Part XXI

They ended up going through the drive-thru again so that Xander could get another three orders of fried cheese for the drive back to the house.  When they finally pulled into the driveway and Xander popped the last morsel of cheese into his mouth, he sighed contentedly, almost forgetting that Cee was there with him.

"Feeling better?" she asked him as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Um, yeah."  He felt stuffed to the brim, and he loved it.  He gave the side of his belly a little rub, feeling the resistance beneath the softness that meant he was packed full of delicious food.  The way you've been eating, that little voice said, you've got to be close to four hundred.  But you just keep stuffing yourself.  He felt himself blush guiltily as he undid his own seatbelt and hefted himself out of the car.  His full gut sloshed pleasantly as he moved, and he found himself wishing he had some more fried cheese.  Come on, you just had nine orders of it, he told himself as they ascended the steps to the house.  Isn't that a little excessive?

Cee let them in, and they found Darshan waiting for them in the kitchen, finishing a small salad.  "Ah, you're back.  Good."  He bit into his last forkful of lettuce and took his bowl to the sink.  "We'll continue with swords, and then, depending on how well that goes, work on archery for a bit."

Xander's mood sank.  He'd been hoping that they would be done with his training for the day, but it sounded like Darshan was just getting started.  He and Cee followed Darshan back out into the yard, where the swords were waiting for them on the picnic table.

"Alright," Darshan said.  "Let's go."  He picked up his sword and rushed at Xander, barely giving him time to grab his own weapon.  Xander blocked his attack at the last possible second, and tried one of his own, which Darshan dodged easily.  They went back and forth, Darshan increasing the intensity of his attacks as Xander got worn out.  His entire body was jiggling madly, the sensation amplified by his fullness.  At first, it felt incredible: his body felt gigantic, and softer than it ever had in his frantic movements.  But as he had to work harder and harder to fend off Darshan's blows, a queasiness began to invade his stomach.

"Stop!" he finally called.

"What is it now?" Darshan asked.

"I don't...feel...so good," he told him, clutching his belly.

"What's wrong, Pudge?"  Cee asked.

"I just...don't..."  He staggered over to the corner of the yard and vomited once, his stomach heaving.

"Oh, Pudge."  Cee was suddenly at his side, rubbing his back.  He swatted her away.  He was mortified.  How had he not expected this?  What did he think would happen when he stuffed himself silly and then tried to do the equivalent of running a marathon?

He heard Darshan sigh, and say darkly, "In the future, you might want to watch how much you eat before a training session."

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Come on, let's go get Ling to fix you something to settle your stomach," Cee cooed at him, taking his hand and leading him inside.

Xander saw Darshan shoot them a look as they passed, and he repeated his apology.  Darshan just shook his head.

Inside, Cee called up the stairs for Ling, who emerged from a room at the top of the stairs almost immediately.  "What's wrong?"

"Pudge has got an upset tummy," Cee explained.  "He just threw up."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Xander.  I can make a tea that will settle your stomach, if you'd like?" she asked as she floated down the stairs.

"Yes, please."

"Come sit in the kitchen while I brew it up for you.  What caused your nausea?"

"I...um..." he sputtered.

Darshan spoke from the doorway.  "He ate too much and then tried to do swordplay."

"Ah.  An easy enough fix."

They followed her into the kitchen, where she busied herself by putting the kettle on and pulling several jars of herbs out of a cabinet.  Xander stood awkwardly by the counter, having already determined that he was too heavy for the kitchen chairs.  She carefully measured each herb into a mortar and began crushing them together with a pestle.  She poured the mixture into a little mesh tea ball and placed it in a big blue mug and, when the kettle began to whistle, poured the boiling water into it.

"Now this needs to steep for a few minutes.  Have a seat, Xander."

"I..." he trailed off, not wanting to admit that he'd break their chairs.

"Let's go into the living room," Cee suggested with a knowing look at Xander.  "The couch will be more comfortable."

He followed her into the living room and gingerly lowered himself onto the dark green velvet couch, as much to assure himself he wouldn't break it as to keep his stomach from churning.

Cee hovered over him anxiously.  "Can I get you anything?  Do you want to put your feet up?"

He gave her a strange look.  "No, I'm okay," he lied.  In truth, his insides were heaving with every breath he took.  He lightly clutched his belly, and heard a sharp intake of breath from Cee.  He looked at her.  She was staring at his gut, her eyes slightly widened.  Xander swallowed hard and grabbed a throw pillow and covered himself with it as best as he could.  Great, that's all I need, he thought bitterly, her staring at my disgusting gut.

"Here you go, Xander," Ling said as she walked into the living room, holding the steaming blue mug.  She handed it to him - it smelled incredible - and he took a tentative sip.  Thankfully, it tasted amazing, as well.  He caught hints of spearmint and ginger, and other herbs that he couldn't identify, and he could literally feel it calming his upset stomach.  He happily sipped away at it as Ling sat down across from him.

"Is that alright?" Ling asked him.

"Yes, it's really good, thank you.  I can feel it working already," Xander told her.

She smiled at him.  "Good.  I do apologize, someone should have warned you about Darshan's training sessions.  They're pretty intense."

"Yeah, intense is a word for it..."

"I thought he'd go easy on him," Cee confessed quietly, so Darshan, who was still in the kitchen, wouldn't hear.  She was still standing next to Xander, her arms crossed and a moody expression on her face.  "I would have.  He's never even held a sword before."

Ling crossed her legs and leaned back into the rose-colored armchair.  "Darshan doesn't believe in going easy on anyone, when it comes to training.  It sounded like things were going well before your unfortunate sickness, though."

Cee brightened.  "He's a natural," she said eagerly.  "And he's really strong."

"That's good to hear," Ling replied.  "It will be helpful when you're capable of defending yourself, especially in the times to come."

"Oh!" Cee exclaimed.  "The prophecy - you should tell him."

"Yes, he certainly does have the right to know," Ling said.  "You must understand, Xander, that we had no idea what this meant until we heard about your unusual talent.

                   The gateway soon overrun

                   With scores of risen demonkin

                   Crowding, blinding, black'ning the sun

                   Shall join to let the Old Ones in

                   Led by the leader who is not

                   The Damned will walk by light of day

                   But one whose senses rightly ought

                   To seek them out in air's fair way

                   Shall be the drop on moth's pale wing

                   The source of Light's bright vict'ry

                   A man, a son, of thee we sing

                   The first, the one, in hist'ry."

Ling stopped reciting and folded her hands in her lap.

Xander just stared at her, a puzzled expression on his face.  "Okay, so I get the whole 'demons are going to overrun the earth' part..."

"Yes, the first part is fairly transparent.  Demons shall overrun the gateway between their world and ours, and will join together to let in the Old Ones, the three Old Gods.  'The leader who is not' is Megaera, the Mother of the Damned.  She will be the driving force behind the invasion.  It's the next part that had us stumped," she admitted.  "'But one whose senses rightly ought to seek them out in air's fair way' just didn't make any sense, until we met you.  'Air's fair way' is scent, the sense of smell.  You are the first one that we know of with your particular talent.  You are the one who will tip things in our favor," she told him.  "The 'drop on moth's pale wing' that stops it from flying."

Cee gazed at him, a triumphant expression on her face.  "See, Pudge?  I told you you were important."

"This..." Xander began.  "This is kind of ridiculous.  I'm just...I'm just me.  Who made this prophecy, anyway?"

"No one knows.  The prophecies have been passed down since there have been demon hunters," Ling said, shrugging.

"There are more?"

"One of them even says that your child will save the world," Cee told him smugly.

"Bullshit."  he shifted uncomfortably on the couch and set his empty mug down on the coffee table.  "Look, don't you think this is just a little...implausible?"

"You've been followed and attacked by demons, Xander.  How is a prophecy any less plausible?"

He was speechless, at that.

"We don't have it bad here, yet, but in the city, the number of attacks and sightings have been steadily increasing over the past few years.  More and more demons are coming through.  Other things in the prophecies match up.  The time is now," Cee said insistently.  "And now we have you.  I don't know how or why, but you are going to help us win, maybe even close up the gateway for good and stop more demons from ever coming through to our world."

They were all silent for a few moments.  Xander rubbed his eyes with his fingers, trying to preemptively strike at the headache he was afraid would develop at the influx of stressful information.

"Well," Darshan said from the kitchen doorway.  "Now that you know how much we need you, are you ready to devote a little more effort to your training?"