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The Quest For Truth and Hope Part 2

Altheia Summers/Gemini Twinheart/Tranxis

The Quest For Truth and Hope Part 2

We last left our group of travelers alone in the deep, green forest. They just finished the first part of the quest and had successfully retrieved the red gem stone from Alora, Goddess of the Underworld. Morning rose clear and blue to find our wizard, fighter/mage, and bard fast asleep on the grass. The Nino Oro fighter/mage Altheia awoke first to the sound of birds chirping. She slowly opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep from them. She sat up and position herself cross-legged on the grass and looked around at the others. Mithrull was still asleep on his back, snoring loudly. Stephanie slept a few feet away from him. She had not stirred either. The bard, Tristan laid on his back closest to her. She leaned over and saw he was awake. "Good morning. Sleep well?" The bard, who was the same race as Altheia, turned his head and looked at her. "Good morning to you too. I slept okay, I guess." He stretched his arms and legs and yawned before bringing himself into a sitting position. "So, that was some experience last night." he replied. The girl looked at him. "Yeah, it was. I wonder what the next part of it is going to be like. Also, how did we get back here? The last thing I remembered was standing in Aloras throne room and now I am here." The bard thought about it and rubbed his chin. He thought about that too. It was odd now that he thought about it. "Well, we re dealing with gods. Who knows why they do what they do."

"True, but I cant help feeling this just isnt a harmless quest. Why would the headmaster send us on a wild goose chase and have us go up against gods? No, there is something else going on here."

"Well, can you keep the contemplating down to a minimum? Some of us are trying to sleep." replied the elven mage who woke up from the Nino Oro girls talking. The girl threw a pillow at her friend, "Gee Steph, dont let me interrupt you from your beauty sleep." The elven girl threw it back at her. "Its too noisy to sleep now." She took her pillow and whomped the other girl on the head with it. The fighter/mage hit her back and pretty soon everyone was getting hit by pillows. Tristan even tried to sneak and hit attack. They made so much noise, they woke up an angry wizard. "Guys, guys, are we warriors or two-year-olds?" His response was answered by a pillow attack from Stephanie. "We are two-year-olds and you are it." as she tagged him with her pillow. A voice cleared its throat which brought the game to a halt. The friends turned around to see white and violet unicorns standing there. "Children, and I use the word loosely," spoke the white unicorn, "We got a message from the headmaster and the queen. They are both proud of the work you done so far. But now, you need to finish the rest of the quest on your own. We can no longer help you." The two girls were speechless and dumbstruck. They looked at each other then at their unicorns. "What do you mean you cant help us? Why not?" spoke Stephanie. "You are going to abandon us here?" Diamond, the white unicorn shook his head. "No, not at all. It is the queens wish and order for me and Violet not to interfere anymore. You dont need us to finish the rest of your journey so we are going home. Before we go though, the queen has informed us to give you another scroll. It is in my pack." The white unicorns owner stepped over to the saddle and removed the scroll from the pack. It was made of the same parchment as the first scroll they received. "Oh, before I forget," spoke Diamond. "You can only take as much as you can carry in your packs. Good luck to all of you." Before they knew it, the unicorns had disappeared in a blink of an eyelash. "That was odd." replied Tristan. The Nino Oro girl looked at the parchment. "I dont understand this language." There was another smaller note attached in a strange handwriting. Have your wizard speak these words to get to the next domain of the quest. Transportation will be provided. The girl handed it to Mithrull. "It says for you to read the words and transportation will be provided. Whatever that means." He took the parchment from here and read the words aloud. "Ka-aola Nimtu Mino" After reading the words, nothing happened. "Are you sure you are reading the words correctly?" asked the elven mage. He looked at the words again. "I think so. Let me try again. Kaa-ola, Nim tu Mi-no." Whatever he said that time, it had worked. A soft humming came out of thin air. The group looked around to see a white cloud floating down a metal-like pulley. It came to a slow descend and stopped right in front of them. The white fluffy doors opened with a soft gentle glide. It stood and waited for them to enter. Then a strange voice spoke from the machine. Please enter the cloudavator now. Watch your step please. The group gave each other curious looks. "Well shall we do what it says?" asked the bard.

Altheia spoke, "Oh, what the hay, we have nothing to lose." They stepped in one by one into the cloudavator. Step to the rear please. Plenty of room in the back. When everyone was in, the machine started to ascend into the sky. "Where are we going?" asked Stephanie. Mithrull looked around as they left the ground. "It looks like we are going up. I hope no one is afraid of heights." They continued on their ascend until it came to a gentle stop and the doors swung open. The foreign voice spoke again. Thank you for flying Devon Air. Hope you had a nice flight. Please take all belongings with you. The group stepped out of the cloudavator into a type of waiting room. The entire room was white with fluffy clouds as chairs. Behind a desk sat a lady in white with white circle above her head and white wings expanding out two feet. She had long black hair and blue eyes with a slim build. The Nino Oro mage stepped up to the receptionist. "Excuse me."

The receptionist smiled at the group. "Sign in please and Devon the Sun god will see you in a few minutes." The girl signed her name and waited to see Devon. A few minutes later, the dark-haired receptionist showed them through a white hallway. His place is down the hall and to the left just past the bakery." The elven mage looked at the receptionist. "There is a bakery?" The receptionist nodded. "Quite a good one. There pastries are always so nice and fluffy." Mithrull smirked at that comment.

They walked through the hallway where they came to the bakery. The smells of the aroma poured out through the door. "Well shall we go in and find for ourselves how heavenly their food is?" The rest of the group shrugged. They walked in and the smell of pastry grew stronger. They split up to look around and see what they had to sell. The Nino Oro stepped up to a window where chocolate pastries were sold. One in front of her had a chocolate layer with over a fluffy yellow cake. The sign in front of it read: gods fig Newton. The girl motioned over the clerk behind the counter. "Excuse me, what does this do?" The clerk looked at her and then at the product. "Ah, it turns any god mortal for a temporary period of time. If it is a particularly evil god, it is Death by Chocolate. Want to purchase it?" The girl nodded. "How much?" The clerk held up one finger. "One gold piece for the pretty lady." The transaction was made and she took her chocolate treat and left with her party.

The next door they came to had the name Devons Pad engraved on it in golden letters. Altheia knocked on the door. A voice from inside called, "Come in!" She pushed the door open and entered into well, a bachelor pad. A black couch sat in the corner of the room. In front of that stood a black, circular table. Leaning against this table sat a guy with long, blonde, wavy hair. He wore a golden sleeveless leather shirt, pants and barefoot. In his hands he held some sort of keypad. He pressed the buttons with his fingers and stared at a square tube with funny, colorful creatures on it. For several minutes no one spoke. They watched the god move his fingers over the panel. Finally, Altheia spoke up, "Excuse me, are you Devon, the Sun God.?" The man turned and looked at her. "Thats my name. Dont wear it out." he replied. "Is there something I can help you with?" The girl took a deep breath. She wasnt sure how to approach the situation. The best way was the direct way. "We are seeking the next gemstone which would be yours." The god went back to his keypad. "So you are the group who is going after the gemstones? OK, you got sixty seconds. Start talking." He hit a button on the keypad and stared at them. Altheia stepped forward. "We need to know what we need to do to get your gemstone." The god smile grew brighter than his aura. "You want to know what you need to do, huh? Well, its simple. All you need to do is to get my beloved Celeste back from that vain, pompous, narcissist of a god called Corabon. If you can do that, I will gladly hand your my stone." The fighter/mage s eyes grew small at the mention of the dark gods name. "Why cant you save her yourself? Shes your wife."

"Well, you see I would but I am in the middle of a tournament." He indicated to the keypad.

"What kind of tournament and what is that?" asked Mithrull. The sun god smirked and shook his head. "You know nothing of the future do you? It is called a PlayConsole2000. You put a little square box in it called a video game and play. The creators run a tournament and you can win money." The party looked at each other and back at the god with blank stares. "Why do you need money?" wondered Stephanie.

"Look around you sweetie. You think this stuff comes cheap?" The elven mage looked around the surroundings. It was best described as a bachelors pad. In front of them stood a large box with funny looking knobs. A torch light hung from the ceiling. Along the walls were shelves of funny looking gadgets and more boxes with different pictures on them. "What is all this?" He patted her head and looked down at the mage. "Poor, simple-minded mage. These gadgets are the way of our distant future. What you see before you is a ninety-six inch television, VCR, DVD player, Hi-fi stereo, DVDs and videos galore. All the comforts of the future." The human wizard looked around the surroundings. If this was the way of the future, he have no part of it. "You have rich tastes, sun god."

"I do indeed and I like it that way."

"So why do you need money?" inquired the fighter/mage. His glow faded to a dull light and he frowned. "Well, in the distant future, they also have something called credit cards. It is buying things now and paying for them later. So, you see I need to win the reward money to pay back my credit cards." Mithrull smirked as if he wasnt surprised by what the god had said. "It looks like the future hasnt changed all that much. How many of these cards do you own?"

"Oh, I have about fifty or so. I keep getting a new one in the mail."

"Sounds like you live in the comforts of debt." quipped the wizard. The god turned crimson and blushed with anger. "Your time is up and I must get back to my "Street Fighter 2" game. I bid you goodbye." On that note, he turned and pressed the pause button on the console keypad. The game started back up. The group was left standing with gaping mouths. Finally, the wizard spoke, "Friendly kind of guy, isnt he? Well, shall we go?" Everyone stared at him as if he were mad. "You can get us out of here?" asked the bard. "You failed to mention that before." The human shrugged his shoulders. "You never asked me. Now, I can gate us out of here, so are we all ready to go?"

"How does this work?" asked the mage.

"Well everyone move in close so that we form a circle." They formed a circle around Mithrull and linked arms. A blue-green ring of a glow formed around them. In a blink of an eye, the quartet disappeared to who knows where.

The group did reappear but to where they did not know. The sky had grown black with thick, dark, ominous clouds. In front of them stood a fortress, as dark and cold as the sky above. Behind them, a drawbridge loomed across with a fiery pit beneath them. Balls of lava shot up from the lava stream periodically. Luckily, our adventure party was not damaged in the blasts. The fighter/mage looked into the depths of the lava stream and noticed something moving around in it. The lava waves lapped together as it moved. From the way the waves were moving, whatever was down there had gained speed. "Guys, I think something is down there." she shouted to the others. They all turned to see what it was. They didnt need long to find out. A black form jumped out of the lava stream at them. The creatures body stood fifteen feet tall with purple eyes and blood-stained fangs. It lashed out at the girl as if to attack and it would have probably hit if she hadnt dodged out of the way. The creature dove back into the water and swam off. "What was that?" cried Stephanie. They heard a booming voice come out of nowhere. "That is my pet, Cuddles. Isnt he nice? He was just saying hello."

"That things name is Cuddles? That thing nearly killed me. Who are you? Where are you?" The fighter/mage shouted at the unseen person into the darkness. The voice smirked and made ticking noises with its tongue and teeth. At least that is what it sounded like. "Miss Summers, you dont know who I am? For shame, for I know who all of you are. In fact, I known you since your birth my dear Altheia. Well then, let me introduce myself. I, am the great Corabon, the one and only, the handsomest god of all, and the King of Mischief and Trickery. Welcome to my humble...oh wait, Im not humble. Welcome to my wonderful little abode. It has been such a long time since I have had any guests. Why do you think I brought you all here? You didnt think you landed here on your own, did you?" He gave a hearty, booming laugh. Finally, they were able to speak. The Nino Oro fighter/mage spoke, her words enraged with passion. "You pompous peacock! You brought us here? For what reason? Just wait until I get my hands on you!" Another hearty, booming laugh sounded through the air. "My, my what words you have, little one. Well if you want a piece of me, come and try. I know, lets play a little game called Hide and Seek. It is simple really. I will hide and you come seek me. Sound like fun?" Just then the big metal doors flung wide open allowing them to pass. "Come seek me if you can!" the dark god yelled with glee.

The group looked at each other then at the door in front of them. "Do we trust him?" asked Stephanie. The fighter/mage shook her head no. "I dont trust him as far as I can physically throw him but what choice do we have. Just be careful everyone." They walked into the dark, gloominess that was the entrance of the fortress. It seemed to swallow them up before slamming the door and locked them in.

Inside the fortress, it was as dark and musty. The floor was dirt packed and looked as if no one had been here in years. Torches lined the walls giving off a faint glow of dancing shadows. It took them several minutes for their eyes to adjust. Once they adjusted, the elven mage noticed the black coyote in front of them. She tapped the closest person on the shoulder which happened to be Altheia. "We have company." The fighter/mage turned around and looked at the coyote. He was a black coyote with silver streaks in the fur. She looked into its eyes and it had the most amazing green eyes. In the middle of his forehead was a bronze star. He indicated to the group, he wanted them to follow him. Mithrull whispered to Altheia, "Should we follow? Think where we are after all." The fighter/mage nodded her understanding. "I realize that but what choice do we have?" The party followed the coyote down the path through a few twists and turns. They tried to catch up but lost the coyote. "Now where did he go?" Altheia asked exasperated. "I am tired of this maze already." She felt a pair of eyes on her. The floating head of Corabon had appeared once again. The head sat suspended in air for several long minutes and waited for them to notice him. Altheia looked up, rage filled her entire body. "What do you want?!" she bellowed. The head smiled at her. "Now, now, is that any way to greet your gracious host? You dont like games or mazes? You havent even given it a try." The elven mage stood very still. She began to collect her energies around her so that it built up in one spot. The temperature in the room rose about ten degrees. Then a tiny flame appeared at the top of the floating head. The tiny flame grew bigger and bigger until it engulfed the entire floating head. The next thing they heard was the screaming of the floating head. "Whats going on? Who did that?" Then the flame went out as suddenly as it appeared. "If I were you I wouldnt try that again. I will be waiting for you." The head faded out of sight. The fighter/mage paced back and forth, stopped then paced back and forth again. "HE is really starting to get on my nerves!" The bard looked over at the girl that he loved. He had never seen her so mad before. "Allie, you need to calm dawn."

Calm down! How can I calm down? I didnt ask to be put in this place! I just want to get the gemstone and get out of here. Now lets go!" She stormed down the passage, her footsteps echoing loudly in her wake. The rest of the party, not knowing what to do, followed after her.

A few hours later, they were still lost in the maze. It was unusual that they hadnt encountered anything but they were not alone for Corabon had been watching them through his mirror in his private apartments. He stood in front of the mirror with barely dressed girl on each arm. "This is taking way too long. I am losing my patience. I dont like losing patience. It gives me wrinkles and that ruins my natural, stunning, good looks. I guess if you want something done, you got to do it yourself." The dark god snapped his fingers and beside him appeared the spitting image of...himself. "Ah, so glad you can make it Corabon."

"I am glad I can be here Corabon. What can I do for such a handsome guy like yourself." replied his mirror image.

"You really think I am handsome?" asked the original Corabon.

"I do. You are strikingly handsome guy."

"You have good taste. Now I want you to disguise yourself as the human form of the coyote and I want you to lead them here. It is my turn to have some fun and I am growing impatient." The mirror image bowed his head and disappeared.

Corabon number 2 appeared in the corridor a little bit away from our little adventurers. He waited for them to come around the corner. It didnt take long and the Corabon carbon copy had already transformed into the human form of the coyote and hid in the shadows. The first one who arrived around the corridor was Altheia. "Excuse me, are you lost?" The girl jumped a mile out of fright. "What the hell are you doing here? What are you doing sneaking up on people like that?"

"Sorry, I just thought you were lost. I could help you. I been lost down here for years. I know every nook and cranny there is." The fighter/mages suspicions went up right away. How odd it was that they were lost and this guy showed up to help them. She casted a detect evil spell on the guy. She did not feel a thing. This was really odd. Maybe there was too much evil to detect. "Well, what will it be?" The group shrugged. "Oh, OK, I want to find Corabon. When I find them, I am going to give him a piece of my mind." Corabon 2 smiled evilly. "Then by all means, I know where his hideout is."

"I am sure you do." quipped Allie.

Their guide led them directly to a door down the hall. "Here we are."

"This is it?" cried the fighter/mage. The guide opened the door for them and let them pass before closing the door. Once in the room, he turned back into his god form. "Two of them!" shouted Allie. "I knew this was a trick!"

"No, we are just a fig Newton of your imagination." The original Corabon sauntered up to the group. "Well it is about time you got here. I got impatient. Well shall we play another game?"

"What game is that?" asked Stephanie timidly. All around them game show music started up. Little tools and a counter with hand buzzers appeared from under them. Ropes appearing out of nowhere tied them up. Corabon stepped out in a suit and tie with another scantly clad girl following behind him. A booth full of Corabons lackey sat in as audience members. "Welcome to Pantheon Feud! Todays guests are: She is the follower of my sister. She is the leader of this pathetic little party who is trying to kill me. Lets hear it for Alllltheia." Applause and clapping came from the audience. The party emotions went from trying to get out to looking around confused. "Shes an elven mage. She lives long walks on the beach. She likes nature and long, lengthy, romance novels in her spare time. Lets hear it for Stephanie. Next, we have Tristan. It is just like all the novels except it is the female who doesnt know who has the crush on her. He likes sunlight, living free, and fantasizing about Altheia." The bard turned crimson and tried to hide his face. Altheia turned as crimson as the bard. "What! You fantasize about me?" The dark god smiled at the Nino Oro girls discomfort. "He has some juicy ones too." She gave both of them an evil look. "Anyway,, moving on, lastly, we have a classic wizard human He likes the color green, reading magic, and is the first in the wizard student exchange program. Lets here it for Mithrull. Todays prize is where such person you are searching for is hiding. Now remember, you only get points for answers I like and not whether or not they are correct. If I dont like the answer you give, you will all receive little electric shocks. Lets begin. My lovely assistant will hand me the first category." A little female servant creature walked up to the dark god and handed him a folded card. "OK, first question is... The reason you are here is..." Mithrull was the first to buzz in. (zzzzzzz) "Because you are a vain jerk?"

"Well, lets see. Survey Says..." From out of nowhere a board appeared with a X and a buzzing noise. "Oh, Im so sorry. Thats the wrong answer." He reached over and pushed a button. An electric surge went through the ropes to shock all four contestants. "Anyone else want to guess?" The fighter/mage hit the hand buzzer. (BUZZ) "Could it be to get one of the gems you hold." Corabon turned and faced the board to wait for the answer. "Lets see, judges?" From somewhere came a bell like noise.(Ding!) "Thats answer number 4. I will give you negative 10 points for that one."

"Hey!" they all protested.

"I said I give you points. I didnt say they be positive points. Now who else would like to guess?" The human wizard hit his hand buzzer and buzzed in again. "You want to make our lives a living hell." Once again, the vain god looked at the board. (Ding!) "Thats answer number 2. You are getting closer. I will give you positive 2 points for that answer. Congratulations, you are now up to negative eight points. Any other guesses?" This time Tristan had hit his hand buzzer and buzzed in. (Buzz) "Oh, I had the answer. I just forgot it though. What is the answer. Er..." Corabon took out a pocketwatch and started to swing it back and forth. "Tick, tock, tick, tock, time is running out. I am growing impatient."

"OK, OK, I remember now," replied the bard. "Is the reason because you are cool?"

"Gods, he IS as vain as everyone said he is." realized the fighter/mage. Mithrull looked around the room at all the content. This room looked like a throne except about half the size. Along the walls, stood statues of the dark god. In the center stood mirrors in a semi-circle. They were at the other end of the room where the game was set up and the audience off to the left of them. Behind them and to the right of the game board sat the gods throne. It was all black with red velvet cushions. "Thank you, master of the obvious." the wizard replied.

"OK, OK, we are wasting time." interjected the god. "Survey Says...(Ding) That was the number one answer! Congratulations! You get to chose from curtain number one or what is behind the mystery door. "I say we take the mystery door!" shouted the bard. The fighter/mage shouted back, "I think you are letting your hormones do the talking!"

"What do you mean by that?" The bard gave her a confused, false smile. The god started to really lose his patience. "Tick, tock, tick, tock, the mouse went up the clock. Would you like me to make the choice for you?" The bard got a terrified expression on his face. "For the love of Lyndra, no!" Corabon steadily grew bigger and taller, shouting "Dont you ever mention my sisters name in my presence. Do you understand?" The group shrank back considerably from the god. "OK, I think we should handle this like adults." the fighter/mage replied.

"Oh you mean Altheia and I should make sweet passionate love?" sputtered the bard. "Oh, did I say that aloud?" He blushed a deep red. The girl gave him a swift, kick in the pants. In minutes, the girl had him in a wrestling hold and Corabon tried to break it up. However, he had a better idea. He disguised himself as the human wizard, Mithrull and kissed the elven mage long and passionately. Stephanies body responded and returned the kiss back just as passionately. "I chose the mystery door." the fake Mithrull whispered to the girl.

"OK." She headed to the mystery door while the others fought in the ring. "Hey guys, Stephanie is heading towards the mystery door!" cried the Nino Oro girl. They followed Stephanie as she opened the mystery door when the fake Mithrull led her there. She opened it as everyone passed through and then the door slammed behind them.

Through the door they went into a giant maze where a life-size statue of the dark god, Corabon stood holding a sign that read: You must be as tall as the God of Mischief to navigate this dungeon. Altheia used her telekinesis to pick up the cardboard statue and smashed it to the ground. She grabbed the Nino Oro bard by the collar and shouted, "OK, hormone boy, if you ever want to get anywhere with me you will burn that." The bard used his light spell to set it on fire. The statue jumped out of the way and dodged in slow motion the burst of flame. The flame bounced off the wall and boomeranged back at the party. The group scattered in all directions but the flame had caught on the wizards robe. He hopped up and down shouting, "Put it out! Put it out now!" The servant girl ran up with a bucket of water, threw it on the wizard extinguishing the flame. She smiled, giggled hysterically, then ran off and out of sight. Mithrull drenched from head to toe, damp hair hung in his eyes, had not failed to notice the servant girl running out. "Stephanie, why cant you wear something like that?" he asked as a mischievous smile spread across his lips. The elven mage formed a fireball in her hand and threw it at him. "You want to be hot and bothered, try this on for a size." She threw a series of six fireballs at the wizard which he tried desperately to escape leading them further into the maze. "I said I was sorry!"

"You really mean that?" She continued to use him as a target and threw fireballs at his head.

"No." He shook his head meaning yes.

Finally they stopped fighting and reached the first door. This door was not locked and it opened easily enough. In front of them were two staircases going up and sideways. Tristan headed for the sideways staircase. "Lets go sideways because it has never been done before." He ran straight on into wall. Altheia muttered under her breath, "Moron." Just then the dark god walked by with his servant girl right into the picture of the staircase and waved to Stephanie. "Hi, honey." She threw fireballs at the picture blowing it up into smoke.

When the smoke cleared, a gigantic golem picture towered over them. Then the whole area started to rattle. The room turned upside down so now the ceiling was the floor and the floor was the ceiling. The elven magess replied, "Guys, we are on the ceiling." Then they all went unconscious.

The next thing that had happened was a rustling noise of wind waking them up. Unnoticed by our party, they all had different outfits on. Stephanie was dressed in a black bikini top with a long black cape and belly dancer dress with little plastic wings sticking out of her back, complete with a baseball cap. The cap had a little picture of Corabon smiling with the words: Have a nice afterlife. On the bottom, she wore black silk panties with a long, black skirt with silver lining. Mithrull wore a black, silk robe like Corabon. In fact, he was the spitting image of the dark god. Tristan wore a simple loincloth with the smiling face of Corabon on the front. The Nino Oro girl wore a T-shirt and blue jeans with the words: Im With Stupids! on the front. She looked around and noticed everyone, including herself lying on the ceiling. Then she felt a rush of pain go to her head. "Owie! Where the hell are we?" In front of her she can see a map. As she examined the map, she noticed a blinking red dot with the words: You are here. On the map had various choices: Corabon screwed party over, Game show, Annoy cute elven mage, Easy way to get girl, Wrong Way To Get Girl- Turn house upside down, Fool stupid bard, Hide their clothes. The plan finally dawned on her. "Guys, I think we been duped." The human wizard shouted back, "Thank you Mistress of the Obvious." She got offended and replied back, "Dont look at me. Its Stephanies fault we are in this mess!" The magess turned red and shouted back, "I was only following Mithrull."

"Say what?" asked the wizard. She turned to him, her face full of red blotches of anger. "You kissed me then led me in here."

"I did not kiss you. It must have been someone else."

"Then who did?" They all looked at the bard. He looked back at them with a confused expression on his face. "Dont look at me. I didnt kiss her." The mage looked over at the fighter/mage. "Hey, it wasnt me. You are not my type. The Nino Oro girl looked over at the wizard. Mithrull, you changed your appearance." The human wizard had not noticed his new attire. "What are you talking about?" She summoned a mirror and held it in front of him. "Take a look for yourself." He held the mirror and peered in. What he saw was not his own face but something more frightening. A loud scream was heard throughout the maze. "AAAH! That little bastard!" He looked over at the mage. "Hey Steph, I like the outfit." The elven mage ripped the mirror out of his hands and screamed ten times as loud as the wizard. "You did this to me!" He looked back at her innocently. "No I didnt." They all looked over at the bard. Altheia smiled because she remembered how the bard had been dressed when she first met him. "Hey Tris, a little drafty, isnt it?" He looked down at what he was now wearing and immediately wished for some clothes.

They heard a voice and the floating head of the dark god once more appeared. "By that way, I heard that little comment. What, you dont WANT to look like me? Im insulted. I did you a favor by dressing your girl up in my servant girls outfit. You did say you wanted to know what she looked like in it. You dont like my gift? Just tell me yes or no." The wizard spoke up, "I do enjoy your work on Steph but I dont enjoy looking like you." The floating heads expression turned to sadness. "What, you dont want to look like the most handsome god in the pantheon? Thats fine. I hope she really likes you or else you will be really hurt." The elven mage aimed a fireball at the wizard for the comment about her outfit, however, it missed and hit the floating head. The head clapped his hands twice and the head faded out along with the wizards clothing. The wizard now dangled from the ceiling naked. The elven mage looked over at him and replied, "Ooh-la-la, nice hardware." She then heard the voice of the head say, "So do you like your revenge?" She smiled an evil, demonic smile. "Revenge is sweet."

"Yes, very true, revenge is sweet but do you believe in equal opportunity?" She considered the voices proposal. "What did you have in mind?" The voice smiled evilly and snapped his fingers. The magess looked down to see she no longer was wearing her servant outfit. In fact, we wasnt wearing anything at all. They heard snapping of fingers again and now the wizard and magess had switched bodies. Finally the idea had fully sunk into the mind of the magess. At the realization of this fact, she let out an ear-piercing scream. She glared at the wizard.

Suddenly everything went right side up. A great big, thud was heard as they all fell from the ceiling. The magess fell right on top of the wizard in a compromising sort of position. "So this is what it took to get me on top." remarked the wizards voice. The magess realized where she had wound up and screamed, "What the hell is going on!" The servant girl entered the maze, handed over an advertisement to them and said, "Would you like me to marry you two?" They stared at each other, stared at her and said in unison, "Say what?" The servant repeated her offer. "I can easily marry you and I see you are already in position for the honeymoon." The wizard thought about the prospects of the offer. "Do I get sex?" The servant girl replied. "Of course, youre married." The wizard did not hesitate. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" The servant girl turned to Stephanie. "Then do you take this wizard to be your husband?" Stephanie thought it over. It was a big decision, one that would affect the rest of her life. She really wanted to be Mithrulls wife but not by the cleric of Corabon. "I will but only if someone else marries us." The servant girl smiled and another servant girl appeared in front of them. "Ill marry you." By this time Altheia had grown impatient. "Guys, we have a mission here. I dont particularly want to spend the rest of my life down here!" She pulled the so called newly-weds apart from each other. "Get up and lets get going!" The servant girl walked over to Mithrull and showed him all the goodies he got with the honeymoon.

The nice honeymoon suite had a very comfortable waterbed with angel statues at the foot of the foot. Black satin sheets were on the bed with silk curtains surrounding it. The table was set for two with lit candles and in the center sat a large pie. The wizards eyes gleamed at all the goodies he saw. "I like pie." He ran towards the door of the honeymoon suite but he was intercepted by the Nino Oro girl. "Listen to me. You do not want to go into that room. We have a mission to finish. If you want to marry Stephanie, thats fine but wait until after our assignment." She used her power of empathy and removed his over zealous emotions of sex that had overtaken him. "Snap out of it!" She had slapped the wizard across the face to bring him back to his senses.

Altheias screaming scattered the glass maze into a thousand pieces. Corabon clenched his hands into fists and threw them into the air while pacing back and forth. "You do realize you just destroyed fifty thousand dollars worth of equipment!" In place of the maze was a dark room with a throne. On the throne, a man with golden eyes sat completely covered in darkness. The real Corabon had disappeared and in his place stood the Corabon copy with a spotlight over his head. "Hey Corabon!" yelled Altheia. "Since we are going to die how about a last request?" She realized she had the Death by Donut in her backpack and pulled it out. "Fine, I guess I will give you one last request before I send you into a virtual hell in which you will be entertaining me for the rest of eternity." She held out the donut. "Go ahead, take it or are you afraid?" Thrown off by the offer, the vain god took the pastry. He snatched the pastry from the girl and devoured it in such a way that the chocolate goodness splattered all over the heroes. The chocolate pastry started to take affect right away. The chocolate filling, because of its magical properties had switched the mage and wizard back into their right bodies.

Meanwhile, the Corabon copy called Corin started to convulse, shake, then it shrank into a miniature version of himself as chibi. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. I will get you for this!" The golden-skinned girl smiled at the mini chibi. Oh, by the way, you are now mortal. Have a nice life." She gave him her most charming smile.

Mithrull walked over to Stephanie and hugged her tightly, his hands placed in certain positions. "So, can we go to bed now?" Her temper boiled. "You are an annoying little pervert! Thats it you asked for it! First, you look at other girls, then you dress me up in little, skimpy clothes, then we end up in each others bodies. Now you want to go to bed with me? I had enough!" Her eyes went a fiery white. The chibi Corin hit a button by the throne in which it moved aside. He ran under the passage and out of sight.

This was not the way the Nino Oro girl wanted to complete the mission. She had passed the boiling point a long while back. She ran out with the other party members in tow. Stephanie stood and started to charge up. Flames circled around her body, her hands encircled in flames. Fiery wings appeared out of her back while red, green, and black dragons encircled around her in the air. She floated in mid air and clapped her hands. "What the earth can not handle. What the Abode of Death can not withstand. Guide my rage from the heavens onto the land. Hell has no rage like a womans scorn!" Her hands folded, she lifted her head back, fell into the ground and disappeared. She reappeared, screamed madly and a blast of waves of fire shot towards the fortress and within seconds the once great fortress was now ash. The Nino Oro girl had watched this outburst of fire and she did not look happy. "Hey Steph, that was nice and all but you just burned down our gemstones." The servant girl appeared wearing a necklace. She walked over to the wizard and snuggled up to him. "Hey, how would you like a gift?" The human wizards eyes gleamed, "Sure." She handed him her necklace with a black gemstone. "Here, you can have it. You must promise me one thing. You must summon me after said mission so we can play." Mithrull took the gemstone in his hands. The elven mage coughed and gave the human wizard the evil eye. "How would you like to be a Mithrull mush?"

"No gem for you."

"What do you mean no gem!" The golden-skinned girl summoned the black gemstone into her hand, breaking it from the necklace. It is now mine. I am tired of this place. You will cope and move on for such is the way of things."

A scream shattered the air coming from the sky. A black-haired, blue-eyed woman headed for the ground at rapid speed. Out of thin air, Devon drove up in a white Mercedes with fuzzy, pink dice dangling from the mirror. The girl landed safely in the seat next to him. "Hey honey. Thanks dudes!" He tossed his yellow gemstone in the shape of a quarter into the air. One side had a picture of the handsome sun god. On the other side were the words: In Devon We Trust. Altheia caught the gemstone and placed both the black and yellow gemstones into her backpack as the Mercedes drove out of sight. The real Corabon stood enclosed in darkness. He just stared at the wizard. "It is done. You have your wish. Every woman is now your obsession and Stephanie is your desire. Have fun!" Unknown to the heroes, Altheia now had Lightning, Mithrull had Spirit Smite, Stephanie already had firestarter thanks to the god, and Tristan had Levitate to the fullest extent of their new powers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avalon

Avalon Publication(June 2002)