Chapter 18

Cyanea looked up at the white ceiling that loomed above her. Sitting up on the hard pallet, she took in her surroundings in more detail. She was in a room that was only dimly lighted and contained only the cot that she sat on. Groaning, she stood up. Her body felt extremely sore, as if she had just been in a fight, and she felt almost too tired to stay awake. It almost seemed as if she had been drugged or something.

Stumbling over to the door, she tried to open it but to no avail. Trying again, it still would not budge. Getting very irritated that the door was being so stubborn, she started to bang on it and shout angrily. To her, this seemed like a good idea.

After all, the door was being mean, she thought in her hazy mind. "Open you stupid door!" she shouted loudly, banging her fists against it until they began to hurt like hell. Sighing, she wasn't about to give in as she started kicking it without mercy.

Suddenly, it gave in under her last kick, which was a little stronger than the last. She immediately began to fall backwards, hitting the floor with a thud. Yelling out in surprise and just a little pain, she looked up to scold the door for doing that to her.

She stopped as she saw a man standing in the door. He looked as if he had been beaten by the ugly stick one too many times. There was no way he could even look remotely good, even if he washed his greasy blond hair or tried to build up his scrawny body.

"Looks like the bitch is awake," he laughed as he stared down at her.

Her eyes narrowed as she stared up at him, "Who the fuck are you?" she demanded as she struggled off of the floor.

He shrugged as he sauntered towards her, causing her to back up against the wall. "Just your newest friend," he said as he breathed on her face. Her features contorted with disgust as his bad breath assaulted her nose.

"What do you want with me?" she demanded. First the door, and now this, she thought to herself.

"You are going to do the doc a favor," he hissed. "You will fight for us."

"I don't think so," she said, still backed up against the wall.

"Yes you will," he seethed. "Or I will take away your powers."

"My powers?" she asked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me, bitch," he sneered. "You're friends told me all about you. Right before I killed them."

She fell to the ground devastated. Betrayed. Alone. Pissed. Standing back up, she looked him straight in the eye, her gaze, it seemed, was straight from the fires of hell. She began to speak, her voice filled with hatred for the man standing before her. "You fucking bastard," she hissed. "You don't really think I believe anything you're telling me, do you? My friends would never betray me. And as far as killing someone goes, YOU'RE DEAD!" she screamed the last statement at him before lunging for his neck. She wanted to experience the feeling of draining the man's life from him with her bare hands. Knocking him over, she pinned him to the ground, grasping his scrawny neck tightly with her hands. "You don't deserve to live," she whispered sinisterly, all hints of sanity gone for a split second. The man began to gasp for breath, and she realized what she was doing. Tears sprang to her eyes as she leapt from him and ran towards the door. Glaring at it, she kicked it once and then continued on her way. Turning back one last time, she said, "But it's not my place to judge who lives and dies."

With that said, she stormed away and ended up in the temple once more. She was shaking slightly at the feelings that had overtaken her. It had seemed almost like a dream. One she had no control over.

"The four of you have completed the second test satisfactorily. It is now time for you to move on the third and final one," Cethany's bored voice surrounded them. "You will find yourself in a maze, all of you separated. You must find your way through it, while surviving. You may help each other if you manage to find one another. At the end of the maze you will each be asked three questions. If you answer them correctly, you will be returned here with me and granted one wish to be decided among the four of you. If not, then you will be devoured by the guardian of the gate that leads to freedom."

The four looked at each other with wide eyes. They all understood that this last task would be the hardest of them all. Obviously, they faced great danger and had little chance of surviving. Shrugging this bad feeling off, the group all placed determined looks on their faces as they spoke together.

"We are prepared."

With that said, the room faded out.

***

Silence reigned between the two boys as they continued to sit on Quatre's bed. Heero was having a little trouble acting on his orders, and couldn't bring himself to pull the gun that was in the back of his waistband. The young Arabian looked over at him once more, vulnerability lay plainly on his face.

"Do you think I will ever get my memory back?" he asked, his eyes telling Heero that he wanted the truth.

Not understanding the act of being tactful, the 'Perfect Soldier' answered bluntly. "No," he said in his cold monotone, showing no caring for the boy beside him.

The blond boy's eyes widened as some telltale moisture gathered in their blue depths. The smaller boy jumped up and turned away from Heero, unable to look at him any more. The brown haired boy knew that Quatre had too much pride to cry in front of him. However, the boy would not have to cry for long as Heero gave in to his orders and drew his gun.

Rising from the bed, he pointed at the other boy’s back, aiming directly for the heart. Perhaps it would be easier if he didn't have to see the boy's innocent face. Tensing his finger on the trigger, he did the most human thing he could. "I'm sorry," he said as he tightened his finger on the trigger.

***

Cobblestones wound a path through the flowers and plants that occupied the immense garden. Rose bushes appeared to be the main focus in this particular area as they wrapped around a small clearing, creating a sort of dead end. In the center of the clearing stood a fountain that was adorned with dancing fairies and nymphs etched with great detail into the marble surface. The fountain was made of two tiers, the smaller top one spilling water in a sparkling cascade to the larger basin below. Three intricately carved granite benches surrounded the marble decoration, making it comfortable for someone to sit and admire the beauty.

Montana was sitting on one of these very benches doing just that. When her vision had cleared she had found herself standing with her back to the fountain. Upon inspecting her surroundings, she had lost herself in the mesmerizing image of the carved marble.

She sighed as she continued to watch the sunlight glint off the water, giving the appearance that the fairies and nymphs were actually alive. It seemed almost as if they beckoned for her to join them in their joyous dancing, and she was almost tempted to try. She rose to approach the water filled basin and let her hand swirl the sparkling liquid gently.

Suddenly, the sound of wings beating against the wind brought her out of her reverie. Turning around, she quickly began to study her surroundings. The path that led to the fountain was empty, the cobblestones taking a sharp turn, making it impossible to see where it ended. As she studied it carefully for intruders, she noticed a large shadow pass fleetingly over the ground, causing the young witch to wonder if her mind was playing tricks on her.

Allowing her gaze to raise to the sky, she was forced to throw herself to the hard cobblestone when she found a large mass diving at her. It had scales the color of a light golden brown that covered it's almost feminine form. Sharp black claws adorned its hands and feet making it painfully clear that one light graze of them would cause her a serious injury. The Indian girl had only read of these creatures and believed that they were called harpies.

The harpy came around once more and began to dive, its golden eyes locking with Montana's green ones as she crouched on the ground. She brushed a strand of sea green hair from her face as she began to think of a way out. She knew she had to act fast.

The sound of small voices slowly made it to her ears and she quickly looked in the direction of the fountain. Her eyes widened as she realized that the creatures she had believed to be carved into the marble were indeed alive. They all gestured to her insistently.

"In the fountain!" they called to her in young, shrill voices.

"They harpy can not harm you there!"

Montana was willing to try anything at this point. Gathering her filmy robes around her, she made a mad dash to the fountain and jumped in. The claws of the creature snagged a bit of her hair, but she managed to escape unscathed. She held her breath as she sank into the water. She hadn't realized it was so deep as she waited to hit bottom so she could get some momentum to get back tot he top.

It seemed as if hours passed and still she did not hit the bottom. Panic crossed her mind as she realized that there must not be one and that she would surely drown if she stayed under much longer. She began to kick her legs and push down with her arms to start raising herself to the top. Things were not going well as her legs quickly became entangled in her long robes.

She began to give up hope that she would ever make it to the top as her lungs began to scream for air. Using what little strength she had left, she decided to use her powers to try and save her life. She quickly began to call to the elemental water for help, using its strength to create a reversed whirlpool that would carry her to the air waiting above. As she accelerated up, she cheered mentally at her brilliance.

Breaking the surface of the clear water, she gasped in a deep breath. She had almost given up completely when she practically fainted from lack of air. Her lungs hurt terribly as she continued to breathe deeply and tread water. Once, she had caught her breath, she took a look around her to find that she wasn't in the garden anymore. Something brushed up against her leg as she was looking around her, and then she felt the stabbing pain as sharp teeth bit into her leg. Letting out a piercing scream, she quickly started to swim toward the edge of the pool she was in.

***

The dungeon was what you would normally expect of one, and then some. Sure it had it's normal cells with straw for bedding and tin bowls for food, but it also had a torture chamber that branched off of it. Inside the room were many devices that were undoubtedly used to cause lots of pain and slow deaths.

In one corner was one such 'machine'. It was an Iron Maiden, which looked like a sarcophagus, but made of iron with metal bars that would show the face of whoever occupied it. It sat half open, revealing sharp metal spikes that protruded from the sides and door. A heavy lock hung on a loop, obviously used to keep the person being tortured inside.

To the side of that, a little closer to the middle of the room was a rack. No one needs the use of that explained. A skeleton of it's last victim still lay there, the straps that had held it there long since disintegrated. To the left was a table that held many wicked looking tools on it. The secret of their uses lost with the person who had created them.

Moving on, further into the dank room, was another table, this one in the shape of a cross. Above it was suspended a pendulum of extreme size, it's edges rusty and caked with old blood from past uses. Below it was the form of a young girl who was slowly waking from a peaceful sleep. She looked completely happy as she rolled off of her side and onto her back, stretching as her eyes opened.

Anika relished the feeling, as the cramps in her muscles subsided. Wondering why her bed was so hard, she looked up and suddenly realized the reason as she spotted the pendulum hanging motionless above her. Rolling her eyes she began to mutter to herself.

"Not again," she said softly a she sat up, long blond curls falling into her face. She jumped before she realized that it was her own hair. "I forgot that I'm a blond now," she snorted. "I guess I proved Cy and Montana right, they always said I should be one."

Sliding gracefully off the table, she let her eyes take in the contents of the room she was it. She noted the sarcophagus and rack, shivering at the sight of the skeleton that lay there, the bones positioned in a manner that showed the person had died in pain. Letting her eyes quickly pass over the table of tools, she looked over to her other side. A short stone wall stood there and looked as if it contained water. Walking in that direction, she was determined to get a better look.

Coming up to the side, she leaned on the cool stone and stared deep into the water. It was too dark for her to see very far as she moved to pass her hand through the cool liquid. She jumped back quickly, removing her hand as something rushed up to the surface to take hold of it in sharp teeth. She stared wide-eyed as a fish moved back down toward the bottom of the pool.

"Piranhas," she whispered, slightly frightened by her close encounter. Without touching the wall, she leaned over it one more time and thought she could make out the remains of bones at the bottom. Backing away slowly, she decided that she was going to stay away from that.

She wasn't paying attention as she continued to back up and soon found herself leaning against something sharp. Focusing her thoughts to her surroundings, she screamed as the door to the Iron Maiden started to swing shut, the sharp spikes coming closer and closer to impaling her. In one attempt to save herself and her pretty light blue robes, she used her powers to try and freeze the door from completely shutting.

***

Trowa couldn't understand what was going on as he sat in the circle. First Anika and then Montana had let out terrified, painfilled screams, and he was becoming increasingly worried for their safety. However, while on his small trip to that temple, he had found out what they were trying to do and would not stop them. After all, he feared that it was too late for them to turn back now. They must finish the last trial and he was powerless to help them.

Looking from one girl to the other, he soon noticed blood spreading on Montana's leg. Quickly crawling over to her, he mover her clothes out of the way to get a look at her injury.

His eyes widened considerably as he saw a deep bitemark in her flesh. The foreign expression quickly dissolved from his face as he began to look for something to bandage her with. After all, if he continued to use his shirt, he was sure he wouldn't have anything left to wear by the end of the night.

Spotting a black book bag next to Cyanea, he leaned over and grabbed it. Inspecting the contents, he found that the group had come prepared. It was just there luck that he was there to use the supplies. They would surely die of blood loss if they had to wait until the end of the trials. Pulling out a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide, he spilled a little onto the wound and then quickly bandaged it with some gauze. Tying it off, he turned to look at the shorthaired with across the fire.

Moving over to Anika's side, he brushed his hand up against her cheek and kissed her forehead before searching her for any injuries that could explain the scream she had emitted earlier. Sitting down next to her, he found little pinpoints of blood on her back and arms from various wounds. None of them looked extremely serious, at least he hoped not. Taking the bottle of peroxide, he cleaned the ones on her arms and left it at that, fearing that whatever was being done to her would get worse.

Grasping her hand he let a steady flow of his strength enter her. It was the least he could do. It might even assure her survival of what was to come. He would never forgive himself is she died, after all, he had never told her how he felt. He sighed and let his thoughts wonder a bit as he kept his gaze straight ahead.

Staring into the fire, he swore that he could see images in it. That's when he realized that he was willing it to show him what was happening to the four witches. Right now, he could see the image of Duo as he looked around himself curiously. He supposed that he would just have to wait to find out what had happened to Anika and Montana as he focused on what was happening next.

*** Chapter 19

The American pilot found himself in the courtyard of an old stone castle. Looking around himself, he saw a tall wall equipped with the best fortifications of the time it was built he assumed. A large wooden gate with iron bars to reinforce its strength blocked the way out, a large piece of wood sealing them from intruders. He knew immediately that he had no chance of lifting it to get out and so focused his attention to look for something more useful for his situation.

Disintegrating carts with rotting hay all around him, lending a disgusting odor to the surrounding air. He scrunched his nose in distaste as he turned to head in the direction of the stone fortress that lay ahead of him. The wooden doors leading inside stood wide open in a sort of menacing welcome. The braided pilot didn't like this at all. He was used to having to pick locks to get into places like this.

On either side of the doors stood the statues of two lions, their mouths open in ferocious roars. He passed between them carefully, trying to stay far away from both of them as possible.

It obviously wasn't enough as he heard a low growl coming from behind him. Turning around, he found himself staring into the eyes of two golden lions.

"This just isn't my day," he muttered as he began to back from them cautiously. Suddenly, they jumped at him, each headed to either side of him, creating a trap. One of them locked its jaw on one of his arms and bit down hard with its sharp teeth. Unfortunately for it, dragonscale armor is much stronger and the lion backed off, lying down with its paw on its mouth. Two of its teeth lay on the ground beside Duo.

The other lion decided to take its turn and lunged at him. It only managed to get hold of one of the chestnut brown plaits that hung at the side of his head. He cried out as he went crashing down to the ground with the animal. It had gotten its teeth stuck in the intertwined locks and could not let go as Deathscythe's pilot struggled to turn and attack it.

In his clumsy movements, he only managed to get his arm he was supporting himself on tangled in the length of hi hair. "Damn it!" he shouted, actually scaring the animal beside him. "Now I remember why I always keep it in one braid." Finally, untangling himself, he braced his body up with one arm as he brought the other one crashing down onto the lion’s neck. The feline slumped to the floor, seemingly lifeless and Duo let out a sigh of relief as he began to retrieve his hair from its strong jaws.

Once he was back on his fee, he shoved the two animals outside the palace doors, with great effort, and shut the doors and bolted them. "I think it's for the better if we don't see each other again," he muttered as he shut the second of the double doors with a resounding thud. "Those things are heavier than I though," he said panting.

With the imminent danger out of the way, he wiped the sweat from the bronzed skin and took a look around the large hall.

Tattered banners hung from the ceiling, proclaiming the allies of this odd kingdom. A staircase led the way up to the second floor in long winding curves, a serpent acting as the railing. Its large head was at the end of it, the mouth open to reveal two-inch fangs.

Duo laughed nervously, "I bet my armor wouldn't be able to stop those from harming me. I just hope it doesn't come to life too."

Suddenly, the serpent began to writhe, blasting the boy's hopes to dust. His violet eyes widened and he quickly began to search for a way out of the room. He found three wooden doors, all with strange carvings and designs decorating their entire length. It was just a matter of choosing one and hoping that whatever he found behind it was better than what was in this room.

His decision was quickly made for him as a muffled scream sounded from behind one of the heavy doors. Duo knew it had to be one of his friends and there was no way he was not going to help them. He hurriedly began to form a course of action in his head even as the serpent came even more animated. Sprinting across the large expanse of floor to the intricately decorated door, he found himself on a direct path what the large mouth of the creature as it moved to intercept him. There was no way in Hell he was going to become the next meal for this giant snake. As its head came around, it began to open its jaws, revealing the large, glistening white fangs that were dripping with venom.

Giving a determined scream, the braided pilot jumped, diving over it's diamond shaped head. Not being a strong acrobat, that was Trowa's job, he landed sloppily, rolling on his shoulder and coming to his feet. Without pausing, he hightailed it to the door, his long hair flowing behind him.

Flinging the heavy door open, he stepped in and turned to see where the serpent was. He was surprised to find himself staring into its golden slitted eyes as it rose its head to strike. With a girlish shriek, he slammed the door, his arms jolting with the force as the strong wood came in contact with the creatures head. A long mournful moan could be heard, followed by a loud thud. The braided boy sighed with relief, assuming that he had knocked the serpent out.

Leaning against the door, his entire form shaking slightly from his close encounter, he sank down to the floor, too exhausted to think straight. However, a loud scream was quick to remind him of the reason he had chosen this room in the first place.

"Duo! Watch out!" a feminine voice shouted, causing him to force his eyes open. A jab in his chest distracted him as he started to look around for danger. He didn't have to look far as his violet eyes turned down to find the point of a sword digging into the skin that shielded his heart.

***

An enormous crystalline chandelier hung from the domed ceiling, the candlelight reflecting off strategically placed mirrors imbedded in the golden designs gracing the spherical roof. The warm light played upon the decorations of the large ballroom below, lending the entire room a comforting, happy glow that caused anyone to be relaxed in its environment. One such person stood on the brightly polished floor, studying their surroundings in awe. Never before had Cyanea ever been in a room so elegant, and her parents often dragged her to rich parties in order to keep up appearances in the wealthy society they lived in.

The walls were lined with suits of armor placed in alcoves that appeared every few yards along the circular stone walls. Each suit of armor held the preferred weapon of the deceased knight as well as their shields containing their code of arms. Torches stood on either side of the alcoves, adding more light to what the chandelier already provided. Gracefully carved wood benches stood against the out-jutting portions of the wall with red padding that gave them a lavish air. Hung above them, to cover the empty stone and give the room an even more appealing appearance, tapestries were suspended, depicting various battles that the owners of the armor must have fought.

Once the overall awe of the room passed, she took another look around, this time noting the exits of the room so that she might get on with her mission. Circling the room, her white robes swaying slightly against her legs, she found two different doors. A set of beautifully carved double doors lay on one side of the room, both of them shut tightly, leaving whatever was on the other side a mystery. Filing this away for a moment, she continued her turn to find another single door directly across from the double ones. It too was carved with intricate curves, giving it an important illusion for being so small and insignificant in such a large room.

Suddenly, a loud noise startled her as it echoed throughout the room. Twirling around quickly, her long silver hair flying gracefully out behind her, she searched for any sign of danger, unsure as to where the clamor had come from. However, the room appeared to be completely empty aside from her and the suits of armor. The noise rang out again, causing her to stiffen as she realized what was causing it. It was the sound of metal grating against metal, and only one thing could do that in this room.

Her eyes widened and she swung around causing the mace to just miss her and fall to the floor, cracking its polished surface. She let out a scream, as the knight looked her directly in the face as he raised the heavy weapon back up to swing it towards her once more. Quickly back peddling, she turned and headed in the direction of the double doors that stood nearest her.

Unable to slow down in her mad dash, she ran into them, causing her to pause a second to get rid of the momentary shock that followed the jarring impact. Taking a step back, she looked over her shoulder as she grasped the handle of the door, giving it a jerking pull. The knight was only a few yards away and quickly getting nearer. She only had a few minutes as she pulled more frantically on the handle only to find that the heavy wooden door was not giving. Letting out a disgusted growl, she realized that the door was locked and she was not getting out that way. It was too late to get to the other door, so she had no choice but to face her foe.

Facing off her enemy, she flattened herself against the door for support before squaring her shoulders and narrowing her eyes. As her ice blue eyes began to swirl with silver, she muttered something to herself. "This better work," she said as fire burst through the cracks between the metal pieces, slowly melting the armor and hindering the knights progress as he continued to approach her. Mesmerized, she watched as the metal turned from gray to a glowing red before melting and dripping down to the floor in a trail behind the knight. She knew she had succeeded in her task even as realization dawned on her.

In a matter of seconds, the suit of armor was going to be right on top of her, burning her to a crisp along with it. She had to get out of there if she wanted to survive.

Edging around the heated metal, she quickly made her way over to the door that sat across the room, hoping that it was unlocked. She never made it; though, as she stopped in her tracks when the door she was headed to opened and another figure entered.

Her eyes watched as the person quickly turned with their loose chestnut hair flowing out behind him, slamming the door shut with greater force than she would expect. The reason was soon made obvious to her as a loud thud emanated from the other side, giving her reason to believe that there had been something rather big and sinister on the other side.

However, her worries were on the sinister beings that existed on this side of the door. As the figure slid down to the floor wearily with their back to the door, she knew she had to alert them to the danger both of them were in. Taking a step toward the newcomer, many things snapped in her head at once. The first was that she was surrounded and her path to the person was completely blocked. She immediately began to plan another course of action, even as she realized that she was looking at Duo slumped carelessly on the floor.

The knights were beginning to close that small distance between them and herself, making it painfully clear that help would be very nice at this point. She took a deep breath to shout a warning, but instead all that came out of her mouth was one word. "Duo!" she shouted as one of the knights, brandishing a long sword, stepped to his side and trained his weapon over his heart.

The boy looked up, trying to sort through his confused thoughts. His expression went completely blank though as he found the point of the sword digging into his skin. Cyanea's heart twinged as anguish and worry filled her. "He can't die! He can't die! He can’t die..." she trailed off as the knight pulled back his weapon, releasing a stream of blood to splash a crimson stain across his dragon scale armor.

Grief and anger spread through her veins as she looked on her fallen love. He still had a few minutes, if she could just get to him. Her eyes flared with silver as she flung the suits of armor surrounding her back a few yards. She then proceeded to light them with flames, melting their sorry existence away.

Picking up a mace that had fallen to her feet, she ran towards the longhaired boy whose life was slowly draining from him. The knight was still hovering above him with his bloody sword hanging at its side. Her eyes narrowed in anger as tears began to fill them and she raised her weapon threateningly.

"You will pay bastard" she screamed, letting all her hatred and sorrow bleed into her voice. With all of her strength, she slammed the mace into the armored head and watched dispassionately as it rolled off of the shoulders and halfway across the polished floor.

A soft whimper brought her back to reality, causing her to quickly kneel down beside the boy she loved...to fight with.

"Oh, goddess! Duo, don't die on me," she muttered sadly as she pressed her hand to the wound in an attempt to ease the blood that continued to spurt from the deep wound.

"Hey, I'm not dying that easily," he said, even as he began to spit up blood. "I still have to get you to admit that you really love me." He gave a short, bitter laugh, "See, you only said you think you love me. It's a good thing you're so stubborn."

She smiled at this, always grateful for the boy's undying humor. "I'm gonna try to heal you," she whispered softly as she began to concentrate on her center of power. Using so much energy to defeat the soldiers had tapped her strength, leaving her weak. She could only hope she had enough left to help her fallen comrade. She closed her eyes to direct all of her concentration on her task, even as Duo reached up a pale hand to caress her pale cheek gently.