Salut mes amis! ^_^

(For all who don't know this is French: Hello my friends!)

I saw this in some other fanfics and I think it could be helpful to understand this chapter, just in case:

"speech"

'thoughts'

*mysterious voice in Sam's dreams*

~ triplets speaking mind to mind~

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Chapter 22:                                            Ria's accident

"DANNY! RIA! AARON!" Cori woke up by a furious voice. She blinked and tried to wake up completely. She knew this voice, but she never had heard her scream like that. "Oh, no. Sam. She's angry. The triplets can plan their funerals. I wonder what it is this time."

She jumped out of her bed and quickly got dressed. 'I do not want to fight in my night-gown, and I guess somebody has to hold back Sam.'

She heard some angry screams outside her door and some confused voices asking: "What's the matter?"

When Cori got outside she noticed that Danny was pinned at the wall by a familiar person with ... pink hair? Cori blinked. Then she pressed her palm against her mouth and started to giggle. In front of her Sam was standing in the red pages' uniform with pink hair ready to kill poor Danny.

Next to Cori Bery was leaning at her door- frame with a satisfied look on her face. She once had a little ... rendezvous with some spiders in her bed and was still a bit mad at the triplets.

Feli and Mo were standing next to Bery laughing.

Ria peered out of her room, fright written on her pale face.

Cori couldn't control herself anymore and burst out in laughter.

Meanwhile Danny became really frightened. Sam had started to growl like a wild animal, ready to kill its prey. "Sam? Sam! Oh please calm down! It was just a joke!" Sam growled louder. Danny started to sweat. 'Next time when somebody is shouting my name furiously, I must remember not to open the door. I hope there will be a next time. Oh my gods, she's even too angry to speak.' Danny wanted to look around, wanted to cry for help, but she couldn't move her eyes. Sam's eyes seemed to glow. The green became more intense; the golden spots seemed to glitter. Danny started to tremble.

Suddenly Sam began to speak her voice silent and dangerously calm. "You will take the spell off me. Now."

Danny gulped. "I ... I can't. It's a spell that lasts one day. It can't be taken back..."

Sam growled again and moved her face nearer to Danny's, noses only inches away. "Wrong answer."

Danny shivered. She never heard Sam talk like that. Her voice was deep and dangerous. Suddenly she was thrown at the floor, and she heard her sister yelp. She looked up and saw Ria caught by Sam. She hadn't been careful for one second, and Sam had taken the chance to get her out of her room. She was thrown next to her sister and both looked up at a fuming Sam, who had her arms crossed before her chest and was looking down on them, jaw clenched.

The sisters looked at each other and Danny spoke to her sister, mind to mind. ~ Why don't we fight back? We are two, she is just one.~

Ria shuddered. ~ You can try if you want. Without me.~

Sam frowned and growled again. "Call your brother."

The sisters looked up surprised. "He is a bit far away t..."

"DON'T THINK THAT I'M STUPID!"

The sisters stared at Sam, eyes wide.

"I know you can speak through your Gift to him. I've watched you three. You have the power to create illusions, like that with my hair, and to speak mind to mind. And you are using your Gift to play tricks on people. But you have chosen the wrong victim. I was really patient. But now it's enough. Who do you think I am? How dare you come in my room and manipulate it with your magic. How can you dare use something powerful like magic for such childish tricks?"

Both girls gulped. ~ Oops. We are in trouble. AARON!~

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He was in a dark chamber, deep under his castle. Only few people beside him knew of it. Here he went to get the answers he needed. He couldn't do it very often, because the power he called would kill him, but from time to time it was necessary.

Like now. He needed answers to his questions. He needed the location of the sword and its keeper. He needed it as fast as possible. He had waited for almost seven years now. His men couldn't just search the whole world. That way he wouldn't get the sword back in this millennium, not to speak about this lifetime.

He sighed and took a dagger, cutting the palm of his left hand.

"I call you, dark forces, obey me. Show me the way, show me the time, show me the place. I called you, you obey me, show me. Show me my deepest desire. Take my soul and show me my birthright."

His blood dropped in a bowl and mixed with the strange liquid in there. The man took a candle and enflamed the mixture. The dust reached his nostrils and he went into a trance.

"Show me. Show me the sword. Show me the keeper. Show me where they hide. SHOW ME!"

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The boys were already at the fighting yards, practising the moves Sam showed them the day before. She was a very strict teacher. Every movement had to be perfect. It seemed almost religious to her.

They made some test fights. Lachran against Milan, Robert against Nat and Quentin against Aaron.

Suddenly Aaron went pale. "Holy shit! We are dead."

The other boys stopped immediately, looking confused at him.

Nat raised his eyebrows. "What? Who is dead?"

Aaron gulped. "Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to play tricks on HER."

Lachran sighed. "Fine, boy, what have you done?"

Robert looked at the guilty face of the younger page. "Wait a minute. That's strange. Why are you thinking of this being a mistake at this moment? I mean, you haven't even seen her yet. You don't know how mad she is."

Nat frowned. He remembered something Sam had told him once. "Aaron. Did your sisters tell you something?"

The other boys looked surprised at him.

Milan shook his head. "Nat. They aren't here yet. They haven't met him..."

Nat smirked. "Sam told me something before she lost her magic. She said that she can feel everybody's special aura, that's why she always knows to whom of the triplets she is actually speaking, but there must be more, because she still knows it. And she told me that the triplets shared a deep bond to each other, mentally and magically, and that it would be possible that they could speak mind to mind to each other with time. And according to Aaron's sudden mood change they have achieved this goal. I think his sisters have called for help, or something like that. I know how furious Sam can get when she is really pissed. Better go boy, and fix it quickly. You are still recovering from her last outburst."

Aaron went even paler than before and ran to his sisters.

The other boys just stared at Nat.

Robert went towards him and took a better look. "First of all: Who are you and where have you hid Nat?"

Nat frowned at him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Robert simply stared at him. "That was the longest speech you gave to someone who was not Sam."

Nat rolled his eyes. "Sorry I confused you. I promise I will never do it again."

Quickly Lachran joined the conversation. "No, no, it's fine. You can talk as much as you want Nat. Really! We don't mind at all." He stopped when he noticed Nat staring oddly at him. "Hmmm. Can anybody help me? I'm just making a fool of myself, aren't I?"

Nat closed his eyes and shook his head. 'I told Sam that it was a bad idea. I knew they would act strange when I changed my behavior towards them.'

Quentin cleared his throat. "How can you be that sure that they really talk mind to mind."

Nat opened his eyes and gave him a tired look. "I'm used to watching people. And when three people act like they are having a conversation without saying a word, and when these three people are little mages sharing a strong bond, it is the an obvious conclusion. By the way, I didn't really know it, I more guessed. Aaron has betrayed himself by admitting it to me."

"Remind me never to play cards with you." Quentin shook his head. "That explains a lot. That's why they never get caught. They warn each other magically. Not bad. Really not bad."

The boys shook their heads.

Nat looked at them and sighed. "Okay, who wants to see Sam beating some sense into those three? I'm going to watch the show. It could be amusing. By the way I'm interested in the trick they played this time. Must be something huge." He turned around and left the boys behind.

Milan blinked surprised and whispered to Lachran. "I don't get it. It was scary enough when he started to talk with us at all, but now we are having something you can call a whole conversation. Normally he only talks to Sam. Do you remember before she arrived he hardly spoke whole sentences?  He must be bewitched, a Zombie or something like that."

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Galina started to tremble heavily. She could feel it. He was using the forbidden powers again. He searched for her again.

Quickly she got up from her bed and ran into the sanctuary. She fetched a knife and cut into her left palm.

"I call you, almighty forces of light, help me. Show me the way, show me the time, show me the place. I called you, please help me, show me. Show me the way to protect my kind. My soul is all yours."

Her blood dropped in a crystal bowl and mixed with the white sand in there. The she enflamed it and went into a trance when the smoke reached her nose.

"Help me. Help me hide the sword. Help me hide the keeper. Help me hide them from the darkness. HELP ME!"

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After letting her have some fun with the triplets, Cori and Feli had persuaded Sam to calm down a bit. It had been helpful that the triplets were at least able to fix her hair. Her room was another thing.

"Normally your hair shouldn't had been involved. I can't explain it. Although it is a good trick." Danny shut up when Sam growled at her again. 'I hope she stops acting like a wild beast. It was only a simple joke, damn. But she has to freak out completely. But if she thinks we are done with her, she's wrong.'

Bery seemed disappointed. "Hey! That's not fair. I thought I would see a really good beating, and now ... nothing. That's boring. Come on Sam. I want to see their blood."

The triplets paled and stared at Bery, who smirked at their facial expressions. 'It's fun to make them tremble. I'm starting to like being evil.'

Nat smirked at Bery and said. "I completely agree with you. Come on Sam, you have trained your whole life, you can do better than this."

Sam looked at the two new allies and decided to go with the game. "Do you think so? Now that you mention it, I remember some punches I haven't tried yet on human beings. You know that I like practising on living targets."

The triplets stared at them with shock.

Cori shook her head. "Ts, ts, ts. Really Sam, I didn't think you were that aggressive. But if it helps you, should we hold them for you or do you prefer to hunt them down."

The triplets seemed to be in total shock. Even Cori turned against them.

Sam seemed to think really seriously about that. "Hunting sounds interesting. But I'm still tired from the whole experience with the sand in my bed. Can't we just split them up? You hold one, and the others will run away. But what about the third?"

Bery had a hard time holding back her laughter. The faces of the triplets were priceless.

Aaron looked at his sisters. ~ Something is wrong here. I think they are playing with us.~

Ria frowned and nodded. ~ Yeah! I agree with you. What will we do now?~

Danny grinned lightly. ~ Show them who they are messing up with.~

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He started to become really angry. 'This bitch. She tries to block me again. Damn her. If I get her in my hand I will break the tiny bones off her, one by one.'

He started to concentrate even more, pushing all his power in his spell. "SHOW ME!"

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Ria tried to be as calm as possible. 'Of course it had to be me! Damn siblings! Of course I had to be the youngest of us. And now I'm the stupid one who has to do this to Sam. I am dead. More than dead.'

Silently she opened Sam's door. The pink was still there. It wouldn't vanish till midnight.

'Yeah, great idea. This morning she nearly killed us for colouring her room, now it's evening, she can come back from the library at any minute, and I have to do that stupid joke to her.'

Suddenly Ria froze in the middle of the room. She saw something strange. 'How is this possible? Everything in this room is coloured pink except for this chest there. Why is that?'

She walked towards it and too a better look. 'Strange, no lock.' She tried to open it, but without success. 'Magic, maybe? Hmm. Let's see if little Ria can't handle this.'

She concentrated on her Gift, breathing deep. Than she forced her power on the chest.

Suddenly she felt a pressure slamming her onto the wall. She stared at the chest in horror. It started to glow green. A breathtaking power was building up in the room.

Ria's eyes became wide in shock. 'Oh gods, what have I done?'

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Galina started to grin. 'She is out of danger. I can block him successfully. If nothing special happens he won't be able to find her for ages.'

Suddenly she felt something. Something horrible. "NO! No that can't ... can't be happening. Oh gods, no. They will die. They will all die. This can't be happening."

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Sam was about to finish her math homework. 'Why do I need this? I swear I will...'

Suddenly her head snapped up. 'What the...?'

Then she knew it. 'No! This is impossible.'

She jumped up and ran out of the library, leaving her surprised friends behind without any explanation.

When she arrived at her room she felt it was nearly too late. She pushed the door open and ran into the room. The whole room was glowing dark green now. She saw a frozen Ria sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall.

Her chest was the source of the green light flooding this room. She started to move towards it, kneeling down in front of it and then she put both of her palms on top of it. Immediately she felt the enormous power flooding through her veins. 'I just hope I am not too late.'

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He could feel it. Something powerful was there outside.

'You can try it as much as you want, Priestess. You may hinder me a bit, but when the power increases, you wont be able to stop me.'

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Finally the chest had stopped glowing. Sam was now lying on top of it, breathing heavily.

Ria trembled hard. "S...Sam? Wh...what ....?"

Suddenly Sam's head turned around to face her.

Ria gasped. She had thought she had seen Sam's worst mood in the morning ... but it was nothing compared to now. 'Her eyes are so cold ... so dangerous...'

"Do you know what you've nearly done?" Sam's voice was only a whisper. "You could have destroyed the whole palace."

Ria gasped: "What?"

Sam slowly got up, still staring intensely at her. "This chest is a magic instrument, created to protect the things inside of it. If it is attached by magic, it destroys everything around it. You could have destroyed the whole of Corus because of your actions."

Ria just stared horrified at her.

"Now I have a problem. You are not allowed to know anything about this chest."

Ria blinked at her. "And what will you do? Sam, I can't promise you to keep my mouth shut. If this thing is really as dangerous as you say it has to be taken care of. It is to dangerous for a child like you." The girl's voice trembled.

Sam closed her eyes. She could understand the girl. She would have reacted the same way in her place. Suddenly she felt something happening inside of her ... and she lost the control over her body.

Ria looked confused at Sam, waiting for an answer.

Suddenly the girl opened her eyes. They were glowing deep green. So did her palms. She slowly walked towards her raising her hands.

Ria couldn't move, she could only stare in these inhuman green glowing eyes.

Sam kneeled in front of Ria, raising her hands up to her face. She pressed her palms at the girl's temples. "*Forget!*"

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Galina started to tremble again. 'I ... I can't block him any longer. Samira! Please! Stop it! If you don't stop it, he will know where you are.'

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Ria blinked several times, trying to clear her view.

She raised her aching head and noticed Sam, standing in front of her. She had a strange look on her face.

Ria cursed silently. 'Damn. She caught me. I must have slipped and fell down.' She tried to find out how bad Sam's mood was. "Sam? Hey ... I was just ... em..."

Sam didn't move. "Out."

Ria blinked in shock. "What?"

"OUT!"

The girl jumped up and ran out of the room.

Sam slammed the door behind her. Then she fell on the floor, shaking hard. 'What happened just there? I can't feel any magic in me. Where did it come from?'

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He slowly got up grinning. He looked at a silent figure in a dark corner of the chamber.

"Call the men back. They will get new instructions."

"So you have been successful."

The man grinned even deeper. "Tell them their prey is in the Eastern Lands."

"Of course my lord." The figure left.

'Better than nothing. The Eastern Lands aren't as big as the whole world. Sooner or later the keeper will be betrayed by his actions. My time will come soon.'

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I hope you like it.

I will explain the meaning of the names of my characters in the later chapters. I'm not in the mood today.

One of my favourite teachers died yesterday. Nobody knew he was sick. He was on his way to the doctor and broke down. They couldn't help him anymore. He was a really great teacher. I will miss him.