Chapter Ten hath arriveth! And all that good stuff.

I know you're happy. Don't lie.

Haha just kidding! I really have nothing else to say, except this:

EEEEEEEMANGSHFJHGFHFRMNUFEJH! AI YAI YAI YAI YAI YAI!

Now that that's been said…

I present to you… Chapter 10.200050409438382288½!

"I can't believe this!" Sirius yelled, jumping on his bed. "This is bloody awesome!"

"They gave you too much coffee," Liz muttered darkly, sitting cross-legged on her own bed. Christian, Allison and Mary were sitting on her bed as well.

You may be wondering when Sirius got a bed, and who on earth (…or… Northern Icaea) gave him caffeine, for God's sake. Who would be thick enough to give Sirius anything that would increase his massive amount of hyperactivity?

But… (Psycho theme start now)

Even worse…

They had given Mary coffee too! AAAAH!

But then Liz and Remus had drugged her using this weird intoxicating fruit that was in fruit bowls that were all over the room. The effect had basically brought her back to neutral.

Yes, I am aware of how confused you are right now. Let me explain.

After Kzalor Bythaes had given each and every student a heart attack (by telling them that they were the 'chosen' or whatever), his guard people had escorted them― escorted! No lethal weapons pointed at them― to a beautifully furnished room. It truly was amazing. First they had been treated like the innards of a chipmunk, and suddenly here they were, being looked upon as honored guests.

The nine beds were arranged in a circular shape in which all of the heads of the beds were pointed towards the middle of the circle. By each bed was a small nightstand bearing a wooden bowl laden with fruit and a small candle. In the middle of the circle of beds was another table, which bore only a single piece of parchment. None of the students had touched it yet, as Kzalor Bythaes had not given them specific instructions as to what to do with it.

The entire room was a circular shape; large, with burning sconces on the wall every few feet. Green and gold tapestries hung from the walls, but these were not made of hair. Nor was anything else in the room. It seemed that the Kzlaor had taken into account the students' preference for materials other than hair. The high ceiling made the room a bit echoey.

Sirius was still jumping on his bed and screaming about how it was bloody awesome. "I love this! King Bythaes really did a bloody good job!"

James answered, "I 'gree, mate!"

Meanwhile, the girls were having a discussion of their own.

"This place makes me a little nervous," Christian said slowly. "No windows, only two doors― one of which only has chamber pots behind it―" For indeed, there were no windows in the room. Only two doors were present. One led to the hall. The other led to a room with many shelves, all of which contained extremely fancy, jewel-encrusted chamber pots.

"Same here," Mary said. "Makes me a little nervous… Makes me wonder exactly why they're keeping us here…"

The four girls sat in silence, thinking.

"But now can I pllleeeaaasse go jump on the bed?" Mary broke in, still slightly hyper. Well, more hyper than usual, anyway.

Three simultaneous "NO!'s" came at her.

"OK, OK! YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL! THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO NEED FOR YELLING IN THIS SITUATION!"

"So why are you yelling?"

"BECAUSE I LIKE TOOOOOOOOOO!" And with that mad declaration of complete insanity, she sprang up and ran over to where Sirius was still jumping on the bed, and pushed him off. When he hit the floor, she laughed maniacally, then started to jump. (Not on Sirius, on the bed.) Sirius proceeded to begin a war that involved shoving the other person off of the bed, then getting back up and getting thrown off again.

The three somewhat more (but not really) sane girls stared in amazement, wondering how anyone could be so amazingly hyper, then turned back to their conversation. However, they didn't really have much more to say, and so sat there in silence.

After about six minutes of just sitting there, Liz stood up on her bed without a word. She jumped from bed to bed over to where Sirius and Mary were attempting to kill each other, and immediately joined in the fight. Sirius and Mary stared at her for a second, surprised that she would participate in such an immature activity, but quickly got over it and started trying to kill her too.

Christian looked at Allie.

"She's cracked."

"Knew it was gonna get to her sometime or other."

"Oh Merlin. She's cracked."

Aidan, who had been sitting as far away as possible from everyone, shook his head.

Liz, however, was having fun. She didn't care. She picked up a pillow― gasp!― and hit Mary over the head with it. She then screamed at the top of her lungs, "MY NAME IS INIGO MONTOYA! YOU KILLED MY FATHER! PREPARE TO DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!" An all-out pillow fight began. James and Christian jumped right in. Allison was a little more hesitant― God knows someone could die in a pillow fight with this bunch― but she finally realized that she didn't care who died, as long as it wasn't her. Even Remus joined in eventually. The only two who remained by themselves were Aidan (that poopsicle) and Peter.

Naturally, at the exact moment when the pillow fight was at its peak, a guard walked in.

Feathers were flying, pillows were flying, blankets were flying, and, yes, people were flying. It was completely impossible to see, probably due to the fact that the concentration of feathers was higher than the concentration of breathable gases in the air at that moment.

Additionally, nothing could be heard except for the sound of people screaming. Loudly.

And then there's this guard.

He stared, dumbfounded, at the masses of screaming children and feathers. He listened, astounded, to the sounds of people being attacked with pillows screaming. He felt, amazed, for the hilt of his small dagger, tied around his waist, ready to join the fight with an object slightly more lethal than a pillow.

Oh, wait, he thought. Can't do that. Kzalor Bythaes wants them alive.

Except that it was in German and all, you know, but I figured that the language in which I write his thoughts doesn't really matter.

Anyway.

The guard knew he had to find a way to get their attention. So he did what he did best. Well, besides killing people. He yelled.

"ACHTUNG!"

At that exact moment, everything stopped. The feathers that had been suspended in midair floated serenely to the ground. They covered everything.

"Whoa," Sirius said quietly. It was like a freaking winter wonderland. Everything was white, completely obscured by feathers. However, before he could stare in amazement for too long, he breathed a feather up his nose and started sneezing.

The guard paid no attention. Clearing his throat, he proclaimed, "Kzalor Bythaes möchtet sie sehen jetzt." He immediately left.

"Eh?" Sirius asked Christian.

"He said that Kzalor Bythaes wants to see us now."

"Eh."

And indeed, just then, Bythaes entered the room. He took one look at the feather-covered area and burst out laughing. When he finally stopped, after about two minutes, he helped himself to a fruit from one of the bowls and asked, "Hast thou lookest at the parchment yet?"

Liz, although she felt ridiculous covered in feathers, answered, "No."

"I see. Well, make certain that thou do'est so. Thou will'st be fully engaged on the morrow. Remember," he continued, emphasizing this, "Read'st thou it together, and try'st to unlock its meaning." With that, he left.

"Well, that was short and pointless," Sirius said. "Kind of like Peter."

"What did he mean by 'having a busy day tomorrow?'" Allie wondered.

"Nuh-uh, he didn't say that!" Sirius interrupted. "He said 'fully engaged on the morrow.' HE said nothing about being busy or it being tomorrow!" Sirius paused. "AAH! He said 'engaged'! We all have to get married!"

"Sirius, you're an idiot," Mary said matter-of-factly.

"Shut your airhole," said Liz impatiently to Sirius.

"I don't know," Christian said, continuing their conversation from before. "I guess he's gonna put us to work or something."

"I hope we don't have to clean this up," James said forlornly, gesturing to the massive amounts of feathers and pillows.

"If that is the task he assigns us," Aidan said suddenly from the other side of the room, "I can assure you that I will not be participating!"

"Oh, stop being so poopy," Sirius said.

Aidan gave him the evil death stare. Sirius blew a raspberry.

"SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" Mary screamed. There was a sudden silence in the room.

James leaned over to Remus and whispered, "I think I just peed myself."

Remus whispered back, "Ew. Go away."

"Annnnnnnnnnnnyway," Mary continued, "I think we should read the parchment now."

"I second," said Christian and Liz at the same time.

"I third," said Allison.

"I seventeen millionth!" Sirius shouted gleefully.

"Well, in that case…" Mary said. She retrieved the parchment from the table, then unrolled it. Just as she was about to begin reading, Liz said, "Aidan, Peter. Come here. You need to be here with us too." They grudgingly got up from their places by the wall.

Everyone was gathered, sitting on three of the nine beds. Mary began:

"It looks like Kzlaor Bythaes wrote this. It says: 'To our distinguished visitors: Hraldin found'st more than just that one poem in Gyara's archives. This be another poem that may help'st thou. This be the exact parchment on which the poem was found.'"

The parchment writing was fading but readable. It was decorated with pictures of moons and stars, trees and water, runes and the like.

Mary continued, "OK, guys, here's the poem.

"'When the ending of the worlds draws near,
And all hope seems misplaced,
The Nine will come. All must prepare.
So tarry not. Make haste!

The Nine: they need our weapons not!
For they've weapons enough:
Their Powers own: They each wield one.
But first they'll find rebuff.

These powers great must be descried
By the Nine themselves.
So here a list of Powers lies:
Use it, Nine. Fare well.

But ere the Powers be laid out,
You must know where to search.
Lookest thou where jewels may lay,
Or where a hawk might perch.'"

Mary paused. "So… what are we looking for?"

Christian said, "Sounds like we each have a power… we'll know which power is ours by finding something."

Remus asked, "We have to find… what? 'Where jewels might lay, or where a hawk might perch.' What has jewels and a hawk?"

James piped up, "A jewelry box… made of branches!" Pleased with himself, he smiled broadly.

Remus stared at him. "Yeah, James. That's it. Now you can go look for that by yourself."

James crossed his arms and scowled.

"Seriously, does anyone have any ideas?" Remus asked the group.

"I met a falconer once," Mary said randomly. "He was obsessed with his stupid bird. Which, by the way, tried to gnaw my arm off."

"Like the axe murderer under your bed?" Christian asked sardonically. Mary had once had a run-in with an axe murderer who had tried to gnaw her arm off.

"Actually, yes."

"That's it!" Liz said suddenly, jumping up. "That's it! You're exactly right, Merwin!"

"YES!" Mary said happily, and then, "I am?"

"Yes!" Liz said excitedly. "What you said about the falconer-- falcons perch on the falconer's wrist!"

"OH MY GOD, YOU'RE RIGHT!" Mary shouted dramatically. She paused. "I still don't get it."

"And jewels may lay there-- like, if you're wearing a bracelet!"

"OH MY GOD, YOU'RE RIGHT!" Christian, Allie, and Mary all screamed at the same time.

"My ears are bleeding!" complained Sirius.

"You think that's bad, you obviously haven't heard James sing," whispered Remus.

"And-- THE MOON!" Liz shouted again, mostly to herself.

"YAY! THE MOON!" Christian and Mary shouted sarcastically, having no idea what Liz was talking about.

"No, you idiots," Liz said. I completely forgot to tell you guys, but I found a little scar-type thingy on my wrist-- looked a bloody lot like a moon!"

"Oh, I get it," Allison said slowly.

"The way we find out what our… powers… are…" Christian said.

"… Is to look at our wrists!" Mary finished up, happy that she had actually gotten something for once. "I get it. There will be a little… mark or something…"

"We'll have to refer to the poem, also, I assume," Remus said.

"Yes," Liz answered. "First we've got to see what everyone has on their wrists… just go around and say it, I guess…"

"I've got an odd kind of blob-looking thing," Sirius said, peering at his inside left wrist.

"Oh, that's helpful, Sirius," said James sarcastically.

"Well, you see if you can do any bloody better!" Sirius said hotly.

James leaned over. "Looks like… eyes or somethin' to me," he said.

"Yeah, it does," said Remus.

Sirius scowled.

Meanwhile, James had moved on to discerning his. "Mine's a question mark," he said matter-of-factly.

"You sure?" Christian asked.

"Yeah, it's really obvious," James answered.

"Wow! James just used a word with more than two syllables!" exclaimed Remus, acting surprised.

"Shut your face and tell us what you've got on your wrist, Remus."

"Um… lines. Swirly lines."

"Very descriptive."

"Well, that's what it is!" Remus replied indignantly.

"What have you got, guys?" Mary asked, referring to Liz, Christian and Allie.

"I've got a moon, remember?" Liz answered.

"I've got a… blob," Christian said.

"Wow, Christian. That was profound."

"I know. Deep."

"Mine's a… mouth?" Allison said, voice rising in question.

"I have a fish," Mary said. "Sahh-WEET!"

"Wormtail, what do you have?" James asked Peter.

"I have… I have… I have… I have… I… I… I… I… I… I…"

"JUST SPIT IT OUT ALREADY!"

"A cat face!" Peter shrieked, trembling. God only knows why he was trembling.

"Aidan, what do you have?" Liz asked him.

He glanced at his wrist, then answered, "Nothing."

"What? Let me see," Liz said, disbelieving. But just as Aidan had said, there was nothing there.

"OK, finish reading the poem, Merv," Christian said.

Mary cleared her throat and said,

"'First of Powers dire and vast
Is gift of all tongues strange.
Marked only by the mouth of Words,
Revered by king and mage.'"

"Allie, that must be you!" Liz exclaimed. "'Marked only by the mouth of Words…' You have a mouth mark thing…. It's you!"

"So she has the power to…" Sirius began thoughtfully. "Lick people?"

"What?" Christian asked.

"What in Merlin's name are you talking about?" Mary asked.

"Well, it said 'many tongues,' and--" Sirius started.

"It means the ability to speak any language, you idiot," Allison said.

"Hey, that's awesome!" Liz said. "But what's that part about 'revered by king and mage?'"

"It probably just means that even kings envy it, or something," Remus said.

"That is pretty cool," Allison said, smiling distractedly. "I like it." Then to Mary, she said, "Keep reading, Merwin."

"Ahem," Mary began. "The next verse says:

"The power of divinity
Is his with mark of eyes.
Premonitions come. From him
There can be kept no lies."

"It's Sirius!" she burst out. "He has the eyes!"

"Sweet!" said Sirius. "Wait, what can I do?"

"You can apparently get premonitions," said Christian as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Which it kind of was.

"Oooohhhhh," said Sirius.

"I have to admit, that is pretty cool," said Allie.

"Yeah," Remus agreed. "On to the next verse…"

Mary read,

"The one with Lines that twist and flow
Holds wind to his command.
The winds will blow as he desires,
Or spring up from his hand."

"That must be me!" Remus said. "I've got the stupid swirly lines. I can control wind!"

"Lucky," said Sirius.

"Oh, stuff it," said Remus.

Mary cleared her throat and began reading. Everyone listened intently-- no one wanted to miss what his or her power was.

"'One power is flame: steady and bright.
The one with mark on hand
Wields power over light of fire:
To twist to own demand.'"

"Who could that be?" James wondered aloud.

"I don't know, who has a flame mark?" Liz asked.

No one answered.

"Well, whose mark have we not been able to figure out?" Christian asked. After waiting a few seconds, she finally remembered that she didn't know what her own was. "Mine! Maybe that's mine! Look, it-- yeah! It's in the shape of a flame!" And indeed, it was a flame. "That's bloody awesome! Controlling fire. Sounds like I can't create it out of nothing, but I can… like… command it! Go on, Merv!"

Mary continued,

"'The mark of question and query
Discloses who it be
That bears the gift of persuasion,
Aided by subtlety.'"

"It's me!" James said. "I've got a question mark. Now, explain to me what it means…"

"Um, it sounds to me like you have the ability to persuade people-- bend them to your will," Remus said.

"Also, the poem says that you'll be even more persuasive if you're subtle," Allison clarified.

"I don't know how you guys can understand that poem like that…" James muttered under his breath. "All I got was that line about a question mark…"

"That's interesting," Mary said.

"Very," added Liz.

"Good power," they said together to James.

"Now, the next verse goes like this," Mary said.

"'The crescent found in dark'ning sky
Tells who this one might be.
To bring total darkness, or lift the night
And in the dark to see.'"

"That one's obvious," Christian began.

"No, it's really not," James interrupted.

"The crescent in the sky," Christian continued, ignoring James, "Is the moon." And that's on Liz's wrist."

"So she can… make it really dark," Mary said thoughtfully. "Or she can sort of… expand the moonlight, and make it really bright."

"And she can see in the dark," Allison added.

"Liz, that's awesome!" Mary said.

"Seriously!" Christian put in. "You like… control the moonlight!"

"I guess," Liz said, a smile growing on her face. She thought it was cool too.

"The next verse reads:

'Aquatics are this one's prime strength:
Bending water to her will.
It moves wherever she desires
Through air, on ground or hill.'"

Mary paused. "I've got a fish mark, think it could be me?"

"Probably," Liz said. "That would make the most sense."

"Does anything make sense here?" James muttered, but no one heard him.

"So you can do what?" Christian asked. "Basically shape water?"

"I think so."

"That's cool," said Sirius. "And it sounds like you can even move it around in midair, that's neat."

"Yeah!" She was happy.

"Hey, I have a question," Liz said. "Who doesn't know what their power is yet?"

Aidan looked at her. "Me."

"And me!" Peter squeaked.

"OK, just wondering," Liz said. "Keep reading, Merwin, please."

"OK.

'One of the Nine appears to have
No power, good or ill.
However, invisibility
Is his to use at will.'"

"It's Aidan," Liz said. He slowly turned towards her and raised one eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Well, you don't have mark," Liz said. Her stomach had some butterflies in it, but she didn't know why. Trying to ignore them, she swallowed and said to him, "It looks like you don't have a power. But you obviously do. You can become invisible at will."

Aidan looked mildly pleased with this. "Good. Continue reading."

Mary glared at him, offended by his self-chauvinistic tone. But, wanting to find out what Peter's power was, she began reading.

"'The last of Powers Nine is marked
By feline whiskered front.
This one can create a feline stench
Aided by a strong grunt.'"

She immediately burst out laughing, as did the other girls and Remus.

"Why are they laughing?" Sirius asked James, bewildered. "I don't get it!"

Christian managed to gasp out, "Cat… farts!" before dissolving into laughter again.

"What?"

"That's Peter's power," Liz said. "Cat farts!"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah! It says that if he grunts, he'll be able to create a feline stench!"

"Merlin! That would kill off quite a few people!"

"I can't effing believe this! Cat farts!"

Meanwhile, Peter was looking slightly disgruntled. He had, after all, gotten the worst power… if one could call something that they did on a regular basis a power

Once the laughter had died down, the students began to discuss what was going to happen now.

"Well, Bythaes said we'd be busy tomorrow… maybe it has something to do with our powers," Remus said.

"Yeah, and maybe it doesn't, Moony," James said. "I mean, does he even know about our power… thingies?"

"Well, he's the one that gave us the parchment," Liz said.

"So he probably knows about them," Christian concluded.

"Know what I think?" Mary asked.

"Usually," answered Christian.

"Shut up," Mary retorted with a smile. "Seriously, I think we need to practice using our newfound… uh… skills."

"Wow. She actually made sense!" Sirius said in disbelief to no one in particular.

"That's a good idea," said Liz. "I don't think it's too late, do you think we should start now?"

"No time like the present," said Remus.

Everyone stared at him for saying such a 'guidance-counselor'-esque statement.

"What?" he asked. "I saw it on a poster once."

"Let's just begin," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

Author's note: Don't even say it. Detailed, long, and excruciatingly boring, right? And I know my poetry sucks, but… watch me not care.

Sorry. I'll try to do better next time :) I just needed to get their powers out there. Oh yeah, and thanks to laxgoalie for helping me figure out the powers after I lost the list. Reviews are greatly appreciated… duh. Until next chappy…