel better, he usually pulls this crap on me…so thanks for taking the beating for me this time, eh?"

"You mean he only treats his best friends like shit?" Xelloss asked incredulously.

"Yep. So welcome to the exclusive We-like-to-be-hated-by-Zel club. Give him time and he'll suddenly pull out of his dive before he crashes," Lina said, then smiled.

"So we're still friends?" Xelloss asked daring a glance at the offending lavender haired kid.

"He's here, right? Now get over there and learn the lyrics. You can sing backup too."

"Okay," said Xelloss with a smile.



They played for hours, and were stunned when Zel and Gourry checked their watches and realized they had only half an hour until fencing started! Amelia to the rescue! She called home on her handy cell phone and requested the mayor's van to swing by and than haul them all to GW (Gundam Wing) Tech High School for the match. It was cutting it pretty close, five minutes for the van to arrive, fifteen to get the to school, and that left ten minutes for the boys to get ready and accounted for. But they made it, breathless though they were.

The match was overwhelmingly won by the Seyruun High team, mostly thanks to Zel. Zel had fought like a demon. All of that pent-up anger and moodiness had been focused into his foil in a scarlet rage. His opponents had the bruises to prove it.

"That," Val cried, "was the coolest fencing match I've ever seen!"

Lina was impressed by her friend's ferocity.  "That wasn't so much fencing as attempted murder!" Lina raised an eyebrow at Zel, who looked...cleansed.

"I feel so much better," he sighed, a smirk creeping across his face. He had changed into jeans and an old black sweater that was much too big for him. His face was red and shiny with sweat and exhilaration, his hair a mess. This was a polar switch from his pale, sullen little self that had been released upon the world the rest of the day. "Man, Xelloss, all I had to do was imagine your face on that Wufei guy's body and…" Laughing good-naturedly, he blocked a playful punch from Xelloss, although he got one in the stomach from the other side that won his attention.

"L-Lina?" he sputtered. The angry little face that glared into his sent him into another cold sweat. Lina was on the warpath.

"Okay, buddy, so can you tell us about WHY you've been such a complete ass all day? And don't give me any of that 'I'm a freak and my life sucks' shit or I'll show YOU violent fencing!" she grabbed a handy umbrella.

Zel put up his hands. "Calm down, you don't wanna hurt me," he cajoled. "Okay, I'll talk...over dinner," he said, hoping that Lina would forget by the time she'd fed, as she often did. "Where are we going?" he asked no one in particular.

"I can treat you all to burgers," Amelia offered. "But not much better...Sorry."

"Hey, that's perfectly fine, Amelia! If we're eating on your money it can be anything!" Lina assured her. Lina would eat pretty much anything, especially if it was free.

They ended up with a bag brimming with greasy burgers and fries, and a pre-made salad in a plastic box balanced on top for Filia. They had been dropped off at the burger joint, but it was surprisingly busy and didn't have enough room for them to all sit together, so they were walking to the new hangout- Xelloss' house. It wasn't far, since the strip mall with the deli, dry-cleaner, hair-dresser and Polly's Pie Shop was across the street from the burger joint and lay between Xelloss' house and the school. Meaning… that they had to walk by Seyruun High on the way home.

It sure looked different in the dark, in the dark with a new storm blowing in. An ominous blot looming before the hungry kids marked the main entrance. Towering over their heads was the bell spire, from which, to their knowledge, no bell had ever tolled. Walking a bit quicker, Amelia neglected to watch her footing. She stumbled and tripped over a discarded sack lunch on the sidewalk and fell into the bushes off at the side. Luckily, she wasn't carrying the food.  "Oh! Ahhh!"

 Zel was closest and so stepped over to her side.  "Are you all right?" he asked looking down.

"Yes, I think so… Ooh my ankle!  It hurts!" the petite dark haired girl cried.

"Here give me your hand." Zel pulled her to her good foot and let her use his shoulder to steady herself.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEkkkkkkkkkkkk!"

"W-What's…?  Who's screaming?"

"Sylphiel, for God'ssake what IS your problem?!" snorted Lina.

"D-Didn't y-you s-see it?" Sylphiel choked out.

"What?"

"The Spire!  S-something dark w-was moving up there! Look!  There it is again!"

"SHHH, get out of the streetlight you guys!" Lina commanded.

Everyone was thoroughly confused or frightened, but followed Lina's directions. Sure enough, a figure darker than the shadows appeared to hover in the corner nearest them, watching the kids as intently as they were watching it.

Zel and Amelia couldn't see a thing from where they were hiding, but Amelia's ankle was starting to throb causing her to whimper a little.  Zel was more than a little exasperated, "Hey, Gourry, give me a hand with Amelia. Someone else can carry food."

"SHHHH!"

Zel felt Amelia begin to shake, "Great, if she goes into shock now, how would I explain that to her father?"  Without thinking, Zel scooped her up in his arms and plunged into the lamplight. "You guys can stand here all night if you want, but I'm taking her back to Xelloss'. Toss me the keys, will ya?"

Xelloss started out of his trance when he heard Zel address him. "I'm coming too."

"My things!" cried Amelia.

"Let's see...purse and umbrella…Anything else?" Xelloss asked.

"No, that's it...thanks."

So Xelloss and Zel, carrying Amelia, plodded down the street. A block later, Xelloss carried Amelia, and then traded back when they reached his street.

"I'll run up ahead and open up," Xelloss said.

"And put some ice in a bag and get a blanket!" instructed Zel.

By the time the others were approaching the practice room, Amelia was wrapped in a thick, purple, fleece blanket and had a bag of ice on her ankle. Xelloss was boiling water in the microwave for hot chocolate and trying to reach Amelia's home.

He set down the cell phone. "No luck.  Maybe the phone lines are down and the Cell tower. I'll try another number."

"Oh joy," muttered Zel, digging through Xelloss' mostly empty bathroom medicine cabinet. "Say, I need a real first aid kit…some elastic to wrap her leg. You don't suppose there would be anything like that in the other house?"

"Probably, but don't tell Zzzz…er, Mom, that Amelia's hurt or then she'll get involved. Make up something...say it's for me."

"You want me to go rummaging through your house looking for bandages?"

"Better you than me. I don't know what you're looking for."

"And I don't know where I'm supposed to look. It's not my house."

"Mine either."

Zel stared at Amelia. She smiled. She was very pale, but awake.

"Okay...then," Zel sighed and left the room, pushing past Gourry and Lina.

"Hey, Amelia!"   Gourry called out. "What happened to you?"

Xelloss explained as he stirred a mug of hot chocolate and handed it to Amelia. He noticed that Sylphiel looked pale too.

"Would you like some hot cocoa, Sylphiel?" he asked politely.

She nodded, and he obediently heated more water. "I can't reach Amelia's father so I tried Sango. No luck. The phone lines must be dead. The cell phone doesn't seem to work either, so that implies that the cell towers are out as well. Val? Here try Sano's number."

Val reluctantly left Filia and Lina to take the phone. They had been discussing the strange phenomena they had seen in the school's bell spire.

"No sound at all. The wind musta brought down a tree on a power line or somethin'."

Lina crawled beside Amelia. "Did you arrange for the van to pick up you and Filia tonight?"

"No, I said I'd call later," Amelia said softly.

RUMBLE RUMBLE KABOOOOM KABOOM CRASH !

Everyone jumped a foot, some let out shrieks, and then the room was plunged into darkness.

"Oh no!"

"Great no lights, no phone, thunder and lightening," grumbled Lina.

"Where's Zel?" asked Gourry.

"OH SHIT!" yelled Xelloss, jumping a body and lunging for the door, horror written across his face.  The uncharacteristic cursing and terror were not lost on the others as he disappeared into the night.

**** ( ^^ ) ****

End Seyruun High Jinx Chapter 12