"So, what's going on?"
I asked Aaron as we walked slowly back the way we came in from. My temper had gone down quite a bit.
"Well, they didn't just wipe your mind with a Neuralyzers so that's good. I convinced them to let you join. Right now they are taking you to the hedge maze from the Goblet of Fire, the one from the Tri-Wizard Cup… Well anyways, they are going to put you through a test as he said. It will test you on strength, speed, reflexes and wit."
I looked down at my feet. I was exhausted still and didn't know what to do. I was still thinking about That Ricky kid. I really wanted to hurt him for threatening my friends.
"Dude I wanted to say this a little while ago but what you did to Ricky was awesome."
I looked up at Aaron who was smiling.
"Yeah what was up with that guy any ways?"
"He was placed second in command a little while ago and ever since then he's been an even bigger douchè. It's about time someone put that pompous ass hole in his place."
Aaron chuckled.
"Say, what did he mean when he said what happens to my friends is up to me?"
I asked after thinking about what he said
"Well it wasn't easy to do, especially with Ricky's stupid ass there. He's always a pain in the ass thinking he so much better than anyone, but I convinced Kyle to let you keep your friends. He didn't tell me what he was going to do with them but Cassidy seem really excited. She was the crazy lookin' chick. She is in charge of making the tests and she loves making new obstacles for the test.
Speaking of the test again, there are some things you must know and that is don't waste your time with too much fighting, got me?"
I grew conserved that I would have to fight something I want ready for and hoping the others were faring better than I was.
"Only fight if you need to and don't cheat. I can't tell what but don't trust your eyes... they might be fooled. Another thing is don't underestimate any of the creatures in the maze. Trust me, when I went through it an evil Barney nearly killed me."
By the time Aaron had finished we had reached the outer walls of the maze. And for the first time Alex spoke. I hadn't really noticed the kid too much. He was nothing like the others. His pale skin and red hair made him look like he didn't go out much though he wore and over sized coat and a long scarf which would say different.
"Um ok, we're here, anything you want before you are told what you have to do?"
It was a quiet voice that had no strength behind it. He didn't look directly at me.
"Actually, I would really like my friends back!"
I snarled a little annoyed. Alex shrunk in as if he was going to be hit. No matter how annoyed I was with Ricky and Kyle I had no real reason to be angry at this kid so I felt bad.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that."
I apologized.
"Um, what?"
He said confused. I could tell this guy was terrified of me. He looked as if he was the person everyone else made fun of, kind of like the kid that no one likes at school. I knew the look because that's what I used to look like.
"I'm sorry for scaring you like that. I'm just kind of stressed, but could I get my friends back?"
Alex looked shocked that I was being nice to him.
"Um, sure, but they will have to go back when I'm done… Ok?"
He mumbled.
"That's fine."
Alex pulled out a remote looking thing and pushed a big green button that made Tyler and Midna appear in front of me. Midna hugged me as she saw me and asked what was going on, so I explained what the situation best I could. Tyler on the other hand was feeling fine because he was at Hogwarts.
"Hey what happened to the room? I was in the middle of eating!"
Tyler said as a noodle poked out of his mouth. He was holding a fork and was obviously enjoying the hospitality. I shook my head and looked back at Alex, who seemed as though he had something to say, but was to shy too say it.
"Um, can I tell you what you have to do now or do you still need more time?"
He asked and I gave him a nodded to proceed. He took out a sheet of paper and began to read it
"Um, ok, let's see… Well, you have to go through this maze to the center like in the movie, but there will be monsters and traps. You will have only an hour and a half to do it. Be very careful, you can be killed. If you get into trouble we will pull you out… if we can.
Now, about your friends. It is the organization's duty to insure the protection of all people. Tyler has agreed to take our test, but there may end up being a problem. There aren't many people who are capable of acquiring our gift, and out of all those people less than half actually are able to obtain it.
You are the only case of an outsider obtaining the gift we have ever seen. You may be able to bring Tyler with you, but since he is unable to leave on his own it would be very reckless and unwise to ask him to rely on others to make sure he gets out alive. The trial just to get our power is nearly impossible.
We have spoken to him about what shall happen to him if he is unable to join you on his own and we have decided he doesn't want to put the burden on you as well. He shall take the trial, but if he is unsuccessful he agreed to have his memories wiped and his powers will be nullified. We are not going to take them away so he will always have them, just in case we need him, but they will only be able to be used in a life threatening situation.
The good news is Midna, not being a human, can stay with you as long as she is under your care and supervision. Kyle says he could hear a great passion in your words that convinced him to let her stay. He did not want to separate you from such a close friend. The catch is she will be hidden in the maze and it's up to you to find her. It must be your loyalty that will let you keep Midna. If you find her and make it to the finish in time, she will be allowed to stay. But if you can't find her she will be sent back to her home forever… Sorry.
If you run out of time you fail. You can use any powers long as they are not teleporting or the ability to walk through walls. Don't go over, under or through the walls, because you will be disqualified. Well, that's just about it so tell me when you are ready to start."
I turned to Tyler and Midna who both had become very serious and seemed focused.
"But Tyler, what will happen to you if you don't make it through? I don't know how I will be able to hide my power from you since we are best friends and live with each other."
I said, not wanting to have to keep secrets from him again.
"Um yes, well, about that. Kyle has arranged for Tyler to get his own home. He will be able to own his own home and live how he wants. Kyle says he will make it so Tyler has no trouble living on his own so you won't have to worry about him."
Alex said shrugging his shoulders.
"Thanks a lot. Stuart, come on you're talking like I failed in the trial already. I'll be fine, you know I will."
Tyler said as he started to smile.
"Even if I do fail, it's not like I'm leaving you as a friend. Think of it this way. You won't have to worry about me getting hurt now. Just make sure you win and save Midna. Leave the trial to me."
He said as he patted my back. I looked at Tyler and forced a smile. I felt a little better that Tyler was able to choose for himself. I couldn't let him down. But I was never good with mazes.
"You got it. But I have no idea of how I will get through this maze. Do you guys have any?"
I asked, worried about the time limit and trying not to think of how Tyler might not be able to stay as my sidekick slash partner. Midna, who usually came up with the good ideas, simply shrugged.
"Actually, I think I do."
Tyler said as he reached on to the backside of his belt, pulling a little black box from it and handing it to me.
"You can use this to find Midna and the way out."
Though I tease Tyler for being a goof like me, he has a really good idea every now and then. He handed the small box to me and I suddenly saw what it was. It was Captain Jack Sparrow's magic compass.
"Oh my god. Midna look, Tyler had a good idea for once!"
I beamed, suddenly regaining my confidence.
"For once? What's that suppose to me?"
Tyler said angrily.
"You know exactly what it means."
I told him.
"Never mind. Anyways, that's not important. You need to get this over with and find Midna."
He was right. I had what I needed to find my way. The rest was up to my skills, so I decided to tell Alex I was ready.
"Thanks man."
I grinned, holding the compass in my hand.
"Alex, can I stay and see if Stuart makes it before I leave for my test?"
Tyler asked.
"Um, I guess so, but after that you will have to go talk to Kyle and begin your trial, ok?"
He said to Tyler who nodded.
"Um, ok, soon as you walk through the entrance your time starts. But first we have to send Midna to the spot in the maze. But be warned, she is hidden on a very dangerous path. It will take you along the path of one of our worse monsters."
Alex said wincing as if I was going to hit him when he gave me this news.
"Stuart, may the force be with you."
Tyler said with a grin and with that Alex pushed another button making Tyler and Midna disappear.
"Stuart, remember what I told you. Sorry, but I have to go, I know you will do fine, so see you in less than an hour and a half."
Aaron said as he disappeared into a blue puff of smoke. I started for the opening but stopped to hear Alex say,
"Um, Stuart…? Good luck."
I felt bad for him because he obviously had no friends and he seemed to appreciate me being kind, but I had no time to spare a reply. I had passed the entrance way and my time had started. I pulled out the compass and focused on wanting to find the quickest route to Midna. It pointed left and so I followed it, running fast as I could without tiring myself out, turning with every change of the compass.
I was running to fast to be affected my any of the traps like pit falls which I leaped over. A few minutes in and my spider sense went off. I barely missed the spikes that were shooting out of the ground by jumping forward, nearly losing the compass. Lasers, tentacles and turrets all tried to stop me. I chuckled because I was reminded of Data from The Goonies movies line.
"Booby traps…hehe Booby... Accents are funny."
I said to myself tying to lighten my mood before I stood up and saw the spike floor didn't stop coming out and they were catching up with me. They almost seemed to be following the path that led to my friend. I jumped as the last of them shot out, catching my trench coats tail and tearing it.
I sat panting as my venom suit patched the whole back up. I had to watch out for more traps as I went along. I found myself being lead into a small black tunnel that was blocked by what I recognized to be a sphinx. I had fought these in devil may cry and knew how dangerous they could be. They didn't have to touch you to kill you. All they did was ask questions and you had to answer them correctly. If you didn't you die. The worst part was you couldn't kill them. They were one of the few things that would just not die.
"Damn it. Ok, ok what's the riddle I'm in a little bit of a rush."
I said impassionedly. It looked at me for a moment and began to speak.
"I talk, but I do not speak my mind. I hear words, but I do not listen to thoughts. When I wake, all see me. When I sleep, all hear me. Many heads are on my shoulders. Many hands are at my feet. The strongest steel cannot break my visage, but the softest whisper can destroy me. What am I?"
My first instinct was to say you're a sphinx but I knew that wasn't a good idea. I took a little time to think about it and came up with one thing. It was Aaron who actually made me think about it. He was always into theater and once said how he hated having to say what his character was thinking.
"You're an actor?"
I said not knowing if my answer was right, but since I didn't die I guessed I was. The only problem was that the sphinx didn't move.
"A box without hinges key nor lid yet golden treasure inside is hid. Now what am I?"
The sphinx asked but I knew this riddle.
"You're an egg; now get the fuck out of my way."
Either it was me threatening or that just happened to be the last question but the sphinx moved aside. I ran inside of the cave which had the inside size of a stadium. Inside was something that blocked the exit.
"Damn, all these fucking delays."
I complained to myself as I looked at the thing towering over me. I could tell it wasn't friendly because it had the Dark aura, much like the one Duma had, though it was much less intense. Having that same feeling reminded me of what Duma did and how I still needed to get Zephon. I felt the anger flow through me, as I thought about how I had let Zephon escape.
I would take all my anger out on this thing. I might have felt bad for it if I wasn't so pissed because of it. I went into devil trigger mode and walked towards it. It shot tentacles at me from its arm and I cut them away with my claws. It was just like the others. Its size would not help it at all with my speed. It came for me and I let it grab me. I grinned as it drew me up to look at me as it attempted to crush me. I could feel my bones wanting to crack but I didn't mind the pain because I had been through much worse in Devil May Cry.
"Reflega."
I muttered as it prepared to kill me. A ball of light surrounded me and tore apart the hand that gripped me. I fell to the ground along with bits of it hand. It howled in pain as it shot its left hand for me like a knife. I stood there and drew Alastor at the last second, putting it in front of me and making the arm split in two down the center. I was splattered by its thick black blood.
It had become defenseless and it knew it. I wiped the blood off Alastor and put him away. I smiled at it as it stepped back. I then began to cut it until it was in pieces. It made me feel a little better, getting rid of that disgusting monster. I set off for Midna again and I soon heard her calling out to me. She was close. So far, I had not seen any more of the monsters that Aaron and Alex had warned me about.
Then I found her. She was stuck in a force field guarded by what looked like two robotic soldiers from some random anime. They had Achilles printed on their head. They wasted no time attacking me firing there machine guns at me. They had Gatling-Guns on their arms but I managed to avoided most of their attacks. I had to hide behind bushes to let my suit heal me. I ran out of the bushes right at them but when I made a hit with Alastor it barely dented them. Shooting at them just made the bullets bounce back at me. I looked at Midna who was trying to tell me something, but the barrier silenced her. I knew I was wasting too much time then I looked back at Midna who pointed to her ankle.
After seeing this, the name Achilles made so much more sense. I went for the legs of the robotic behemoths. I cut the little bit of exposed circuitry and their legs started to malfunction, not able to keep them up or even let them defend themselves. I touched them with Alastor then unleashed a blast of electricity, frying them. Soon as they stopped moving the shield went down.
"Took ya long enough."
She groaned with her normal smirk.
"Let's go babe."
I said to her as I put her on my back to save time. I was following the compass, now seeing monsters more frequently. Some terrible and gruesome, some almost funny, like the zombie Elmo or the evil Kirby who nearly swallowed my hole. I would have kept running non-stop if it weren't for all the traps. They had classic ones like boulders that nearly fell on us. Then some rather creative ones like invisible webs that would shock you if you ran into them. We found this out because we saw a wear wolf run at us into one of them.
We had been running for at least a half an hour when we hit a problem. The compass pointed through a hedge no matter how many times we ran past. Luckily the answer was given to us in a trap. A jet of flame shot out the opposite way the compass was pointing, making us fall into the bush. But there was nothing there. It was an illusion that led to a rounded area that Tyler had been waiting in. I put Midna down and walked up to Tyler, confused.
"Good job Stuart, you finished."
Tyler said as he walked to me smiling. But something was wrong. Tyler got close to me with his hand out stretched for a hand shake, so I punched him in the face as hard as I could. It sent him into the nearest wall.
"What the hell! That really hurt!"
Tyler moaned as he got back up.
"Shut up you imposter! You're not Tyler and I know it."
I demanded cracking my knuckles.
"What? How could you tell?"
The imposter said as he stood up and gave me a cold look.
"I know Tyler to well. He's my best friend and we never shake hands. We hug like real men and even if you were the real Tyler you wouldn't wine about getting hit. You would just hit me lots more back and harder."
I said shrugging. It was Ricky in disguise.
"I'm glad to be me again. I felt all dirty in that disguise. Can't believe you made it this far. This is the last challenge. You got to go through me in a one on one fight, no weapons or magic, and we fight until one is unable to fight or they give up. I get to show you why I am the best there is."
"That's fine with me. It will give me a chance to pay you back for being such a douche bag."
I said putting my weapons down.
"Come on."
No sooner had he gotten the words out than I had ran straight up to him punching him square in the jaw. But he wasn't out. He came at me swinging doing some kind of martial arts styles that I could barley avoid. I would punch him only to have him twist in a way that my punch would not hurt him at all. He was fast, nearly as fast as me. I had to back up to the hedge then I got an idea. I jumped into the air and he fallowed me without hesitation. He hit me down and landed on the wall of plant and smirked.
"What giving up already? I told you I was the best. Say good bye to that freak of a friend you got there."
He smirked smugly. I could shoot his ass up with some lightning but then Midna would yell at me and he would be right. Instead I laughed as I looked up.
"Why don't you come down and start to actually fight me. None of this kiddy stuff. I'm tired of going easy on you."
He got pissed off and went to jump at me, but something had his feet, making him fall to the ground along with part of the bush. I didn't waste my chance I ran up to him before he could get up and webbed him down. Soon as I finished the barrier went away.
"Ick! What is this crap? Get it off!"
I heard him calling as he lay there. I walked up to him as he lay there struggling leaned over so just he could hear me and said
"I told you not to mess with my friends…bitch!"
Midna and I then walked to the end. We had passed the finishing line to a surprised looking Kyle, Tyler and Aaron. I saw a clock that had nine minutes and thirteen seconds on it.
"We finished."
Midna cheered as she smiled widely.
"We did it!"
Tyler gloated proudly. I stepped in and said.
"Dude, without this compass I would have been lost in that maze for days."
But the victory was bittersweet because Tyler was still going to have to leave for his own training.
"Congratulations! You are now a part of the organization and a deal is a deal. Midna may stay with you, but she won't be considered part of the organization. We will have your indictment in a day or so. I suggest you go home and get some rest, you have earned it. We will come and get you around five o'clock tomorrow."
Kyle said as he nodded in approval and somewhat apologetically, he seemed some hat relieved that this had happen.
"That means Midna can stay, right? You won't send her back to her world?"
"Yes, even though it has never been done before, I will allow her to stay. She seems to keep you under control and I am interested in what will happen. Go talk to Aaron for any other questions you might have."
"You better keep your promise."
I threatened waving a figure at him.
"Don't worry, long as you give me no reason to have her sent away I will allow it. Now Tyler, are you ready for the trials or do you need rest as well?"
Kyle asked Tyler who shook his head.
"Very well then, come with me."
Kyle said to Tyler before they left with barely a nod. Then came Ricky dragged by Aaron because he couldn't get out of my web.
"No fair! The rules said no weapons and no magic."
Ricky complained as he struggled to break free only getting himself more and more tangled in my web.
"Well it's a good thing I didn't use magic then isn't it? What I did was use my web that comes from my body on your feet in the air when you were distracted with trying to beat me down. It's called using your head so… You're dumb."
I said sarcastically.
"Good job. Told you it would be a piece of cake. Now get yourself home like Kyle said, you really could use a break. Follow me back to the door to your home… After I take Ricky here to the castle. Unless you can tell me how I can get rid of this stuff?"
Aaron said as he pulled Ricky along the floor with a sled like thing. I shook my head and said,
"Sorry it is basically indestructible unless you don't mind tearing his flesh off with it and it will just get you stuck if you try to help. It will disintegrate in about an hour. That should give him some time to calm down and think about his bad attitude, don't you think Aaron?"
I could see how angry Ricky was getting. He had gotten his mouth covered by the web and couldn't talk, though no one was complaining. Midna then put her hand on my shoulder and said,
"You gonna be ok without me for a little while? I need to get back home. I've been gone for way to long. My people must be wondering what's taking me so long. I told them I would be back, but I don't want to be gone too much longer."
I shook my head and hugged her before she entered into my shadow. I didn't wanna see her go but she had to. I promised myself never to keep here from home.
"So what is going to happen now?"
I asked, slightly depressed as we walked back to Hogwarts.
"Well, now you're part of us so you will be assigned a job and from what I've seen, you will probably become a hunter like me."
Aaron said as we set Ricky down in front of a man who took him.
"You guys keep using that word Manifest… What does it mean?"
I asked.
"Oh, that will be explained to you tomorrow, but in short the Manifests are the reason for the organization. Remember that Zephon you were talking about?"
I nodded my head and said,
"He's a Manifest?"
Aaron nodded and went on.
"The Manifest are beings who have been created from man's imagination… In a sense."
Aaron said as we reached the magic door.
"Um yeah… We'll see you later."
I said to Aaron as he opened the door for me.
"Later Aaron."
I said. The door closed behind me and sealed up.
"Wow, today has been way too fucking confusing."
I sighed to myself as I lay down in bed.
"See you in the morning."
I called to Midna through my shadow as I went to sleep feeling alone without Midna or Tyler at my house and wondering about what would happen to Tyler.