Date: Fri,  1 Feb 2002 12:14:41 -0500
From: Shoma Shun Ukiya <dylan@celticwarrior.com>
Subject: Tales of a Superhero Band Chapter 8

Wow, I made it so far so fast! Phew... okay, special thanks to James,
Jeremi and AJ, my fellow writers of this particularly unique series. And a
huge thank you to Rune, Aeoros, Mawsy and Chuck, my four great friends. Hi
to Susz and Mags (what happened to you people? You've gone
silent...). Anything else I forgot? Hmm... nope, I think that's
it. Comments and suggestions to dylan@celticwarrior.com.

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Okay, stories for great reading. All stories are from boybands unless
otherwise noted:

Mutant High (Celebrities)
The Love We Have
Shadows of the Past
Lance's Search
The One
Brian and Justin
My New Life
My JC
Powers That Be
Nsync and the Vamps
Life with Justin
Loving Nick Lachey
Josh and Just
Curly and Josh
BSB Nsync Chronicles (Shameless advertising)
Nsync Saga

And there are so much more I can't list them, otherwise there'd be more
list than actual story. Just keep searching around and you'll find
something. There's something for everyone here on Nifty! :)

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Disclaimer: This story is fictional, and says nothing about the
orientations of any member of the boyband N Sync, or any other character,
celebrity or otherwise. If you are under 18 or 21, or live in a country
where it's illegal to read something like this, leave, though I seriously
doubt you will. If you don't like the idea of two guys in a relationship
with each other, or having sex with each other, what are you doing here in
the first place?

Though maybe none of the characters will be appearing, ideas taken from
these places will show up:

Buffy, Copyright 20th Century Fox, Created by Joss Whedon
X-Men, Copyright Marvel Comics, Created by Stan Lee
Charmed, Copyright WB, Created by Aaron Spelling

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Chapter 8 - Birthdays, Tours and Witches, oh my!

	"Yeah, they're witches," Joey said, not noticing Lance's
anger. "Isn't that cool?"
	"Excuse me? Cool?!" Lance's voice rose. "If you remember correctly,
Joey, magic is something evil."
	Ryan stood up angrily. He, Rachel and I had all inherited our
mother's hot temper. "Magic is not evil. Just because you're some sort of
Bible-thumping Christian doesn't give you the right to judge something you
don't know or understand."
	"And you don't know me either," Lance shouted back, his face
flushed with anger. "You don't have a right to call me something I'm not!"
	"Something you're not?!" Ryan screamed back. "You're openly
Christian and calling magic evil. That doesn't give much room for
explanation."
	"Actually, it does," Lance said, lowering his voice. "It's just
that I've had bad experiences with magic. We all have."
	Ryan calmed down a little. "And what exactly happened that was so
bad?"
	"Justin had a spell cast on him by a vampire magician," Lance
replied. I nodded, remembering Justin had told me about it vaguely.
	"Good enough reason to be scared and angry, I guess," Ryan nodded,
understanding.
	"So when I heard you were witches, naturally..." Lance trailed off.
	"Oh no no," Sylvia said. "Let me clarify things, Lance. Magic is
neither good nor evil. It just is. It depends on who's using it and for
what purposes."
	"But aren't witches supposed to," Lance chose his next words
carefully to prevent misunderstanding, "draw their powers from the devil?"
	Sylvia started laughing. Desmond snorted and Ryan groaned. I
glanced over at Melvin who shot me a "you tell him" look.
	I cleared my throat. "Lance? Do you know much about the different
types of magic users in the world?"
	"Apparently not," Lance smiled. I admired the way he seemed to
learn quickly from his mistakes and try to prevent them happening.
	"Well, let me explain," I said. "What do you think is the
difference between a wizard and a witch?"
	"I don't know," Lance shrugged. "Gender?"
	"Nope," I smiled. "Wizards tend to use long magic words and complex
wand-waving to create an immediate desired effect. They draw their power
from their minds and scientific theory. Witches on the other hand, draw
their powers from other sources."
	"Like?"
	"Well, there are those that draw their powers from their
ancestors. They're born into a witch family and thus have powers. Other
witches draw their power from non-hereditary sources, for example, me. My
family and Melvin's family get our powers from the beings we work with,
namely faeries, elementals and other magical creatures. Sometimes with
angels too. Or a witch may draw their power from their chosen deity,
whether it be Apollo or Zeus, and anyone in between. The third type of
witch is born into a family with no history of magical ability. They always
have three powers, and their source is themselves. These natural witches
are the ancestor that hereditary witches draw their power from. A good
example is Melinda Warren from Charmed."
	"Yeah, to tell the truth, I do watch that show," Lance grinned. "So
I sort of understand."
	"Good," I said. "Now I can get a drink, that long explanation made
me thirsty."
	I grabbed Ryan's mug of not-so-hot chocolate and took a large gulp.
	"Hey, I still want that," Ryan growled. I finished the last drop,
then passed him back the empty mug.
	"Thank you," I grinned, ignoring his complaints about older
brothers bullying the younger ones.
	There was a loud stomping sound, and we heard the kitchen door slam
with a loug bang.
	Ryan gritted his teeth. "Uh-oh."
	"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" an all too familiar voice
shrieked. "WHY ARE THERE LARGE JUNKYARD PARTS AND SCRAP ALL OVER THE MAIN
ENTRANCE?"
	Something slammed heavily onto the floor, a sound I recognised
immediately. It was a handbag. Rachel's handbag.
	"What, again?" Sylvia moaned, rubbing her temples. "I can't take
this right now."
	"I'm disappearing," Ryan said quickly. "When she's like that, she
ALWAYS picks on me."
	He got to his feet, closed his eyes, and slowly faded from view.
	"Woah," Lance said. "Did he just teleport?"
	"Nope," I said. "Turned invisible."
	"See you at home," Ryan said, his footsteps heading towards the
back door. I shot a pleading look to Sylvia, who frowned, then
nodded. Rachel stormed into the room, her face and eyes red, her anger
nearly tangible.
	"Err, what's wrong, Rachel?" Sylvia asked timidly.
	"THAT FUCKING BASTARD BROKE UP WITH ME!!" Rachel screamed, sobbing.
	"Again?" Melvin rolled his eyes. I shot him a look. Luckily, Rachel
didn't hear his comment since she was screaming, "I HATE HIM, I FUCKING
HATE HIM!" at the top of her lungs. Sylvia patted Rachel's back and gave
her best shot at a sympathetic look. Rachel sobbed for a while, obviously
making Lance and Joey very uncomfortable. Sylvia was muttering comforting
words in Irish to calm Rachel down. Finally Rachel looked up at all of
us. "I just want to know one thing."
	"What is it?" I asked, trying not to accidently anger her. She
swallowed, her tear-stained face looking very sad. A sadness bordering on
dangerous. I mentally braced myself for what was coming next.
	"WHAT THE FUCK ARE ALL OF YOU STILL DOING IN HERE?! DON'T YOU CARE
ABOUT MY PRIVACY?!"
	"Er, Dylan? I think we should go now?" Joey asked timidly. I nodded
quickly, and we all bolted out the kitchen and out the restaurant. Once
out, Joey snorted with laughter. Lance looked at me, and we both started
giggling. Melvin was trying desperately to wipe the smile off his face, and
Desmond shook his head. Lance put his finger to his lips and grinned, "Shh,
she might hear us."
	That comment cracked us up, and we started laughing aloud. I
noticed some faces peering at us from behind the bushes outside the
restaurant, and I struggled to control my laughter. Justin's head rose
slowly from the bush, and I saw various faces of our other friends popping
out from behind the bushes.
	"We heard her coming and we hid," Joy said.
	"Is it safe now?" JC asked. I looked over at Joey, Lance, Desmond
and Melvin, and the five of us cracked up again.




	We invited the guys to stay for the night at our house, and they
agreed. Tired out from the action, we barely managed to get people sorted
into different sleeping areas, and as soon as Justin and I crawled into
bed, we fell asleep. I woke up quite early in the morning, still feeling a
little tired. I was confused as well. I usually had dreams while I slept at
night, and they made me sleep better, but last night was completely
dreamless. If I had been really too tired to dream, I would have felt
rested when I woke up, which was not how I felt at all. The atmosphere
around me had a strange, ethereal feeling to it and I wondered for a moment
if I was awake in the dream itself. I got out of bed slowly to avoid waking
Justin who was sleeping quite soundly. Rubbing my eyes, I made my way
downstairs to the kitchen for a drink. I heard voices on the way down, and
I peeked through the doorway to see who was inside. Joey was sitting at the
table, his back to me, and I could smell the coffee in the air. Melvin was
sitting to Joey's right, facing the fridge. Neither one of them noticed me.
	"Good morning," I said as cheerily as I could. Melvin flinched and
Joey turned in surprise so quickly that he almost tipped his coffee
over. His eyes were wide open in shock.
	"And that's why my grandfather loves him so much," Melvin finished,
nodding his head towards me.
	"I can see why," Joey said, turning around. "Didn't hear him at
all. How do you do that?"
	"Practice," I smiled, walking over to the fridge and pulling out a
box of milk. I poured it into a mug and sat on the other side of Joey. "So
you were talking about Melvin's family?"
	"And yours too," Joey smiled. "Interesting stories about when you
were younger. Though I find some of them hard to believe."
	"Like what?" I asked curiously.
	"Well, Melvin says that your families often go back to visit his
grandparents in the summer," Joey said. I nodded and sipped my milk. "Well,
I don't really believe part of that because you don't speak with that
accent."
	"What accent?" I asked, glancing up at Melvin. Then I understood. I
slipped back to the accent I had learnt to suppress during my years
here. "You mean this one?"
	"Melvin did that too," Joey said, shaking his head. "I still don't
believe you guys really are Irish."
	"Ta ocras orm," Melvin said. Joey glanced up at him.
	"Cad ba mhaith leat?" I asked, getting up. Joey turned my way and
narrowed his eyes.
	"Ba mhaith liom aran, im is bainne," Melvin replied, grinning at
Joey's surprise.
	"Okay, what are you guys saying?" Joey asked.
	"Gibberish," I said. He raised an eyebrow at me. "No really, what
were you saying?"
	"Well, you didn't believe we were Irish so we couldn't have been
speaking Irish, so it must be gibberish," Melvin replied, keeping his
accent. Joey rolled his eyes. "Okay, so I believe you now."
	"Well, Melvin just said he was hungry and he wanted bread, butter
and milk," I said, also keeping my accent. I got up from my seat and
grabbed the items Melvin had asked for.
	"So what are you doing down here this early anyway?" Melvin asked
me. "You're usually sleeping until two in the afternoon."
	"Didn't sleep well," I yawned. "Didn't have any dreams."
	"That's because today's a special day," Melvin said. "You do
remember that, don't you?"
	"Remember what?" I asked again, then caught Melvin's eye. It was a
mixture of hurt and surprise.
	"Well, today's the last day before we leave on tour," Joey said
helpfully. "We're leaving tomorrow."
	"That's not what I was talking about," Melvin said, a hint of anger
in his tone. Then it dawned on me. Today was Melvin's twentieth birthday.
	"Ta bron orm," I said. "Breithla sona duit."
	"You've been spending too much time with Justin to even remember my
birthday?" Melvin asked, still a little angry.
	"I said I was sorry," I growled, frowning and narrowing my
eyes. "It's not like I forgot to get you a gift or anything. I just forgot
that it was today."
	Melvin and I glared at each other in stony silence, and Joey
shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He glanced over at both of us as if
wanting to leave the room, yet not daring to move. His hand twitched to get
his coffee mug, but he made no move to get it. Finally the tension lifted,
and Melvin smiled. "Okay, I forgive you."
	"Thanks," I said, grabbing my mug and taking a gulp of the milk.
	"Wow, if only fights among Nsync members were this quiet and
short," Joey grinned. "I thought we were on the brink of disaster a moment
there."
	"I've grown up with Melvin for nineteen--" Melvin shot me a
look. "--err, twenty years now," I said. "We understand each other."
	"Bring Melvin's gift down," a high-pitched squeaky voice said from
my foot. "I think it will be needed for later."
	I felt a scrambling of little leather feet crawling up my leg onto
my lap. I bent down and scooped up the tiny creature.
	"Who said that?" Joey asked, looking around. I lifted up the
creature who has spoken.
	"Joey, meet Amethyst," I said. Joey's eyes widened as he looked
over at Amethyst's purplish-blue scales and her small frame. Her wings
flapped a greeting to him, and she rolled her serpentine neck lazily at
him. She spoke in her melodic voice. "Hello Joey."
	"Is that a..." Joey asked, his eyes still wide open. Amethyst
giggled, then nipped my finger playfully.
	"Yup, Amethyst is a dragon," I smiled. Amethyst was about the size
of a kitten, and she could easily fit into my open palm. Joey's eyes were
still wide. "But she's so small."
	"She's a guardian dragon," I said. "They tend to be smaller than
others, but don't make the mistake of comparing size with power."
	"Don't forget me," another melodic, squeaky voice said from near
Melvin. This one was slightly lower than Amethyst's voice.
	"Another dragon?" Joey asked. Melvin nodded, and bent down to pick
up the small dragon. His scales were a crystalline sky-blue, and he was
slightly larger than Amethyst, but not by much."
	"This is Zephyr," Melvin introduced his guardian, who peeked out
shyly from under his silvery-blue wings.
	"Woah, overload," Joey said, clutching his head. "Gimme a sec."
	He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, then let it out
slowly. Then he opened his eyes and smiled. "Okay, now that I'm not about
to freak out, are there any other supposedly mythological creatures around
here that I should be aware of. I've come across vampires and mutants and
kindred and gremlins and witches, so I think I should be able to handle the
dragons, which by the way are very cute. Just give me a day or two before
you show me the unicorn in the closet and maybe you shouldn't show me the
troll in the basement just in case. I think I'm babbling. I'm babbling,
right? Please tell me if I'm starting to babble. Oh no, my saying that
shows that I'm already babbling and--"
	I cut him off. "Joey! Calm down."
	Joey blinked his eyes rapidly and shook his head, gulped down the
remainder of his coffee, then shook his head again. "Okay, I'm calm."
	Melvin and I laughed, joined in by Amethyst's tinkling titters and
Zephyr's shy, quiet chuckles. Joey joined in a moment later. "So do you?"
	"Do we what?" Melvin asked.
	"You know," Joey said. "Do you have a unicorn in the closet and a
troll in the basement?"
	"Nope," Melvin said as I laughed again. I set Amethyst down on the
table and she bent into my cup and began sipping my milk. I got up and made
my way out of the kitchen.
	"Where are you going?" Joey asked.
	"To get Melvin's present," I replied, not turning around. I ran up
the stairs and walked through my room door so I would not wake Justin, who
was still fast asleep. I bent under my bed and grabbed the large package
from beside Jelly, who mewed softly, then turned away to sleep again. I
petted her head and scratched her ears for a while, then I made my way
downstairs again with the package in my arms. It was quite large, and was,
according to the catalogue, twenty-seven pounds, though it felt much
heavier than that on the way down the stairs. I made my way into the
kitchen and slowly placed it gently onto the floor.
	"Happy birthday again," I said cheerfully while Joey and Melvin
just stared at the gift. The gift was about fifty-one inches high,
twenty-seven inches long and fourteen inches wide, but when it was inside
the box, it looked much larger than that. The box was painted in a variety
of patterns and colours, a cheaper and more personal alternative to using
wallpaper to wrap it.
	"You like?" I asked. "I painted it myself."
	"Is that what I think it is?" Melvin asked, his eyes wide. I
grinned. "Five octaves, fully strung and levered, full set of extra
strings, and a tuning lever. And an electronic tuner added with no extra
charge."
	"No way!" Melvin exlaimed, getting out of his seat and looking at
his gift. His eyes were shining with childlike wonder and appreciation. He
ran a hand slowly down the box, then looked up at me. "Can I open it now?"
	"Of course!" I laughed. "It's your birthday present."
	"Cool!" he laughed, then began to slowly open the box. Joey glanced
over Melvin's shoulder, eager to discover what the large gift was. Melvin
was breathing heavily and mumbling something under his breath which sounded
strangely like Irish for "Oh my God, oh my God."
	Melvin slowly took his gift out of the box, his eyes wide with
wonder. He slowly caressed the dark wood with its beautiful carvings of
Celtic knots and leaves all over. He grabbed the chair from behind him,
pulling it over to him to sit in. He slowly ran his fingers over the
strings and plucked one of them, then another, and another, slowly playing
a simple song.
	"Woah, nice harp," Joey said. "That looks mighty expensive."
	"Oh it is," Melvin said. "I've been eyeing this for months now. I
was actually saving up to get this by 2004."
	"Well, you could use what you saved up to get something nice for me
on my birthday," I grinned. Melvin smiled and jumped out of his chair and
gave me a hug.
	"Ooh, I love you so much," he laughed as he squeezed me tight. "In
fact, I could kiss you right now. Oh hell, I will."
	To Joey's and my surprise, Melvin leaned forward and kissed me full
on the lips. I blinked rapidly for a moment, then inhaled sharply and
blinked again as he stuck his tongue into my mouth. I was stunned for a
moment, his outburst taking me by surprise, then I started kissing back.
	"What the hell is going on here?!" I heard a familiar voice say. I
quickly turned away from Melvin, pushing him off me, my eyes wide open.
	"Justin," I said, "this isn't what it looks like."

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To be continued... Hmm... this one doesn't seem as long as it usually does,
but this seemed a good place to stop at. ;)

comments, questions? Email dylan@celticwarrior.com