–- SEYRUUN HIGH JINX -- 10 year Reunion Story –-2004-10
"Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives." – C. S. Lewis
Chapter Eighteen: Clarification and Obfuscation
"A woman's charm is her strength; a man's strength is his charm."- HAPPINESS MAGAZINE
Here I am again, Lina inverse, story-teller supreme! Okay, so we last left off at the ending to my sister and Julian's winter wedding. It being over, meant that break was over and that it was back to college for Filia and me.
Every time I think I'm gonna talk about college life, Filia reminds me that this is supposed to focus on us, the Slayers, and romance. Well, Zel diverged a bit didn't he? Yes, he did-- so I will too.
I lived at home and commuted into classes at the University of Seyruun. I also worked at being a singer/composer for the Slayers band. In general, to both work and go to college a person has to have drive and lots of it in order to find a balance between classes and work, even if it means saying no to a long line of tempting parties, concerts, and nights out with friends. Goodbye sleep, goodbye reality TV shows, goodbye hanging out and just being a college student. It's that kind of down time that lots of students rely on to keep their sanity. I, of course, managed to do it all—plus change the world...ha, ha, ha! I'm just that kind of person.
If you're planning on going to a big university like S.U., here's a warning from me: no matter what, you're almost certain to encounter lines. I was waiting in lines to select/change courses, lines to buy books, lines to open a bank account (I didn't need to do this, but I saw others wasting away in front of banks) or to discover 'whatever happened to my money' at the financial-aid office (the earthiest, angriest lines), lines at the cafeteria, and maybe even lines for the shower (just a guess, I didn't do the dorm thing, but Filia had a few tales...) The cool thing was that I put all my waiting to good use. I had opportunity after opportunity to meet new people or mull over whatever experience I just had or to start on my reading assignments or to write lyrics to a tune (waitin', waitin', doin' lotsa nothing an' waitin'...) Even cooler, by the time the novelty of meeting new people wore off, I learned the best ways to avoid, or at least minimize, lines in the future.
Zel wrote about being busy and having lots of work and he was right on target – ask anyone. Better yet, take it from me. I had more work than I ever had, but I also probably had the most free time I'd ever had, even working part-time. There was a lot of homework, but within the first semester, I figured out how to prioritize. Just a word from the wise, me, to those of you about to enter college: as easy as it appears to be to put off work because there aren't as many tests and papers (or teachers reminding you to turn them in) as in high school, don't! Procrastinate too much and you'll get swamped before exam periods. Pace yourself and work efficiently and you should have enough time to prepare for classes and exams while having plenty of time to enjoy yourself.
With that in mind, I continue with my story...
I think we only had time for a few music jobs that winter before Val's birthday and the traditional V-day dance to play at someplace. Joey replaced Xelloss for our Valentine's Day gig, which really irritated me. Xelloss shouldn't have been letting his 'un-syndicate' activities get in the way of his Slayers job. Ever. I was able to put my anger behind me over a huge birthday dinner for Val with Filia, Sylphiel and Gourry. It was at that time that I noticed something between going on between Sylphiel and Gourry. I could have sworn that they were holding hands under the table. Not that that bothered me. I had pushed Gourry away. If she was going to finally 'get her man' after all this time, well, bully for her. That would permanently solve the problem of having to continually reject Gourry, wouldn't it? Geez, all that romance stuff was giving me a headache, so when the meal was over, I asked for I ride home with Filia and Val.
Lousy choice. There was no escaping 'romance talk'. Filia bellyached over her lack of suitable clansmen to date, and Val said nothing while he focused on driving. Whether or not he still liked her no longer mattered. Val had totally replaced Filia in his love life with a revolving door of girlfriends. Their breakup had been a mutual decision, but now Filia was left sorting through a recurring assortment of romance problems.
In an effort to shut her up and help her out I suggested, "My history professor's a clan guy."
Her head twisted around, "Really?"
I could see her eyes shimmer and her expression become all dreamy, "Tell me more..."
So I told her, "Paul Chaferly. Good looking, young. I'll see if he's interested in having coffee with you. I've seen him hanging out at the place Zel likes."
And that's how I got that started. Hell, I didn't know the dude was married! At least it only lasted a couple dates, but then Xelloss sneaked in under my radar again. Zelgadiss and I discussed them in their absence. I mean, what better time, right? Zel was stuck with the notion that Xelloss was chasing Filia now. I knew better because she had drummed it all into me over and over and over that she was only going to date men from the clan. (And you thought Xelloss was the only drummer, heh, heh.) You get the picture. You have heard this story; this will be the third time, right? So, I won't dwell on it here.
Xelloss wasn't regularly pressuring me to date him, since, like Val, he seemed to have plenty of women more willing and waiting in the wings, but I couldn't really imagine him and Filia getting along that glowingly. What was it with the guy? Amelia had told me she thought Xelloss liked the challenge. Possibly, but I was beginning to think Xelloss thrived on the pain of rejection more. Anyway, in our conversation, Zel took my disbelief of the 'Xelloss is chasing Filia theory' as my way of saying I wanted Xelloss' attention centered exclusively, while at the same time distantly, on me. It just wasn't true. I liked the attention, sure, sometimes. But I wasn't leading him on. I had made my position perfectly clear.
Or so I'd thought.
When Zel reminded me of my 'ten year promise', I wondered if Xelloss really intended to hold me to that. And when he informed me that Xelloss was out to impress me with all his magnanimous and righteous deeds, it sent me wondering still further.
"...He does it to prove his worthiness...to you. He wants you to admire him. He wants you to fall in love with him, and tell him so."
Yeah, I knew that too. "I like him all right, more than most, but...if I told him a thing like that, he'd want more. He'd dedicate himself to me, smother me, and then want a commitment. And that...is not what I want, not now." "He travels a lot; you'd get your space, if that's all that's holding you back. Unless..." and here is where Zel started getting a little nasty in his remarks, "...you really are only capable of being the object of obsession and unable to be in love at all!"
"I am not a possession! Gourry thought of me that way, and so does Xelloss!"
Zel backed down a bit then, "Hey! I'm not pushing this. You know me better than that, but you are both my closest friends so I I'm just letting you know that now is your chance– maybe your last."
Sure, like Xelloss was going to forget someone like me. If what he wanted he could get with a wife, then let him do it! He'd done it before! But I knew that I'd always be something special to him. Xelloss and Gourry both. In spite of the other girls in their lives. And I was being sarcastic to Zel when I told him he was 'so wise'—the big know-it-all.
I was surprised (but probably shouldn't have been after the discussion with Zel) that evening at home when Filia waltzed in the door to tell me that Xelloss had bought her a business. A tea and ceramics shop! She was quitting school to run it too...and go traveling with him! I recommended that she first do the traveling, then see if she could still bear the sight of him before dropping out of college. I mean, where would that leave me? High and dry without very much company, that's what!
Oh, yeah and while I was down and out, Zel called to tell me that Gourry and Sylphiel were engaged and that I should expect them to drop by and tell me. Well, swell. I really didn't want to be inhospitable, but I wasn't in the mood to talk with any happy-in-love couples, so before my cell phone had cooled, I was on the road, heading to the settlement to visit my sis and her husband. Yes, they were a pretty happy bunch, too, but older and more restrained by this time.
The next week I was back on top of things, getting my work done, writing another song when who should stop by...but Xelloss and Filia.
"I'm back, but just for a day or so, and then we are about to head off continent, South this time, and wanted to drop off these invitations first," Filia said.
I opened it, read, and commented, "Zelgadiss...art show... Oh, yeah, this is it then, Xelloss? What you'd mentioned last fall or something? Sounds fancy, huh? He's truly buying into all this?"
"Zelgadiss is completing a few more pieces for the show this very minute. Others, hopefully, will be doing the 'buying' part."
"Funny, Xelloss. Okay, I'll be there for sure."
"I'll take you out shopping," Filia promised.
"Ah...not necessary. I've got plenty to wear."
"But you have to have formal attire. It says so and I know just the place to go," she assured me.
"Eh...I don't think I have time, but thanks anyway. Zel won't care what I wear; I always look good."
Xelloss left after that, but that wasn't the last I'd hear about my need to 'get a dress.' I didn't mean to, of course, but I overheard Filia on her cell phone in the back yard. It took me a bit, but I figured out that she was talking to Val.
"Hi, Vally..." she started.
Okay, so it didn't take me long to figure out who she was talking to.
"I need a favor. Well, you know about Zel's Art show...Yeah, well I was wondering how to get Lina to buy a formal dress. I mean, I'd love to take her, but it's getting her motivated..."
Who me?
"So you won't even try?" I heard Filia shout.
Good for you, Val.
"Well, it sounded like that's what you meant," her voice now sounded relieved. "I don't have the leverage you do. Okay, you do that. She's here now. Uh, huh...so... No, I leave tomorrow AM...oh that's right, we have a job...then the next morning. When I get back, I will. Yes...bye then and thanks."
So, Val was going to 'motivate' me huh? Well, two could play at this game.
I was in the kitchen hunting for a clean spoon to eat my yogurt cup. Found one. I pushed a clearing out of the jumble of books, notes and dirty dishes strewn over the table, then sat and ate...and waited. I picked up one of the books and started to read. Yep, sure enough, I heard the rumble-roar of Val's bike.
"Come in!" I hollered.
He knew the way in so why bother getting up? Hey! I had three novels to read by the end of the week and an essay on each to write over the weekend, sooner if I didn't want to have to do homework while on the road performing or rush to do it all in one day.
"Hey, Val, I'm kinda busy now, so if it can wait..."
"Won't be a minute, if you just agree to go get a dress with Fil later."
"I'll wear something I already have. That will be good enough."
But he shook his head. "Yeah, for anyone else, but yer the Slayers band leader. Lots of the in-flu-en-shal art-eests will be there. You gotta look cool...and hot."
Man, was he good. It was people like me who started the fads the others followed, and he'd been correct to point that out. They'd be looking at me to set the trends. He'd been right and good. "I see your point, I should look terrific for the event, but...I'm busy. I have to find presenters for my poetry slam." I slid on a crafty smile and asked, "Of course, you write poetry, don't you?"
His arms wrapped his chest protectively. "I got my pride..."
"Just one more thing to lose," I muttered beneath my breath.
I knew that for Val appearance was all consuming, which made him an awful lot like Zel, for that matter. He had to look cool to be cool. Exposing his personal thoughts through reading aloud his poetry would place him in a position of possible ridicule—definitely not cool.
"And I have mine," I said aloud. "I need to knock'em dead with my beauty and extreme high fashion sense, but I can't do that if I have to use my vanishing spare time ferreting out prospective readers instead of dresses."
Try to squirm of it now, Val...
Well, he couldn't. He knew he was on the hook. He had to let me win this one, as it was intended all along.
"Guess not. Oh, crap. Okay, Li, I'll read some f---ing thing for your little group of..."
Ignoring his language flaws, since having appropriate adjectives on his tongue-tip was one of his weaknesses, I grinned and punched him on the arm, saying, "That's just great. We have enough time now to go get dinner, your treat naturally since I'm doing you this favor, then we'll pick up your journal and just make it in time for the literary guild meeting! Come on!"
He was gaping like a fish ready to hit the fry pan when he'd thought he'd just caught the fly. But he did as I asked. Oh, and he read a great poem and everyone had good, or at least nice, things to say about it so it wasn't so bad an evening.
And my dress was a hit (naturally, since I was in it! Ha, ha!) And that being so, made Zel's art show a home run for the Slayers and for him personally. It really showcased his formerly hidden talent for Seyruun's entire art crowd to admire. Plus, we all had a fun time being together and not also working, for a change.
Sylphiel was elegant with her hair swept up. Val seemed to think so; he couldn't keep his eyes off her neck. Amelia looked so pretty that even Zel noticed her (And what was with that little 'hand over the heart' exchange they did?) Filia and Xelloss seemed chummier than necessary. Everyone was on their best behavior, it seemed. Why, even I was becoming a bit schmaltzy that night. I was thinking of the old times, I guess, and got to missing things like they had once been, like missing Gourry and his devotion. I sure was being over-sentimental; I was sounding mushy even to myself! So, I nabbed Gourry's arm and dragged him over to the absolutely stupendous banquet Xelloss had arranged. That was more like it! Someone with which to share the glorification of the feast!
After chowing down, I was feeling much better about everything and everybody. I could now stand back and observe my male friends in a relaxed and leisurely manner. Think seasonal here. Zel and Xelloss, I reflected, were like the winter: one cold, harsh and logical, the other dark, stormy, and irrational; both occasionally beautifully mysterious and capable of vacillating unpredictably back and forth. Val was, symbolically speaking, like the spring: green and tall and tan and growing, and when beset by the occasional killing frost, able to make a come back; not too gentle, but at the same time full of promise. While Gourry was more summer-like, with his soft clear blue eyes, pale blonde hair, all light and fresh and warm and wholesome; the complete man, loyal and honest. Me...I was fall. Bursting with rich colors, sassy, warm and honey-rich and sweet, yet cool and crisp and tart- ripe... sounds more like an apple. I guess I was getting hungry again. Never start writing when you need to eat because your hunger will permeate your words, saturating them with succulence and... ah, sorry, not to belabor the point... the buffet was a number one spread at Zel's art show.
But it wasn't just that night that I felt distorted. I noticed a transformation occurring in me, in the way I perceived those around me and how, mostly, I felt about them. And when food didn't make the problem go away, I knew that the changes were permanent and serious. Yes, the changes to my inner soul, which the poems of the long dead Valentino Agares seemed to have affected, made unexpected alterations to my subconscious.
I swear! It was true.
That explains why I began to act out the way I did. In June, against my advice, Filia dropped out of college at end of her 3rd year to go traveling with Xelloss. Again, as I noted before, Filia and Xelloss seemed close, but the clan/syndicate incompatibility still stood as a constant reminder of their perverse perseverance to make something work where nothing could. It also sent Xelloss to commiserate with me every once in a while, which managed to remind me how much I had missed Xelloss' veneration. Yep, his brief visits were a sharp reminder of what I had been trying to convince myself had never been true. Get over it all! I tried to tell myself that. Oh yeah, I was suffering from inner-soul disruption, which led to me finally acknowledging that I had been missing him...and Gourry and his thoughtfulness as well. Val and his dead dad and his damned poetry got something started in me.
As it were...Xelloss came over and we danced and I had to admit it felt pretty good to have his arms around me. I made it clear that I'd forgiven his past errors, and that we could be friends again. Good friends. But nothing happened. Xelloss smiled his enigmatic smile and touched my hair. Now he found the inner strength to be mature and in control!
Later, Gourry stopped by to return a CD he had borrowed, and we ended up talking for hours and listening to my newest song ideas. That was something he and I hadn't done in years. When he left, he wrapped me in a long-lasting hug, and I swore he whispered, "Oh, Lina..." in a meaningful way.
You can see how these things, just small gestures-- which had occurred in the past over and over without much notice from me but were now BIG EVENTS-- were making me question myself. It had to have been that poetry which ripped open a hole for all the outside influences to flow in and insert themselves into my psyche. Or something. It had never bugged me before like it did now; romance stuff, that is.
And things just kept cropping up like that. Like this one time, Val stopped at my place to see if I could use a ride over to Amelia's, for Kiki's graduation party. The band had setup the night before so there was no hurry to get there, but the ride was handy. He and I hadn't spent time alone since the 'moon/poetry' incident, except for that poetry reading thing which didn't count since we were not alone. He had been avoiding me; keeping me at a safe distance. He had done what he had had to, to get me to go dress shopping and he now didn't want me or anyone else thinking that there might be, or that he might want there to be, or that their might possibly be sometime, something between us. How did I know that? Well, I myself had been pushing Xelloss, Gourry and hordes of other guys away for years. I was the expert at escaping the pitfalls of pending relationships, wasn't I? You bet, so I was good at recognizing the signs in others. Not that I was looking for one myself, mind you. I was just feeling...well...affected by it all.
See? Something had changed, as I said. It was still all about me, me, me; that hadn't changed. And, I had liked the return of Xelloss' and Gourry's attentiveness, as insipid as it was. Now, I felt Val owed me some form of devotion too. Trouble was, I had no idea anymore how to go about getting Val to do that!
Oh, I laughed and flitted around and batted my eyes some, to no avail. He gave me his copyrighted, narrow-eyed squint and a few shrugs as my meager reward. I was going about it all the wrong way.
Back to Kiki's graduation party...
"We outta get going, Li, if we're gonna get there on time," Val sighed with the long-suffering look of a man waiting on some trying, little kid to put on her shoes.
'Li'--yeah, his nickname for me. Well, at least it wasn't 'Li-Li'. I woulda toasted him for that!
Anyway, I was a bit perturbed by my failure to get him to fawn on me, or at least show some kind of worship, up to this point, so I kept acting out in ways even I can't understand to this day. Worst of all, I did it on stage during a performance. Not that it helped get Val to notice me. In fact, he looked the other way when I announced our next number and chose to dance the 'Sexy, Sexy' song with Xelloss. I wasn't trying to annoy Filia. I wasn't trying to stir up Xelloss' passions. I was trying to stir Val's.
I sure as hell stirred Zel's, and not in a good way, if there was one. He was fuming, cut-off his guitar lick before the song had ended, and called for a short 'band break' to finish it. I didn't want to talk to Zel, so I dashed off, leaving Xelloss to take the brunt of Zel's fury first. I had poured myself a cup of punch, when I felt Val's shadow pass over me and halt.
"Wanna take a walk? Rose garden's empty now," he said.
"Sure," I agreed. My heart was pounding. Now what, I wondered? He looked...well I couldn't tell. Not mad really...disappointed?
"Got any big plans this summer?" he asked.
"The usual. Why?"
"I could use some ideas...input as to what I should do next with the Ancient Clan lands. You liked it out there before, so I thought maybe you'd wanna come...well...help me...maybe. No big deal if ya don't. I know ya got other fish ta fry..."
Geez, what was it with Val and fish fries? Which got me thinking about French fries...and
"Dessert...ah, I mean... the desert... again, huh? Sounds hot. Lotsa sun...heat..." What nonsense! Where was a gag to shut me up?!
He nodded but didn't take his eyes off mine, mystified by my strangeness rather than immobilized by my 'stunning-ness'. I observed that the faint scar running along his jaw line was hardly noticeable, his tan had faded that much. I guess I'd paused too long. He looked away and down. "'S'okay...if you don't wanna..."
"'Course I'll go!" I piped up. I didn't even try and hide my enthusiasm. "Someone's gotta make sure you don't get sucked down into some underground cavern again. Dangerous place-- and you know how I love danger! Ha, ha!"
I may have gone a little overboard, but he seemed pleased and we walked back to the stage area in a much better mood. I had been successful wrestling his attention away from whatever or whomever else he was doing and fixing it on me. And he had me to accompany him out to his inherited lands. A win-win situation.
I was looking forward to the excursion so much that I wasn't even bothered by Gourry and Sylphiel's wedding a week later. I was a lovely bridesmaid and a cheerful bringer of good vibes all the way. And when Xelloss and Filia headed off on their trip, I was all smiles and full of good will, a regular bon vivant (or is there a belle vivant or something since I'm a girl?) enjoying life as it came to me!
Believe it or not Val and I accomplished a staggering quantity of work, which I'm now going to tell you about. Yeah, this next part is all about how I spent many of my next summer vacations (and others) out in the Ancient Clan environs, so sit back and relax a moment. But don't worry, this'll go faster than you think.
Val and I met with several other interested parties, clan, conservationists, and government agencies to determine how to preserve and use the vast Ancient clan lands which he was sole heir to. We determined that we wanted much of the high desert land preserved as wilderness. Where the Ancient clan ruins remained, we wanted to develop a monument, park and learning center. Running through, beneath and over the land were a multitude of natural resources such as mineral deposits and oil. These were a large part of the wealth of the area, along with the pants and animals of the region. All needed to be utilized and respected appropriately. Val also wanted to establish a town, linking it to the clan settlements already in the area, which would encompass his and Nahga's spa with lots of recreation facilities.
Okay...stop complaining. If Zel could get away with all his whining about medical school, then I can tell a little bit about this. Consider that I am sharing the literary space with Val then, okay? Yeah, 'cause if he had a chance to write, this is what he'd be writing about...his place. Anyway, I'm gonna put just about everything in this one chapter then I won't tell it all again some other time. Okay? So....
That first summer, we came up with a Preservation Mission Statement, which was: 'to achieve, maintain and communicate The Ancient Clan Park and Preserve's status as a superlative Park, Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site. Through effective leadership, enhanced scientific research, information-based preservation actions, and stakeholder partnerships, we will manage uses to provide a unique, inspirational visitor experience while protecting the Park's ecosystems. We will recognize and perpetuate the Park's intangible values, including those values associated with the natural resources.'
Then we started breaking the thing up into separate projects and building teams of specialists. It was too big for just the two of us!
One of the most extensive and single most expensive of our first undertakings encompassed designing and reconstructing roads and 'supplementary facilities'. The greatest challenge was to provide adequate facilities while preserving the park's wild, but delicate, beauty. To preserve a sense of wildness, careful planning and great attention to detail were required. This project included the reconstruction and partial relocation of 500 km of highway, the overlay of 75 km of existing road, the construction of 50 parking areas, the obliteration of 8 km of old road, and the reconstruction of a large bridge. The total cost for this work: $800,000,000. Val shrugged off the costs like Zel could a compliment. I imagine that he just sold a handful of diamonds to pay for it all.
For some examples of what was happening... ah, okay, both the roadway and the temporary parking areas along Dry Lake Road were inadequate. Dry Lake Road was the main route into the Ancient Clan settlement, linking the place to the highway. The surfaces consisted of dirt, rocks, and numerous potholes. They were dusty in dry weather and muddy in wet weather. Also, they were too small -- frequently filled with construction vehicles by mid-morning. Since one of the largest parking lots was to be located at the entrance to the monument area, it would become permanent, and at the offset it was a blasted pit. So, the first things that were built, along with access roads, were three new parking areas. The largest could hold more than a hundred vehicles with additional oversized spaces for buses and motor homes and an area for horse trailers. The conservators were concerned that these large parking facilities would look like shopping center parking lots. That meant that lots of careful planning, planting, and construction was expended to ensure that they would not.
Built nearly 150 years ago, Dry Lake Road was too narrow for the motor homes and tour buses that would constitute a large portion of modern-day traffic through the park (not to mention the construction rigs.) The pavement was thin, and the road's foundation had pockets of unstable material, meaning that it could not support the heavy traffic that used it; its surface was cracking and had large ruts. The grade of the new road closely followed the contours of the ground. Cuts and fills were minimized, and slopes were rounded to blend with the contours of the natural terrain. Topsoil, which crews saved during construction, was placed over the cut-and-fill slopes.
See? I was learning a lot about all kinds of things I never thought I'd be interested in, and Val was too. He immersed himself in a plethora of plans, loads of literature, and reams of research the like of which I know he had never explored before. He had a mission. At last.
Val became really keen on history. He began a campaign throughout all the clans to collect relevant photographs and old interviews pertaining to his destroyed clan. Over a short period of time, we had scads of material. Those Cephied clans keep ancestral catalogues back for ages, and while it had once been next to impossible for Val to get his family background years ago, now that lots of money was changing hands and valuable real estate was at risk, information poured into us in a flood. Yep, the communication dam broke at last. Now we just had to sort through it all, separate the flotsam from the jetsam, and make sense of what remained! We tried to do this together in the evenings, because I didn't want him to come across something painful when he was alone. Somehow, I figured he wasn't all that tough where it counted deep down inside.
In order to get other clan folk all revved up about the project, Val started leading small tour groups through the badlands, the valley of destruction, and up to the temple saying, "The best way to in-tro-duce di-plo-mats from other clans to this place is ta go on a hikin' trip."
When Val would speak about the Ancient Clan Parklands, his voice would become excited. "You can ex-plore the caves, or walk down the streets, or hike on the Temple Trail and you are steppin' on the very prints of the Ancient people who were the originators of all the Cephied Believers. The thing that is most at-trac-tive about the place, is that you can re-live the part of history that you are interested in," he said. "And, just so you know, this park has been identified as havin' in-ter-na-tion-al sig-ni-fi-cance."
Val was in this primarily to build a monument to his family and lost clan and...well...he wanted some good off-road motorcycle paths. He could do it all and more, but not alone.
We needed more help, starting with an administration staff composed of elected officials from the regional Cephied councils, the townships surrounding the park and the general non-clan government councils involved. The staff obtained the advice of scientists, representatives of local associations and the social/economic partners and involved them in crafting and implementing the Park's action plan.
From there we established a cohesive team of experts, consisting from 15 to 30 persons, some of whom would continue on as permanent employees or be assigned for limited periods by the various administrators. These technicians were highly qualified in environmental, land use and local development fields. Ecology engineers, landscape administrators, archeologists, agricultural development officers, tourism specialists, architectural consultants, energy specialists, educational advisors and social/cultural officers – yeah, and that was just a sample of the fields of specialization we had to deal with!
Conservation was not at the top of Val's 'concerns', but he listened closely to what the guys had to suggest. We looked at what other agencies had done and then 'developed a strategic, science-based planning process which helped us identify the highest-priority places which if conserved, promised to ensure biodiversity over the long term.' Ah, that was a quote from the Nature Conservancy's publicist. I think Val's favorite part, and mine too, was joining the teams to gather data about the location and health of different conservation areas, from a variety of sources including examining satellite images! That was fun, and so were a lot of other things we learned about.
Like maintaining a preserve.
In the designated wilderness park, no marked campsites or portages would be permitted. Visitors would be encouraged to use low impact camping techniques. Groups would be limited to nine people and a can and bottle ban would be in place.
So the experts collected information, set some goals, stored all the information, and then analyzed it, often through computer modeling to design an efficient network of conservation areas and some practical suggestions as to what to build or avoid building on, where to locate service roads, and how to manage the oil and mineral rights.
We put their advisements to use when it came to developing plans for Val's town. This small town's purpose was to provide homes and services for the spa workers, but soon it was blended into the nearest, already established 'Golden' clan village. The commitment to preserve open space as a 'natural amenity' was achieved by maintaining the dry stream beds, natural rock outcroppings, and native-lonely plantings in their near-natural conditions (creating spectacular 'view corridors', to use the lingo we were learning) and by requiring that all land be kept undisturbed beyond each approved building. In addition, carefully defined building 'envelopes' (the area on each lot where building can take place) allowed each home or business to take best advantage of the terrain, the views and the vegetation while minimizing the impact on its neighbors. A special program of lighting standards was established to help shield nighttime illumination so that evening views could be enjoyed throughout the Ancient Clan Badlands High Desert.
Hey, we left no rock unturned—except those actually attached to the ground, heh, heh...
And I ought to mention the recreation! The entire community was interlaced with an extensive network of trails and bike paths. Community trails connected to the broader regional network of trails within the Ancient monument and the Badlands Wilderness. We sere still working on the area titles...
In addition to the large areas of natural space preserved within the community, a 10-acre neighborhood park was located next to the Ancient Clan Monument and High Desert Information Center. Smaller parks were also designated throughout the community within several of the village neighborhoods. The park as well as the other sanctuaries would provide bird watching, hiking and horseback riding, and a network of motorcycle tracks and trails. Something for everyone, especially Val.
We had a team of writers tearing through sheaves of computer paper producing brochure prototypes. You know the stuff I mean. Crap like: "Visitors can view spectacular floral displays normally in bloom between mid-March and late May. Wildlife seen on the preserves varies from earthbound creatures such as the horned lizards, chuckwallas and rattlesnakes, to majestic prairie falcons and golden eagles. In the spring, large shrubs provide nesting sites for a variety of songbirds. Other protected animals which may be seen are the kit fox, desert tortoise and ground squirrel. All areas are closed to any sort of vehicle entry. No camping allowed. No drinking water available."
This didn't all happen that first summer! Did I say that? No! It took years and years.
We just got things rolling that first summer. A summer to remember for sure. So, you are wondering where all the romance fit in? Well, there wasn't any, but Val and I did cement our friendship. Before, it had been Zel and me or Amelia and me, or in the past, Gourry and me as pals. Now, I could include Val (okay, Xelloss fit in there someplace but forget him for now, okay?)
I pondered this new deeper friendship which had grown between us one night in the cabin. Someone had donated to Val's cause, a big old king-sized mattress. It nearly took up half the cabin floor space, but it was better than sleeping on the hard floor night after night. We didn't spend that much time there anyway and sometimes we stayed in one of the small clan communities or towns for the use of shower facilities and all. So we just kept a couple sleeping bags on the mattress, see? I know, you are thinking that we were 'like sleeping together'. Well, we weren't like doing that at all. We were sleeping side-by-side and that was it. So one night I woke up and as my eyes became accustomed to the dim light, I could make out Val's form close by. He was turned on his side my way, sleeping. He was at peace in his sleep. No a-ti-tude to maintain; no pretext for being the tough dude with a chip on his shoulder; no bullies to defend himself against. I wished he could see himself as I did and know that all that protective armor wasn't necessary any more. But then, was mine? Some things were built out of need and maintained out of habit and those habits were hard to break.
Anyway, you can see how I gained a bit of perspective about life and my small part in it. Hard work toward a meaningful cause can do that to a person. It made returning to school each fall more significant as well.
After my first summer in the badlands with Val, came the fall where Zel began medical school. He hadn't the free time for hanging around anymore and I missed his perspicuity and sardonic humor. Yeah. I had ripped through my course work with such expediency and excellence, that I was accepted into the Seyruun University Graduate School of the Humanities, Arts and Letters and then allowed to enroll in their winter session. How about that for over-achiever-ness! 'Busy' was my first, last, and middle name—oh, wait...that would have made me related to Zel (as in: Mr. Zelgadiss I.M. Busy), and I sure as hell didn't want to become part of that messed up family tree! Well, we were both 'full of activity'. So, then I got this breathless call from Sylphiel telling me she was pregnant.
Gourry and she were going to be parents.
Wow, a kid Slayer.
Then Amelia called me to say Zel proposed, but she had said no and was really worried that he'd never speak to her again.
Zel proposing?
Babies being created, by Slayers?
Would the world be ending soon?
I buzzed over to Amelia's house and listened to her cry her heart out and throw a tantrum whenever I said anything, and then helped her down to the kitchen where the wonderful cook-lady served us tea and cake, which made me feel a heck of a lot better about everything.
Zel proposed...I couldn't get over that. He had to have been out of his mind to do something stupid like that. Talk about poor timing! He didn't have time to tie his shoes, much less keep a marriage going! He never had had such an impulsive streak before. Must have been the pressure of too much work breaking him down, I decided. The poor, poor idiot.
"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend." --William Blake
Just keep that in mind while I tell this next part, okay?
In any case, like I said, by winter I was taking graduate classes at SU. Xelloss and Filia returned from their travels and despite all of our hectic schedules, the band made time to perform and record a couple times.
By spring, or sometime around there, I got this call from Gourry with news of the birth of his new baby girl, Sayo Ruth. He was so excited about it that I volunteered to locate the others and give them the news. Xelloss was hardest to find, and when I did, well, Filia was there in his room and she told me that she was...getting involved with him! Talk about oil and vinegar! No amount of shaking would make me think of them as a salad !
Consequently, I called Zel and told him to pound some sense into Xelloss. But Zel was down in the dumps. Heartbroken from Amelia having turned him down. I knew Zel was still nursing a damaged ego, and I had the common sense to know that he certainly wouldn't want to tell me that, so I figured I'd have to lure him away from his studies and give him a little pep talk or something. I talked him into meeting me at the campus coffee shop he prized so dearly. As I had predicted, he tried to cover up his feelings and, remembering that it was to be my 21st birthday that night, invited me out to dinner and 'maybe a movie'.
See? I was 'being there' for my friends. I was being magnanimous and trying to give them both a shoulder to lean on, one for each side, and what did Zel do? He slammed me with that perverse piece of crap suggesting...no...absolutely saying that I slept with him. Well, I am here to say that that was an out and out lie. Okay, I may have made a little suggestion in jest. BUT IN JEST, MIND YOU! He was so depressed I thought I'd shock him out of it. So, I said something to the effect that if he was up to it he might wanna teach me...things. AS A JOKE! He poured coffee down his shirt, a stupid thing to do and which looked bad, so I suggested that we stop at his place so he could change, then stop at mine so I could change into something better than the grungy stuff I'd worn all day, then we could go out to dinner someplace fancy with a long wine list so I could order something for the first time seeing as I had just turned 21. And that is what we did. That and only that. Oh, and the movie, which contained more sex than to my taste, but probably fueled his perverted imagination to go on and write all that other garbage about me and him.
Oh, and I also wanna make it clear that we did not mess around in anyway up in the tree house at any time. There was just this one time where we were 'camping out' up there. It was hot and he took off his shirt and lay on top of his sleeping bag. It was about midnight and pretty dark, mind you. Well, I was hot too so I figured 'what the hey?' and took my t-shirt off. He got all self-righteous and told me that 'girls can't do that' and told him 'I could so and did!' and he told me 'I wasn't supposed to let him see my breasts' and I replied, "What breasts?"
Okay, so then we noticed that I had more than he did, but it wasn't going to make any big difference with either of us so we just dropped it and went to sleep. Luna found us half-naked in the morning and...that was the last sleep-over we had together. Too bad. He was a remarkably gorgeous boy, until the explosion not long after...then he became an even more remarkable one.
Have I clarified all that now? I hope so! I'm still miffed at him, but not so much. Amelia thought it was funny (Yes, she read his lies and laughed-- laughed!) and has been working on me to see it that way. Zel and I have a long history and I'd hate to lose him as a friend and have everyone think his sense of humor, bad as it is, is better than mine! Oh, I'll let it go, don't worry 'bout that; I just want him to stew over it a bit longer. Serves him right!
More stuff happened, but the next turning point in my life came at Val's graduation party out at Zel's beach house. Oh yeah, I was pretty mad at Zel about that too! Hiding the fact that he had a beach house...from me! He'd gone and built this terrific place and never once invited me out there! Amelia, yes; me, no. I mean, that certainly put me in my place, and I wasn't used to being in second place. Well, after I got wind of that, he made a few changes. Most importantly, he invited all the band over for a weekend, and, with no little persuasion on the part of me, agreed to hosting Val's Art Institute graduation party out there later in June.
At any rate, the weekend with the band out at his place went fine, if you can believe it? No crises, no hurt feelings-- marginal damage. Val had done the driving to and fro the beach house and I discovered the next day when I was rushing off to classes that I'd left behind a bag of 'unused', extra clothes. (How would I have missed that, you ask? Well okay, so there were some other personal items in there too.) I called Zel and he said he was too busy to look, but that he thought Val found it in his car and brought it in the house. I wasn't pleased imagining my stuff being dragged about like that, but there was nothing to do about it but head on over after classes and pick it up.
"Hey! The light's on so I know you're in there. Open up so I can get the bag I left and then I'll just... Oh, hi Val..."
He wasn't looking so hot. He tried to hide his eyes but I could tell right off that they were kinda red.
"Lina, I'm not up to company now."
"I just came for my stuff. Besides, I'm not company." Now I was really curious. Was he getting back into drugs? What was he hiding? I stretched my neck as far as it could reach and noticed what appeared to be photos and papers scattered over the sofa table. "Lookin' at pictures?"
"Some."
I was getting a bad feeling about this.
"Family?" I guessed.
He nodded then hung his head and sighed reluctantly, "Might as well come in..."
He had been brooding over his family pictures. "I found this newspaper in a pile of junk folks had given me." He carefully had folded it back to reveal the obituaries, birth, and wedding announcements. "See that?"
I scanned down the page to find...
"That's a picture of my oldest brother and his wife-to-be. They were just engaged it says here."
The young man was just the same age as Val was now. I had to bite back tears myself.
"My father being the head of the clan made ours an important family. This announcement was a big deal. I, ah, located the girl's house on this map..."
He pointed to a spot on a detailed map of the Ancient clan valley spread out before us. The area maps were stored in the county offices our team of experts found. We were in the process of opening most of the roads for tours past the ... wreckage. Not all but some.
Val went on, "I wanna find where her house was and mark it."
His voice caught in his throat, so I tried to cover for him. "Yeah? Well, I'll help and see if every house can be identified and a marker put in place by the time it's ready to open to the public."
"You...would do that for me?" Val's golden eyes met mine at last, moments before he broke down.
I was holding him in my arms as he cried silently. He just shook and squeezed the air out of me. Aside from Xelloss, I'd never seen a man cry. That Val had dropped his guard like this meant that he trusted me a lot. I patted him on the back and murmured something sappy, but it felt, well, nice. I was making a difference. Poor guy. He was haunted by a past he had no recollection of. He was determined not to let his family, his people, be forgotten, and it was tearing him up inside.
"Better let me put this stuff back now," I gasped with my last breath.
I didn't want him to think that I was thinking he was doing anything wrong; it was more of a cautionary action. Too much of this sentimental stuff wasn't good for a guy, or anyone. He released me at once, and let me fold and stack and place it all back into a cardboard box by the table.
"There, we'll go through it later...together, okay?" I said. My hands were shaking now.
"Thanks, Li. I don't know why it gets to me sometimes. I didn't even know those people!"
But he did, in his heart, and continued to say, "He didn't even have a chance to see what his life was to be about."
"It was terrible, what happened, Val, and you are doing so much to make them real, I know."
"The best thing I can do, and I told Zel this once, was ta just live my life in a way ta make'em proud."
"Hey, that's pretty smart, Val. They woulda liked that you graduated from college..."
"And the band. We made that a success, didn't we?" he smiled, a sweet, genuine one.
"You bet we did! You have been so strong to get where you are, Val...all that would have made them very proud." I squeezed my hands around his and smiled back. At least they weren't shaking anymore! Instead, I felt a dreadful warmth creep up my neck. I must have been blushing, my face coloring to match my hair!
I managed to make him blush as well and he chuckled at it. Then he mimicked the way I'd chided Zel in the past by saying, "Shit, Li, yer not about to go all mushy on me, are ya?"
I bounced up and stretched, recovering my composure. "Naw, I just wanna get my bag of stuff and head back. Don't wanna be here when Zel gets in and hafta listen to him gripe about 'all his work'. 'Sides... Big day of classes tomorrow!"
The mood changed back to a more normal one after that.
"This it?" he dangled a plastic shopping bag with a cotton drawstring. He was asking, but he knew it was mine. I knew he knew it was mine by the smirk plastered across his face.
"Yes, and unless you wanna wash my dirty t-shirts, then give it back."
"Ain't no t-shirts in here."
I knew that too, but I wasn't about to say 'my underwear', was I?!
"Just give it!"
"Pretty little things..." he simpered.
"Va-al..." I growled as my blush deepened. "You had no business looking at those."
"Ah, sure I did! Had to know what it was...then whose it was... Wasn't Zel's... Too tiny for Fil or Sylph... so it was either Amelia's or yers... I figured her for pink, though..."
"I wear whatever I got. Color's no matter!" I really didn't want to discuss the color of my underwear any more.
"You should have those little back satin things..." he began to say, but then I landed a few punches, one to his gut which made him drop the sack, and then I left. Stupid boy! And here I thought he was growing up into a, well... an interesting person.
Some chance!
Amelia and I ended up doing most of the planning for Val's graduation party. As usual, nothing would ever get done without me to plan, organize and divvy out the work...and Amelia to do most of it. Zel was 'busy', Sylphiel had 'the baby', Gourry had 'this new job, Lina', Filia was some help but distracted with Xelloss' shenanigans. Kiki, rescued us from some problems, but I can't recall which exactly. The point was, the majority of the workload was on my shoulders, and I already was under a load of personal problems.
I remember ordering several cheesecakes, but not the beer. That had been Val's stupid contribution. Yeah, I said stupid, because it was the beer that went to my head to make all those weird connections to recent occurrences and a dream I once had, which I'm getting to so don't get all impatient.
First off, I had this funny feeling earlier in the week when I went to see Gourry and Sylphiel about some party plans or whatever. I was about to knock on the door, when it flew open and a blur of kids and dogs tumbled out and over me. I landed butt-down on the grass and was about to start yelling, when Gourry's big hands grabbed me and lifted me out of the mess.
"You okay, Lina?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah, sure... Yuck, dog spit!" Then I had the bizarre feeling that I'd done this years ago. That I'd been through all this before...
He chuckled at my expression.
There were way too many kids and animals running around. I asked him about that, "When did you acquire the extras, Gourry?"
"Ho...Kagome brought her kids by to play. They gave us one of their dog's puppies too."
"Oh..."
Okay, so that wasn't too impressive, I know, but just hold on. I got another weird circumstance to tell you about that happened the next day. I met Zelgadiss at 'our' coffee shop. There was a pot of 'all you can drink' coffee at the table and a platter of donuts. It was a warm and friendly sort of place. I was making headway finishing off those treats all the while we went over the details about the party, when boom! Déjà vu! Yeah, like I'd been there like that before, only then it stopped. Amelia entered the place and Zel waved and trotted off after her, with me in their wake.
Not impressed yet? Well, just you wait! So, now I'm at the party, Val's graduation party at Zel's beach place. Xelloss and I are standing out on the balcony looking at the ocean and feeling the breeze blow our hair. Pretty place. I'm feeling all good inside.
"Oh, by the way, Lina, if you get a chance. I have a sixth sense, you might say, about that trunk of Val's..."
We were interrupted by Zolf bringing Xelloss a cell phone.
"You left this on the table," Zolf said.
And then it happened again, that déjà vu thing. I had done this before, I knew it! But I couldn't have.
"Did I? Thank you. Never know when opportunity might be calling?" Xelloss chuckled. "Filia? Getting cold? Let's go in. Lina? Something to drink for you?"
I shook my head and remained where I was, watching them leave hand in hand. No, it wasn't the same, exactly. But it was so close.
Then came the party out at Zel's (which was a big success thanks to you-know-who again.)
Then I had an epiphany.
It was from an old dream. Yes, I had dreamed about being with these guys and awoke afraid I was getting romantic attachments for them! Whoa, that had been back in our old high school days! So then, I hadn't been glimpsing snippets of my possible futures with each of them, it had been my budding future without them, freeing them. Okay, that made sense. Kinda. It also made me a little melancholy for some reason. It wasn't as if I wanted to start up something with one of them, but they just seemed so damned contented. Even Val. My eyes swept the room to find him dancing with a bevy of beauties, as usual. He never seemed to want for admirers. One girl was particularly close and wearing the skimpiest of outfits. And something inside me stirred. Val and his future hadn't been cast in my dreamscape.
I stalked to that side of the room and pushed my way through the pulsating bodies.
"Hey."
"Yo, babe. Come on and dance."
I did. I joined the throng and made a space. I couldn't tell if Val sensed a change in me or not. He seemed unsure when I gave him a smile, so I snaked close and slipped an arm around his neck while still dancing, closing any space between us and drawing him downwards. He got some message, because he responded by securing his hands on my hips and undulating with me, cheek-to-cheek setting a pace of our own. Whatever it was, Val didn't cross-examine me to get to the root of my problem, if there was one. He just went with the flow and enjoyed where the moment took him, and me.
I felt his face move apart. He was looking at me; first at my eyes, and then sliding downwards, to my moving lips, I suppose. He was thinking of kissing me. I was lip-syncing the words to the song. Did I want him too? Would I like it? If he did, would I ever want him this close again? Then I noticed Zel and Amelia. My gods! The way he was pawing her was embarrassing. And she was letting him put his hands...there?!
"Geez...Zel...that's pretty blatant..." I musta said that aloud, that and frowned and blushed and who knows how many other forms of tense body language signals I musta given off. Val read them pretty well. He unhanded me, and then followed my eyes to see the offending pair.
"Just a minute," he growled.
Val got rid of them. Zel was chuckling as he pulled Amelia in a most possessive manner out of the room and down the hall. His room, I figured. When Val returned, my mood had changed. I was picking through the snacks for something unmolested.
"Who woulda dreamed I'd be the one havin' to do that?" Val remarked lightly in my ear.
I shrugged. Never know about dreams. Who'da guessed that any of my dreams would come true?
Before I said anything, though, he had changed the subject. "What time do ya want to head out tomorrow?"
"Huh?" I asked.
Val gave me a strange look. Unlike most of my other friends, I had the damnedest time reading his expressions. He usually looked aloof, angry, bored...you know, that half-lidded teenage boy look which sticks with them well into their twenties. They could all do it; Zel was an expert, although I knew him so well I could read his mood a mile away. Xelloss would try and hide his feelings, but if you could catch him with his eyes unguarded, he was an open book. Gourry rarely retreated that way, which made it so hard to get mad at him. Those sincere, big, blue eyes a person could fall into and drown...
"Ah, Li, if you don't wanna go to the monument, you don't hafta. You can make the drive yourself anytime, or not." He turned to leave.
Oh that! I could see I'd hurt his feelings, forgetting. So that was what that expression meant? "Hey, Val! Um, sorry 'bout that. My mind was on...eating! Yeah, food and you know how that can be, eh? So, ah...yeah. Ah, not too early...ya know me and mornings...heh, heh...heh..." Yeah, I was lame sounding, all right?
"'Kay," he nodded and stalked off.
Rest of the party was okay. Food dwindled, beer gone. Cops took off with the younger kids-- Joey doing a sleepover with his bud, the black kid with the blonde hair, what's his name? Bikky? Something like that. Most of the older kids crashed in drunken heaps on the floor. I believe Gourry and Sylphiel had secured one of the spare rooms beforehand and I had no idea what happened to Xelloss and Filia. Well I do, but I was trying to forget they're noisy giggling on the balcony. Eventually they headed out to the settlement, although that may have been in the morning. Kinda blurry at the time. Zolf and Nahga had a place rented down the road. I had a couch. Val had another one.
The cleaning staff woke me up with a vacuum cleaner under my ear. I never did get to thank Zel for the party before Val and I headed off to the Ancient Clan badlands. It was the two week band break and there was a huge amount of work for us to get done.
First, though, we stopped at my place to collect my bag of clothes, and then we stopped at Val's house, mostly vacant these days. He still kept his mom's truck at the foot of his bed. Now, why was that meaningful? Xelloss mentioned it last night at the party, but we were interrupted and I wasn't thinking to clearly at the time and forgot to go back and question him. I had been staring intently at the large, wooden foot-locker, concentrating, when I figured it out.
"Ach, Xelloss!"
"Name's Val, V-A-L, if you've forgotten..." he started to go sarcastic on me when he noticed that I was waving my hand and pointing at his stupid trunk. "Li? What is it?"
"Val, it's a diagram! Look!"
"What's a diagram?"
"There! The carving on the trunk. Didn't you ever notice that before? Those lines..."
"Yeah, like a maze. I always thought it was a maze, you know, I was a kid and I'd follow them around like this..." Val traced a continuous path in the carving from one point to another. "Hey, could be that be... Li, it's the temple. See the arches and columns... now that they're restored, it's gotta be..."
"Sure, it could be. So, what do you think it leads to?"
"Let's go find out," he grinned eager to get a move on.
I agreed, thinking at the time how uncanny Xelloss' sixth-sense timing was, "Right, make a map first."
The Monument part was mostly completed; I had a few houses to 'ID' yet and their markers to set up. The temple restoration was nearly finished with the upper rooms. Most of caverns were emptied and closed off. The roads were ready; still, there were plenty of tasks waiting to be done. Our first stop was to inspect the temple, though."Okay, so we are here. Which way...?"
"Follow me," Val said. He had spent the most time in that part of the monument, so I let him take the lead.
"Hello, Mr. Agares." Our course was hindered by a cluster of workmen.
"We need to get past," I declared.
"You can do that, but the hall is obstructed by a rock fall around the turn," he warned us.
Val and I dashed on ahead to find that at our next turn in the maze, it was blockaded by a huge barrier of rubble. Val grunted and swore.
"I'll get someone on it," I said and pulled out my cell phone, which didn't work in there. "Okay, let's go back out and find the foreman in charge."
We eventually acquired a well-paid team of miners, spelunkers, and engineers to clear a tunnel to match our crudely drawn maze. Then we waited.
Waiting was hard, but we had plenty of other jobs to distract us from the mysterious maze. Hard, tiring work. And mostly things were great. Mostly. But things were also different. One evening after a long day, we had showered over at the spa and then gone to dinner. When we finally returned to out cabin for the night, we were both beat. We had been up since dawn, (yeah me waking up with the sun and birds and squawking birds and chattering squirrels and noisy, noisy birds) and we'd worked our butts off all day and now I was fed and ready to collapse. Because of the close quarters, Val had always let me crawl into my sleeping bag first in the dark, and then, after a while, after I usually had fallen asleep, he'd follow. It worked that way this time, except for the part about me being asleep. I was wide awake. I didn't move. I didn't want him feeling like he had to stay up any longer if he was tired. I didn't know why I wasn't sleepy. I was tired all over, but not sleepy.
Moonlight was shining through the window, enough that I could see Val's form moving around through my slitted eyes. I was lying there on that huge mattress again, feeling weird. I shouldn't have been watching him that way, but I couldn't help myself as he stood there and stripped off his clothes, and then slithered into his sleeping bag. I know, 'Curiosity killed the cat,' but I wasn't a cat.
"Do you sleep naked with all your friends?" I asked, trying to sound unconcerned.
"Uh, yeah," he furrowed his brows, "unless you've got a problem with it. I thought you were asleep. I'll put something on if it bothers you."
If it bothered me.
"No," I replied and slid over onto my back, pulling the sleeping bag up around my neck and folding my arms over my stomach. "I just wondered."
"You think I'm giving you a special show?" He laughed, propping his pillows up behind him.
I hadn't scared him into thinking he'd offended me, I guessed. "Uh..." I felt myself go red, "I dunno." Damn, that had been dumb.
"No, man, this is how I sleep. Do you want me to put something on?"
Now what could I say? "It's okay," I mumbled, wishing he'd turn the light off. Oh, it was the moon. Damn.
"Are you... sure?" he teased.
"Yes," I hissed and turned over, facing away from him. "I'm pretty tired. Think I'll go to sleep."
"Me too, in a sec. Just gonna read for a while."
Reading for a while meant reading till midnight, apparently.
"You okay?" he asked, after a while.
"Yeah." Considering a naked guy is reading poetry by candlelight an arm's length away from me...
"You're not sleeping."
Well duh! "The light," I mumbled aloud.
"Didn't know it bothered you," he said with a sigh and blew it out before sliding down in his sleeping bag. Now his rumbly voice sounded mere inches away from my ear. "Better?"
NO! I screamed in my mind. "You don't have to stop reading 'cause of me."
"It's cool. I'm tired anyway."
Even after the candle was out, I couldn't sleep. My limbs and mind were restless. I tried to lie still, but tensing made it worse. Eventually, Val grabbed me and pulled me over to his side, pinning my arms against my body and mumbling, "Shit, Li, just ask instead of kicking around."
With my thin t-shirt pressed against his warm skin, my limbs twitched less, my skin stopped prickling, and my breathing began to slow. I considered killing him painfully in his sleep, but...
"Sorry," I whispered, my mouth obeying some other master.
"Shhh...sleep, Li..." He said that like an incantation.
It worked like magic, my mind agreed.
So I did.
The next day, we were a little quiet and uncomfortable with one another as we shuffled through breakfast and rode to check on the tunneling progress. We were greeted on arrival at the temple site by an excited crewman. "We broke through this morning! There was a room, intact at the end. We were waiting for you to come view it first."
That's what we needed to get us going. Val and I took up lanterns and followed the man through the narrow maze tunneled out of rock. Some parts were smooth and solid-walled where the passageways had been undamaged, while in others, overhead and at our sides steel and wood braces had been erected, supporting tons of rock debris.
"Here we are."
"Go on, Val. You first," I prodded him forward.
The room was luminous both with hanging lanterns and with silvered wall adornments.
"Val, check the cases."
"Documents, records. My father's rituals of office. It's all here, Li, my history!"
That's right. Those folks were as anal about record-keeping as any of the other Cephied Clan people, which shouldn't have been a surprise since they were the first clan, the progenitors of the others and they probably set the standards. They had an archive deep within the mountain temple where valuable papers were stored and protected. Not everything had been lost in the massacre, and Val's mother had passed the secrets to her last remaining son. By the end of the day, everything was removed from the room for proper handling; some for display and others for archival. Ah...except for a single small item, which I will get to later, when the time is right.
The room and the passageway remain private to this day, as a personal reminder to Val of his mother's love and family's endurance. Yep, life travels the most unexpected paths at times. One small thing leads to another and to another and to the next. You just put one foot forward and you are swept up in the excitement and enormity of it all.
Xelloss, how did you know about those lines on Val's trunk? Or did you? Probably not. It was just your intuition at the moment triggered by who knows what. That crazy, convoluted mind of yours leads us continually into chaos. Luckily, you all have got me to set things straight again!
What else went on that summer? Oh, Fil and Xelloss took off to Poland. And Zel and Amelia broke up, again, because she wouldn't move in with him for the summer. Yeah, like she'd wanna live with that jerk, or any guy for that matter! And...that's about it for this round. Hey, I can't tell you everything or I'll never get this thing to press! Next time, more about me and my friends coming to grips with life, okay? Oh, and it will be a little limey, be forewarned.
Author's Note: we wish to acknowledge and thank Bibliomaniac for the obsession/possession concept used in Zel and Lina's argument.
End -- SHJ Ten Year Reunion-- Chapter Eighteen.