2005

GRAVEYARD SHIFT

CHAPTER 26 -The Finale-

"That also made Rezo both Zel's grandfather and great grandfather,

which had to be kept a secret because of the implications." -- Xel

Xel was sweating. He rarely sweated, because he handled stress extremely well and avoided exertion that wasn't a pleasant occupation of his time. Love-making, for instance, was acceptable. Perspiration beaded down his back as he was examined by his mother's hard, fixed stare. He couldn't help but droop and would soon be as comfortable as on a frying pan.

"You look like a bundle of uselessness," she said. It was something she privately thought about him most of the time, but voiced it aloud now in anger.

"Oh, well, I shall have to choose someone else to write my obituary, then, if that's the best you have to say about me," he replied in an attempt at humor.

"I shouldn't think you were concerned with obituaries– you are so young yet." She picked at his coveralls. "Is this the new fashion for morgue parties? If it is, why haven't I heard about it?"

"So, it's I who am on trial. I understand. Okay, then, these are good for caving."

"Caving? When did caving become a pastime of yours? And this isn't a cave, dear; it's our family burial ground."

"It isn't a particular interest of mine. Valgaav enjoys it, and if you draw the wrong deductions from that then that's your fault, not mine."

Zelas raised her blonde, thinly tweezed eyebrows in surprise at his tone before drawing them into a frown. "Does he? He's the scholar and sports enthusiast, I understand." Her face distorted into a supercilious smile. "You should tell him he wears too much make-up. It's not becoming on a young man, although he can carry off the facial stripes fairly well. Better than you. You're far too soft for make-up. You want to look vulnerable, but not prettier than the girls."

"I'll remember that," he said, then promptly forgot it since he hadn't been paying attention. His mind was elsewhere, concerned for the welfare of his friends and Lina especially. Xel had planned to be gone only a minute to investigate the last passage. Zelgadiss had secured his prize, so it was only a matter of collecting the rest of the group and leaving. Why hadn't he just waited with the others? They would have been on their way home by now! It had been a gamble. Just check out that last passageway and see if he could find the door connecting the crypt to an underground tunnel to the laboratory. It was just for curiosity's sake, but wasn't that what killed the cat? How many lives would have to be sacrificed to satisfy his overactive inquisitiveness? They didn't have nine lives to lose, and they weren't cats, or sacrificial lambs, or laboratory rats.

He had, however, determined that the passageway led to the lab and, unfortunately, his mother. Now she drilled him for information, and his brilliant wit couldn't dull its bite as it cut away at his deceptions. What he had cost his friends by pursuing this last path, he wondered? How long had he and his mother been at it? It seemed like hours...

Zelas continued to talk. "I'm glad you sought me out here, although how you knew where to find me I don't know. In any case, a little praise for delivering Zelgadiss is due you."

"Ah, thanks." Xel swallowed back the words he wanted to say.

"But I'm more than a little concerned that you chose to bring your little friends here, to this, our family shrine. You told me you were going to the beach."

"Change of plans. Morbid pursuits come with the job, I guess." He was grasping at straws and not confident he could diffuse the situation with witty repartee.

"Can we move on to business then?" She wasn't asking, but telling him. Unfortunately, he chose to reply with heavy, and undisguised, sarcasm.

"Apparently not."

Her hand came out of nowhere, and the slap to his face stunned him. He nearly lost consciousness. "Don't toy with me like one of your idiotic friends, and do not lie to me. Why are you here? Why did you bring the boy to this particular place?"

He could feel the imprint of his mother's hand on his cheek, stinging, the blood rising to the surface. It worked to concentrate his mental faculties on the problem at hand. He looked at his mother directly, eyes watering, and asked, "Just to satisfy my curiosity, why cover up the identity of Zelgadiss' real mother?"

"Why? Because it is no business of anyone's, and the information can disturb lives best left at rest."

"It is Zelgadiss' business, and I'm making it mine. You're not his mother, are you?" The idea just came to him and the possibility was intriguing.

"Absolutely not! Don't be ridiculous."

"So, who is it a favor to, this secret? Dad? Gaav? Rezo? Uncle Grauscherra? I can't believe it's important to any of them, except, perhaps Rezo. He seems insecure enough and Zel's parents distant enough." He jammed his hands in his pockets, hoping to find a tool or weapon.

Zelas turned the alternatives over in her mind. "I suppose I can tell you, before you hand him over to me."

It was that easy. It happened so fast, Xel nearly let the words pass by without comment as he located the communication device and a loose battery. No wonder it had stopped working; one of the batteries had fallen out. He worked the back cover off and moved around in order to hide his activity. "Yes, I'd like to know."

"It's complicated but not a long story. It began with your grandmother, Loni."

His fumbling knocked the second battery loose, causing him to nearly cry out in anger. "Ugh...I don't recall ever meeting her, did I?"

"Possibly as a child. She lived for a very long time, keeping her youthful appearance right into her ripe old age. That was when she learned about these special genes. They are the secret to long life."

He nodded, understanding, and pushed one battery back in place; at least, he hoped it wasn't in backwards. The number of possible combinations...he didn't have time to try them all. One down, seven more combinations to go...

"It was too late for her; the science was too new to do her any good. Anyway, as you know, she and her husband Shabranigdo produced the two sons, Grauscherra and Gaav, and a daughter, me, the only one who retained some, but not a complete copy, of the 'youth' gene."

"Right." He stuffed the second battery in and pressed the open-the-line button. No signal. "Grrr..." he growled at his own bad luck.

"I agree. It would have saved so much time and trouble had I received the complete gene, but that's not how it happened. You see, what you don't know, and has not been told to anyone but myself and now you, was that Loni also had a fling with Rezo."

"Noooo," Xelloss gritted his teeth, turning the sweat-slicked battery around and pushed it into the slot. The springs held and he pressed the button to open the line. For joy, it worked!

"Ha! My feelings exactly. So, when I discovered the truth I knew it must remain a secret—one to be taken to the grave. What a swinger the old guy was, you're right. Rezo was Shabranigdo's half-brother, and at the time was some traveling itinerant priest, and, more importantly, also had the longevity gene. She delivered another daughter, which her husband believed was his own."

"Dolphinia," Xel said in a gasp, shocked. He was sending a signal to someone, he didn't know who, or care. He spoke up a little louder hoping one of his friends was listening in. "And here I thought Dolphinia was my favorite aunt, and your sister, and it turns out that she's Rezo's daughter!"

"First an adulterer then, well, another terrible thing. When later-- oh yeah, it gets worse-- Dolphinia seduced Zelgadiss' father in the manner her mother set forth as an example, and she produced your friend."

"Ah, that made Loni both Zel's grandmother and Zel's great grandmother. How nasty a business that made for the family." He rolled his eyes to show how unimpressed he was with the revelation.

Zelas took him at his word. "Yes. Dolphinia was locked up and sent away and a different Dauphin woman married the stupid man."

"That also made Rezo both Zel's grandfather and great grandfather, which had to be kept a secret, because of the implications." Xel pretended to ponder the situation while listening carefully for signs that his friends were on their way to help him.

"Before Dolphinia died of grief, she entrusted the truth to me. What this all comes down to is that Zelgadiss is the only one left with the whole gene. Rezo and I are incomplete."

"As am I," Xel said, "even if Gaav has none of the gene."

"My brother received a very small portion, bound to some other gene which blocked most of its usefulness. Val is of no use to our program, being adopted, and the gene becomes too diluted as one looks to his brothers. Zelgadiss is, however, the perfect candidate. And now that you understand the details, I'm sure you can see why I've been anxious for him to be delivered here." She opened a small shoulder bag and withdrew a shiny, thin box. "You might want a look at this, but I'll want it back."

(o)

Filia laid down a thick volley of shots, enabling Valgaav to make his run all the way to the shrine. As soon as she saw his head disappear past the ruined gate, she called back to Amelia. "Move on out!"

Amelia turned back to the van, shouting, "Ready, Miss Sylphiel?"

Sylphiel finished filling her knapsack with a variety of hypodermic needles filled with relaxant, as well as tapes, and scalpels, and other first-aid supplies, snapped it shut, and grabbed the fireplace shovel she had brought from the cabin. She couldn't shoot a gun, but she was not helpless. "Ready!"

They knew Valgaav hadn't wanted this. They knew he wanted them to remain behind in comparable safety, but who was he to tell them what to do? "He's inside. I don't see anyone," Filia told them as she raced past the fountain. "I can hear shouting, fighting."

Amelia brushed past her. "We have to expect more to come in behind us."

"I'll be last," Sylphiel said. "I'll watch your backs. Don't worry, if anyone comes I'll scream bloody murder. They won't sneak up on you."

The three girls started down the dark stairs and immediately ran into Valgaav. "Amelia! What are you...Filia? No, go back." He wasn't able to finish as a hooded man jumped onto his back. "Argh!" he groaned as pain from his shoulder injuries overwhelmed his senses, making him temporarily helpless.

Filia raised her rifle and slammed it into the hooded end of the man. "Oof!" she grunted. That's one!"

Valgaav shook off the dead weight and looked Filia in the eye. She was determined to stay; he was powerless to stop the girls from helping, and he knew it. "Thanks. Let's go for broke." The two plowed into the fray, Amelia and Sylphiel behind them. The entry chamber was dimly lit by lanterns hanging from hooks and scattered around the chamber. From the height above their heads, Valgaav assumed Gourry was responsible for their placement. "I see Gourry!" Valgaav yelled, then quickly shouted over his shoulder to Sylphiel, "And Zelgadiss!" He couldn't locate either Xel or Lina.

Zelgadiss heard Valgaav's shouting from behind him. He kicked an attacker in the gut and turned to look. "Yes!" He elbowed a man out of his way and set out, cutting a swath to meet Valgaav and the girls. "It's great to see you," he said, and then caught sight of Sylphiel, who was partially hidden in the deep shadows behind Valgaav. "They should be at the cabin." His face mask was long gone; his coveralls torn at the shoulder, revealing a patch of skin, which in better light would have looked pearly blue.

Valgaav leaned to the side as Filia reached around him, swinging her weapon and knocking out two hooded men before they could grab Zelgadiss. "There! Hey, I should be at home with a cup of tea, forget that stinking cabin," she shouted, and caught another on the backswing. "Ah, ha! And that! I knew those golf lessons were good for something!"

Zelgadiss noticed immediately that Valgaav looked far worse than he did. His green hair was matted, his shoulder wrapped, and his arm was bandaged and tied across his chest. His skin looked clammy, dripping with sweat. "What happened to you?"

"Wolf attack." Valgaav ducked a short staff one attacker was wheeling, allowing Amelia space to run out and trip the man jumping on him from behind.

"Wolf? Oh, that's what you were trying to tell me," Zelgadiss smiled. "Lina's up there," he said, pointing to the opening to the upper chambers with a blood-stained knife, the blade catching the flickering light from a hanging lantern and glinting wickedly. "You're hurt bad, Val."

Valgaav used the fireplace poker like a cattle prod, batting away at the men who seemed intent mostly on getting a hold of Zelgadiss. "Yeah, hurts like hell, too. None of these guys have guns, do they?"

Zelgadiss jumped agilely over Amelia's latest victim to get closer to Sylphiel. "Not any more. These are clones, at least we're pretty sure they are, so don't mind hurting them." He hacked an attacker before Sylphiel could raise her shovel.

"Where's Xel?" Valgaav asked, batting away an attacker who was clinging to Filia's hair, trying to pull her to the ground.

"He went down the far passage, but no one's heard from him since I found..." He punched an attacker in the face, sending him into the man behind him. "...Since I found, oh yeah, did you hear I found the coffin?"

Valgaav grabbed Amelia with his good arm and heaved her onto his shoulders. "Great, so we can leave this shit hole. Let's get Xel."

Zelgadiss nodded, although he was impressed with Valgaav's show of strength and decided to take up rock climbing later himself, if he ever got out of this place. "That's the plan. Head for the passage."

Filia and Sylphiel regrouped with Zelgadiss in the lead and Valgaav protecting the rear. They pressed forward until they were side-by-side with Gourry. His face mask was off, caught in his tangled hair, so when he saw their friendly face, his smile glowed past the dirt smears. "Hey! All right!"

While the others took in the grisly scene of the Rezo-copy's burial and continued to fend off the oncoming attackers, Gourry called up to Lina. "Jump! Everyone's here. Lina, jump and I'll catch you!"

Zelgadiss heard his walkie-talkie crackle. "Who could be calling?" he muttered and held it up to his ear to hear better over the din.

"Okay, you'd better!" Lina shouted down to Gourry. She swung her legs over the side, took in the scene below, and then leaped the final few feet, landing in Gourry's arms safely.

"You sure are dirty," he said, but he didn't put her down.

"So are you. Where's Xel? You said everybody!"

Gourry shook his head. "Not him."

"I'm getting some static from Xel," Zelgadiss said. "Now I hear him. He's with his mother, I think." He stood stock-still, not wanting to miss a word of what Zelas was saying. The blood drained from his face, worrying Sylphiel terribly, fearing he was about to go into shock. She clasped him in her arms, hoping to lend him some of her warmth.

Lina squirmed to get free from Gourry's hold. "Then put me down and let's go get him." On her way to the stone floor, she tore off what was left of her mask. "Too late now for that. Okay, where to?"

"In there, right?" Valgaav prodded into the passage with his poker. He heard an affirmative from someone, then lowered Amelia to the floor beside Lina and ducked his head to enter the final passage where they hoped to find Xelloss intact. Zelgadiss, stone-faced, pushed Sylphiel and Filia ahead of him, intent on his goal and oblivious to the crush of bodies and continuing fighting going on around him still. Gourry clubbed off any following attackers, providing the rear-guard services.

(o)

"I hear Xel's voice," Lina called over her shoulder, her voice hushed yet taut with excitement.

Valgaav seized her elbow, preventing her from running blindly into the chamber. "Wait! We need a plan. Listen first to what's going down in there."

Lina scowled back at him, saw her chance, and then slipped the fire poker from his grip. "Mine. Now, here's my plan: get Xel and get out."

Xelloss could hear activity down the main passageway, too, only he figured it was Lina, Zelgadiss, and Gourry, at last. He shrugged his shoulders. It was important that he appear confident, which is why he smiled so sweetly upon his mother right then– all his life his smile had been stretched across his rage, like a tightrope across a volcano's cauldron. "Okay, then, I'll go get him."

"No longer necessary. You had your chance, now you can wait and see how everything has been provided for."

"Like a table napkin," he muttered beneath his breath.

"What did you say? No matter, I just ordered my personal guard to locate him and escort him to me. They should be here directly; in fact, I hear them coming now."

"Minions? You set armed guards on my friends!" Xelloss started for the exit. "Are you insane?"

"No." Zelas charged on her son with dangerous intent, drawing her gun from her underarm holster. "And I will kill them all to avoid upsetting my plans."

"Leave them alone. It's me you can blame; they know nothing. This is between you and me, Mother."

"Who are you protecting, I wonder? Maybe I can save just that one."

"You won't hurt any of them, do you understand?" His eyes were locked on hers, even though he remained aware of where she was pointing her gun.

"You will choose one."

Xelloss said, "It's Lina. I am in love with her. Are you satisfied? Does that make me too weak? Well, you're wrong. She's wonderful for me. You won't touch her or I'll kill you, I swear it! Or any of them. They are loved; they have families, people who care about them. Have you forgotten Gaav? Milgasia? He'll have the clan armed forces landing on these shores within an hour of hearing Filia was harmed. Nels Lahda is the head of the White Shrine in Sairaag. You think he won't raise hell if you harm his daughter?"

"Now you underestimate me. You don't think I could fake an accident on this island to explain away their deaths? Are you so in love that you will die for the girl?"

"Yes. I've finally found something worth living for. I won't give up."

"And you told her this and promised her what?"

"She doesn't know, yet," he said, feeling as pathetic as his mother wanted him to feel.

Lina, still hidden in the passageway with the others, heard everything. Xel loved her. He loved her enough to stand up to his mother that way. It was easier to admit how she felt, knowing that. "I love you too," she whispered too quietly for anyone to hear. She wanted him to know, though. She had to get to him and tell him. "Let's go in there."

Valgaav's grip tightened. "Hold on, hold on...not yet. Give Xel a chance to get out of this."

Zelas snapped, "Foolish boy."

Hearing the sound of a gun being cocked was all it took to push Valgaav to action. As he moved, Lina jerked free, dashing toward the flickering light afforded by a lantern in the chamber beyond. The others followed on their heels, charging into the room.

Xel smiled as he saw Lina, hair stringy and clothes caked with mud, looking lovelier to him than any starlet or runway model. He pocketed his mother's box when her attention was distracted. He knew what it was; it was valuable, but opening it could wait for later.

"Stupid children," Zelas said with a barking laugh. She stepped backwards into the opening to the corridor leading to the labs, running her hand along the door jam, feeling for an alarm button. "Nevertheless, I'll take Zelgadiss now. The lab's this way."

Zelgadiss shook his head. "Hell no! I want no part in your fountain of youth schemes. You destroyed my grandfather, but you won't get me."

Zelas flipped her gun his way as a contingent of armed lackeys thundered out of the corridor and stormed into the crowded chamber. "Take the blue-skinned boy; I don't require him alive..."

Xel raised his arms, calling a temporary halt to the action. Time to play his last card. "Sadly, Zelgadiss isn't any use to you at all."

"What do you mean?" Zelas leveled the gun, and a deadly glare, at her son. "What do you know?"

"Zelgadiss' DNA samples, on which you've based all your information, were from samples taken when he was a child, possibly a newborn, correct?"

"Yes, get to the point."

"The samples we just recently collected tell a different story."

Zelas was impatient, growing anxiety that she had risked a lot, and overlooked something important. "What?"

"The accident involving Zelgadiss and his grandfather, Rezo, caused extensive damage to him. Most is merely cosmetic, but I started to wonder if it could be more serious when his hair continued to grow out in its altered state. So, I had another set of samples analyzed."

"No..."

"Yes, his skin and hair are just the outward signs of the extensive genetic mutations he's suffered. The bottom line is this: he no longer carries the longevity genes, they've been altered. He is of no use to you; none of us are. Sorry."

Lina stepped forward. "Right, so all we want to do now is go home."

Zelas may have been marginally sane prior to this moment, but with Xelloss' shocking news a crack arose in her psyche, then widened to allow the mind-corrupting poisons to seep in, disrupting her reasoning, and then continue to spread, splitting her apart. Zelas screamed, ordering her henchmen to attack the kids without reserve. The gun, once turned on her son, now was aimed at Zelgadiss. She would take him out herself.

Xel batted away an armed man. "Lina! Get out!" Zelgadiss was busy fighting off another man, blocking Sylphiel from attack. Xel knew his friend couldn't see the danger he was in. Zelas was going to shoot him! In the space between blinks of an eye, the many minutiae of the possibilities crossed his mind: shout, run, duck-- Lina would be safe with Gourry, but Sylphiel was pregnant and she would need Zelgadiss– that decided it. In the next instant, Xel leaped in front of Zelgadiss, tripping him and knocking him to the floor as Zelas fired.

Valgaav tore a gun from the guard nearest him and slammed it down, decking the man senseless with the butt end. He tossed the gun into the air, caught it one-handed, stepped to the side, aimed, and fired twice, taking out two more of the armed guards.

The rifles Filia and Amelia had brought were useless in such close quarters, and they hadn't thought to grab any of Valgaav's arsenal. Instead, Filia covered Amelia while she recovered dropped weapons. It was dark, which made it difficult to see. Amelia scuttled about close to the floor, avoiding detection. She was nearly stepped on by one of the henchmen as she retrieved what looked to her to be a cattle prod, but Filia shot his foot and his knee, sending him hollering into the wall. "Over this way," Filia called out, getting the two of them nearer to the exit passageway.

Gourry cold-cocked a guard in the jaw and took his automatic. He shot the semiautomatic out of the hand of an attacker just entering the chamber, fired off a few shots down the hall, and when he was satisfied that no more enemies were coming, he closed the door and turned his attention to the opponents inside.

Zelas' shot flew wide, missing both her son and Zelgadiss, but one of Zelas' men lurched past her, intent on reaching the fallen pair. Xelloss twisted to shield his friend with his own body as Zelas fired a second shot. "Ugh!" he gasped as pain exploded past his shoulder blade. Another bullet flew over Zelgadiss' head and into Xelloss' chest. The guard kicked him to the side and made for Zelgadiss, blade ready to stab the blue-skinned young man through the heart. Gourry aimed to kill and blasted the guard to the floor, sending his knife clattering to the floor at Xel's feet.

Valgaav shook Amelia and Filia, ears ringing with the shots fired in the stone-walled room. "Help me. Get out, now!" Amelia swung the cattle prod with all her strength, striking and disarming a man about to rush at them from the side, but she only managed to clip him on the free arm. Valgaav kicked him away, shouting again, "Move!"

But the wounded guard appeared once more, thrusting out with a long, knife with a curved blade. Filia screamed as it pierced her thigh. She wrapped both hands around the knife handle, which was embedded in her limb to the hilt, braced her feet, and yanked, wincing as the notched blade slid past muscle and scraped past bone. "Oh, gods!"

Valgaav took the rifle from Amelia's weapon collection and, without bothering to aim, blasted a hole in the attacker's gut. Amelia watched wide-eyed, nearly in shock, then jumped to support Filia. "Lean on me!"

Gourry pushed them out into the passage, then noticed Lina was still in the room. "Lina, no!" Without a second thought, he went after her.

Lina dove for the floor as Xel went down. "No, no... What stupid, brave thing you did. Don't you dare die on me!" Xel's eyes were closed. She couldn't make out if he was breathing in the dim light, surrounded by chaos, but her eyes spotted the dull shine glinting off the discarded knife. Hastily she claimed the knife and with one last look at the spreading blood, she muttered defiantly, "For this, she dies."

Lina sprang to her feet, blind to her own dangerous situation. She located Zelas, who was still holding her gun, barking orders at her few remaining minions. Lina, impulsive as her actions were when it came to delivery, was exacting. She carefully gauged the distance and the angle before swiftly flinging the blade, sending it arrow-straight directly at Zelas.

Gourry watched Zelas jerk her head in Lina's direction, pivot, and raise the gun to shoulder height. He couldn't allow her to get another shot off, especially not with Lina in her sights. He attempted to fire at Zelas with his own weapon, but it was jammed on the first try. Without skipping a beat, he fired again, this time hitting her hand. The weapon flew out of Zelas' hand and spattered blood on the wood pillar behind her. Zelas screamed as he fired again, missing widely, chiseling out chunks of rock and dust with a spray of bullets. He was about to fire again when he realized Zelas was no longer moving.

Lina had directed all her anger, all her grief, and all her hatred into her throw. The knife blade hit its target, passing through flesh and pinning Zelas' neck to the rough-hewn timber pillar as rock debris rained down.

Gourry leveled his gun at the remaining two guards, expecting them to drop their weapons upon seeing their boss was dead. Instead, they launched themselves in separate directions, falling to the ground under a volley of shots as Gourry finished off his round of ammunition. "That's all of them."

Zelgadiss had regained his breath, having had it knocked out of him when Xel fell on him. "Gods, Xel!" he cried out, grief-stricken when he could make out who was draped over his legs.

Sylphiel sank to her knees and started crawling. Some one was hurt and she was needed, and she was lucky that no one noticed a girl creeping along on the floor. "Oh, no," she said, pulling up alongside Zelgadiss. Her professionalism took over immediately. Sylphiel thrust her fist into her bag and dug furiously for material to staunch the flow of blood. "Come on... Got it!" She began pulling out wads of gauze and ripping at Xel's coveralls. "Hurry! Hold it for me to stop the bleeding." She plastered tape over the mass to hold it in place. "Help me turn him."

"It went all the way through," Zel gasped, face anguished.

"No, this is another entry wound over his h-heart," she said, choking up as she pressed another wad to the wound and secured it with safety pins.

He wasn't given more time to worry. Valgaav's one good arm pulled Zelgadiss the rest of his way to his feet, and gave him a shove to the exit. "Go!"

"Not without Sylphiel!"

Sylphiel remained crouched over Xel. Lina stumbled over bodies on her way to his side. "Is he breathing?"

"Barely. He'll die before we get him to Seyruun, if we can't get him more blood."

"That's it then." Valgaav pulled out his walkie-talkie one more time and signaled Sherra. "Valgaav here. Xel's down. Real bad. Zelas is dead. Bunch of thugs, too. What's that? Okay. We're taking him to the asylum hospital. Here's what you can do: call Dad. Gaav, yeah. You have a number? That'll do. He knows we're here. Tell him...ah... what I've told you and that we need help. Right, bring them to the Asylum hospital, where ever that is. You know where to find that? Sure you do. Fine. That's it then. We're going."

Gourry lifted Xel in his arms. "Someone get that door for me."

"Sure," Zelgadiss said. He found the button operating the sliding door, picked up Sylphiel's bag, and squeezed her hand. "This way, I guess."

Despite her concerns for Xel, Lina was still charged up. "I'll go in front. I've been there before."

Amelia and Filia limped behind, Amelia on one side and Valgaav doing his best to support Filia's weight on the other. They were chilled to the bone as the sweat evaporated off their skin, dirty, stinging with small cuts, aching from bruises. The shock of what they had just gone through hadn't even settled in yet. There wasn't time—after all, it wasn't over yet.

(o)

"I'm no doctor." Sylphiel and Lina had Gourry placed Xel face up on an examination table. "I'll do my best to stabilize him."

"You're his only hope now, Sylph. What's he need, blood?" Zelgadiss opened cupboards as if he might find the answers inside.

"We got some orderly dude to help you," Valgaav said. He shoved a terrified man into the room. "You do what that lady tells you to do or Xel dies. You know who Xel is, don't you? Well, these crazy people killed his mom and a bunch of others. So, he's your boss now and you'd better see he lives, or I'm next in line!" Of course, it wasn't really true, but the orderly didn't know that.

"Y-yes, sir!" He had no where to run with Gourry towering over him on one side and Valgaav positioned on the other.

"He needs blood transfusions," Sylphiel began.

"I'll bring up his work up sheet." The man activated the computer-records scan, located Xel's files, and found the required information. Within a minute, he had the IV setup and dripping fluids into Xel's arm.

"I need to keep him warm. Blankets?"

"This way," he said, leading Amelia with her both Valgaav and Gourry as guards to a storage locker with built-in warming trays. "Take a many as you need. More will automatically fill in. It's a continuous heating system."

"Yeah, you must need that with reviving clones," Valgaav growled. He had no patience left.

"Would you get him a few aspirins and some water, please," Amelia asked the orderly. "Valgaav, you should let Sylphiel check your wounds again."

"They're fine."

"You need antibiotics, she said. Those claws were just full of terrible bacteria." He couldn't argue anymore, and she knew it. He was worn down, his shoulder was throbbing, and he was worried sick for his cousin. When they returned to Xel's side, Amelia led her boyfriend to a chair. "Now you sit in line here so Sylphiel can take care of you. That's why she's here. Gourry and Zelgadiss can do guard duty."

Lina draped Xel in the warm blankets, while Filia, who was lying on a table next to Xel, thanked Sylphiel for wrapping her in another. "That knife wound is deep but clean," Sylphiel told her while tending to the wound. "There, all clean and covered. The bleeding has been minimal, which is great. One inch more and it would have hit an artery. I've got pain killers, tetanus, and antibiotics– all in shot form. After the injections, I suggest you close our eyes and try to sleep, okay?"

Filia nodded, tearing up a little. "You've been wonderful, so sweet. Thanks."

"You're welcome." Sylphiel smiled and patted her friend's hand, then moved past Xel, giving his IV one last check.

Amelia shivered and after gazing longingly at Filia's blanket, hopped up, exclaiming as he did, "I'm bringing us all blankets!"

"That's a lovely idea," Sylphiel said. She told everyone to sit still and let her treat their scratches and scrapes. "Who knows what you've gotten into?" Mostly, they needed to scrub their hands and arms, but Gourry had a gash on one hand and a few deep cuts to treat. "There's nothing that can be done about the air we were breathing. Zelas wasn't wearing a mask so we can hope the air was okay for us to breathe, too."

Zelgadiss wasn't listening. He sat cradling his head in his hands, miserable because although he had found what they had come for, it didn't matter any more. He had overheard Zelas telling Xel the truth, so he knew that all this was over something so stupid, so completely unimportant as adulterous grandparents. So what? Xel was lying there nearly dead for nothing. So, they stopped Zelas. So, she wasn't going to use him in some experiment. Great. Zelgadiss would trade it all to go back in time and do anything else this weekend. And Xel would not have been hurt, or Valgaav, or Filia. Stupid, stupid, stupid. In particular, he couldn't look Lina in the eyes.

Sylphiel tapped him on the shoulder. "Come look what I found!" Her eyes shone brightly with excitement.

He was reluctant to move, at first, but when he noticed Lina smile he flew out of his chair and over to Xel's side. "What?"

"I think he'll be okay. Look at this." She held up a bent, palm-sized, metallic box. "I didn't notice it before in the dark."

"What about it?" Zelgadiss asked.

"The blood on his chest, what we thought was a bullet entry wound, was from the sharp edge cutting into him here. See that?"

Lina whisked the box away. "Lemme see that. Hey, you can see where the bullet hit and was deflected."

Amelia rushed back into the room, laden with warm blankets. "What's wrong?" she asked as she distributed the welcome heat.

"Xel didn't take a bullet to the heart like we thought," Lina started to explain.

Gourry snatched the book out of Lina's hands, examining it while Valgaav looked over his shoulder. "It's a book. Says here, 'Claire Bible'."

"That's not just any book," Valgaav told him, "that's got the whole Shabranigdo family history and lineage in it. I wonder where he found that?"

Gourry passed the odd book to Zelgadiss. "You ought to look it over, then."

"Thanks."

Holding a stethoscope to Xel's chest, Sylphiel said, "His lungs are clear, which means the other bullet didn't hit one or anything major. It's all good. I'll sit with him, Lina. You should rest now. You all should rest while we wait."

An hour before dawn, Gaav arrived in Phibrizzo's personal jet, accompanied by Xel's father and trusted medical personnel. They were met at the landing strip by Sherra, who wasted no time shuttling them all to the medical facilities and tracking down the kids from there. Gaav was a take-charge kind of man, and that's what he did, leaving Phibrizzo to attend to his son's transfer to the plane.

"We'll get him into x-ray for possible bone damage where he's swelling and prep for surgery. I don't believe the bullet hit vital organs, but he's continuing to bleed internally. You are to be commended for you fine work here, my dear," the lead doctor told Sylphiel. "If you are ever interested in moving to Atlas City, I'd like to have you join my medical group." The man handed her a card, which she pocketed with a polite "thank you." It could be a perfect way for her to accompany Zelgadiss.

"You're taking him to Atlas City?" Lina pushed in between the doctor and Xel's father. "Not without me, too. We got bags with overnight stuff and clothes changes out in some cabin."

"You must be Lina Inverse," Phibrizzo said. "Xel has told me a lot about you, and I'd be happy to have you as my guest at my villa while Xel convalesces. As far as your personal things are concerned, I'm certain Gaav can have them sent."

"Ah, thanks, but I'd like my stuff tonight."

"Today. It's morning. Listen, why don't all you kids come for at least a day to relax and get cleaned up. This has been a traumatic event for all of you, and I can see you need to talk."

"Well, we still have one more day of vacation due us." Lina asked. "You have a pool at this villa?"

"Yes."

"What do you say, guys?"

Although going home sounded good to most of them, the shock of so much violence was setting in. They did need to talk about what had happened and they did want to be near when Xel awakened. So, it was agreed that Phibrizzo would take the kids back to his Atlas City property. He contacted Gaav to locate the van of the kids' belongings. Gaav agreed to stay on at the island, overseeing the property while the government agencies arrived to assume control of the asylum and penitentiary. It would be a while before it was known what would be done with the family estate and assets.

(o)

Tired.

Eyelids so heavy they must be weighted with sand.

Damn that sandman anyway.

No legs.

I have no legs.

Definitely no legs.

Cold shoulders.

Quiet.

Car faraway buzzing on the road.

Head so thick it must be filled with sludge.

"He's waking up!" Lina shouted excitedly. "Xelloss, can you hear me?"

Xelloss opened his eyes a crack. All he saw was Lina's smiling face, skin clean and smelling of antiseptic soap, or something was. Alive, he was alive. Lina was talking in a very animated way, and he tried to concentrate on hearing, but caught only snippets of what she was telling him.

"We're in ... Atlas City... your father's... hospital... What's that?"

He moved his lips, but no sound issued. Lina could read lips, through the oxygen mask, past the IV hoses. She could read "I love you" through anything. "Yeah, me too. I mean, I love you too, so you better not pull a stupid stunt like that again."

He could read her heart and knew that she meant what she had said.

(o)

Zelgadiss clapped his hand over the shoulder of his best man. "Here, Xelloss, Nels Lahda would like to return your lucky Steel-coated Claire family bible." He handed over the small, but heavy, metal-clad book. "I copied the family tree and history for my own information. Oh, and made a copy for Valgaav, too, though he thinks his dad's got a version somewhere."

Xel took the book. "Did you update the information?"

"Yeah, my presence is known. Me, the one with Rezo for a grandfather and a great grandfather."

"Well, at least you don't have to live with the shame for all eternity."

"No, I'll live to a ripe old age, odds are, but only a normally ripe old age, thanks to my mutated genes."

Gourry was standing by. He smiled, saying, "Ah, Xel, you were real lucky you had that in your shirt pocket under your coveralls. A 22 couldn't penetrate it, or you wouldn't be here today."

"Good thing that bullet wasn't from the 44 magnum," Valgaav added, "because one of those babies could pierce just about anything. Yeah, don't go thinking that book will save you from everything."

"Yeah, famous last words, like 'I can do that with my eyes closed,'" Xelloss said, smiling back.

"Or how, 'bout , 'Are you sure the power's off?'" Gourry put in, enjoying the light humor and being we his friends without worries once again.

"Right, and 'Rat poison only kills rats,'" Zelgadiss added.

Valgaav laughed, "Yeah, or... 'Pull the pin and count to what?'"

Gourry chuckled. "I was with some guys hiking in bear country and one guy was about to go into a cave when we heard a rumbling like of a bear inside. He kept trying to tell us 'He's probably hibernating.' Would have been his last words if we hadn't dragged him away."

"Is that really true?" Lina asked, her eyes bright, enchanting.

Gourry nodded. "Sure was." He knew that she and Xel had an understanding, but as he had told her a few days ago, "Right now, I know you want Xel, but someday you'll change your mind and see how much you need me."

And she had replied, "I'll always need you, Gourry, as the great friend I can always count on, but I'm not changing my mind about Xel."

He thought maybe she really meant it this time and figured he ought to get along with his life like he was thinking. Filia was pretty and shared his love of sports and fitness. She had good business sense and seemed to like him, too. Yeah, maybe it was time to move on for himself, this time. He fingered the end of his braid, carefully brushed and plaited for the wedding by the pretty Miss Filia. "You have a famous- last-words line to tell, Filia?"

Encouraged to relax and not let Xel bother her so much, Filia jumped into the game at Gourry's bidding. "Yes, this one's great: 'These are the good kind of mushrooms.'"

"Yeah, right, like: 'This doesn't taste right,' and then you keel over and die, heh, heh..." said Lina with a wink.

"How about this for a last word: 'Well, we've made it this far.'?" Amelia asked, happy to be with her friends, who had gathered to share the wonderful occasion before they'd all go their own ways, or at least most of them would. It was bittersweet, but she was proud of Valgaav's decision to return to college and follow that dream first. He would visit her every chance he'd get, and she would miss him madly, but it was the right thing to do.

"Or," Sylphiel giggled, "It's probably just a rash!" She leaned into her husband of one hour, bumping him and making him laugh along with her joke.

Zelgadiss smiled and blushed. He felt light-headed and happy. He couldn't believe how fast his life had changed. One minute he thought it was over, his friends dying for nothing. Then, miraculously, Xel's wounds turned out not to be as serious as first thought, they were saved and invited to recuperate at what was only one of Xel's wealthy father's villas. That was where Sylphiel kept her promise to Xel and told Zelgadiss that she was going to have his baby. Zelgadiss nearly, well, he did faint. She told him about the great job offer she had and that it would be waiting for her after the baby was born. He would go to college, they would live together in Atlas City, and, oh she almost forgot, his classes were starting in two days, which was when he interrupted her breathless speech to say, "Then we have one day to get married, if you'll accept." Now he felt very mature and thankful for the speed in which all the preparations took place so that he hadn't had time to become overly nervous.

"Okay, more famous last words: 'Now watch this...'" Zel heard someone say, and he laughed more, giving his new wife a gentle hug.

"Or... 'I'll hold it and you light the fuse,'" another person shouted.

"It's fireproof! Then blammo!" Lina said with appropriate arm gestures. Her heart was lighter than she could remember. As soon as Xel was well enough, he promised to take her traveling to wherever she wanted. For now, though, she was satisfied pushing him around in a wheelchair at the wedding of Zelgadiss and Sylphiel. There was plenty of food and no one telling her not to eat as much as she wanted.

"How about this one?" Sherra broke in, giggling. "I'll get a world record for this..." She swallowed another mouthful of champagne. "No, no... I've got a better 'famous last words.' How's this one? 'Don't worry, I've done this before...'?" She laughed at her own silliness and enjoyed the camaraderie of the other young people, to whom most of which she was now related. After discussing it with Xel and her father, Grauscherra, she was starting her own charter plane service. As soon as the paperwork could be completed, she, Xel, and the staff on Wolfpack Island would fly the planes to her leased quarters in Seyruun's private terminal area. Her life was really on track. Now, she hoped all her handsome cousins would find their ways as well.

"Or, the moment before the whole place blows up, your last words are: 'That's odd...'" Amelia said, tipping her head to the side and cutely tapping her lip with her forefinger.

"I think I actually said that before Rezo's lab blew up in my face," Zelgadiss said, joking about the incident to the surprise of his friends. "Ah, how about: 'What does this button do?'"

"Or the corollary: 'Which wire was I supposed to cut?'" Valgaav put in.

Zelgadiss was pushing Xel to read some paper he'd been holding. "I don't want to threaten a man in a wheelchair, even if it's only a temporary situation, but I will. You said you had some insane thing you'd written. I want to hear it and then get the hell away from you guys and spend some alone time with Sylphiel." He chuckled when he said that, but he really did want one night alone before the rest of life took over again.

"Okay," Xel began, "You asked for this, remember that. I left it out of my toast, for good reason, but now, against MY better judgment, I've been pressed to read this thing I wrote yesterday while Lina was giving me a sponge bath..."

"Ewwww," Filia squealed. "I don't want to hear it! Just read it and get it over with!"

"Okay, here goes:

I once lived in the Caesarean Section of Rome. One day, while eating my lunch in the cafeteria, I overheard someone say that a large reward was being offered to anyone who could find Lady Cattery's lover, a tomcat of some renown. I was excited, so I yanked my coat from the hangnail and flew out the back exit, the bacteria. I saw a loose border colic, a breed of dog used for cat scans, take off after something. Maybe that was my stray tomcat! I lost sight of the dog in no time.

"Hey, have you seen cats?" I asked the first person I saw in a congenital manner. I tried to be friendly at all times because I didn't want any enemas.

"Try the upholstery shop!" answered a pasty-looking postoperative man with the grippe brand of postal letter-carrier bags.

"You mean the Recovery Room?" I shot back, questioning the man's fibula. "It's closed!"

Everyone knew that shop was closed on High Colonic, a Jewish religious holiday – there was no reason for him to lie unless he was secretion-ing something.

He just shrugged, "Either urine, or you're out."

I wasn't going to get any further with him, so I stepped back. Not far away, in fact varicose, I saw a distinguished and impotent looking man who looked like the Roman emperor Seizure.

"I am looking for a stray cat. Seen any?" I asked. "That other guy was no help at all."

The Seizure-look-alike smiled knowingly, "Yes, he has always been so vein. One time he got me so mad, I dang near rectum. I understand he just studies art-eries in the museum. Anyway, no, I haven't seen any cats, but you might ask that lady over there on the bench. The one resting her weight on the medical staff."

I thanked the kind man and ambled over to the woman. She looked to be in pain, and so I asked what the matter was first.

"Labor pain," she grimaced. "I gotta bad boss at work and I'm always getting hurt."

"That's too bad, what can you do about the problem?" I wondered if she had thought about a solution yet.

"I have tumor bosses than I need, that's for sure," she began with a sigh.

"Go on..."

"Well I need to get the first one's attention, so I'm thinking that I might play the stringed catarrh..."

"Could you please hurry it up a bit and talk fester?" I begged. I wanted to find the tomcat and get my reward!

"So then once I had cauterize, I would ask her if she wanted to live long and dilate."

"You think that would work?" I asked as I caught a glimpse of cat tail out of the corner of my eye.

"With the one boss, yes, and with the second one... Well, when all else fails, I'll just barium."

This creepy lady was not helping me at all, but if that was the missing cat I had glimpsed, then I had nothing to worry about.

"Excuse me," I said and took off at a dead run.

But as I started to move, Pelvis– the tomcat cousin to the famous cat singing sensation and, by the way, also Lady Catterly's lover– leaped from a low, flat picnic tablet and knocked me flat prostrate onto the ground. It hurt so much that I howled out some bowels along the lines of A, E, I, O, and Uuuuuuuu!

It was so great a cat call, that Lady Catterly heard it from her mistress' home (somewhere in D&C near the Washington memorial) and ran in search of Pelvis. How rheumatic! The lady cat and the lad were brought together while I was asunder, lying in a faint, an outpatient!

The reward turned out to be disappointing. The cat's owner offered me the nitrate, although I would have preferred either the day rate or overtime pay, but there was no one around to bid more, that I node of, anyway. She would simply accept no morbid for the work done. And that was that!"

Xel looked around. "So? What do you think?"

"You make a better pathologist than comedy writer," Zelgadiss said affectionately. "And I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that. So, with that over with, Sylphiel and I will take our leave. Our single-night honeymoon," he kissed his bride, enclosed her hand in his, and left the party.

His friends tossed white sand at their feet, which Valgaav swore did not come from the crematorium, and wished the newlyweds good luck. The friends laughed and continued trading jokes with the occasional snide remarks about the bride and groom thrown in. They weren't certain what the future would hold for them, but they knew that-- as fun as it had all been and for the time being-- working the graveyard shift was over.

End, Graveyard Shift Chapter 26

–GRAVEYARD SHIFT– THE END– GRAVEYARD SHIFT– THE END–