The Three Trials for Power

By Lars the Goddess

Part V

Chapter 8

Duo watched in shock as Wufei’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell limply to the ground. He wondered what he had said to cause the boy to do that. Looking up at the sound of approaching footsteps, utter enjoyment at the anal retentive boy’s circumstance obvious on his face. He watched as Heero walked towards him, his expression as stony as ever. Duo noted that he was still holding his gun at his side and nodded towards it while putting his hand sin his pockets. "You can put that away. I have a feeling you won’t need it, even if another one of those creatures come along."

The messy haired boy didn’t reply, but knelt to place the gun back in it’s holster under his pant let. Rising again he looked at the braided pilot. "It seems everyone is unconscious but you and myself. We should start waking them."

Duo nodded in agreement, "Save Wufei for last. He’ll be unbearable when he realizes he fainted."

"He’s already unbearable," came the monotone reply. He should know, after all they are roommates.

"And you thought I was an annoying roommate," he joked as the two headed towards Trowa and Quatre. The boy was not expecting a reply from his antisocial friend.

"You were, just not as annoying as justice boy," Heero said as he knelt before Trowa. He gently placed a hand on the boy’s head and checked him over for any serious injuries.

Duo turned his attention to the blond boy at his feet, a little hurt by his friend’s comment. Kneeling beside the fallen pilot, he began to check for injuries as Heero was for Trowa. He was quick to note the blood illuminated by the light of a nearby street lamp on the boy’s sleeve. Quickly inspecting the boy’s arm and then the rest of his body when he couldn't find anything there, he came to a conclusion. It’s not his blood, so whose is it? he asked himself as he played the events of the last few minutes back in his head. That’s it! Quatre had rushed to one of the girl’s aid. It had to be…

"Montana!," he whispered out loud. At the sound of the black haired girl’s name, Quatre’s eyes quickly fluttered open distracting Duo from his thoughts. "Are you okay?" he asked, his violet eyes widened in surprise at the boy’s quick recovery.

Quatre nodded. "Thank you," he muttered quietly as he struggled to his feet with a little help. Trowa was doing the same and it took all of Duo’s self control not to laugh at the sight. Here he had thought nothing could budge it, yet Trowa’s bang lay in complete disarray.

A voice brought Deathscythe’s pilot back to reality. "Where’s Montana?" Quatre asked worriedly as he searched his surroundings. No one had a chance to speak before the young boy saw the lifeless body laying by the cracked wall. The events of the evening seemed to come back to him and he quickly ran to her side. "’Tana!"

The group watched as the Arabian pilot wiped blood from the girl’s face with the long sleeve of his shirt. Leaning forward, he kissed her temple then began to mumble quietly to her in an attempt to wake the black haired girl up. Hoping she’d be alright, he shook his head sadly and turned to aid Cy as she began to moan softly while regaining consciousness.

"No, not the giant pickle again!" she muttered as her eyes fluttered open. Duo’s face drew back as a confused look crossed it.

"Um, are you ok?" he asked, concerned. When people began to talk about large vegetables, it usually meant a concussion.

"What?" she asked as she put her hand to her head, seemingly oblivious to what she had said. Duo quickly ignored her previous statement and helped her as she shakily rose to her feet. Looking over her shoulder, she broke into a run as she noticed an unconscious Montana with a concerned Quatre hovering over her. Duo followed her to where she knelt by her friend.

"Is she ok?" he asked, putting a comforting hand on Quatre’s shoulder.

Cyanea shook her head, "Her pulse is weak. She’s dying."

At this statement, Quatre began to panic. "Dying? She’s dying? Oh my god! What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do!?!" Cy grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him harshly.

"This is no time to panic!" she said. Already weak, she began to fall forward from the extra exertion. The braided pilot lowered himself to the ground beside her and drew her to his side to support her. Leaning forward as he held her close to him, he checked the unconscious girls pulse. "Uh, Cy?" Duo interrupted. "This is the perfect time to panic. Can you heal her like you did me?" he asked worriedly.

Eyes growing wide at the insistence of his voice, Cyanea leaned towards her friend and placed her hand over the girl’s incessantly bleeding wound. "I’m too weak. I can only do a little, but it will be enough to get her back to the dorms and give hr more proper treatment and rest," Cy breathed. Duo could barely hear her voice as she concentrated on her dying friend.

A white glowing aura surrounded the girls and Montana’s eyes abruptly open as her wound began to heal. A wide-eyed, innocent look crossed her face as she spoke. "Cy, you’re alive!" she exclaimed happily. Cyanea smiled slightly, then promptly passed out on top of her friend. "Did someone drop something?" Montana inquired right before she once again lost consciousness.

Duo sighed in exasperation. "They’re unconscious again," he muttered.

Quatre turned to him and cheerfully said, "Look on the bright side! At least they’re still alive."

Duo watched for a moment as the blond boy removed his hand from Montana’s neck, having found a strong pulse once again. Turning his attention down, he pulled Cy off her slumbering friend. Picking her up, Duo settled the lovely witch comfortably in his arms. Relishing in the warmth of her body against his own, he was shocked when she woke kicking and screaming.

"No! No! Put me down! I’m walking, damn it!" she yelled.

Dropping her unceremoniously on the hard ground in surprise, Deathscythe’s pilot looked at her huffily. "Fine, have it your own way. Good luck!" he said as he began to turn and walk away.

"Wait!" Duo turned around to see Cy glaring Catherine like daggers at him. "There is no way you are just gonna leave me like this," she said.

"Well, if you weren’t so violent, maybe I wouldn’t have to," Duo yelled back as he went to leave her again.

Cyanea struggled to get on her feet so she could be closer to eye level, "Oh, no you don’t! You’re not going yet! I’m not done." She gave up trying to stand as he looked at her once more.

"Then what else do you have to say?" he demanded, growing angry at the young witch.

"I was unconscious for Goddess sake. How was I supposed to know it was you manhandling me!" she growled at him.

"Aren’t you psychic or something?" he asked with a smart-ass grin.

Cyanea sighed in frustration, "I haven’t quite got that part figured out yet."

Duo gave her a sheepish smile, "Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that."

The girl’s face softened as she looked up at him. "It’s alright. I’m just tired, I shouldn’t have picked a fight with you."

"So, am I forgiven?" he asked as he walked back to her.

Smiling at him she got a thoughtful look on her face, "Well, since you’re so damn cute, I guess I’ll forgive you."

Returning the smile, a little more perkily, he reached down to help her up once more. As he drew her arm around his shoulder for support, they heard an overly perky voice.

"Are you guys done bickering, cause it’s really cute!"

Both blushed and turned to see Anika, sitting where she had fallen, brushing debris from her short hair. Trowa knelt close to her and leaned forward to touch her shoulder. "Are you ok?" he asked quietly.

Turning her head to look at the boy beside her, she began to giggle hysterically. Rolling on the ground while holding her head in pain, she tried her best to answer Trowa’s questioning look. "Your…hehe…ow…h..hair! Ow! Hehehe…it’s…hehe ooo…" she trailed off with a moan of pain. Getting the idea, Trowa quickly smoothed his hair down and began to check the extent of her injury.

"You’ll be fine," he said as he looked into her eyes. "I can’t find any sign of a concussion…"

It was obvious to Duo that the two were having a moment as they continued to stare deeply into each other’s eyes. He hated to interrupt it, even though, he wished he could be doing the same with Cy. Trowa was holding the short haired witch’s hand gently in his own and was slowly, most likely unconsciously, inching his face closer to hers. Feeling extremely terrible about cheating them out of this special moment, he opened his mouth only to be interrupted by Heero who did the job heartlessly for him.

"There is not time for that. We have to get Montana back to the dorms for treatment, and the rest of the girls are hurt as well," he said as he gestured to Cy, a pouting Anika and Relena who sat on the ground a few yards away nursing a swelling ankle.

The boys nodded in agreement and watched as Quatre bent down to gently lift Montana off the ground and settle her comfortably in his arms. Anika blinked at this beautiful display of affection and then turned to Trowa. Giving him the cutest look she could, she lifted her arms to him, "Carry me?"

Trowa shrugged and allowed a hint of a smile to show on his usually stoic features. Bending down, he lifted the pleading girl in his arms and followed the others as they began to walk away. Duo couldn’t help but smile as he heard contented babbling coming from the girl who had almost immediately fallen asleep on Trowa’s shoulder. Suddenly, he remembered something and turned to Cy. "So what’s all the fuss ‘bout giant pickles?"

"What?" Cyanea asked, attempting to play innocent, even as her face turned a light shade of red. Looking away, she added, "I don’t know what you’re talking about." As they turned the corner, no one even noticed the Chinese boy laying unconscious on the ground.

***  Chapter 9

Montana stared into the deep depths of Quatre’s eyes, losing all sense of everything around her as he raised a hand to gently brush a strand of hair away from her face. Caught up in the moment, they both began to lean forward with their hearts racing with passion. The Arabian boy reached up to loosen her ponytail, causing silky waves of hair to flow down her back. Her eyes closed as he tangled his hand in her tresses, cradling her head as their lips came ever closer. Just as they were about to meet, Quatre paused and whispered her name in a seductive voice.

The witches eyes snapped open as she heard her name called again. "Montana! You were dreaming," a concerned voice stated as she felt a bandage placed gently on her forehead.

Still caught up in her dream, Montana reached up and pulled the warm body down by his shirtfront, covering his lips with hers. His eyes opened in surprise as he froze, shock overcoming his features. A giggle sounded from across the girl’s dorm room, causing Montana to end the kiss quickly and direct her attention to Anika who was casually leaning against Trowa’s shoulder.

"Wow, your getting around today, aren’t ya" she said as she raised her eyebrow at Montana.

A confused look crossed the black haired girl's face, "What are you talking about?" she asked as she turned toward where Quatre should have been. Noting the cold eyes boring into her, she realized her possibly life-threatening mistake. "Shit! I kissed Heero!" she shouted as she backed against the wall in an attempt to escape the seething boy in front of her.

"She what!?" Relena screamed as she limped into the room with Quatre close behind her.

Choosing to direct her attention elsewhere, Montana looked around the room and noticed duo sitting on the edge of Cyanea’s bed. She watched for a few moments as he leaned close to her sleeping form and whispered something in her ear before kissing her softly on the cheek and rising to come to the defense of the now quaking girl.

Stepping in front of Relena, who looked ready to kill, he decided to put his two cents worth in. "I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for all of this. Perhaps she just found him too hot to resist."

"Shut up Duo, you’re not helping," Montana hissed in his general direction.

Relena prepared herself to pounce causing Quatre to seize her arms. "There is no justice in this world, I’ve been waiting forever for a kiss and you go and steal one!" she shouted, sounding vaguely like Wufei.

"Look, I thought he was Quatre," she added and immediately blushed as the young blond looked up in surprise.

An awkward silence filled the room as Montana and Quatre stared at each other in embarrassment. The silence was suddenly broken by the shrill laughter of Anika. Montana’s gaze quickly refocused on the annoying girl who seemed to be getting a kick out of the irony of the situation. Trowa spoke up in disapproval. "This is nothing to be laughing about," he said as he tried to hide a small smirk unsuccessfully.

Anika sobered, "You’re right, we should probably let Cy and Montana rest. So OUT with y’all!" she shouted with a smirk on her face. Everyone seemed to have enough of the annoyingly cheerful girl and quickly turned to leave.

"Hold on," Duo’s voice stopped everyone in their tracks. "Speaking of justice, where is Wufei?"

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged.

***  Wufei opened his eyes to find himself blinded by a light. Looking away, he let his eyes adjust to the dimly lit dark. What the hell is going on and where am I? He looked at his surroundings and found that a streetlamp was the light that had blinded him. Looking around more, he found himself sitting on the ground where they had been attacked. "Where is everyone?" he asked himself softly.

Taking one more look around, it dawned on him. "They left me! What an injustice!" He quickly jumped to his feet and deeply regretted it. "I must have hit my head when I…" he paused as he tried to remember what exactly happened. His eyes widened as he found the truth. "There is no way I fainted. I was attacked. Only weak women faint." The Chinese boy continued to grumble as he staggered back to the dorms. Just as he was about to round the corner, he stopped as he remembered something else.

"Maxwell! He’s a witch too!" his eyes narrowed. "All witches seem to be against me, so they must be served justice! I will destroy them!" With that he hurried back to the dorms to save the other three pilots from Duo and the girls.

***  Heero and Relena were the first to leave the dorm room. Heero was escorting Relena, who was still mad about the kiss, to her home where she would definitely have a frantic Pagan on her hands because she stayed out so late by herself. Duo turned to follow. Just before he was out the door, Anika’s cheery voice broke the silence once more.

"Wait!" she said. Duo turned around quickly, nearly hitting the shorthaired witch in the head with his braid. "Where do you think you’re going?" she inquired as she continued to lounge in Trowa’s strong arms.

"To get Cy some water," he replied as he crossed his arms in front of him and cocked an eyebrow at her, challenging her to stop him.

Never one to give up a challenge, the girl plundered on like she had no care in the world. "You shouldn’t leave her. What if she wakes up and you’re not here. She’ll be really pissed. Especially after she made out with you in that closet. You don’t want her to think you were using her do you?" Anika asked nonchalantly.

"So what do you suggest I do?" he asked her, losing his patience slightly due to her incessant babbling. Montana only smiled, ignoring the slight haze of pain that radiated through her entire body. Now he knows what his friends must feel like.

"I’m sure that Quatre and Trowa wouldn’t mind going to get us food and drinks. It’s been a long day and we ate real early in the evening." Pouting a bit, she added, "We even missed dinner time here."

Trowa just nodded, looking only too happy to be doing Anika’s bidding. Quatre looked at Montana, "I don’t care, go! Just bring me some aspirin when you come back," she said.

Nodding, he walked to her side and pecked her on the cheek. "I’ll be right back." The two boys left on their new mission.

Montana watched as Duo sat next to Cyanea once more and ran a hand gently through her hair as she mumbled softly in her sleep. Then he looked up and focused his best mimic of Heero Yuy’s death Glare on Anika. "So, what’s the idea. You obviously wanted to talk about something, or you wouldn’t have sent your boy toy out of the room."

Anika stood and placed her hands on her hips, an insulted look on her face as she completely ignored Duo’s weak glare. "How can you insult your friend like that?" she asked angrily. However, her face quickly gained a dreamy look, "Although…I do like the sound of that," she said as she with a sly smile as she began to picture Trowa in her mind.

He turned his head to Montana pleadingly, "Do you think you could help her get to the point a little quicker here? I’m getting a headache."

Montana only laughed at him, " The point is pretty obvious. There are only two possible reasons she wants to be as alone as possible with you. One, she really wants to jump you and thought she would spare your friends, although I believe I would be very unfortunate in that situation. Or, she could just want to discuss that fact that your friend had a gun and we want to know why. It’s not exactly normal for teenagers to be casually carrying them around."

"Uh, well. You see…he was part of a gang in his last school and he sort of pissed them off before he left. It’s possible that they could come after him at any time, so he has to be prepared," Duo said as he pulled the best excuse he could from his ass.

The two girls shrugged. "Fine, that explanation will work for now," Montana said as she quickly changed the subject.

"Now, I’m guessing you’re going to join us for our ritual."

Duo nodded, looking apprehensive the way she was talking.

"Well, we use complicated magic and I’m guessing you don’t have much experience, so you need to start training." Montana looked him over appraisingly as she said this, and raised an eyebrow as she waited for a response.

"Training?" he asked, an expression of fear forming on his face.

"Yup, for the next week, you are meeting us after school for extensive training. You need to be prepared for the Three Trials, unless you want to help us find out what happens to your body if you die on another plane of existence," she added with a smirk.

"Uh, I’ll take the training, thank you," he said, not really wanting to find out what would happen if he died out of his body.

"Good, we start Monday. Meet us here after your last class," Montana said. Duo nodded and then quickly changed the subject as he heard Trowa and Quatre returning with the food.

"So, will you be going to chapel tomorrow?" he asked as the tow boys sat down a bag with some fresh fruit and a rather large bottle of water.

"Oh, no. We always skip it," Anika offered an answer. "But, if you guys want, you can find us in the morning. We always fin a way to entertain ourselves."

"Hey, maybe we will," Duo said with a happy smile as he watched Cy finally begin to wake up. He poured her a glass of water and handed it to her once she was sitting up.

"Thanks," she said with a tired smile. It was obvious she wasn’t awake and Montana knew for a fact that her friend wouldn’t remember anything that was said here. Might as well make good use of it then, Montana thought with an evil smirk.

"So, Cyanea. You ever gonna tell us what happened in that closet at the Magick Shoppe? From what I saw, you two were getting pretty familiar with each other."

The two blushed fiercely and Duo quickly placed a hand gently over the half-asleep girl’s mouth as she opened it to spill all. "Maybe we should let you three get some rest," he said as he stood and ushered Trowa and Quatre out before he could be embarrassed further.