While Naomi dozed for a bit, the others stepped a few feet away and quietly filled each other in on who'd just been tested, and then discussed what they'd learned in regards to Neo... Blake and Gavin really hadn't found very much useful information, aside from a map of the floor they were on..but the map was in some unreadable language. Ananda, Myki, Satoru, and Teraa now knew just where Neo's room was, and they figured that if he wasn't there just now, he would eventually be there at some point, thus they should stake out the area. Blake, on the other hand, was a little worried about Naomi..he hadn't been nearly so exausted after his test.. Blake and Gavin volunteered to stay with Naomi, allowing her to rest a bit more, while the others went back and scouted out around Neo's room (seeing as they knew where it was, anyway).
     
     Teraa, Satoru, Ananda and Myki quietly approached Neo's room. Satoru crept right up to the door, motioning the others to stay back. He crouched down, placing his ear against the door, listening. After a minute or so, he soundlessly moved back to where the others stood waiting.
     "Nothing," he whispered. "I don't think he's in there yet."
     "So now whadda we do?" Ananda whispered back.
     "We should find somewhere nearby to hide," Myki answered. The rest nodded in agreement.
     Each of the four silently found a place to sit where they could see but not be seen - in entryways, around corners. There they waited...
     
     After about half an hour, Naomi awoke again. She stretched and yawned, not moving from the floor yet.
     "*yaaaawwnn..* Well, that was a nice nap... Wait, Blake? Gav? Where are we???"
she asked in bewilderment, sitting up.      "Looking for Neo, remember?" Gavin answered cheerfully, smiling (as he so rarely did) to see her recovered.
     "Oh yeah..." After a moment, she shuddered, remembering her test..
     Blake scootched over to sit next to her, putting an arm around her. "Was it bad?" he asked quietly, concerned.
     Naomi nodded. "Yeah..." Silence, as rememberances whirled through her mind... She suddenly felt incredibly weak and shaken, and quickly turned to throw her arms around Blake, sobbing into his shoulder as he held her close.
     
     "Pssst!" Teraa hissed sharply, almost soundlessly. The rest looked over to her as she stood just inside a room near the end of a corridor that branched off to the left and right. [It's like a T-shaped intersection, she's near the top there..] She nodded her head to the side, directing their attention to the hall to left.
     Footsteps could soon be heard, echoing on the metal plating of the floor. A few seconds later, Neo strode in view, funky hair and all. He seemed distracted, not looking to either side at all as he walked straight to his door, pressed a button on the wall, and entered. When the door slid shut behind him, the four who had been tracking him exchanged glances - they hadn't figured out what to do once they had actually found him... They didn't get a chance to confer, however, as the door almost immediately re-opened, and Neo walked quickly out, taking a right at the end of the hall.
     Without a word, Teraa left her hiding place and followed him, the other three quickly following suit.
     Fortunately for the four, Neo was certainly very intent on reaching his destination - he never turned around once. Yet unfortunately, he also walked extremely rapidly, and after a few quick turns and several intersections, they lost sight of him. Reaching a split in the corridor, the trackers quickly decided to split up, Teraa and Satoru going to the right, Ananda and Myki to the left.
     
     Naomi now sat silent, with Blake's arms still around her, Gavin seated at her knee. She'd given a brief account of her test (to both - knowing that Gavin had probably experienced worse with Reűic anyway).. and told Blake what had really been running through her mind lately - her questions, her doubts..and also apologised for her earlier tirade.
     Blake sighed, his arms (still around her) squeezing her shoulders. "It's okay, Naomi."
     She looked up at him, somewhat surprised at his acceptance of everything.
     "You're..not the only one with questions," he said softly. "We've all seen and had to deal with a lot in the past few...well, the past while. But I'll always be here for you, no matter what, as a friend or whatever."
     "Me, too, Blake."
     Two pairs of blue eyes met, seeing the trust and love and support there that each had for the other...
     "Me, too, for both of you!" Gavin burst out, bringing his young face near the other two's, completely ruining the mood. Naomi and Blake started laughing, and Naomi pulled the boy into a hug.
     "Gav, you're incredible.."
     
     Myki and Ananda walked the corridors silently at first, remaining cautious. But the serious mood was impossible for the two of them to keep up long, and they soon began whispering jokes to one another. Arms around each others' shoulders, the two Monkee-walked along, trying to keep from bursting out into loud laughter...and not always succeeding.
     Eventually, the two reached a room at the end of a corridor. As they stepped cautiously out onto the cold dark metal floor, they looked up.
     Myki whistled low. "Wow...now that's tall.."
     The room was more like a giant shaft, easily hundreds of feet tall. Ananda and Myki stood at the hexagonal base of it, and though it was about fifty feet across, with the sides going straight up, the ceiling was only about the size of a quarter to their amazed eyes. About every twenty feet or so up the wall, there were doorways, some open, some closed, some with short platforms extending out into the shaft.
     "What is this thing, I wonder?" Ananda asked softly.
     "Hmm. A giant cheese grater?"
     Ananda groaned. "Actually, it looks like in Star Wars, maybe there're bridges that can be extended from one door to another to cross the shaft or something.."
     "Or maybe it's just the Suicide Center, all you need do is step off up there.."
     "Giant pancake-maker then, maybe?"      Their bizarre discussion abruptly ended, however, when shimmering figures began to appear in front of them...and quickly assumed the forms of the remainder of the Applebus crew (including the long-absent Elisay, and D'rai), who had been left on Gavin's planet.
     "Hey guys, what're you doing here?"
     "Where are we?"
     "Where's everyone else?"
     Myki and Ananda soon found themselves updating the rest on what had been going on...
     
     "Naomi, you sure you're ready to walk around again?"
     "C'mon, Blake, I'm not a WIMP like you!" Naomi said teasingly, jumping to her feet.
     "Hey! Didn't you start the Suck Squad in gym? And didn't you say that I could never be on it?"
     "Yeah, but that has nothing to do with being tough - it just means that I'm uncoordinated and you try too hard! Dude, I could take you any day, and you know it!"
     Gavin just laughed at the two, seeing them back to normal (such as it was). He took Naomi's right hand, and pulled her in the direction that the others had taken. Naomi grabbed Blake's hand with her other hand, and the three quickly walked on. [*singing* "Walk on, walk on, what you got they can't deny it, can't sell it, or buy it. Walk ooonnnn, waaalk ooooooonnnnn..." ..sorry. Bono-moment there.. *g*]
     
     Satoru and Teraa had continued trying to track Neo in near- silence, intently listening for any clue they might get as to which way he had gone, walking quickly in hopes of catching up to him. After some time, they caught a glimpse of his somewhat- bedraggled cape around a corner just ahead of them. They ran silently in pursuit, only to find themselves in front of a short ladder...that went both up one floor, and down one floor.
     No discussion was needed, they just looked at each other and nodded. Satoru rapidly descended, and as soon as he had cleared the portion level with the floor they had been on, Teraa quickly climbed up.
     
     Satoru silently stalked along the winding corridor, but saw no- one. After about ten minutes or so, he found himself at the edge of a large shaft. Looking down, he saw that he was several hundred feet above the floor of the shaft. He could see a group of people down on the base of the shaft, recognised Myki's poofy hair, and realised that it was the remainder of the Applebus crew. What are they all doing down there? That's not the meeting place...and isn't that the rest of them, that we left on Drydia? His ponderings were cut short, however, when he heard scuffling noises above him. He stepped out onto the short platform that extended into the shaft, and looked up to see...
     ...Neo and Teraa struggling with each other, at the very edge of a platform just above him.
     
     Just after she had cleared the ladder, Teraa had caught a glimpse of Neo again. Rather than waste time by calling for Satoru, she darted down the corridor after her brother.
     But she needn't have hurried - as she turned the corner, she saw Neo standing there, waiting for her.
     "Well, sis," he said, in mock-sweetness, walking around her. "Long time no see. Decide to give up on your silly stuborness, and join us?"
     "Yeah right! Never!" Teraa cried, turning to face him.
     "Oh really?" Neo quieried, maintaining his feigned fondness. He stepped closer to Teraa, and she took a step backwards. His cat-like eyes gleamed. He took another step closer. "Are you scared of me, my sweet sister?"
     "No."
     "Then why are you backing away from me?" There was no response. Neo chuckled, and continued walking down the corridor towards her, forcing her back down the way he had come.
     "Neo, why are you doing this? C'mon, come home!" Teraa pleaded as she maintained the distance between herself and her brother. I don't trust him any further'n...actually, I can probably throw him farther than I trust him!...I don't know what they've done to him, but--
     Teraa's train of thought was broken off as she stumbled...
     ...and realised that she was standing on the very edge of a large circular chamber...
     ...the bottom of which was easily over a thousand feet down. She gasped, and hurridly moved away from the edge. "Neo! Why didn't you warn me that that was there?!" she snapped.
     "Because, my dear sister..." Neo stepped right up to her, their faces an inch apart, his face contorted with malicious intent. "I wanted you to fall."
     Teraa's dark eyes widened in disbelief. "Neo---!!!!!!"
     He pushed her. She tried to grab on - to him, to the platform, to anything...
     ...but it was too late. Teraa plummeted down towards the bottom of the shaft, so very far below.
     
     Just as Teraa began to fall, Gavin, Naomi, and Blake reached the edge of their floor, where it dropped off into the shaft, some ways below where Satoru was.
     "TERAA!!!!!" Gavin cried. He quickly regained composure, and, after a split second of indecision, jumped.
     "Gavin, no!!!" Naomi screamed, uselessly grasping after him. Blake grabbed her, and pulled her a safe distance back onto the ledge, holding her as she began to cry, while both kept watching Gavin, in sick compulsion...
     But not two seconds later, their fright turned to astonishment, as something white burst out of Gavin's shoulderblades and into the air...
     "Wings!" Naomi breathed incredulously.

     Gavin grasped Teraa's hand as she fell. Feathers floated in the air around them as the wings, much larger than Gavin himself, beat against the air to slow their descent.
     "Is he an angel?" Elisay asked in a whisper to no-one in particular, standing with the remainder of the Applebus crew and D'rai on the floor of the shaft, gazing upwards at the gently descending pair.
     The wings were certainly angel-like, as all could clearly see when Gavin and Teraa landed softly at the base of the shaft where the others stood. Gavin folded them back, and they curved up just above his head, then around in front to shield both himself and Teraa, the tips brushing the floor. The feathers were soft and long, and dazzlingly white, light seeming to eminate from the boy.
     Naomi and Blake rushed down to where the others stood, in silent incomprehension, which soon gave way to jubilation. They momentarily forgot about Neo, who, at the appearance of Gavin's wings, had raised an eyebrow in surprise, then brusquely turned away and headed for some unknown destination...
Larger version
     Satoru, however, had been watching Neo more closely, and after seeing that Teraa was alright, he left the ledge he had been on in pursuit of Neo.
     Teraa had looked up just in time to see Satoru leave. She quickly left the shelter of Gavin's wings, and ran off in pursuit of Neo and Satoru. Several of the others turned to follow her, but stopped as Gavin spoke.
     "There's a lot about us that you don't know," he said, catching one of his feathers that was floating through the air. "And I know you probably want to know all about us, but.." he sighed. "It's a very long story. I can tell you some, but we should try to find the others. Teraa says Neo's possessed or something, and I don't know what they're going to do, I'm worried that someone might get hurt." He stopped, took a deep breath, and pulled his wings back in. They disappeared without a trace, leaving a normal-looking, if somewhat tired, boy standing before them, with his white shirt in tatters.
     "You have a better idea of where you're going, Gavin, you can go first," Blake said.
     Gavin nodded. "Alright. C'mon."

Very large version
     
     As Gavin lead them through corridor after corridor, he filled in some of the gaps that had been left in their story before. Gavin actually did remember some of his past, prior to being adopted by Teraa and Neo's family. He had been born in Atlantis, a few years before its fall. His memories of it were few but clear - the peaceful but proud winged inhabitants, the beauty of the city, its richness in learning and the arts, his parents, wise and beautiful... He didn't know what had happened to the city, all he knew was that one day his parents took him away, and they seemed scared. They took him on a long journey to a different planet, leaving him to another family's care. They had left, disappearing into the surrounding forest, and he had never seen them since. He had grown up with Teraa and Neo, their parents had treated him as one of their own... until one day, they disappeared into the forest as well. The three were left to fend for themselves, with occasional help from Satoru and his family, but even that was limited, as he was an only child, thus leaving him the only one to help his parents out, and they had troubles enough of their own.
     Teraa and Neo had an interesting history themselves. They had come from Earth, originally, growing up in Tamachi [tah-MA-chee], in Japan. Gavin didn't know the details, but they had been in some sort of battle there, and for safety reasons, they had been sent to Drydia with their parents, as had Satoru.
     Gavin had just finished relating the tale when they began hearing strange noises from the corridor ahead of them. The group rounded a corner to see Neo and Teraa glaring fiercely at each other, sweat on their brows, while Satoru was lying in the floor, not looking particularly conscious...
     
      When Neo had disappeared from the shaft, Satoru had taken off after him immediately, suspecting that he was off to report to whatever evil superiors he had lording it over him. After what felt like far too long, Satoru caught up with Neo in an open room.
     "Neo!"
     Neo slowly turned around to face Satoru. His gaze was cool and unconcerned. "Yes?"
     "Neo, what happened to you? I mean, you've always been who you are, never very social, but this...! You put Teraa in danger!" His dark eyes flashed with the memory.
     Neo looked... almost bored? He sighed. "Yes, I suppose I did, didn't I? But I knew Gavin would save her, of course. Or at least, that he should have saved her."
     "What if he hadn't?! What if he didn't catch her in time, what if he didn't want to show the others his wings? What if she had died, Neo?!?"
     Neo shrugged. "I don't know. But it was Gavin's time to show who he really was. We had to be sure he could still...fulfill his potential."
     Satoru decided to abandon his attempts to get Neo to feel guilty, as it really wasn't working. "Who's 'we'?"
     "The ones who brought me here. The ones who saved myself and Teraa from that drag of a backwater planet. The ones who can help us obtain anything we want."
     Satoru had a sudden mental image of two fire-like beings dressed in black, a woman with bright red hair and deathly pale skin, a man with orange-gold hair and molten bronze eyes. He heard a frightened gasp of recognision from Teraa, and now Gavin, in his mind - Ráspia and Reűic! "Ráspia and Reűic?" he asked Neo quietly.
     Neo looked at Satoru curiously. "Yes," he said slowly. "I'd forgotten about your link with Teraa. Oh well," he said resignedly, but unconcerned. "It doesn't really matter now, anyway. You'll meet them eventually. Teraa already has. We'll bring you both around eventually."
     Satoru's normally placid temper had begun to boil from what Teraa and Gavin had told him of the two demons, what they had done... "No you won't!!!" he cried, lunging at Satoru. The two boys fought hand-to-hand for a few minutes, apparently equalled in strength. Then Satoru began to gain the upper hand... and was blasted back from Neo by some unknown force, landing in a heap against the wall, twenty feet away.
     Neo began to laugh harshly. "Haha... you see? You're no match for me, let alone my two benefactors. And neither will Teraa or Gavin be..."
     "You wanna bet?!" Teraa stood in a doorway, arms crossed, glaring at Neo. She had followed Satoru, fearing what she knew Neo could do to him, and not wanting him to be hurt.
     Neo laughed again. "Why, hello, sister. Are you here to save your lover-boy Satoru? I'm afraid he's already gotten himself hurt... you really must explain things to him someday."
     "I will when I'm ready. You can't do this, Neo."
     "Oh but I can. I can do whatever I want to, now. And you could, too, if you'd just give Reűic and Ráspia a chance..." Teraa didn't appear to have been at all swayed. "C'mon, Teraa. We could rule the universe if we wanted to! You know we're special, different from all the others. Come on!"
     "What, are you possessed by Darth Vader or something? Get real, Neo."
     "Forget about Satoru... you've met Reűic, haven't you?"
     Teraa's eyes blazed in anger. "Yes, I have... and I won't forget about Satoru again." She focused her mind hard, and sent a psychic blast at Neo.
     Neo hadn't expected it, and staggered backwards, but did not fall, putting up a shield of sorts. Then he blasted her back.
     As the two were recovering their strength, the rest of the Applebus crew showed up. They could do nothing more than stare as the two siblings simultaneously sent psychic waves out, crashing into each other. The onlookers would have been hit and swept back down the hall, if not worse, had Gavin not thrown up a barrier around them. As it was, he was already tired from the exertion of flying and trying to carry Teraa, and the group was shaken by the force.
     "STOP IT!" Gavin cried passionately once the charged air calmed down again. "You'll hurt the others if you keep it up! And yourselves!" Tears, tiny beads of glimmering moisture, had begun to form in the corners of his baby-blue eyes.
     "Quiet, Gavin!" Teraa hissed.
     Neo was standing still, silent, lost within himself. He appeared to struggle with something inside for several long moments, then... his violet-magenta eyes cleared. "Teraa? Gavin? Satoru?"
      "Neo!!!" Teraa and Gavin cried, rushing over to hug him. Overjoyed though she was, Teraa quickly remembered the injured Satoru, and hurried to his side.
     "Gavin! Come help me!" Gavin complied, and knelt at Satoru's side. The two placed hands on Satoru's chest, and a few moments later, his eyes fluttered open. "Shhh," Teraa insisted. "Don't talk yet. You'll be fine, but don't try to get up for a few minutes."
     Meanwhile, the rest of the Applebus crew had begun jabbering to each other and Neo and the rest, trying to figure out what all had happened and what was going to happen now... Until they all fell silent simultaneously, feeling something wrong...
     A spit of flame and a dark nebula of a cloud appeared in the middle of the room, growing into the now-all-too-familiar forms of Ráspia and Reűic.
     "Haven't y'all given up yet?" Maik asked tiredly.
     Ráspia's gaze snapped to him, studied him for a second, but saw no sign of weakness in his strong face. She turned away.
     "Ow!!!" Maik cried, clutching his left hand.
     The rest turned to him, Daphne taking his hurt hand in hers. "Maik, what's wrong?"
      He unclenched his hand... to reveal an ugly-looking burn on the palm. Daphne gasped. "Maik..."
     Maik grimaced. "Don't worry about me.. it just stings a little." He tried a smile, but failed.
     Daphne glared at Ráspia, and tried to think of something suitably nasty to say, that she could say. (She couldn't.)
     Gavin stepped over to where Maik and Daphne stood, and motioned for Maik to open his hand. "You can't keep it closed like that when it's burned, or it won't heal right," he said quietly. He then placed his small hand on Maik's considerably larger one, over the burn, and closed his eyes. Maik felt a slight tingly feeling as his hand began to glow slightly. When Gavin pulled his hand away, the burn had healed over completely, with no trace of a scar.
     Maik and Daphne looked at Gavin in wonder. He blushed, and turned away.
     "Thanks, man," Maik said softly. Thar's a lot more to this boy than first meets the ayh!
     Ráspia had watched the entire exchange, eyeing Gavin in intense interest. Then, as Gavin moved back over towards Teraa's side...
     "Gavin!!"
     The boy began flickering in and out of visibility, like someone or something was trying to pull him away, but couldn't, quite. While most eyes were locked helplessly on Gavin, Myki looked up, and saw Ráspia's face twisted in exertion, Reűic's similar. "Guys! C'mon! We can't let them do this!"
     But no-one knew what they could do, how could they fight the two sorcerer-seducers.
     'Gavin, we love you, hold on boy, don't let them take you... God, help us, tell us what to do.. ..Illuminati! You've helped us before, whatever you are, help him!'
     Naomi never quite figured out whether she'd said it aloud, or just thought it, felt it with all her being... but suddenly the Illuminati shimmered into coalescence in the middle of the room, next to Gavin. The boy's image remained solid as he gasped for breath, trying to recover. The Illuminati placed a watery hand on his quaking shoulder, and a moment later, Gavin straightened, strengthened, and no longer afraid. He stared levelly, without fear or apprehension, at Reűic.
     The Illuminati spoke (for lack of a better word):
     You have passed the first series of tests successfully. In fact, better than had been hoped. Thus, you are to be commended, as the trials you faced were even more difficult than I had intended.. Here, it seemed to the group that the Illuminati turned towards the two fire-demons still standing there. The original agreement was broken, and not on my end--
     "But you wouldn't have let us, or anyone else, do anything they wouldn't survive. We couldn't have if we had wanted to," Ráspia returned levelly.
     There are plenty of things that I cannot control, as you well know, Illuminati nearly growled.
     "We merely followed the instructions given us."
     And embellished upon them, leaving your own twisted mark.
     Ráspia was silent, as was Reűic (who, it seemed, tended to leave the talking to Ráspia anyway).
     Such extraneous interference will not continue. If it does, the tests will be ended, and your superior - or inferior, depending on your viewpoint - will not obtain the information wanted.      "You can't do that!" Ráspia shouted.
     SILENCE, spawn of fire and hate! I have the power and authority to do so if I please. If an agreement is broken on one side, does it not stand to reason that the other side may break it as well, the agreement having been nullified by the other?      Those looking on in silence could almost see smoke rising from Ráspia's flaming hair.
     Ráspia spat, a small ball of fire in place of saliva. "You have no power over us," she stated, and disappeared in a burst of flame, Reűic following similarly, but in his dark cloud.
     The Illuminati seemed to sigh. I am sorry for all this..
     "It's okay," Gavin said, surprisingly cheerily, for all that he'd just been through. "You saved me, and we're all okay. So everything's alright." He beamed at the water-figure beside him.
     If a smile could be heard, it was now. Thank you, child... though things are not quite as they should be, they are.. permissable. But are you alright?
     "Yeah, I'm fine, now. ...they really want me for some reason, don't they?" Concern entered his young eyes, eyes that had already seen far too much pain..
     Yes, I'm afraid they do.. and you know why. But they won't get you, as long as you don't let them. Never let your guard down, trust those you know you should trust, and you will be safe.
     Gavin nodded.
     And you, Maik, are you alright?
     Maik was startled by its sudden attention to him. "Uhh, yeah, Ah'm fine now, thanks.. Thanks to Gavin, that is," he added, recovering his poise.
     Gavin blushed again.
     Good... I think your adventures here are done. Are you willing to go on?      "Yes," the Applebus crew said.
     "What about us?" Teraa asked, still at the recovering Satoru's side.
     You are to go in search of Gavin's father now... his true father. That is, assuming you feel up to doing so?
     Gavin's eyes widened at the mention of his father - he hadn't even been sure that his true parents were still alive. Well, he had known his father was in danger, that's true, but he hadn't realised at the time that it was his real father...a man he no longer even clearly remembered.
     "Yeah, we're fine, let's go!" Teraa cried.
     Then you may go. Gavin's father is still in danger.. and for the rest of you, there are still some tests ahead for some of you..      Naomi looked in concern at Blake, whose arm circled her waist, but he shook his head. She looked at him in bewilderment. "I'll tell you later," he whispered in her ear.