Chapter 20

The water surrounded the thrashing form suffocating her as sharp teeth sank into soft flesh. Fighting to stay above water, Montana kicked frantically to propel herself toward the stone wall surrounding the piranha infested pool. Reaching the wall, she rolled over the side and landed on the cold stone floor with a wet splat.

Moaning tiredly, she forced her weakened body to a sitting position in order to inspect her newly acquired wounds. Hissing in pain as she carefully moved the blood soaked fabric away from her leg, she quickly grew pale as she laid eyes on the deep puncture wounds that covered the lower part of her left calf. The blood slowly began to form a puddle on the floor at her foot, causing her vision to waver as her eyes slowly started to roll back into her head. However, she was soon startled back into wakefulness at the sound of a soft whimpering that seemed to echo around the large room. Sitting on the floor, dazed for a moment, she suddenly snapped back to reality and began to search for the source of the quiet murmur.

Clumsily, she managed to push herself off the ground with her hands, placing her feet under her before she straightened. Once she finally gained her footing, she began to examine the chamber she had entered. Her green eyes slowly passed over the furnishings of the dark room. Being the morbid girl that she is, she had no trouble finding names for each and every one of the torture chambers tools. Mesmerized by the detail of the room, she let her thoughts wonder to what it would be like to witness these tools in use. Unfortunately, she was reminded of the task at hand as the renewed sound grew louder.

Letting her eyes travel slowly across the room, she attempted to locate a person the moaning could be coming from. The voice continued to echo off the walls, making it impossible to figure out exactly what direction it was coming from. Her sight first fell on the rack that contained the rotting remains of a human.

She quickly eliminated the skeletal figure as the owner of the voice and moved on. As her eyes roamed further into the chamber, she caught sight of blood forming a puddle on the floor at the foot of an Iron Maiden where the door was slightly open. Cautiously, she began to limp over to it, unsure of what she might find inside.

Approaching the side of the iron box, she whispered a frightened inquiry. "Wh...who are you?" she asked.

Silence was her only answer as she reached a shaking hand out toward the crack of the door. Fear immersed itself into her brain as she slowly closed the space between her and whatever was in the metal box. However, as her hand was inches from the door, she paused as the shrill voice rose to answer her.

"Montana?" the voice that should have been filled with happiness rang out into the cavernous room. Once she recognized the voice, Montana sprang to action. "Oh, goddess! Anika, are you all right?" the green eyed girl asked as she wrapped her fingers around the side of the door to slowly pry it open.

"Ok, I think," the young blond said as she gingerly stepped through the widened crack that her friend had made. "I just got poked a few too many times," she added as she studied the small droplets of blood that soaked her blue robes and ran down her arms in small rivulets.

"At least none of your wounds are serious," Montana said even as she began to waver on her feet.

"Yeah, you're right...why are you so wet?" Anika asked curiously.

"I thought it would be fun to swim with the fish," she replied sarcastically, even as she began to sink to the floor.

Anika's eyes widened with surprise and worry. "But, Montana! Those fish are piranha's," her friend said aghast. "Do you have a death wish or something?"

"Not at all," the green eyed witch responded weakly.

Anika didn't believe the girl for a moment as she knelt beside her friend to look her over for any serious wounds. Montana just shut her eyes, trying to stop her vision from swimming. She truly felt like she was going to be sick.

A small gasp caused her to open her eyes once more to look at Anika's worried face. Following the girl's vision, she noticed that she was staining the stone floor beneath her red. The green haired girl had completely forgotten how seriously hurt she was due to her shear fright just moments before.

The sound of a huffy sigh brought Montana's head up once more. "You know, you of all people pick the most inconvenient time to get hurt," Anika reprimanded the now maimed girl. Montana simply rolled her eyes in response to her friends comment as she leaned back against the wall.

Watching the blond continue to fuss over her, she decided that her friend needed to have something painfully obvious pointed out to her. Crossing her arms over her chest, she cocked her head to the side and raised a thin eyebrow, "Well, I don't appear to be the only injured person in this room."

An innocent look appeared on the accused girl’s face. "Oh, are you talking about the Mr. Skeleton person on the rack? I agree. He should have been a little more careful when he visited this realm."

Montana looked up to the sky, pleading with the Lord and Lady to grace her simple-minded friend with brains soon. Looking back to Anika, she sighed with disgust as she watched her blond friend try to give her an innocent 'I didn't do it' look. A momentary burst of anger spread throughout the witch’s veins.

"Shut up! You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, help me bind my wound so we can get out of here."

Meekly, Anika nodded, "What can I do?"

"Well, since we don't have Cy around to heal me, you could rip me a piece of cloth from your robe," the Indian girl said as she gestured casually to the blood stained cloth.

"What!" Anika exploded in shock. "You expect me to ruin my pretty robes for your bloody wound? Are you crazy?"

"Anika," the girl said in an attempt to calm her friend down. "I would use my robes, but they are soaking wet at the moment. I need something dry, and if you haven t noticed, your robes aren't quite pretty anymore. You got blood all over them genius."

"That was just mean," Anika said as her eyes teared a bit as she saw the dots of blood that graced her outfit. Giving a reluctant sigh, she grabbed the bottom hem and lifted it up, revealing her legs and a pair of pink, bunny panties. Montana began to laugh as the small girl began to struggle to rip a piece of cloth from her dress.

"Hey," the green haired witch began to ask, unable to help herself. "What's with the pink underwear?"

A small frown appeared on Anika s full lips, "Excuse me! It was laundry day!"

The witch fell to the floor laughing hysterically as her friend purposefully moved toward the table located by the rack. Montana quickly sobered as the blond girl reached for a sharp, slightly rusted knife that lay in the middle of the rotting wood tabletop. Her eyes grew wide as she grew afraid of what Anika might do. Just the thought of combining Anika and sharp objects gave the Indian girl chills.

"No!" she yelled as the other girl began to slice joyfully into her robes. She had obviously decided to have fun if she was going to destroy her clothing.

"What?" Anika asked, confused, as she presented the freshly cut piece of fabric. Placing the knife back on the table, she walked back to her the injured girl and moved the bloody robes to the side so that she may care for her wound.

Montana let out a loud scream as her Egyptian friend pulled on the fabric, making the makeshift bandage too tight. "That's for doubting my abilities," Anika said snidely as she smirked.

Loosening the fabric a bit, she finished knotting the already soaked rag and helped her friend stand on weak legs. "Idiot," Montana muttered under her breath.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you."

"I said, you're an idiot," Montana repeated herself angrily.

"Oh, in that case," Anika let go of her friends arm and watched with a superior smirk as the girl fell back to the ground.

"Ow!" Montana grumbled. As she stood shakily by herself, they both heard a clatter behind them. As the girls turned towards the noise, they jumped as they lay eyes on the skeleton. The two slowly began to back up as it closed the distance between them. Anika began to whimper quietly as she latched onto Montana's arm for dear life.

"Let s get out of here!" Montana yelled as a bony hand began to reach for them.

"I...I agree," the blond witch said as she grabbed her friends hand and proceeded to hobble from the room with the skeleton close behind.

***

Cyanea sighed in weariness as the last of Duo's wounds slowly healed. She was almost done with him, then they could leave this accursed place. The American's eyelids fluttered as he began to regain conscienceness, causing her to pull her hand away from his cheek before he noticed it. "Duo? Are you awake?" Cy murmured.

"Yeah, I think so," he answered as he looked groggily into the young girl's eyes.

"Well, if you re well enough to talk, then you re well enough to walk. Now, let s get going before something else comes alive and attacks us."

Duo sat up as he nodded in agreement, his long, loose hair falling down his back. Standing with help from Cy, he flipped his two braids behind him and took her hand. Looking around the room for a moment, he turned to his companion, "So, which door do you suggest?"

Looking to Duo, she smiled grimly, "Well, the double doors are locked, so I suggest we take this one." Shrugging, he took hold of the door handle and slowly swung it open. Peering around the edge of the door, the two came upon the sight of a semi conscious serpent barring the way into the chamber.

"Oh, this is nice," Duo said sarcastically. Cy shot a sidelong glance at the handsome young man and remembered exactly how the limp beast before them had come to be in that particular position. However, she decided that now was definitely not the time to be telling stories. Maybe if they ever got out of this alive they could take a day to reminisce about their separate adventures.

"Let's just go, and be careful," she said as she squeezed his hand for comfort. Nodding, Duo started out the door, dragging her behind him. "Wait," she said as she released his hand and headed back into the ballroom. His brow creased as he turned to see what she was doing.

Understanding soon registered as she bent down to pick up the heavy mace she had used to save his life earlier. "Ok, now I m ready," she said as she followed him out of the room.

The couple quietly crept around the serpent without incident until they were almost to the door across the hall. "Oops," Duo muttered softly so that Cyanea could hardly hear him. A low growl slowly began to rise, soon becoming a deafening howl that caused the two teenagers to cover their ears in pain.

When the sound died down, Cy looked at Duo with worry etched into her pale face. "Uh, Duo...that wasn't your stomach, was it?"

The longhaired boy paused for a moment, looking like he regretted what he was about to say. "...no?" he said hopefully, all the while wishing that it had been.

"Then what the Hell was it? And what exactly were you muttering?" the Irish witch demanded. She never got her answer as the large serpent reared up behind them as it awakened fully.

The young girl turned when she sensed the movement at her back and grew deathly pale as she lay eyes on the full height of the serpent. Quickly regathering her wits, she turned on Duo. "Shit! Duo!" she yelled in anger.

"I didn't mean to!" he said as he grabbed hold of his companions free hand and began to drag her toward their destination. They reached the door and pushed it open violently before rushing in. Turning, they found themselves very close to becoming a snack as the diamond shaped head appeared in the doorframe.

"Slam the door," Cy said as she dropped the mace and grabbed hold of the edge. Together, the two placed their hands on the smooth surface and shoved as hard as they could. Meeting little resistance as it flew shut, the door hit the serpents head causing a sickening crack to echo down the long hall the two adepts had entered.

Sighing with relief, the two leaned against the cold stone wall in an attempt to catch their breath. However, they were not to have a chance as the sound of footsteps approached hurriedly. The two quickly jumped up and took defensive stances, Duo in front and Cy behind once again brandishing the mace.

Cy glared down the hall, trying to see what was approaching. She hadn't noticed before how long the hall really was as she focused on two small figures rushing in their direction. Slowly, Montana and Anika became visible as they continued to hurry toward them all the while waving their arms and shouting something that never seemed to reach them. The two, seeing that it was only their friends who appeared to be excited to see them, relaxed and waited for the girls to approach.

As the two grew nearer, Cy and Duo began to make out what they were saying. Looking at each other, they attempted to figure out what the now apparently frantic girls were trying to tell them.

"What are they saying?" Cy asked, confusion creasing her brow.

"I m not sure, something like...um...Skele can help?" Duo attempted to decipher.

"That don t sound right. Who's Skele?" the Irish girl began to mumble to her self. "Skele...can...help, Skelecan...Skeleton!"

Duo's eyes widened significantly as he heard her come up with this new translation. "Skeleton, Help!" the two said in realization.

Their timing couldn't have been more perfect as the two frightened girls came hobbling by. "I can't win," he said to the two girls as he shoved them protectively behind him while Cyanea lifted the mace and took a defensive stance.

The skeleton came at her and she swung the heavy weapon with all her might, aiming for the ribcage. The impact stopped the animated skeleton in its tracks as it exploded into a bunch of little pieces, scattering noisily throughout he large hall.

The four stood and listened for a moment, as the sound of bones hitting stone echoed down the long corridor. Finally, getting bored of that, they began to cheer happily while staring at the shards of bone littering the hall. Unfortunately, their joy was to be short-lived as they noticed the bones begin to regroup.

"Um...maybe we should, uh...RUNNNNNN!!!!" Duo shouted as he grabbed the shocked Cyanea's arm and began pulling her even as the other two began to follow, slightly slower due to their injuries. The red haired girl dropped the mace as she was jerked unceremoniously into motion and had no time to retrieve it.

Cyanea looked back as she heard Anika start to whine, "Guys, wait up!"

Without letting go of Duo, she fell back slightly and took Montana s free hand to pull them along quicker. After all, she knew that if she didn't, the Indian girl would start slapping Anika silly. Sometimes she wondered how the two of them got along at all.

It seemed like ten minutes passed as they made a turn into another hall. Cyanea, weary from all that had already happened, had begun to lag behind, forced to lean forward because Duo refused to let go of her hand. Looking up ahead of her, she was relieved to see that they were coming to the end of the hallway. However, her relief quickly fled her as she realized that it was a dead end.

The four stopped, leaning against the walls in an attempt to catch their breath. Cyanea, looking ready to kill, leveled her gaze on the longhaired boy beside her. "You led us to a dead end?" she growled lowly, her breathing slowly becoming regular.

Behind her, she heard her blond friend whimpering, "We're trapped," followed by the sound of skin hitting skin. Unable to meet the Irish witches angry gaze, Duo turned away and stared down the hall at the fast approaching human remains.

"Sorry, but why don t you wait to kill me after we get rid of that?" he asked as he lazily pointed straight in front of him.

"Fine, start thinking about how you want to die," she said as she turned to face the immediate danger.

The skeleton stalked towards them, causing the four to back against the cool stone wall standing majestically behind them.

Four pairs of terror filled eyes watched as the bone figure stopped in front of them and began to regard them. No one moved a muscle as it cocked it s head to the side and in a cockney accent began to speak.

"'ello. I's be, Ebert Wilson. Might I's offer me assist'nce in the nav'gation of this 'ere maze?" he asked as he let his jaw hang open in the form of a smile.

Simultaneously, everyone's jaws dropped as they took in the extraordinary sight before them. This was far from what the four witches had expected, which was a gruesome and painful death. Having this presented before them, no one knew how to react to the situation and just continued to stand and stare, all intelligence apparently leaving them for a moment.

Finally, Cyanea got sick of the deafening silence and, being the most level headed of the group, decided to take matters into her own hands. Forcing her jaw shut, she looked the skeleton over, taking in the charred marks and chips that adorned the supposedly white bones. Taking on a diplomatic attitude, she stood straight and stepped forward.

"How do we know that you won t lead us into more danger?" she asked, attempting to disguise the distrust that filled her Irish accent.

"cause I's had the same goal as you's four does," he said, a mournful tone touching his voice. "If I's can't gets ou o this 'ere maze, then I's can at least 'elp you."

"Oh, in that case, we accept," Anika said before Cy could even take a breath to respond. Cyanea only had time to turn a disbeleiving gaze on her friend before the skeleton nodded once and began to walk purposefully down the hall. Everyone else just shrugged and began to follow as Cyanea took a position behind everyone with her fists clenched angrily at her sides.

*** Epilogue

Wufei and Relena looked through the last building on campus searching for the group of teenagers, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Ya know, I m starting to get the idea that they don t want to be found," Relena whined in impatience.

"Woman, will you shut up? I m sick of hearing your weak whimpering," the Chinese boy said as they exited the building and headed toward the dormitories.

"Weak? Are you saying that I'm weak? Well, are you Chang Wufei?" The dark haired boy gulped slightly and thought before he answered. Unfortunately, he didn't think hard enough. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying," he said, uncaring about any reaction that it might cause.

Relena's face got deadly calm as she neared Wufei, close enough to see the pores on his skin. "If you ever say that again, so help me god, I will tell Heero about the time that you took Wing Zero out for a joyride."

The boy broke out into a cold sweat as she backed off and turned to enter her dorm. He watched fearfully, although he didn't show it as she turned back towards him. What cruel fate could she possibly subject him to?

"Wufei, will you be a dear and call me if they come in?" He gave a small grunt and Relena beamed at him. "Thank you," she said sweetly.

Wufei turned stiffly toward his own dormitory, giving up the search for the lost Gundam pilots and bent on getting some sleep.

Just as long as they showed up for the next mission, he could care less where they go and what they did...unless they were with those witches.

***

The four teenagers sighed in relief as they emerged from the tall shrubbery that filled the garden, filling it with a sweet perfume and creating a very large and complicated maze. They all regarded the skeleton with unspoken gratitude as they stared joyfully at the tall iron gates that loomed before them.

"See? This whole thing wasn't all that bad now was it?" Duo said as the eyes of the three girls trained on him in disbelief.

"You almost died and you're saying that this wasn't so bad?" Cyanea asked, completely baffled by the boy.

Duo looked away, "Um...sure. All in a days work, right?" Everyone rolled their eyes before turning their attention back to the skeleton. "Thank you for all your help," the Irish girl said as she offered her hand, causing Anika to moan slightly in disgust at the thought of touching the cold dead bones, even if they were animated.

The skeleton accepted the gesture, wrapping his bony fingers around her wrist in an old fashioned handshake. Cyanea easily adjusted to this form and was careful not to shake too hard in case his arm wasn't on securely. She shuddered at the thought of it coming off in her hands.

"It's me pleasure. I's hope yous survive," he said kindly.

"What do you mean?" Anika asked. "Aren't we finished with the test? We made it to the end of the maze."

"Yous not done a last test. Good luck, yous gonna need it."

With that said, the skeleton turned and quickly disappeared back into the tall foliage.

"I wonder what he's talking about," Montana said as she turned and led the way to the gate. All of them were too excited to be cautious as they approached the barred doors. The iron gate slowly began to groan open as they came nearer, allowing a bright orange light to shine brilliantly upon them.

"What the..." Duo began, but quit as he laid eyes on the giant creature before them.

A dragon towered above them, breathing small orange balls of fire that ended before they ever left its mouth. The four of them stopped to take in the image before them. The shining black scales of the dragon reflected the light of the fireballs wickedly, appearing to have a life of their own as the images of flames danced within the lustrous surfaces. White teeth gleamed wickedly at them as the golden slitted eyes focused on the new arrivals.

"Well, I wonder what we have to do here," Anika said huffily, more than unhappy that they had not yet finished. She was exhausted and becoming cranky as a result of it.

"Maybe we have to slay the dragon," Duo said, already becoming hyper at the thought of such a challenge.

"I can already smell the testosterone," Cyanea said sarcastically.

"That is not necessary," a deep booming voice echoed throughout the garden. All of them turned in shock to stare at the dragon. "What do you mean?" Cy asked curiously, wondering what they had to do to finally get out of this place.

In the background, Anika could be heard muttering to herself. "I didn't know dragons could speak. Although, he does have a sexy voice, though not as sexy as Trowa's."

"You must answer three questions correctly or you will be devoured by the almighty and very hungry dragon, namely...myself."

"Oh, I see. Well, I think we can all handle three questions each. Shoot," Duo said as he stepped forward.

"Very well. What is your name?"

"Ah, that s a simple one. My name is Duo Maxwell," he said confidently.

"What is your main mission in life?"

Looking around uncomfortably, he responded, "Uh, to, um...destroy Oz and protect the colonies." He decided to ignore his friends as they began to exchange questioning glances.

"What have you learned from these tests?"

"To trust myself, my friends, and most skeletons."

"Very well, you may pass," the dragon said a little disappointed that he had been cheated from yet another potential meal.

Duo gave a wide grin as he sauntered past the dragon and through the gates. Turning, he waved jauntily to his friends before disappearing into the bright light beyond the dragon. Undoubtedly, he would be waiting for them with the proxy.

"What do you think that whole mission thing was about?" Cy asked. When no one replied, she decided that it was her turn to go.

"Try me," she said as she stepped toward the dragon.

Nodding once, the dragon began. "What is your name?"

"I am Cyanea O'Shea."

"What is your favorite color?"

"Green, of course."

"What have you learned from these tests?"

"That I...uh, I really do love Duo," she said, looking down to the ground to hide her blush from her friends.

"Fine, you may pass," the dragon said, getting slightly agitated that he had only two more tries to get a meal.

"Awwwww," the two said as they watched her leave.

"That was soooo cute! Well, my turn," Anika said as she bounced forward to be quizzed. The dragon raised a non-existent eyebrow at the hyper girl and gave an internal grin. Surely this girl would be an easy dinner.

"What is your name?" he asked, determined to know exactly who he was eating.

"I m Anika Elizabeth Ketura," she said cutely.

"Which would you love the most? A hot Irish boy who would do anything for you or Trowa?"

This stopped the girl for a moment. That was definitely a hard decision. However, she was pretty positive about her answer. "Trowa."

"What have you learned from these tests?"

Anika paused to think for a moment, "I learned that you have to work for anything you want."

"Deep," Montana could be heard saying in the background.

The dragon had no idea what this had to do with the tests, but since she was telling the truth, he had to let her pass.

Giving a defeatists sigh, Montana limped up to the fire-breathing monster and waited her turn to undergo the interrogation.

"What is your name?" the dragon asked, finally getting bored with the whole scenario.

"Montana Dakota Anguun."

"What is your favorite color?"

"Blue."

"What have you learned from these tests?"

Without pausing, she replied, "I learned that I have true friends to depend on and I don t have to do everything myself. My friends care about me."

The dragon realized that he was cheated out of a meal entirely and reluctantly let her pass. As she exited, she found herself back at the temple where the others were waiting for her. At the top of a curving flight of stairs stood Cethany Prettyangel looking down on them with joy on her face. Descending the steep stairs, she approached them.

"Congratulations, my children. You have shown how much you wish to prove yourselves to wield the power of the God and Goddess. Unfortunately, this was only a test of character. Your true trials will find you in the mortal world when you least expect them and will be even more dangerous. However, because of your heroic deeds, you will be granted one wish."

The group had a look of displeasure that surrounded them as they realized they had not yet earned the right to strengthened powers. After all they had been through, they thought that they would get it for sure. Now they were being told that there was more to come and it would be worse than this had been. At least they had the wish though.

Looking between each other, they all knew exactly what they wanted to wish for. "We wish," they said in unison, "for Quatre Raberba Winner to regain his memories."

The crystal ball adorning the top of the long sword began to glow along with the ethereal form of Cethany Prettyangel. They felt the warmth radiate outward, in search of the receiving party. Looking at the group, the woman smiled gently at them. "I would have thought you would wish for your powers sooner, most others would have. Fortunately you didn't because you would have been disqualified for them had you been so greedy. It is something you must earn in time, proving your goodness. You have already begun earning these powers with your selfless wish."

The group looked extremely happy about the idea that they had just given their friend his life back. For the girl's it was his memory, but for Duo it was his memory, life and soul. He had known about Heero's orders to kill him and was sure that they had just saved many people some anguish. His smile widened even more as he thought of this. Even the delay in getting their powers couldn't dampen their good moods.

"Your wish has been granted."

***

"I m sorry," Heero said as he stared at the vulnerable Arabian's back. Pulling the trigger, the silenced shot quickly closed the distance between the two boys. Simultaneously, the blond boy gave a gasp and reached for his head as he fell to the ground causing the bullet to overshoot him and lodge into the wall of the dorm room. Heero stared at the fallen boy in wonder, unsure what could have caused him to dodge the bullet so easily. Walking towards Quatre to investigate what had happened, he realized that the boy was muttering something softly under his breath. Kneeling down, he brought his ear close to his friend’s mouth in an attempt to make out what was being said. His eyes widened in shock and wonder as he heard the words spilling from the pale boy’s mouth.

"I remember, I remember, I remember..."

The Japanese boy couldn't hold back the sigh of relief that escaped his lungs. It seemed that the need to kill a very good pilot had passed. After all, it would have been a pity to kill such a good soldier.

Pulling the shorter boy close, he looked into the other boy’s pure eyes. "Tell me what you remember."

Quatre immediately began to babble on about the Gundams, his mission and everything else about his life." Heero gave an imperceptible smile as he realized that Quatre was back.

***

The spiritual forms of the group of witches slowly made their way back to their physical selves. Taking a deep breath, Montana was the first to come out of her trance, followed by Duo, then Anika, and finally Cyanea. They looked at each other in joy and relief as Anika gave a giddy laugh.

"We did it! We really did it!" she cried as she leapt to her feet and did a wild dance around the fire.

Duo was quick to join in as they celebrated their accomplishment. Cyanea and Montana each beamed a smile at each other and exchange a quick awkward hug. Neither of them accustomed to showing any form of affection.

So caught up in their success, none of them noticed the figure that sat in their midst until the person spoke up. "Did what?" the confused person voiced their question from the southeast part of the circle. All eyes turned to focus on Trowa who was sitting cross-legged with a concerned expression on his face.

"We have proven ourselves worthy of taking the Three Trials and in the process got Quatre's memory back," Cy explained. "Soon we will wield the ultimate power of the Lord and Lady for the sole purpose of fighting for good."

"Oh" was all he said, though he was obviously still confused.

However, further explanation was useless as Anika ran up and gave Trowa a warm hug, completely distracting him from the subject at hand.

"Thank you, Trowa. For everything," she said as she stared deeply into his emerald eyes.

The others had already cleared any evidence of their being present away from the circle and were beginning to head off in different directions to defer suspicion from themselves. All of them were so caught up in everything that had happened that no one noticed a small figure make their own way off into the woods, headed toward the campus and laden with a heavy bag.

As the three waved goodbye to Trowa and Anika before heading into the moonlit woods, Trowa slowly reached to take Anika's hand. The Egyptian girl was shocked by his uncharacteristic display of affection, but smiled softly to herself with pleasure at his finally noticing her. As they walked further into the woods, she moved closer to him so he could easily hear her whisper. "Thank you for being there for me tonight. I know that you probably don't even realize just how much your presence helped me, but it did."

He grunted a quiet response, keeping his eyes forward. That was plenty enough to urge the young witch on. Her mind worked on what to do next, even as she had already decided on her action.

A blush was slowly creeping into the shorthaired witch’s cheeks as she stopped, gently tugging on his hand so that he would turn to face her. Her heart began to pound achingly in her chest as she looked into his handsome features. If she didn't do this now, she knew that she would never find the courage to do it again.

She watched as his brow creased, curious as to why she had stopped. Slowly, she reached her hand up to caress his cheek softly, relishing in the feel of the soft stubble massaging her hand. She noticed the boy tense at this gesture and immediately reached out to catch his arm before he could pull away. Tenderly pulling him toward her, Anika stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips against his.

Trowa's eyes widened in shock at this turn of events, but he wasn't exactly complaining. Anika was afraid that he would pull away and was pleasantly surprised when he cautiously put his arms around her waist and began to caress the small of her back. Reaching up, she began to run her hands through his hair, causing him to relax and let the sensations run through his body.

Suddenly, the sound of running footsteps interrupted them as a young girl came running towards them with a heavy bag dragging behind her. As she grew closer, Anika recognized Kerri, the mortal enemy of the witches, and was about to make a snide comment about her haunting the woods because she was too ugly for daylight when the blond dropped to her knees in front of them.

"There are creatures in the woods!" she said. "I don't know what they are, but there are tons of them, all marching in this direction. You gotta do something, use your magic!" she screeched annoyingly at them.

"Do you mean like an army of creatures?" Anika asked, trying to figure out just what was going on.

"Yes...yes, that's exactly it. An entire army, in these woods. I couldn't get around them to get back to campus...please, help me," she begged, her haughtiness gone now that she realized the witches could be useful for something.

Turning to look at Trowa, the two nodded. "We have to find the others."

With that said, they set out to find the others with Kerri straggling behind them, refusing to leave her heavy black bag behind.

***

When the others had realized the trouble that was upon them, they had all returned to the clearing to plan an attack. They were terribly outnumbered and could only hope to survive the night. It was a pity that they had already used much of their strength during their ritual. Their only choice was to make due with what they had left.

"Right," Cyanea said. "There is a demon army surrounding us and we have an innocent, as innocent as she really is, here. First thing I suggest is that Kerri climb a tree. It will be the safest place for her."

Kerri didn't waste any time as she threw her bag on her back and started up the closest tree. Once she was settled, Cyanea continued.

"Montana, can you put a circle of protection around it?" the black haired girl nodded and turned to do so while the others began to work out their next actions.

When she was done and returned, they filled her in on what they had decided to do. "With the numbers so against us, we decided to do one big spell together to eliminate as many as possible before we have to fight them physically. We should be able to destroy any of them within hearing range, but it will sap our strength terribly. A demon blessing is a difficult spell, but very effective on all things unholy," the Irish girl said.

"I guess that means Kerri should cover her ears, just in case she qualifies," Anika put in. Everyone looked up at the frightened cheerleader and was forced to hold back their laughter as she plugged her ears with her index fingers.

"Right, then we're agreed. Everyone does know the spell, right?" Duo asked, wanting to make sure nothing went wrong. Everyone nodded. "Good, then we're good to go," Montana said as she collected a few sharp sticks for later use. The others followed suit as they waited silently for the demon army to approach.

***

Heero and Quatre knew something was wrong as the normal night sounds disappeared being replaced by the sound of footsteps and dangerous growls. Rushing to the window, their worst nightmares were answered as a large army of demons marched through campus towards the woods. They didn't even bother looking at each other as they rushed to gather two bookbags filled with weapons. They managed to find hand grenades, guns with wooden and silver bullets, as the 'Perfect Soldier' was always prepared for any enemy, and the supply of holy water and wooden stakes that Duo had started keeping with him since he first found out about the demons.

Now well armed, the two stealthily left the building and followed close behind the army, picking off any stragglers with the stakes, whether they were vampires or not, a stake usually did the job. Heero had already predicted that the army was going to surround the four witches and Trowa, using the surprise as their attack advantage. They could only hope the others could manage until the two of them got through to them with the weapons.

The army slowed its progress and the two ducked behind a tree. The first wave must have hit their friends. That must mean the army was larger than they had thought because they couldn't even hear the sounds of battle, unless they were already dead. However, they knew that was impossible, they would never die without a good fight for their lives, especially Duo.

Heero gestured for Quatre to wait, there was no use for them to attack unless something happened to a mass number of the demons. The only way the two Gundam pilots could help was if they made it through to their friends.

***

"Bless'ed be!" the four of them finished the incantation, releasing a great wave of power to all those in hearing distance. Any and all things evil fell to the ground and began to writhe in pain for as far as they could see.

The small group of witches had yelled the blessing as loud as they could and with the heightened hearing that most demons possessed, they had managed to knock out over half of their force. Things were already beginning to look better. Now, if they only had weapons, they would be well off and closer to crashing exhausted into their beds.

As if in answer to their wish, there was an explosion up ahead as the second wave of demons, much smaller than the first, began to appear out of the trees and into the clearing. Looking to where the dirt and smoke was rising in the air, they found a small hole in the perfect circle of demons with two figures now fighting their way towards them.

Trowa rushed immediately to help them, but the others were too tired from performing the difficult spell and were lucky to defend themselves where they were as the second attack began.

The sharp sticks they had collected were working for now, but they needed something that would help in devastating the remaining demon force. Fortunately, the green-eyed boy was at their side in no time, with Heero and Quatre close behind, each carrying a black bookbag. There was no reason to wonder what was in them as the three boys started to distribute weapons to the witches.

Duo was tossed two 9mm guns as Heero shouted to him that one contained silver and the other wooden bullets. A box was thrown to his feet in the event that he would have the chance to reload them. The braided witch immediately gave an insane sort of laugh as he started to shoot the creatures, aiming with either gun according to what type of demon they were. "Meet the wrath of Shinigami!" he shouted as he went to work.

The girls couldn't believe how good he was with a gun as demons fell all around them. However, they couldn't think about that now as they excepted the holy water from Quatre and began to throw it at their enemy, watching for only a second as the glass jars broke against the chest of their victims.

Heero had thrown another grenade as Trowa made use of two more of the specially loaded guns. Everything was definitely turning to their advantage as Quatre grabbed two wooden stakes and began to attack the confused creatures. They had not expected such a strong defense.

Quatre slammed a stake into the chest of a vampire as he kicked a werewolf off its feet behind him. Trowa shot the werewolf with a silver bullet before turning before turning his gun with wooden bullets on a small group of vampires foolish enough to stay together. Within a matter of seconds the pale demons were nothing but ash as his aim proved to be perfect.

Cyanea and Montana were circling Anika as they kept the demons at bay, allowing only a few to get through to the Egyptian girl who made quick work of them. The three girls were brutal as they sent kicks hard enough to break bones in their opponent’s direction before staking them in the heart. They were holding well on their own as Trowa and Duo concentrated on large cluster of demons with their guns.

Heero only had two grenades left and threw them into the two largest groups of the enemy he could find. Pieces of demon flew in every direction as they exploded and the rest of them were beginning to retreat, realizing that they were being slaughtered.

Finally, the last straggling demon had been eliminated and the group of teens gave a sigh of relief as they collected the remaining weapons and slowly made their way back to the dorms. They were all covered in demon blood, sporting only a few scrapes and cuts from the battle, not counting whatever wounds had been received during the ritual. All they wanted now was a hot shower and a good nights sleep.

However, the night for them didn't seem to be over as a breeze began to pick up and a bright light filled the clearing they had just left. Turning around at the edge of the open area, they found Cethany Prettyangel standing there regarding them with a small smile. The unnatural breeze gently tossed about her red hair as she spoke.

"You have just passed the first trial, The Trial of Judgement," she said as she walked towards them.

Heero and Quatre shared a confused look as Cyanea stepped forward to meet the woman. "But how? We haven't done anything different from anything else we've ever done. How does this qualify as one of the tests?"

"You did do something different," she said. "You protected a rival from your enemy. You have proven yourself worthy of the power because you have shown you understand that just because you don't like someone doesn't mean they aren't innocent."

"Huh? Oh, you mean Kerri. Heh, I guess we almost forgot about her. We sent her up a tree to keep her out of trouble," Montana said as she stepped forward as well.

"Yeah, that's right," Kerri said as she jumped down to the ground, still clutching the heavy bag to her side with effort. It looked like it had been rearranged, like something had been taken out hastily and put back as best it could be. They could only guess what was in that bag, but it wasn't for them to worry about right then. "Well, I must thank you," the blond said with a wicked smile. "This has been a most educating and productive night for me. Now if you'll excuse me, my room mates are probably missing me."

"Don't trip on your way back," Anika yelled after her as she disappeared into the woods leading back to the school. The remaining teenagers turned back to Cethany who was waiting patiently before them. "I can see that there is no love lost between any of you. Perhaps that is good though because that girl will betray you," the woman said to them.

Cyanea shrugged, "It doesn't matter. Our work is done here for now. I know we will find our way back together for our next trial, so it's ok if we get sent home. Everything has worked out perfectly."

"You are a very wise girl and will make a very strong good witch as you continue to grow in your powers," she said before directing her gaze to the rest of the group. "You are all brave and I shall reward you," she said even as a warm glow surrounded them. They all felt their skin begin to tingle as their cuts and bruises were healed, leaving them whole and well rested.

Duo gave her a big smile, "Hey, thanks. That really beats healing the old fashioned way."

"It was my pleasure...Shinigami," the red haired goddess said even as she began to fade into nothingness, the light beginning to dim. "I will see you again when you have completed the second task. Until then..."

The four witches exchanged happy looks. They had just come one step closer to gaining the power they truly needed. "So, Shinigami," Cy said mockingly. "Why don't we all get cleaned up, that's one thing that magic can't do for us."

Everyone agreed wholeheartedly to this and they all headed back to campus.

***

Five teenagers stood in the middle of the airport staring sadly at a departure list. None of them were ready to say goodbye, but they knew that it had to be done. All of them studied their surroundings, trying to commit this last moment together to memory. It wasn't exactly the best of places to say goodbye with all the crowds crushing in on them and robbing them of any privacy.

"You know," Montana said as she turned to take in the sad faces of Anika, Cy, Duo and Quatre. "I can t believe that Kerri had the nerve to video tape us and show it to the dean, especially after we saved her life"

"Yeah? Well the goddess did warn us. And the only reason we're getting shipped back home instead of turned into the government for practicing what he considers the dark arts is because we did save her," Cyanea put in, keeping Montana from continuing with her complaints.

"Anyway," Anika said. "We'll see each other again. As Cy said, we'll come together once more for the second trial and I have a feeling that it won't be long before that happens."

"Well, personally, I'd rather see you guys under better, more friendly circumstances than during a trial," Montana said crossly, showing her distaste for what she knew would come.

"We're being deprived of time we can just be friends without any life or death situations to worry about."

"Don't worry, maybe you guys will be able to visit each other. It's not like you don't have the money to fly to each other's countries. And I'll do my best to keep in touch and see you too," Quatre said, immediately causing Montana to lighten up and actually give a small smile.

Anika looked to the tiled floor sadly. "Well, I guess we should say goodbye then. My plane leaves for Egypt in 15 minutes and I should get boarded."

The others nodded and exchanged hugs all around. As Quatre hugged Anika he held her a little longer. "It's too bad Trowa isn't here to see you off," he said before pulling away.

"It s all right, we already said our good-byes," Anika said with a slight blush. Sighing, she gave one last longing look to her friends before turning and walking with her head held high in the direction of her plane. A second later, the young girl turned around and gave them a sheepish look. "Um...my gates the other way," she said as she quickly passed the group and disappeared into the crowd.

"Well, I guess I should get to my plane too. Good bye, Duo. It s too bad we didn't get to spend more time together," Cyanea said as she gazed into the boy's amethyst eyes. Kissing him passionately on the lips, she turned to find the terminal the plane that would take her to Ireland was waiting at.

Watching her walk away, Duo stepped off to the side so that Quatre and Montana could have some privacy. The two stood looking at each other for a long moment, neither of them wanting to commit the act of saying good bye. Finally, Montana hugged Quatre tightly, kissing him on his smooth cheek and then his lips.

"I will miss you, Quatre. I hope to see you again soon. I love you!" she said before turning and walking away.

The Arabian boy’s eyes grew suspiciously moist as he watched her disappear into the crowd. Duo thought it was terrible that he only remembered who he was right before his love had to leave. Now they would most likely never have a chance. Sighing, the blond shoved his hands into his pockets and turned toward the braided pilot. "Well, shall we go? The others are waiting."

Duo nodded once and turned to lead the way out of the muggy airport. Even though the others hadn't taken what Anika had said to heart, he had a feeling that the hyperactive, accident prone, not too intelligent, but incredibly cute girl had a point for once in her life. The second trial was definitely going to come soon, and they would see each other again. Keeping that happy though in mind, he began to whistle as he climbed into the van that the others were waiting in. Quatre followed, closing the door behind him. At the sound of the door locking into place, Heero threw the van into drive and headed toward their new base and new mission.