Nope, still not my characters, not counting Phyllis and co.

The next morning, Asterix and Obelix woke with the delicious smell of eggs and bacon tickling their noses. As usual, Obelix needed some more time to get out of his 'snooze mode', so Asterix was down first, walking over to the fireplace were Phyllis seemed to be preparing breakfast for all of them.

"You didn't need to get up for that. You could probably use some extra sleep."

"It's not that early," Phyllis replied, pointing to the door. It was true, the sun was already high in the sky. "Besides, Bonny woke me up. She never sleeps past sunrise. It has also never failed to annoy me."

Bonny woke her up. So she had known Phyllis would move to the stables during the night. Asterix spotted the blanket, lying neatly folded in a corner. He started setting the table."Why did she wake you?" He thought it was not very sensible of her to do so, Phyllis had looked quite tired yesterday. She looked better now, though there were still slight shadows under her eyes.

"She's worried about my teaching methods…I told her I was not going to teach anything today, that it would be more like a test, but that didn't seem to get her at ease very much."

Asterix thought that is was not a particularly reassuring statement and he could feel why Bonny was not at ease, but he didn't voice those thoughts.

Obelix appeared the moment the food hit the plates, his timing perfect as always when food was concerned. They didn't talk much through breakfast, and Asterix noticed that Phyllis ate a lot more than she had done yesterday. She did not seem nervous at all. Obelix on the other hand, was not up to his usual appetite, and Phyllis did not hesitate to comment on it. "Have some more, you need to be full-strength." "I really doubt that, that will be necessary" Obelix replied, but he did take some more food. He stared at Phyllis, whose attention had already turned to Dogmatix. She tried to feed him some bacon, and after some hesitation, he accepted the treat. Again Asterix noticed that her entire demeanor could change in a matter of seconds, especially when animals where concerned. It made him feel that her distant and at times slightly aggressive behavior was probably a mask, one that could be lifted if they made some effort to make her feel at home.

After breakfast they went to Obelix' quarry, which seemed like the safest spot for a 'power test', as Phyllis kept calling it. People gathered to watch, most at a safe distance, but Asterix and Getafix rather close. He wanted to be able to interfere if things got out of hand. Phyllis and Obelix stood face to face, about 15 meters be apart. Phyllis was dressed in black, with tight pants that reached halfway her calves, simple black shoes, and a black vest with long sleeves that widened towards her hands. Her hear was bound together in a loose braid, revealing her small face. She looked like one of the least impressive opponents Obelix had ever faced, and it was clear Obelix had some second thoughts about the whole idea. He glanced at Asterix every few seconds, not knowing what to do next. Finally Phyllis cleared her throat.

"Right, Mesmeron will never approach you this closely…in a fighting situation," she added when she noticed Asterix was about to protest, "But his minions will. So that's the situation you're facing now. I suggest some form of attack."

"Will those minions not attack me first? Like the normal Romans?" Vitalstatistix had approached Asterix, now whispering in his ear: "Right, because Obelix always waits for normal Romans to attack him first…" Despite the tense situation, Asterix snickered a little. Meanwhile, Phyllis rolled her eyes at both Obelix and Asterix. "If you wish," she said, and she broke into a slow run towards Obelix, one hand stretched in his direction. Obelix watched her approach, quite immobile, and Asterix watched his large friend in anticipation. He did not notice Phyllis' hand suddenly switching direction, pointing right at him. She made a small, quick pulling movement, and a powerful gush of wind hit the back of Asterix knees, making him topple over. It did not hurt, but Obelix stared at him in shock

Phyllis had stopped running. "Poof. I just took down your friend." She narrowed her eyes, "And you did absolutely nothing," she hissed.

It wasn't fair, Asterix thought. As if he would have been casually watching if it had been a real fight. But when he tried to interfere, Phyllis snapped her hand at him and threw him a very warning look.

Obelix looked completely crestfallen for a moment, but it did not last. He soon became furious, partly at himself, partly at the girl in front of him, at which he launched the menhir he had put down moments before. She leapt sidewards, dodging the menhir without much effort, and threw a satisfied smirk in Asterix' direction as she did so. She had managed to tick off Obelix enough to make him ditch courtesies. To make sure he would not regain his calm, she pointed her hand at Dogmatix, causing Obelix to jump at her, and she just nearly avoided his fist. It continued like this for a few moments, with Phyllis pointing her hand at bystanders, or pulling his braids, and Obelix who tried to punch her. She kept dodging him. It was a bit dizzying. Phyllis never tried to actually hit Obelix. Was she aware she could not do him much damage that way?

Soon, Obelix realized that this was not working. And he was furious over her threat to attack little Dogmatix, not to mention Asterix. "Let's see how she feels when it's done to her…" he thought, picking up a small rock, and launching it at Goliath. He made sure it would fly over the horse's head, not hitting her. But the rock never made it to the horse, because it hit an invisible wall, meters before it could pass Goliath. Even so, the horse jumped up a little. He turned back to face Phyllis, whose hand was still outstretched in the direction of the invisible wall. She looked livid. Did he imagine it, or had her eyes darkened a few shades? He had no time to think about it, because she leapt forward, kicking him in the chest. He stumbled back a little, not hurt, but astonished at the force behind her kick. Phyllis eyed him darkly.

It was clear that she could not do him harm empty-handed. Minions would have arms, and she was very tempted to use some right now. But she knew Asterix would meddle if she did. "If I give him time to do so," she added mentally, thinking forward already. She disappeared from sight, reappeared behind Obelix and slashed a just of wind at his knees, much like she did with Asterix, but more powerful. Obelix toppled over, but was back on his feet in an instant.

"You said no illusions!" he yelled at her. He hated foul play.

"I'm not playing your mind, just your sight. It's something Mesmerons' may be able to do as well. And it's not like there will be only on of them. They will not blow you over, but they'll have arms. I'm just making it realistic"

The relaunched in a game of near hits and dodges, which was pointing nowhere. Obelix suddenly got an idea. He glanced sidewards for a moment, raising his eyebrows. Phyllis followed his gaze and stood still long enough for Obelix to punch her shoulder, not full force, but enough to make her fly back and hit one of the village trees so hard it shook, leaves and branches falling down on top of her. She did not move. Obelix started to fear he had overdone it, and slowly walked towards her, losing his guard. The next moment he heard a swishing sound cutting the air, and he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. Blood erupted, sliding down his hand and dripping to the ground. There was a collective gasp from everybody around.

Asterix had seen the malicious glint in Phyllis eyes a second before the small knife cut Obelix arm. He had opened his mouth to warn his friend, but it was too late. Bonny had jumped forward, running towards Obelix, only to smack into thin air, hitting another invisible wall. She did not fall down, but stared at her former friend with something that looked close to rage. However her eyes soon softened and she backed down, if only slightly.

Obelix clutched his arm in disbelief. Phyllis got up, staggering slightly. But she looked unharmed. "No time for mercy when you're fighting Mesmeron, Obelix. If you manage to hit him or his minions once, you don't go looking after him, you hit again. Or deal with the consequences. Which will not be as innocent as they are now."

Asterix had to rethink his earlier assessment of Phyllis. With his mind, he realized how she could probably have hit Obelix worse than this. But how much did it really mean that she didn't? She could not afford to have Obelix seriously injured. And she could just as well have thrown that knife without actually harming him. The point would have been clear either way. The nasty strike was not a mask, it was part of her. It was clear from her glinting eyes that she enjoyed to fight, enjoyed the power she had. Manilla said it was difficult to control these powers, but Phyllis was not struggling with them. She relished them.

Was the fight over? If she had meant to scrape Obelix' arm with the knife, she could as well have thrown it at his heart. Phyllis obviously agreed: "I could have made this a poison tipped knife, I could have aimed for your heart, this fight could have been over. But I don't think you hit me as hard as you could have, so maybe I would not have been able to throw it anymore. One more round?"

Asterix fully expected Obelix to call it a day; this fight was not going to end well if it would last longer. But Obelix just nodded. Later he would explain to Asterix that he had needed to know he could win.

"Ok." Phyllis seemed to think for a moment. "If I can stab your chest, with my hand" she said, eyeing the others, "I win, assuming I have some kind or arm in my hand". If you can hit my head, you win, assuming that a full force blow from you will knock me out completely"

"No need to assume," Asterix thought to himself, "it will." He had experienced amnesia from less than full force.

They started again, a little more careful this time. Not out of regard for the other, but because they had both gotten a good taste of the other ones' power. And because they now had a specific target.

It took another five minutes before Phyllis was the first to nearly reach her goal, diving for one of Obelix' punches, and getting back up so fast she nearly touched his chest, but he retreated and she missed it by no more than a centimeter. Asterix had to give it to his best friend. For someone who had never needed to avoid anything, he learned really quick. The magic potion still him quicker than Phyllis, but she seemed to be able to anticipate Obelix' every move. She was slowly losing this advantage though, and suddenly, while she was spinning on one foot to get away from Obelix as he neared her, his fingers got hold of one of her sleeves. Tugging at it with his fingertips, he got hold of a fistful of black fabric, and he lifted Phyllis up. Her eyes widened as she realized she was caught. Obelix held her still for a moment, and then with a giant swing, flung her right into sky.

Any other person would have screamed if they were launched like that, but Phyllis made no sound as she soared through the air, thinking that this move did not really take her out. Ok, it would, if you had no way to land safely….So maybe Obelix had won. She decided that he had, but it would not hurt to make one last point. She started to fall down, which was quite an uncomfortable sensation, and she regretted her rather voluminous breakfast. Obelix was apparently preparing to catch her. She rolled her eyes. He needed to learn…

She got sight of his menhirs. With a pressing gesture, she made six of them fly upwards, using the same movement to slow her fall. She grinned as Obelix completely forgot her, running to catch the menhirs before they plummeted into the alarmed audience. Good. They also needed to learn to be on their guard. She fell the last three meters, having lost concentration while watching Obelix. So instead of landing next to Asterix like she had planned, she plummeted to the ground. He had made no move to catch her. Fast learner. His blue eyes were now fixed on her. She could tell he was not pleased, but he still offered a hand to help her up, which she accepted. He turned to see if the menhirs were all safe back on the ground. Obelix was balancing the lot of them on his hand, like a giant menhir pyramid.

"What are those things for anyway?" Phyllis asked airily. Asterix flinched, fully prepared to give her a piece of his mind about her teaching methods, but the words died in his throat as he caught sight of her. She had looked fine the entire battle, but now she looked as beaten up as any Roman after meeting Obelix. Her lower lip was split, no longer bleeding, but quite swollen. Her right eye was turning purple, and she had an ugly bump on her forehead. The sleeve that Obelix had gripped was torn of, and she was supporting her right shoulder with her left hand.

"What?" she snapped. "I cannot heal and fight at the same time very well. Besides, Mesmeron or his troops will not be able to do so either."

"But you looked fine moments ago!" "Yeah, well, so I used a little illusion. It did not influence the fight. Looking like this would have make Obelix drop out immediately. He's had a harder time putting Gallic courtesy aside than he wants to show for."

Asterix had already realized that, but he was surprised Phyllis noticed it too. She behaved like she had not the slightest clue of conventions and other people's feelings. Apparently she did notice them though. Obelix neared them, and Asterix instinctively stepped before Phyllis to hide her from his best friends' view. He would feel awful when he saw her like that. Obelix himself looked fine, but he also held his arm, which was still bleeding rather profusely.

"Seems you won," Phyllis piped up from behind Asterix. She looked fine again, and she seemed quite happy to admit defeat. "If you had smacked me to the ground instead of thrown me upwards, I would at the very least have been unconscious. I'm not ungrateful that you didn't, I guess…just keep in mind not to throw people away in a real battle against Mesmeron. You never know how well they will land…."

She turned to Vitalstatistix. "Well if the magic potion can hold me down, it will do its job. Assuming that the fighting skills of the rest of you men are comparable to that of Obelix". Asterix saw how that last comment raised a lot of insecurity among his friends.

"Of course, Mesmerons' most powerful weapon is in his mind games. The healers (she pointed at Manilla and Bonny) can help to protect from them, but that means they will have to shield you from the fight completely. You can never win that way, so you need to be able to resist at least part of his power by yourself."

"It is possible to learn?" Vitalstatistix wondered. "It is. I think dealing with Mesmeron himself should be my part, but that does not mean he will not try to attack your men." She glanced at Asterix.

"Let's get started then," Vitalstatistix said. But Getafix stepped in, placing a firm hand on Phyllis shoulder, making her cringe a little. "That will have to wait until tomorrow, Vitalstatistix, Obelix and Phyllis need to recover first. We can't foresee when the first attack will be, so they should be up for a fight if it comes sooner than expected."

Bonny had moved towards Obelix. "I can heal that arm, but it needs cleaning first." She led him away. "I'm not getting healed by Manilla, I can do it myself" Phyllis hissed at Getafix. "You need to spare your powers," He replied, not leaving room for discussion. "You will be healed by me," he added, just a tiny bit smugly. He looked over his shoulder. "Are you coming, Asterix? I'm taking Miss Phyllis to my hut." Asterix had barely had a chance to talk to Getafix without Manilla around, so he accepted the opportunity with both hands.

Getafix applied some cloths with creamy substance to Phyllis's face, while examining her arm.

"It will be sore tomorrow…." He said thoughtfully. "It' sore already...no need to wait till tomorrow." Phyllis informed him. "But nothing is broken, just strained muscles," Getafix went on, unfazed, "So this should help…." He gave her a steaming mug, which she eyed rather suspiciously.

"It's not that potion you used on the Roman at Melodramas' and Histrionix' village, is it?" Asterix wondered. "Cause if I remember well, it caused memory loss." Phyllis put the cup down at once, and Getafix gave Asterix a somewhat reproachful look. "No it isn't. We would not want have to go through today's events again. It's a simple herbal mixture, though not unpowerful." Phyllis sniffed the cup again, a few times, and seemed to judge it safe to drink, because she started taking small sips.

"I have never seen anyone hold out so long against the magic potion. You truly possess some amazing powers, young lady," Getafix said lightly.

"I'm fairly quick myself, but I learned to use my mental powers to improve certain physical abilities. It is not as easy as taking a potion though, if I lose focus, I get in trouble. And even with full focus, I could not approach Obelix' strength…."

"But the menhirs…." Asterix started "Yeah, that was a once in a day kind of trick….I can't do it twice, it takes a lot of energy…."

She did look tired. Asterix was relieved to see that her face looked a lot better already. Maybe Obelix wouldn't notice. He was not for deceiving his best friend, but Phyllis snide remarks had already put Obelix in a sort of insecure mood, and he did not want to make it worse either.

"Obelix would never have hesitated to attack if I had really been in danger," he said.

"If you say so."

"And it's not like I'm defenseless myself, I can take care of myself."

"….What's your point?"

What did he want to say really? "I'm not sure I'm really into your teaching methods. I mean, you want to check if we stand a chance against Mesmeron, and maybe you've convinced yourself, but I think this little test had the opposite effect for the rest of us. I mean, there is no need to insist on the consequences that a mistake will cause...just focus on what to do to win the battle, rather than trying to frighten people. Fear does not help in battle."

"It helps to tweak you survivor instincts, which I suspect are rather undeveloped if you guys never had trouble winning before. You don't like my teaching methods? I'm just giving you a controlled view of what fighting Mesmeron is like. He's not a straight-forward, honest and easily predictable enemy. So acting like a straight-forward, honest and predictable opponent will cause you to lose. Obelix learnt that today. If you couldn't see that, then maybe you're not the clever one of the pair after all."

Asterix had to bite his tongue to keep his calm. "you won't make much friends acting like that," he said, trying to tackle the subject of her uncharming behavior another way.

"I do not need any friends."

Asterix looked at her intently, and she caught his gaze. She realized she sounded a bit like an angry teenager, but a bad hormonal mixture had nothing to do with her last statement.

"Not before Mesmeron is gone. He has the habit of taking down my friends."

He had wanted to retort, but he had nothing to say to counter that. Getafix had observed their argument in silence. No he handed Phyllis some new cloths. "Take these with you, and apply them again in about an hour. The worst signs of your injuries should be gone by tomorrow."

"Thanks," she replied, getting up. "I'm going to have dinner at your chief's place this evening, and after that I'm heading for the stables. I can really use my sleep if I need to create illusions tomorrow." She left without any official goodbye.

"That was a smooth conversation you had back there, Asterix," Getafix said, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"It's like talking to a wall. A very talkative wall."

"Don't worry about that. It just takes time to seep in. I think she will take you comments into consideration…eventually."

"I just hope she does before the entire village sees her as a threat worse than what she is protecting us from…"