(((.-) Zel ||~.^|| Xelloss
{{$.$}} Lina ((.^)|| Gourry ((^.^))Amelia |))-.-((| Val
Chapter 28
THE SLAYERS
Monday, last week of school before winter break:
Probably life would be better if there were no Mondays, but then there would be
Tuesdays. Xelloss slunk into his seat for composition class. He was still
hurting from Lina's rejection and Zelgadiss was at the doctor's office this
morning. Zel being gone meant that he had to carry both cultural fair projects
to school and had had to join the rest of the classes setting up the displays
in the library before classes began. Moreover, he had arrived especially early
to set up a surprise for his friends at lunch.
All the upper class English classes were participating, so all the teachers
were present to direct traffic and see to it that all the projects were in
place. The teacher for Lina's class had repeated for the tenth time all the
instructions for correct project placement around the room. The projects had to
be in alphabetical order by last name. Zelgadiss' was to be in the 'G' area,
but Xelloss had to place his alongside.
"Xelloss, follow directions! Your project must be in the 'X' area,"
the teacher commanded.
"But, but, but--" he tried to explain as she marched away. "Lina? Do you have a black felt pen in your backpack I
can borrow for a second?"
"Yeah, sure-- Why?"
For an answer he winked and whispered, "That's a secret!"
Lina set up her display and returned to where Xelloss was attempting to
reposition the two projects. "Here, let me give you a hand--" she
offered.
That's when she noticed his alteration. He was no longer Xelloss 'Fine', but an
official 'Graywords' now. "It's a good thing Zel's NOT here," she
chuckled.
The teacher meandered through the throngs of students reading one another's
boards and displays. She stopped in front of Xelloss'. "What kind of
nonsense are you up to?"
He gave her his best 'Who me?' expression and
answered, "It's true! It's on Zelgadiss' too."
"I see, but he's not here to confirm this…this… most incredible,
implausible report either."
"It's true!" chimed in both Lina and Filia. Whether or not Xelloss
was changing his name, the wedding was happening this week.
The teacher shook her head and whispered, "No wonder the poor child isn't
here."
The ruckus attracted the attention of the rest of the class. Soon the ancient
samurai Shabrinigdo, Uncle Bruce Willis, cousin Buffy
the Vampire Slayer and the few other celebrity relations were the talk of the
class. Those kids were joined by others from other classrooms touring the
library. Each period, the classrooms would be allowed to come down and view the
displays, but for now, only one was the focus of everyone's interest.
Xelloss smiled and calmly looked around at for his friends' projects. Lina's
was terribly brief, having no information on her father's side, not even his
name, and continued only as far back as a pair of maternal Aunts, unmarried and
one deceased, and a grandmother, also dead, no grandfather. It was a small
Inverse universe.
Filia's family lineage could be traced back for several generations, each with
numerous offspring and lengthy lives. For this reason, Filia had to focus on
only one fraction of it, and even so, she was overflowing with lines and words
and information no more true than his own, Xelloss guessed.
"So, Filia! Where does the God Cephied fit into all this? Is he a
distant relative or more omnipresent?" Xelloss asked innocently as she
proudly showed off her project to the teacher.
She started to answer him tartly, when her eye caught a glance at the pendant
that he was waving. "You see, according to my family history, he's right
up there alongside his brother Shabrinigdo. So I was wondering…"
"HUH?!? Where did you get that, that…" she
sputtered.
"Pendant? It's a family heirloom. Zelgadiss has
one too, but where they came from, well-- that's a secret!" He winked,
holding up his index finger for emphasis. Her face darkened with explosive
anger. Xelloss nearly stayed to torture her a little more but saw Sylphiel
standing alone. "Got to run!" he smiled and disappeared into the
crowd.
"My, my… Sylphiel, all alone? Why don't you tell
me about your family?" he smiled carelessly. She was safe. She was the
daughter of a prominent priest associated with the largest shrine in town. He
was a tall dark mustached man in the line of Mayor Phil. Her mother, on the
other hand, was a Japanese beauty. Xelloss told her so and remarked that Zel's
mother and his father were from Japan
too.
"She returned to Japan last year and brought back a lovely kimono for me
and tons of fabric and patterns to make more!" she gushed. "Actually, she is my aunt. Both my parents died and…she takes me back to
preserve my mother's Japanese
heritage for me."
"I didn't know. That's very nice of
her to do, though. Ah…would you make one
for me? A kimono, of course! I'd pay you
whatever your time is worth, plus…fabric and some profit, too!" For the
first time all year, he finally took an interest in one of her talents.
"Well, yes I would, of course… There are fabrics suitable for men, but I
don't believe there are any purple ones."
"Ha! That's okay! I really don't seek out purple clothes," he
laughed. "I have a gi for karate and it's very
comfortable, but I'd like something nicer for wearing around."
"And you have a tournament this Friday? Would you like to come over
Tuesday after school and choose a cloth then? I drive, so I can take you over
and drop you off at home afterwards," she offered.
"Okay! That would be nice! Oh, guess it's time to go back to class. See
you at lunch, Sylphiel!" He smiled charmingly, and then turned away, looking
for Lina on his way out.
Zelgadiss checked his watch, he'd missed most of the morning and it was too
soon to join the lunch crowd; they'd be gathering in about eleven minutes.
Normally he would have rushed to class, even for the last remaining seconds,
but today he took his time. He hesitated at his locker. A group of tall girls
were bouncing a small rubber ball around and discussing their basketball team.
He wondered why they weren't in class. The ball bounced on by, coming to a rest
near him. He decided to watch what would happen next. A kid he knew vaguely
passed him and kicked the ball sending it bouncing to the end of the hall and
back.
A silent girl fumbled at her locker, dropping a pencil. Two good friends bumped
into her and giggled and they all bounced off to lunch. How did they get out so
early? Zel thought about picking up the ball, when a group of boys laughing and
thumping one another on the head moved into view.
One of them, a tall blonde with glasses picked up the ball and jumped for joy.
"Look at this cool ball I found! Wow! Look, it bounces high!" The
ball passed from sight.
Several loners rattled at their lockers and slunk away. Zelgadiss had been that
way last year, but now-- He sighed and smiled faintly. Time
to join his friends at lunch. He picked up the lost pencil thinking,
"That's how I get all mine."
Whether he was speaking of pencils or friends didn't matter.
Everyone was at the table. Amelia spied Zel and waved, his seat preserved
beside her.
"Well?" asked Lina, swallowing her bite before continuing, "Tell
us what the doctor said!"
"Not much. He tested some scars and thinks he can eliminate the redness-
some scars are too deep, others possible-the treatments would be a mixture of
experimental and new laser and take several weeks. The hair?
He didn't say. He was hopeful that my eyebrows would re-grow if the scar-tissue
were reduced."
"Sounds like a lot to me. What's next?" Lina prodded.
"Lina, it's expensive. It won't happen, unless-I don't want to talk about
it now. So how was the cultural fair?" Zel asked no one in particular.
Filia spoke up. "You should thank your friend, Xelloss, for taking it all
in and battling your awful teacher for a spot to put it!" Embarrassed by
her outburst, she turned to added defensively to
Sylphiel, "She was really mean, I thought, though…your teacher's nice,
isn't she?"
Gourry nodded vacantly as his plowed through his enormous lunch. He was a bit
distracted by Lina's quiet avoidance of everyone but Zel. She had nodded his
way when he walked in, grunted at Filia, and not even acknowledged either
Xelloss or Amelia. Well, Mondays were bad for her. That must be it. Monday. Had to be it.
"Next year, I'll get to do one," Amelia announced. "Mr.
Zelgadiss, would you like to go to the library with me after school Tuesday to
see the exhibits? There's no tutoring right?"
"Ahh, sure, Amelia," he managed to say, and
then he took a sip of juice to cover for having nothing more to say.
Xelloss stood up and announced, "For your viewing pleasure, may I direct
your attention to the TV's distributed around the room." He clicked a
remote controller and all seven TV's came on and-- THE SLAYERS (a Graywords'
Production) appeared simultaneously. There much bigger than life was Lina's
face belting out her number, and Zel, Gourry, Xelloss, Val, Filia, Sylphiel,
Amelia, and lots of crows. It was awesome. He had set this up before school
very early.
The computer lab teacher left her room to view the video and the students'
reactions. The kids cheered, clapped, whistled, but also listened to the music,
and the response was overwhelming. At the end flashed a final message: See Them
Live At the Mayor's Invitational Ball This Saturday
Night 7:00-11:00!
Tons of classmates found Lina's gang and came over to say something supportive
or appreciative. The teacher whispered something kind to both Zel and Xelloss
and smiled before leaving. Kiki was thrilled to see her name in the credits and
was pleased with the outcome. All the Lina gang was too.
"How'd you do that?" Val asked Xelloss.
"Val, you know what I'm going to say, don't you? That's a secret!"
Xelloss giggled. "Pleased, Lina?"
She nodded looking a bit spaced out. "Yeah, it's
real isn't it? The band, it's real!"
Zel smiled and nodded. "Oh, Kiki, I wanted you to know that I talked to Zzzze…ah…I mean my…grandfffa…shit…sorry,
my parents about renting my old house
to your family. I believe they're going to contact your folks tonight or today
or whenever day is--maybe they called in the middle of the night to get France
in the morning…" He calculated the time difference and left his statement
stand.
"Yes! I have to call at 3:00AM to
talk sometimes. Thank you, Zelgadiss, for remembering," she smiled.
"Do you two," referring to both Xelloss and Zel, "Have play
practice or band practice today after school?"
"Band. The play practices will be during class time
this week, then begin in earnest when we return to
classes in January. Why?"
"I would like to treat the two of you to a special thank you!"
Looking at Zel's apprehensive expression, she laughed and said, "No
kisses! I promise! Something to eat, okay? It won't
take but a second."
They both agreed, since it was on the way, and all--
"Play practice?" asked Gourry, tuning into parts of different
conversations and getting confused. "Not today, it's band, right?"
"Yeah, that's right," answered Lina. "Band
after school today and Wednesday. Wednesday we'll pack up for
Saturday."
"No practice on Friday, then?"
"No, Gourry, that's his Karate thing. We're all going right?" she
looked around.
Filia began, "Well, actually-"
Zel's eyes flew open in horror. Zelas and Rezo would be there, and then they
were to take him and Xelloss to their 'wedding'. How could he stop Lina et al
from going? Xelloss was pale. The gears were turning over there too.
"Ahhh…Val, can I talk to you for a minute? It's about a job for you," Zel said
quickly.
Val turned to Zel, stunned. "Huh? Oh, yeah? Now?"
Zel nodded and yanked on Xelloss' shirt, "You too."
Zel led them out of the lunchroom to relatively quiet spot. "Umm, Val,
we've got a problem. Lina and you guys can't make it to the Karate match, and No I can't tell you why. It REALLY has
to be a secret. I'm hoping you can think of something."
"How 'bout, 'Lina don't go this time'?" Val asked.
"Oh, that would work…" Xelloss
chuckled. "Val, we have to go to
the 'wedding' right after, and things would be…"
"Yuh, don't want us to see who she is, do yuh?" Val asked slyly.
Zel sighed, "No we don't. It's critical. Will you help us here or
not?"
"I have an idea. No problem. Val's on it, and con-si-der it free-of-charge
this time. No, it's MY secret, but it will work guarantee!" he
smirked.
"Promise me it's not illegal and that you won't get into any trouble,"
Zel said anxiously.
"I'll be okay, man," he grinned and loped off.
The bell rang before Lina could find out what Zel needed Val to do for him.
Well, there was band practice-
"So what's your problem, Xelloss?" Zel asked, as they walked together
to the computer lab. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot--thanks for handling the
projects this morning. And our band's video too! Was the teacher hard on
you?"
Xelloss shrugged his shoulders. "Same stuff as always. I'm a liar. I'm
messing with your stuff…Nothing new.
Kids were impressed with the famous connections."
"Sorry, about all that."
"Not your fault."
"So then, what's really bothering you? Friday?"
"The tournament? No, I might not even show-oh, I'll BE there but
I'm not all that excited to get beat up by Ranma's
family. I don't care to work hard enough to move up this year. There's the band
now."
"Yeah…Well if it's not a what,
then… who's bugging you?"
Xelloss walked on not speaking a bit. "Lina. I told her how I felt and--oh,
it doesn't matter. She doesn't feel the same way. She's not ready for a
boyfriend, me or otherwise-so she said. It just hurts, that's all."
"You told LINA? You ARE brave. I'm sorry about that too then. Really! Hey, I know she's not interested in
me, besides being her friend, I mean. We're too much alike, I think. But…
lately she hasn't been too friendly to Gourry either, so maybe what she told
you was the truth. She's just a kid in woman's clothing, for now. Are you going
to be all right?"
Xelloss smiled. It felt good to have a friend like him when you had friends
like Lina. "Yeah, I feel better already. Thanks little brother!"
Zel sighed and opened the door to the lab.
What did he need friends for anyway?
Xelloss seemed practically carefree and back to near normal on the walk home
with Kiki. He danced around and sang tunes all the way to the pastry shop.
"You may take two dozen doughnuts to the band and any two special goodies
for yourselves!" she announced proudly.
Xelloss let Zel choose first while he removed a tape from his book bag.
"And here's your copy of the video. I only made eight copies. There's one
for you and each of the band members. I'll
keep the master."
"Oh, for me? You are too sweet! Thank you soooo much!" She hopped up
and down holding her treasure to her chest.
"Thoughtful, Kiki, Xelloss is thoughtful.
Guys aren't sweet. Girls are sweet," Zel corrected her
with a smile.
"Not sweet? Oh, girls are sweet and beautiful, and boys are thoughtful and
handsome. I get it!" She returned a
knowing smile.
"Some are, some aren't. Xelloss, if you want to stay and chat a
little longer, fine, but the others won't get bought off with these goodies if
we make them freeze to death waiting outside for us. Bye, Kiki, and thanks for
these."
Xelloss caught up to Zel at the end of the block. "I'll take a turn
carrying the box. I haven't as much crap to carry as you. Why do you carry so
much anyway? Look at this…Shakespeare? You could have left that in your locker…and
math? Okay, you have homework…History? We never ever ever open a book for that class! Not
to mention science! I know there's
nothing to do in that class tonight! Okay, see here's ten pounds of books that
you don't need to be carrying-"
Zel listened and pushed off the box to Xelloss. He was right, of course.
"You two had better have a REAL good reason for making us wait in the
cold-- Wow, it's one of those lovely pink boxes!"
Lina trilled. It wasn't the box she meant, but the promise it held that so
excited her.
The band ran through every song for the ball. No problems. Everything was very
professional today. Filia wouldn't speak to Xelloss, but neither did Lina; they
addressed Zel instead.
"You did a terrific job on our video, Zel," said Filia.
"Thanks, but it was a joint project with Xelloss and he did all the work
making the copies and setting up the show at lunch," said Zel graciously.
"Good choice of doughnuts, Zel," added Lina.
"Actually, Xelloss picked them out and carried them here most of the way.
They are a thank you gift from Kiki to him for all his hard work," sighed Zel.
Thankfully, Gourry changed the subject completely. He often did that. Zel was
not certain if he did that by accident-- because he was not paying attention to
what the others were saying or in order to help diffuse situations. This time
it helped Xelloss from going nuts.
"You know I ran into Zangalus over the weekend. Forgot to tell ya…didn't think of it until …ah…during class, the play…"
he rattled on.
"What? What! Spit it out already!" Lina blustered with lack of
patience.
"He's dating Martina," Gourry finished succinctly.
"So what?" she growled. "Who cares about that creature?"
"For some time, I think," Gourry continued ignoring Lina's outrage.
"Zel? Ahhh, you're memory's
pretty good-When did Kuno get sick?"
Xelloss did the math first. "Bingo! Gourry, you are a genius! Kuno got the flu a few weekends
ago so he wasn't able to do his lines…then on the following Monday, Zangalus got his part. It was after that that the props were
missing, the sets damaged, the archery stuff found, and Martina's green hair
discovered. Could it be? Have we uncovered a motive?"
"I thought that getting back at you for using her and then dumping her as
soon as she got transferred would be motive enough," sniffed Filia.
"All that damage just to keep Amelia and Sylphiel's hands off Zangalus? I don't know…" Val began shaking
his head. "I dunno. He's not much ta get worked up about."
"She doesn't need any more motivation than that, just some directed hate,
envy, and jealousy. She's crazy!" Xelloss said defensively.
"From the expert-" smirked Filia again.
Zel was starting to lose patience with her. Xelloss did not deserve being
picked on. Too late. Before he could say anything,
Xelloss took action. In his frustration, he had run his fingers through his
hair a few times. Instead of the heavy fringe of bangs, his hair was parted,
exposing his dark eyebrows and deep purple eyes. He looked different, older,
and serious. In two strides, he had reached her beanbag chair. He knelt at her
feet and dove at her, grasping her shoulders and holding her still.
"I - I don't know what I ever did to you.
I don't understand why you hate
me so much-- But, in my house I don't want to be tortured any more. That's what
it is, it hurts and I don't like it, so stop. Think what you will, but keep it
to yourself…please, Filia."
He tore himself away, leaving her in shock. He turned his back to the group and
busied himself in the kitchen.
"Filia," said Zel calmly. "He's been very good to me and to all
of us day today. Did you thank him for any of it? Did you Lina? He's not
perfect, but he's not mean to any of you, is he? He means well, and is trying
hard…life's not easy."
Filia shook her head. "Zel, he said your sword had a kind of decoration on
it, like one on his pendant. Do you know what I mean?"
Zel nodded.
"Near the top it divides in half, Cephied on one side, Shabrinigdo on the
other. What do you know about them? Nothing, I suppose. Well Cephied was god-
like. A symbol of all that's good and pure, of order and laws and, well you get
the idea…"
"Shaby, on the other hand,
was like an evil monster. Massacre, mayhem, chaos, and hate were what he and
his people stood for. Are you getting the picture? I don't know what parts of
that ridiculous lineage you two put up at the fair was actually true, but the
only holders of those symbolic pendants are direct descendents of the two-past
cult leaders. Zel, I'm worried about
you. But, you, Xelloss, when I get home I'm going to find out the names on the
levels below. I'm going to discover who you really are! Our leader, Milgasia,
will know how to read this stuff, I'm sure. Then we'll see! We'll all
see!"
Zel jumped for the quick save. "Filia, don't bother…and…settle down a
moment. All right, the cultural fair
thing was made up to cover for…some past history we didn't want revealed, all
right? We are not the descendants of some alleged monster. My grandfather--er,
that's still hard getting used to--my father,
got the sword and matching pendant years ago. The university was selling off
part of a collection and he bought those pieces. He gave me the sword when I
turned thirteen, and gave Xelloss the pendant as a present…somewhat, to say
'welcome to the family'. Get it now? No Shaby
connection."
Filia's eyes narrowed. "What past history don't you want revealed?"
Zel sighed, "Oh, well…not much really…Oh damn…Xelloss had a step sister,
who married Rezo, who died giving birth to me, which makes us related in a
weird way and we don't want everyone to know about it. Is that good enough for you?"
Filia's eye went wide in amazement, and said, "Then you two really are related? I guess I have to hear that
over and over to believe it. Oh---"
Xelloss re-entered the fray smile intact and in a sing-song voice said:
"I'm both a step-uncle and a step brother,
His
father's my new one and his mother's my sister,
Now she is gone and so is my father,
But
I've got a step one and he has my mother.
Lucky us!"
Later, after the band had gone home Xelloss patted Zel on the back. "Nice
job on the lie. You might have even got that one past Filia. Selling off part
of a collection, eh?"
"I hope so. That pendant would give away your mother's identity, right?
So, by way of a thank you…what do you know about that Shabrinigdo guy,
Xelloss?"
Xelloss turned serious again. "Not as much as she does, apparently. I actually know next to nothing, like I told
you. Want to do something? Lost
Universe? I need to get my mind off of
today."
Zel looked dubious. "Not tonight. I'm tired of thinking. Plus I have
another big decision to make."
"Oh? Can I help?"
"Not really. In order to pay for my
'cure', Zelas says that there is a paper Rezo would like for me to sign, but I
haven't seen it and know nothing about it.
Still…"
"I wouldn't do it! Sounds suspicious, Zelgadiss."
"But you don't look like a
freak! It's only a paper. I own nothing important to sign away. Well, I'm still thinking…Good night!"
Xelloss watched him walk briskly back to the main
house. "Nothing important that you know about…"
Tuesday, the last week of school before winter break: Tests, projects, and more tests. The day
plodded on gray, snow-less, and drab.
At lunch, Kiki was excited with news from home. "My parents called early this morning to
say that your mother called, Xelloss, with an offer to rent Zelgadiss' house.
Since his father has a university connection, as does my mother, they were very
interested. I hope it all works out so I do not have to move away from my
friends!"
Everyone agreed that this was wonderful news and wished her well, though Filia
had mixed feelings about anyone getting involved with those questionable
families. She said nothing, however. Xelloss was very subdued as he ate an
entire hamburger, salad, and fruit drink like a starving animal.
This was as rare a sight as seeing Zelgadiss eat, so Amelia
was prompted to ask,
"Mr. Xelloss? Are you working out more at the dojo this week?"
He stopped and thought a moment before answering her. "Ah, yes, Amelia.
It's a busy week, isn't it?"
That got Amelia started on a run down of all her activities for the week. Xelloss smiled, relieved at successfully
excluding himself from the conversation. Filia had many duties for the Cephied
Believers solstice activities that week as well. Sylphiel's shrine was hosting
the downtown solstice and other holiday celebrations this year, and so their
work was endless. Lina suggested that Wednesday band practice be reduced to
reviewing the songs once and packing up so everyone could rest up a bit. That
settled, the bell rang and the group dispersed.
Wednesday of the last week before winter break:
Zel here. I agreed to continue my journal
writing off and on. When I go back and read the stuff I'd read last month, I'm
amazed at how much has changed in my life. I wanted to write a short story
about a good friend of mine, Xelloss--so here goes--
The fact that he was missing Tuesday
after school and didn't get home until late was not surprising since he was
supposed to be at Karate practice. Wednesday he packed up his drum kit,
cymbals, and other hardware then took off. No band practice for him. He was
late getting there on top of it!
"Sorry, everyone! I walked Kiki home and we
forgot the time-"
When Thursday rolled around, I thought he
must have decided to take that Karate tournament more seriously than he had
implied, because he slipped out of computer lab and disappeared until much
later that evening.
I was wrong. I've been wrong about my friend more often than right.
I haven't yet explained something about our fair city-- Seyruun observed
several winter solstice and associated other winter
holiday activities. To avoid infringing on any of the many religious
celebrations, the Mayor held his Ball and allowed each cult and sect to
participate in any pre-agreed upon form of worship or entertainment. Simply
fill out the city papers, secure the appropriate insurance, and party on.
Sylphiel's shrine was the largest in town, and so, had a huge following and
turn out for their solstice celebration. The Cephied Believers and Draconians (a.k.a. Van and the other 'Atlantians')
shared the spotlight with the Shrine's followers for a colorful parade and huge
bonfire, beginning at noon, downtown
Saturday. The partying would continue in earnest until the bonfires were lit,
and the Ball would begin.
Decorating for these activities began the weekend before and continued through
to Friday. Filia, Amelia, and Sylphiel were busy every free moment preparing
for Saturday's event, and there weren't many of those.
After Xelloss left Wednesday, Sylphiel told us that he had visited her home in
the shrine Tuesday after school for a few minutes, and then she had dropped him
off downtown. Karate practice, right? Visiting
Sylphiel?
"I'm making him a kimono…my first order, for pay! I can get extra credit
in my costume design class," she gushed.
"Xelloss entered the shrine?" asked Filia. "Now there's a joke!
Won't you have to sprinkle it with holy water or something to cleanse it?"
Lina snarled, "He's no saint, but he's not the devil. Now can it! So what was he up to?"
I sighed.
I was always the one to have to explain Xelloss to everyone.
"He's got to practice for that Karate match right? It probably is good for
him, at least there he's treated with respect."
"Well, I have lots to do, so if practice is done for the night-"
Filia began.
"Yeah, we're ready for Saturday. We'll all meet here and load up the van
and go. So see ya all at school tomorrow!" Lina
shouted.
I guess that satisfied them all. Well, there was more to the band practice
than just that, but those were the incidents that stuck in my mind. Oh yeah,
and one other one…
"Mr. Zelgadiss?"
"Yes, Amelia?" I sighed. "I thought you were going to call me
Zel."
"Umm, I'll try," she blushed. "I have a favor to ask. Are you free Thursday night?"
Tutoring was cancelled for the week, no
play practice either, no fencing, no good, ready excuse came to mind-"I
can't think of any commitments. Why?"
"Oh, that's good! Then you can come with me to the ballet! It's the
Nutcracker Suite! I have friends in chorus who'll be singing. Many local school
kids have small roles, but the lead dancers are world famous!"
She rattled on at length about the show,
while I listened in mild shock. Suddenly I was to accompany Amelia and her
eek! Father to the ballet tomorrow night! Oh, joy! That's how I remember it. One minute I'm
packing up my guitar, the next, I have a date with Amelia again. Shit. What
would I wear? I had been growing out of last year's rags. I figured Xelloss
might have something. I'd ask him when he got in…ehhh, maybe not tell him
what it's for.
It was late. Nearly ten, when I heard a
car door slam and Xelloss clamored into the practice room.
"Ah, Zelgadiss? What are you
doing here?"
"Waiting to see you. I haven't seen you for days…alone…to
talk. That was a late Karate practice tonight."
"Uh, yeah, and I need a shower and twelve hours of sleep so…"
"All right, I won't keep you. I need some fashion advice though."
"Fashion?
I'm more conservative than fashionable, Zelgadiss. You going
someplace special?"
"Yep and it's a secret! I doubt my sports coat fits anymore."
"That beige thing we tossed out on moving day? Gone for
good. Want to try one of mine? Be my guest, whatever fits…I'm taking my
shower now."
See? Wasn't that easy? No third degree
questioning or hovering. I found his older navy jacket that would look fine
with a white shirt and beige slacks, snagged one of his ties and left. He was
still in the shower. Must have been a rough workout.
I had no idea how
rough.
I did clean up all right, if you could ignore the wild lavender hair and
freakish scars. It was Thursday night and I didn't even remember what happened
at school. Phil pulled up in a large sedan. I was waiting at the door and ran
out to the car before anyone had to get out. I dove into the back seat and we
were off. Phil rattled on and Amelia, in the front passenger seat, prattled
back. I smoothed out my clothes and pretended I was invisible; that is, until I
had to answer questions directed to me.
"Yes, I've been to the ballet before. My grand- scratch that-- father and
I went to ballet, opera, and theater productions irregularly. Although I didn't know what he saw in them, ha, ha. I prefer
German opera to Italian. Why? Mostly because my father likes
the Italian."
I was a brilliant conversationalist. At
least I kept up my end of it, until Amelia could take over. Thankfully, Phil
became involved with parking and forgot about me for awhile. I should have
expected that we'd have the best seats in the house; he was the Mayor. He
purchased a glass of wine, and I bought a soda for Amelia and myself before
finally settling in. I had just opened the brochure to read about the cast,
when the lights dimmed and the music began.
I won't go into a detailed description of the ballet. I'm sure you know how it
goes. Cute. Dancing. Mice. Romance. I hate cute. So this
Drosslemeyer chap rolls in two huge boxes. He's a toy
maker and these are to amuse the children. First he opens the pretty one and
out pops a human- sized, 'Columbine' dancing doll. Cute.
Next he opens the handsome box and out pops a human-sized "Harlequin'
doll. He's funny, goofy, and XELLOSS, XELLOSS, XELLOSS! Costume or no, I'd know
that guy anywhere.
Amelia gripped my arm like a vise. "Zelgadiss! Is
that who I think it is?"
"Yes."
"But, why the secret? Everyone would have wanted
to come. I didn't know he could ballet dance, did you?"
"Amelia, I don't think he wanted this known, so we should keep his secret.
Just watch."
He was good. It was a minor part. During
intermission, I scanned the cast list for his name. Found it, Xelloss
Graywords-he slipped that name change in somehow. He was taking the place of
someone else Thursday and Sunday. Another guy handled Saturday and Monday
nights. Most of the minor parts had two casts on alternate nights. Well, from
understudy to a role, that must have been sudden. Here I live with the guy, see
him everyday at school, and still I don't know him.
In the second half, he re-appeared in the same role, but he had another solo
and danced with two girls. He had to lift and swirl them around a bit. No
wonder he was tired. He was practicing this along with everything else. He must
really have liked dancing for all the trouble. I bet his mother had no idea he
was doing this either. How was he going to do at the Karate tournament, not to
mention forty minutes of drumming, and then another night of this? He was going
to have to take a break, and I had an idea. But that's another story, for
another time.
After the show, the Mayor finagled backstage passes for Amelia and me. We found
Xelloss off to one side talking with the choreographer and a couple other young
dancers.
"Maybe we should leave him be and wait outside. He'll probably appreciate
the ride home." I recommended
this. I recommend a lot of good things,
whish are often ignored. Would Amelia listen to my advice this time? No one
else does.
"If you think it's best," she said
disappointment apparent in her voice. "Oh, look he sees us. Wave!"
Amelia waved with her right hand, grabbed
my hand with her left, and dragged me through the crowd of tights. The only one
less happy was Xelloss.
Oh joy!
Well, it wasn't as if he was unhappy, simply bewildered and stunned at our
unexpected appearance. Amelia bounded up and drew us into a kind of group hug
thing.
"You were really wonderful! What a surprise! My father got us in to see
you--- blah, blah, blah -"
"Uhh, hi-Amelia, Zelgadiss-- David LeTour, I'd like to introduce Amelia Seyruun, Mayor Phil's
younger daughter, and Zelgadiss Graywords, son the well known Chemistry Department
Chair Rezo Graywords. They are good friends and…we're part of a band called The
Slayers playing at the Ball."
Introductions made, LeTour
complimented Xelloss' dancing prowess on such short notice and promised to
catch our act at the ball. He shook our hands and handed Xelloss his card
before departing.
I immediately apologized to my friend. "WE didn't know-honestly-that
you'd be here. We're the only ones. No Lina or the others…promise! If you'd
like us to leave now we will."
He uncrossed his arms and shook his head,
which flipped the tassels of his hat around, and grinned. "Too late now. That's
okay! I'm glad you're here 'cause… Can you give me a ride home? Really? Thanks. I wasn't looking forward to waiting for the
bus and my ride has other plans. Is it snowing? Wanna make snowballs?"
"Xelloss, you goofball! Amelia, get him home before he collapses!"
And she did. She listens to me and obeys.
I am master… over one person, anyway. Only it's Amelia, so that didn't sound
too good. Oh, well. Eventually, they'll all acknowledge me for the genius I am
and… anyway…
Phil cheerfully swung the car around and whisked us home. We thanked him and
Amelia, grateful for the nice time and ride home, in that order. Amelia gave me
a dreamy look and wished me a good night, or perhaps
she was just a little tired. That's it… that sounds better. She was just tired.
I think Xelloss stumbled through the doorway into his place. I stuck around
long enough to see that he'd be all right.
"Yeah, shower, brush my teeth, set my alarm, go to bed…that's my plan. By
the way, the sports coat looks good on you. Keep it! 'Night
little brother!" He smiled
weakly, and then ducked into the bathroom.
I closed and locked his door, then ran back to the main house, let myself in,
and rushed through the same steps as he planned. As I was drifting off to
sleep, I felt at ease. I'd spent a few hours with Amelia and I hadn't felt sick
or blushed or even thought about my appearance. That was something. I also felt
sad for Xelloss. Xelloss wasn't just a dancer, he was a ballet dancer, for god'ssakes. When he'd
been dancing around the past few weeks, he was practicing for this-in secret.
So much of his life had to lead in secret from his family or friends. Well not
from me. I could be that odd combination of both and be someone he could share
secrets with and not fear the consequences. I was learning about friendship. It
could include many people and it knew no limits or restrictions, even when it
got tested everyday.
So there ends this entry for tonight. Very
philosophical tonight, I'm afraid-I might just delete all in the morning-if I
remember.
Friday, Lina's diatribe:
Oh so you're gonna let ME tell the story of the
Karate match. That takes a lotta nerve, guys! Friday
was a mess. I ended up carrying home both Zel and Xelloss' cultural fair
projects, plus one of my own! Well, okay, Gourry did the actual carrying-but I
thought of it! And you know that brain-power is the most strenuous! Okay, anywhoo, they'd already cleared out and run off to
Xelloss', while I was in the library with Sylphiel and Filia flattening
posters.
"What should we do?" Sylphiel wondered in her empty-headed way.
"If their projects are left here they will just get thrown out!"
"That's probably what they want to happen to those disgusting
things!" snapped Filia.
I had to agree with Filia, this time. Gourry shook his head, "They might
get stolen by the wrong folks."
Damn, he had a point. I had to do
something. No one else would. So I set about directing the moving operation. It
was difficult, because the two projects were all connected with that damn
string! Yes, the string WAS my idea, but I didn't think I'D have to haul the
things home! But it all turned out all right, I guess.
That was the only thing that turned out all right. At the time, I thought it
was odd, and next time you can bet I'll go with my woman's intuition, that Zel
was going to accompany Xelloss early to the Karate thingy. Some
family thing-all right that did sound pretty good. Now that I think
about it, EVERY TIME Zel is not along for the ride, things go awry-- Anyway, on
with the story-Val! Get your evil ass back here 'cause you've got some part in
all this to defend!
So Zel was with Xelloss and already there, or so they've said. Amelia's van
picked up Val, Gourry, and me. Filia and Sylphiel were luckily-- and may I
suggest, suspiciously-- busy with their shriney/culty
crap to come along. We only had to go about eight miles or so and the snow was
barely visible. The van stops. Val and Gourry help the poor driver dude push it
off to the side of the rode, open the hood, and stare helplessly at whatever
guys stare at-the engine, okay?!? Does it matter? It didn't then either! The
van was Dead On un-Arrival!
Where was the cell phone? Xelloss had his-but he wasn't with us, was he?!? The van driver had one, but the BATTERIES were gone! How could that be? How could any of this be? I see no progress happening, so I step out into traffic, well nearly, and flag down some poor sucker to call a tow-truck for us. HOURS later, that poor shmuck pulls up and-he can't handle a van our size but he CAN reconnect the gas tank and give us five gallons to get us going. How did the gas line get disconnected? Where did that gas go?
Val? VAL! Shit, I told you to stick around and help me with
this journal entry! Oh, ho, ho-just wait until it comes to the band introductions
tomorrow night! I do those, remember? What SHALL I say about you?
'Course by now the match is over and we're frozen, so the van stops for hot
drinks and drops us off at home. Swell. Okay, who wants to write more? Val…
"Lina, I swear I'm innocent (I gotta be innocent of somethin'!)
I'm cold too, uh, thanks for the Chai tea, Amelia, I can almost feel my toes fallin off," growled Val. (I take back what I said,
Zel. You owe me big for this one.)
Then he smiled to think at how well he pulled it all off. It
was important that Xelloss maintain his mother's identity secret and Zel had
asked for a favor. When had they become friends so important that he, Val, was
taking risks for them, he wondered? When had he ever gone to so much trouble for
a couple of geeky nerds? Since they
started being friends and going to a lot of trouble for a worthless kid like
you--good answer.
"Yeah, Val, okay so it was all an accident-- I'll let it pass this time
since we're gonna be too busy tomorrow to dwell on
this fiasco any more." 'Nuff said.
Saturday morning.
Zelgadiss' journal:
Everything had been moved from my old house to Xelloss', or perhaps I should
call it Zelas', since he has his own apartment where the garage once stood.
Zelas parked her car out in front of her house now, or on the cement slab in
front of the 'garage'. The one last remaining object to be moved,
was Rezo's car. Why, you ask, would a blind man need a car? Well of course, to
further enslave his son --oh yes, I'm his son now-son, me, Zelgadiss Graywords.
At the age of 15, I got a special-needs driver's license. This could only be
used for toting him around to the university and back or for Rezo- specific
tasks. But now that I was 17, it had rolled over to become a full-fledged
driver's license. This I told no one. Why bother? I had no car, since I was
NEVER allowed to drive his car without his knowledge (and keys), and he never
would allow me to drive his car with a friend as passenger. No one ever asked
me about it either.
Until today. His car needed to be moved. He handed me
the keys and spouted his orders.
"Park it in
front of his place, and he can go with you, oh, and pick up this list from the
grocery store. When you get back, Zelas and I will leave for the next ten
days."
Curt and to the point. That's Rezo. Me
too, for that matter.
"Xelloss? Want to go for a ride?" I asked, setting myself up for another of
his inanities.
"In a one horse open sleigh?" He answered, glibly as usual. "Not
enough snow yet. Or are you suggesting something more…fluid?"
"No! In a car! Come on, I'll explain while we're walking." I yanked him off his chair at the computer
where he was diligently writing an E-Mail and nudged him downstairs and out the
door.
"Can't I at least get my coat buttoned?" He was complaining as usual. Since I was nearly to the street and
clearly not paying him any attention, he shut up and hurried out the door.
"Okay, Zelgadiss, this isn't much of a ride."
"I'm going to get Rezo's car. I've had my license for some time and have
been given orders to pick-up groceries and park it back at our place. I thought
you'd like the break." I really
liked to surprise Xelloss. Of all my friends, he was always the least
predicable, course he's nuts, but that made him fun to catch off guard. I
almost never did. This time, 'bingo', as he would say.
"YOU have a license! Since when? You
never told me!"
"Yes me, since I was 15, and I just did so… so it's not a secret any
longer!" I smirked. Gottcha, trickster!
"Wow! That's so cool! Where can we go? Let's see--"
"Hold on, that's why I don't tell anyone I have a license. I don't have a
car of my own and HE won't let me borrow HIS. So turn off your imagination, and
put your mind in park."
"The beach-- Zelas and Rezo are 'honeymooning' part of this and next week.
We can stay at the beach. I know a place owned by Mrs. Shearer. You remember
her? She owns the corner deli, next to the hardware store? No? We'll go there
for lunch, my treat. See how good it is to be friendly and get to know the
neighbors? We'll stop by and ask her on our way home from the grocery. It'll be
fun!"
"No, it won't be fun because it won't happen. Do you think that Rezo would
just hand over the keys to me for a week? He's counting the minutes until we
get back as it is! No. Absolutely no." I was firm. Now Xelloss was about to make
that infirm.
"Our friend Val could fix that." Xelloss
smiled evilly. He has an innocent
smile. A goofy smile
and a really, truly evil smile.
Oh, and maybe an honest one, too. "He's an expert on car theft.
He told me his first arrest was…"
"What! I don't want to get him involved. He's on thin ice with his current
probation as it is! And his job! Everything went smoothly last night. Yes, that was his call at midnight, I told you it was. Oh never mind-- NO! For the
last time, NO!"
"Okay-- then, we can make copies of the keys. I know where to do
that. I made the ones you have at the hardware store. The one next to the deli…"
He wasn't giving up. He had a bulldogged tenacious streak at
times, especially if it inconvenienced me in some way.
"Xelloss, the keys are marked 'DO NOT DUPLICATE'."
Done. Over and done, right? Wrong.
He held up his keys, which were also marked 'DO NOT DUPLICATE'. "Carl
at the hardware store knows me. What can I say?"
What could I say? I'm feeble. He had worn
down my defenses…and I wanted those keys. "All right- besides I need
to eat something before I see Lina later. You know she's going to be ready to
give us hell for her missing the match. If we bring sandwiches back for the
'newlyweds' we might get away with all this."
As we were leaving the deli, Xelloss
spied Kiki loading up her bike to deliver pastries. "Hold it
Zelgadiss!" he shouted and skipped
across the street to say hello.
Oh joy. More delay. Xelloss Delay Mettalium.
I sighed and loaded the deli bags into the back seat, locked the car, and
jogged over to drag him back.
"Oh! Zelgadiss! Such happy news! My parents are coming and we are to rent
your old house-I get to stay with my friends and school! I am so happy, I can't
breathe!" Kiki said breathlessly.
Her eyes shone and she laughed and hopped around holding Xelloss' hands. Well
that was a good thing, right? She would help him get over Lina, right?
Lucky for me, she had to move on right away, so it wasn't so hard getting
Xelloss back on track and returning to our home. Again, I was right about the
food. As soon as Zelas saw the sandwiches and pickles, we were forgiven the
delay. Now they didn't have to stop for lunch and would make up for lost time
on the road.
"Hey, we've got the whole place to ourselves!" Xelloss cheered after Zelas and Rezo drove off in her car. "So
where should we go?"
Trouble right off the mark. Zelas' perfume was still in the air. I must
have had a deadly look on my face, because he dropped the 'go for a drive idea'
and moved onto lunch. After lunch, we played video games until we were roused
from our semi-stupor by pounding at our door.
BAND TIME.
In poured Lina and Co in a deafening roar of demands,
questions, and insinuations- mostly coming from Lina. All
at once. She's a remarkable girl. I let Xelloss field the questions. He
liked to talk and seemed in the mood to tolerate anything. For some reason, I
was getting steadily more and more annoyed with the whole bunch. I excused
myself for a minute, and took a walk. I needed to be alone.
"Lina! We missed you too last night. If it makes
you feel any better, you didn't miss a thing. Our dojo did fine, but we didn't
win. The Tendo/Saotome Anything-Goes Dojo won on
talent and determination. So I am done with the competitions until summer.
Thanks, I'm fine about it. I have years of matches to prove myself, if I want
that. Now I can work more hours at the dojo, and starting paying off my credit
card bills! Ha, ha- just joking! Yeah, my mother was there and Rezo-oh, yeah,
sorry you missed those two! Actually, no I'm not! Really, Lina, it wasn't
important and we had to rush off to the 'wedding' afterwards anyway."
Lina let it go, this
time. She didn't want to talk
about her evening.
Amelia had put together an 'inventory' listing all the boxes to be loaded.
Eventually, the exact contents of each box would be listed too, and a master
check-off sheet could be made. That way, she reasoned, nothing would be
forgotten or left behind. (Of course, this theory left no room for things that
were left off the lists--) I had already
filled out my detailed lists and taped it to my Fender case along side an
orderly stack packed boxes.
Sylphiel handed over her detailed list of all
the costumes in her domain. "I
also baked some rolls and packed snacks-in case we don't get to eat there."
Lina was about to start screaming about
missing dinner, when Amelia hopped into the fray with the grace of an elephant.
"We don't need to eat before playing!-"
"WHO IS THIS WE PERSON!"
bellowed Lina.
"Miss Lina! After we're done, it's an all night ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET!"
Lina was mollified a bit. Snacks followed
by FOOD. Okay, time to pack. "So where the hell's Zel?"
Xelloss was dispatched to the house to
find me, while everyone else, mostly Gourry and Val, loaded the van. I wasn't
in the house. Xelloss and Val ran to the park, Gourry to the strip mall, and
Lina and Amelia walked around the block. I had been at the park, but returned
after the van was loaded and climbed into the front passenger seat, where I was
in conversation with the driver. He was telling me about the mysterious broken
gas line problem, when Lina et al ripped open the doors and screamed,
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!"
"Here, Lina, where I am now. Isn't it about time we got going?" I asked dryly.
I could hear her growling for miles. Maybe it was her stomach, though.
…~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~…
…~:~*~:~…And now… for Amelia's
Fairytale Presentation
of the Mayor's Ball,
Saturday night…~:~*~:~…
My turn, my turn, my turn! My turn to write in Mr. Zelgadiss' journal! The
experience at the Ball was one to remember a lifetime. The decorations were sooooo beautiful. I helped select the color scheme -
lavender and blue, my favorite! Everything was perfect! We had plenty of time
to set up on one stage while the first four bands set up on another. Those
bands weren't nearly as polished as our band and only were allotted fifteen
minute sets each. I had already arranged for lighting changes and the fog
machine. It's so important for HIS song, you know. All the pretty songs need
some atmosphere, I think. The rockers get swirling warm-colored lights and Mr.
Val's number always is best with that added strobe light.
I saw to it that Mr. Xelloss had a liter of water by his drums, and smaller
sports drink bottles for everyone else. Were they surprised to find the Slayers
logo printed on them! My idea! We set up so fast that we could relax ( kind of ), walk around, and eat a little. Even Miss Lina
couldn't eat much- she has to have 'singing space', she calls it. Mr. Zelgadiss
says that she doesn't need food in her stomach pressing on her diaphragm,
making it difficult to breathe correctly.
So where was I? Oh, yes, we started at 8:00 and played to nearly 9:00, counting
two encores! Only the Suzaku Seven played as long as we did! We got to talk to
them while we were packing up. They sang from 10:00 to a bit after 11:00, when
the ballroom dancing began.
Our songs went so well! Mr. Zelgadiss looked dreamy floating in the fog- what
was that? No one nearly choked to death! Miss Sylphiel's song was the prettiest
I'd ever heard. The new synthesizer Mr. Val got for Mr. Xelloss' song had some gorgeous
effects for her song too! I almost cried when-okay guys, I did cry, but it was
soooo beautiful when Miss Filia sang your new Somewhere In the World song…sitting beside Mr. Val as he played
piano. In addition, Mr. Xelloss, I know you were thinking about Kiki when you
were singing your song, though I never really thought of it as a love song,
since Miss Lina had written it, but I figured out what the secret was that
you've been singing about in the song!
So what else? Of course, Mr. Gourry's song was great! Did you see all the
dancers? And Miss Lina, you had to be the favorite! The way the audience
cheered and whistled for you to do the encore! That had to be the greatest
feeling! What? The food? You liked it? That makes me
feel soooo good to know! I planned the menu with you in mind, Miss Lina. So did
we all have a good time? Yes? Yes!
…~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~… The BEST! …~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~…
…~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~……~:~*~:~…
(((.-)) Zel |||^.^||| Xelloss |{{^.^}}|
Lina |((.^)|| Gourry ((^.^)) Amelia |))-.-((| Val
End Seyruun High Jinx Chapter 28