Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.

Kid, Liz, and Patty traversed through the vast Sahara Desert. The sand dunes shifted and snaked as the wind blew through them. The sun laughed joyously in the air above them. In the distance the heat rose steadily, warping the air. They rode on the backs of camels, the animals plodding through the slippery sand easily. Their bodies bobbed up and down in time with their mounts. The trio wore multiple layers of cloth coverings to protect them from the intense beams of the sun. Patty slumped over onto the neck of her camel tiredly.

"Are we there yet?" She asked tiredly.

"The temple is just up ahead Patty." Kid answered without turning around. Indeed, off in the distance the three could spot a large rectangular temple. It was at least three stories tall and decorated in hieroglyphs and statues. The building looked to be made of sandstone and despite its great age was in marvelous condition. As the group came closer, they could make out numerous sphinx statues lining the path to the temple. Tall columns of stone stood beside them, lit atop with great fires. What was most curious however, was the presence of three robed figures standing before the entrance to the temple.

Our trio dismounted from their rides and approached the robed figures carefully. They each wore robes made of white silk and outlined with golden trim. The one in the center spread his arms wide in a gesture of welcome as they approached.

"Welcome honored guests." He spoke warmly. "I am the head priest Hotep. Welcome to the temple of Ra. We have been expecting you." Hotep said with a smile. His head was bald and he had tattoos under his eyes. His face was old but not ancient and he wore a strange necklace with an ankh around his neck.

"How did you know we were coming?" Liz asked curiously. Kid turned and scolded her.

"Liz, these priests are clearly very mystical. They must have many powers beyond our understanding. I'm sure predicting our arrival was a trivial matter for them." Kid reasoned.

"Actually, we figured you would come once we read the newspapers about the attack." Hotep said plainly. A stunned silence filled the space between the groups, broken only by the blowing of the wind.

"Oh…" Kid said disappointed.

"Plus, you aren't the first visitors we've had recently." Hotep explained. Alarm bells rang in Kid's head at this admission. But before he could ask what he meant, Hotep ushered the three of them inside. The group followed behind the priests and into the dark temple. The hallway was lit only by hanging lamps of burning oil. At the end of the passageway, a bright light could be seen. The group reached the blinding light, shielding their eyes from its intensity. They found themselves in a wide and large chamber.

As their eyes adjusted the first thing they noticed was the source of the blinding light. In the roof of the temple, a large circular skylight was built into the ceiling. It let in a column of bright sunlight which illuminated the room. More impressively however, was the large mural adorning the back wall. It spanned the entirety of the large wall. In its center was an image of a man with the head of a falcon standing tall with his feet together. His chest was bare and he wore only a simple waist cloth of white and blue. His arms were outstretched wide, his palms facing the viewer. Behind his arms were a pair of wings stretching out past his hands. The feathers were a brilliant assortment of red, blue, and brown. Atop the man's head was a large orange ball representing the sun. Surrounding the central figure were six men, three on either side, bowing down to the figure. Around the mural were various depictions of animals and nature. Clouds were carved into the sky above. A river ran the length of the wall behind the bird man, teeming with fish, crocodiles, and reeds. The border of the mural was outlined in blue paint and below that were lines of hieroglyphs.

The trio stared at the beautiful artwork in awe. Their eyes could not help but to scan each and every detail. Although the image was in no way realistic, it was incredibly detailed and shone with vibrant colors. It was clearly well maintained, presumably by the priests of the temple. They were so enraptured by the artwork that it took several minutes before Kid finally noticed the other figure in the room. On the right side of the room, kneeling on the ground was the familiar visage of a creature composed of stone and vegetation.

"Pantheon!" Kid exclaimed. Immediately, Liz and Patty turned to recognize the threat and shifted to their weapon forms. Kid pointed his twin pistols sideways at the enemy, prepared to fire a volley. But suddenly, several figures appeared between him and his target. More priests had gathered around the group and five stood between him and the golem, blocking his shot. Kid glanced around in confusion. "What is the meaning of this?" He demanded. Hotep stepped up from behind him, an air of tranquility exuding from him.

"My apologies, Shinigami-sama, but this is a house of worship for all faiths. As such, it is the rule of the temple that no fighting or discrimination is to take place within its walls." Hotep explained calmly. Kid's brow furrowed in anger. "But that is one of our enemies." He cried, pointing at the creature. "He is after the medallion!" He cried. Hotep held a hand up in pause. "Be that as it may, Master Ra's instructions were very clear. They were handed down to us from generation to generation. Any are welcome to try and claim the medallion, but none are permitted to fight within the temple." Hotep explained. "Besides, G has been nothing but respectful since coming here." He said turning around.

Kid's eyes went wide at that. "You know its name? How?" He asked astonished. Hotep smiled simply. "Why G told us of course." He answered simply. Kid turned his attention back to the one known as G. The golem was stock still, kneeling on the floor in a prayer position. Its hands were placed on the ground in front of it. Around it, a circle of candles, herbs, and crystals were arranged in a precise order. The golem made no movements or acknowledgments to the commotion behind it. "So you're telling me that you're going to defend this one? Even though they are trying to destroy the world?" Kid asked incredulously. Hotep shrugged. "We would be willing to sacrifice our very lives to defend this temple and our beliefs." He said with conviction. Kid frowned and turned back to the golem. He ordered Liz and Patty to transform themselves and walked up to G himself.

"Well since you've already communicated with it, surely there would be no harm in me doing the same?" He inquired. Hotep shrugged again and outstretched his arm. "Be my guest." He said. Kid turned back to the creature, still silently praying.

"G was it?" He asked. G made no acknowledgement of Kid's voice. "I want to ask you some questions." He continued. "What is Pantheon's plan?" He asked. But still the golem remained silent and motionless. "Why have you allied yourself with them?" Again, G did not answer. "Who are you? Where did you come from?" He asked insistently. But the golem remained speechless. Kid began to grow frustrated, but he began to realize the futility of his questioning. He wasn't going to get an answer out of this thing.

"What's he even doing?" Liz asked, inspecting the circle. An answer from Hotep grabbed their attention.

"He is undergoing the trial to reach the Medallion of Faith." He answered simply. The weapon sisters looked at Kid for guidance.

"Then that means he's gotten a head start on us. We have to make sure he doesn't get the medallion first." He spoke. Kid approached Hotep. "What is the trial? How do we take it?" He asked insistently. Hotep pointed to the mural.

"The medallion lies behind that wall." He said simply. "Only the truly faithful may open the wall and obtain the medallion." He spoke. Hotep turned back to the three but spoke no more. Kid looked between him and the mural, confounded. "What that's it?" He asked. Hotep nodded sagely.

"But, how are we supposed to get past the wall?" Liz asked.

"That is up to you to decide." He answered cryptically. Kid regarded the mural contemplatively. His elbow rested in his hand and his other hand supported his chin. Patty adopted the same pose, half mocking him and half serious. Liz stood by with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.

"So we have to get past the wall. And the only hint we have is that the 'truly faithful' are the only ones who can open it." He summarized. "Well I guess this should be relatively simple." He spoke and began to approach the mural. "What are you planning to do?" Liz called after him.

"I'm not sure," Kid answered. "But I am a god myself, after all. I'm sure opening this wall will be no challenge." He said confidently as he stood in front of the mural. He stood before the artwork, eyeing it intently for several moments. His hands were placed confidently on his hips. Liz and Patty waited with bated breath for several moments of silence. Finally, Kid spoke up in a soft tone. "This artwork has wonderful symmetry." He observed appreciatively. Liz and Patty flinched dramatically.

"Will you stop with the symmetry for one second and focus on the medallion!" Liz shouted exasperated. Kid rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Right of course." He cleared his throat and addressed the barrier in front of him.

"I am Death the Kid, son of the late Shinigami, and now current reigning Shinigami. As the God of Death, I command this temple in the name of order. Give me the Medallion of Faith!" He yelled authoritatively. The temple fell silent for several seconds. All eyes rested on Kid's back as he stood proud following his declaration. However, after several minutes of silence passed with no indication of anything happening, they all began to believe that Kid's command achieved nothing. Clearing his throat once more he tried again.

"As the lord of death I beseech you, temple of Ra. Allow me access to the Medallion of Faith so that I may safeguard it from evil doers." He called aloud. But still nothing happened. Growing slightly frustrated, Kid tried a different tactic.

"Oh great Ra, god of the sun, ancient one, companion of my father. I humbly request the Medallion of Faith." He spoke from his knees with his hands held in a prayer position. Once more, the hall was silent as Kid's pleading was unanswered. Frustrated Kid stomped his foot. "Why isn't it working?" He demanded. "Liz, Patty come here." He called the sisters over. "Maybe we all need to be doing it." He suggested. At Kids direction, the three began kow-towing to the wall in a symmetrical fashion. "Please, great Ra, we beg of you to bestow the medallion upon us." He chanted as the three bowed rhythmically to the wall. When their efforts yielded no results Kid decided to switch tactics.

He began reciting verses of various religious texts from memory. Hoping desperately that one of them would trigger a reaction. Liz and Patty stood off to the side watching Kid's attempts. In the distance, G watched the antics with disinterest. Its wooden mask was impassive and unchanging. It calmly went about setting up a new display. A long oval dish was set on the ground. It placed a stick of incense on the dish and lit it with a few snaps of its stone fingers. Once the incense was lit it returned to its previous position and resumed its prayers.

Kid and the sisters were too wrapped up in their own efforts to notice G's movement. They had watched Kid frantically recite verses and hymns for the better part of an hour but to no avail. The stone wall remained as unresponsive as ever. "What can I possibly be doing wrong?" He finally asked himself. Yawning, Patty spoke up from beside him.

"Maybe Ra doesn't like our songs." She suggested naively. A flash of inspiration struck the death god. "Patty that's it." He praised suddenly. The sisters looked at each other confused as Kid took out his communicator.

"This is Kid to Shibusen. Come in Shibusen." He spoke into the device. A second later, static crackled and a familiar voice responded. "This is Azusa, go ahead Shinigami-sama." Came the reply. "I need you to send me as much info as you can about any rituals, spells, or prayers dedicated to the Egyptian god Ra." He said frantically. "And make it fast." He added. "Uh yes sir, I'll get right on it." Came Azusa's confused reply. He hung up the communicator and paced back and forth in front of the mural.

"Kid what exactly are you planning?" Liz asked as they waited for the information. Kid waved his hands around them as he answered.

"We've been doing this all wrong." He said. "I've been trying to open the wall using the things I know of. But Ra was a god as well. And if only the truly faithful are permitted entry, then it must mean the people faithful to him." He reasoned. "If we can perform a ritual, or a prayer dedicated to Ra, something that his own followers would do; then maybe we can open the door!" He explained with a huge smile on his face.

"Yeah!" Patty cheered equally as excited. Liz, however, looked somewhat more skeptical.

"It sounds like it could work." She admitted.

"It's the only clue we have to go on so far." Kid shrugged. Liz turned to regard their competitor, still supplanting himself before the wall.

"What about that one?" She asked. "What's he doing?" She wondered. Kid came up beside her and crossed his arms.

"I wouldn't worry about him. It doesn't seem like he's making any more progress than we are." He observed.

Fifteen minutes later his communicator came to life once more. He scrolled through the wall of text that lit up his screen. He read the paragraphs far faster than a normal person. There also wasn't much information to begin with. It seemed little was known about the worship rites for the ancient god. Kid spoke up as he read aloud. "Well we can't sacrifice a bull so that's out of the question." He noted seriously. Liz and Patty's faces paled at the idea. Kid sighed frustrated. "It seems that there's only a few rituals we can try but we don't have any of the necessary objects." He said.

"So what now?" Liz asked. Kid considered her question for the moment and then turned to look back at G.

"I'll have to leave to the nearest city and retrieve the items necessary for the ritual." He said. "You two stay here and keep trying to open the door." He told them. Liz scoffed at the suggestion.

"Right like we're going to have any more luck than you." She commented sarcastically.

"Well then at least make sure that one doesn't open it." He said pointing at the golem. "I should be gone for only an hour or so." He said. A second later and Kid departed on his flying skateboard, speeding out into the desert.

Liz and Patty could only wait helplessly for his return. Patty had taken to working on a coloring book she had packed in her travel bag. Liz leaned against a column nearby, contemplating both the figure known as 'G' and the literal wall that stood between them and the medallion. For starters, G, as it called itself was one of the strangest individuals she had ever met. A position that had previously been held only by her meister. It seemed as if it was unable or unwilling to communicate, yet somehow it had told the priests its name. Furthermore, from what she knew about the rest of Pantheon, she expected the golem to be mindless, or threatening. Yet G's posture and actions suggested a more placid nature. It was at odds with her perception of their enemy. Growing up on the streets of Brooklyn she had gotten quite experienced in reading people. It was a must have tool for figuring out who you could take in a fight, who would make a good target, and who should be avoided. Everything she had seen so far of G's actions suggested an individual that was peaceful at heart. It moved slowly and deliberately despite its threatening appearance. Of course, this could be just because of the no fighting rule that the priests had set up, but Liz doubted it. It made her wonder just what kind of individual this G was. And just why did it feel the need to join the likes of Pantheon?

Turning her attention to the large mural that stood before them, her thoughts shifted to their ordeal so far. Frankly speaking, this whole thing reeked of bullshit. They came to a temple in the middle of the desert, told they can't fight their enemy, and tasked with getting past a magic wall with only a single vague clue. Liz had been taken advantage of one too many times to believe what they were being told at face value. It was a skill she had come to rely on many times in her life. Being skeptical of someone and their claims almost came like second nature to her. It reminded her of when she had first met her meister. He had offered her and her sister an irresistible offer right after they had tried to mug him. It seemed too good to be true and her instincts told her not to trust him. But Kid had proved himself to her by taking out their enemies in less than a minute. Thirty thugs went down for the count just like that, all because he wanted them to be his weapons. It was an opportunity she would be a fool to not take.

But it wasn't the things Kid offered that made her and her sister stay with him. Liz could freely admit now after spending so many years with him. She chose to stay with the Shinigami because in his own strange way, he was the most honest person she had ever met, and that was something she could respect. He was obsessed with symmetry, which was a strange character quirk, but it was predictable and real. He never spoke down to them, never faulted her sister for her childishness, and allowed them to stay together simply because he valued the both of them together. Furthermore, despite being a literal god, Kid never flaunted his status over others. He never pretended to be more than he was, in fact often times he felt undeserving of his status. It was a trait that was uniquely human about him, and one which Liz admired. She had seen many big shots talk a big game and then fail to deliver. It was one of the reasons she had little faith in people until they proved themselves. To her, pretending to be better than other people and demanding their obedience was sickening. It was why she found their current situation distasteful. She had no doubt that this Ra guy was powerful but everything about this suggested he was self-centered. He had a huge mural depicting him as some ultimate being, with worshipers at his feet. A grand temple devoted to him with multiple priests dedicating their lives to him. And now to get their prize they needed to prove they were faithful? In her opinion, people's faith was something you needed to earn and not something that was freely given.

Her musings were interrupted as Kid returned; a large sack swung over his shoulder. His hover craft alighted on the ground and disappeared from beneath his feet. The sisters followed him up to the base of the wall as he began emptying out the bag. They looked at the items perplexed and confused by them. Several small metal and stone statues depicting animals or gods were removed from the bag and set to face the wall. Various plants and fruits were also removed, including an olive branch, berries, and figs. He then placed an ornate goblet onto the ground, filling it with wine. Candles and incense were set around them as well. He stood up and examined his work.

"All right that should do it." He said satisfied. "Now to perform the ritual." He added as he consulted his communicator. Kid began reading off the words sent to him. He chanted the strange ancient words in an odd sing song voice. Liz and Patty stood by and watched as he performed the strange ceremony. One by one he went around to each of the statues, lifting them into the air and chanting alien words. His hands moved fluidly through the air as he performed the rites. The ceremony took several minutes to perform. At last, Kid finished the ritual, drinking from the ceremonial cup and bowing before the wall. They waited tensely; the seconds ticked by like hours as they hoped for any indication they had succeeded. But alas, their efforts were in vain, as the minutes passed by with no sign of success.

"All right that's it!" Kid shouted, fed up with their failure. "Liz, Patty, get ready, we're gonna knock this wall down." He said storming behind them to a safe distance. The sisters followed him obediently. "Wouldn't the priest guys get mad at us for destroying their temple?" Liz asked. "I don't care. I've had enough of this." He said, turning to face the large stone door. Liz and Patty dutifully entered their weapon forms and Kid raised their barrels to aim at the target.

His soul began to expand, a large blue purple aura surrounding his entire body. The pairs of black needles erupted along his upper arms. In a flash of pink light, his weapons elongated and morphed into large hand cannons that covered his forearms. Arcs of energy sprouted off of his form as their three souls began to resonate as one. "Resonance stable, noise at 0.2 percent." Liz's voice spoke. The energy grew more violent and danced around the protrusions of his arms. "Black needle soul wavelength fully charged." Patty's voice called happily. The energy circled around the cannons, coalescing into balls at the end of the muzzles. "Preparing to fire, feedback in three seconds." Liz announced.

"One… Two… Three" The sisters called out as the energy converged in the cannon's barrel.

"Fire – Death Cannon!" Kid shouted. Twin beams of energy erupted from the cannons firing at breakneck speeds towards the wall. The sound of the explosion echoed and shook the temple. The beams impacted the wall and a bright light and explosion of smoke filled the interior of the building. At last, the smoke began to clear, leaking out through the sky light and into the open air. But when the air cleared it revealed an impossible sight.

"What?" Kid questioned, astonished. The mural was undamaged. Not even a scratch had marred its surface. "How is that possible?" Liz said shocked. "That much firepower should have blown that wall to dust." She said. Kid scowled and raised his arms once more. "Get ready to fire again." He ordered. Once again, the three souls resonated in unison, building up energy to extreme heights. With the beams fully charged Kid fired his death cannons once more. This time the attack was even greater and unleashed power more than twice that of his previous shot. But when the aftermath was over the wall was yet again unscathed. Kid growled in frustration. "How is this possible?!" He shouted and fired a single shot at the wall. The compressed bullet of energy rocketed towards the wall. On impact it dissipated into numerous streaks of electricity along a blue forcefield in front of the mural. After several seconds the blue shield disappeared once again.

"Come on, we've got to give it all we've got!" Kid shouted. He began to fire a volley of rapid-fire shots. The bullets crashed into the shield, each disappearing faster than the last as the barrier protected the stone wall. The explosions, lights, sounds, and smoke filled the temple's interior until it seemed as if the building itself would collapse. But the wall remained untouched. Kid panted with exertion. He had spent a great deal of his soul wavelength in those attacks and he slumped with fatigue. The impenetrable wall loomed impassive to the reaper's plight. Kid finally fell to his knees, too tired to continue firing. Liz and Patty stood beside him supportively.

"I don't understand…" He moped. "I've tried everything." He whispered. His arms dropped to the floor in and his head sank in depression. Beside him Patty rubbed his shoulder in sympathy. "It's ok Kid, you tried your best." She said sweetly. But Kid shook his head as if to negate the statement. Tears began to flow down his eyes as his body shook.

"No, I'm trash…" He said in a sad tone. His depressive mode in full swing now, Kid huddled up into a ball and laid on his side. "I'm just garbage, a fool. I'm not cut out to be the Shinigami, I never was." He babbled. "That's not true!" Patty retorted. "You just need to master the Shinigami chop and then you'll be at 100%." She cheered him. But Kid only teared up worse at her words. "I could never live up to my father's legacy. Who am I kidding." He spoke aloud. He seemed to almost block out the encouraging words sent to him. With a sigh, Liz crouched down to him.

She took his hand and sat him upright. "Kid don't let yourself act like this." She said softly. "You know none of what you said is real." She admonished him. Kid looked up at her with tears in his golden eyes. "Your father would be incredibly proud of who you are. You've managed to do what he could never do: make peace with the witches and defeat Asura." She encouraged. "And this stupid test," She said waving a flippant hand at the foreboding mural. "Whatever it is, whatever the answer is, it doesn't matter. Who you are and what you're worth don't depend on this dumb test or that medallion." She spoke while gently squeezing his hand. Kid sniffled and began to smile at her words. "I believe in you, Patty believes in you. We'll be right here to help you figure this out and we'll always be there to pick you up when you don't believe in yourself. So come on, I'm sure there's a way to beat this so we can get that medallion." She encouraged. Kid nodded and made to say something, but before he could Patty's voice interrupted him.

"Unless that guy gets it first. Then we'll have lost four medallions." She observed. Her words struck Kid like an arrow through the heart. His face went pale and a tragic expression overcame him.

"Four medallions? That's half of them." He said despairingly. "They can't have that many already, can they?" He asked rhetorically. He dropped down once more and began banging his fist on the tiled floor. "It's my fault. I'm trash, garbage, utter filth. I'm not worth the ground I step on, a waste of oxygen." Kid babbled incoherently twice as worse as before as his depression surged to a return.

"Patty!" Liz admonished. Patty could only look at her sister and shrug. She hadn't known this would set the reaper off again.

"Uggggghhh." Liz groaned in frustration. She stood back up and faced the wall with an annoyed expression. Brushing a stray strand of hair from her face, she marched up to the wall.

"Alright ya know what? Screw this!" She yelled as she stormed up to the mural. "I'm tired of this stupid temple and this stupid test!" She screamed in anger. "Kid's tried his hardest to pass your dumb trial and you're still saying he's not good enough? Well that's bullshit. If Kid's not gonna do this then I will!" She shouted confidently. She glared up at the image of the mural. "You hear that Ra or whatever the heck your name is? You're dealing with Liz Thompson now! I'm one of the Demon Sisters of Brooklyn!" She declared proudly.

"And nobody messes with my sister," She shouted emphasizing her point by punching the wall.

"Nobody messes with my meister," She punched again.

"And nobody messes with me!" She punched a final time.

Her fist rested against the wall as she huffed from all her shouting. A second later a loud rumbling shook the wall. Everyone present in the temple turned their heads up to stare in shock. Liz backed up, apprehensive, and was surprised as the mural began to split down the middle. The walls retracted to the side and a blinding light flooded out from the seam between them. The walls retracted further and further until the mural disappeared completely. Standing in its place was an imposing figure set against a backdrop of soft white light.

"Congratulations, Elizabeth Thompson. I have heard your plea and deemed you worthy." He said in a booming voice. The man resembled the figure depicted on the mural, but with a few key differences. He had brown skin and a bare chest revealing well-toned muscles. On his head he wore a helm reminiscent of a falcon's beak. Three black lines ran vertically down each cheek and he had several earrings hanging low from his ear lobes. His smile was warm and inviting and his eyes were a deep hazel color. Around his waist he wore a plain white cloth which encircled him and extended to his ankles. He wore simple sandals on his feet. Bangles and other pieces of jewelry were worn on his arms. Around his neck he wore a familiar medallion with the image of an ankh emblazoned on the metal.

"Are you – are you Ra?" Liz asked.

"I am but an echo. I am a shadow of his self, meant to safeguard the medallion." The man answered. It was then that they noticed that his image was just barely transparent. "I am proud to say you have passed my ordeal." He said with a beaming smile. Liz's jaw dropped in shock as did the rest of those present.

"Are you telling me all we had to do was punch the dang wall?!" Patty shouted irritably from behind them.

"Not quite my child. You see when most people speak of Faith, they speak of belief in a higher power. But if one becomes too absorbed in that faith, they relinquish responsibility of their actions and control of their situations. The ultimate expression of Faith is faith in oneself. To wield the Medallion of Faith one must have the utmost belief in oneself, in their own ability." He said sagely. Ra lifted the medallion off his neck and presented it in two open palms to Liz. "Those that have faith in themselves, that have the strength to forge their own path, will always inspire faith from others. That, is the true power of the medallion." He said.

Liz looked back and forth between Ra and the medallion. Gingerly she took the offered item from his hands and held it in front of her. Still in disbelief of what was happening, she felt her doubts wane as she held the piece of metal. With the medallion relinquished, Ra gave a final bow with his arms outstretched. Around them, the priests of the temple copied his movements. Liz unsure of what to do, gave a nervous bow in return. Ra, seemingly accepting her gesture, righted himself and placed his hands together in front of him. Wordlessly, his image began to dissolve, fading into flecks of light that swirled and exited through the sky light. In a moment, he was gone, leaving the entirety of the temple speechless.

"Woohoo! You did it sis!" Patty cried and ran to hug her. Liz still somewhat bewildered, smiled and gave her a hug in return. But their celebration was short lived as Kid backed up to them and called their attention. The sisters looked back up to see G, standing upright for the first time since they arrived. The candles still burned in a circle around it, and the herbs and gemstones still laid scattered about. They watched the golem cautiously, their bodies wound tight. For several moments, the creature made no movements, no threatening gestures. It simply stared at them through its blank wooden mask. For a second, Liz swore she saw a frown on the mask's face. But when she blinked the expression was gone, or was never there in the first place.

A voice startled them from their intense stare down. G's voice. It spoke a single word in a language unknown to the trio. G's voice sounded old and ancient and had a slightly higher pitch than any of them had expected, almost feminine sounding. It repeated the same word, its voice lilting at the end as if it were asking a question. But none of those present could comprehend its dialect. "What's it saying?" Liz asked Kid in a hushed whisper. "I don't know." Came the reply. Before they could attempt to communicate back, G turned and slowly made its way out of the temple. Its stone footsteps rumbled the temple as it walked. In a much lower voice G muttered to itself in the same strange language. Once out of sight the three friends relaxed visibly. Although they were no less confused it appeared that G was not going to attempt to steal the medallion from them.

"Congratulations Liz," Kid said proudly. "And thank you." He added. Liz smirked and rubbed her nose smugly.

"Heh, it was nothing. You should learn to trust your partners more." She added jokingly.

"You're implying that I don't already trust you with my life. I don't know where I might go from there." He responded. Liz blushed fiercely and shook her head nervously.

"Anyway we've got the medallion now…" She said trying to change the subject. She ran her fingers over the emblem's surface, feeling the edges of the raised symbol. A frown appeared on her face. "It's kind of gaudy isn't it?" She observed. Kid's face fell and he looked at her shocked.

"It's a relic of ancient power!" He reiterated. "Not to mention it's completely symmetrical! What more could you ask for?" He said incredulously. Liz shrugged and let the medallion fall to her chest.

"I don't know. I'm just saying it'll be hard to accessorize with this thing." She noted calmly. Kid rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I'll never understand the female need to adorn oneself with baubles and trinkets." He said, shaking his head. Liz and Patty could only laugh at him.

This was an interesting chapter. At first I gave Liz the Medallion of Faith only because I had kind of run out candidates. But the more I wrote it the more it seemed to fit. There was the one chapter in the manga where Liz expressed her gratitude for Kid after his abduction. She also likes to present herself as being confident and a street wise gal like her would absolutely not give her faith to anyone that hadn't proven it. As far as the actual message, I will freely admit I'm not one prone to religions but as I see it you can either use your faith to draw strength in yourself or to foster hate and relinquish control to some higher power. This view might be a little controversial but I don't care all that much.