Treisel and his friends walked cautiously through the portal Zeke
had opened.  Trei's thoughts as his body tore through the dimensional 
barriers punctured through the portal were not of his stomach, as 
traveling between planes was in fact a rather nauseating experience. 

	He thought of all the tales he'd heard of Hell.  Despite his 
earlier interest in attending school in Hell, his resolve now weakened 
as they materialized on the first plane of Hell.  He braced himself for 
the waves of unholy heat that were sure to come.  The screams of the 
damned and the cackling of the demons were soon to follow, he was sure.

 o/~	"Th' Flower-Breathing Dragon came and plunged us into Daisies!" o/~
 o/~	"Even Old Lord Horribus's Allergies left him hazy"  o/~
 o/~	"The Demons cried 'Who'd save us', as if anybody could!" o/~
 o/~  "But Reakk, he boinked that dragon, and boy he boinked him good!" o/~

	Treisel and Iryien forced themselves not to fall over from sheer 
surprise.  Even Ezekiel looked a little perplexed.  Noticing their looks,
Waj looked a little embarrassed.  "That's just Wally.  He's getting a
little senile."

	Zeke was the first one to recover.  "Flower-Breathing Dragon?"

	Waj's face scrunched up at the comment.  "We don't like to talk 
about it."


--------------------------------------------
To Hell and Back

Chapter 13:  It'll be a Hot Time in the Old
				Hell Tonight!
Begun by Steven Scougall
Continued at the moment by ColdFury
--------------------------------------------

	The four stood in the center of a wide street in the realm of Hell 
itself.  Treisel couldn't believe it.  "We're finally here.  In Hell. 
Ever since I got expelled we've been trying to get you back here, Waj."

	Waj nodded.  "My home town, too.  The university is just a few
blocks down that road."

	"The University of Hell!?  Wow!  Maybe they can help us find Tao!"
Treisel showed a glimmer of hope.

	Iryien frowned.  "Why can't you just cast another finder spell."

	Shaking his head, Waj answered for Trei.  "Only the most experienced
or powerful of mages can cast spells in this realm of existence."

	Iryien turned to Zeke, but he answered her unspoken question. 
"Little out of my field.  In this place, any magic I cast will drain
me greatly.  One of the rules you know."

	Iryien sighed, frustrated.  "Fine, let's get on to this university.
But our priority is Tao, got it?"

	They all nodded, but Trei added, "Couldn't hurt to try to make 
sure Waj's situation is cleared up would it?"

	Waj nodded briefly, but didn't seem as happy about as they would
have once thought him to be.  Trei momentarily thought about asking him
about it, but decided that would have to wait.  "Lead the way, Waj!  
We're off to the University!"

	The four walked down the street on the way to the University.  
Unbeknownst to them, three figures watched them silently from an alley,
their forms cloaked in hoods.

	"He is back."

	Another one nodded.  "And he has friends."

	The first one spoke again, "We'll have to do a better job this time."

	The third one flexed his forearm.  "YOSH!  WE SHALL BANISH 
WAJISSABEQUAHZE TO THE EARTH PLANE FOREVER!"

	The other two figures sighed and moved on to trail the four from 
a safe distance.  "OOOS-- Hey, wait for meeeee!!"  The third 
figure ran to catch up.

				*****

	Treisel lost himself in his thoughts as they followed Waj down 
the street.  Apparently "a few blocks" meant a mile or two, and they
had a ways to go so far.  The lack of maddening fire, brimstone and
heat was kind of bugging Trei.  Yeah, it was hot, but it was just like
"beginning of summer" hot, not "oh dear, there went another layer of 
my skin" hot.

	Shaking his head, he glanced at some of the houses they were passing.
The pastel colors, for one, just didn't seem to fit his preconceived notions.
Sure, they were occupied by various demons of different degrees of color,
height, and size.  But for the most part the occupants smiled and waved 
a limb at Treisel as he looked at them, and he found himself nodding and 
waving back.  For a place that was supposed to be eternal damnation, it 
sure was rather pleasant.  

	Waj looked alert, "Uh-oh, fire trolls." 

	Iryien was the first to ask, "Fire trolls?"  Treisel hadn't heard of
that phenomenon before and wondered if he was about to get a look at the
real face of Hell.

	Waj simply shuffled the others off the road and pointed.  A rampaging
group of trolls, well they were walking forms of fire in the general shape 
of trolls, ran down the street in a fury of motion.  They passed the group
harmlessly, and just ran down the street out of view.  Just when Trei was
about to step back on the road, a pink bunny wearing shades, sandals, and
playing a marching band style drum rode past while beating its drum.

	Scowling, Waj stared after the bunny.  "I really hate that thing."

	Treisel looked at Iryien, and just shrugged.  They continued on
their way to the university.

	"Uh... Waj?"  Iryien began awkwardly, "Hell doesn't seem very...
hellish."

	"Hmm?"  The demon cocked his head to one side.  "Oh!  Ha ha!  She
was expecting the old fire and brimstone routine!"  Ezekiel appeared to 
hold in a guffaw and shared a grin with his old friend.  "Well you see,
not all of Hell is all that bad.  We're on the highest level.  The lower
planes, well they can be slightly nastier, but honestly, Hell isn't all
that bad."

	Treisel blinked, momentarily distracted from their search for Tao
by this absurdity.  "Huh?  How can that be?"

	Waj and Zeke looked at each other.  Zeke shrugged, "We're in Hell,
I'm not going to stop you if you tell them."

	Waj stopped by the side of the road.  "Well, mortals very rarely 
hear this tale.  You see back in the old days there was no Hell, only
Heaven.  But one day a powerful and influential angel got fed up with
the system and convinced a lot of people to revolt against the system. 
Heaven's nice, but it's really strict about certain things.  So he pretty
much assembled an army.  It started out slow, but then you had follower's
brothers and family members that didn't want their relative to fight alone
joining the fray.  A lot of loyalties were tested."

	Treisel whistled.  "A civil war."

	"'Fraid so.  It was a nasty business, but in the end the loyal forces
of Heaven pushed us back.  Me, I was in it for my father.  He wanted to fight
but he was too old, so he talked me into it.  Well, as you can probably guess,
the whole lot of us got banished to Hell, and turned into demons and such.
Some of us didn't take to well to it, those are the nasty demons and beasts 
you mortals tend to hear about.  But then there's folks like here who coped
just fine and adjusted."  Waj gestured around to the pleasant town.  

	Iryien shook her head. "What happened to your father?"

	Waj looked down, "Still in heaven I suppose.  When he saw which way
the tide was going, he jumped ship.  I was too involved to really care 
much at that point."

	They stood there in silence for a moment, none of them wanting to 
interrupt Waj's reminiscing.  Suddenly a female voice called out, "Ooooh 
big boy!"

	The party looked up, and a scantily clad red demon was waving a scarf
at Waj.  He seemed to turn even redder, Treisel thought.  Trei examined the 
female and decided he couldn't blame him.  He turned to say something to Waj
when he noticed that the demon wasn't looking at the female, but at Iryien.
Shrugging, Waj said, "We used to date."  He waved back at her slightly.

	Trei couldn't help but notice that Iryien seemed intently focused on the
female demon for a good few moments.

	Once more the party resumed their journey to the fabled University of
Hell.

				*****

	Ducking another rock in the cave they'd been descending for what felt
like an hour, Tao sighed.  She didn't know how she could trust this man,
all she knew for certain was that he was leading her into the depths of
Hell.  The road signs said so.  For about the 50th time that day, she 
pondered asking him why exactly there were roadsigns every 10 feet in a 
cave descending downwards in a single direction, but fought it down again.

	They turned a corner, and yet again Tao saw another long, dark 
stretch of cave.  Mentally defeated, her thoughts turned inward.  What
had happened earlier today was a sign, a clear demonstration that Treisel
was everything she thought he was, but she clearly wasn't what he 
wanted in a woman.

	The desperate girl inside of her screamed for her to try to change,
to dress flashier, and to try telling him how she felt, but she knew it
was doomed.  The realist in her, the same part that told her that this
strange old coot in front of her was Elmunster, was telling her it was
simply time to give up.

	Her shoulders sagged, and a tear threatened the edge of her cheek.
One last time the image of Treisel smiling at her flashed through her 
brain, but before she could let herself get that chill, she locked it 
away.  She put it in her mental closet, along with her feelings of 
inferiority and abandonment she'd dealt with as a child.  It would be 
hard, but she would be his friend.  But nothing more.  Ever.

	If she ever saw him again.  She was just wondering where they
could be, and if they were looking for her back on the mortal plane
when her thoughts were interrupted.

	*CRACK*

	"Watch the rocks, Spellbreaker.  We're almost there."

	Tao rubbed her sore bottom and stood up gingerly, checking her
forehead for blood.  Stupid stalactites.

			*****

	Neifllem University stood before them in all it's splendor and
glory.  Waj looked rather pleased to be back home, and Zeke just 
shrugged.  Trei and Iryien stood there flabbergasted.  Waj looked
at his two human companions.  "What is it?"

	They both spoke in unison, "That looks just like OUR 
University."

	"Oh.  Yeah.  Did you really think a mortal designed the atrocity
that is your school?"

	Trei blinked, and it suddenly made sense.  "Oh."  Iryien blinked
a few times as well then seemed to understand.

	Zeke turned toward the party.  "Waj, I understand you and the others
might have some business here.  I'm going to see if I can get a hold of 
some of my old contacts and get a location on Tao.  I'll catch up with you, 
don't worry about me."

	Zeke took to the sky and headed west, at least it looked like west
to Trei.  They watched the angel fly off, when they were interrupted.  
"Waj!  You're.. back!  How... unexpected!"  An important looking demon
walked toward them.  

	Waj smiled at him, giving him a big toothy grin, "Arch Chancellor
Bob.  Good to see you."

	Treisel's mind couldn't handle a demon with the name of Bob, and 
he began walking around the nearby courtyard, watching some of the 
students.  Behind him he heard Waj excuse himself for a moment, and 
turned to see him walk off with the headmaster.  Iryien was gone too.
He'd find her in a little bit.  Somehow, with Tao missing, confessing 
his love wasn't of the highest priority to him.  He played the moment
back in his head:

Tao nodded again.  She flinched back a little when Trei reached for her 
hand, but otherwise retained the interested look on her face.

"I'll compare you to a summer's day
  Because they are sunny and you are too.
  When I was a kid, in summer I'd play.
  I wonder if you used to play in summer too?"

He paused.  "Okay so far?"

"Yes," Tao whispered.

"Great!"  He continued.

"But comparing you isn't a good idea
  Because you're really much more pretty.
  In other words, you're far more fair
  Which is why I'm writing this ditty."

Possessed by poetic fervour, he grabbed both of Tao's shoulders and stared
deeply into her eyes.

"Mere words can't show you the love in my heart
  Or the depth of the feelings I hold.
  I detest every moment that we're apart
  But together every second is gold."

Tao's eyes were wide and unblinking as Trei gently whispered the last two
lines, both of them caught up in the magic of the moment.

"If I could only see love in your eyes
  I'd be forever under perfect summer skies."

He leant forward and kissed her forehead.  Gently.  Softly.  It felt like a
benediction.  

There was a pause.

"So, what did you think?" Trei grinned, letting go of her and sitting back
on his haunches.  "Will she go for me or what?"

	How could he have been so foolish, he asked himself.  He had
kissed her without her consent, when she had been merely helping him.
He had read the poem as if it was being read to it's intended, all 
the emotion and desire pouring out and directed at her.  The kiss was
the culmination of those feelings.

	What was worse that it had felt so DAMN RIGHT.

	He couldn't get over it.  But the more he looked it over in his 
head, the more he was convinced of it.  He had fallen for Tao.  She wasn't
his dream model woman.  She wasn't the most forward of women.  She didn't
seem too interested in him either.  

	But she was all he could think about since he'd read it.  The thrill
of seeing Iryien's ample bosoms move up and down and up and down as she 
did her pelvic [THRUST]ing exercises was gone... mostly.  When he closed 
his eyes all he saw was another moment of Tao being there for him.  Another
time she had saved his hide from the fire.  If it weren't for her, he'd be a
a golem right now.  He'd never have gotten this far.  Hell, he was in Hell
because of her, and that didn't carry the connotation it would under normal
circumstances.  

	If he ever found her, he would tell her.  No poem, no flashy performance,
he'd just say it.  Maybe, just maybe she felt something too.  Maybe she had 
cried in disappointment at him going to Iryien instead of her for love.  Or
maybe it was just that time of month.  He had no way of knowing why she cried.

	"Until we find her."  Steeling his resolution, Treisel headed back to 
the area he had last seen Waj and Iryien in.  They WOULD find Tao, and 
he would tell her how he felt.

					*****

	A few minutes ago, they had finally exited the cave.  FINALLY.  Tao 
had been a little unnerved by the lack of fire and brimstone, but in the 
end her anticipation won out against the battle to occupy her mind.  She 
was going to meet her mother.  Never in her life had she thought it possible.  
She had believed her mother dead.  And now, she was standing outside her 
front door.

	Tao blinked.  "This is it?"

	Elmunster nodded to her, "This is your mother's abode.  I shall 
wait outside to give you privacy Spellbreaker."

	"You can call me Tao, you know."

	"As you wish, Spellbreaker."  Elmunster was cautious to keep a 
safe distance away from Tao and her aura as she walked into the archway
of the simple looking adobe house.  

	Tao looked around anxiously as she entered what appeared to be a 
quaint living room.  "Mother?"

	"Tao!?  TAO!" 

	Tao's head swirled around and she saw her mother for the first time
in her life.  Words rushed to her mind, her mouth opened, and damned if it
was all she couldn't do to not faint.

	"You're a DEMON!?"  Indeed, Tao's mother was a striking young pale 
purple demon.  She wore modest clothing over her not so modest figure.  
Her face was almost angelic in joy however, and not a trace of evil could 
be found in it.  Tao found herself wondering about Waj despite herself.

	"He didn't tell you did he?"  Tao shook her head silently.  "I'm 
sorry Tao.  You'd better sit down.  I have something else to tell you."

	Tao nodded weakly and sat in the nearest chair.  "So I'm half-
demon and half-human?"

	Her mother sat down next to her, and took Tao's hand into her own.  
Tao flinched at first, but ended up letting her.  "That's not quite it
Tao.  You see, you're also half-angel as well.  You're human, but only
because you're... special."

	This time, under the pressure of the spinning room and her reeling
mind, Tao did faint.

				*****

	"Wha-?"

	"You heard me, Wajissabequahze.  You're fired."  The chancellor 
looked at him sternly.  

	Waj gasped.  This wasn't at all how he expected his return to go.  
Granted, he wasn't expecting a parade or anything, but a simple pat on 
the back, get back to work would have sufficed.  All he could think to 
ask was, "But why?"

	"To be honest, things just aren't the same around here.  Hell's 
management is planning some changes, and softies like you just don't fit 
in anywhere in this university.  We're going to become an elite school to 
train demons in what demons should be doing:  Evil."

	"But this university has stood for quality education and freedom 
of choice for countless millennia!  Changing it now would be--"

	"Tsk tsk.  This is not up for debate.  I see your severance package 
is here."

	Waj turned around to find the three young demons that banished him 
standing by him ominously.  "So, I see you boys have seen the error of 
your ways and wish to apologize to me?"  He turned to the chancellor, "See, 
just like back in my day.  Show a boy a little discipline, and he'll show 
you a little--"

	"OOOSHA!  YOU HAVE HURT OUR PRIDE FOR THE LAST TIME 
WAJISSABEQUAHZE! *gasp* WE ARE MIGHTY!  THIS TIME OUR CURSE 
SHALL BE UNBREAKABLE!!"  The demon in the middle flexed his forearm 
mightily at Waj, while the other two revealed they'd been chanting all 
this time.  The other demon joined them before Waj could even come up with 
a plan of action.  A red cage of magic appeared around him, and absorbed 
itself into him.

	"Wha.. what did you do to me?"

	The demon on the left stepped forward.  "From now on, the fight 
shall be all you have.  No more Demon abilities, magic or aura-type.  
Only your physical abilities have been left untouched."  He produced 
Waj's long lost pitchfork and tossed it to him.  "The fight is all
you shall have."

	The demon on the right stepped forward, "This is it!  Let's banish 
him to the mortal realm once and for all!"  Waj tried to run away, but 
the magics from earlier left him weak and unable to move.  He could only 
watch helplessly as the boys began chanting a powerful spell.  He trembled 
as they pointed at him, and was unable to step away as Iryien jumped two of 
them at once, Treisel quickly tackling the third.  Closing his eyes, he 
prepared for the...

	Wait a second.

	Waj snapped his eyes open.  Iryien!  She did care about him!  
Good ol' Trei was beating up the loud one too!  Those two chaps really 
knew how to throw down for good ol' Waj.  

	Iryien got to Waj and yanked on his arm, seemingly breaking the spell 
on him.  He still felt weak, but was able to move freely again.  "Th-thank 
you."  Iryien smiled at him before leading him down toward the exit.  

	She called out behind her, "Hurry up Trei!"  

	Waj turned to see Treisel slamming the loud ones head into the 
ground.  "Not so mighty now are-- urp!"  Treisel took off when he saw 
the campus security come running to the scene.

	The three quickly ran off the edge of campus and into what appeared to 
be a demonic suburbs.  This was only evident as the houses looked the same as 
those in the mortal plane except for the massive numbers of pink flamingos in 
the 'lawns' (grass didn't grow too well this far under).

				*****

	He was not very happy.  He'd lost track of how long he sat here.  His 
mind wasn't very good at these things, but he thought he had it figured out.  
Somewhere along the way, he had been cursed. 

	Not in the normal, "Oh the gods must hate me for I am an ass" sort of 
way.  But in the "Someone cast some unholy shit spell of a curse on me" sort 
of way.  As far as he could figure it, whenever they got too far away, he, 
and that accursed wagon, teleported right in front of them.

	He noted it had been in fact some time since he'd seen any of the 
bastards.  He idly munched his oats from his stall at the inn they'd stopped 
at.  Simon was only mildly surprised when he felt himself appear in the 
middle of a suburbic section of Hell, only to have Iryien, Waj, and Treisel 
literally run right into him.

	"What the--"

	"Ack!"

	"Look o--OOF"

	"HEE-HAW"

	What surprised him even less was when they looked at each other, 
shrugged, and quickly leaped into the cart and took off down the road with yet 
another angry group of creatures behind him.

	Some days Simon really hated his life.  More accurately, Simon almost 
always hated his life.  A flaming arrow shot by, missing the wagon but grazing 
Treisel's sleeve and catching it on fire.  

	Simon did have to admit there were SOME perks to this job, as he 
listened to the sounds of Trei screaming "Putitoutputitoutputitout!"

				*****

	Rahve patted her now nearly empty pocket.  "They had better 
reimburse this as an expense."  She sat before the good Father Mishal, 
who was happily counting the 'donation' he had just received.
All of it was going to the church, he had assured her.  "Alright 
Father, I did my part.  What do you know?"

	He looked up, and swallowed, as if the weight of what he was 
about to do was just now sitting upon him.  "What I tell you is of
the utmost importance, do you understand?"

	Rahve sighed.  She gave him a 'get off your self righteous
kick and let me have it' look.

	"Tao Feymu is the offspring of both a demon, and an angel, 
and is yet human.  This fulfills an ancient prophecy, the birth
of the Spellbreaker."

	"..."  Rahve blinked.  "Tao's aura..."

	"I imagine that's one of her powers."

	"What exactly is the Spellbreaker?"

	The priest flustered momentarily.  "We uh... don't know."

	"You don't know???"

	"No one knows.  And I mean NO ONE knows.  Deities have been
scrambling to find out.  But the ancient text has been long lost.  
The only story passed on about the Spellbreaker was about her birth,
and the conditions thereof.  The only thing we know, is Tao Feymu
is the Spellbreaker of legend."

	Rahve blinked slowly in comprehension.  "Where can I find the
rest of this prophecy?"

	The priest faltered, "There are gods who have been searching
for such an answer, you realize?"  

	Rahve looked at the priest with steely eyed determination.  She
noticed his eyes seemed to stray behind her for a moment, as if seeking
guidance from the wall behind her.  She looked, but no one was there.
Father Mishal swallowed, "There is a temple, in the Latverian Isles.  
There might be an answer there."

	Rahve blinked yet again.  "The Latverian Isles?"  This had 
just gotten a Hell of a lot more expensive.  "Thank you Father."  
Rahve rushed out, her thoughts mulling over this new development.

	Death appeared behind where Rahve had been sitting.  "THIS ONE
HAS POTENTIAL.  SHE MAY YET UNLOCK THE MYSTERY OF FEYMU'S DESTINY.  
THANK YOU FATHER."

	The Father gulped.  "N-no problem."

	"OH.  I'VE BEEN GIVEN ORDERS TO MAKE SURE NO ONE ELSE LEARNS OF
FEYMU'S ORIGIN."  

	"Quite right, I won't tell any-- urk."

	Death's finger was outstretched, touching the Father's forehead.
"SORRY AND ALL.  JUST THE MESSENGER."  The priest's body slid out of his
chair and to the ground, and lay still.  With that, Death vanished once
more to the nether regions from which he came.

				*****

	"YOU WHAT!?"

	Zeke cringed visibly.  "When I got back from reporting to you sir,
she was already with Elmunster!  There was nothing I coul--"

	"ELMUNSTER!?"  The 110 centimeter tall Lucifer stood angrily.  
"YOU LET FEYMU IN MY REALM WITH ELMUNSTER!?  I... I AARGH!  ATTENDANT!"

	A small demon ran into the room, only to be shot in the neck by a 
bolt.  Zeke's eyes followed the path it had taken to find Lucifer 
dematerializing a quick crossbow.  "I HAD TO KILL SOMEONE," he spoke into
the megaphone.

	"M'lord... I was hoping you might be able to use your powers to 
find the StormBreaker before it was too late."  Zeke bowed deeply, to 
apologize for having to ask for such a favor.

	"YOU FAIL ME AGAIN EZEKIEL, AND IT WILL BE A THOUSAND WET LASHES FROM
A NOODLE."  Lucifer walked over to his wall, and peered into it.  "ODD.  
I HAVE JUST SEARCHED ALL OF HELL BUT THERE IS AN AREA I CANNOT SEE."

	"The Spellbreaker sir!  Her aura must be shielding her!"  Zeke stood
quickly, "Just command my direction m'lord!"

	"BLAST IT!  SHE'S WITH HER MOTHER!  GO!  RETRIEVE HER!  GET HER TO 
HER FATHER.  HE IS NOW OUR ONLY HOPE OF CONVINCING HER TO JOIN OUR SIDE. 
BE WARNED, I AM ASSEMBLING AN ARMY TO STORM THE GATES OF HEAVEN.  I WANT
THE STORMBREAKER IN THAT ARMY.  DO YOU UNDERSTAND PEASANT?"  

	Zeke gulped and nodded.

	"THEN GO!"  The angel frantically flew off in the direction of Tao,
while Lucifer spoke into his intercom.  "NAKTAR.  SEND A SQUAD OF DEMONS
TO THIS LOCATION.  I WANT THE GIRL ALIVE, BUT RUNNING."

	"Yes m'lord."

	Lucifer paused for a moment, then exited his office.  He strolled
the corridors of headquarters for Hell, and finally came to a room labeled
chatroom.  He walked in.  All the demons chatting there on their breaks 
looked up in horror.  "HI EVERYONE.  I JUST CAME BY TO KILL EVERYONE."

	And so he did.

				*****

	Tao sat on the couch, her mind still assessing everything it had just
been fed.  "I'm... the Spellbreaker?"

	Her mother nodded.

	"I'm the human offspring of a demon and an angel, which is the 
sign of the Spellbreaker."

	Again, a nod.

	"And no one at all has an idea what that means."

	A pause, and a nod.

	"..."  Tao started to cry softly.  This was too much.  Everything 
was happening at once.  She looked at her mother.  Her mother was a DEMON.
But on the other hand, the logical side of her brain argued, she HAD A 
MOTHER.  The two responses were swirling about with each other, fighting
for dominance.  It was then that Tao's mother grasped her and held her.
She whispered that she was sorry for all this, and that no matter what
happened, she loved her.  Tao wept quietly into her mothers shoulder for
one brief moment.  And for that brief moment, in the arms of her real,
biological mother, everything felt perfect.  She was content.

	That was of course the moment Elmunster burst into the room, grabbed
her with amazing strength for a man of his age and size, followed by a horde
of angry, screaming demons.  Not the friendly "Hi old Chap" variety of demons
either.  Tao screamed as she was carried off by the wizened mage.  "MOTHER!"

	Tao's mom was swamped by the demons.  "The Lateverian Isles!  They're
your only clue to your destiny!  I love yo--"  she was cut off as she was 
literally swamped by the buggers.  

	Elmunster burst through the side door, panting.  "Original entrance...
*wheeze* blocked..."  

	Tao quickly hopped off his shoulder, and gave one last wistful look 
towards her mother.  "We'll find another one.  Come on!"  The two took off
down the street, quickly losing themselves in the suburbs that Tao's mother
lived.

				*****

	Trei looked out over the street cautiously.  "I think we finally lost 
them."  Handling the reins, he turned the cart left down the road.

	"Well that was unpleasant.  I want to thank you chaps for saving my
hide back there."  Waj seemed a little distracted.

	Trei patted him on the back a little but quickly had his attention 
drawn away by a rumbling sound.  He drew Simon to a halt at an intersection,
and Waj, himself, and Iryien looked to find the source of the rumbling.  Iryien
pointed to a large cloud of dust raised in the horizon.  "They've found us!"

	Indeed a large group of demons was headed full tilt their way.  Treisel
blinked at the amount of them.  They must have gotten reinforcements.  He was
about to turn the cart in the opposite direction when he saw who they were
chasing and almost on top of.  "TAO!"

	Treisel handed the reins to Iryien.  "Go.  As fast as you can.  Directly
into the crowd.  Waj, get ready to grab them."  Treisel started concentrating
as hard as he could.  He had once said that he liked fancier, more powerful 
spells to simple repetitive ones.  Well now was a time to put that to the test.
The magic power in his body began to focus in his hands, weakly at first.  
'For TAO!' he thought, 'I have to do it!'

	Iryien charged the demons with Simon protesting at first, but he 
figured his life was already Hell, so why not die in it?  Waj scooped up
a surprised Tao and Elmunster.  Elmunster panted in the back of the wagon 
briefly, but his head quickly swiveled to look at Treisel.  Waj quickly scooted
Tao to the back of the wagon, as it was apparent that Treisel was building 
a rather large spell in his hands.  

	Iryien's knuckles whitened at the reins, "Treisel..."  They were about
to hit the horde head on, when a sudden burst of white light burst forth from
his hands, coalecsing in a shield of pure ice in front of them.  The shield
plowed through the crowd, as many demons dove out of the way of the foul ice,
and others bounced off, howling in pain.  

	Waj flinched in sympathy, "That's rather smart thinking there."

	No sooner had they gotten through the crowd did the shield drop and 
Treisel collapsed.  Iryien looked at him nervously, but kept the wagon going.
"Anyone have any idea where the nearest exit is?"  

	Elmunster spoke, "Now that I've caught my breath, I think I can create
a portal large enough for all of us to escape in.  Just stop for a moment."

	He stepped away from Tao, and raised his hands, as they crackled with
power.  He gestured in front of them, and his mouth opened.  

	"REFLECTION!!"

	All heads twisted as that didn't come from the frail Elmunster, but 
instead from a diving Zeke.  A bolt of magic intercepted the pool of magic 
crackling in the hands of Elmunster, and suddenly the mage was gone.

	Tao gasped, and whirled at Zeke, but the angel held up his hands.
"The enemy is upon us!  We have no time!  Follow me!"  He raised his hands,
and opened his personal exit portal from Hell.  "Quickly!  We must go!" 
Abandoning Simon, the group dashed into the portal, which quickly shut behind
them.

	Simon stood there, braying annoyedly as he was surrounded by hungry 
demons.  The creatures examined him briefly, and looked to one another, 
shrugging.  One of them reached over and scratched Simon behind the ears.
For the first time in years, Simon felt a touch of hope, a sense of 
respect.  *THWOOM*  And with a flash it was gone, and he was back with his
erstwhile owners, who were all busy blinking at him.  He was going to come 
back in his next life as a yo-yo at this rate.

	After pausing, the group regained it's composure and resumed the
regularly scheduled fight.  "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING!?"  Tao was 
in the face of a tired looking Ezekiel.

	Ezekiel sighed, and began, "He was really a demon in disguise to
trick you and bring you into Hell.  He was about to blast you all to
smithereens when I intervened."

	Treisel had yet to wake up.  Waj and Iryien watched the proceedings
cautiously.  They had never seen Tao with so much.. backbone.

	Tao stared Ezekiel down.  "I don't trust you.  In fact, I don't
think we need you any more.  We can handle our selves quite fine, 
right guys?"

	Iryien blinked, and quickly stood.  "RIGHT!"  She looked down 
at Waj, not noticing the fact that his eyes were on her but slightly lower,
"Right?"

	Waj coughed and stood too.  "I suppose if that's what you fellows
want."

	Ezekiel stood there, and took measure of each of them.  None of them
backed down, or said anything to him.  After a full minute of silence, Tao
turned, and got into the wagon.  Waj picked up Treisel and followed suit, 
with Iryien close behind.  The wagon slowly pulled off, and Zeke stood there.

	Lucifer would not like this.  'But,' he thought, 'this isn't over.  I'll
win back your trust, then I'll lead you straight to your father.  You will join
the forces of darkness, Spellbreaker.'

					*****

	Rahve sighed as she rode her horse in a trot down the road.
"How did I end up with you guys again?"

	Dr. Bulman glared at her.  "After your report, the Chancellor wanted
you to have an escort for safety reasons.  Since we're the only ones with
experience with Feymu--"

	"Meaning you had her and lost her."  Rahve interjected.

	Dr. Bulman glared at her even further.  "We were the natural choices
to protect you."

	"You wanted another shot at them."  Rahve smirked.

	"..."

	Genni sighed and pulled out a bottle she'd bought before leaving the
University.  Taking as big a swig as she could while keeping the bottle 
hidden from her companions, she sighed as she felt the jolt of the alcohol
rushing through her body.  This was going to be a long journey.

					*****

	Tao smiled slightly at Trei as he awoke.  "About time sleepyhead."

	Treisel blinked, "Did we...?"

	Tao nodded.  "Yeah we did.  Thanks to you.  Pretty impressive stunt."

	"Well, I had some motivation."  Trei managed a weak smile.

	Tao sighed, "Trei, I just wanted to... apologize for earlier.  I was
confused about a lot of things, and it just came out at once.  It had nothing
to do with you I swear."  She nearly bit her lip with the lie, but she'd 
decided.  Destiny first, love later.  He wanted Iryien anyway.

	Trei stared at her for a moment, as if struggling with something in
his mind.  "Consider it forgotten.  If you... ya know... ever need anything."

	"I could use an ear.  A lot's happened to me...."  Tao began relating
the story of her adventure in Hell.

	The sounds of many doves taking to the airs at the resounding cry of 
"YOUR MOTHER IS A WHAT!?" could be heard for at least a good half mile radius 
from the wagon a few minutes later.


Author's Notes:

*looks at Calendar*  Okay.. first off, I'm really, REALLY sorry for 
the delay in getting this out.  All 12 of you still reading To Hell
and Back have my deepest apologies.

First off, thanks to Ravi and Phoebe for both prereading it.  Ravi's 
grammar 'suggestions' saved my face a LOT of grief.  Thanks guys!

Secondly, I'd just like to say, yeah I know I tweaked a LOT of stuff.
But it had to be done.  As many were fond of saying, they didn't know
where the series would go now that they had gotten to Hell (and Back).
Well it had to go somewhere, and with stuff Ravi and Phoebe layed down
I picked a direction.

I had an urge to close at least one of the love triangles, but instead
I just reversed the angles a bit ^_^;

And yes AoD, I managed to avoid most japanese anime sayings this time,
just for you.


ColdFury - 06/28/00 (28?  my god it's 2 am!  Shoot me now!)