Get ready with them flamethrowers Frances haters! Between the end of Hachi and the beginning of Kyu, she did some things that might want you all to kill her. Not to worry though! Things shall turn out all right in the end. I do not own Slayers, emo-chimeras, death, reviewers, the very thought of death or the concept of trump because I have been trumped in life itself. -shudders- School's in session.

Kyu

Neo Caesar! His Grandfather's Final Wish!

Zelgadis sat up in bed, cursing silently at his sore muscles. He had felt overly worn the entire evening for some unknown reason and his entire body had been flaring up in pain every so often throughout the night. This particular time around he knew why his muscles were sore, yet did not want to blame certain personal pleasure-bringing activities before anything else. Ignoring the sleeping Frances who was in bed next to where he sat, Zelgadis got up, put his beige boxer shorts on and walked out of his bedroom.

Good God do I hate my life, he moaned to himself as he entered the bathroom and turned on the light. He stood there for a moment, hovering over the sink and bracing himself on the edges as if he were going to be sick. Looking into the mirror, he noted how haggard his eyes appeared. They showed signs of the fatigue and stress that had been plaguing him the last couple of months since Rezzo started losing his own health and needed almost constant looking-after. Taking a closer look, Zelgadis could see the fine detail of his irises, all teal and luminescent in the pale light from the overhead lamp. His eyes made him seem so old, even though he was only a mere twenty-four years old. His skin was no better, being blue-grey and craggy like a gargoyle's facade would be after years of mistreatment. Zelgadis absolutely hated his appearance. It made him think about everything that had happened to him and how much he hated life itself.

Why can't I just wake up? he thought in an internal rage. I need to wake up from this damned God-awful dream! Zelgadis... you idiot! Wake up! Why won't this blasted dream end?

"What's the matter?" he heard Frances say softly. He glared into the mirror so that he could see her in the doorway, standing there in his pajamas with her auburn hair flowing gently down to the small of her back.

"I don't know," Zelgadis curtly lied, looking back down into the sink. He kept his gaze angrily concentrated on the sink drain as Frances walked up to him and put her hand on his bare back.

"Come back to bed," she said softly, now resting her head on his shoulder. Frances looked sadly into the mirror, seeing her lover's downcast face. She wanted to make him feel better, but knew that there was only so much that she could do. Zelgadis had too much on his mind to let her cheer him up. Frances was actually lucky to have gotten him to go to bed with her earlier that night. His grandfather: his last living relative, being in the hospital at that very moment, clinging onto life by a thread... was what Frances decided was having him act so oddly, even for himself. She could not stand to imagine how difficult it was to lose a parent or grandparent that was very close, even not so close, but hated the idea all the same.

"Leave me alone," Zelgadis ordered as gently as he could.

"No."

"I just want to be alone."

"Stop letting your grandfather's situation get to you."

"He is not getting to me."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"No."

"I am sure it will help."

"Nothing will help."

"Not even this?" Frances wrapped her arms around him and seductively kissed him at the corner of his mouth, hoping he would come back to her. When he did not, Frances gave up and stormed out of the bathroom, flustered at Zelgadis for not opening up to her, or wanting to come back to bed.

Oranges and lemons my dear, Zelgadis thought as he heard the door to his room slam with Frances's spite. That is what it all boils down to. The sooner you get that, the better off you will be in the end. He then looked at himself in the mirror and gave a sadistic laugh.

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It was the following morning and Zelgadis was sitting in his work office, reading over the paperwork concerning the transfer of all of his grandfather's business to him. It was not a task that he wanted to go about completing, yet he knew that it had to be done. Rezzo was still at the hospital and unconscious, but his condition had worsened throughout the night and the team of doctors headed by Dr. Alandra had expressed their concern about him making it to see another day.

"Zelgadis?" Frances's voice called out. Zelgadis looked up to see her standing in the doorway. She appeared to be in the middle of three different tasks at once, judging from the amount of papers she held in her hand.

"Yes?"

"There is someone here to see you."

"Tell him that I am busy."

"He says that it is about the Slayers..."

"Send him in."

Frances was not even gone for half a minute when an unfamiliar man walked into Zelgadis's office. Looking up, the chimera could see that he was rather young-looking to be an executive type with black hair and tanned skin, dressed in a pinstripe business suit and sunglasses and carried a briefcase that without a doubt carried all of the tools needed for a portable office.

"Hello there Mr. Graywords," the man said cheerfully through a foreign accent that sounded like he could come from Portugal. "My name is..."

"Please sit down," Zelgadis rudely instructed, motioning over towards a chair that faced his desk.

"Thank you Mr. Graywords. As I was saying... my name is Scrik de Cabo and I was sent here by the MLB officials concerning the future of the Slayers," the man said as he sat down in the chair. His voice shrank back at Zelgadis's interruption, as if the cheer was sucked from his words.

"Please go on," Zelgadis said blandly. He did not even look up from the piece of paper he was examining, giving the man from the MLB the feeling that Zelgadis did not even care the slightest bit.

"I have been given the notion that you wish to sell your grandfather's franchise to someone else... is that correct?"

"The sooner the better," Zelgadis said as he finally put down the papers he was glancing over. "How soon do you think you can find a buyer for me?"

"There are a few possible candidates that we are looking over, but it appears as if we might come out with just one to negotiate with you in the end."

"Fine," Zelgadis said flatly. "By when?"

"Mr. Graywords... are you sure that you want to get rid of this ball team?"

"Of course I am. I am not my grandfather you know."

"Yes," Scrik said, adverting his eyes away from Zelgadis uneasily. "Yet you never know how much you can enjoy owning a team... even the profit from a well-based fan support can be surprising if you do not expect it."

"Listen to me carefully, I am not that avid of a baseball fan, nor am I concerned about the profit issue. All I want is to get rid of what has brought my grandfather to his grave."

"I am sorry sir. I did not know that he..."

"...is so close to Death that he might as well be put in the casket already," Zelgadis said sourly. He leaned back in his chair and gave the man before him a very dismal glare.

What is up with this guy? Scrik thought. He's such a damn cynic it is creepy. Maybe it would be better just to let him sell the team...

"Do you have something to say Mr. de Cabo?" Zelgadis asked. Scrik jerked back from his mental self-debate and looked up at the chimera. "It seemed as if there was something you were working up the courage to tell me." The look on his face was one of steel, sending shivers up Scrik's spine.

"N-N-No. N-N-Not at all Mr. Graywords..." Scrik stammered. "I guess we'll call you once we get a candidate ready for you to interview."

"Right then," Zelgadis agreed in a very casual manner. "Now please get out of my office. I have a huge load of work to do."

"Yes sir," Scrik said as he picked up his suitcase and rushed out of the room. He walked out of the office slightly terrified by the collected way in which Zelgadis denounced his grandfather's baseball team. There are not many people in the world who act so nonchalant about the death of a loved one and getting rid of their property. It was slightly frightening to say the least.

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"So he's dead then," Zelgadis sighed, looking at his grandfather's lifeless body. The machines that were once running and attached to him were all gone, the peaceful mask of death covering his placid face. It had been exactly a half an hour since Zelgadis had talked to the man from the baseball league and he then received an urgent call from the hospital only a few minutes after the he had left. Upon hearing the news of his grandfather's quick spiraling crash towards death, Zelgadis went to the hospital as fast as he could, yet made it there barely too late to see Rezzo again when he was still alive.

"Yes," Dr. Alandra panted, feeling completely exhausted from trying to revive Rezzo. "We did all we could."

"I am sure you did."

"He left something," Dr. Alandra said. She walked over to the table besides Rezzo's bed and picked up a manila envelope and handed it to Zelgadis. "Some very professional person I did not recognize said that he was your grandfather's lawyer and that this was his will."

"Then a professional should read it, not me."

"The man also said it was a copy. Go ahead. The original one is the document that is formally read." She beckoned Zelgadis to take it. He did and slowly began to open it.

"I'll leave you be now," Dr. Alandra said as her beeper went off, signaling that she was needed in another area of the hospital. She walked out and left Zelgadis and Rezzo's corpse alone in the quiet room.

"So what do you want me to inherit you damned old fogey?" Zelgadis asked out loud as he sat down in a chair. Quickly he glanced over the legal document he had pulled out of the manila folder. "Hmm... just what I had figured. Everything. What exactly was it that you wanted me to see?"

Zelgadis looked over at his dead grandfather. He could almost detect a smile on the man's cold lips. Simply being in the same room as a dead body made him feel uneasy, as if a ghost was also in the room with him.

I wonder... he thought. Quickly, Zelgadis turned to the section about the Slayers baseball team. He carefully looked it over and discovered a bit of fine print.

"'I have frozen all possible ways for my grandson Zelgadis Graywords to sell the baseball team until a solid five year period after my death has passed. If he chooses to sell the team before then however, he forfeits all the rest of his inheritance and property and will become formally disowned, losing the family business as well...' Oh, that's very nice of you Grandfather. You sure do know how to keep me tied down, even after you are long gone," Zelgadis whispered angrily. "You suck." He half-expected a reply of "I know" to come out of the cadaver, but it stayed silent instead.

"Zelgadis...?" Frances asked as she walked into the room, having barely finished closing up the office. "Zelgadis... is your grandfather...?"

"Dead. Yes he is. He also left me with this," Zelgadis said as he stood up and held out the papers. Frances took them and studied the contents nervously.

"This is his will."

"That it is."

"He left you everything."

"In a way..."

"What do you mean by that?" Frances snapped. "You got his entire fortune!"

"That baseball team too."

"I thought you were selling that."

"I can't," Zelgadis scoffed, folding his arms and glaring at Rezzo. "Someone had to threaten to disown me and take away my entire inheritance if I sold off the team before five years passed! What in the hell do I need a bloody baseball team for anyways?"

"You never know Zelgadis," Frances answered, unfolding his arms and wrapping her own around his waist. "It could be the start of something absolutely wonderful."

"...or absolutely dreadful."

"You damn cynic."

"I thought you loved me like that."

"Zelgadis, lately you have been taking it too far."

"Fine," the chimera sighed. He put his arms around Frances and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Only if you say I am."

"We should take care of your grandfather now," Frances said morosely as she rested her head on Zelgadis's shoulder, her gaze unwillingly focused on the corpse besides them. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Frances had been attached to Rezzo almost like a granddaughter would be and was already starting to miss him.

"Why don't you go home and take it easy while I take care of him," Zelgadis said. "He was my grandfather you know."

"Alright. I expect you home for dinner."

"Count on it."

Zelgadis watched Frances as she moped out the door. If only she knew how painful this really is, he thought. If she knew the amount of loss I truly have. She never will though. He looked over at Rezzo and frowned. He sat there stone silent for quite a long time before calling in a turquoise-haired woman-nurse to assist him in finding the nearest person able to take Rezzo's body to the funeral home.

Things To Know

The Title: I was playing with Latin! -chuckles nervously- The beginning, I believe, translates to "New Ruler". I know "Caesar" is "ruler" and "Neo" is "new", so it should work, if Latin is a language that makes sense... unlike English.

Oranges and Lemons: Yes, this is a reference! It is the start to that spiffy little children's rhyme in the George Orwell book 1984. Nehszriah loves that book -smiles- Now what does everyone's favorite chimera mean by that? Hmm... that's a good question! Let me go think about it! Seriously, at this point, even I don't know. I guess I've got to go write the explanation now. -sweatdrop-

Zelgadis/Frances: Yes! They're still together! -cackles- Nothing like Zelgadis/OC, huh? Oh, let the perversion in your mind go wild when you imagine what they were doing before the chapter began. -grins-

Scrik: This is a member of Gerao-A and not my invention. I hope the last name is at least close to being similar to a normal Portuguese name. I really wouldn't know. -sweatdrop-

Rezzo Trumping Zelgadis: Now I think that this is just as good as making Rezzo the one who cursed Zelgadis. I mean, it gives the chimera plenty of reason to hate dear old dead Grandpa, now doesn't it? I guess it is pretty much the equivalent of cursing him.

Mystery Turquoise-Haired Woman-Nurse: That's my subtle way of shoving Martina into the fiction. Shoot me if needed.