Seyruun High Jinx—NEXT
Chapter 50
The Musical: Finale.
"I pretty much try to stay in a constant state of confusion just because of the expression it leaves on my face." – Johnny Depp
Val nabbed Lina with one lanky arm and Nahga with the other and dove for the orchestra pit. Amelia tucked and rolled into the wings where Bobby and his entire band were hovering, weapons at the ready. Zel and Sylphiel lunged to the other side opposite Amelia, knocking Filia off her feet and taking her with them. Xelloss grabbed Grauscherra and followed Val and Lina over the side.
"Goourreeeeeee!" Lina screamed. The dust hadn't settled before she was on her feet, and Val's leg, climbing back onto the demolished stage. He had been an arm's length away when Val's arm wrapped around her. Now he wasn't. "Gourry!"
Zel scrambled out and over the rubble, "Any sign?"
"No, damnit!" she snarled.
"There!" Zel hopped to a portion of the catwalk. "Gourry?"
He heard a muffled reply. "Lina, he's under here!"
"Gimme a hand!" Lina shouted as Val hobbled over.
Zangalus heard the cries for Gourry from the back. "Stay hidden," he warned his charges, and turned back to find an ashen-faced young Joey huddling at his elbow. "You, too! Get in there! And stay in there where it's safe!" Zangalus shouted, and then rushed back to the calamity to facilitate any rescue attempts.
Xelloss materialized out of thin air and began working his staff under the weight and using it as a lever to pry up a segment of the walk. Val wedged first his shoulder, then hunks of brick and rubble under the walk, lifting it more.
"Zangalus, good... ugh... I could use more leverage on that side," Xelloss grunted.
"The Howling Sword was not designed for this," Zangalus began, but one look at Val's fierce eyes and Xelloss' deadly ones and he demurred, "but it will serve..." He shoved his treasured, heirloom sword beneath the layers of wood and heaved for all his worth.
"Keep going," Zel called. "I can almost fit!" He pushed himself halfway beneath the raised part. "Gourry, can you...? I see you! All right, give us a bit to free up more of this."
Zel slithered out. "He's trapped, but he managed to get his sword up in time. It's holding the weight off of him...and that syndicate guy who was trapped in the floor. He saved him."
"Idiot..." Lina mumbled, but her watery eyes said 'Proud of ya!'
Filia and Grauscherra pulled a few of the lengthier 2x4's from the rubble and added their lever power to Xelloss'. Amelia and Sylphiel found boxes which Zel and Lina shoved under the broken, but now slowly rising catwalk.
"That's... great. I... can get out... myself," Gourry gasped between coughs.
Gourry brushed of the dust and splinters, "Well, guess I was lucky."
Lina smacked him. "Never...EVER play the hero like that again—do you hear me! That piece of filth you 'saved' was happy to just kill any one of us. What if you had gotten...hurt bad or killed? What would we have done without you?"
Gourry was saddened. "I'm sorry if I worried ya."
"Yeah well... we got work ta do here. See if you can cut me a path over there, where Inu and those dudes are...uh...no... something's up."
When they cast around to look for the 'something,' they found it being enacted in the shadows beyond the rubble.
Seishirou had caught Subaru in his arms, as he had so many times in happier days. Blood covered the left side of his face, flowing from his eye. Shrapnel from the wreckage had injured him gruesomely, but he still smiled. "It's just like old times, isn't it, Subaru-kun? I'm always saving you."
"Seishirou!" Subaru was crying, unable to get physically free of his grasp, but obviously under even worse emotional constrictions.
The Slayers could only watch.
"I'm always saving you," Seishirou mused. He had a knife to Subaru's throat. He knelt and laid Subaru down, but kept a hold of his wrists. He still had the knife. Subaru twisted his arm, got his own fingers around the handle.
Seishirou was so shocked that he didn't even try to prevent it. Instead of pushing the weapon away, Subaru had jerked it forward. Subaru drove the blade into his own left eye.
Sylphiel screamed.
Seishirou's confusion was no mask. He dropped the weapon, he dropped Subaru's wrists. Released, Subaru staggered to his feet, armed, and then asked, "Am I strong enough now? I am different? Am I worth killing now, now that I can kill you!"
Seishirou smiled. "Subaru-kun."
"Why! Why did you say those things to me when you never cared about anything in your life! Why did you trick me! If you wanted to kill me, all you had to do was wait in the shadows!"
"I didn't know if I wanted to kill you or not. I had to find out."
"Now are we the same? Now are we equal? Now is it okay?" Subaru was still talking, his voice shaky and raw.
"You really want to kill me? Or do you want me to kill you?"
"I don't know! I don't even know anymore!" Subaru screamed. "I don't even know who I am!"
Seishirou touched the bloody mess on the left half of the shorter, younger man's face. "Your sister said something before she died," he said, off-handedly.
The shaking, bloodied, wild-seeming Subaru gasped.
"Dear Hokuto. She was such a character," Seishirou chuckled. "She told me that if I ever came for you, she'd haunt me forever. I told her, 'isn't that a long time to spend with someone you hate?' But she replied, 'I still don't hate you. Even after I know the truth about you. I still can't hate you, because I know how kind you used to be to us.' Isn't that sweet, how humans can disregard such grave things, can live happily in denial?"
"I can't" Subaru shuddered. "I can't anymore! I want...all I want..."
"She told me that if I tried to kill you...well, she told me what else would happen. I wonder...is what a person says before they die true? Can you trust them?" he mused. "She saved you, of course, but only because I played along with her. I'll play along with her now..."
Zolf had been busy at his observation post outside the building when he saw the pigeons escaping through broken and breaking windows-- then he heard the catwalk collapse. He was preparing to barge past the side stage door to rescue and protect the kids inside, when his 'boss' notified him to hold his position longer.
"Rodimus can handle things out here. Let me confirm their condition inside," Zolf added in desperation. He was already running into the hall by the time he was given permission.
Unfortunately, that was just the break Naraku had been waiting for. "Time to bring this to a conclusion..."
It could only have taken an instant. It seemed the entire world was in slow motion, suspended animation while only those two moved. It could only have taken an instant. But it changed things irreparably. Seishirou sprang up, another knife, concealed up his left sleeve, now a flash in his hand, streaking towards Subaru. Like a silent movie, or a perpetually performed marionette show, or a force of nature, it happened. Seishirou
—still smiling so beguilingly, like a cat seems to while it means nothing of the sort, like a death's head moth has the marking of a skull on its back but does not intend to be a memento mori—
came forward and Subaru
—crushed and shaking and broken and changed and empty like a leaf still clinging to a winter branch, needing only to break that final tie with its former life before it can be set free, free to—
instinctively brought his arms out to protect himself and—
Seishirou made just a little gasp as the knife plunged through his own breast.
Zolf crashed through the partially blocked doorway in time to witness the two men struggling. However, there was nothing Zolf could do to help either man when he unexpectedly had his hands full of Nakago-- cuffing him Nakago while Hotohori and Tamahome sat on his head and legs and preparing to shuffle him outside. Then his heart sank. This was not the worst of the lot; an even more terrible syndicate superior had arrived. How had Naraku entered the building without his knowing? He shoved Nakago harder, "Move it!" At least he knew where to direct the incoming reinforcements, now.
Inu met his archenemy with teeth bared and began pummeling at Naraku, but was receiving more in return. He was making no headway in subduing the man. "He's stronger than the last time we met," Inu confided to Miroku.
"He's wearing us down, he and his minions. I can't tell how the other battles are going, but I wish we could get some help. I'm also limited by this ACE bandage on my wrist."
He motioned as if to remove it, when his arm was blocked by Sango's hand. "It could cause serious injury if you do that. You should rest it as is."
Miroku laughed in astonishment, "You DO care!"
Sango blushed. As much as she hated to admit it, she really did like the young priest from the White Shrine. She knew he liked her, too, but he had left a trail of girlfriends behind him at his high school and was afraid his interest in her would wane with greater intimacy. She never wanted to be left behind again. "Watch out!" she shouted.
Rodimus was directing the operations outside, loading syndicate captives into CIA armored vans for transport to interrogation cells. Zolf, had just stuffed his prisoner into the van when his boss signaled him 'Backup incoming.' He was promptly put in charge of a special operations team which had just rolled up to join the party. Their task: secure the 'Dolphin' syndicate leader. The problem: no one could identify him or her. Zolf knew Naraku was a more immediate threat and was waiting for the 'go ahead' to take him out as well.
"There are syndicate parasites, fugitives from the law, and many unknown mercenaries attacking the Slayers kids inside, but none of them are this 'dolphin' character you want. And if you are not careful, you might hit one of the good guys fighting for the Slayers, or an innocent bystander, although we have nearly cleared them from the area. You can't tell the good guys from the bad in there...and you have no idea who you're even after, correct? No, I can't just let you start firing when you don't know who the targets are! Hold on..." Zolf broke from his special-ops team to reply to his boss, "Yes? Yes, ma'am!" He gestured to the men to follow him, "All right, we secure Naraku first, know who he is? Good, we're goin' in, then."
Mr. Rossburg had been enjoying a nap in the back room behind the stage, when a hunk of the wall caved in at his feet, not far from the crate he had lugged in. "W-what!"
"Stay in there where it's safe!" shouted a voice.
A green-haired, long-legged girl, a pale-blonde haired and very long-legged boy, a long, black-haired, short-legged boy, and a flustered, average-looking young man all popped through the crude opening and crammed into the small room. "Hi!" long-haired Miwan said in greeting. "Sorry to disturb you, Sir!"
Mr. Rossburg struggled to his feet. "You don't look like one of those Slayers kids. What are doing disturbing their musical?"
"Have you been watching any of the play? Um, like the ending? It's like all the nutcases with a gripe are pickin' this day to fight them," John replied. He wrapped an arm protectively around Joey; both were frightened to death by all the madness, not excited.
"No wonder that little Lina girl wanted me to bring these," Rossburg patted the crate affectionately.
Martina nosed around to the other side and read the lettering stamped onto the end. "Explosives...EXPLOSIVES! You brought explosives! Are you crazy!" she started to shriek.
Rossburg smiled, "I...am a director. We are all a bit crazy. Now, listen carefully while I explain how to employ these."
"Explosives?" Jillas crept out of a discarded carton once holding thousands of plastic, disposable drinking cups. "Hey, Gravos! Someone was holdin' out on us. There's more!"
Martina narrowed her eyes at them both, demanding, "Where have you two been? We could have used you out there fighting!"
Rossburg patted both Martina and Jillas on the back, "No time for harsh words kids. It's time for all good men to come to the aid of their compatriots! These are mine, by the way, and very dangerous."
Jillas' eyes grew saucer-like. He was impressed. "This...is a beautiful arsenal..." he gasped.
Rossburg grinned, "The best. Now as to the deployment..."
"Where are you, Grauscherra and Metallium? Afraid to show yourselves?" The voice came from a far too young-looking man with delicate features and long, black wavy hair. Naraku.
"Hey, you! I'm the one yer fightin'!" Inu shouted, directing another offensive sword attack at the disinterested man.
Naraku deflected the smaller young man's blade effortlessly, sending Inu head over heals into his friends, and knocking Sango and Miroku flat. Once disengaged from that bunch, Naraku concentrated on locating the objects of his obsession.
Where were those irritating, troublesome children? A Gaav, a Metallium, another bloody Inverse, that worthless Grauscherra, and the Red Priest's heir? All his competition in one convenient location– how nice.
Amelia watched the pool of blood creep towards her shoe. It seemed the safest thing to look at. What was happening at the source of the flow was too personal, too horrible for her eyes.
"All I want...all I ever wanted..." Subaru intoned. Disbelief made him incongruous with reality. Seishirou was on his knees, slumped over him. The hand that had held the knife held only a bunch of Subaru's jacket in the back. His other arm was also wrapped around the shell-shocked boy. He clutched him tightly, driving the blade in deeper. Embracing Subaru and his death, Seishirou still smiled.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never wanted—I--!" Subaru stuttered, tears washing his cheeks. "All I wanted...all...I..."
"Subaru-kun. You are too kind. Too kind and gentle for this world," Seishirou coughed. Still smiling, smiling...damned villain! That one can smile, and smile, and be a villain!
"All I wanted was to hear...was for you to mean..." Subaru wilted under the weight of Seishirou, his fading body and his words and his deeds and his past, their past, the fantasy they had lived in...it was all too heavy.
As he fell to the floor over his killer, feeling his heart giving up the struggle to keep pumping blood that was mostly escaping already, Seishirou whispered something to Subaru that no one else would ever hear.
Zel closed his eyes so that they wouldn't betray him. He'd been so composed though the whole fight, but this... He'd seen it coming, before any of the others (except Lina, of course) had even suspected. For someone as selfless as Subaru to be betrayed so utterly...it could only drive him to the path of tragedy. Right? Or could it have all been prevented if Zel had said...something?
While the Slayers were gaping at the horror playing out on the stage floor, Naraku approached in a whisper of silk-against-silk.
"Oh my. And I thought this might be a challenge," Naraku said in a tone betraying an emotion akin to boredom. He looked at Lina and said, "I had hoped Zazan would have done the trick, but he proved to be worthless. Where did he go, I wonder? I don't see Miss Sherra here either."
Grauscherra spoke up, "You're speaking of Sherra, my assistant? She's been missing since the early afternoon. What do know about her? Who in hell are you?"
Naraku graced him with a slant-wise stare, "In Hell? You have me confused with that child, Phibrizzo. I 'loaned' Zazan to Sherra to speed up my fact-finding mission. She didn't know. She believed he was from you; my doing. I had hoped, ultimately, that together they would delay Miss Inverse's unfortunate musical long enough to give my other operatives time to get into place here."
"Keep him talking," Xelloss whispered to Lina. He had noticed with curiosity that the man's kimono was loose, draping over a slender form, and, on further scrutiny, something else. Naraku was wearing something bulky beneath his showy attire that set off alarms in Xelloss' mind.
"I can't believe that you were behind that Rossburg play fiasco!" Lina shouted, drawing a malevolent gaze her way.
"I know nothing about that," he snapped. Collecting himself, Naraku dismissed that train of thought, "It doesn't matter. They failed."
"He asked you a question, buster," Lina pointed out. "Who are you, which syndicate goon do you call 'master'—or was one of these guys here today your slime-lord?"
If her words hurt his ego, he didn't show it. "Today? These 'people'? Just a few miscellaneous mercenaries I collected, mostly leftover minions of Phibrizzo, Zelas, Darkstar, and Dolphin, even a few of Gaav's followers."
"Which makes you...?" Lina stood her ground.
"Naraku."
"I'll bet," Lina sniffed. "You're a Dolphin toady then?"
If Lina's point was to get a reaction out of the man, she succeeded.
His posture stiffened measurably. "Dolphin... is in an asylum. Dauphin du Mer, or the Deep Sea Dauphin family was up until recently headed by Merasea Dauphin. She sent out orders to ID you all, trying to locate her remaining family to take over her...estates...but her confusing orders got twisted."
"By you, no doubt," Lina said. "So, the Dolphin position got usurped by you...Naraku. Were you the one who sent Tiiba and Halciform after us?"
"Yes, to recruit Mr. Greywords and I added a little incentive for them to kill any of you not under some kind of protection."
"You mean Sylphiel and Gourry. Pickin' on the weak, huh?"
"I'm not weak, Lina..." Gourry started to argue.
"Picking off the weak, we say." Naraku circled around closer to Lina and nudged the fallen body of Seishirou. "Such a waste. His meeting you all last summer at the beach was such a fortunate accident. What a wonderful connection for me to use, but...I hadn't counted on his one fatal weakness... or that boy's surprising...volition."
Subaru merely stared, silently, under the weight of the dead man. If he heard Naraku's revelations, he did not indicate any comprehension.
Xelloss had managed to slip behind Gourry and caught Zolf's attention. "Clear the room," he mouthed and mimed. "Fast!"
Zolf understood and called in other units to clear all the remaining people from the area. Aside from Zolf and the special ops team, Naraku, the Slayers, Bobby's band, Kiki up in the recording booth, and the fallen Subaru and Seishirou, there were no others remaining in the hall-- that they knew of.
"Seems to me your plans have been all failures, let downs, and defeats," Lina mused confidently.
"Until now..." Naraku began.
"Especially now! You are up against the mighty Lina Inverse and her notorious band of renegades, the Slayers!"
"The Slayers of the UNJUST!" Amelia held forth. "This is for Alfred, who you used!" Naraku hadn't taken the 'credit' for that, but she needed to blame someone.
"Heh, you've wasted too much time. I can't believe you just stood here and told us all this stuff," Lina said.
"Waste? Never. I told you all this because it is already too late for you to do anything. Everything was already set in motion. It was me who has been delaying your exit." Naraku broke down and allowed a sickly smile to spread across his face.
Lina didn't wait for his attack to come. She jumped onto his back and starting pounding him for all she was worth. He was prepared for something like that, because he moved lightening fast, miraculously nabbing her by the wrists and throwing her over his back forward so that she was standing, dazed in front of him. He whipped her around, gripping her securely and nearly strangling her.
"Hall is cleared, but we can't get a clear shot," Zolf alerted his boss.
"Very well. I left the tower and am on the roof...I... am in position. Get all those kids out now. I'm coming in," his boss ordered.
Listening in from behind the stage area was making Mr. Rossburg antsy. "We shouldn't wait much longer."
"I say we start now," Jillas said excitedly waving a few small bombs in the air.
"Well, start at the edges to frighten away any kids, then we'll come up from behind to set off the heavy artillery," the ex-play-director agreed.
Zolf dispatched the orders and, encountering Xelloss first, told him to pass the word then get a move on, also. Xelloss glanced up to see a special ops man removing Kiki to safety, while others were secreting the Flying Figs kids out the side door.
BOOM!
Xelloss jumped a foot when a cherry bomb blasted a yard away, but he regained his composure and moved toward his goal. Xelloss' eyes met Naraku's. "Let her go. Take me instead."
"Oh no...Mr. Metallium. Only for this one," he jerked Lina tighter, "will I be able to flush out all the undercover agents. I want them all destroyed."
KABOOM! BOOM! Jillas was busy.
"But how--?" Xelloss' eyes opened wide with complete comprehension. He had been right about the heavy belt Naraku wore hidden, wrapped around his waist. He had to buy them a little more time to free Lina and get clear. "You are going to blow yourself up? How does that get you dominion over the syndicate, unless you think you can run it from hell like your name suggests?"
"What makes you think I am the real..." But the rest of Naraku's words were cut off by the splintering of glass.
A woman swinging from a rope broke through the upper windows feet-first. Her momentum hurtled her forwards into Naraku. She expertly tore Lina from his arms and delivered a blow to his chin and kick to his guts in passing.
Xelloss was on the woman in a second, about to tear her arms out of their sockets if she didn't free Lina instantly.
Lina was nonplussed only a moment, and then gasped aloud, "Mother?"
"M-mother...?" Xelloss parroted.
"Not yours, MINE!" Lina bellowed and push them both off her.
But further discussion was cut off when Martina ran out screaming, "Get out of the way! Big explosives!" Gravos, Rossburg, John, Joey, and Miwan were right behind her.
Zolf pushed the comatose Subaru into Xelloss' arms, and then quickly knelt and scooped up the body of Seishirou. "Run!"
They all did, except for Naraku. He was laughing hysterically and shouting, "You're too late! You are all too—"
The stage enfolded upon itself, then blew out in clouds of explosive percussion. What windows had been intact before, were now blown out with the force of a fiery hot, gale-like wind. Deadly shafts of splintered wood hurled past where the stage had been, carrying snagged pieces of curtain fluttering like tiny red flags. Dust, smoke, noise, heat, and pain filled the auditorium room, and then it was over.
A crater marked where Naraku had last stood. Sooty smudges traced the bare ground and remaining concrete walls near the front entrance where a multitude of explosives had blown out from behind the stage. Of the set and costumes, the ticket office and refreshments stand, the velvet covered flip-down seats, sound system, computer-controlled lights, and video recording room--there was no sign.
Naraku was gone—blown to bits, but the Slayers and all their friends were saved.
Kiki got it all on video tape, up until the explosion, which she recorded from a distance outside the building. The making of the musical, the practices, the entire performance, and best of all, the exciting finale were all recorded for posterity. Now she was taping the wrap-up and interviewing as many persons-of-interest as possible.
The big story: Lina floored, mystified, and in awe.
Zolf and Rodimus were in tight communication with their boss, directing other agents as to the incarceration of so many captured men and women. They looked first to the protection of the Slayers because that was their job, twice over. First as their employed security guards, roadies, sound men, and friends; and second as employees of the CIA under the direction of Ms. Linda Inverse, Lina's mother.
Looking at the two women standing together, the family resemblance was striking. Petite with flaming red hair, although clipped just touching her shoulders, Linda was an older, more mature version of her daughter. Her eyes were darker, containing more brown than red highlights, but her wit was just as bright and quick to spot the flaw in any argument. As Lina learned that late afternoon, her mother never let her dear daughters drift far from her thoughts, although she had parted from their lives years ago. She and her husband were both agents with hidden identities. His was exposed, and hers nearly in the explosion killing him and the Great Red Priest in Sairaag. To protect her daughters, Linda was sent away. Luna was aligned with the Cepheid Believers and was appointed their 'knight'. She knew, through them, about her mother and spoke with her infrequently, and kept the promise– Lina would not be told. This was the day, however, that Lina learned everything.
While Linda and Luna and Lina stood head-to-head in deep conversation, Rodimus and Zolf directed the clean-up operations. Zelgadiss and Xelloss lead the Slayer's line up to greet and thank each of their friends and comrades in arms who had come that day ready for more than an afternoon's light entertainment. The Draconian cultists, Van, Hitomi and friends left early, happy to have done their part to rid the world of some evil. Besides, Alan had to deal with Celena's latest relapse.
After saying their good-byes, the Goddesses and Keiichi offered Jubei-chan, Shiro, and the bound Hajime a ride home after hearing that their bicycles had been damaged beyond repair outside. The Sailing team and Fencing teams saluted and left. Kenshin spoke to Zelgadiss alone a moment, and then followed his friends out the door. Xelloss bowed to his old dojo sensei and promised to visit. The other martial arts students, including Sano and Ranma, paid tribute to one another's skills and that of the Slayers and then they, too, departed.
While the GW Tech students and Heero said their farewells to the Slayers, Amelia took a moment to explain to Duo about her deepening relationship with Zelgadiss. His cheerful demeanor deflated a little when he understood that he would not be dating Amelia anytime soon, but he understood and wished her well.
The Suzaku Seven spoke to each of the Slayers for some time before they too left the hall. They had a lot of history together and now a problem clouding their past was put to rest.
"Listen, sis... and mom... Milgasia needs to get back to the settlement and so do I. We have a mess of our own to take care of. We'll be in town tomorrow when you all meet with the police for formal statements." She gave both Lina and her mother a hug, then left.
Martina and Zangalus parted saying little, knowing they'd all meet soon to give official statements to the police. John and Miwan offered to take Joey home, for which Gourry was deeply grateful.
But the Slayers could not put all of their heart into these congratulations and partings. There was one friend who could not just go home and laugh about the whole thing in a few weeks.
Subaru hadn't wanted to be separated from Seishirou's body, and had to be restrained by the paramedics. To complete this scene, he fainted in the parking lot, and so he was carted off to the hospital, the Slayers found out. He was being treated for the injuries to his gouged eye and shock, but didn't seem to be responding. They were asked for information, and Xelloss produced Subaru's grandmother's phone number, and his last name, which impressed but did not surprise the hospital receptionist they had called.
"I thought I recognized him, but I decided it couldn't possibly be the same boy!" she gasped. "The last time he was here, he was cheering up elderly and young patients in between jobs, and he was lively as can be! I heard about what happened with his sister, but that was handled by the other hospital, and I hadn't seen him since."
"If we showed up, would we be admitted to see him?" Xelloss asked.
"Since he's sustained major trauma, I'm not sure if even his grandmother will be cleared for some time. Sorry, kids."
"Thank you, anyway."
"That's strange," Zel murmured. "I haven't seen that pet-shop guy since the melee."
"'Pet shop guy'?"
From his spot on the asphalt where the kids were all collapsed around Xelloss and his cell phone, Zel looked up to see their friend Detective Laytner and his partner, looking harried and bedraggled. "You mean that shady 'Count D' character?"
"Officer Orcot is looking for him, too!" Detective Randy 'Ryo' Maclean explained. "We haven't seen him anywhere!"
"But that means he didn't show up dead, either," Lina pointed out.
"We have no evidence he's hurt in any way," Ryo agreed. "But be on the look-out, okay, kids. And, um..."
"Yeah, um, shit, kids," Dee shook his head in disbelief.
"Yes, thank goodness you're all okay!" Ryo managed.
"Thanks for showing up and helping us!" Amelia returned.
"Well, we were there on assignment, anyway," Dee shrugged, but Ryo pushed him a little, derisively.
"Oh, come on, you big softy. He begged the chief to get us this assignment so we could help you guys out."
"Yeah, well, you wanted to see the musical, if I remember correctly mister 'You're such a big softy, Dee!'" Dee said mockingly, to try to regain his dignity.
"Everyone came," Lina said, quietly. "Everyone came to see us..."
But her words were erased by the familiar whirring of a propeller above their heads.
The lot looked up to see a cheerfully yellow helicopter bearing own a few meters away. The good thing about leveling an area with explosives is that it becomes an instant helicopter-landing pad.
"If this is more goons, I'm just going home," Dee muttered, then looked at Xelloss, who had supplied that home and added, "Right after I ice their asses, of course."
"Well, you don't need to worry," Ryo gave him a look. "See that emblem on the side?"
It could have been the private transport of the CEO of a toy company, with the smiling, cartoony fish symbol on the side of the machine. But, of course, it belonged to none other than the
"F#ing CLAMP campus detectives!" Dee grunted. "What are those rich bastards doing here?"
"They were here earlier, I saw them. They've been helping us, too!" Amelia reminded him. "They know Count D. Maybe they know where he is?"
"Maybe they know something!" Sylphiel cried. "I'm so confused!"
"Yeah, you and everybody else," Filia comforted her. "I don't think anybody really knows everything that happened."
"I'm going to test that theory," Lina mumbled.
The three young detectives emerged from the helicopter and made their way over.
"Anyway, we're glad you're all safe and more-or-less sound, and we'll keep in touch!" Ryo shook Zel, Val, Amelia and Sylphiel's hands.
"Yeah, and, ah, thanks for everything," Dee shook Xelloss, Filia, Gourry, and, finally and most firmly, Lina's hands. "You'll knock 'em dead, whatever you end up doing, sweetheart," Dee added to her.
"Of course I will, darling!" she grinned.
And so, as the Seyrunn PD duo retreated and the CLAMP group approached, they traded detective teams.
"See you at the Detectives' Ball in December, Detective Laytner, Maclean!" the young Akira Iyojuin called to the couple, who only waved gingerly back.
"Where have you been?" Xelloss tried to be flippant, but his voice was wavering now.
"Just doing our job!" Nokoru of the blonde tresses and brightest smile mirrored Xelloss' attempts at light-heartedness. "We're going to go see Master Sumeragi. Would you like to accompany us? Oh, and Count D insisted on coming, too, I hope that is all right with you?"
The CLAMP campus detectives had some sort of magic, probably of the monetary variety, which allowed them to pass un-constrained though any number of obstacles. They seemed to be able to march right through the doors to wherever they wanted in the building without so much as an ID check. But the remarkable nature of their visit was lost on the Slayers, who had become instantly subdued upon entering the building. The air of the hospital was more oppressive than usual, despite the fact that this time, they weren't even waiting to hear whether a friend would live or die, as they had experienced too many times in the past two years. No, today was different, because there wasn't really any hope at all.
The Slayers filed into the room Nokoru and Suoh lead them to while Akira talked to a nurse about the pink cardboard box he was carrying.
Subaru was in a cold white room. He looked so pale lying in a shroud of white hospital sheets that if not for his black hair, he would have been nearly invisible. A white bandage was thickly wrapped around his head and the left side of his face. A nurse whispered clandestinely that he would never see out of that eye again. She didn't have to say anything. The Slayers had been there. They knew perfectly well the damage that he'd done to himself.
"Subaru," Nokoru greeted him, gently. He nodded, but did not speak or turn his head towards them. "I brought everybody."
Lina walked over to him first. "Thanks for coming to the musical," she said, quietly. "I...I'm sorry I didn't do more for you." He shook his head, calmly, calmingly.
"It's my fault!" Xelloss cried. "I should have...I should have kept watching over you! If I had just paid attention—"
"I should have said something!" Zel moaned. "I knew how you felt, but I didn't say anything useful, and I could have helped if I'd just—"
"I knew he was a villain, but I thought we were through with him and I just forgot-" Val muttered.
"I should have done something!" Amelia wept on Sylphiel's shoulder.
It occurred to Filia that the reason she felt so awful was that they had all breezed through the battle, as if it were a game, while Subaru had suffered. It was too close to her secret guilt, that they had been oblivious to his pain as she tried to stay oblivious to everyone's pain, and they could have helped him! She could have...
"You are only human," a new voice cut through their noise, cool and clear, "and you have to choose some way to live. Do not regret your choice." Count D, elegant as usual despite the chaos he'd just been through, put one of those lacquered-nailed, spidery hands on Filia's shoulder, and surprisingly, she felt a little better.
"My choice..." Subaru murmured. "When someone is dying..." He had to stop for a second before finishing his thought. "Is what they say..." Another pause for breath or for the pain to go away or whatever was plaguing him, then, "the truth?"
"Who's to say?" Count D said. "A crocodile can shed tears, after all."
"But a crocodile isn't trying to pretend to cry," Nokoru pointed out. "It's just natural behavior."
Count D raised one pencil-line-thin eyebrow to Nokoru. "The Sakurazuka clan has a certain rite they perform in choosing a successor. This is not unusual. The Sumeragi, too, have rites of selection and succession. But the Sakurazuka rites are of a very different nature."
Subaru closed his one visible eye. Count D went on. "Of course, they also go through a good deal of training at an early age. You might call it conditioning."
Did he exchange a purple look with Xelloss? Or was it just his imagination? Xelloss looked away. He already felt sick.
"They are not allowed contact with family members because, in order to raise perfect assassins, they must cease to make emotional connections to humans. To accomplish this state, they force young to kill from an early age, and to kill anyone they become emotionally attached to. Therefore, to preserve the family line, they cannot know their close family until they are inducted as mature members of the clan."
Amelia let out a little whimper, but Sylphiel hugged her more tightly.
"Much the same as the leadership rite in a pride of lions, the Sakurazuka who finds and kills the former head of the clan is the new leader. This is the law of nature."
Lina understood suddenly. She'd seen it in Seishirou through the entire tragedy. "Only humans try to go against their nature. Only humans can be more than their nature."
"Who was...the former head of the Sakurazuka clan?" Suoh asked, in his calm and quiet voice, but more gently than was his want.
"His mother," Count D replied.
"But don't you see?" Lina cried. "He tried to kill Subaru because he—And, and he didn't because—"
"Because it was his nature. And because he was human," Count D agreed. "It was his weakness and Subaru's strength."
"But...then why...didn't he..." He had to stop. They heard him pull a labored breath. "Say...it before?" A tear escaped the working eye, but sudden pain twinged in the other, and he gasped.
"Hang on, Subaru!" Akira cried, his innocent and naïve heart torn apart by this senseless tragedy. "I brought crème brulee for everybody! The nurse said it would be okay if you ate something, since the medication is wearing off!"
Subaru cracked the barest smile. "Thank you...not hungry. Oh!" Everyone was about to rush for a nurse at this second gasp, until he followed it up with, "While I'm here...who will feed...my fish?"
Over crème brulee and a few long-postponed tears of relief, and after a call to the White Shrine to insure that someone (Miroku, actually) had feeding instructions for the koi, the Slayers watched a miracle unfold.
"Subaru," Nokoru began again. "Your grandmother has requested that you take a leave of absence from your post as the Thirteenth Sumeragi Head. She would like for you to live your own life for a while, and then be left to decide for yourself whether your vocation is still strong."
"My vocation..." he thought about it. "I will do as...she says. I cannot help...anyone as I am...now."
"Do not judge yourself harshly!" Amelia and Akira chimed together. "You're still good and pure! And you'll get better!"
He smiled again. "I am not the same...as I was. I...can't return. Sorry for failing you."
"You didn't fail anyone," Xelloss said, firmly. "Everyone gets depressed sometimes. For some of us, it's everyday. But people can get over anything, or at least, they can try to. If I could do it, then you must be able to."
"I...could never try to...understand your pain," Subaru said, "but...I will try to believe you."
"Regardless, you have time to discover your own path for yourself, now," Nokoru said. "We would like to help. We are going to transfer you to the special facilities at the CLAMP school. And we would like for you to attend the college there."
"But I never...finished high school," Subaru sighed.
"That doesn't matter. We have an award-winning zoology program, and a magnificent zoo. Count D told us you might be interested in that."
"And when you are well, perhaps you would like to accompany me on my buying trip through Asia?" the 'count' proposed. "I could use an assistant with such a sensitivity for animals."
Lina added, "And Xelloss is taking us all to Japan in a couple months so you gotta get better quick so you can join us."
In the white, blank room, Subaru's emerald green eyes looked washed out and gray. It was hard for them to tell, with only one side of his face visible, what he was feeling, and ever since he'd had his hair cut, he'd begun to look different, older, and inscrutable. Did he view this all as a hand-out for a pathetic cripple? A distraction to keep his mind off of the difficult choices he might make incorrectly? A second chance?
"When I was little...I wanted to be a zookeeper... To take care of the...elephants. But Grandmother said...I was the strongest Sumer...agi, and so I had to be...this. Hokuto said," he winced and tried to move his hand up to the bandage but thought better of it. "Hokuto said I could still...try. So I will."
Elation. Finally, hope. Nokoru smiled and shook Subaru's hand gently through the sheet. "We'll be honored to have you aboard. And it'll make your band-mates happy, as well. They've been worried about you. Yuzuriha told us that if you didn't come back, she'd be the only one left to talk to Kamui."
"Everyone..." Subaru sighed. "I guess...I'm still alive."
Filia turned to Count D. "Detective Laytner and Maclean said Officer Orcot is still looking for you. Does he know where you are?"
D was still savoring a spoonful of Akira's treat. "Oh, my dear detective? More or less, I'm sure. I'm sorry those two nice young men are worried about me. Perhaps I should pay them a visit. With...a house-warming gift. A dog, I think. They seem like people who could use a dog."
"And just think, Subaru!" Akira beamed. "When you come to the CLAMP school, you can have a dog at the dorms!"
"Just as long as...someone feeds...my fish."
Finally, a doctor flanked by two nurses appeared to break up the party. Apparently, the CLAMP detectives' magic was as brief as Cinderella's. The detectives offered to take Count D home, and he accepted, after setting a box of chocolates and a few bags of tea in a stately cup on Subaru's bedside table. "You need to get your strength up, young man!"
The Slayers were ushered into a waiting room to, well, wait.
"Okay," Lina said. "Lemme get this all straight. Luna filled us in during the intermission on the clan mess. Miles married Millstone Milgasia after meeting her last summer in the Ancient Clan badlands. It was her brother, Slate Rockforce, who headed a bunch of desert clan guys with ulterior motives and Ancient land greed. That just got foiled by Xelloss, Val, Filia, and Zel."
"In a nutshell," Xelloss smiled.
"So says the proverbial nutcase," Filia remarked.
"Next!" Lina interrupted what was about to become another knock-down-and-drag-out between her two friends. "Then we got the Syndicate..."
"Why not start with our backups, the CIA?" Zelgadiss asked, eyeing Linda Inverse suspiciously as she and their high school principal entered the waiting room. Rodimus and Zolf followed shortly with Kiki and her invaluable-as-evidence video-recorder. They had wanted to be certain all the kids were well.
Xelloss grinned and hopped over to the woman and gestured grandly, "New on the scene is Lina's missing mother, Linda, who, like Lina's father, is a CIA agent. Reporting to her all this time...unbeknownst to us... were Rodimus and Zolf. Who were attached to us through Lina's Aunt Lucille at the Zephillia wine festival..."
"...When we believed that we were hiring a couple of experienced roadies, we were getting a great deal more," Zel broke in.
"Which was a good thing considering our first attempt-- Dilgear..." Lina said pointedly as a reminder.
"I didn't say it wasn't," Zel retorted defensively.
Putting the brakes on yet another argument was Gourry when he turned toward Grauscherra and asked, "So, what happened to your secretary?"
"Well, I..."
"Sherra? I picked her up runnin' out of that other theater building before your show even started," Rodimus beamed. "She and her recruits, one Vurumagen and another Zazan. Damn, those names are just warped!" Looking askance to both Xelloss and Zelgadiss he flushed, "Ah, sorry, guys...but they are."
Xelloss just laughed while Zel tried to look severe, but then broke into a grin and shook his head, "I have to agree. Xelloss, you are...Max from now on and I'm Joe."
"Max? Maaaaaax? Why Maaaax? I wanna be... Oh, Liiiiiina! What should I change my name to? Zelgadiss wants to call me Max! Max! That's just too terrible!"
"He's been off his meds a little too long," Filia said more loudly than necessary.
Lina holding her mother's hand and smiling turned to him and said, "Goofus!"
"Wha-at?" Xelloss' voice cracked. "Ah, come on...Lina give me a name. Mrs. Inverse, what would you name me if I were your son?"
Linda was not prepared for a question like that, but being fast on her feet paused a moment then answered, "Zachary. I would have named my son Zachary, had I had one."
His jaw dropped, "B-but that's like Zelgadiss..." then he grinned. "Zelgaaaaaaadiss? Guess what my new name's gonna be? Zachary! You can call me Zack, like Jack."
"How about I call you Zack-ass like jackass? No? Then I'll call you Zach-are-eeee!" Zel smirked.
"Just Zzzzzzzzzzzzack."
"Then you call me Zzzzzel."
Xelloss shook his head, "Uh, uh. And not Max either. Bartholomew. Yes...Bar-tho-lo-meeeew." He made it sound like a cat's cry.
Amelia's face lit up, "Zelgadiss! If he becomes Zachary, then you should be...Xane!"
"What!" Zel looked on, horrified at the thought.
"She means, In-xane, as in inxanity, which is what you'd be," Filia noted.
Mrs. Inverse, Linda, pushed a loose stray of red hair out of her face, "Are they always this funny?"
Xelloss jabbed Zel in the ribs, "She thinks we're funny, didya hear? I like her! Yeah, I like her a lot!"
Zel rolled his eyes and whispered, "Please don't tell me you're planning to ask her out."
Lina raised a single eyebrow. "Them? Oh, yeah, regular comedy team. Maybe you've heard of them Xel and Zel or is it Zack and Xane or...? Watch this. Hey! Goofus and Doofus!"
Zel and Xelloss stopped their bickering and turned to Lina, both saying dutifully, "What?"
Lina smiled, "See, they answer to anything I call them 'cause I'm Lina Inverse...Sorceress Supreme! Bwahaha!"
Zolf closed up his cell phone. "Okay, they found digital evidence on Vurumagen's home computer linking him with Sherra—he was taking those photos of you, Xelloss, plus some database repair for her."
Xelloss shrugged, "It would take more than that to break me, but it was annoying." His face brightened as he snickered, "Well, at least I know that where he's going he'll learn fast what it feels like to have his privacy compromised."
"So, Mr. Grauscherra was a nobody?" Gourry asked. He figured that was safe to assume since everyone else at the musical that day had either gone home, was locked up, or was standing right there."
"Well, I don't know...I was and still am your principal. That's something!" the man jested.
"But Miss Sherra, she was working for you at school, but fer herself on the sly, right?" Gourry asked, his confidence growing.
"So it appears. She had answering to her, and not me, Vurumagen, Dilgear now dead, and Zazan on loan from Naraku... Yes, what that Naraku demon said was probably right. I bet she thought I'd loaned that man to her. She tried to thank me for him once and I didn't understand what the devil she was talking about."
Gourry nodded and then grinned and asked Lina's mother, "Okay, I got one question for you then... Who was buried when Xelloss' mother first 'died'? I remember him saying when we were all at the hospital the first or second time that the CIA goofed up and got her killed. But she wasn't...not then anyway, 'cause I saw her helicopter blow up."
Lina's jaw dropped. Where had Gourry come up with that? "How long have you been wondering about that, huh?" she asked with a lazy swat to his arm.
"It's all right, Lina-dear," her mother said. "As I recall, when Zelas Metallium escaped our lockup, a cover-up was conceived. I believe it was a simple body switch, an unidentified Jane Doe of approximate weight and height, made up to look like her, placed inside the casket, just in case it was opened prior to her eventual cremation after the funeral. We knew she would surface again, as long as her son was still on the loose, and that she would contact him—which she did," Linda sighed. "It wasn't my operation—none of it. I was against putting you in peril again," she said to Xelloss directly. "Can you forgive me?"
Xelloss smiled, "On one condition..."
"Gods no, Xelloss..." Zel and Lina moaned harmoniously.
"And what's that?" Linda Inverse asked full of curiosity.
"You'll let me take you out for dinner and... dancing. You like to dance, don't you? Say you do, please?"
Slipping her arm through his she smiled, "I love dancing! You Tango?"
"All night!" he beamed.
Lina sank back onto a wall of Gourry and Zel. "I can't believe it. Hey, just a minute there, buster!"
Xelloss paused, "Yes, Lina?"
"You asked me something earlier and I haven't given you my answer!"
"That's right!"
"And...ah...yeah. I wanna go...somewhere."
"France, to start?"
"Sure. France is fine. Yeah." Lina wanted to travel and it didn't matter to where.
"Very well." Xelloss looked off toward the others, scanning for Kiki's face. "Is that okay with you, then?"
"Oh, yes! That will make Mr. Seyruun happy, having Lina accompany us. He didn't think it was proper for two unmarried young people to be traveling together...alone. And we will have such fun, Lina, you and I!"
"Ah...yeah..." Lina said, taking it all in. So, Xelloss wasn't trying to seduce her? That was...refreshing...she thought.
"I thought you were taking us all to Japan, Xelly-bean!" Filia cried out.
"Oh, I am, as promised, as soon as school is out we'll all go, but this trip needs to get done right away. Lina and Kiki can miss a few weeks, I assume, right Grauscherra?"
"I'll see what I can work out so that Lina graduates and gets her transcripts sent on to the university," the principal answered. "Kiki will be no problem either, having just arrived anyway."
Observing Gourry's confused look, Zel suggested, "I never want to see the inside of a hospital again. Come on let's go home now and I'll explain it all on the way."
"Oh yeah?" Gourry smiled. "Just as long as we stop and get dinner on the way. All that fighting's made me hungry."
"Not a bad idea!" Lina chuckled and slapped him on the back. "Betcher brought some money with ya, right?"
"Well...not exactly..." Gourry's expression said it all.
"How about we all go together, my treat!" Mrs. Inverse recommended. "Me and my littlest girl have a lot of catching up to do...before I go out dancing tonight."
Epilogue
After taking off the weekend to regroup, Grauscherra called a meeting with the kids at the High School the next Monday. He thanked them all for their fine performances on and of stage, and then discussed a few of his plans.
"First, I've decided to let Lina graduate with all her credits, granted a little early; that is, without her coming back to school these next couple of months. From what I understand, Lina will be traveling with Xelloss, who has promised Miss Kiki to accompany her back to France to set her family property to rights and visit and pack, etc. Val, you and Gourry have a few things to complete, as do you too, Amelia, Sylphiel and Filia, but you boys are all set for graduation."
"That's good," Zel said. "Our plan is to all meet in Tokyo in six weeks. And after visiting there, it's hard to say. A dozen music gigs lined up most likely."
"I believe I will be joining Xelloss at some point. We will be busy visiting ex-syndicate locales and set the 'cleansing' in motion, I understand. But only for the summer," Grauscherra smiled. "After that, I shall remain happily here as the Seyruun High School principal for many financially successful years to come."
And so it came to pass... The Slayers made it big and the syndicate fell. Was that all? No, of course not, but to tell that... Well, that's...another story.
The End Seyruun High Jinx –NEXT! Chapter 50.
From the Authors:
This is the last chapter of Seyruun High Jinx NEXT, the third story in the SHJ series telling about the Slayers band. Thank you for sticking it out and reading this to the very end. We had a blast writing it!
Please, leave a review...even just a one-liner that says "I did it!" to let us know you survived the thousands of pages to reach this point.
For those of you who are interesting in reading about the kids a few years in the future, learning what became of them, and in particular reading about them from a romantic viewpoint, then look for the next story:
SHJ Ten Year Reunion
KS
The End