Rating: Probably PG-13. There are some adult concepts, more in other stories that this one. I'll just say that to remain consistent.
Violence: No.
Sex: Nope.

Notes: This is story number six in the (Energizer - "it just keeps going, and going...") series, the first being "The Gift That Keeps On Giving", and the second "Ooops, I Did It Again..." - followed by "Spelling Lessons" and "Every Witch Way" and "School Daze".

This wraps the cliff-hanger, but there's a lot more to go. As I may have mentioned before, there are so far TWELVE stories in this series, and there are more tales yet to tell. I owe Rebecca Littlehales an enormous debt for this completed work, as she found time around her own personal things to get it beta'd and tweaked to readiness. She's a saint, really. And I appreciate each and every one of you who have given me so much encouragement on this series. It's already fun to write, but your comments make it even more so. Thanks.

He was weak. It had made him the perfect target. He had enough power to use, but not enough to fight Them. And he was close to the one They really wanted. A perfect vessel. All They needed now was the other half, and he would be complete. And she would be even easier to get. Then They would be able to reach the Right One through his weakness, and then They could take what They wanted. They wanted it all.

Graduation. Gabrielle never thought that one-on-one witches' training would end with a graduation ceremony. She wanted desperately for Joxer to be there, but he had been staying away from them for some time now, and she didn't know what to do about it. Hellena had implied that she was getting to know the wizard better, but Gabrielle couldn't really believe that. He wouldn't set foot outside the Academy without coming to see her and Xena.

He hadn't even sent the idiotic rat with a message in ages. And she had no way of contacting him, either. She hadn't really seen or talked to him since that night she'd accidentally gotten drunk and he'd had to carry her upstairs. The bard wondered if she'd said something stupid that night that had made him mad at her. She didn't know, because he wasn't around to ask. She couldn't even get excited about her graduation, because this was worrying her night and day.

Xena had worn that serious scowl of hers, and tried to get Gabrielle to talk or write about what was bothering her. Mother Wigglewort tried to distract her pupil with promises of big surprises for her at graduation time. The blonde bard made a valiant effort to respond to both her friend and her tutor, but that nagging concern about the distant wizard just never went away.

And now the big night was here. The new witch had to admit she was a little excited. But it would be so much better if she could share it with Joxer.

"Look, Joxer. I found these gorgeous daisies on the far side of the courtyard behind the stone bench. I think Hellena might really like them. Would you take them to her for me later?" Milt simply glowed with excitement at the thought of giving something more to his lovely witch. Ever since he first saw his roommate's ability to exit their virtual prison, he'd taken advantage of it. He had been sorely disappointed when he discovered that Joxer's power to move the door and pass through it seemed limited to Joxer himself. The 'opening', or whatever it was, closed securely the minute the Greek passed through it, and trying to put Milt through first had failed as well. So Joxer had been a go-between, acting as Cupid's messenger for the head-over-heels young man that he roomed with. Milt had managed to see her again once, briefly, when he was tapped to help receive a delivery, and she had been outside. She had even waved at him. He'd asked Joxer if he'd seen it, since he was nearby at the time.

Joxer looked up from his studies. Daisies. Gabrielle loved daisies. He took his feelings out, turned them over, examined once again the pain of the memory of his last meeting with his beautiful bard, poked at it just to feel the sting, and then shut them down again. "Sure."

"Jox, what has been wrong with you lately? If you bother to talk at all, it's in words of one syllable. You're pale as a ghost, and I heard Old Bear say he was going to go get Mother Wigglewort to look at you soon if you didn't start asking questions again." Milt cared about his roommate. That was the reason he'd agreed when those voices had asked him to help. They said if he would just look at Them, They could help Joxer. Milt had never had a friend like Joxer before. He hadn't even heard from Them since.

Mother Wigglewort. Joxer sighed. Why did Milt have to mention Mother Wigglewort? She was close to Xena and Gabby. How come he couldn't get away from thinking about them, even here behind the closed doors of the Academy? The only joy he had, and that was small, was in acting as Milt's messenger boy. It so thrilled the young man, and Hellena was actually starting to smile when she saw him coming. He could at least offer to help them to have the things he never would.

Never was an awful long time.

Girl?

Hellena spun around in a circle. No one stood near her, and certainly no one had been whispering in her ear.

You like power, don't you girl? A chorus of voices hissed inside her head. She was apprehensive. We like that about you, girl. We can give you power. We can even give you that wizard you want. After We finish with him. They didn't bother to add what's left of him. She'd be lucky if she lived till They were done, anyway. Just help Us get him...

Hellena hesitated. They wanted Joxer. So did she. Perhaps they could work together. But she'd have to see what they had to offer. "He can give me power without you."

Ah, but We can give you more... Just look at Us. Look...

"And now, you stand here, ready to go share your witchcraft with the world. Remember that witches are healers, and as such, are sworn to do good and not harm with the power they have..."

Gabrielle did her best to listen, as Mother Wigglewort's speech went on and on. She wasn't sure what graduation meant in other types of training, having never attended or taken part in one, but apparently in witchcraft it meant a time for the trainer to say everything she had ever wanted to in her entire, extremely long, life. To be fair, the new witches' mind hadn't been all here for a while anyway. For all she knew, this might have been fascinating, if it hadn't been for Joxer and his conspicuous absence.

The bard looked down at herself. The new black dress Mother W had made for her was indeed lovely - fitted at the bodice and sweeping out in a full skirt. Fine for doing witch things in, totally impractical for fighting. Particularly when worn with the tall conical hat that she had on. And Gabrielle had decided that she needed to get back to fighting - back to her old life in Greece. As soon as all this was over, she would talk to Xena, maybe they could pull Joxer out of the Academy, and they could all go home. She rarely saw her family when in Greece, and neither Xena nor Joxer spent much time with theirs, either, but at least the option was available when they were there. They had been away too long.

"And lastly," Gabrielle sighed in relief at those words, "comes the broomstick ceremony." The new witch looked at Xena with a questioning expression, and the Warrior Princess just shrugged.

"Normally," Mother W explained, coming beside Gabrielle, "the new witch is given her own broomstick and her first flying lesson at this point. However, since you are a bit different than my usual trainees, I decided that a broomstick didn't suit you." The bard wasn't sure if she was disappointed at this news or not. She had gathered that a broomstick was pretty much a witch requirement, even though many kept it locked away in a closet most of the time. She supposed it was a bad thing for a witch not to have one, although she really didn't want one much. It would be hard to pack and carry on the trail, for one thing. The trainer continued. "Instead, I want to give you a far more useful tool, and one you are already quite familiar with." The older witch reached out, taking the Amazon Staff from the new graduate. She held it up at eye level and spoke some words in the Mysterious Tongue, a language Gabrielle had thought the exclusive domain of wizards. The staff shivered a bit, then rose to levitate above the old woman's palms. She plucked it from the air and handed it back to its owner.

"Now, you may take your first ride." Gabrielle stared at the witch in dumb amazement. She could ride her staff? Mother W seemed amused by the look on her face. "It's not exactly alive," she explained, "not like J..." The trainer caught herself, seeing the hurt look on the younger woman's face at even the anticipation of hearing his name, "Uh, the other staff. That one's a lot different. More like a trained hunting dog, able to think for itself. This one is more like a dumb pack animal, willing to help but unable to do much without direction. Now, go ahead. Sit on it."

The young witch sat gingerly sidesaddle on the staff as it floated above the ground at the right level. "Now pick up your feet." Gabrielle did so obediently, then yelped as the staff rose just a bit higher. "Go on, take a spin about town, if you like. Just not too high. It takes some getting used to."

The staff with Gabrielle on board passed through the gate and out onto the street. Xena could hear her friend mumbling directions to it in an apprehensive tone. "I thought broomstick riding wasn't going to be one of her abilities?" the Warrior woman questioned the old witch.

"Oh, all witches are able, if they have the blood. It's just not all are talented at it."

"Hey," they heard the bard holler from outside the yard, "SLOW DOWN!"

The old woman shrugged. "See?"

Joxer waved the solid matter of the door aside like a curtain and stepped outside. Hellena was waiting, and he presented the daisies. "Milt says..."

"Oh, Joxer, what beautiful flowers! Thank you!" The dark girl threw her arms around Joxer's neck and pressed her body against him. His robe, whipped by the wind, surrounded her, making it momentarily appear they were both wearing the same thing.

He pushed her gently back. "They're from Milt, Hellena."

"Oh," she got a vacant look in her eyes, "I know." Something reared its ugly head in those vacant eyes, and she began to pull at Joxer's sleeve. "You know, I wish I could see him. Maybe you could just make that silly old retaining spell go away. I bet you could."

Her wheedling tone was lost on Joxer, but her words weren't. He'd been thinking of that himself for a while now. He knew now that he had powers even those in charge of the Academy didn't understand. If he hadn't been so miserable lately, he'd have been pushing the limits every chance he could, just to see how far he could go. But after his run-in with Gabrielle, he'd buried himself in his books and become the model student, memorizing every spell and obeying every Rule. His only nudge at the lines that held the other novices in was the occasional trip outside the walls to see Hellena. He did that for Milt.

He looked at the witch, not really seeing her. "Of course, I could." For Milt - who wanted to see his ladylove so desperately. He was on the other side of the wall right now, waiting for Joxer to return with some word, some token of her affection. Joxer understood love like that all too well. If the wall just went away...

A familiar scream behind him drew his attention before he could formulate the thought that would activate the spell. Turning, he looked towards the sound, finally casting his gaze upwards to see, of all things, Gabby! Wearing a black dress and riding what looked like her staff, she just barely cleared the overhanging limb of a huge oak tree. He heard her curse in Greek, then she turned the staff and headed back in the direction from which she had come, barely clinging to her strange mount as she hollered directions to it with all her might.

Joxer started after her, but a strong hand gripped his arm. "Joxer?" Hellena purred, "The wall?"

He shook himself. He'd never catch up with her on foot, not while she was - doing whatever it was she was doing. "Sure," he answered absently, flicking his hand at the structure and telling it to go away. The age-old stones melted into nothingness like butter on a hot day. "There."

"Good." Hellena's purr had changed into a growl, and she had a death grip on Joxer's arm. Suddenly her other hand flashed out and a knife blade nicked Joxer's neck.

He slapped at the sting. "Ouch." Joxer stared at the blood on his hand, and then at the girl at his side. "Whaja do that for?"

Milt seemed to appear from nowhere. "We can't control your magic, so this poison will keep you confused long enough for Us to set everything up." The young wizard's voice sounded like many voices, all talking in unison. Joxer's head felt funny - like someone had wrapped it in thick cloth. He moved his head to the side, and it felt as if it went a little piece at a time.

All around him, Joxer was aware of people running and shouting and pointing at where the walls used to be. Magruder approached him. "Joxer, did you do this? You're the only one who could." The redheaded professor seemed oblivious to the woman holding the young wizard's arm. "Put it back."

Hellena growled in that one-many voice, "We need the wall gone, wizard. We have uses for your kind. Look at Us."

They only came once a generation, and a wizard's generation was a long one. It had been hundreds of years since They had been around last. Still, Magruder's mother had warned him about Them. He knew not to look in those eyes. He ran.

Conclusion >>>