I'm back!  While I'm at it, I wish everyone on the FFML a Happy New Year
Filled with happiness and less darkfics!  ;)

   As for the story, Chapter 8 ain't finished by a longshot, but I revised
so many things since the last time I posted this story that I told myself I
might as well post it to get some comments now, rather than later.

Enjoy!

The Phoenix Reborn

***************************************

Point Of No Return - Book 1

Records Of Lodoss War

By Louis-Philippe Giroux
<Phoenix@upc.qc.ca>

*Author's note:  This is my very first fanfic, so bear the fact in mind
as you read it...  After BGC (Book 2), maybe I'll look into new universes
(current favorites are Twister's Puck, Wheel Of Time and A!MG.  Who
knows what the future holds?)

_Constructive_ comments & criticisms are of course welcome.  I was
inspired by watching RoLW and BGC, other miscellaneous anime and
playing far too many RPG's for my health.  The rights to Records Of Lodoss
War and Bubblegum Crisis belong to whoever rightfully owns them (I
can't remember just now).  I may use elements from the Final Fantasy III
game, which is the property of Square.

   I'm writing a liberal interpretation of the world of RoLW after
the anime's last episode (Parn's rescue of Deedlit in Kardis' temple on
Marmo Island).  I could be going off-canon from there, since it's been a
long time since I saw RoLW and no, I am NOT taking the Crystania
sequel into account (mainly because I didn't see it).  My story is *not*
based on the novels; it's based on the anime.  Don't blame me if you don't
like that (I'm not forcing you to read this, remember?).

   If you like it, mail me to Phoenix@upc.qc.ca and
tell me I'm not doing this for nothing!


Chapter 1: A Start To Everything


<Location: The Real World>

    Terry and Donna Stratson were walking home from the college
campus after another unventful day.  Most people who crossed their
path would be intrigued by their resemblance to each other.  Then
again, most people didn't know they were 19 year-old twins.  Terry
was a relatively tall young man with short, well-kept auburn hair and a
straight, normal everyday face.  Donna, being his twin sister, looked
somewhat like Terry, her facial features partially hidden by the large
locks of auburn hair which flowed down past her shoulders.
    "So what are you doing tonight, Terry?"  asked Donna nonchalantly,
kicking a pebble across the sidewalk.
    "I'm going to Eddie's house.  He's been begging me for weeks to let
him introduce me to a new type of cartoons.   Japanese animation, I
think", came a suspiciously nonchalant reply.
    "Japanese cartoons?  Yeah, right...", Donna smirked.  "You're sure
it's not because of Carrie?" she asked, already looking forward to
teasing her brother on the subject.
    "No, it's not!" Terry replied.  But a slight blush and the speed at
which he answered betrayed him.  Donna started looking at him with a
wicked-looking smile on her lips and Terry knew right now he'd lose
the argument if he remained silent.  "Okay, _maybe_ Carrie has
something to do with it.  Don't _you_ have to go somewhere with your
dear Michael tonight?", asked Terry, hoping the change the tide of the
argument.
    Donna's silent blush told him he'd scored a hit.  "Only if he doesn't
have any homework to do." she replied after a short pause.
    "The guy's a bookworm.  You'd be much better off with almost any
other guy, you know."
    Donna was starting to get a little irritated.  "I do not need your
counseling, dear brother.   At least he's not like that bimbo you're
dating!"
    "Carrie is _not_ a bimbo!", Terry shot back, becoming irritated
himself.
    "Suuuure! Just tell that to the three guys she dated before you."
    Ah, yes.   A normal day in the life of Terry and Donna Stratson.

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location: Lodoss>

    Lodoss was finally starting to heal after years of war and
destruction.  The dead had been buried, the wounded were healing,
cities were being rebuilt and the fields were green once more.   Slowly,
all traces of the Marmo invasion were being erased.  Except for the
occasional wild beast attack on a village, there hadn't been many things
worthy of notice happening in Lodoss recently.  It was rare to even
encounter Kobolds and Werewolves.
    Parn was horseriding towards Valis with Deedlit, his elven
companion, mere steps behind him.  Since that fateful day when he'd
saved Deedlit's life and prevented the goddess Kardis' resurrection,
there a been a notable shortage of adventures for would-be heroes like
him and he had somewhat given up on finding exciting adventures.
    It had been several weeks since Parn and Deedlit had quietly left
Valis, leaving behind Etoh, Parn's young friend and Priest of Falia (in
training) and Slayn, the wizard who had chosen to remain in Valis for a
little while longer with his companion Leylia, a priestess of Marfa.
    They were part of the reason Parn was riding his way back to Valis.
He wanted to see his friends again and he was also looking forward to
meeting King Kashue once again.  Parn could not forget Kashue's gift to
him when he left Valis, the King's own sturdy blue and yellow-handled
sword safely nestled in the scabbard at his side.  Parn felt he had been
somewhat inadequate in his thanks to King Kashue for the precious gift.
All the more reasons to go back to Valis.
    The Mercenary King Kashue was still in Valis, as far as he knew, to
help oversee the succession to the throne of the late King Fahn.   He had
agreed to remain for a while longer to help Princess Fianna settle any
diplomatic problems he might be of help with.
    It seemed as if this was going to be another uneventful day in Lodoss.

* * * * * * * * * *

 <Location: somewhere else on Lodoss>

    Unfortunately for Parn, Slayn was not in Valis as he had thought.
Slay himself wasn't sure exactly where he was at the moment, but he
knew he had to get back to Valis sooner or later.  *Hopefully, Parn will
have returned from his trip with Deedlit.  The rumors I heard in the
last few villages ought to interest him.* he thought.   Unlike Parn,
Slayn had had enough adventures to last him for a long time.  *Well, I
was like him once, always looking for trouble*, he thought with a
small smile.  The smile then vanished and Slayn became serious once
more.
    He had some _very_ interesting rumors to tell Parn indeed.  Most of
which concerned a very old enemy of Parn...
    Slayn was musing about those rumors when his horse almost collided
with two other riders at an intersection.   Barely keeping his mount
from unsaddling him, he started to apologize to the other two travellers
when he got a good look at them.  Their clothes were a little dirty, but
he recognized them without too much effort: Shiris and Orson, the
mercenary friends of Parn.
    Read-haired Shiris still sported the short red tunic-and-cape outfit
Slayn had first seen her with, along with the sword at her side.  Along
with her red thigh boots, Slayn, or anyone else for that matter, could
easily guess Shiris' favorite color.  Dark-haired Orson was still
dressed in what could have passed for a used soldier's uniform: a brown
shirt over a light mail tunic, beige trousers (anyone have a better
name for this?), knee-high boots and leg guards and a somewhat
tattered green cape.  Topping the man's height by a foot and a half on
his back was a giant sword Orson could easily use to its full
potential when he went berserk.
    Berserker.  A name which struck fear in any relatively sane person.
"Where a berserker passes, only corpses remain," the saying went.
Orson was possessed by Hyuri, the spirit of rage and madness.  While
he acted quite normally most of the time, he gained inhuman strength
and became a fearful force to be reckoned with in combat if anything
was to make him mad enough.  The trigger usually consisted of one two
things: someone who was an extreme threat to him or someone
threatening Shiris.  Almost anything else he was usually able to deal
with in "normal mode".
    While Slayn was staring in surprise at Orson and Shiris, the latter
was not quite as tongue-tied.  "Hey! Why don't you watch where you're
going you..." she started and quickly stopped when Orson put his hand
on her shoulder.
    "Go easy, Shiris.  Don't you remember him?"
    Slayn used the short pause in the argument to put a word in.  "I'm
glad to see you too again, Shiris.  You too, Orson.", he said with a small
smirk.  Slayn had to repress a slight shudder when he laid eyes on
Orson.  Even for him, it was hard to be comfortable around a
berserker.
    Shiris stared for a couple of seconds and then, with slightly rosied
cheeks, quickly apologized.  "I'm sorry Slayn.  I didn't recognize you
fast enough."
   "Well, it's probably my fault.  I wasn't exactly watching where I
was going.", he said, a bit guiltily.  "Where were you headed?"
   "Well, we just finished a protection contract in a nearby village.
Those thieves won't be back any time soon, I can tell you that!", she
answered with a grin, which then became a somewhat sullen
expression.  "But we've been running out of contracts: buisiness is
slow, so we haven't been doing anything nor going anywhere important
lately.  Why do you ask?"
    "Do you want to come back with me to Valis?  I bring news for Parn
and I'm somewhat sure you'd like to hear them as well."
    Shiris perked up a little.  "Really?  Well, Orson and I might just
well meet you there, then.  We have a few things to do first.  And it'll
be nice to see Parn again."
   "Good.", he nodded.  "Then we'll meet in Valis.  Ride safely!"
    "You too!", Shori shouted as they got further away from one
another.  "And watch where you're going!"

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location: The Real World>

    Terry and Donna came back to their house (they were lucky the
family house was near the campus), their little tiff already forgotten.
Being twins, they knew exactly which buttons to push to piss off the
other, but they always quickly reconciled.  Donna opened the door, only
to be greeted by their enthusiastic black-haired eleven year old sister,
Stephany.  "Konnichiwa oniisan, oneechan!"
    Donna was the first to react with "Huh?" and Terry followed
shortly afterward with "What'd you say?"
    Pleased that she had gotten the desired results, Stephany explained:
"It means: `Hi, brother and sister!' in Japanese."
    "Fanny, when did you start learning Japanese?  And for that matter,
_where_ did you learn Japanese?" Terry asked, while Donna was
already heading for the fridge to get something to drink.
   "Chang taught me!", she beamed with pride (or was that arrogance at
knowing something her siblings did not?).
    "Who the bloody hell is Chang?", Terry asked, confused.
    "Terry!", Donna scolded  over the fridge's door.  She didn't want
Stephany to pick up her brother's... colorful language.  "Chang's the
new babysitter Mom hired to watch over Fanny when we're gone."
    "How old is he?"
    "He's sventeen years old.  But then again, you'd know that if you lived
among humans beings sometimes."
   "Hey!  It's not my fault I like computers so much!  At least _I_ don't
run the risk of burning down the house like the time you did your little
chemistry experiment in the kitchen a few years ago and nearly
torched the oven."
   "That was an accident!", Donna replied hotly.  "Besides, I've gotten a
lot better at chemistry these last few months."
    "So next time you'll nuke the entire kitchen and not just the oven?"
Before she could reply, Terry quickly turned back to Fanny and asked:
"So why is he teaching you Japanese, anyway?"
    "Well, his mother is Japanese and his father is American.  He told
me he'd grown up learning only English, but he recently asked his mother
to teach him Japanese.  I heard him practice last night when he came over
to babysit, so I asked him to teach me a couple of words, and he did!"
    "Well in that case, I hope you liked it because it looks as if he'll be
coming back tonight.  Donna and I may leave for the evening and if I
remember correctly, Mom and Dad are going to the opera tonight.",
Terry said with a small grin.
    "I'm only leaving if I can get a date with Michael tonight," Donna
interjected with a glass of milk in her hand.
    "Yeah, well, good luck with the bookworm !" Terry told her with a
wink, before going upstairs to his room.

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location: A Secret Cave someplace in Lodoss>

    The Gray Witch, Karla.  A five hundred year old being, whose entire
consciousness and magical abilities were contained in a circlet which was
now sitting atop a helpless Woodchuck's head.  Whoever wore the circlet
was her slave, for she needed a human body to move.  Woodchuck had been
trapped by the circlet's hypnotic gaze after the battle where Ghim had lost
his life.  For 500 years, Karla had seen herself as a protector of Lodoss.
Throughout time, she prevented rulers from either uniting or conquering
Lodoss, claiming that either one would eventually bring about Lodoss'
destruction.  As a result, Lodoss had been a giant battlefield for the last
five
centuries.  The Sage, Wort, had dared tell her she might have become
slightly unbalanced along the way.  She was not mad!  She was Lodoss'
guardian, its protector!  Nothing would disrupt her plans to safeguard
Lodoss against disaster.
    Well, she _had_ suffered a small setback a few weeks ago when that
young boy and his friends had managed to liberate her previous host, a
young woman named Leylia.  A fine host, that one had been.  The only
satisfaction she derived of the event was that she had at least managed
to kill that impudent dwarf and had captured a new body.  But no
matter, her great plans would not be disrupted by anyone.
     But right now, she was gazing at a crystal ball on a table.  It had
been a few weeks since the young boy, Parn, had managed to stop
Kardis' resurrection.  That was good, for she might have been forced to
take a part in, had Parn failed somewhere along the way.  A small voice
at the back of her head told her that she wouln't have been able to do
much even if she had wanted to, for Kardis was the Goddess of
Destruction, a being far more powerful than she.  The voice kept
nagging her.
    She crushed the voice.  She hated being reminded of her limitations.
    In the crystall ball in front of her she saw the wizard, the boy, Parn
and the elf riding from different directions, but all heading back to
Valis.  Karla had offered the boy a chance to see to Lodoss' safety at her
side for ever, but he had refused.  She could not stand people who had
strong wills: to her, every living being in Lodoss was a pawn for her
use, nothing more.
    She could see it now already: they were going to try to shift the
balance of power on Lodoss again!  She would not allow it.  "Lodoss will
not be united _or_ conquered.  The Balance between Good and Evil must
be kept at all costs," she muttered to no one in particular.
    After a pause, she turned her back to the crystal ball and walked into
a small room littered with all kinds of objects, magical and otherwise.
She idly walked past two familiar swords:  King Fahn's Holy Sword and
Emperor Beld's Demon Sword, Soul Crusher.  Two very special magical
relics, whose owners had been killed in a fruitless battle for control of
Lodoss.  She never would have allowed that to happen, anyway.  *Those
fools did not even bother to look for the Swords after the explosion on
Marmo Island,* she thought with a chuckle.  She would have to look for
suitable pawns to give the two Swords to, someday.  There were other
various magical items, swords and armors lying around the room, too
many to count.  She had gathered those for hundreds of years.
    Sitting each on a precarious pedestal at the center of the room were
her greatest achievements ever: the Five Crystals of Power.  The result
of two hundred and fifty years of labor, the irregularly shaped
Crystals were Karla's ultimate means to put Lodoss under her watchful
control.  The first four Crystals each contained an essence of nature and
life: The Brown Crystal of Earth (although it also had a nice shade of
gray, too), the Red Crystal of Fire, the White Crystal of Wind and the
Blue Crystal of Water.  The fifth Crystal was a bit more obscure to
define.
    In a human being, Earth was represented by the body itself, Wind
was the essential air you breathed, Water was the blood and Fire was
the body's heat, it's life.  The four Elemental Crystals were extremely
powerful and could easily be used to manipulate nature's elements.
    The fifth Crystal, a yellow-colored one, was used to facilitate
control of the other four and it had powers of its own.  It could absorb,
reflect and/or hone the already considerable power of the other Crystals
under certain conditions, and Karla had infused it with her own powers.  If
the five Crystals were brought together, a force greater than that of the
Goddess Kardis herself could very well be unleashed.  That is why the
Crystals were sealed in glass cases to prevent any kind of contact with one
another.  Too bad the glass cases were placed atop such flimsy pedestals.
    *With these Crystals,* she said to herself, *I will be able to see to
Lodoss' safety and no one will to stand in my way.*  She stood there, for
several minutes, gazing at her creations, when she suddenly felt her
knees buckle.  *Curse this human body!* she told herself.  *Despite
my magic, I must still allow my host body to rest once in a while.*
Somewhat snarked off by the fact, she left the room.
    As she closed and locked the door with a little too much strength, she
didn't hear three of the glass cases fall off their precarious perches
and shatter on the ground, allowing three of the Elemental Crystals to
come in contact together.  Neither did she notice the buildup of magical
energy that was forming in the room...

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location: Near the gates of Valis>

    Parn was finally approaching Valis.  He was already preparing what
to say when Deedlit interrupted his train of thought: "I hope you're not
coming back here to try to be recruited in the army, Parn." she said in
a warning tone.
    Slightly shaking his head, he turned back towards Deedlit with a
smile.  "I already told you I wouldn't, Deed and I'll hold my word.
Trust me.  Besides, it's not as if I'd have to try very hard to be
accepted as a Holy Knight, after all, they didn't name me `Knight of
Lodoss' for nothing", he said with pride in his voice.
   "Is that all you wish to do, Parn?  Fight battles?" asked Deedlit.
    A bit downcast, he said: "No, but," he was perking up now, "I also
wanted to see the others again."  After a thoughtful pose, he continued:
"Why didn't you want to go see other elves when we were travelling?
I'm sure we must have passed near an elf village somewhere..."
   "Even though I'm an High Elf, I have a... bad reputation among my
people.  They don't share my views about humans." answered Deedlit,
her face a mixture of sadness and anger.  "They believe humans are
physically and intellectually inferior to elves and refuse any contact
with humans that which isn't absolutely necessary."
   "I'm sorry," said Parn.  "I didn't know".  At that moment he grew
silent, hoping to limit the damage he'd done.  Deedlit had been a
wonderful companion these last few weeks.  She had shown Parn many
places he had never even heard of, she had introduced him to countless
little things and she smiled during each of them.
    Parn liked Deedlit.  Heck, he was pretty sure he was in love with
her, but how could his beautiful companion think the same of him?
She had never told him her true age, but he knew she was probably far
older than him.  After all, Wagnard said he had needed the _immortal_
life of a High Elf to awaken Kardis.  He stopped his train of thoughts
from going that way: he was going to see his friends, he didn't want to
be depressed.
    Parn and Deedlit finally reached the city's main gate.  Not
surprisingly, the guard at the gate recognized Parn immediately and let
him in with a small bow.  Once inside, he asked to see Etoh and Slayn.
He was somewhat dismayed when he learned that Slayn had left on a
trip barely days after Parn left himself.  He was told Etoh was in the
palace library, studying.
    Parn and Deedlit finally reached the library and saw Etoh buried in
his notes.  Coming up behind him, Parn gently tapped him on the
shoulders and waited for a reaction.   Etoh merely shook his head and
answered distractly: "Not now, Slayn, I'm busy."  Parn and Deedlit
looked at each other, puzzled as to why Etoh would believe he was
Slayn, especially since he wasn't even in the castle.
   "Etoh, it's me, Parn!", said Parn in a slightly amused voice.
    Etoh's head immediately snapped around to identify the owner of the
voice and smiled when he saw his long-time friend.  "Parn!  It's good
to see you again!" he said enthusiastically.  Turning to Deedlit, he said:
"You too, Deedlit.  I hope you've been keeping him safe."
    "Well, he keeps trying to find new ways to get in trouble, but I
think I'm starting to get him under control.", answered Deedlit with a
small grin.
    Parn flushed a little.  "I don't get in in trouble!" he said a little
heatedly.
    "Oh, sure!", said Deedlit.  "Then what do you call hopelessly looking
around for dragons?"
    "Dragons?", queried Etoh with a raised eyebrow.
    Deedlit shot a small glare at Parn before turning to Etoh.  "He's
gotten it in his head to find a dragon or two so he could defeat them.
Something about finding a noble use for the sword King Kashue gave him.  I
don't think he remembers what happened with Shooting Star at Fire Dragon
Mountain."
    "Well, we defeated it, didn't we?", Parn replied a bit sheepishly.
    "After it nearly roasted us..." Deedlit started to say, when she was
interrupted by a servant who came to tell them that the wizard Slayn
had arrived at the castle.

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location: Our world>

    "Hey, Fanny!  Where are you?" shouted Donna.
    "I'm in the living room watching TV.  You don't need to yell you
know" came the faint reply.
    "I just wanted to make sure you knew Terry and I will be leaving as
soon as Chang gets here to babysit."
    Terry's voice echoed through the house.  "You mean the bookworm
actually had time to go on a date tonight?"
    Donna didn't even bother to reply.  She was looking out the window,
hoping to spot Chang.  Terry swished by her and was already opening
the door when Donna grabbed him his jacket's collar.  "You're not
going anywhere, buster.  If I have to stay put until Chang gets here,
then so do you!"  Terry was about to complain when suddenly the
doorbell ringed.
    "He's here!"  Fanny happily bounded towards the door and answered
it.  It was Chang, of course, standing on the porch.  Chang, with his
short black hair and slightly tanned skin, stilled looked more like an
American than like a Japanese.  The only thing that truly betrayed his
origin was the peculiar shape of his eyes: not quite almond-shaped, but not
round like everyone else.
    "Hey, Stephany!" Chang greeted the little kid.  "Ready for another
Japanese lesson?"
    "Sure, but could you call me Fanny instead of Stephany?"
    "You got it, Fanny!" he said with a wink.  Turning to Terry and
Donna, he asked them when they'd be back.
    "Probably towards midninght, but don't let Fanny up so late..."  She
was interrupted by a grumbling noise that sounded suspiciously like an
earthquake.
    "What the hell?!..." was all Terry managed to say before a blinding
blue... something... appeared in front of him.

* * * * * * * * * *

<Location:  Karla's Cave>

    Despite her madness, Karla could not have been more right about one
thing: the Elemental Crystals she had created were very powerful;
probably even more so than she realized.  That's why when three of the
Crystals came in contact together, they released a magical shockwave
that every magic user within fifty miles felt with perfect clarity.
    The shockwave then became unstable and formed a portal.  To where,
nobody could have guessed...

* * * * * * * * * *

    Back in Valis, Slayn was about to exchange greetings with Parn and
the others when his staff started glowing, he dropped to his knees and
was hit by a splitting headache.
    Etoh immediately rushed to Slayn's side.  "Slayn!  What's wrong?",
he asked worriedly.
    "Great... magic... unleashed" he gasped.  Getting up with Etoh's help,
he leaned on his staff and looked towards Parn.  "We must leave at
once!  I will have several things to tell you on the way, Parn."
    Parn was still a little puzzled at his old friend's reaction when
Deedlit grabbed his arm and looked at him: "Slayn is right.  I also felt
great magic used nearby.  Elemental magic!"
   Parn nodded and within minutes, they were in a special room in the
castle's basement.  At the center of the room stood a strange crystal
orb.  "This orb can increase my power tenfold, but it cannot leave this
room.  I will use it to cast a travel spell which will take us near the
source" Slayn explained.  Wasting no time on further explanations,
Slayn started casting the spell.

* * * * * * * * * *

    Karla wasn't nearly as lucky as Slayn.  Because of her extreme
sensitivity to magic, she felt the explosion far more clearly than him
and she was not helped by the fact that she was practically at point-
blank range.  A practical comparison would be an auditory-enhanced
person being blasted with a 300-decibel fog horn two inches away
from the ear.
    In other words, she hurt.  Real bad.

* * * * * * * * * *

   Terry had about half a second to stare at the stabilized portal (of
course he didn't know what it was) before an incredible suction force
coming from said portal made itself known.
   Practically face-to-face with the portal, "Jeeeeeez!!!" was all he
had time to say before the portal sucked him in.
   Donna had barely more time to react.  "Chang, get Fanny out of here!
Quickly!"
   Chang didn't waste a second before complying.  Grabbing Fanny by the
waist, he started to run away from the portal, but he quickly found out
he couldn't run very far, as he was slowly being dragged towards the
portal, despite his best efforts.  He turned around just in time to see
Donna being sucked into the portal, along with the heavy chair she had
tried to use for a handhold.  Still holding Fanny (who was screaming
her lungs out by now), he tried a desperate lunge for the nearby staircase
handle bar.
    He failed.  Two more seconds later, both he and Fanny fell prey to the
portal's vortex.  Three seconds later, the vortex finally collapsed.
   A mess in the entrance of the house was the only indication anything
had ever happened.

* * * * * * * * * *

Chapter 2: Elemental Mess
< > means foreign language
* * means thoughts

    Terry felt like his molecules were being taken apart at the seams.  It
was very painful, so he unfortunately wasn't able to enjoy the impressive
light show that was going on inside the portal.
    He stumbled flat on his face in the Crystal room.  He was about to get
up when Donna landed on him rather abruptly.  He managed to roll her
off him and was starting to get up again when this time, both Chang and
Fanny landed on him.  Trying to shake them off, he swallowed a curse
and desperately croaked "Get off me!  I can't breathe!".
    Still dazed and his arms around Fanny's waist, Chang obeyed without
really thinking.  Fanny had been knocked out, but she was already
moaning her way back to consciousness.  *Well, at least she's alive,*
thought Chang with relief.  Gathering his wits, he looked around the
room and saw three crystals on the ground that were emitting
something that looked to him like electricity.  Confident that his boots
would be enough to stop electrical current, he seperated the three crystals
with a small tap of his foot.  Separated, the crystals stopped glowing.
    Terry and Donna were coming about and were looking all around
them.  "Where are we?" wondered Donna out loud.
    "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto..." said Terry just
before being rapped on the head by Donna.
    "It's not funny!" said Donna, annoyed by the classic quote.
    "Hey, over here!", they heard Chang's voice.  Looking around, they
found him near a seemingly unconscious Fanny while ogling several
weapons the were lying on the floor.  "Look at these weapons!"
    Donna rather wanted to make sure Fanny was all right, so she
immediately rushed to her little sister's side while Terry, seeing
Fanny was in good hands, went to see what Chang had found.  On his way
there, he nearly stepped on the Crystals that were on the ground.
"Stupid rocks, laying around like that..." he mumbled while stepping over
them.  "So what'd you find?" he asked Chang.
   "Look at these things!  This place is an armory!"  They were both
looking at various weapons and pieces of armor lying around.
"Whoooaa! Look at those two!" Chang said, pointing towards the Holy
Sword and Soul Crusher.
    "Yeah, big swords are very nice, but it still doesn't explain where we
are or how the hell we got here" Terry interrupted him.
    "Yeah.  We got to find a way back home, quickly" answered Donna,
who joined them with a now-awake Stephany, who was staring at a
beautiful yellow crystal on a pedestal...
    "Well, count the door out, `cause it's locked." came Chang's reply as
he was shaking the door handle.
    "Maybe we could break it down using the weapons here?" suggested
Terry.
    "Hey, what are those?" asked Donna, pointing to the three Crystals on
the floor.
    "Dunno, but they were glowing when we got here." said Chang.
"They stopped when I kicked them apart."
    "They're beautiful!" she said in an awed voice and they each picked
one up.  Chang picked up the transparent one, Donna picked up the red
one and Terry picked up the brown-gray one.  "It's kinda warm" she
said, while stroking the Crystal of Fire.  "Do you think it's a ruby?"
    "Looks like it.  But mine doesn't feel warm: it's dead cold and it feels
almost like it's vibrating somehow," Terry said.
    "Mine doesn't vibrate, but it sure is light for a rock: it barely
weighs more than a feather!" Chang countered.
   They were interrupted when a pale-skinned man with a big hawk-
like nose and a circlet on his head staggered through the door.  He
seemed in pain, and angry.  Fanny started to whimper.  <Put those
Crystals down, now!>, he said in a broken voice.  Of course, Chang was the
only one who understood Karla's rumbling, and even then, he still didn't
know perfect Japanese.
    "What'd he say?", asked Donna, not really expecting an answer.
    "I _think_ he wants us to put the stones down" Chang said in an
unsure voice.
    "How would you know that?" asked Terry.
   "Because I think he just spoke Japanese" Chang answered with a
nervous shrug.
    While Terry and Donna were looking at Chang a little strangely,
Karla turned towards Fanny who was holding the Yellow Crystal.  <You!
Put that back!> he snapped.  Shaken out of her stupor, Fanny dropped
the Crystal on the ground.
    The Crystal broke into little itty bitty pieces.
    In the process of apologizing, she bent down to pick up the pieces
when she tripped and fell flat on her face.  Straight on one of the bigger
Crystal shards.
   Karla's cool exterior broke into itty bitty pieces like said Crystal.
   Donna, seeing what had happened, rushed to Fanny's side to see if she
was all right.  Karla, on the other hand, was _really_ pissed off at
losing one of the Crystals and decided to remove at least one interloper
from the scene by launching a lightning bolt towards Donna.  Donna saw
the bolt coming and tried to parry with the Red Crystal.
    It worked, but the Red Crystal of Fire blew up in her face.
   When he saw Donna sprawled on the floor and bleeding from the head,
Terry tossed the Brown Crystal on a table beside him and rushed at
Karla with the nearest weapon available, which happened to be Soul
Crusher.  He didn't care whether the guy spoke Japanese or Zulu, he
just wanted to kill the guy.  "You hurt my sister you bastard!" he
yelled and tried to impale Karla.  She answered by blasting him back to
the table with a force bolt, Terry unable to bring the Demon Sword to bear
in time.
    He started getting up almost immediately, both to Chang and Karla's
surprise.  Karla, not wanting to duel with someone who was wielding
the Demon Sword (which was starting to glow red by now), tried to
blast him again.  Fortunately for Karla, she didn't hit the Brown
Crystal; she hit a jar that was sitting next to the Brown Crystal.
Unfortunately for Karla, the liquid in that jar happened to be very
flammable and explosive, not unlike liquid nitroglycerin.
    Terry barely had time to protect his face with his hands before the
jar and the Brown Crystal of Earth both exploded.  He collapsed besides
the table with bleeding hands and arms.
    The explosion shook the Water Crystal off its pedestal and it fell on
the ground, but miraculously, it didn't break.
    Chang was panicking.  *This wasn't what I had in mind when Ms.
Stratson asked me to babysit tonight!* a small corner of his mind told
him.
    Karla was going over the edge.  Losing three Crytals in less than five
minutes did not do wonders for her already-fragile sanity.  *Those
worms, destroying 250 years' worth of work!  I'll make them pay!!!*
Recovering a shred of  calmness, she thought: *But I may not have to:
they all seem to be dead, except for this one with strange eyes who's
holding the White Crystal.*
    Chang was looking at the strange man in front of him and quickly
came to two conclusions: he was pissed and he was powerful.  He spared
a glance around him and saw that the shards from the broken Crystals
were slowly dissolving and turning to smoke.  Mentally playing back
the scene and analyzing how the man had acted, a momentarily rational
corner of his mind deduced that whatever these crystals were, they
were important to the man.
    Karla, not wanting to destroy the Crystal of Wind with another spell,
took out a long knife and started advancing towards Chang.  Chang saw
this and stepped backwards.  Karla lunged for Chang, but he deflected
the blow with the Crystal.  The knife left a scratch on the surface and
the Crystal started to glow threatningly.  They were both distracted
when a shout came from just outside the room's door.

* * * * * * * * * *

    Parn, Deedlit, Slayn and Etoh appeared relatively near the cave.
While Slayn directed the party, he explained a few things to Parn:
"While on my trip, I came across interesting rumors about the Gray
Witch, Karla."
    Parn unconsciously grabbed the hilt of his sword and squeezed.  Any
thoughts of Karla immediately made him think of Ghim's death and the
feeling of helplessness he'd felt then.  Combined with that was the fact
that she had managed to capture Woodchuck's body for her own, it was
all Parn could do not to start sprouting curses on the spot.  Deedlit saw
his reaction and put a delicate hand on his arm.  Parn turned around,
saw Deedlit's condescending face and relaxed.  A little.
   Slayn, unaware of Parn's reaction, continued to speak.  "The rumors
said that she was developing new magical artifacts, stones or crystals,
probably.  After further investigation, I found out hints that she'd been
developing these artifacts for a long time now and that these artifacts -
he spared a glance at Deedlit- have something to do with elemental
magic."
   Deedlit gasped: elemental magic was not the kind to be used
carelessly.  She was very careful when she used it herself and if Slayn
was right, Karla had tried to contain elemental energies within
inanimate objects and _that_ was not recommended because said object
would most likely be quite unstable.  Besides, everyone knew only elves
could correctly use elemental magic.  Humans who tried to use it almost
inevitably ended up creating disasters.  Karla had probably taken an elf as
a host to create the Crystals.
    Slayn continued:  "I see Deedlit shares my concerns.  If that insane
witch is tampering with elemental artifacts, there's no telling what
might happen to Lodoss.  That's why I came back to Valis: I had to warn
you as soon as possible.  The problem was, I didn't know where her
hideout was."  A grim smile formed his face: "But I think that question
was answered a few minutes ago."  After a small pause, he added: "I
saw your friends Shiris and Orson on my way to Valis.  They may come to
Valis in the near future."
   "All right" said Parn.  "But we mustn't let Karla escape this time.
We have to free Woodchuck!"
    "We're here" announced Slayn.  They were standing near the
entrance of a cave that seemed to have been dug into the mountainside.
It was very well placed: it was cleverly hidden behind trees and it
wasn't near any major road.
    "Where exactly _are_ we?" asked Etoh.
    Slayn thought about that for a second.  "To my surprise, we may
actually be closer to Valis than I had first thought, which makes sense
in a way..."
    "Build your fortress where the enemy least expects and..." was
saying Deedlit in a dry voice when she was interrupted by a rather loud
explosion.  Both she and Slayn winced, but Deedlit reacted first.  "That
felt like an Earth Elemental!  And an extremely powerful one at that!"
    That was all Parn needed to know.  With a loud yell, he rushed inside
the cave.  "Parn!  Wait!" shouted Deedlit behind him, but he paid her
no heed.  Sighing loudly, the elf followed Parn into the cave, followed by
Slayn and Etoh.

* * * * * * * * * *

    Inside the cave, Karla and Chang witnessed the sudden (and quite
audible) entrance of Parn.  Even though she was stunned to see this new
sword-swinging arrival, Karla managed to fire a streak of blue flames
towards Parn.  Chang seeing the man was busy holding the young man at
bay, decided to rush Karla with the first weapon he found: the Holy
Sword.  Turning back in the nick of time, Karla barely managed to
dodge his swing and let his momentum carry him to her right, while
slashing him on the back when he passed near her.  Chang was unable to
stop his momentum and crashed in a wall.  The problem is, he had
desperately tried to cushion the impact with the damaged Crystal, but
to no avail.
    After an impressive show of pyrotechnics, The White Crystal of Air
was no more and Chang had been blasted backwards and collapsed at the
table's feet, near Terry.  The Holy Sword went flying behind the table,
but for some reason, Parn had not noticed the Sword at all.
    Karla lost it.  Not only was she mad, but she was also nearly drained.
She had to get out, and fast.
    In a desperate effort, she tried to grab the Crystal of Water, the only
crystal left intact by the battle inside the cave, but Parn saw her move
and immediately tried to tackle her.  The tackle was only partially
successful: Karla didn't make it to the Crystal, but Parn didn't manage
to get a good hold of her.
   Karla got up was about to incinerate Parn with a fireball when a
moderately sized ball of light nearly hit her in the back.  Turning
around, she saw Slayn, Etoh and Deedlit standing in the doorway,
Slayn's staff glowing menacingly.  Reluctantly deciding she was
outclassed, she used the last of her reserves to teleport out of the cave.
   "NOOOOO!  Woodchuck!" shouted Parn as he saw Karla escape once
more.  *Not again,* he thought, *I can't let her escape again!*
Unfortunately, his prayers went unheeded and Karla escaped silently.
    "Damn!" he said, swinging his sword against the wall.  "She got
away!"
    "We'll get her some other time." said Deedlit calmly while coming
over to Parn.  "What happened?  While we were coming after you,
Slayn and I were hit by what felt like an explosion of elemental energy.
Wind, it would seem."
    Etoh, who had been surveying the room, saw four people sprawled on
the floor with wounds all over them.  "Slayn, help me!  These people
are hurt!" he said, rushing to Donna's side, who seemed to be bleeding
profusely from the head.  "I can stabilize them here, but we need to get
them back to Valis quickly!  There are more healers there."
    "Who are they?", asked Deedlit, who was looking at them and at the
strange clothes they wore.
    "I don't know," said Parn, "but I do know that this one," he said
while pointing to Chang, "tried to fight Karla as well.  He was holding a
white crystal that blew up in his hands when he tried to stop himself
from hitting the wall with it."
    Slayn and Deedlit exchanged a meaningful glance.  "Fortunately",
said Slayn while turning to Etoh, " there is more than enough residual
elemental energy here to go back to Valis the same way we came.  I only
need to take this to help me" he added, taking the Water Crystal.
    "Good!  Then let's go!" said Etoh.  And so, the group was soon back to
Valis, unknowingly leaving behind the Opposing Swords.

* * * * * * * * * *

    In a forest somewhere, Karla came out of her teleportation spell.
*I'm completely exhausted,* she thought.  *It will take me days to be
able to teleport again.*  Before collapsing unconscious on the ground,
her last thoughts were: *I will have my revenge...*

* * * * * * * * * *

Chapter 3: Awakening
< > means foreign language
* * means thoughts

    Donna slowly returned from unconsciousness, although she wasn't
sure she wanted to. She never _had_ been a morning person (unlike
her brother).  But when full awareness returned, memories returned
as well and her eyes snapped open.  As she got up, she noticed she was
in an unusual room: the walls and floor were completely made of stone
(like in a castle or something?), the furniture was sparse and looked old-
fashioned.  There was also a fireplace carved in one of the walls.
    She absently put a hand to her head and noticed that not only did she
have a bandage wrapped around it, but her forehead felt a lot warmer
than usual.  It wasn't like a fever, quite the opposite: it felt wonderful.
But as she got to the top of her forehead, she felt a bump under the
bandage, a very solid bump.  However, she couldn't determine what it
was and decided to forget about it for the moment.
    *The last thing I remember is trying to stop that crazy guy's
lightning bolt with the ruby...  Wait a minute!?  Lightning bolt?* she
wondered in bewilderment. *I must have been hallucinating...  Yeah,
that's it!  I'm dreaming all of this!  All I have to do is pinch myself and
I'll wake up!*  Putting her theory to the test, she pinched herself hard
and yelped.
    She was still there.
    "Oh, no..."  She was cut off when someone entered the room.  He was
a young man, dressed in white robes of some kind, a purple cap on his
head and he carried a staff in his hand.  *Must be a priest of some
kind* she thought.  She got another surprise when she heard him
speak:
    <Oh!  You're awake!  How are you feeling?> queried Etoh.
    Puzzled, Donna answered back: "What did you say?"
    Etoh was startled by the language used by the young woman.  *I
wonder if Slayn can help with this.  I didn't expect her to speak a
different language*  Motioning the young woman to wait, he left the
room in search of the wizard.

    Slayn, Parn, Deedlit, King Kashue and Princess Fianna were in the
middle of a meeting in another part of the castle.
   "Deedlit and I are pretty sure that the Crystal we retrieved was the
last one left.  We assume the other Crystals were destroyed before we
got to the cave, which is a mixed blessing" said Slayn.
    "In what way?" asked Kashue
    "Based on the magical auras we detected around the people we
brought back to the castle, Deedlit and I are sure that they absorbed at
least part of the other Crystals' energy into their bodies through the
crystal shards," Slayn replied.
    "And that means?..." trailed Kashue inquisitively.
    "Unless they were already magic users, we'll be faced with four
four potentially very powerful _human_ elemental wizards who don't
know the slightest thing about using magic properly.  And we're still not
absolutely sure they're on our side," said Deedlit.
    Slayn frowned at that statement and Kashue noticed it.  "Is something
bothering you, Slayn?" asked the king.
    "From what we can tell by the injuries, three of them were injured
by the explosions of elemental crystals but the fourth one, the youngest
girl, emanates something other than an elemental aura.  It resembles
one, but it isn't one.  I can't really explain it" replied Slayn with a
tinge of frutration in his voice.
    "Well, we know at least that they were enemies of Karla, that's for
sure or else we wouldn't have found them that way when we came in the
cave," added Parn.
    Princess Fianna spoke up: "We will treat them like guests and help
them in any way we can until we have reason to believe otherwise."
    Conversation died down when Etoh came in the room.
    "Princess Fianna, I think we have a problem with the visitors,"
said Etoh, sounding a bit puzzled.
    "They're awake?"
    "Only the older girl for the moment."
    "The one with the Fire aura," supplied Deedlit.
    "What is the problem, Etoh?" asked Kashue.
    "They don't seem to speak the same language we do" said Etoh.  _That_
brought a round of raised eyebrows and surprised stares.
    "That's strange," mused Slayn.  "As far as I know, everyone speaks
roughly the same language in Lodoss.  Does that mean they come from
outside Lodoss?"
    "But no one knows how far away Lodoss is from any other body of
land!  No one's ever even really tried to leave Lodoss permanently
because of the nasty weather off shore" interjected Parn.
   Etoh turned to Slayn:  "Do you think you could come up with a spell
that could allow us to speak to them?"
    "Perhaps, but I'll need to consult my books."

    As soon as the young priest had left, Donna knew she definitely
wasn't back home.  *What is this?  A different universe?  Or maybe
we've gone back in time?* she wondered.  "Well, maybe it would
explain the blue thing that sucked us in.  Maybe it was a portal of some
kind..." she thought out loud.
    Getting out of bed, she noticed for the first time that she was dressed
in a white sleeping gown.  She looked around for her clothes and found
two piles near the bed on a chair.  Examining the two piles closer, she
noticed one pile was made up of her own clothes, which were
unfortunately bloodied and tattered.  *And I bought those last week...*
she thought sadly.  The second pile was made up of some kind of beige
pants, a light gray shirt some kind of red, short-sleeved coat which would
proably go down to her mid-thighs.  Besides the clothes were a pair of
leather boots, a sturdy-looking belt and a pair of gloves.
    Neglecting the clothes for a while, Donna moved to a glassless
window and looked outside.  She saw what looked like a castle courtyard
with plenty of people milling around, dressed in armor and clothes
similar to what she had been given.  *Well, if we got back in time, then
this is probably the Middle Ages* she thought.
    She turned around and saw something that perked her interest: a
mirror.  Moving toward it, she got a good look at herself and gave out a
sigh.  Her hair was in disarray and she had a small collection of
scrapes all over her face.  All of these things were topped by the big
bandage aroud her head.  Edging closer to the mirror, she started
fiddling with it, since it didn't seem to hurt and she wanted to know
what that solid bump on her forehead was.
    When she finally got the bandage off, she got yet another surprise.
    Embedded smack in the middle of her forehead was a thumb-thick
piece of red crystal.  *The big ruby I picked up...  Well, at least it matches
my hair color* she thought absently.  Touching the crystal produced no
noticeable effect, so she tried pulling it out.
   She was hit by a searing pain and imediately stopped all efforts to
pull out the crystal.  *God that hurt!* she thought, grabbing her
temples in agony.  Fortunately, the pain quickly dissipated.  She looked
at herself again and saw that the crystal shard was glowing slightly.
She turned around and realized that the fireplace was now lit with a
warm fire.  *How did the fireplace light up?* she wondered.
    Looking back at the mirror, she was staring at the crystal on her
forehead when another memory resurfaced.
    "Fanny..." she said with fear and anguish in her voice.  She had to
find Fanny and Terry as soon as possible!  Rushing back to the two piles
of clothes, she decided to put the new clothes on since she would look a
bit less conspicuous that way.  A few minutes later, she was buckling
the belt and was headed towards the door when it opened by itself and
revealed the same ypoung priest, but this time, accompanied by an
older, blond-haired man who was dressed in a brown, monk-like robe
carrying a long, crooked staff at his side and a third person she could
not yet see.

    Slayn had found a spell in one of his books that might be useful, so he
headed towards the young lady's room along with Etoh and Deedlit to
verify the theory.  As Etoh opened the door, they saw the young woman,
who now seemed to be quite awake, freeze and look at them with
uncertainty in her eyes.
    <Who are you people?  Where am I?> she asked, but none of them
understood of course.  Slayn was about to start reciting the language
spell when Deedlit came in the room.

    As soon as Deedlit entered, Donna's jaw dropped to the floor: the
woman who had just come in had the palest skin of all three and and also
had the longest and most pointed ears she had ever seen.  Surely she wasn't
human!  Well, that and the fact that she had one _weird_ outfit.  Slayn
interpreted the expression on Donna's face as a signal to start the language
spell.
    Deedlit had come along to offer any assistance she could if the
strangers had no idea about how to use magic.  She found it a bit ironic
that a flame-haired girl should be endowed with the power of Fire.  As
she entered the room, she noticed the girls switching her attention
from Slayn and Etoh to her.  She found it both mildly embarassing and
irritating at the same time to be stared at liked that.  Hadn't that girl
ever seen an elf before?
    Donna stopped gawking at Deedlit when she noticed that Slayn's staff
was starting to glow.  When Slayn aimed the staff in her direction, he
started backing up a little, a worried expression on her face.  She
suddenly felt like her head was being stuffed to the limit with
something.
    Etoh watched with concern as the young woman fell to one knee, but
didn't intervene.  Slayn had said something like this might happen in
the course of the spell.  When the spell was finished Etoh rushed to the
young woman's side.  "Are you all right?" he asked.
    "Yeah, It'll pass..." said Donna, waving him away.  Then she realized
something: "Hey!  I understood what you said!  How..."
    "Through a language spell I found in a book," interrupted Slayn.
"You can now understand, speak and, to a certain extent, write our
language."
    "A language _spell_?  As in magic?" she asked incredulously.
    "Of course!"
    Donna frowned and was about to retort that magic didn't exist when she
considered the facts: she was obviously in another world (or dimension,
for all she knew), had gotten blasted by lightning coming from some guy's
hands and she suddenly knew how to speak a different language with no
apparent effort at all.  Who knows?  Maybe magic _did_ exist in this
world.  Interrupting her train of thoughts, she looked at the trio and
sheepishly asked:  "Uhmm... Sorry if I seem rude, but we haven't been
introduced.  My name's Donna.  Who are you?"
     After the trio had introduced themselves, Deedlit looked at Donna
intently and asked: "I saw the way you reacted when Slayn told you
about the spell.  You don't believe in magic, do you?"
    Donna took a couple of seconds before replying: "It's not that I don't
believe in magic, the evidence here seems to point at the contrary, but
where I come from, magic doesn't exist."  After a few seconds' pause,
she addded: "Excuse me if this is a rude question, but are you human?
You have the longest ears I have ever seen!"
    Deedlit was still a bit startled by the revelation that magic did not exist
wherever Donna came from, so it took a few moments for the other
question to sink in.  "Of course I'm not human: I'm an elf.  Is there
something wrong with that?" she asked, if only a bit crossly.
    Donna quickly raised her hands in a warding gesture.  "No, no,
there's nothing wrong with that!" she assured.  "It's just that there
aren't any elves where we come from either."
    "No magic and no elves?  It would seem we have a lot to talk about...
Donna" said Deedlit ruefuelly.
    "If you don't mind my asking first, I have two questions: Where are
my brother, my sister and our friend, and why am I not dead from
having a stone imbedded in my forehead?" she said, pointing to the red
shard.
    This time, Etoh answered:  "Your siblings and your friend are
resting, but they are safe.  You need not worry about that.  As for the
crystal shard in your forehead, I'll let Slayn explain that part."
    Seeing Donna turn to him with a raised eyebrow he began his
explanation: "The crystal shard in your forehead is the last remaining
fragment of an elemental crystal.  A Fire Elemental Crystal, to be
exact.  We tried pulling it out once we realized what it was, but we quickly
found out that this action would very likely have killed you.  Deedlit and I
believe that you somehow managed to absorb an unknown amount of the
Crystal's power through the shard."
    *Fire Crystal?... Well, I guess it explains why I've been feeling
warm...* she thought.  "So what does that mean for me?" asked Donna,
somewhat taken aback by the explanation.
    "It means you can very probably now use Elemental Fire Magic," said
Deedlit.  The elf looked nervous for some reason.
    Glancing back at the fireplace, she asked a simple question: "How?"
Then quickly, she shook her head.  "Nevermind that.  I'd like to see my
brother and my sister first, please."
   "All right.  Just come with us, then."

* * * * * * * * * *

Chapter 4: More questions

    On the way to the other room, Donna kept fingering the shard on her
forehead, lost in thought.  She didn't notice the curious looks she got from a
few servants that were passing by (face it: you'd get weird looks too if you
were walking around with a big red crystal imbedded in your face).
    Startled out of her reverie, Donna realized Etoh had just asked her a
question.
    "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening.  What did you say?"
    "I was commenting on how much more you and your brother look alike
than you and your younger sister."
    "Of course we look alike!  We're twins!"
    "Twins?"  That came from Deedlit.  "What does that mean?"
    "It means that we were born at the same time."  Noticing her confused
look, she continued: "It doesn't happen among... elves, does it?"  She still
had a little trouble accepting the fact that Deedlit was from a different
species.
    "Not that I've ever heard.  Does it happen often on your world?"
    "No, it's very rare."
    "We're here." interrupted Slayn, stopping in front of a big woodden
door.
    Donna opened the door slowly, for she didn't want to wake up Stephany
just yet.  To her surprise, she saw not only her younger sister in a bed,
but also Chang and Terry sleeping in their own beds besides Fanny.  She
walked over to her younger sister and saw that like herself, she had a
bandage around her head.
    She also appeared to have a bump on her forehead.  *The shards she fell
on!* remembered Donna, suddenly anguished.  She turned around and asked
in a small voice: "Is my sister all right?"
    "Right now, she is in the same condition as you were this morning,
which is to say she's fine and resting," said Etoh with a smile.
    "But what about her head?  What kind of injury did she have?" asked
Donna plaintively.
    "She has a shard embedded in her forehead like you, but although we can
say for certain that she _did_ absorb magical energy, we have found out
that there is a great part of the magic which is unknown to us.."
    "How old is your sister, Donna?" asked Slayn.
    "Eleven years old.  Why?"
    "Because it has just occured to me we may have to train the youngest
sorceress in existence."
    "What are you talking about?"
    "We can't in good conscience let you go without giving you at least a
minimum of training in your magical abilities.  From what you told me,
none of you are magic users: you could cause a disaster if you don't
eventually learn control."
    "What does that have to do with Fanny?"
    "Most magic users develop their talents in their early twenties.  I've
never heard of any kind of wizard or magician who discovered their ability
younger than at sixteen years of age."
    "Fanny's a very mature girl for her age.  I'm sure there won't be any
problems.  Besides, she'll probably be thrilled to learn she can use
magic."
    "I hope you're right." said Slayn.
    Deedlit looked as if she was going to say something to Slayn, but stopped
at the last second.  She settled the issue by glaring at him, but Slayn
ignored it.
    "Well, at least Terry and Chang didn't get hit," said Donna, turning back
towards the two other beds.
    "Err, not quite.  They also gained magic," said Etoh a bit sheepishly.
    "What?"  Donna looked at Terry again, but found no trace of either a
yellow or a red crystal shard.  "But I don't see anything on their faces."
    "That's because they weren't hit in the head like you and your sister.
They absorbed the shards on different places."
    The inevitable question followed.  "Where _were_ they hit, then?"
    Lifting the bed covers so she could see for herself, Etoh said: "Your
brother absorbed some shards in his hands and your other friend..."
    "His name is Chang" Donna interrupted.
    "And... Chang... got hit in the chest" Etoh concluded.  "He tried to use a
Crystal to stop himself from running into a wall.  He didn't quite succeed."
    "Do they also have this... supposed Fire Magic, then?"
    "No, not Fire Magic," interrupted Deedlit.  "They absorbed different
magical energies.  Your brother probably now has Earth Magic and Chang
will probably be able to use Wind Magic."  She threw another small glare
at Slayn who noticed it this time
    Donna was slowly digesting this latest tidbit when she heard Stephany
moaning.

    Parn was mindlessly pacing in a room elsewhere in the castle, when a
familiar voice shook him out of his routine.
    "Parn!  How's it going?"
    Parn turned around to see his friend Shiris smiling at him, Orson close
behind her as usual.  "Shiris!  It's good to see you again!  Slayn told me you
might come."
    "Where is he, anyway?  He told us there was some information he might
want us to hear."
    "That's an understatement..." Parn mumbled.  And he set out to explain
what had happened in the last two days.

    Half an hour later, Parn had finished explaining the situation to Shiris
and Orson.
    After a pause, he frowned and added: "I keep repeating the fight in my
head, but I can't shake the feeling that the sword the the last guy used to
strike at Karla seemed familiar for some reason.  I didn't pay attention
back in the cave.  I'll have to ask Slayn if he can take us back to the cave so
I can verify this."
    "A 500 year old witch and Elemental Crytals?  You do live an
interesting life, Parn", said Shiris while shaking her head.  "By the way,
where _are_ Deedlit, Slayn and Etoh?"
    "They went to try to settle a certain language problems with the folks
we brought back from the cave.  It would appear that our guests do not
speak the same language we do."
    Siris and Orson raised an eyebrow each.  It was the last gesture they had
time to do before the floor started shaking.

<A minute earlier>

    In the now crowded room where Donna, Slayn, Etoh and Deedlit were
talking, Stephany started moaning.  Donna immediately turned around and
rushed to her little sister's side.
    "Fanny?" she asked in a small voice.  "You okay?"
    Stephany moaned louder and started shaking her head.
    *Maybe she's having a nightmare,* Donna thought.  She then saw a
golden yellow glow coming from under her sister's bandage.  "Slayn!  My
sister's crystal is glowing!"
   The wizard immediately rushed to the other side of the bed and put his
staff over Stephany's head while closing his eyes.
    "What are you doing?" whispered a frantic Donna.
    "I'm trying to determine what kind of magic she's using.  Now keep quiet
please.  I need all my concentration"
    Donna was about to give him a piece of her mind when she saw his eyes
open wide in shock and stare past her shoulders  Donna was about to ask
him what the problem was when the ground started shaking.
    "An earthquake!?" asked Donna in a worried voice.
    Slayn and Deedlit knew better than that.  Being experienced with magical
energies, they knew exactly where the surge came from.
    "Not an earthquake!  Your brother!" said Slayn, snapping out of it.
    Donna turned around and saw a threathning glow coming from her
brother's hands, through the bandages.
    Slayn turned to Deedlit: "How can he possibly use elemental magic at a
level like this while he's asleep?"
    Deedlit was about to answer when Stephany woke up with a shriek, the
earthquake stopped and Terry's hands turned back to normal.  Donna
immediately grabbed Fanny in her arms and started soothing her.  "Easy,
Fanny... It's all right.  You just had a nightmare, that's all.  I'm here,
don't
worry."
    "I dreamed I was stuck in an earthquake!" wailed the younger sibling
between sobs.
    Not quite sure how to explain it, she said instinctively: "It's Terry's
fault.  He did it."  And this time, it was true in a way.
    "I'm afraid your brother was not the cause of the tremors" said Slayn
in a grave voice.  "I've just discovered an aspect of your sister's magical
abilities."
    "What are you talking about, Slayn?" she said, while stroking her
sobbing sister's head.  "You saw the glow coming from my brother's hands
and Deedlit said he had Earth Magic."
    "Yes, his magic generated the earthquake, but it wasn't his fault.
Donna, when your sister imagined she was in an earthquake, her magic
unconsciously reached out to your brother and _she_ used _his_ abilities
to generate the same earthquake as in her dreams.  We're lucky she didn't
tap your brother's full power."  Slayn looked pensive.  "If what I could
tell of her magic is accurate, she can, among other things, tap and use
certain other people's magic."
    "Whose?" asked Donna.
    "Your brother's, Chang's and yours among others..." *and one other
source I won't mention right now* added Slayn silently, thinking about a
certain Blue Crystal he kept safely stored away.
    "Then I guess it's a good thing she didn't dream she was in a burning
house, eh?" said Donna nervously.
    "I don't think that would've been a problem," said Slayn.  "The only
reason this worked was because your brother was unconscious.  Had he
been awake like you, he would have been able to resist your sister's magic.
It would have taken an effort on his part, but he could have resisted."
    "What are you saying, Donna?" piped up Fanny, who was now paying
attention.  "You speak funny, just like Chang in his lessons.  And where are
we, anyway?" she added while looking all around her.
    Realizing she was speaking in the other language, Donna switched back to
English: "It's the language they speak, Fanny.  Slayn here," she said while
pointing to Slayn "taught me his entire language with a magic spell."
    "Magic?..."  Fanny looked as if she was about to start asking a whole lot
of questions.
     Before things could get too messy, Donna turned to Slayn: "Could you
cast the laguage spell for my sister as well as for my brother and Chang?  I
have a feeling they'll have a lot of questions when they wake up."
    "Of course."  A few seconds later, the spell was cast.
    "Hey, Donna!  Can you tell me where we are and why you're dressed all
funny?" said Fanny with a giggle at the end.  She rubbed her eyes.  "And
why do you have a stone in your forehead?"
    "I'd like to know the same things," added yet another voice.  Heads were
turned to see Chang staring at the merry group in the room.  "I would also
like to know why I suddenly understand every word of Japanese that has
been spoken when I barely understood a few words yesterday."
    Donna heaved a long sigh.  Japanese?  "This is going to take a while to
explain.  I'll explain what I can once I've woken up Terry."  Staring at her
brother's unconscious form, she mused out loud: "How can he still be
asleep after all the noise in here?  He's usually a light sleeper."
    "Maybe it has something to do with how he got knocked out?" supplied
Chang.
    "What are you talking about?" asked Donna, getting worried.
    "When you got blasted by the weird guy, Terry went nuts and tried to
hack the guy to pieces with a sword.  He got blasted back to a table and then,
the guy shot some kind of blast that made a jar near Terry explode.  He
caught the brunt of the explosion with his hands and arms."  After a
second's silence, he added: "I got knocked out myself a few moments later,
shortly after _they_ barged in," pointing towards the Lodoss natives.
"Who _was_ that guy, anyway?"
    Donna became more worried for a moment and ignored the last question.
She took a nearby pitcher of water, she emptied it over Terry's head and
prayed.  That got the desired results.  A sputtering Terry was now looking
around in surprise.
    "Fanny! Donna!  You're okay!" he shouted when he saw his sisters.  "Or
maybe not." he added, uncertain, when he finally took notice of the Crystal
shards his sisters were now sporting.  "Where are we, anyway?" he added
a bit confused, looking at the surroundings.
    "That's what I'd like to know," said Chang.
    Donna let out yet another sigh.  This was going to take a _very_ long
time to explain...

* * * * * * * * * *

Chapter 5: Discoveries

    Slayn, Etoh and Deedlit (who had created quite a sensation, especially
with Fanny) left the room and promised to answer all the questions the
young people had once they would be refreshed.  On the way out the trio
bumped into another trio headed their way.
    "Slayn!  Is everything all right?" asked Parn.  "There was some kind of
tremor throughout the castle a few minutes ago!"
    "Just a slight accident.  I expect our guests to have several questions
when they finish refreshing themselves.  Princess Fianna and King Kashue
may be interested in asking some questions themselves, so there will
probably be an audience."
    "Where are they from, anyway?" asked Shiris.
    "We haven't found out.  But wherever they come from, it would appear
that magic and elves do not exist there," said Deedlit wryly.
    "No magic?  Must be dull," Shiris said with a grin.

    Half an hour later, Donna finally got a breather from all the questions.
As it stood now, Terry, Chang and Fanny knew about as much as she did
about their present situation, which is to say, not nearly enough.
    "So," said Terry in an attempt to recapitulate, "we still don't know
where we are or who that guy who attacked us was, right?"
    "Right," said Donna.  "I think we're in a different world, especially
because of Deedlit.  There haven't ever been any elves or magic on Earth."
    "How about getting back home?" asked Chang, while absently rubbing
his chest.  While he had a fist-sized piece of crystal buried in his chest, it
didn't cause him any trouble for breathing, although it did feel a little
strange.
    "That's one of the questions we'll have to ask Slayn when we see him
again.  I just hope mom and dad aren't too worried about our
disappearance."
    "Well, it's not as if we can do anything about that right now Donna, so
let's move to the next item you told us about: magic."  After a heavy pause,
Terry continued.  "Although I'm not the first to believe in magic, the
evidence seems to point to the contrary: how I got blasted in the cave and
the language spell Slayn used _are_ rather convincing examples.  I never
thought I'd learn Japanese while I was asleep..."
    "There's also the fact that Fanny and you created a small earthquake
while you were sleeping," added Donna.
   "What?" came a trio of incredulous voices.
    "A little after when I first came into the room, Stephany started
moaning because she was having a nightmare in which she was caught in an
earthquake.  Barely seconds after that, Terry's hands started glowing and a
small earthquake occured."
    "I don't understand," said Terry.  "If Fanny's the one who dreamt the
earthquake, why am _I_ the one who created it?"
    "According to Slayn, Fanny's Crystal allowed her to tap into _your_
magical abilities in order to create an earthquake.  He's still a bit confused
by what kind of magic Fanny used.  He says it's like ours, but not like
ours."
    "Isn't that a contradiction?" asked Terry.
    Donna shrugged.  "Hey, I'm only repeating what I was told."
    "Slayn and Deedlit say we can use elemental magic beacause of the
shards we absorbed," said Chang.  "Did he say how we're supposed to use
it?"
    "Not yet.  He said he'd give us basic lessons a little later."  Turning her
head towards Fanny, she added with a smile: "Slayn also said you would
probably be the youngest sorceress their world has ever seen."
    "Really?  Me, a sorceress?" she squealed happily.  "I can't wait to show
mom and dad when we get back!"
    The other three wisely decided not to crush her hopes just yet.
    After a pause, Donna added: "Well, Slayn told us to freshen up and that
he would then he's answer the rest of our questions, so the sooner we do
that, the sooner we'll have our answers."

    Half an hour later, Etoh was escorting a nervous group of young people
to the Great Hall for an audience with Princess Fianna and King Kashue.
They had been briefed on proper etiquette so they wouldn't make fools of
themselves.
    "This is so cool!  I'm gonna meet a king!" crowed Stephany in an awed
voice.  The other three merely rolled their eyes.  They had quickly found
out that Fanny seemed the best among them to cope with the situation.
After all, this was still some sort of fantasy to her.
    They soon reached a huge door and they heard someone on the other side
announce them in.  Following Etoh, they stepped in the Great Hall, and
stared.
    They expected something big (they were in a castle, after all) and they
weren't disappointed.  The Great Hall's size was well within that of the
inside of a large cathedral.  Large paintings adorned the walls and great
stone columns lined the central alley.  At the far end was a throne with a
young woman sitting on it, with a tall man garbed in what looked like a
arabian desert getup besides her.  The quatuor noticed several people
staring at them when they started to go down the alley (Slayn, Deedlit Parn
and the two mercenaries among them), but they didn't let that bother them
too much, for they expected attention.  When they got to a reasonable
distance, they bowed to the princess, as they had been instructed to do.
    Pricess Fianna considered the four people in front of her:  A young
auburn-haired man desssed in a standard set of brown clothes, his sister,
dressed in red and who looked very much like him, their younger sister,
black-haired and sporting a smaller, beige version of her sister's oufit
and another young man who had short, black hair, strange eyes.  He stood
half a head shorter than the twins and wore a grey outfit.  The two girls
each sported a Crystal on their foreheads while the the short-haired twin
brother had a multitude of small fragments on his hands and arms where a
few bandages still remained.  The other young man had no visible injuries,
but the princess had been told the shard he had absorbed was imbedded in
his chest.
    Overall, they looked like four harmless kids.  However, they were
actually kids who had the potential to become extremely powerful wizards,
if properly trained.
    "Welcome to the Royal City of Valis," Princess Fianna intoned.  "I am
Princess Fianna and this is King Kashue Arnague of the Desert Kingdom of
Flaim," she said, gesturing towards Kashue, who was standing besides her.
    The nervous quatuor then introduced themselves, their family names
causing a few eyebrows to raise.  Family names were rarely used in Lodoss.
    "I have been told you were all found in a cave used by our enemy, the
Gray Witch Karla.  May I enquire as to how you came to be there?"
    The party of four looked at each other a little oddly.  A Gray _Witch_?
The only person they had seen there was a man, not a woman.  "Err, your
Highness," began Terry a bit nervously, "All we know is that my twin
sister and I were about to leave home to see some friends when some kind of
blue vortex thing appeared out of nowhere and drew us in before we could
react.  When we came out of the vortex, we found ourselves in some kind of
armory or laboratory, I'm not sure.  A bit later, a weird guy wearing a
circlet came in the room, tried to talk to us and then, well... err... all hell
broke loose" he finished with an audible sigh.
    "Did you notice anything that could explain how you got in the armory?"
Fianna asked.
    This time, Chang answered.  "Well, when I started coming to my senses
after coming through the vortex, I noticed there were three crystals lying
on the floor and they were emitting something that looked to me like
electricity, so I kicked the crystals apart with my boot."  Out of the corner
of his eye, he saw Slayn and Deedlit wince.  "I'm sorry, okay?" he said
plaintively, turning to them.  "I didn't know what the Crystals were at the
time!"  After that, he turned back to Fianna and concluded: "I think that
might be what brought us here."
    There was a small pause, Donna spoke up: "Your Highness, you said we
ended up in the secret lair of the _Gray Witch_.  We didn't se any witch;
the only person we came across was the man who tried to kill us and he
most certainly wasn't a woman."
    "Parn?" the Princess inquired.  "Would you explain to them what Karla
really is?"
    "Yes, your Highness," said the young man.  Facing the party, he said:
"Briefly, Karla is a 500-year old witch whose entire essence, soul and
magic abilities, is contained within the circlet which was sitting on the
head of the man you saw.  She has been switching host bodies for a very
long time.  The person who wears the circlet has very little, if no control
over his or her actions.  We nearly defeated her the last time we met, but
although we freed her host, she managed to kill one of our friends and take
another as a new host.  He is the current host and his name is Woodchuck.
That is why we call the entity Karla, even if the host is a man."
    "If that witch is just a circlet, then how did she manage to kidnap your
friend?"
    "We think the circlet hypnotized him."
    "Oh..."
     This time, Kashue spoke up: "Etoh informed us that when Donna awoke,
she was speaking an unknown language.  Thanks to Slayn, we can
understand each other now, but I would like to know where exactly you
come from.  Nearly everyone on Lodoss speaks the same language and from
what I was told, there is no magic on your world."
    There were soft gasps from the various magic users in the assistance.  A
land without magic?  That was hard to believe.
    Donna spoke in return:  "We come from a world called Earth.  Based on
what I've seen so far, Lodoss technologically resembles what our world
looked like several hundred, if not a thousand years ago.  But the
resemblance stops there.  On our world, magic, elves and other concepts
exist only in mythology, right along dragons, goblins and werewolves..."
    "Strange that you should speak of these creatures, for they all exist
here, too," Kashue interrupted with a wry smile.
    After gaping for a couple of seconds (*Oh boy, we're in trouble...*),
Donna pulled herself together and concluded a bit shakily: "Well... all this
makes me believe we may have crossed dimensions or even realities
because of this vortex."
    Fianna looked stunned and Kashue wasn't far behind behind.  "Is what
she says possible, Slayn?" asked the incredulous Desert King.
    Slayn, considered the question for several moments.  "It _is_ possible,
since the Crystals were extremely powerful before they were shattered."
    The dimensionally-displaced troop all looked sheepish at that last
comment.
    "Can you send us back?" asked Terry, a tinge of worry creeping into his
voice.
    "No."
    "You say you can't, but is there someone who can?" Terry asked
hopefully.
    "_I_ won't ever be able to send you back, but maybe in time, _you'll_
be be able to send yourselves back," said Slayn.
    "How?"
    "From what I've been able to determine with Chang's observations, the
portal that brought you here was a product of the three Crystals that were
destroyed.  You still have a great part, if not all, of the Crystals'
energies.
If you can manage to hone your powers to a proper level, you could
possibly recreate the portal and go back home."
    "In other words, we're stuck here until we learn how to use our magic
properly?" Terry stated, not so much as a question but as a fact.
    "I'm afraid that it is so."
    "And how much time would that be likely to take?"
    "From a few months to a few years, there's no way of knowing.  That
will depend on how fast you learn."  Slayn managed to shrug off the Glare of
Death from Deedlit, although Chang noticed it.  He decided to ask about it
later.
    "In just a few weeks, we might very well be considered _dead_ in our
world!  Is there anyway to cut that time down?" Terry nearly shouted.
    "Not that I know of," came the calm reply.
    The four young magic users went numb with those news...

    After seeing their reaction, Fianna ended the audience to allow the young
travelers to adjust to the shocking news.
    Meanwhile, Deedlit caught up with Slayn and put herself square in his
path.  "What do you think you're doing!?" she nearly yelled at him.
    "What are you talking about?"
    "You know very well what I'm talking about!  You spoke of training them
in elemental magic.  You know very well humans cannot control elemental
energy very well.  Even if they were exceptional learners, I doubt they
would never master their powers at a sufficient enough level to reopen
another portal without tearing Lodoss apart at the same time.  Only elves
can truly master elemental energy without causing natural disaters."
    "Is that why you have been glaring at me all this time for?  I knew that
all along, but I didn't think telling them this particular aspect of their
powers just yet would lift their spirits right now."
    Deedlit relented.  A little.  "All right.  I can accept that, but
you'll need
to tell them sooner or later before they unwittingly cause a major
disater."  She heaved a sigh.  "And I suppose _I'm_ the one who will have
to teach them, since you can't use elemental magic."
    "Not all of them.  I can teach the youngest one, since part of her power is
different from the others'."
    "When will you tell them the truth?"
    "Not now.  It would serve no purpose, except distressing them further.
I will tell them when the time is right."
    Deedlit looked at Slayn: "This won't be easy, you know."
    Slayn sighed.  "I know."

* * * * * * * * * *

Chapter 6: New Abilities

    It was late in the night and four young people were sitting in a room,
contemplating their choices which unfortunately, were not numerous.
    "A few _months_ at best?..." muttered Chang disbelievingly.
    "I want to see mom and dad!" moaned a teary-eyed Stephany.
    *Well, at least she's not crying hysterically anymore,* thought Donna.
Stephany had had a severe breakdown when she had finally realized the full
extent of the problem.  Fortunately, Donna had managed to calm her down a
little, but Stephany wouldn't be okay for a while.
    Terry, on the other hand, was buried in thought.  Slowly, a smile came
to his lips.  "Hey Fanny, I think I may have good news despite what Slayn
said."  Stephany immediately homed in on him with a questioning stare.
"Donna had a point when she said Lodoss resembles what our world used to
be like a hundreds of years ago.  If we are in the past, then when we go
back, we could ajust the portal so that it brings us back at the same
moment we left!"  Fanny brightened considerably at that point, while
Donna and Chang gave him incredulous stares.  "But right now, I think we
should all go to bed.  We'll probably start training tomorrow, so I think a
good night's rest is in order."
    Fanny fell asleep barely minutes after she hit the pillow.  Terry was
about to do the same when Donna spoke to him: "Terry, you _did_ consider
the very likely possibility that we only crossed dimensions and that time
travel is _not_ an option, didn't you?"
    Terry glanced at Chang, who, by the look on his face, had obviously
thought of the same thing.  "Of course I considered that," he told her with a
sad sigh.  "I mainly said that to cheer Fanny up, otherwise she'd have been
depressed forever."
    The other two nodded silently and soon, they were all asleep.

    In another part of the castle, Parn, Deedlit, Etoh and Slayn were deciding
what to do next.
    "So it's agreed," said Parn.  "Tomorrow, we'll ride ride to Karla's cave
to see if there are any useful things left, since we didn't take anything on
our first trip.  Who knows?  Maybe we'll find something that can help
these people go back to their world faster.  The only thing is, can we find
the cave again without using a portal?"
    "Do not worry," replied Slayn "On my way out of the cave, I left a
magical mark at the entrance of the cave so that we'd be easily able to find
it again if necessary.  I can even feel it from here."
    "I will stay and start giving lessons to the young travellers," said
Deedlit.  "Shiris and Orson have volunteered to stay behind too, in case
anything develops here."
    "Good.  Then we leave tomorrow after dawn" finished Parn.

* * * * * * * * * *

    The sun wasn't even up yet when Terry woke up first, as usual.
Sleepily, he blinked and cursed under his breath.  *Aww crap!  It wasn't a
dream,* he thought.  "What did I do to deserve this?" he asked in a low
voice, while looking at the ceiling.
    Not wanting to disturb the others, Terry got out of bed silently and
started dressing up.  Bored with nothing worthwhile to do in a room full of
sleeping people, he decided to do some exploring to occupy his time.  He was
almost out when he heard a whisper behind him: "Hey, Terry!  Where are
you going?"
    Turning around, Terry saw Chang halfway out of his bed, looking at him
with eyes still heavy from his sleep.
    "Once I get up, I can't go back to sleep, so I thought I'd do a little
exploring before breakfast," answered Tery in a low voice.
    "Can I come with you?"
    Terry shrugged.  "Sure, why not?  I'll wait for you outside.  Just don't
wake my sisters, okay?"
    Chang nodded silently and Terry quietly left the room.

    Terry was outside the door, staring at his now healed hands.  A multitude
of small brown crystals littered the top of his hands, his palms and
forearms, and yet, none of them hurt.  In fact, he didn't even feel them
unless he was directly touching them.  "Earth magic," he muttered under
his breath.  "Why me?  Why _us_?!" he asked a little louder.  "I just
want to get home..."  Sighing, he started tapping the wall absently and was
about to peek back into the room when Chang finally came out.
    "So... Where do we go from here?" asked the sixteen year-old.
    "I have no idea.  If we keep walking around, we'll probably find
something interesting, I guess."
    "Sounds good to me," replied Chang.
    With that, both young men started trotting down a corridor.  Terry
never noticed the many marks he had left on the wall with his hands while
he was tapping it.

    After getting stuck in a few dead ends, Chang and Terry managed to make
their way to the castle's courtyard.  The sun could now be seen getting up
as lazily as it could.
    "Looks like there aren't a lot of early risers here," said Terry, who
was now wearing gloves, sice he didn't want to attract attention.  The two
young men had not seen many people during their little trek in the castle
corridors.
    They suddenly stopped when they heard the sound of metal clashing
against metal.  "You were saying?" said Chang with a smirk.  Shrugging,
Terry made his way to a remote part of the courtyard where he and Chang
were treated to an unusual sight (at least to them): several men were
sitting in a wide circle at the center of which two men were going head to
head with swords clashing.  With the small fire that was lit besides the
circle, it was an eerie sight for the unaccustomed.
    "Wow...  Swordfighting..." said Chang under his breath, with no small
amount of awe in his voice.
    Terry was scanning the crowd, and realized that the fight was probably a
sparring session, seeing as no one was interrupting the two men.  He
quickly identified the crowd as castle guards by their uniforms.  They were
all dressed the same, save for two people: a woman who looked in her
twenties who was wearing a remarkable amount of red and a very tall man
with a vacant expression who was leaning on an equally very big sword.
Dismissing them as spectators like himself and Chang, Terry turned back
to the two fghting men.
    After several thrusts and couterstrikes, one of the men came running at
the other and landed a strong blow on his adversary.  The soldier's sword
went flying and landed a few inches from a startled Chang.
    "Hey!  Watch it with that thing!" he said, while unearthing the sword.
He was immediately surprised by the weight of the thing.  *Jeez!* he
thought.  *Those things don't look so heavy when the soldiers are wielding
them.*
    "Sorry bout that," said the soldier, while retrieving his sword.  Chang
watched as he went to sit back into the circle.
    "So, anyone else wants a turn?" asked the soldier who had won the
exchange.  Seeing as no one was volunteering, he was about to leave when
the lady in red stepped forward and accepted his challenge.
    "And who might you be?" asked the soldier with a smile on his lips.
    "The name's Shiris and I'll wipe that smile off your face," the lady
replied, while wearing a smile of her own.
   "We'll see," the man replied.
    There was barely a pause and the two fighters surged forward, steel,
clashing against steel.  No one noticed a rooster's cry, signaling a new day.

    Back in the room, Donna raised an eyebrow and hoped she was
hallucinating.  When she heard the rooster once more, she gave up on that
fragile hope.  Getting up, she wiped the sleep from her eyes and glanced
around the room.  She immediately noticed that Terry and Chang were not
in their beds.  She didn't know about Chang, but knowing Terry, he was
probably already up.  She supposed Chang had followed him around.  She
roused Fanny, who was still sleeping like a brick, and started putting on
her new clothes.  She noticed there was a tray on a nearby table.  The tray
was filled with various fruits, cheese and bread.  There was a pitcher of
milk besides the tray.
    "Looks like Fanny won't be eating Fruit Loops for a while..." she
chuckled while tasting the fruits and the cheese.  It wasn't what they were
used to for breakfast, but it would have to do.
    Fanny was finally getting out of bed.  "It's not a dream, is it, Donna?"
she asked in a depressed voice.  Donna turned around and kneeled to be at
her sister's level.
    "No it's not, but we'll get home.  I promise you that.  Now why don't you
dress up and we'll try to find out where Terry and Chang have gone to."
She gave an exasperated sigh "If only he'd waited for us.  I don't know how
hard it'll be to find him in here.  This place is pretty big."
    Almost without thinking, Fanny pointed a hand through the wall.  "He's
down there," she said.
    "How would _you_ know?"
    "Er... I don't know," replied a puzzled Fanny.
    Donna stared incredulously at her sister for a few moment before
Slayn's words floated back in her mind.  *Slayn said you had some strange
abilities, such as being able to use our magic for your own.  Maybe you
found Terry that way,* Donna thought.
    "Maybe you used your magic," she said out loud.
    Fanny perked up at that.  "Really?  Cool!"
    Donna soon found herself smiling as well.  Maybe this wouldn't be so bad
after all.

    Down in the courtyard, Terry and Chang were openly staring at Shiris,
who had deftly put several guards in their place during the sparring
session.  After dispatching the latest challenger, she turned around and
asked if anyone else was willing to try their skill against her.  The
soldiers, however, had other things to do and Shiris soon found herself
alone with Orson and the two boys.  "How about you?" she said, turning to
Terry.
    The subject of Shiris' gaze suddenly started getting nervous.  "Me?...
Ah... no, thanks."
    "What?  You think you're too good?" she asked, sounding a little miffed.
    Terry started making denial gestures.  "Me?!  Oh Nononono!  You could
probably kick my butt even without the sword!"
    "Don't tempt me... (smirking)  But still, you can't be _that_ bad!" said
Shiris, now amused at Terry's nervous face.
    "It's just that neither of us has ever used a sword before," interrupted
Chang.  "Especially nothing as heavy as those things."
    "You've never used a sword before?" asked Shiris.  Terry and Chang
nodded agreement.  "Well, then.  Let's see what you can do!" she said,
handing him a sword.
    Chang watched with no small amount of surprise as Terry wielded the
heavy sword with no apparent effort at all.
    "Don't you have something a little less... lethal in case one of us makes a
mistake?" Terry asked.
    "Oh, that won't happen, trust me.  We're just going to practice basic
movements to see how good you are."  She then walked over to him and
showed him how to correctly handle a sword.
    Soon, Chang was leaning on a discarded spear, watching his friend Terry
getting his first swordfighting lesson and Orson was still watching
impassively.

    Donna and Fanny finished their breakfast, not without some grumbling
by Fanny on how little they had to offer, and decided to find out where their
brother and Chang were.  Thinking back, Donna had let Fanny choose the
paths they were taking, for she wanted to see if her sister truly did have
the ability to home in on her brother.  They eventually made their way to
the courtyard where Donna saw her brother getting his first lesson.  She
silently pulled up besides Chang, whom she signaled to keep quiet.  When
the exercise Terry was working on was finished, Donna spoke up with a
grin on her face:
    "Way to go, brother!  We haven't been here for two days and you're
already learning to fight?" she said, with a hint of sarcasm.
    Terry whipped around and saw his sister.  "Donna!  Fanny!  You're
awake!"
    "That was so cool, Terry!" piped in Fanny.
    "Yeah, well, it's only the basics," he replied, somewhat embarrassed.
He then planted the sword on the ground and went to speak with his sisters,
leaving behind Chang to stare in puzzlement at the sword.
    *That's strange,* he thought, testing the sword himself.  *That thing
must weigh at least twenty-five pounds and Terry was handling it as if it
was nothing.*  Little did he know he was not the only one thinking along
these lines.
    As if on cue, Shiris spoke to Terry:  "You say you've never done any
swordfighting?"  At Terry's nod, she continued.  "That's strange, because
most people who have never used a sword don't wield them as easily as you
did on the first time and frankly, you just don't look strong enough to
handle a sword the way you did."
    Terry raised an eyebrow.  "Uh?  The sword isn't _that_ heavy."
    "Yes it is," countered Chang.  "I can lift it, but I couldn't possibly
use it
the way you have been during the last half hour." He cut off Terry's
protest.  "I know I'm younger than you, but that doesn't justify the
difference."
    "If I may make a suggestion?"  Orson was getting up and was heading
their way, sword in hand.
    "What suggestion?" was all Terry had time to say before Orson tossed
him his giant sword with a strong swing.  Terry instinctively caught the
sword and winced as he expected to fall flat on his back.  Judging by its
size, a broadsword that big would weigh fifty pounds easily, if not far
more.  He was the most surprised of all when he finally realized the sword
weighed no more than a pound or two to him.
    "What's going on?" he said, while everyone else was staring wide-eyed
at him.  "Is this some sort of ultra-light metal or something?"  Terry was
starting to get really nervous.
    Even Orson was surprised: "Someone your size shouldn't be able to do
that!...  How...?", he asked, if only a bit supicious.
    "I don't know!" replied Terry defensively.
    "It's probably your magic."
    Heads whipped around to see Deedlit standing near the corner of a wall.
    "What are you talking about? I don't even know how to use my magic'!"
    "Follow me.  I'll try to explain while I'm giving you your first lesson,"
replied Deeddlit as she turned around.
    Having nothing else to do, the four young people followed the elf, leaving
a puzzled Shiris and Orson behind.

    The group slowly made its way out of the castle gates and settled in a
clearing, a few hundred meters from the walls.
    Why couldn't we have done the lessons inside the castle, anyway?" asked
Chang.
    "Because this is elemental magic.  It will be much easier for you to
learn in a forest, where nature's energies are greatest," said Deedlit.
    The group looked at each other then nodded: it made sense (so far).
    "First, I'll try to explain what happened with Terry and the swords.
What I think happened is that Terry not only gained the ability to control
Earth Magic, but he also gained other abilities related to his magic,
abilities which do not need the magic itself to be used."
    Terry stared blankly at her.
    Deedlit sighed.  "Let's try an other approach.  Lift your twin sister,
would you?"
   Incredulous, Terry turned towards his sister and grabbed her by the
waist and lifted her.  She weighed exactly as she always had before.
    "I don't understand..." said Terry.  "How come I can't lift her more
easily than before?"
    "What is the difference between your sister and a sword?" asked the elf.
    "She's not made out metal..." he said, realization starting to dawn on
him.
   "Exactly!" The elf said triumphantly.
    "I still don't get it," said Fanny plaintively.
    Chang turned and kneeled to Terry's younger sister.  "It means he has
increased strength when it come to lifting metal because he has Earth
Magic."
    "You're so lucky!" the youngest one said, turning back to her brother.
    Terry smiled thinly and looked at Deedlit.  "Metal only, or does it also
work with other things?"
    "Why don't you find out for yourself?" she said.  She immediatelay
regretted saying that when she saw him heading for a large tree.
    Before Deedlit could voice her worries, Terry tried to rip the tree out,
but was spectacularly unsuccessful.  "I guess it dosn't work on everything,
huh?"
    "So it seems," said the elf with a look of relief.
    Of course, Terry missed Deedlit's expression.  "Damn!" he said,
mindlessly slapping a rock.
    Said rock was now sporting a very clear imprint of Terry's hand.  This
time, everybody was staring, even Deedlit.
    "But I didn't even press hard..." said Terry in a strangled voice.
Regaining a small amount of control, he wondered aloud:  "How come
_that_ doesn't happen with people, trees or metal?"
    *Very unusual...* thought Deedlit. "I guess it has something to do with
your Magic, though I'm not sure exactly what," the elf voiced aloud.
    "What about us?" asked Donna and Chang at the same time, suddenly
eager to find out what they could do.
    "We'll see to that in time" answered the elf.  The last thing she wanted
was for them to destroy the surrounding landscape to find out their
particular talents.  "Right now, I'll instruct you on how to call the Magic
to you.  It will be easier for Chang, since I use Water and Wind Magic
myself, but it will be a bit harder for Terry as I do not practice Earth
Magic and no one I know around here uses it.  As for Donna, I use Light
Magic, which is somewhat related to Fire, but that's as far as I go."
    "What about me?" asked Fanny.
    "For now, all you have to do is observe.  We know part of your Magic is
related to theirs, be we are not sure how.  As for the other part of your
Magic, Slayn will teach you, not me.  He's much more proficient than I am
in Magics other than Elemental.
    *Water Magic?...* thought Terry.
    "Where is he?" asked Fanny.
    "He, Etoh and Parn have gone back to the cave where we first found you
to see if Karla hadn't left anything useful behind."
    "What _did_ happen to hi... her, anyway?" asked Terry in an annoyed
tone of voice.  He still nursed a grudge against the one who had hurt him and
his sisters.
    "We're not sure.  After Chang was knocked unconscious, she used a
teleportation spell.  We weren't able to trace it."
    "So she could be anywhere, right?" said Terry in a matter-of-fact tone.
    "Yes."

* * * * * * * * * *

Chapter 7: The Terrible Truth Revealed

    Pan, Etoh and Slayn left the castle soon after dawn and rode east for an
hour.  Parn couldn't stop reminescing about the sword he had seen Chang
swing at Karla: the more he thought about it, the more he believed it was
the Holy Sword.
    A foolish thought.  Both the Holy Sword and the Demon Sword had been
lost, probably even destroyed when he had used them to break the shield
holding Deedlit on Marmo Island.  Then again, nothing seemed impossible
when Karla was involved.
    The group soon arrived at the cave's entrance.  Parn slowly made his
way through the entrance to be sure there wasn't a trap or two left by
Karla, but everything was as they had left.  Karla had obviously not come
back since she had teleported away.
    With Slayn providing light with his staff, the group soon made its way to
the chamber where the brief confrontation had taken place.  Surveying the
room, they noticed everything was still strewn about.
    "We'd better do this quickly.  I have a bad feeling about this place," said
Slayn, eyeing the room with an uneasy glance.
    Parn and Etoh nodded and they proceeded to search the cave for useful
things.

***

   Karla was finally getting ready to go back to her not-so-secret-anymore
cave.  Her magical senses had finally gone back to normal after the
detonation in the cave.  She could have returned sooner, but she wanted to
assess the situation before returning.
    As matters stood, there was only one Crystal left intact: the Water
Crystal.  And worse, according to a spy she had planted inside Valis a long
time ago, all four of the intruders had survived her attack in the cave.
Although each of them was now dangerous in his or her own way, it was the
youngest one who bothered her.  She had the power of the Yellow Crystal.
    Karla had outdone herself when she had made the Yellow Crystal.  To her
vast knowledge the Crystal was the only inorganic device in existence
capable of directing Elemental energies.  She had not been satisfied there:
she had also infused the Crystal with her own magic, making it a
devastating weapon.  With such a Crystal, she would have been able to
control the Crystals' power anywhere on Lodoss.
    Now, the only remaining fragment was in the hands (or more precisely
the head) of an ignorant child.  Her first priority was to get that Crystal
first, while the child was still ignorant about its true power.  With that
one, capturing the others would be a lot easier.  She had to be careful,
though: the Crystal was now linked to the girl and there was no telling what
might be its reaction to being suddenly... extracted.
    She had the beginnings of a plan, but she might need to go back to her
hideout to get some things.

***

    Back in Karla's cave, Slayn, Parn and Etoh were busy looking around.
Slayn immediately found several books of magic and what seemed like a
diary.  Analyzing all this would take a while, but it was definitely going to
be worth it.  He stacked them all in the cart they had brought and kept
looking around.
    Etoh and Parn were to gather as many weapons and miscellaneous items
as possible, but the small cart they had brought could not possibly hold
everything in the cave.
   "I'm going to try to find the sword Chang used" Parn said, as Etoh started
to go toward a collection of staves, some of which looked like they might be
magical.  He took quite a few with varied designs and loaded them in the
cart, along with several medallions, rings and amulets he had found.
    Parn was working his way around one of the tables when he gasped in
shock.  Slayn and Etoh imediately rushed at his side and saw the cause of
Parn's shock.
  Laying carelessly under a table was the Demon Sword, also known as Soul
Crusher.
    Parn's mind was working overtime: if the Demon Sword, which he had
thought lost, was here, then...
    Parn picked up the Demon sword and held it aloft in all its deadly glory.
    Snapping out of it, he looked at Etoh and Slayn.  "If the Demon Sword is
here, then so is the Holy Sword!  I have to find it!"
    "Take it easy Parn," said Etoh in a calming voice.  "It's not as if Karla's
here, remember?"  Unfortunately, Etoh chose this moment to add a phrase
which is known to have devastating consequences, no matter which
universe you happen to be in.  "What could possibly happen?"

***

    Back in Valis, Deedlit was strangely pleased to see how quickly the young
newcomers were adjusting to their powers.  She had to remember the
possible consequences, though.
    Terry, Donna and Chang could now summon their respective Magics,
although Chang was having the easiest time doing it and Fanny, the hardest.
    Chang could now create small breezes and cute, harmless little
whirlwinds, but he had not yet discovered any immunities like Terry.  He
found out that he moved considerably faster when he held on to his Magic.
Deedlit commented that using a staff would probably enhance his abilities.
    Terry had an easier time using his magic when he took his gloves off and
had physical contact with the soil and the rocks, otherwise his efforts were
seldom rewarded.  So far he had been able to create a very small and
localized tremor (though nowhere near what he and Fanny had supposedly
caused in the castle) and he had managed to cause a large bump in the
ground when trying to raise it.  The biggest discoveries, though, were
about the abilities he had and that he could access without using his magic.
    The first ability he had discovered quite accidentally: metal no longer
seemed to weigh much to him.  The limit of that particular ability would
have to be further tested when they got back to the castle.  The second
ability was a bit more troublesome: he found out shortly after the incident
with the rock that unless he maintained his concentration, his bare-handed
touch had the unfortunate effect of afflicting stone with a texture akin to a
marshmallow's.  Donna demonstrated an upside to this ability, when she
slugged her twin brother behind the head with a rock to prove a point:
Terry barely noticed the impact.  It seemed he was now also impervious to
impacts from stone.
    Donna had a harder time using her powers.  She could generate light and
fist-sized ball of flame, but she couldn't maintain the flames for more than
a few seconds.  Deedlit had commented that focusing through a specially
designed staff would probably be a great help.
    Finally, Fanny had experimented with her mysterious ability to absorb
the others' magic (which Chang had affectionately dubbed "Yellow Magic"
because of her Crystal's color).  As long as Terry, Donna or Chang didn't
make a conscious mental effort to block her, she could now use the same
powers as they could, but at a lower level.  She still didn't have any
experience using Karla's magic, since Slayn was the one who was supposed
to teach her and he hadn't come back yet.
    The oddest part about their magic is that it had to be summoned through
mantras.  While Deedlit's spells were not unlike prayers, the others had
discovered that they only needed to vocalize the desired effect and it came
with just a small amount of effort.
    They were all on their way back to the castle when Chang decided it was
time to have some of the questions he had been nursing since their arrival
answered.
    The group was about a hundred meters away from the castle gate when
Chang called a halt.  Looking Deedlit straight in the eyes, he went straight
to the heart of the problem: "Deedlit, I've noticed for a while that you and
Slayn seem scared of something that has to do with our magic.  I'd very
much like to know what is before we continue our lessons."
    Terry and Donna's eyebrows shot up, indicating more than a passive
interest to Chang's statement, but not that much.  On the other hand, Fanny
seemed completely lost, which is understandable for a ten year old.
    Deedlit was silently cursing.  Slayn was supposed to take care of this,
not her!  Looking in their eyes, she knew she wasn't going to be able to
weasel her way out.  Sighing in defeat, she began a long overdue
explanation.
    "You must first understand that there have been no _human_ elemental
mages in several centuries."
    "Why?" asked Donna.
    "Hundreds of years ago, after the last great war, the elves started using
elemental magic.  They were quite quite skilled at it, since they already had
a close relationship with nature.  Humans eventually became jealous and
envious of the power contained in elemental magic.  That's when the
disaters started happening: every human mage who tried to learn elemental
magic from elves eventually created disasters.  Floods, tornadoes, even
earthquakes were the only results they ever achieved in their short lives."
    "Why couldn't they master it?"
    "For some unknown reason, every time a human mage used elemental
magic above a certain level, he or she invariably ended up creating a
natural disaster.  As a result, nearly every human mage died in one of the
disasters he or she had created.  There was also the fact that elemental
magic is widely incompatible with other types of magic."  Seeing a puzzled
look over all their faces, Deedlit spoke quickly: "When elemental magic is
combined with or used against other types of magic, it tends to have...
unpredictable side-effects.  The resulting spell tends to behave quite
erratically and the consequences are usually unfortunate for everyone
involved.  It is for all these reasons that the remaining human mages
decided to swear off elemental magic for as long as they would live.  Shortly
afterwards, the elves slowly disppeared from the lands of men to prevent
such a tragedy from ever happening again.  Even the elves themselves
never determined the cause of the disasters," Deedlit finished.
    The four travellers were a bit shocked, to say the least.  Donna then
spoke up with a toubled voice: "What _is_ the threshold for humans?  How
much can we learn before the disasters start happening?"
   "I don't know," replied Deedlit.  "From what I've been able to see of the
old records, probably when you get around my level of power."
    "And I would guess that is nowhere near the amount required to open
another portal to get back home, right?"  That came from Terry.
    Deedlit lowered her eyes.  "I'm sorry" she said.  A sad look of defeat
spread over all their faces.  Deedlit looked as if she was considering
something and spoke up: "Although... it might be different for you.  You
didn't learn your magic the way every other mage has; it was imposed on
you and you don't know other types of magic that can cause
incompatibilities.  That and the fact that Stephany's Yellow Magic is an
unknown factor; I've never heard of a type of magic which could control
elemental magic.  We'll have to see how you develop your skill and hope
you don't end up like the last human elemental mages."
    The quatuor barely displayed any emotion at that last remark.

***

     "Parn, we already have enough things; we'll have to come back for the
rest a bit later," said Etoh.
    "Not until I find the Holy Sword!" came the obstinate reply.
    Karla's cave had proven to be a wizard's heaven.  She had collected an
extremely impressive collection of magical trinkets during her long life.
Inside the cave were dozens of magic staves, enchanted weapons and armors
and magical relics of all sizes and shapes.  They had even found the dreaded
Demon Sword, former property of the late Ashram.  Slayn had already
packed away in the cart several items which would undoubtedly help him in
teachings to Fanny.  They had found nearly everything they could have
hoped for, except for the Holy Sword.
    "Parn," said Etoh, "Karla obviously isn't here, so it won't matter if we
come back later.  Besides, the cart we brought is already full; it can't hold
anything more."
    "You go ahead.  I'll catch up with you as soon as I find the Holy Sword."
    "I could stay behind with Parn to make sure everything's all right."
Parn and Etoh turned around in surprise. Slayn was standing there with a
small red cloth bag in his hands.
    "I do not need a guardian!" said Parn, flushing just a little.
    Slayn witheld the smirk which threatened to appear on his face.  "I
never said you needed one either, but Etoh is right; we should get back to
Valis.  We can come back for the rest tomorrow."
    "Well, Etoh can always leave right away.  We'll just come back later."
    Slayn sighed.  Turning to Etoh, he said: "Very well. But if you go, take
this with you."
    Etoh took the proffered bag and opened it.  Inside were several rings and
necklaces of various colors.
    "And these are...?" he asked tentatively.
    "Magical artifacts," Slayn replied.  "The designs are vaguely familiar
but I can't quite readily place them.  Maybe Deedlit knows more about them
than I do.  These relics, along with the books I've piled in the cart, are
going to be invaluable, especially in teaching Stephany, so be very careful
with them."
    "All right," Etoh said, resigned. "But be careful you too and try not to
come back too late.  You know how jumpy the gate guards are at night."
    "Don't worry," said Parn.  "As soon as I find the Holy Sword, we'll be
out of here and back at the castle before you know it."
    Bidding his friends farewell, Etoh went back to Valis, towing a cart full
of magical relics of all shapes and sizes.

* * * * * * * * * *

Chapter 8: New Understanding

    Four young people were walking in the courtyard.  They were engaged in
heavy discussion, which would have startled people, had they known of the
group's earlier mood.
    "Why do we keep learning this stuff if it will only make us go insane at
the end, anyway?" asked Chang.
    "Because it's the only way we have of getting home," said Donna. "I, for
one, am willing to risk going nuts if it means we can go back home.
Besides, at least Fanny is immune to the insanity because she doesn't
directly wield elemental magic."
    "She did this afternoon," replied Chang.
    "Not so," replied Terry before Donna could place a word.  "She used her
Crystal fragment to channel our magic.  That's probably the main purpose
of her Crystal."
    "How can you be sure of that?" asked Chang.
    Terry countered by turning to his younger sister.  "What did you feel
when you tapped our magic, Fanny?"
   Fanny looked at her brother with a puzzeld frown, which turned out to be
comical-looking, because of the yellow jewel on her brow.  "What do you
mean?  I didn't feel anything special... I mean, I felt the magic flow, but it
felt... I don't know... normal."  Fanny grimaced.  "I can't explain it,
really... why are you asking me?"
   "To prove my point to Chang, little sister," replied Terry with a grin.
"If there's any constant between my magic, Donna's and Chang's, I assume
using their own magic must've felt like being wired on caffeine for a short
while, no?"
    A toughtful nod from Donna and a reluctant one from Chang confirmed his
theory.
    "No wonder people went nuts using this type of magic.  They must've
become addicted to it," said Donna.
    Chang had a toughtful look.  "The word addiction' would imply they kept
drawing more and more magic to satisfy their need', which nicely
explains all the disaters.  The mages back then simply didn't know when to
stop," he said.
    "What's to keep this addiction' from happening to us too?" asked
Donna.
    "Nothing, really," replied Terry, who was now grinning slightly.
    "What's so funny?" asked a perplexed Donna.
    "I was just thinking..."
    "Stop the presses! Stop the presses! We have a new headline!!!"
    Terry glared at Donna.  "Funny girl, aren't'cha?... Not!  As I was about
to say, what I find funny is that we've just compared the use of magic,
which was to us until a few days ago a ridiculous concept, to the relatively
modern concept of drug use and prevention."
    "Isn't magic a science all by itself?" asked Chang.
    "Clarke's Law" interrupted Donna.  "Any science sufficiently advanced
is indistinguishable from magic.  Or something like that..."
    Terry picked up the thread of discussion: "That would make you the
living embodiement of some kind of solar reactor, Donna.  As for Chang, his
increased speed might simply mean a lighter density, which would be
possible because of Wind magic.  About his control of air currents, though,
I have no modern analog for that right now.  The closest I could come to
would be telekenisis."
    "What about you?" asked Chang.
    "I'm not sure...  My immunities could be explainable by the fact that my
skin has acquired a resistance to certain materials.  How does the
immunity know what is stone and steel and what's not?  Maybe it uses
material density or maybe even the molecular composition of the object
I'm in contact with to make an analysis.  As for my control of earth, this is
a very big longshot, but... maybe... I have some sort of control over
magnetic fields or something."
    Chang looked puzzled. "I've never really studied physics before, so I
don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about.  What do magnetic
fields have to do with raising molehills?
    Terry grimaced at the not-inaccurate description of his present power
level.  "Well, I'm not a physicist either and I don't want to bore you with
an hour-long lecture on the nature of the relationship between magnetic
fields and gravity, so I'll just say that I could be making my molehills
using reverse gravity."  After a pause, he added with a weak grin: "Of
course, there might not be any modern analogies to our powers at all
either..."
    Fanny, who was getting tired of being lost in the discussion (again),
chose the moment to pipe up: "Then what am I?"
    Terry looked at her for a few seconds, hmmed', then replied: "The
generic annoying itch?"
    Fanny became red-faced.  "Don't make fun of me!"  Before anyone could
react, her Crystal glowed, she tapped Chang's magic and punched her
brother in the gut with a Wind-assisted punch.
    Terry staggered back several paces wide-eyed.  Chang stared.  Donna
cheered: "Yes!  About time that happened!  Way to go, Fanny!"
    Fanny was alternating between looking at her fist, which was glowing a
faint white light, and at Terry, who had already recovered from the
surprise.  Terry had a disappointed expression on his face.  "Jeez!  And
just when I was going to try out my new shrimp jokes, too!"
    Fanny's head snapped up:  "Terry no baka!!!"  Terry just grinned and
ran away, with Fanny in close pursuit.
       Chang and Donna looked at the two retreating figures.  "Is he always
like that?" asked Chang.
    "Nah," replied Donna.  "He's usually much worse."  Seeing Chang's
dubious expression, she added: "Just kidding.  He loves to tease her; he
propabaly said that to get her out of her funk.  She probably didn't hurt
him much with that punch, anyway.  Which reminds me, why didn't you
stop Fanny from tapping your magic?"
    "She tapped it faster than I could react.  By the time I knew what was
going on, she'd already punched Terry.  But don't worry, I've closed the
access now, so she won't be able to do anything."
    "Did you notice that Fanny insulted Terry in Japanese?"
    Chang grew red in the face *Can't let her know I taught Fanny that
particular insult* he thought.  Aloud, he said: "Yeah.  I hadn't even noticed
we'd slipped back to English in the first place.  We'll have to watch out for
slips, not that it really matters anyway, since we can understand both
languages perfectly now."
    Donna and Chang were about to follow the pair when Shiris walked up to
them.  "Hey!  Already back from your lesson with Deedlit?"
   "Yes, said Chang.  "We managed to use our magic for the first time and
Deedlit told us some interesting information on our powers."
*Understatement of the week* he thought ironically.
    "So what can you do?" the red-haired warrior asked.
    "Not much yet," Donna admitted, "To be honest, if we were to be
attacked now, I don't think we'd be able to defend ourselves."
    "Why don't you learn a weapon?  Your brother seems to have a knack
for it."
    "I don't think either of us has the strength to use a sword like Terry
does."
    "Who said it had to be a sword?  I'm sure you could find something
appropriate for yourselves."
    And where would we find these weapons?" asked Donna. "How do we
know which weapon is the right one for us?"
    A cart came through the gate.

    Etoh had finally come back to Valis.  He hoped Parn and Slayn wouldn't
take too long; he had a bad feeling in Karla's cave.  As soon as he crossed the
gate, he noticed a few people coming to meet him: Shiris, Orson and two of
the travelers, Donna and Chang, if memory served correctly.

That's all for now, but I'm working on it!

**********************
* The Phoenix Reborn *              Jordanite and Mystical
**********************                  Freak at Large

Louis-Philippe Giroux

Phoenix@upc.qc.ca
Phoenix@cmq.qc.ca