Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2004 05:10:26 GMT
From: Blake Alexander <writemeastory@juno.com>
Subject: Tales of the New Phoenix: My Immortal chapter 13

My Immortal
Chapter 13: Coming Together

	"'You will answer my questions Demon!' I raised my hand to the
creature and clenched my fist. Telekinetic pressure closed around the pit
the creature was in and pulled the walls in around its waste.

	"I didn't care that the being was in pain. I didn't care that I was
torturing it. I just wanted answers. It cried out that it didn't know
anything. I began to burn away its flesh. I began to slowly pull out its
soul chunk by chunk with the Dagger of Set. It begged to be set free, but I
didn't care.

	"That was the first of the demons I destroyed. I eventually started
in on vampires, even fey. I became crazed in my search for a way home. All
of those that I killed were twisted by darkness and were killing innocents,
but no one, nothing, deserves to die in agony. I sent them to the pit
writhing. Hundreds of them."

	Josh just looked at me. There was no disgust, there was no
horror. That hurt more than anything. "Blake, I would have done the same
thing."

	"What?"

	"I would have torn apart the heavens to get to you. I almost
did. If it wasn't for Maharet or Meker you would be sitting next to a man
twisted by dark magiks." He looked at the floor. "I commissioned a dark
sorcerer to take me as a pupil."

	I sat quietly. "There is only one answer." He looked at me. "We
stick together because we can't seem to stand being apart for great periods
of time."

	He smiled. "Deal."


	The two lovers spent the next few days wrapping up their affairs in
the city of San Francisco. So did their teammates.

	Josh finished planning out the first leg of his tour, the one he
left for the day after he returned from the mystic honey moon.

	Blake spent the days contacting beings in the spirit realm, ones
that he reestablished contact with once he returned to his own world. They
helped him in the parallel dimension as much as they could. He earned their
respect, and gave him the use of the corned of the Never Never they would
be in.

	Andrea set up the Serenity to be run by their assistant manager for
a few days. She finished training their new Bar Tender, Kevin, so that he'd
be able to fill in for Blake.

	Jubilee, Alison, and Tabitha spent the days shopping. They were to
be Blake's Grooms Maids. Jubilee almost blew him up when he suggested that
he pick out the dresses.

	She was picking them out.

	Devin pulled in a few strings and managed to bring in a temporary
Slayer to keep thing in San Francisco under control for the few days they
would be gone. Buffy, the leader of the Slayers, was more than willing to
help out.

	After everything that the Birds of Prey had been through, they were
all excited for a celebration and a time of peace and happiness.


	"Mom, it's ok. He doesn't need to come. I've come to terms with
it." I said into the phone.

	"But Joshua, he's your brother." She sighed into the phone.

	"And I'm sad that he doesn't want to be there. He made his feelings
known at my birthday." I looked out the window, momentarily flashing back
to the party at the Rain Forest Café. I immediately pushed it out of my
mind. "It's enough that you, Dad, and Heather will be there."

	"I can't believe this is happening. I wanted to tell you so bad!
Blake is such a great man!" I laughed. I knew she was bouncing on the other
side of the country.

	"I know. Mom, are you sure dad is ok with it? I mean, he dealt ok
enough that Blake was a guy, and a mutant. Are you sure he's ok with him
being a Vampire?" My stomach still twisted.

	"At first, no. But sweetie, you know what happened here. With that
fire. That boy pulled that baby from the fire even though he was
burning. And he just wouldn't stop burning. They tried to put him out, but
they couldn't. I don't know how anyone could say that all vampires are evil
when one died saving a baby. There are bad ones and good ones just like
people."

	"Thanks Mom. You gonna be packed and ready for Sage? She'll be
there tomorrow early. She has to stop to pick up Lance, Eric, and the kids
along with Joey and Chris in Orlando after you, then swing down to LA to
get Justin and Jessica." I said twisting the phone line.

	"We'll be ready dear. Don't worry." There was a crash in the
background. "I've got to go. Your Father is a sweet man, but as coordinated
as a... ROY! Don't put that there! You'll break it!" I laughed as she hung
up. I hung up, then dialed Lance's.

	"Hello?" came a sweet little voice.

	"Hey munchkin! Is your Daddy home? It's uncle JC." I smiled into
the phone.

	"Hi uncle JC, they're in the other room." I heard the phone set on
the table, then a scream "Dad! It's uncle JC!"

	"Hello?" Came that bass voice I'd come to depend on.

	"Hey! I'm calling around to make sure everyone is set to be picked
up." I said. "You having fun getting the kids packed up?"

	"Oh a blast. `I wanna take this, and this. I can't go without
these! No, I need those too!'" He laughed. "I thought that I had until they
were teenagers till I worried about over packing."

	"Right now it's toys, then it'll be clothes." I laughed. "So, Sage
is expecting to be there at about 12:00 your time. Will you be ready?" I
asked.

	"Yeah. Joey is expecting to be here by 11:30, and Chris said he'd
stay over so that we can make sure he's awake. I told them no more than two
bags each. Will there be enough space on the plane?"

	"I almost forgot who I was talking to scoop. And yeah, more than
enough." I laughed.

	"You got your Vows written yet?" he asked.

	"Almost. And no, you can't hear them." I said before he could
ask. Everyone wanted to hear them, but I wanted to wait. We chatted a while
longer, then I called Jus, my best man, to make sure they'd be ready.

	Jean was flying in from New York along with Professor Xavier,
Ororo, Joshua and his boy friend Logan, Bobby, and Marie, on the X-Jet.

	Blake asked me if I wanted to invite any of my other friends. I
said no. Sure, there were hundreds of big name celebrities I could invite,
but these people are like family to me. I had enough people to bring.

	All I really needed there was Blake anyways.


	"Roger that Phoenix, clear me a space. Touchdown in T-30 seconds."
Sage said through the com.

	"Stand back everyone!" I yelled to everyone. The portal at the end
of the hangar flared to life and the Night Hawk slid through the lading
stretch. The feet came down, and in a wash of landing thrusters settled.

	"Ok y'all!" I yelled at the girls. "Let's load up! I wanna get
married!"

	Josh just stood off to the side smiling. I walked up to him and
pulled him into a hug.

	"You know. I've been thinking for a while. C is a bit of a lame
codename." He said smiling.

	"Oh really? I've always thought it was cute." I kissed him on the
nose.  He slipped on his glasses. "Sage. Access my personnel file. Change
the code name. No longer C. Make it Bard."

	"Change noted." I could hear her voice coming from his ear
piece. "Effective immediately all references to C shall be made to
Bard. Nice choice."

	"Thanks." He said smiling. "One name changed. Two more to go
Mr. Alexander-Chasez."

	"After you Mr. Chasez-Alexander." I said swatting him in the butt.

	I grabbed our stuff with my powers and let the bags follow us up
into the Jet.

	Mom and Dad sat down with Josh's parents after some tear filled
hugging of him and I and started chatting. I found Justin and Jessica
sitting with Lance and Eric swapping stories about the kids, who were off
to the side playing.

	"This thing is remarkable." Chris said patting me on the back.

	"Wait until after dinner." I said smiling.

	"Dinner? No one mentioned Dinner." He said confused. "I thought we
were just eating at the island."

	"All hands please take your seats." Sage said over the
speakers. "We will be taking off in just a moment."

	"You better sit down Chris. The lift off can be a little trying." I
patted his shoulder and headed for my station.

	Being a being from Space, when I became a part of the crew of the
Night Hawk I got Navigation. Andrea was sitting as co-pilot to Sage. Devin
sat down at Communications. Dazzler took over at the Engineering
station. Jubilee took Tactical. Tabitha sat down at Ops. I smiled at
everyone.

	Sage could easily take care of all systems, but there's just
something about working as a team. I pressed a button at my station. "Hello
and welcome aboard the Night Hawk. Please sit down and enjoy the comforts
of the lounge area. I would like to make a special welcome to Nsync, and
the friends and family of the band. Our flight to Cante Sinoa, the private
island of Sezuan Perceville will take approximately 6 hours."

	I could hear the murmurs of confusion coming from the back, and
Andrea turn to ask me a question. "I know this may seem a little outlandish
considering how quickly you all made it to San Francisco from the East
Coast, and LA. We have a slight detour to make."

	"Excuse me Blake." Sage said over the Speakers. I found it slightly
unnerving that she was speaking, yet not through her body which was
pressing buttons at the pilots seat. "All hands prepare for
takeoff. Inertial dampeners should cancel all feeling of thrust during
takeoff, but incase of any sort of system failure please stay seated until
we reach cruising speed."

	"I suggest you all look out the windows." I said pressing the
buttons necessary to activate the spell cast on the walls of the lounge to
allow people to see what's outside the ship. "Cause the view is gonna be
killer."

	I pressed the button to close the connection to the speakers and
started punching buttons to get a bearing. "Sage, I'm sending the
coordinates to you now. This time of year we should be able to swing around
Mars easily. If you can, pass by one of its moons on the way to Ganymede."

	"Affirmative Blake. Course laid in. Main engine power up
confirmed." Her body pressed some runes on the console above her
head. "Activating Golden Gate." We started flying towards the target at the
end of the chamber and just before hitting it were suddenly flying above
San Francisco Bay. We angled up, climbing, but didn't level off. We kept
climbing until the sky started to fade to black.

	I hit a couple buttons and was greeted with a view of the
lounge. Everyone was looking out the walls at the horizon line of the earth
which was slowly fading bellow us.

	"Coming about." Sage said over the speakers, "If you all look out
the right side of the craft you will be able to see the West Coast of North
and South America. In just a few moments the Sub-Light drive will kick in
and we will be heading towards Mars."

	We all watched the Earth and Moon get smaller as we flew
away. Within five minutes there was a rapidly growing red sphere. "Braking
for close orbit fly by." Sage slipped in between Mars and two oddly shaped
masses. "If you look out the left side of the craft you will be able to
make out the shape of Olympus Mons, the largest mountain in the Solar
System. On the right you will be able to make out the two moons of Mars."
We passed by Mars and its small partners in a couple minutes. Sage kicked
the engines back in and we were off. In a couple minutes she slowed again.
"We are now passing through the Asteroid Belt. When the Solar System was
forming, all the terrestrial planets formed within a relatively close orbit
of the sun. We know the surviving planets as Mercury, Venus, Earth, and
Mars. The Asteroid Belt was the last attempt at a terrestrial planet. It
would have formed and had a stable orbit if not for the gravitational
disturbance created by Jupiter, the largest of the planets." She sped back
up as we passed a particularly large asteroid.

	Within a few more minutes we were in orbit of Jupiter. "If you'll
look out the right side of the craft you will see the Great Red Spot coming
up from the horizon. A storm system large enough to house several Earths,
its center is a downdraft of winds that give us a view of a lower layer of
Jupiter. We are coming up on our destination for dinner, Ganymede. One of
the many moons of Jupiter."


	"What do you think of the view, Pop?" I asked, setting my hand on
his shoulder.

	"Son, I never imagined I'd see anything like it." We both gazed out
at the orange clouds swirling around the largest of the planets. On the
horizon we could see the thin ring that orbits it. "Are you sure about
him?" he asked.

	"Yeah dad." I looked over at Blake. He'd changed his hair to black
with blond highlights. "He's my everything. When I thought he was gone..."
I couldn't finish the sentence.

	"I know Josh. I saw you." My dad looked at me and smiled. I was
shocked to see a tear in his eye. "I've never seen you so happy, son. When
he's around, I see the boy I helped raise. Every word you speak is laced
with music." He looked out into the stars. "'It is right it should be so:
Man was made for joy and woe; and when this we rightly know, through the
world we safely go. Joy and woe are woven fine, a clothing for the soul
divine.'"

	"William Blake." I said smiling at him.

	"Yes." He turned to me. "Take care of each other." He looked at Mom
and smiled. "It's a wondrous thing."

	I looked at Blake again. "I know."


	We landed and I could hear Josh's breath catch.

	The thing about borrowing a Wizard's private island is that it's
always a beautiful place filled with magic. There were pixies dancing in
the fields, and trees that danced in the wind. In the center of the island
stood the ruin of an ancient castle. Off to the side, near a cliff, stood
the main house.

	"My God!" I heard Josh's mom exclaim.

	"I take it you like it Karen?" Devin said laughing.

	"It's wonderful!" She said. "I never imagined..." She strolled
towards the field, Roy in tow. Mom and Dad followed close behind.

	"It is wonderful. Thank you for setting this up." Josh said pulling
me into a sideways hug.

	"Gang way!" Jubilee screamed. We turned and saw her carrying a load
of boxes down the ramp.

	"Yeah, if you're not setting up the site, get the hell out of the
way." Andrea said, pointing her ring at a dozen or so men carrying boxes
towards the ruin. We headed towards the house, our bags in hand. Everyone
else just worked.

	"Shouldn't we help them?" Josh asked.

	"No." Devin said strolling up along side. "If they would stop long
enough to remember what I said, they'd remember that house elf's are here
to take care of that."

	"What?" I asked.

	"In the Wizarding community they are slaves. Sezuan bought a
hundred or so and told them that they were to live on this island
freely. They said that they couldn't, and was scared to death that he would
set them free. He compromised and said that they would tend the island,
keep the plants healthy and well cared for, keep the house in shape, and
take care of him and the guests whenever there are any. This being his
summer home, he's only here every once in a while. He did send word that we
would be coming though."

	"Wow." Josh said. "That's so sad. They are petrified of being
free."

	"In my opinion it's the single worst thing wizards ever did." He
said quietly. We went the rest of the way to the house in silence.