I did it! I finished chapter 7. It was supposed to be longer, but I
didn't have much time, so I hope you like it. It hints at something I'm
not going to share right now but maybe you'll understand when you read
it but if not don't worry chapter eight will make it more clear...that
is when I get to chapter eight. Enough of my talk, wait! one more
thing!!! I would love to hear some responses. And I want to thank Lyaka
for emails...And everyone should read her story, Daughters of Chronos.
Any way on with the story.


Chapter 7: The First Task

"Order! I SAID order!!!" One of the Elders yelled. The room eventually
hushed. Sky, Aquaria, Crystallia, and Andarian came forward.

"We have made our decision younglings. And that is that you all must
perform tasks to prove that you deserve to be together. If you cannot
prove these things you will be forced to wed as Pearl has decided. At
least for you Crystallia." The Mercury Elder spoke softly but with
daggers of ice that pierced the hearts of the young lovers. The Moon
Elder was scowling, very unhappy with the decision.

Sky found his voice and spoke up. "I have not even proposed to
Crystallia. For then she cannot marry me and no one can tell me to
offer my hand to her. There is a person that I have offered my hand to
and it is not her. I find it hard to comprehend how Pearl can determine
whom I marry nor can my parents, for they are long since dead. I will
perform you tasks, but I see it impossible to force me to marry someone
I don't wish too." He sat down. And Aquaria too spoke up, but she was
in a rage.

"I don't care whether we do the tasks or not! We should marry whom we
chose when we chose them! It is no ones place to tell us who we can or
can't marry! Furthermore, I have no TRUE position in this court and the
Mist Clan holds no Elder here, so indeed I will not marry someone that
is almost a complete stranger to me! That is also my friend's lover! It
is just wrong!" She didn't notice that her feet were now three feet
above the ground, nor would she have cared.

Crysta didn't like this anymore than Aquaria and Sky, so she stood. "If
performing your task will prove that Andarian and I are truly in love I
shall do them, and pass with flying colors. But whether I pass or not,
which I will pass, Aquaria and Skyllan shouldn't suffer from my love's
and my losses. But I wish to start the task, now, for I would like to
wed my love soon."

"So mote it be!" the Moon Elder yelled. Her stormy blue eyes were
proud.

The area around the four young adults changed drastically. Aquaria and
Crystallia were on the edge of a canyon, a very deep one at that. Sky
and Andarian were standing across from them. But instead of the girls
falling over the edge, the ground collapsed under the men's feet. Both
girls lunged for their lover's hand.

"Fly up, love, I can't hold you forever! Come on Sky!" Aquaria was
slipping over the edge now. Crystallia had gone over already. Aquaria
didn't notice.

"I can't Misti! I can't use my magic!!" He sounded desperate. Please
spirits! I can't lose her now! We've just found one another again! A
burst came up from below Sky's feet bringing himself and the other two
lovers up as well. "Did you do that?"

"Heaven's no! There was a geyser, I can't use my magic either else I
would've lifted you out with it," was Aquaria's reply. She pulled into
Sky's arms wrapping hers around him. She laid her head on his breast.
She whispered just loud enough for him to hear, "Loveling, I thought I
was going to lose you." A tear rolled down her cheek onto his shirt.
He held her tighter within her grasp. The other couple was kissing.

"We should start the first task now. I know what it is." Andarian spoke
when he finally broke the kiss with Crysta. With that the wrists of the
opposite lovers became clung to each other. (Aquaria +Andarian,
Crystallia + Skyllan) "We have to help our lover though put with
another. I can't separate my wrist from Aquaria's and you two can't
separate either. First we have to find, in this dratted desert, the
Queen's Oasis. Once there we must find the treasure there. I think
these tasks are just running errands for the court." He added in
disgust. But they pressed on anyway. Each pair of eyes filled with
jealousy.

After hours of walking, the four stumbled upon a small oasis. Aquaria
and Andarian continued on, but Skyllan and Crystallia stopped.

"Misti! Come on! Over here, this is the oasis!" Sky yelled. The sand
seemed to be blowing and his mouth filled with it. The humidity was
squeezing his energy from him. His eyes stung from the bright sun, it
was too bright. Then he saw, what he never wished to see in his life.
Andarian bent down to kiss Aquaria, they both enjoyed the passionate
kiss, holding each other, there wrists were free. Sky boiled inside,
tears streaked his face defiantly. Crysta had also seen this and cried
into Sky's shoulder.

When they ran to catch up with the two, and found they were gone, Sky
believed that Aquaria had teleported. After all, she had teleported
herself and him to her room. That thought made his blood even hotter. I
thought she loved me! It was all a lie! His mind could think of nothing
but her, as much as he hated to. The way he felt when she kissed him.
Or that smile that could make the sickest person very healthy again,
and those eyes…

The oasis, was a mere mirage, and Aquaria saw right through it. She
continued with Andy, the mirage had made to look-a-likes for the other
couple to see. Beads of sweat covered Aquaria's brow, the heat was
getting to her. All her life she had known ice coldness, the desserts
of which she had visited were at most, 80 degrees. Now tossing her
sweat-soaked hair back she noticed something was wrong, terribly wrong.
"Sky!" Aquaria had turned around to see that Sky and Crysta were gone.
She nudged Andy.

"What is it Misti?" He seemed agitated. Neither did very well in
bondage, and this was as much as a prison they could get, separated
from their lovers.

"Crysta and Sky aren't behind us anymore. I don't like this one bit,
they could've gotten hurt. Or…worse," Unlike her lover, she refused to
think that they could have gone off alone for their own purposes, not
only did it not make sense, but he loved her (Aquaria), no one else.
Love, where are you?

Worried as well Andy spoke after that short eternity of silence. "We
should head back, after all, your eyes can see the truth so we should
be able to find them a little easier." She nodded, so they started
back. They continued for hours, but now it was night, and they
should've been to the oasis by now. The uncontrollable heat from
earlier had vanished without a trace leaving iciness to hang in the dry
air.

Aquaria was fine but Andy wasn't, he could handle the dessert heat,
unlike the other three. But he couldn't handle its coldness. Aquaria
found she couldn't help. No I'm not about to do that, he and the others
might get the wrong impression, but I wish I could help somehow. Lying
as far away from him as possible she fell asleep.

Sky and Crysta had stumbled upon the two sleeping. "Should we punish
those treacherous two?" Sky said, forgetting that he loved one of them
more than life itself, denying that if he hurt her he'd spend his whole
life in misery.

Crysta looked horrified, and wiped her eyes, she hadn't noticed the
chilly air yet. But the sweat getting in her eyes stung so she really
had no time to consider. She wiped her brow every few seconds. "NO!"
she screamed, then lowered her tone, "No, I can't, I don't know, I
don't think that was them, they would never. I'm going to lay down
close to them, and that makes it so you have to come as well. I think
we should've trusted them more. It was probably a mirage." She laid
down and drifted to sleep as did Sky.

Please! Dessert don't do this to me! Stop this torture! Her eyes
brimmed with tears. As she touched his skin, it was real enough. A
smile crept onto her face as she caressed his soft blond hair with her
free hand. She leaned down and kissed him. And Sky slowly opened his
eyes, then closed them again letting her kiss envelope him.

How could I ever doubt her? I'm such an idiot to think that mirage was
her, it wasn't nearly as lovely as she is now. His mind filled with
Aquaria. And then all of the sudden with a screech, she was pulled
away.

"Moron! I was in the middle of something!" Sky looked and sat up to see
Aquaria yelling at Andarian, he was cowering.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to…Sky help me out here!" Sky laughed, as Andy
pleaded.

"No way! I was enjoying that!" Sky was grinning. Then he stood up, and
unfortunately, Crysta was still sleeping and he had pulled her up with
him, which left her in a bad mood.

"If you guys could shut up, I could get some sleep around here! And if
YOU didn't happen to be careless I could've gotten on my feet on my
own!" She growled at the three, not a pleasant morning for the ladies.

The four continued on, though not peacefully as hoped. Jealousy was a
constant issue, and the heat of the sun was a cause of bad attitude
for Misti and Sky, that were accustomed to icy weather. But eventually
they found their way to the Queen's Oasis. They drank, but couldn't
bathe, no they wouldn't allow each other to bathe while connected to
the others' lover.

Once night had fallen the three heard a deep voice, not deep as in low,
but a violet kind of voice. Soft, round, wise somehow. It came from the
sky it seemed. The voice was female but at first they only heard
mumbling, then the words became clear. "Your first task young lovers is
to find the Night Chalice. It is to be found deep into the oceans of
Chiron, a moon of Neptune, you shall be transported there by me." And
then they were in water, sinking. Luckily Aquaria seemed to be able to
use her powers over water to bring them to the surface.

"Can…any…of you…guys also use your powers?" Aquaria breathing heavily,
something still held back her magic, and it had taken a lot out of her
to just bring the four to the surface using a wave. "After all we have
to go back in there."

The others concentrated, then Sky spoke. "None of us can."

"We're sorry Aquaria. I just can't" Crysta apologized.

"Well its just not good, I guess I'll have to go down there, with Andy,
like it or no. I can use what powers that this place will let me use to
keep us reasonably alive down there, but right now I'm hungry, and need
some rest. It took a lot out of me just to get us to the surface." She
fainted after saying this, and Sky caught her.

"Poor thing, she's tired. We should all get some rest." Crysta said.
She felt and saw Sky hand Aquaria over to Andy. Noticing the boiling in
his soul and her own, but knowing that there was no way he could carry
her, not with the stupid bond. So she sighed.

The next morning, Aquaria had woken up early and was close enough to
Skyllan that she wouldn't wake Andarian when she kissed him. When she
kissed him gently his touched burned her, she backed away, noticing
that he was now awake.

"What did u do Misti? I felt my lips burn," Sky was confused and then
realized that his Misti had her hands on her lips in an
expression…could it be pain?

"I kissed you." She now looked depressed. *Why can't we just be happy
together? No matter what, we always seem to be separated somehow. * A
tear coursed down Aquaria's face. Then another. Skyllan reached out to
her, his fingers began to burn. She looked at him, suddenly very pissed
off. "NOT ONLY ARE WE BONDED TO SOMEBODY ELSE, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME
TO EVEN TOUCH YOU!!!" Aquaria purposefully jerked Andy up. He wasn't
happy to be woken.

"Why the _hell_ did you do that!!! I was sleeping!" Andy yelled waking
up Crystallia. Now everyone was glaring at Andy, but he didn't back
down.

"We need to go, and unless I'm mistaken, it's better to be conscious
when underwater." Aquaria replied with an icy tone. With that they
left.

The water was icy, something that had not been great for Andarian.
Aquaria seemed to like it well enough. The sea in which they were
swimming wasn't a clear color like most like to think of water as.
Instead it was teal and a deep cerulean, but was still transparent.
There were no fish in this water. But the rainbow colored plants we
shaped in a fashion of once holding life. As they swam deeper they came
to the ocean floor. It was made of crystal, not sand or mud. * Not
surprising, after all this is Neptune. Chiron...sounds familiar. Oh yes,
it was the ocean that once had the palace above it. But some event
made it known as the Ocean of Cruel Death.* Aquaria shuddered thinking
of this. Andarian appeared to be freezing. Aquaria touched his wrist,
it provided him a heated coating that wouldn't allow hypothermia to
touch him. Again her magic worked as it had for their breathing; no air
was needing but the oxygen in the water supplied what they needed to
live.

Then she saw it, a silver cup with jewels blacker than space. She swam
over to it, it seemed it wouldn't budge. It was meant to stay there.
The waters became restless. Slamming Aquaria this way and that. But
that was after she had taken the Night Chalice. Simple enough, she
thought while blasting herself and Andarian to the surface. What she
didn't know was that this sudden restless of waters was destroying the
land above.

As they surfaced Sky and Crysta were falling into a closing crack.
Racing to them both man and woman grabbed their love. As they tried to
pull them out a force slammed all four into a marble wall.

"You have completed your first task. Now you must brave the heat of the
sun, as you get the Sword of Lorul."