End of Summer
(epilogue to ‘Hell goddess Rising’ and ‘Random Nothingness’)

    The place - the West residence, Newport, NH
    the time - morning after the fight with Glory, a Hell goddess from a demon dimension.

    In the early morning hours, as the sun was rising to wrap the world in warmth and light, a warp bubble formed in the driveway of the residence of Alexander West and his family. The distortion of time and space hid those within from view, and only when the person projecting the warp bubble dropped the power to the distortion did those inside become visible to the outside world.
    “We’re home,” Celia Briggs sighed with relief, “and you guys thought I couldn’t do it.”
    “We never said that,” Seifer Almasy replied, falling to his hands and knees.
    “We just screamed, ‘We’re all gonna die!’ for half of the trip,” Irvine Kinneas added, mussing up Seifer’s hair.
    “You filled up two barf bags when we left,” Lina Inverse said, poking Irvine in the ribs.
    “Not funny,” Irvine pouted.
    “Shouldn’t Alex be coming out to glomp us?” Seifer asked, rising to his feet. “Generally he can sense when we’re around and is all over us in a matter of seconds.”
    “T.M.I.,” Lina sighed. “Way too much information.”
    The sound of a door slamming alerted them to a presence up on the front porch. They turned to see a very tired looking Mrs. West standing at the door in her pajamas, her sleep cap askew.
    “If you’re looking for Alex, he’s not here,” she said, stifling a yawn. “He’s at Aeris’ place.”
    “Oh,” Celia said, reaching out to the cosmos, her eyes glowing green as she tracked Alex’s energy signature. “No big. And it looks like Spike’s with them,” she said after a moment, “as well as a few other people with fairly obvious power levels.”
    “Sorry for waking you,” Irvine apologized, tipping his hat as Celia projected another warp bubble around them. A moment later they vanished, leaving only a small scorch mark on the bluestone that composed the driveway.
    “Such nice people,” Mrs. West yawned, stepping back into the house. “Kinda noisy for such an early hour, but nice.”

    In the middle of a half destroyed clearing in a great forest somewhere between the US and where ever else on the other side of the ocean sat a very peaceful looking house.  The two occupants of this house were female, one a kindly old lady, the other a vivacious young lady, with the power to heal, not just the body but the heart as well.
    Recently, their peaceful existence was interrupted and almost destroyed by a rogue Hell goddess named Glory. If not for a brave band of people with extraordinary powers who were friends of the young lady, Glory would have won and destroyed the last bit of peace and quiet in the world. Not only that, she would have killed the young lady, making the world very sad to lose someone filled with so much joy and who was untouched by evil thoughts and intentions.
    As the first rays of sunlight were making their way through the thick forest canopy to the sleepy cottage below, one of the heroic occupants slowly opened his eyes, focusing on the ceiling above.
    “Someone’s coming,” he said in a low voice to nobody in particular.
    “Tell ‘em to bugger off love,” the other occupant of the bed mumbled in a thick British accent.
    “But Spike, it’s someone with a mega sized power reading,” the first person protested, elbowing his occupant in the ribs.
    There was a very sharp intake of breath from Spike, who was still in great discomfort, his ribs having taken a beating during the battle with Glory.
    “Alex,” Spike hissed through gritted teeth, “if you break me again I’ll... I’ll....”
    “You’ll what?” Alex asked, straddling Spike’s mid section before poking him in the nose. “Bite me? I’m going to see what’s happening outside.”
    There was a great release of weight as Alex slipped off of Spike, then a somewhat loud THUMP as he fell out of bed onto his face. A light clicked on to show that Alex’s foot was wrapped up in the bedclothes, and that was why he’d fallen over.
    “You’re really quite a klutz in the morning, aren’t you?” Nick asked, rubbing his eyes against the somewhat bright light.
    “No more than usual,” Alex giggled, scratching the back of his head.
    “Well, half of the house is awake,” Jubilee said, sticking her head in, her hair a mess and pimple cream dotting her face, “so someone give me the sitch.”
    “Visitors,” Aeris said, poking her head in as well, “I can sense them too.”
    “Good or bad?” Mackenzie asked, pulling on his coat.
    “At the moment neutral,” Alex and Aeris said in unison.
    “... Though one of them feels a bit chaotic right now,” Aeris said as Nick and Mackenzie shuffled past.
    “So what about the two passed out over there?” Jubilee asked, pointing to a corner where Derek and Andrew were still fast asleep, curled up together.
    "Kodak moment,” Alex smirked, pulling out a camera. He took a couple of pictures before stowing it away. “Now that I have official blackmail material I’m ready to go out and meet someone.”

    A couple of minutes later almost everyone was dressed and outside, some assuming battle stances, others yawning since they still weren’t awake. Alex bounced from foot to foot, anxious to see who or what was going to burst from between.
    A few seconds later Alex stopped moving, staring off into space, peering through the fabric to read whatever was coming their way.
    “They’re coming,” he said, his eyes glowing red as he read the ways of the cosmos.
    An event horizon formed in the sky above them, light swirling in and out of it in random colors and wavelengths. A warp bubble phased out of the event horizon and descended slowly to the ground. Once again those within the bubble were hidden from view, and this set those on the outside on edge.
    “They’re powering down,” Aeris said, pointing her staff at the bubble as the event horizon above them closed.
    The bubble expanded rapidly for a moment before vanishing, leaving Seifer, Irvine, Lina, Celia, and a very silent Zelgadis standing in the clearing.
    “We’re here,” Celia announced, staring at the people who were staring at them. “Not the greeting I had expected, but at least they’re friendly.”
    “Seifer!” Alex cried, pouncing upon the Hyperion Knight and knocking him to the ground before covering him in kisses.
    “He was right about the pounce thing,” Lina whispered to Celia.
    “Irvine!” Alex cried, moving on to pounce the cowboy and knock him to the ground, his hat flying off before being covered in kisses.
    “But he didn’t anticipate another person being pounced,” Celia replied.
    “My calculations were off,” Seifer said, standing up while smoothing his hair back into place.
    “We’re safe from pouncing,” Lina said to Celia as Irvine writhed underneath Alex’s kisses.
    “Five party members, two have been pounced, and two are female,” Zelgadis said, “which means...”
    Zel paled a little bit before Alex pounced upon him and gave him a gigantic kiss on the forehead. “Hey mister heartless,” Alex purred as Zel unwrapped the mage from his body, “how have you been?”
    “This is some party,” Irvine said, sitting up while Seifer plunked his hat onto his head, “what prompted this?”
    “Glory,” everyone sighed, yawning a little.
    “Who and what with huh?” Lina asked, arching an eyebrow. “Who the heck is Glory?”
    “I can explain that,” a voice familiar to many in their group said. A moment later a small, fluffy pink bunny appeared between them. “Greetings friends,” the rabbit said, waving to Alex, Zel, Lina, and Celia. “Well, friends old and new.”
    “Hey, you’re the mystic advisor from Sunnydale past,” Lina said, smiling at the rabbit.
    “That’s me,” the rabbit said, turning a pale blue. “I have a message from Auntie Aqua regarding Glory.”
    “Who’s Glory?” Seifer and Irvine asked.
    “Hell goddess with PMS who was tossed out of her hell dimension by the other two hell gods there,” Spike said, stepping forward. He smiled at Celia. “Hey love, how you been?”
    “Been better,” Celia smiled, “and it looks like you’ve seen better days yourself, handsome. What happened here?”
    “Glory,” Aeris said, “she attacked Alex first, then she attacked me. We had a momentous battle before throwing her into a hell gate.”
    “Which is why I’m here,” the rabbit said. “Message commencing.”
    The rabbit shivered before changing to an aqua blue color. When it spoke again it spoke in the voice of an old woman.
    “Greetings to Lina Inverse, Alexander West, and friends. We thank you for sending Glory to our dimension, for she has brought fun and entertainment to our otherwise droll lives. We have succeeded in breaking her spirit a little, and she’s calmed down considerably. We have her under continual watch by mystic advisors, so we know everything she says, does, and thinks.”
    “And thank our lucky stars for that,” Jubilee said, scratching through her hair. She winced as she pulled a knot free. “And I need a hairbrush.”
    “I hope all of you are well,” the rabbit continued, still speaking in Auntie Aqua’s voice. “We’ll stay in touch, and hope that you stay in touch as well. End report.”
    The rabbit turned from aqua to white, and from white back to pink. He looked at everyone who was looking at him and hiccuped up a bubble containing a butterfly. “Well, that’s all from our little corner of hell,” he said, hopping into Lina’s arms for a hug.
    “And you’ve seen the final heaven,” Aeris giggled, smiling at the rabbit, “so now you can say you’ve been to heaven and hell.”
    “Bad joke dear,” Celia sighed, clapping a hand on her shoulder.
    “So where do we go from here?” Mackenzie asked.
    “The battle’s done, and we kind of won, so we sound our victory cheer,” Jubilee sang at the top of her lungs. She turned bright red and cowered a little. “Sorry.”
    “We rest a little and thank our lucky stars to still be alive,” Spike said, clapping both hands on Alex’s shoulders. “Isn’t that right, leader?”
    Alex sighed and scratched the back of his head. “I’ve been meaning to talk about that for a while. I’m stepping down from official team leader duties. If you need anything talk to Lina, Zel, Seifer, or Irvine. I’m out of the loop.”
    He pulled away from Spike and began to walk into the darkness.
    “What’s his damage?” Seifer asked, arching an eyebrow at the retreating form.
    “Don’t know,” Spike replied, standing next to Seifer, “We’ve been away for most of the summer.”
    Seifer looked at Spike and studied him for a minute. “Who might you be?”
    “Name’s Spike. I met Alex during the summer when he visited his cousin out in Sunnydale. Who might you be?”
    “Seifer Almasy, one of his boyfriends,” Seifer replied.
    They studied each other for a minute before Seifer ran off to follow Alex into the woods, with Zel and Irvine following.

    In a clearing a distance away from the main clearing Alex stopped running and looked around. When he was assured that he was alone he slipped down against a tree and hugged his knees to his chest.
    “Stupid,” he said to the darkness, “pathetically stupid. I’m so tired of being responsible for everyone and everything. I wish I didn’t have chaos power sometimes.”
    He rolled his sleeves back, revealing the chaos emeralds set into his bracers - six of them anyway. He pulled his sword from subspace and stabbed it into the ground, the chaos emerald of fire glinting in the scattered sunlight.
    “Seven emeralds that could change the world,” Zelgadis spoke, stepping into the clearing, “or destroy it, depending upon the person wielding it. These were given to the one person whose balance between light and dark would be in constant struggle...”
    “That person would change the world, and any worlds he would travel to,” Seifer added, also stepping into the clearing. “He would unite people of all sorts for a unified cause, and would save the world countless times over.”
    “He’ll be elected to a position of power, even though he doesn’t want it,” Irvine continued, stepping up behind Seifer, “and he’ll wonder why he must make so many difficult decisions and fight so many strong foes, who have a multitude of dirty tricks, including going after those he loves dearly.”
    “He is a real slayer, living in a fantasy world,” Spike said, stepping into the clearing, “wants to be alone, but needs a swift kick in the ass every now and then to realize just what good he has in his life.”
    “I’m a warrior of darkness, a soldier of death and rebirth, a silent angel,” Alex said, rising to his feet, the chaos emeralds glowing. “I’m Warrior Saturn!”
    He grasped his sword and held it to the sky, the blade glowing. “Together,” he said, “there is nothing we can’t defeat!”
    The chaos emeralds glowed as a new power unlocked for all of them. The light died away a moment later, Alex falling back against a nearby tree with a smile on his face. The other four plunked down around the clearing, all a little happier.
    “So who did what this summer?” Alex asked, sticking his sword back into the ground.
    “Studied magic, unlike none ever seen before,” Zel said with a smirk, “Lina taught me a couple of spells, as did Cennarian. Oh, and Celia picked up a few new tricks.”
    “Also studied some of Alex’s spell books,” Seifer said, leaning back between Irvine’s knees. “Oh, and had an interesting time trying to rescue Tenal from some gay brothel.”
    “WHAT?!” Alex and Zel exclaimed.
    “Long story,” Irvine sighed, smacking Seifer upside the head. “But to condense it, we were almost prostitutes at a very bad S&M bar. Well, Tenal messed up on a simple mission.”
    “And we wound up in trouble as well,” Seifer said, rubbing his head. “We managed to break out, though... and gained some nifty new powers.”
    “That haven’t come back yet,” Irvine sighed.
    “I spent most of the summer dating a hot vampyress and putting up with this mage,” Spike said, “we also fought some nasty monsters and demons and Dark Willow.”
    “Don’t remind me,” Alex sighed, “I buried Andrew at one point before the Dark Willow incident. Then there were the phantoms at work, Fam’s magic, demon battling, and learning more about my charge armor.”
    “And all before heading home before this whole Glory thing,” Spike yawned, “Weird how we’re all back together here.”
    “And you guys ditched us!” Jubilee growled, stepping into the clearing, followed by Nick, Del, and Mackenzie. “Don’t we count for anything?!”
    “Yes, you do, oh pain in the butt,” Alex chuckled, patting a patch of grass next to him for Jubilee to sit on.
    “So are you stepping down as leader?” Nick asked, plunking down near Zel.
    “Well, more or less,” Alex replied, yawning, “I think we’re going to do a group leader thing...  co-leaders and whatnot.”
    “And just who are you going to elect to those positions?” Mackenzie asked.
    “Seifer, Irvine, Zel, Lina, Del, and Spike,” Alex replied, “Celia, Jubilee, Derek, and Aeris as well.”
    “Sounds like you’ve thought this over in the past,” Del said, falling back to look at the sky.
    “Yeah,” Alex sighed, “since a summer or so ago. Didn’t really want to talk about it until now.”
    “Well, at least we can keep in touch with you if we have questions,” Seifer said, giving Alex a thumbs up.
    “So now what?” Nick asked, “I mean, really. What are we going to do now?”
<music: ‘It doesn’t matter’ - Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack>
    Alex at work, smiling, laughing, and having a great time since he’s been promoted from cashier to a customer service clerk. Standing at the counter talking and laughing with him are Lita, Naga, and Lina. Spike walks past, arm in arm with Celia, and Lita almost has a meltdown because she thinks he’s hot. Spike turns his head and blows a kiss at Alex, who grins and blushes. Lita falls over a moment later since her hot guy is decidedly bi.
    Del is hanging out at his house with Nick, Mackenzie, and Aeris. Del’s playing a computer game, and has a small network set up in his basement room, and the other three are playing on the other systems, as well as a laptop in Aeris’ care. At one point a totally unknown female character appears on the scene, blowing Del, Nick, and Mack out of the water with one spell. All three look at Aeris, who smiles, giggles, and flashes a victory sign.
    Seifer, Irvine, and Zel are relaxing in a wooded area, all three with their noses buried in thick books. Periodically the wind shifts direction or the sun shines brighter upon them or a tree or flower sprouts up or a small pool of water forms. After a little while they all put their books down and assume combat stances, the wind increasing as dark clouds blot out the sun. In one motion from each the other two are soaked, electrocuted, or wrapped up in vines. When they finish their little combat they chuckle, sit down, and resume reading.
    Everyone previously mentioned in the two chapters are laying out under the stars, watching a meteor shower while stargazing. Seifer and Irvine are laying together, with Alex’s head on their shoulders. Jubilee tosses fireworks into the sky at random points, dazzling the others at points, annoying them at others. They all fall silent and stop moving as the sky fills with shooting stars. Pasts are forgotten, as are little qualms and problems, as the sky becomes a work of beauty.
    And all fades to black.

-End

    “Washu here, telling you to stay tuned to Slayers Fantasy #6. The long awaited and anticipated Christmas episode, where the cast acts like children... literally. Who has to fix this situation? Me, of course. I’m a genius if I do say so myself. Stay tuned to ‘Through a Child’s Eyes’, or I’ll turn you into a water sprite.”
return home?
more insanity?