Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2008 23:07:15 -0800
From: Amethyst Rose <thepleiadescall@gmail.com>
Subject: Charmed Reborn Episode 9

Disclaimer: All rights for Charmed and the Halliwells go to the WB, as well
as Aaron Spelling and Brad Kern. This story is a spin-off of the original
Charmed series, categorized under fan fiction, and is not intended to imply
any personal knowledge, or the actual sexuality of any of its celebrities.

This story is obviously fiction. This story will also involve sexual and
intimate relationships between two (or more) males, and if this offends you
or it is illegal for you to be reading, then please leave. If you are under
the age of consent for your community, please leave. And if it does offend
you, I honestly don't know why you're even here in the first place.



			       C'est LeFleur


Lucy brushed her hair slowly, wedging her black cell phone between her ear
and her right shoulder. She hoped she could talk into the receiver
properly, but she was more concerned about her new hair; Lyla somehow
convinced her to dye a large streak of her front bangs green, and it
trailed longer than the rest of her shoulder-length hair. "So where are you
now?"

Lex, on the other end of the line, slammed the door of the car shut and
walked towards the elevator. "I'm at the parking garage. I'm surprised I
still have reception, actually."

"Lex, I really don't like this hair."

"Aww, really?" Lex imagined Lucy right then and there, and laughed. "I
think it looks pretty punk."

"Exactly! I'm a doctor, Lex! This-" Lucy blew the green bang out of her
face. "-doesn't look professional. I'm young enough as it is, I don't wanna
have to keep proving myself to everyone."

"I guess... You could cut if off, if you want."

Lucy looked in the mirror, putting down her brush and taking the bang in
her fingers. "No. It would make this big patch of nothing with my hair
style." she sighed. "I guess I'll have to stand it `till it grows out."

In the middle of Lucy's sentence, Lex looked around himself. Although there
were a lot of cars, it was strangely empty. He shifted his gaze, and nearly
jumped when he saw something in the corner of his eye. Lex sighed. It was a
far-off light with a flickering bulb.

"Lex? Are you still there?"

Lex snapped back to reality. "Yeah. Sorry, I thought I saw
something. Um... so what were you gonna do?"

"I told you, I'll grow it out. Jeez. Oh, and remind me never to take Lyla
to a barber again. She reveals the most embarassing-"

Suddenly, a sound as loud as a thunderclap; Lex dropped his cell phone with
shock, feeling a shockwave and hearing an agonizing scream behind him. Lex
turned around. A demon in a black body suit and bright yellow goggles was
writhing in pain, engulfed in a plume of fire. The flames consumed him
completely, and with a final scream he disappeared in a pile of ashes.

It took a while for Lex to close his mouth again. He heard a voice on the
floor; Lex picked up the phone again. "What happened?!" Lucy screamed on
the other line.

"L-Luce." Lex finally answered, shaking a little. "It happened again."

There was a brief pause before Lucy answered back. "Are you okay? Did you
see anything?"

"Y-yes, I'm okay, thanks. But it was just like last time."

Lucy exited the bathroom, and headed to the attic. "Maybe the demon can
turn invisible."

"Oh... that's scary."

"I'll check the Book again. Same demon? Black body suit?"

"Yeah."

Lucy bit her lip. "And he was vanquished too, just like the other three?"

"It's the weirdest thing. I dunno if it means more danger or what, but it's
really kinda creepy."

"Yeah, well. You should get Lyla, quick."

"Alright. Bye." Lex put his phone back in his pocket, and was relieved to
see people again. Still a little nervous, he couldn't help but strafe his
eyes left and right repeatedly, as though expecting another demon
attack. Although it seemed like he was being attacked a lot recently, each
time it happened the demon would just burst into flames, almost
instantaneously.

He entered the elevator with two young men in suits, and Lex was utterly
oblivious to their stares. Lex stood still with his hands folded, the
elevator going down. He looked straight ahead.

The two men in suits spoke in unison. "Morning."

Lex finally noticed them. He smiled. "Hi." He returned his gaze to the
elevator doors.

But the men were persistant. One of them, the taller one with long sandy
blonde hair gelled back, crossed his arms. "What brings you here?"

Lex politely turned to him. "Oh, my sister's here. I'm visiting."

The man nodded. The other man, a little bit shorter with platinum blonde
hair moussed like a very hip model, spoke from behind. "We're visiting
too."

"Ah. That sounds nice." Yet again, Lex turned away from them.

"So what floor are you stopping at?"

Lex briefly gave a pout before turning to them again with a smile. Their
insistence on talking to him struck him as strange. "Second floor."

"We're on the bottom."

"Oh." Lex desperately wished someone else would step into the elevator, but
no one did. Instinctively, Lex raised his hand to his heart. Trying to
comfort himself, he fingered the crystal pendant that was beneath his
t-shirt.

As he felt the strangely soothing presence of his pendant, he peered out of
the corner of his eye. The men in suits seemed to suddenly perk up,
whispering to each other and shooting glances at Lex. Lex felt like a
claustrophobic guinea pig in a cage, and almost sighed with relief when his
floor came. He didn't turn back when he strode out the elevator doors,
grasping his crystal tighter.

After navigating the fancy floors, Lex finally found the studio Lyla was
being photographed at. Technicians wandered back and forth, carrying lights
and computers, make-up artists working on glamorous models seated in
folding chairs. Lex wove between them, intimidated by some of the models'
haughty stares, and withdrawing into himself at some of the looks he got
from the brawny male models.

Lex smiled when he saw Lyla on the other side of the room, removing make-up
in the vanity mirror. He almost tripped over some wires and accidentally
got in the way of a photographer, but he made his way over to her. "Hi!"

Lyla looked over at him, wiping lipstick off with a tissue before grinning
back. She was dressed in a casual red blouse and white khakis, but she bore
a pair of gaudy heels. "Hey, sweetie. You came just in time, I'm all done
here. How was the ride?"

"Oh, it was-" Lex bit his lip, hesitating to talk about it in such a public
spot. Between the return of the phantom vanquish to the strange men in the
elevator, he didn't quite know what to say anyway. "Um... Maybe we should
talk in the car."

"Alright." Lyla threw her red and magenta tissue in a trash bin, and put
her arm through her purse straps. She reached down and slipped off her
heels, handing them to a bustling wardrobe handler before putting on one of
her flip-flops. Lex headed for the door, and Lyla followed,
stumbling. "Wait! Lex!"

Lex turned around. "Oh, sorr- ah!" Lex yelped, as a model on his way to the
dressing rooms bumped into him as he stopped for Lyla. He was knocked to
the ground.

Lyla finally succeeded in putting her other flip-flop on, and rushed over
to Lex's side. He rubbed the back of his head, squinting in pain. Lyla
looked up at the guy who bumped into him. "Hey, watch it, punk!"

The model was a little bit on the lankier side, but he was still
athletic. He had a rather typical surfer look, with a t-shirt, board-shorts
and puka shells, and his hair was a dirty blonde mess that got in his dark
aviator shades. He looked regretful (as regretul as he could, considering
his eyes were hidden), reaching down to help Lex up. "I am so, so
sorry. Are you okay?"

Lex had accepted the stranger's hand, pulling himself up by his strong
grip. "Ugh... yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

Lyla didn't look at all forgiving as she helped Lex up by the back. "Watch
where you're going next time, alright?" she and Lex turned towards the door
again, but Lyla suddenly about-faced mid-stride. "And if you hurt my
brother again, I'll kick your ass!"

"Sorry." The model feebly said again.

"Yeah, you better be." Lyla mumbled, leading Lex out.

Lex giggled a little. "Ly, that was kinda mean! I think it was an
accident."

Lyla smiled. "Yeah, it probably was. But whatever; now everyone knows to
watch their step." The two of them walked into the elevator, continuing
their conversation as the doors shut.

As the ring of the doors signaled the traverse of the elevator, the two men
in suits strode around the corner. They pushed the door open into the
winding down photo shoot, and pushed several photographers out of their
way.

They found the shaded model, crouched on a large pile of wires, examining a
small shiny mirror. The man with the slicked back hair looked
concerned. "What does it say?"

The model looked at the mirror more carefully, his gaze piercing behind his
sunglasses. It suddenly shone a subtle violet. He looked up at the men in
suits, frowning. "It's positive."

The two men in suits smiled in unison, exchanging looks. The shorter man
flipped his platinum blonde hair, parted to one side and getting in his
right eye. "I knew it."

"But before we go after them..." The man with slicked back hair again
turned his attention to the model. "We still have the *other* matter to
attend to. Did you track him?" The model nodded, refocusing his gaze on the
now violet mirror. "Good. Then we'll continue the cleansing right away."




- - - - "The Mummers' Dance"

By: Loreena McKennitt

We've been rambling all the night and some time of this day

And now returning back again, we bring a garland gay...

and so they linked their hands and danced, round in circles and in rows

and so the journey of the night descends when all the shades are gone

"A garland gay we bring you here, and at your door we stand

It is a sprout well budded out: the work of Our Lord's hand..."  - - - -



"Lex, there's no way this is good." Lyla shut the door behind her, and Lex
plopped down on the couch. "I mean, even if the demons are supposedly being
vanquished, the fact that you're being followed by invisible demons in the
first place is a little bit of a bad thing."

"I know." Lex got up again, and tried to blow his hair out of his face. "At
least I haven't had to vanquish anybody, though."

Lyla rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you're still hung up on that."

Lex pouted. "Yes. Ly, it doesn't feel good. I'm fine with all the other
witch stuff and I wanna protect Good, but I just hate vanquishing."

"Lex." Lyla put her hands on her hips. "Lex, being a witch that doesn't
kill demons is like being a warlock that doesn't kill innocents. It just
doesn't happen. It's a war that's been going on for eons, and no one's
going to stop it. So if you don't fight back, it's going to get you."

"But... but..." Lex seemed at a loss for words, reluctant to say what was
really on his mind. He finally spit it out. "...Maybe there are warlocks
that are good."

Lyla raised an eyebrow. "Honey, all warlocks are evil. It's in their
blood. That's what makes them warlocks."

"What about Kincaid?"

"He's not- well, he's-" Lyla cleared her throat. "Why do you always gotta
play that card? He's not a warlock."

"But he has warlock blood."

"Lex! I'm not gonna argue with you about this!" Lyla sighed, and Lex
frowned. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you, okay?" Lex
nodded. Suddenly, the sound of orbs. In a spray of blue-white light and a
celestial noise, Aaron materialized in the far doorway. Lyla noticed and
turned around, her look of concern replaced with a smile. "Hi, Aar-bear!"

Aaron blushed madly, scratching his head. "Err... Lyla, I thought I said
not to call me that."

Lyla embraced Aaron's torso, and planted a kiss on Aaron's lips. "You know
you like it."

"Well, no, I-" Aaron paused, looking over Lyla's head to Lex, who was
kneeling on the couch, like a puppy observing his masters. Aaron was
obviously angry at himself, just vaguely pushing Lyla away, but Lex
smiled. "Ummm, hi. Hi, Lex."

Lex waved, grinning. "I kinda like `Aar-bear.'"

Lyla turned her head, winking at Lex, and again looked at Aaron, who was
simply a beet with a body at this point. "I told you." she said. Aaron gave
an expression to Lex best summed up as "What the hell are you doing?" Lyla
finally let go of Aaron, heading up the stairs. "I'm gonna take a shower, I
feel so grimy."

Aaron seemed very relieved that she left. Lex circled around the couch,
going on his tip-toes to give Aaron a hug. "Are you okay?" Aaron asked,
tenderly, even though Lex didn't notice his tone of voice.

"Yeah. Today was just a weird day." Lex backed off, although Aaron was
reluctant to let go. He headed to the kitchen, and Aaron followed. "I told
Lyla already. There were some people in the elevator acting kinda
funny. Oh, and another demon attacked me." Lex reached into the
refridgerator and pulled out a gallon of milk. He looked up at Aaron, who
was leaning on the freezer section of the fridge. "Hey, I didn't see you at
all yesterday, huh?"

Aaron shook his head. "Yeah. Sorry."

"It's okay." Lex poured milk into his cup, and Aaron seemed disappointed at
his reaction. "But why were you gone?"

"Well actually, I was gonna ask the Elders about the demons that've been
attacking you."

"Did you find anything out?" Lex took his glass of milk and sat down at the
coffee table.

Aaron joined him, and he gave a bright smile. "For once, yeah. They're
called Shadow Stalkers. They can turn invisible, and they've recently been
employed by the Order of Ebon Twilight."

Lex licked milk from his lips. "So the Seven are basically trying to kill
us again."

"Well, that's nothing new." Aaron looked more serious now. "But the thing
is, the Elders don't know who's guarding you."

Lex's eyes widened. "You mean I'm being protected?"

"Err... yeah. The shadow stalkers didn't vanquish themselves,
anyway. Someone is stopping them before they harm you. Someone the Elders
don't know about."

Lex finished his milk, wiping his mouth with the back of his
hand. "Um... I'm not sure what that could mean, then."

"We don't either." Aaron cleared his throat. "But anyway. That's not really
the reason why I was up there for so long."

"So then what happened?"

Aaron seemed to make sure no one was looking, before leaning over the table
and speaking quietly to Lex. "I'll tell Lyla and Lucy too, but we have to
make sure word doesn't get out." Lex nodded. "The Elders called an
emergency whitelighter conference. See, there were three witches who used
to be evil, but reformed and became good. So to make sure they were truly
being good, the Elders personally watched them, and recently they were put
under their protection."

"Here's the thing." Aaron continued. "I don't know the details of how it
happened, but somehow, yesterday, two of the witches were killed. Right
under the Elder's noses. The third one got away just injured, but it's
amazing how it could've happened with the Elder's protection."

Lex gave a melancholy expression. "Do they know who did it?"

"Nope. Bamboozled. But you would think that if they were monitoring them as
charges, they wouldn't have screwed up so badly, you know? So I guess the
Elders were in a panic, and they told all the Whitelighters to be sure to
keep extra watch on their charges."

"That sounds kinda scary." Lex said, crossing his arms. "I suppose we
should be on our toes too." Aaron nodded. Then, his ears seemed to perk up,
and he rose to his feet. Lex cocked his head in curiosity. "What's up?"

"I'm being called." Aaron furrowed his eyebrows. "It's Lucy. She's at
Kincaid's house."

"Oh yeah, she's picking him up today. But if it's Kincaid's house, why
isn't he calling you?"

"...She seems scared. I better go." Aaron waited for Lex to stand up, then
put an arm on his shoulder. "You'll stay here with Lyla?"

Lex nodded, giving a worried look. "Yup." Aaron's touch evaporated away,
and Lex had to squint a little as the white flash faded into the
background.

- - - -

Lucy pounded on the front door, standing in the narrow walkway. "Kincaid?!
Hey!"

Aaron orbed behind her, hoping no one across the street saw him. He tapped
Lucy on the shoulder, and she swung around. "Lucy, what's wrong?"

"It's Kincaid. He's not answering his phone or the door and his car's still
here. Something's wrong."

Although a little skeptical since Kincaid hadn't called for him, Aaron
nodded. "Listen. You stay here, and I'll orb in and see if anything's
wrong." As he said that, Aaron conjured a bow in his hands. He orbed away,
and immediately materialized into Kincaid's house, leaving Lucy to twiddle
her fingers in anticipation, shaking so much one would guess she was having
a minor nervous breakdown.

Aaron remembered being here once or twice before. The Rowe Family was very
well off, and Kincaid said that he had a pretty grand inheritance. Sure
enough, the place seemed quite big, although it wasn't overfurnished.

His ears perked up: voices from the kitchen. Realizing they didn't belong
to Kincaid and hearing them come closer, Aaron found that his only escape
was to run up the stairs. He stopped at the top. Although he couldn't see
the intruders from his position, he could hear them.

One had a deep, confident voice, a man. "What did you do with him?"

A bright voice, another male, answered back. "Upstairs. I bound his mouth
so he couldn't call a whitelighter."

"Good. Then will you finish the job?"

There was a brief pause before a third voice, some pitch between the two
and notably less confident, responded. "Yeah."

Aaron silently cursed. Making no noise, he rushed to the upstairs, opening
the hallway doors in his search. Sure enough, as he heard steps coming up
the stairs behind him, Aaron got the right room; a plain bedroom, morning
sun pouring through the skylight. In the middle of a beam of light was a
chair. And tied into the chair was a very frightened Kincaid, a cloth
stuffed in his mouth.

Being sure to keep silent, Aaron rushed to Kincaid's side, deftly snapping
his rope and gag with an arrow. Kincaid immediately brought his hands to
his front, rubbing his wrists and stretching his jaw. "Shit, Aaron. They-"
Kincaid stopped, his eyes looking up at something behind Aaron. Aaron
turned around; a young man with sunglasses filled the threshold. He held a
golden dagger in his hand.

"Aaron!" Kincaid yelled, somewhere between anger and fear. Aaron saw the
guy in the doorway raise his dagger, and in a split second Aaron grabbed
Kincaid's hand and spirited them away.

- - - -

When the black poppy seed was added to the mix, a sizzling smell and a
fizzing sesnsation tingled in the vapors, giving the air of the kitchen an
anticipant atmosphere. Lyla grinned broadly at the effect. "Okay. This
should restock us for the week."

"So how are things with you and Aaron?" Lex asked, going on his tip-toes to
reach for the small glass bottles in one of the higher cabinets.

"Oh. Oh, they're- fine."

The discontent in Lyla's voice was obvious, and Lex couldn't help but feel
a little bit frustrated. "You don't sound fine, sis."

Lyla let a pretty fake smile crawl to her lips. "It's nothing,
it's... well, I dunno. He just doesn't seem as into me as he was before,
you know?"

Lex was secretly baffled; if Aaron turned him down for Lyla, why wasn't he
even giving her his all? He shook his head, recovering. "Well, I mean- you
guys are still in love, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, of course." Lyla meticulously pushed a strand of hair out of
her eyes with her pinky. "You know, I'm glad you're feeling better, Lex. I
think Aaron could use a friend right now."

"But-" Lex stopped, realizing that Lyla was right. Lex was feeling a lot
better, but he came to the revelation that Aaron didn't seem to be
responding any differently, still as jumpy and awkward as ever. Then Lex
remembered what Aaron had told him so many times, like a mantra: "I want
you, but I can't." Lex didn't remember how much Aaron had repeated it until
now. Just why couldn't he? At this point, the entire matter was nothing
short of annoying.

Lyla smiled, craning over to peer out the kitchen door. "Oh. Speaking of,
it sounds like Aaron's back." Lex followed Lyla out of the kitchen,
although he didn't get a chance to bottle any of the potions. To their
surprise, Aaron, Lucy, and Kincaid were standing in the foyer. "What are
you guys doing here?"

Aaron still had his bow in hand, and Lucy and Kincaid seemed quite
distressed. "There's trouble. Big trouble." Aaron said.

"What is it?" Lex asked.

Aaron looked straight past Lex to Lyla. "It's them. It's just as we
feared."

Although Lex, Lucy, and Kincaid seemed equally confused, Lyla bore a look
of terror. Lex walked to Kincaid and Lucy's side, as Lyla and Aaron seemed
engaged with each other. "What's going on?" Lex asked quietly.

Lucy shrugged. "Aaron hasn't told us. He just keeps saying how much trouble
we're all in."

"Did something happen? Are you okay?" Lex asked to Kincaid.

Kincaid grinned. "Don't worry about it. There were these weird guys, and-"

Lyla interjected, Aaron now by her side. "Kincaid, you have to leave."

"What? Why!?" Kincaid yelled, upset.

"This is way too dangerous for you. As your whitelighter, I can't put you
in harm's way." Aaron responded.

Lucy crossed her arms. "Okay, would someone like to explain what's going
on?" Aaron and Lyla said nothing. Lucy gave a more intense look to
Lyla. "You know I hate being left in the dark."

Lyla looked up to Aaron. "Should I tell them?"

"I don't think that's for us to decide." Aaron said.

"Sh." Lyla put her hand up, silencing a Lucy who was about to pipe up
again. "Do you hear that?"

Silence. All they could hear was the culminating noises of every clock in
the manor, their second hands ticking in a steady concert. But there was an
indescribable sort of humming sound that permeated the silence, lurking
just beneath the surface. And then the strangest thing: the staccato march
of the clocks was thrown monstrously out of beat. They heard one second
hand speeding up to the sound of a machine gun; another yet slowed to a
steady heartbeat. The house became an unsteady cacophony of clocks.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows. "What's happening?"

Then it all stopped. In the middle of the foyer, space and time collapsed
in on itself, a roar of reality wrinkling. It rebounded out again, flinging
Aaron and Lyla onto the stairs, Lex into the back of a couch, and Kincaid
and Lucy on their bottoms, sliding towards the front door.

Lex shook his head, wincing from the pain in his back. He slowly got to his
feet, and in the corners of his eyes, he saw his sisters, Kincaid, and
Aaron about to do the same. Lex then trained his gaze to the middle of the
foyer. He bit his lip, not sure whether or not to be surprised.

Lex recognized the two men from the elevator, their stylish, gelled blonde
haircuts standing out. They were no longer in suits, rather deep dark jeans
and pure white t-shirts. Their company was the model with the sunglasses,
still sporting the dark shades, although now dressed in more casual wear
like his compatriots. The elevator men were large-framed and muscular, and
the one with sunglasses was just a bit slimmer compared to them.

The biggest one with slicked back hair looked at Lucy, then Lyla, then
Lex. He gave a malevolent smile. "You must be the Russels."

Lyla furiously stood, blowing the hair out of her face. "And you must be
the LeFleurs."

Lucy and Kincaid stood up, a tad frustrated. "Huh?" Lucy vaguely asked.

The other man with the stylish haircut took his place next to his bigger
brother. "I guess they got a lotta stuff in that book. Right, Bernard? It's
a shame, considering that it's OUR birthright."

"Birthright nothing! This was the Elders' decision!" Aaron shot back.

"Silence, whitelighter." Bernard. He turnd to his
brothers. "Byron. Blaine. These are the last ones."

Blaine adjusted his sunglasses, giving Kincaid a curious look. Byron
flipped his hair out of his face, putting a hand on Bernard's arm. "Then
let's make it quick."

With swift speed, Byron reached into his back pocket, and as he did, Aaron
notched an arrow in his bow. In the blink of an eye, Aaron shot the arrow
at the LeFleur's hand, knocking the golden dagger he had just pulled out to
the ground. It gave a crystalline clatter.

And the war was on. Bernard forcefully punched the air in front of him;
with the sound of a deep breath being let loose, Aaron was flung back as if
the punch landed in his face. Lyla flipped forward and swept Byron to his
feet before he could respond in tow, but Bernard then pushed his arms in
front of him, flinging Lyla into the far wall and breaking a picture frame.

A vase crashed onto Bernard's head. Barely phazed, he turned around. Lex
stood strong, with an armada of pottery floating above his head. Lex
pointed to Bernard again. "Attack!" In a storm of ceramics, the vases
zeroed in on Bernard. Bernard repeatedly slashed his arm in the air,
cutting the vases in two before they could hit him.

Meanwhile, Lucy, Kincaid, and Blaine fixed their eyes on the fallen
dagger. Lucy dove for it first, flinging her hand at it. Suddenly, a
muffling distortion appeared around her wrist in midstride, immobolizing it
with a rippling shackle. Grunting in frustration, Lucy tried to wrench it
free, but couldn't. She saw Byron kneeling on the floor, his outstretched
hand wielding the echoing power in his palm.

Kincaid came to the dagger next, reaching it at the same time as
Blaine. They stopped for a second, and Kincaid couldn't help but try and
see through the reflective lenses. But Kincaid ducked when Lyla sprang up
from behind Blaine, roundhouse kicking him away.

Blaine's sunglasses were knocked to the floor. Lyla jumped on her toes with
her guard up, and gasped when Blaine turned around to face her; his eyes
glew bright pink.

Lyla tried to punch Blaine in the face, but Blaine dodged the second
before. Sensing his vulnerability, Lyla then swept her foot around,
attempting to kick Blaine in the side. She was baffled when Blaine jumped
out of the way in time. Blaine jumped to his feet, putting up a similar
fighting stance to Lyla's. Lyla cracked her neck. "Alright, then. Simple."
she said to herself, trying to muster confidence against Blaine's piercing
bright eyes.

On the other side of the room, Lex finally succeeded in lobbing a
particularly large lamp into Bernard's chest. Bernard sharply withdrew,
giving Lex a free shot. "Whorl!" He spat.

...And nothing happened. Bernard regained his composure, standing fully
upright and giving a smile. Suddenly, he fell to the ground. Aaron had
knocked him to the ground with a wicked spinning punch. Aaron looked to
Lex. "Lex, your powers won't work directly! They're witches!"

"They're witches?!" Lex asked incredulously. Aaron didn't have time to
respond, as Bernard pulled him down to the floor. He mounted Aaron and
punched him on the cheek, but was knocked away from him by a flying
table. "Lay off him!" Lex yelled.

The table continued to fly, bumping into Byron and knocking his
concentration out of balance. The energy dissipated from around Lucy's
wrist, and she finally picked up the dagger. Something seemed missing. The
energy of the dagger felt discordant to Lucy, so she quickly flung it at
Byron.

But Byron recovered from the assault fast, and he forcefully held out his
hand. To Lucy's surprise, the dagger flew directly into Byron's palm on its
own. Byron spun around and slashed the dagger in air in front of
him. Suddenly, a blade of golden light appeared in front of Lucy, slashing
her in the same fashion. She yelped, covering her face with her arms and
shielding herself witih green light. It did nothing to the golden sword as
it effortlessly cut through the veil. Lucy looked down at her arms; a large
gash made her forearms trickle a stream of blood, and she fainted, falling
to the ground.

Kincaid saw Lucy fall. "Dr. Russel!" He ran to her side.

"Hey." Kincaid looked up at Byron, who replaced the dagger in his
pocket. Byron grinned. "Cool off." Byron raised his palm to his mouth and
blew. A ring of snow shot out at Kincaid and Lucy, freezing the floorboards
as it went.

Kincaid, still kneeled at Lucy's side, raised his hands in front of him,
engulfing the snow with an icy blue shell. "This is payback for the
pun... Watch out!" He reopened the portal, a ring of ice twice as powerful
as Byron's returning back to him. Byron, surprised at the turnaround, moved
his arm in a circular motion in front of him. A series of ripples blocked
the ice. Space seemed to fold around itself. Rather curiously the ice
seemed to stutter in place, fading in and out of reality before it stopped
completely.

Lyla couldn't dare pause from her fight, sneaking peeks from the corner of
her eye at the fallen Lucy. Every punch she threw, every kick she tried to
land, Blaine avoided a split second before, bobbing and weaving every which
direction such that Lyla wondered if he knew every one of her moves before
she made them. Lyla yelled across the room, not taking her gaze off Blaine
as she blocked his return attacks. "Aaron! Heal Lucy!"

Lex helped Aaron to his feet as he rubbed his sore jaw. Seeing Lucy on the
floor, he quickly ran to her. But he was stopped in midstride, a deep noise
resounding and causing Aaron to stumble. Lex saw Bernard stand in Aaron's
way. At the same time behind him, the ring of ice frozen in time rippled
and warped before vanishing completely. Byron reached into his back pocket
again, taking out the golden dagger and going after Kincaid. Lyla and
Blaine did not pause in their fight.

Lex closed his eyes. "Aaron, Kincaid, close your eyes!" Not seeing whether
or not they complied, Lex held his hands out in front of him. "Shine!"

A flash of bright blue light shone out of a cone from Lex's hands. It
strobed and blinked in light sapphire streamers the color of the sky in
crystal form, and Bernard and Byron were forced to cover their
faces. Neither Blaine nor Lyla seemed phazed by it, but Aaron took
advantage of the ceasefire to run to Lucy's side, using his golden light to
heal her gaping wounds.

The azure light subsided. By the time Bernard and Byron could look up
again, Kincaid and Aaron were helping Lucy to her feet. Bernard and Byron
looked angrier than ever; Bernard flung his attention to Lex with an angry
glare, and Lex retreated into himself from the harrowing gaze. There was a
heavy thunk and a scream from Lyla, as Blaine suceeded in knocking her to
the ground and into the wall. Lyla yelled from her spot. "Lex, the potion!"

Lex responded quickly. He craned over behind Bernard and Byron, through the
open door of the kitchen. "Here!" The cauldron of potion flew from the
stove and over Bernard's shoulders, falling into Lex's hands. The volatile
stuff made waves, but it didn't spill.

Blaine approached Lyla, and Lyla fended him off while still on the
ground. "Lucy! Protect us!" Lyla screamed.

Lucy, still a little hazy, took a while to comply. Byron seemed to be
preparing his dagger again, and Bernard was heading for Lex. Putting her
arms in a metitative pose, Lucy conjured her green light around herself,
Lyla, Lex, Aaron, and Kincaid, engulfing them in the sound of a slowing
clock.

Seeing the emerald safety, Lex took action. He supinated his forearms,
holding the cauldron in front of himself. "Attack!"

Time itself seemed to move in slow motion. Blaine turned around,
anticipating what was about to happen a little too late. Bernard turned
around to Byron, their eyes wide, the cauldron about to hit the floor. In a
split second before it hit the floor, Byron clapped his hands
together. Space and time warped and collided, and the LeFleur brothers were
gone as soon as the entire potion dropped at gravity's will.

The explosion wasn't nearly as big as Lex anticipated, but it was big
enough to make him glad that Lucy's temporal force fields stopped the large
chunks of floorboards that would have impaled them. The sound was enormous,
like an elephant stomping its foot, and the shockwave knocked them all to
the floor. When the dust finally cleared and the rest of the debris fell to
the ground, the green light faded. A large hole gaped in the middle of the
foyer, still smoking from the potion.

Lucy sighed, rubbing her face in her hands. Kincaid seemed particularly
upset, so Aaron firmly grasped one of his shoulders, an attempt to
consolidate his confidence. Lyla was running her hand back and forth on her
sore shoulders. Lex picked up a large chunk of the floor, and put it back
down where he found it. He looked up at Lyla, pouting. "Will you tell us
what happened now?"

- - - -

Lyla threw a particularly large rug on the gaping hole in the
floorboards. Lex puckered his lips. "Ly, isn't that a little dangerous?" he
asked.

"Maybe I should just use a vanishing spell." Lucy suggested.

"I'd like to avoid personal gain right now."

Lucy gave a sarcastic laugh. Lyla glared at her, and Aaron and Kincaid came
in from the other room. "Did they leave?" Lucy asked.

Kincaid nodded. "The manor's clear." he stepped dangerously close to the
rug, and Lyla had to push him back, leading him around
instead. "Dr. Russel, are you okay?" he asked.

Lucy nodded. "Reason number 2 why I can't be a doctor."

"She faints when she sees blood." Lyla clarified.

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "That can't be right. She's seen me bleed before."

Lex laughed. "No, she hasn't. I never told you, but after Kane knocked you
out she gave me and Lyla the instructions while she turned around in the
corner."

Lucy put her hands to her hips, flustered. "Okay, enough about me. Lyla,
spill it."

Lyla exchanged glances with Aaron, walking to his side. The foyer became
bicameral, with Aaron and Lyla opposed to Kincaid, Lex, and Lucy. Lyla
sighed. "Okay. Here goes." she began to say.

But from the ceiling, a booming voice resounded to the earth. "Perhaps you
should wait for us."

Lex and Lucy jumped with fear. The voice was more like two voice entwined:
one female and one male, speaking in exact synchronization with such noise
that it bounced off of the walls. It echoed with power and command, but
seemed more ethereal than anything; supernatural or not; that they had ever
heard before.

Then, the sound of strings. Plucking, playing, gliding on air, the
celestial music swirled in a heavenly vortex, engulfing their ears with
warmth and cadence. It hit crescendo and swelled like a wave about to
burst, waiting for the whim of an invisible conductor...

The strings gave birth to chimes. A million tiny bells making silver of
sound and gold of songs, crystallizing into a swarm of pure white
lights. The strings faded. Silence beckoned the bells away. By the time
they had opened their eyes, they beheld a man and woman dressed in
golden-white robes, a marvelous corona of orbs swirling above each of their
heads.

Aaron bowed his head with some reverence. "Lux Sandra. Lux Odin."

Lux Sandra, the picture of light, similarly bowed her head to Aaron. Her
face was slightly wrinkled but still beautiful; light brown hair framed
her, and her corona gave an otherworldly glow. "No need for formalities,
Aaron." Sandra turned to Lex, Lucy, and Kincaid. "Although we're sure you
must be terribly confused. We apologize."

"Sandra-" Lyla said, speaking to her back. "-I didn't say anything
yet. Should I-"

Lux Odin, with hooked nose and fierce eyes, glared at Lyla. "We would have
preferred you said nothing at all."

Sandra turned back to Odin, as if to reprimand him. "Such wishes never come
to be, Odin." she then turned her attention to no one in particular. "I
believe this would be easier if we called the sisters down."

Lyla gave a goofy smile. "Oh! It'lll be a grand ol' reunion. I'll get some
sandles."

She headed to the attic, but Sandra stopped her. "That won't be
necessary. They're on hand right now." Sandra looked contemplatively at the
ceiling. "Girls?"

A beacon like a spotlight suddenly appeared on the floor. With a swarm of
bright lights that now seemed commonplace, sillhouettes stepped into
formation.

First came Paige Mitchell, her ebony hair trailing in curls to her waist,
and her ruby lips contrasting from her pale face. Her deep blue dress
trailed to the ground, and matching heels could be seen under her skirt.

Phoebe Halliwell materialized next. Her brown hair was tied in a bun, and
she wore a fluffy red blouse that exposed the marvelous tattoo on the back
of ner neck. A choker adorned her bare nape. Her normally carefree
expression seemed grave.

Piper Halliwell, somewhat matronly, had her hands in her lap. Her long hair
was braided to one side. The emerald top she wore was loose and long,
covering her jeans. She seemed a little bit frustrated.

And lastly, a crash and a yelping "Ah!!!" All three of the sisters turned
to their right, cathing sight of a rug falling into a deep dark hole. After
a moment of awkward silence, a bright golden light appeared next to Paige.

The oldest sister: Prudence Halliwell. She brushed the pitch-black hair out
of her face, and brushed dust off her sky-blue skirt. She coughed and
looked around the room, infuriated. "Who the hell had the bright idea of
covering a hole up with a rug?!"

Lyla sat down slowly, turning red. Phoebe rolled her eyes. "I was about to
warn you, but you had to warp in so fast."

"Oh, okay. Excuse me for actually wanting to go places instead of waiting
around for hours to pick out a dress!"

Paige seemed offended, although Prue directed the epitath to Phoebe.

"Ladies!" Odin yelled. The sisters swished their heads in unison, and their
culminated glares could make babies and other small mammals cry. Odin put
his hands together. "Remember why we're all here."

Lucy, Lex, and Kincaid, who had been sitting silently for a good lot of the
past transpirings, were finally noticed. Paige gave a very coy wave and
smile, which Lex answered unasurredly.

Lyla took her place next to Piper, and the two exchanged a knowing look. "I
guess I'll go get the tree." Lyla said. She quickly ran upstairs.

"Not to be demanding, but-" Lucy said in Lyla's absense. She was met with
stares from both the elders and the Halliwell sisters. "-when are we gonna
get some answers?"

Odin rolled his eyes ands scoffed. Lucy gave him a very offensive look,
while Sandra attempted to intervene. "Please, Lucille. Have patience."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, anyway?"

Aaron stepped forward to answer, but he found himself interrupted by Prue
on the other side of him. "The Elders." she said, with a touch of subtle
spite.

Lucy turned her attention to Prue. "And who are *you?*"

Prue gave Lucy a nasty look. "Why you gotta be such a-"

"Ah-ah-ah!" Piper waved her hands in front of Prue and leaned in next to
her. "Not in front of the Whitelight nazis, Prue..." she mumbled as an
aside. Odin seemed to hear her and adjusted his begrudging look
accordingly, but Sandra seemed blissfully unaware. Piper gave a very fake
smile to Lucy. "Our oldest sister. Prue."

Prue didn't seem very happy to be there, and Lucy sensed her discontent,
mirroring her sour expression. Lex and Kincaid exchanged rather excluded
glances from their place on the couch, while Lyla came back downstairs with
a rolled up parchment in her hand.

Lucy perked up, recognizing the paper. "That's the family tree."

Without saying anything, Lyla unraveled the tree. She gazed down at it, and
then looked up, to Kincaid, surprisingly. "It's a good thing you're here
too."

"Why me?"

"Just say it, Lyla!" Odin spat.

"Odin." Sandra again replied with the reprimanding tone.

Lyla continued to scan over the family tree. Not hearing her speak up,
Aaron instead took the lead. "The ones who attacked us were the
LeFleurs. They are witches too."

"If they're witches, then why did they attack us?" Lex asked.

Phoebe and Paige turned around to face Piper and Prue. Lyla came into the
center of them, finally putting the famliy tree down and speaking. "Before
you guys had your powers unbound, I was trained how to be a witch by the
sisters, and by mom and dad... err, while they were all still alive."

"And our Grams. And our mom. Although they were dead." Phoebe added.

"And our husbands." Piper tagged on yet again. "...Oh, that were also
alive." Piper made sure to correct herself.

Prue crossed her arms. "The thing is while I was dead, I met some kinda
interesting relatives. Relatives that I had no idea existed before."

Phoebe nodded. "So when Prue finally came back down again-"

"It was actually the first time *I* met her." Paige interrupted.

"...Yeah. Thanks, Paige." Phoebe continued. "Anyway, when she came back
down, all of us had to do a little extra research into the family tree."

Piper grunted. "Oh, it was a pain. We had to go to Magic School 24/7, and
we had to do a lot of tracing down in the Underworld."

Lyla stepped over to Lucy, Lex, and Kincaid. "This is what we found." The
three of them peered over Lyla's head, looking at the family tree that she
splayed out in front of them, following her hand as she passed her fingers
over the words. "You already know that we're related to the Halliwell
sisters."

Lucy nodded. "Right. Fourth Cousins."

"Yeah. Well... It turns out that the Warren line split up a lot further
than we thought it did." Lyla passed her hand over the right side of the
family tree: Brianna Warren married August Stillman, bearing the brother
and sister Emil and Sylvia. Two branches appeared: the Stillmans and the
Rowes.

Piper cleared her throat, going on her toes to see what part of the tree
Lyla was looking at. "See, in our career as the Charmed Ones, we've met
some other... um, Charmed Ones. We were wondering how this could've
happened for a while."

Prue took up after her. "We realized it was because they were actually part
of the same prophecy our Charmed Ones were. The Rowe Charmed Ones were an
example. They were three evil brothers just as powerful as us because they
were also the Charmed Ones. But they could exist at the same time that we
could since they were warlocks, not witches."

Lucy raised her eyebrows. "How does that work?"

"All forces in the world, including magic, good and evil, work on two
different wavelengths. We call them the Continuum of Light, and the
Continuum of Darkness." Prue answered. "That's the Grand Design. So because
the Warren Line was working on two different Continuums, the prophecy could
be split two ways."

Kincaid fumbled in his seat. "So... I'm related to you?"

Lyla nodded. "Yeah. Although I guess you're our fifth cousin."

Paige took up now. "The other family you see on there is the
Stillmans. They were con artist witches, really. One time, they cast a
spell to switch our lives around. We weren't sure how they could steal our
identities so easily. We found out it was because they're related to us
too."

"Sounds like the prophecy's being stretched a little thin." Lucy said
sarcastically.

"Well..." Lyla began to say. "That's where we start to have some problems."
Lyla now moved on to the left hand of the tree, to the LeFleurs. "The
LeFleurs are on the same Continuum as us. They want the Charmed status now,
and killing us will allow them to usurp the power."

Aaron finally piped up from his place in front of Sandra and Odin. "The
witches that the Elders were protecting personally were the Stillman
Sisters, reformed. The fact that the LeFleurs have finally surfaced and
tried to kill you is pretty conclusive evidence that they were responsible
for the Stillman deaths."

Lucy nodded. "And because the Stillmans became good, they encroached to the
Continuum of Light, and became obstacles for the LeFleur's Charmed status."

Lex shook his head. "But wait. If the LeFleurs have been so obsessed with
becoming the Charmed ones, how come they never attacked the Halliwells?" he
stuttered a little. "A-and, not only that, but how *could* they have
attacked us? I thought witch powers didn't work on witches. I mean, our
powers didn't work on them, but they could hurt us fine!"

Everyone seemed reluctant to answer. Finally, Sandra spoke up. "Perhaps the
situation would make more sense if all the circumstances were taken into
factor."

Phoebe nodded. She looked very serious now, exchanging glances with Prue
and Piper. "A long time ago, Prue, Piper and I traveled back into the
1920's, to relive our past lives: our relatives."

"I think mine was named Phoebe Bowen." Prue said.

"I was Patience Baxter, my and my sisters' grams." Piper said.

"And I was Pearl Russel." Phoebe followed.

Lex's eyes widened. "*Our* great-grandma."

Phoebe continued. "The thing was that my past life, Pearl Russel, was
having an affair with a warlock named Anton. Anton turned Pearl evil, and
she was seduced to kill her cousins."

"Phoebe and Patience didn't have a choice." Prue said, rather
angrily. "They were forced to kill Pearl before she killed them."

"But what they didn't know..." Phoebe began to say. She seemed to have
difficulty expressing what came next. "...was that before Pearl had died,
she and Anton conceived."

"She used magic to conceal the pregnancy from her cousins. And after she
died, her lover, Anton, was heartbroken. He raised their child alone, and
named her Lynette Russel. Then one day, he simply disappeared."

Lyla took over now, tracing the family tree in tandem with her
speech. "Grandma grew up in the Underworld, raised to be powerful in both
witch and warlock magic, and ultimately self-molding herself into a
notorious force to be reckoned with. She... fell in love with a demon. A
demon named Lapis. But they couldn't be together. Just like her father
before her, Grandma was left to raise a child on her own. Our mom, Lena,
was born."

"Grandma knew that she couldn't raise a child in the Underworld like Anton
had done to her. So she moved to the Overworld, using powers of persuasion
to purchase the Russel Manor (which coincidentally, isn't that far from
Halliwell Manor). Grandma tried to turn Mom into a full-time demon hunter,
but Mom didn't want to listen. She just kept wandering the Underworld
whenever Grandma brought her, doing whatever the hell she wanted. Then, she
met Dad."

"Dad was a witch. He was kidnapped and about to be killed by a group of
demons before Mom saved him. They fell in love, and Dad became a reminder
of the Russel's roots in witchcraft. Then we were born."

There was a brief, uncomfortable silence. Lex was the one to break
it. "So... we're part warlock, and part demon?"

Odin scoffed. "Please don't remind us."

Lucy shook her head, addressing Odin. "Wait, wait, wait. If we're part-
part, um, demon, like you say, then why are we next in line to be the
Charmed Ones?"

"I was against it, thank you." Odin said.

Sandra sighed. "Enough impudence!" Odin finally drew back, and Sandra
continued. "It was a collective decision. There is no singular in the
Elders, Odin." She gave a benevolent smile to Lex and Lucy. "We did not
know the Russels existed until the first Charmed Ones awakened. But when
they did surface, we realized that if the Charmed Ones were to be in
danger, a back-up plan would be required."

"They didn't know about me either." Paige said, giggling.

"So after Prudence, Piper, and Phoebe Halliwell took the Power of Three,
The Elders sent out an olive branch to your parents, Lena and Kevin. Lena
was... hesitant, to say the least. But we offered to protect your family
from demons in exchange for the responsibility. They accepted the offer."

"The question was whether the Elders all accepted it." Odin said,
grumpily. "You may be mostly witch now, but there's a quite a bit of demon
in each of you as well."

Lyla ignored him. Lucy seemed to be fuming, and Lex couldn't help but feel
a little insecure. "So... that's why the LeFleurs could hurt us." Lex said,
slowly.

"Hey." Lucy piped up. "But that still doesn't explain why the LeFleurs
would kill the Stillmans."

"Yeah!" Kincaid suddenly yelped. "Or why they'd kill me!"

Prue made herself known again. "Fine. You remember Phoebe Bowen. After she
and Patience killed their cousin, Pearl, she became... unstable. Very
unstable. She married the witch Ben LeFleur, and became obsessed with a
"pure-blood" witch family. She married their son, Bryant, to a distant
cousin, Bianca Dauser, in the hopes that it would retain the power of the
Warren Line more completely. But the weirdest manifestation of their
obsession was the marriage of their son and daughter to each other. They
became the parents of the LeFleurs that you know."

"Normally, we don't ostrasize any good witch for family practices, no
matter how... unorthodox." Sandra interjected. "But even with such taboo,
we cut ties from them due to a seperate atrocity."

"What happened?" asked Lex.

"It was what they did to the Dauser Coven." Piper said, quietly. "After
Bianca, they-" Piper hesitated. "Well, it's not important right now."

Lucy recapped the entire situation in her head. Kincaid seemed a little
upset himself. "Alright. So the reason why the LeFleurs want to kill us,
Kincaid, and the Stillmans so badly is... because we all have warlock
blood?"

Lyla looked shameful. "That's exactly right."

Odin nodded. "I believe I once heard them call it `cleansing the impure
Line.'"

"But a big part of it is also inheriting the Charmed status." Aaron
clarified. He mournfully shook his head. "I've seen their likes before in
my day. Good or evil; it doesn't matter. All they see is the `purity' of
your blood."

Shocked silence. And yet at the same time, Lucy and Lex weren't
catastrophically surprised; particularly Lex. Lyla gave a pleading
look. "Well?" she asked, not sure what to expect.

Lex looked up, pushing a strand of hair out of his face. He perched his
chin on his hands. "How do we stop them?"

The sisters, Elders, and Lyla and Aaron all exchanged the same worried
look. Piper smiled. "We were really hoping you wouldn't ask that."

- - - -

By the time that the Elders had orbed back to their grand transcendant
loft, it was early evening. Lex sat on the kitchen counter, his legs
dangling carelessly. With a soft touch he felt the folds of his shirt until
he could pinch the smooth teardrop pendant on his heart. He gently grinned
with the touch. Aaron, similarly idle at the coffee table, looked up at
him. Seeing his grin, he smiled back, and they both couldn't help but laugh
a little.

They heard the refrigerator door klink. Prue bent over, browsing through
the shelves. "Don't you have anything good to eat?"

Lex cocked his head. "I didn't know ghosts got hungry."

Prue met his gaze. "You'd be surprised. And when you get to the phase where
you start feeding off of pure energy, then you get the most bizarre earthly
food cravings... do you have any lamb brain? And strawberry tart?"

"We've got strawberries."

As though putting a puzzle together in her mind, Prue paused before
decidedly shaking her head. "No. No, that won't do."

Piper, noticable in her deep green blouse, walked through the threshold
with the Book of Shadows in her arms. Kincaid followed in tow.

"Oh, Piper. Thank god." Prue said, slamming the kitchen door. "I need lamb
brain. Now."

Piper looked up from the Book. She took a moment to contemplate what she
said. "Why would... I mean, why... Do I normally carry lamb brain with me?"

Prue sighed. "Never mind. I'll just eat plasma or something." she sat down
at the table next to Aaron. "Did you find it?"

"Umm..." Piper quickly flipped through the pages again, as if it would
help. "No."

As though expecting her response, Prue held her arms out and accepted the
Book from Piper. She effortlessly passed the pages by until she reached an
esoteric, worn entry in the very unnoticable middle depths. She turned the
book 180 degrees. Lex and Kincaid gathered around it.

Prue read the entry out loud. "Ars Goetia. The first section of The Lesser
Key of Solomon. Although most modern-day versions of this grimoire are
convoluted to the point where the original translations are lost to time,
it is said that King Solomon's true Ars Goetia is still in print, its
arcane texts hidden away."

Lex and Kincaid scanned the text. Kincaid seemed confused. "So what does it
do, anyway? How will it help us?"

"The Ars Goetia depicts, describes, and gives spells to summon and control
a group of powerful demons called the Pseudomonarchia. You can buy Ars
Goetia nowadays, but the translations obviously aren't actually written by
King Solomon."

"What we're looking for-" Piper piped up behind her. "-is King Solomon's
real manuscripts. The Pseudomonarchia is ancient. Really, ancient. We don't
even know how many of them are still around. But if we can use the Ars
Goetia to get one of them on our side, we could use him to defend us
against the LeFleurs."

"Dealing with demons is a bit risky, don't you think?" Aaron asked,
practically.

Piper and Prue exchanged a brief look. "Well..." Piper began to say. "See,
the Pseudomonarchia are quite arcane. There is no information about them
anywhere. The only thing we know is that they might be demons. They may not
even be evil."

"Besides, the point is that with the Ars Goetia, we would be able to
control them no matter who they are." Prue added.

"Okay." Lex said. Although to be honest, the entire prospect they were
proposing was just a little bit scary to him. "But where do we find it?"

"That's what your sisters and our sisters are trying to figure out."
replied Prue.

"Trying? We already figured it out."

They weren't sure who had spoken until they heard the sound of orbs. Paige
warped into the kitchen first, accompanied by Lyla, Lucy, and Phoebe.

"That was fast." Piper said, approving.

"Did one of you bring something to eat?" Prue desperately asked.

"...No." Phoebe said. "I can cook something, if you want."

"Oh! I wanna cook!" Lex said, suddenly excited.

"I think that can wait a little longer." Lucy said. It was a little strange
to see the youngest one in the room act as taskmaster, but they rolled with
it anyway.

"Alright. So where do we go? On Geary? The Mission District?" Kincaid began
to list off. "An allyway? Golden Gate Park?"

"Bethlehem."

Silence. Kincaid shook his head. "Um... You do realize I have a midterm to
study for, right?"

Paige conflidently slapped the air. "Don't worry about it. If we orb it
shouldn't take longer than five minutes."

"To be more exact, we have to go to a place called Solomon's Pools. They're
a couple of miles away." Phoebe specified. "...We're not sure if Solomon
actually built the pools, but we still have reasons to believe we'll find
the Goetia there."

"You guys sure found it easily." Piper said, a little skeptical.

"Ha... well." Paige had a very wide grin on her face. "Who needs logic when
you got psychics like these?" she referred to Phoebe and Lyla behind her,
but neither of them seemed eager to make any further amends with each
other.

- - - -

The weather was hot and sticky; yet the air was dry like vaporous
sandpaper. But the cool sillhouettes in the emerald water seemed to make
the world feel cooler, and the cover of coniferous trees all seemed rather
peaceful.

Aaron orbed in with Lucy, Lex, Lyla, and Kincaid, while the Halliwell
Sisters sparkled in behind them. Their glaring lights were shielded by the
cover of trees, and thankfully no tourists had seen them.

Lucy peered through a bough of their tree. "So what exactly is our plan?"

"The Ars Goetia is IN the pool." Lyla replied

"Oh." Prue said off-guard. "You didn't say anything about that."

Phoebe looked over at her sister, a bit audaciously. "You mean you didn't
bring a spell?"

Prue gave Phoebe a just-as-audacious backsass. "Why would I bring a spell?
You were the one who knew we were gonna be swimming."

"Yeah, well you were the `master of the Book!'"

"I guess that makes you master of sleazy-"

"Prue!" Piper slapped Prue's arm. "Uncalled for! Uncalled for!"

Prue rolled her eyes, loosening her collar. "Sorry. It's just this
weather..."

Lex puckered his lips. "Maybe I should just make one up."

"Oooh." Phoebe responded, smiling resplendently. "You can too, huh?"

Lyla seemed proud. "Yeah. He's good at it."

Lex blushed from the sudden attention he was receiving, and Aaron gave him
an extra pat on the back. The large caravan of 9 now moved out from the
cover of trees, moving to the edge of the water. They stood on the edge of
a large stone slab, obviously man-made. Clearing his throat, Lex
simultaneously cleared his mind. "Let's see..." he turned to the
Halliwells. "We wanna go underwater?" They nodded. "Can't... Can't..."

"Can't take a breath/Watery death/Trapping our lungs/and swimming on
tongues/God of the ocean/hear our plea/keep the air that revives us/from
that of the sea."

Something tingled in the air. Lex opened his eyes, although there seemed to
be no change.

Prue strafed her eyes from left to right. "Did it work?"

"I guess we'll see." Lex said. With little more than those words, he jumped
headfirst into the pool.

Yet he didn't feel wet. In fact, Lex hardly felt any different at all. He
looked around himself; Lex was trapped in a bubble of air. He was
falling. Gently, slowly, like a pebble in a deep lake. The inside of the
pool was bright from the sunshine, and he could see the intricate carvings
in the stone walls around him. Above, the rest of the group had followed,
similarly encased in air.

Eventually, they reached the bottom. As the air engulfed each of them
completely, when they hit the floor, it was as if they were standing on
solid, dry ground. The entire experience was more than surreal, and no one
was completely comfortable.

Lex caught sight of the rest of the group, heading towards a large circular
passage in one of the walls: an aqueduct. He followed them in, and soon
found himself engulfed in darkness until bright white lights illuminated
the path. Paige, in the very front of their group, held a large orb of
light in her hand, and was using it to reveal the way.

There was a large squelching noise, and Lex gasped. Lyla had merged into
Lex's bubble from behind. "Nice spell, Lex."

Lex shrugged. "Thanks." Lyla and Lex proceeded to follow again. "So how do
we know where to find it, anyway?"

"I'm just following the sisters at this point. It seems like they know a
lot more about this than I do."

The aqueduct path seemed rather long, and Lex began to appreciate the fact
that he had someone to talk to. "Hey Ly."

"Yeah?"

"Did you know that we were part demon this whole time?"

Lyla seemed reluctant to answer, but she did after some pondering. "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because it's not who we are."

"But-" Lex didn't want to start an argument, but he still wanted to say
what was on his mind. "-I mean, Lyla. You were the one who always said that
good and evil were in the blood."

"I still say that."

"Then what about us?"

It seemed that Lyla didn't have time to respond. The sisters stopped at a
curve in the aqueduct, gathering around a groove in the wall. The four of
them merged their bubbles into one, placing their hand on the groove.

Lex and Lyla vaguely pushed past Aaron and Kincaid, to better see what they
were looking at; a strange symbol resembling a circle in a triangle was
incscribed in the wall.

But they were all surprised to see, when the sisters raised their palms to
the wall, all four of the sisters literally fall through it as if it were
made of thin air.

"Wha?" Lex exclaimed.

Lyla shoved him. "Just go."

And go they did. Lex shoved his way through the wall, followed by Lyla. The
sisters were already there, standing in the empty stone hallway, still lit
by Paige's flickering orbs. Surprisingly, it wan't even wet anymore.

Behind him, Lex heard two more splashes as Aaron and Kincaid crossed the
threshold into the mysterious air. Kincaid was the first to say what was on
everybody's mind. "Where the hell are we?"

Ignoring his question, Paige led the way deeper into the hallway. The rest
were forced to follow what little light they had, and no one answered
Kincaid until the path led to a two-pronged fork. Prue spoke
quietly. "Solomon's Catacombs."

"Or something like that." Phoebe qualified.

"Mmm. I was afraid of this." Paige said to herself, looking at the forked
passageway. She turned around. "We're gonna have to split up. Aaron, can
you conjure a light?"

Aaron nodded, making a similar motion with his own hand. A mass of sparkles
accumulated in his palm. "I'll take the left, you can take the right."

Paige nodded. She headed in her direction; Piper and Phoebe followed her,
and Lucy did as well. Prue led Aaron to the left, and Lyla, Lex, and
Kincaid walked in tandem.

For the rest of the trip, it seemed that they began to communicate in
whispers, even though there was no pressing need to. But an oppressive sort
of silence continued to linger in the catacombs, and not one of them was
ready to break it completely.

As the rock hallway went deeper and deeper, Lex payed closer attention to
the stone walls as Aaron's flickering orbs splayed light against them. The
carvings had become increasingly more intricate as the catacombs went
further in. Even though the catacombs wound and turned, it stayed as one
path until quite a ways in, when in forked into two yet again.

Prue sighed, frustrated. She turned around to face Lyla. "Can you tell
which way to go?"

Lyla concentrated briefly before shaking her head. "We're too far away. I
can't sense anything."

"Then if no one else can conjure a light, we'll just have to pick the right
one."

Lex, wondering if he should say anything, spoke up with an unconfident
voice. "Um... I think I can make a light."

Prue raised an eyebrow. "'You think?'"

Lex nodded, looking to Aaron, who remembered as well. "I don't know
why. I've been playing around with my powers lately, and it looks like I
can make light too."

"You didn't tell me that." Lyla said.

"I wasn't sure what to say..." Lex replied, looking at his
hands. "Glimmer."

A bright blue light in the shape of a shining star suddenly appeared in the
palms of Lex's hands. The light was just as bright as Aaron's, and with it,
Lex could see the smile of approval that Aaron bore.

Prue nodded. "Alright. So, I think it'd be better if I went with Lex, and
you guys take the left path. Good?" They nodded their heads. "Good."

And the trip now seemed lonelier. Lex and Prue walked side by side,
traversing the winding walkway in almost silence.

"So. What power did you inherit?" Prue asked, attempting to spark
conversation.

"Oh, um. Telekinesis." Lex said mousily.

"Mm. That's my power." Prue said, pridefully. She leaned over to whisper to
Lex. "It's the best one."

Lex laughed. He eased up a little. "Hey, Prue. Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"I remember that... when I first got my powers, your sisters all just died
like, hours ago. But they still came back as ghosts. I hear that you had to
wait almost a decade before you could come down. Why did you have to wait
so long?"

Prue made a clicking noise with her tongue. "Good question. You remember
the Elders?" Lex nodded in affirmative. "Well up there, the Elders are
enormous beuracrats. And since I was the first Charmed One to die, there
was a lot of commotion about what to do with me. Some wanted me to become
an Elder. Some demanded immediate reincarnation. It took them forEVER to
finally decide to let me come back down to earth as a normal spirit."

"You can become an Elder right after you die?"

"Yeah. Crazy, huh? Some people are just so Good, the Elders can't help but
draft them. Or something."

The two of them barely noticed the hallway in front of them tapering out
into a large anteroom-like cavern. The walls were especially intricate
here; Lex brought his palms up higher to further marvel at the carvings,
flowery and delicate like lace.

Prue smiled. "Lex. Point the light to the center of the room." Lex did as
commanded. A small podium held a black leather-bound tome; Lex didn't need
commentary to know that it was the Ars Goetia.

"Perfect! We found it!" Prue whispered harshly. She jumped a little, and
she put a hand on Lex's shoulder. "Lex, I'm going to Astral Project so I
can tell the others the news. Just wait here, alright? I'll be right back."
Lex nodded. Prue straightened herself and closed her eyes. Lex almost
gasped when she hung her head as though asleep, and a golden light tethered
from her body and through a nearby wall.

Again, things were disturbingly quiet. Not sure what else to do, Lex walked
away from Prue's body, slowly stepping towards the Ars Goetia.

But something seemed off. Somewhere, in the depths of his mind, Lex felt a
sudden incongruency in the air. It was indescribable, the feeling. It was
as if reality itself was being warped...

Lex realized what was happening too late. He opened his mouth to scream,
but before he could a large frame grabbed him from behind; one sinewy arm
held Lex bound, while the other covered his mouth. Lex heard a deep
voice. "Get the book."

Just as he expected, Byron emerged from the shadows, grabbing the Ars
Goetia in his hands. "Hm. Lighter than I thought it would be." something
else attracted his attention: Prue's body. "Hey, look! One of the
Halliwells!"

"Let her be, Byron." Bernard said. He held the vice tighter on Lex, making
him squint in pain, and eliciting a small muffled groan. "It's these ones
we're feuding with, not the Halliwells. Now warp us out."

"By your command..." Byron flipped his hair and put a hand on Bernard's
shoulder, cradling the Ars Goetia under his arm. Lex tried to yell out, but
he was too quiet; with a folding, warping feeling and a loss of time and
space, Lex, Bernard, and Byron spirited away.

- - - -

Blaine paced the floors of the LeFleur mansion. He slightly adjusted his
sunglasses, twiddling his thumbs together. Suddenly, he heard the clocks in
the house slow down and speed up. Anticipating his brothers' arrival,
Blaine straightened his shirt and ruffled his hair, facing the empty living
room.

Sure enough, the trademark ripple in space appeared. Byron appeared first,
chic as ever, followed by Bernard- with an undxpected guest writhing in his
arms.

Blaine's eyebrows rose above his aviator frames. "What's he doing here?"

Byron, rather non-chalantly, threw the black book in his hands into the
roaring fireplace. The pages crinkled and cracked in the flames, and Lex
made a desperate noise. Bernard again gripped Lex tighter in
reprimand. "Well, to kill him, obviously."

Lex met eyes with Blaine (or at least, he thought he did). Blaine
recognized him from the photo shoot. He quickly turned away. "Just... just
do whatever, you guys. I don't wanna watch."

"Whaaa?" Byron wailed, disappointed. He put his arms around Bernard's broad
shoulders, and the two smiled at each other, their handsome faces just
inches apart. He turned to Blaine. "You'll miss all the fun."

Blaine furrowed his eyebrows. "I'll be upstairs." As though fleeing from
the situation, he indeed ran quickly up to the second floor.

Byron frowned. "Scardy-cat." He turned his attention to Lex again. Byron
put his arms around Bernard's waist and drew himself close, sandwitching
Lex between Bernard's thick trunk and Byron's own cheset. Lex averted his
face in embarassment; Byron just drew closer. He spoke to Bernard, not
taking his blue-eyed gaze off of Lex's fearful eyes. "I'm ready for some
fun."

"Mm?" Bernard asked. He craned his head down and whispered into Lex's ear,
and Lex could feel his hot breath against his skin. "Me too."

Lex restarted the struggle. He tried to kick and scream and bite, but
Bernard's grip was too strong. Both Bernard and Byron laughed at the
effort, and Bernard simply dug a nail into Lex's cheek. Lex gave a small
scream in pain, as tears seared to his eyes. Bernard again whispered in his
ear. "So feisty... better than those Stillmans..." Lex thought he would
vomit. He cringed; Bernard began to lick his ear.

But he didn't have much time to resist. Byron grabbed the collar of Lex's
shirt, and with surprising strength, he ripped it apart. With the horrible
sound of tearing cloth, Byron ripped Lex's t-shirt down the middle,
exposing his toned, heaving chest. Lex struggled; Byron admired his small
torso writhing in vain. He brought one of his pale hands to Lex's tanned
chest, and carefully taunted his right nipple.

Lex screamed, his voice still muffled by Bernard's ever-present
hand. Bernard laughed with delight. "Let's give you something to remember
this by." Lex felt Bernard's misty breath move lower down his face until it
got to his neck. In a flash of pain, Lex felt Bernard sink his teeth into
his skin and out again, before his mouth caressed the tender flesh that he
had just marked with a hickey.

"Nice one, Bernard." Byron said. He continued teasing Lex's body with the
light touch of his fingers. Lex let out an involuntary moan as Byron's
large hand passed over his tight abdominals; Byron gave a satisfied
smile. He moved in and snatched Lex's taut nipple between his teeth,
taunting it with flicks of his tongue, each one making Lex moan harder into
Bernard's strong hand. He struggled harder, completely helpless against
Bernard's strength.

And then, Byron stopped. In the tatters of Lex's t-shirt, Byron fingered a
small, crystalline teardrop. It hung on a delicate silver chain, and glew
with all the colors of the rainbow. He looked up at Lex. "Where did you get
this tacky thing?"

"From me."

Byron turned around, deathly serious. Bernard scowled with anger, and he
loosened his grip on Lex. Lex removed himself from Bernard's arm. He could
have fainted right then and there; from embarassment, from shame, from
happiness, from relief, from all of it. He spoke, breathless and
euphoric. "Atla!"

Atla stood strong. The black tank-top he wore molded to the contours of his
muscles, accentuating his raw strength. His deep green eyes were jaded with
anger. He didn't take his gaze off of Bernard and Byron, who returned his
glare. "Little one. Behind me, now."

Lex moved forward to join him, but Bernard snatched him yet again. He
didn't have time to cover his mouth; Atla flicked his finger, a well-aimed
bolt of electricity flying out of it.

The lightning hit square in Bernard's face, and he was forced to let
go. Lex ran to Atla's side. Atla didn't look back at Lex, instead opting to
raise his arm to protect him. Lex grabbed the tatters of his t-shirt closed
with his hand, attempting to cover his bare chest.

Bernard and Byron glared. "How dare you?!" Bernard yelled, rather
over-the-top.

Atla wasted no time, taking the small window of opportunity. He raised his
arm up like a cannon. A projectile of high-pressurized water shot from it
with amazing speed, cleaving through the air straight at the LeFleurs.

But the rebuttal was quick. Byron dodged to the ground. As the bolt of
water flew past him, he blew onto his palm. A fine white mist engulfed the
water, freezing it into a lance of ice. Bernard, with split-second
reflexes, punched the air in front of him. Accompanied with the deep
exhaling noise, the ice shattered in midair, breaking into tiny pieces as
if it had hit a wall.

They didn't have time to recover. Atla effortlessly conjured green wind,
flowing up from the the ground like a floor fan. Bernard and Byron were
immobilized, neither of them able to fight against the cyclone. The bastion
of wind extinguished the fire and sent the ashes of the Ars Goetia flying;
a particularly large page fell on Lex's head.

Then Lex saw a golden glimmer in the corner of his eye. Suddenly, the wind
stopped. Lex gasped as Atla fell to the ground, clutching his chest. Blaine
stood at the top of the stairs. His glowing pink eyes were exposed, and he
held the gilded dagger in his hand.

Lex went down to his knees, putting his hands on Atla's back. Atla's
breaths were ragged, and Lex heard him grunt in pain. "Are you okay?" Lex
asked, although he had no response.

"Blaine, kill him." Bernard spat up the stairs.

Blaine hesitated. And that was all that Lex needed. Raising his palms at
his adversaries, Lex yelled out. "Shine!"

Bright blue light flooded the room and swirled around, forcing the LeFleurs
to cover their eyes. Not sure what else to do, Lex took the page of the Ars
Goetia that had perched in his hair. There was something written on it. Lex
frowned with distaste, unsure of its validity.

A golden gash slashed into the floor next to him. Blaine had replaced his
suglasses, and was heading down the stairs.

Lex tried to shake the doubt from his head. He read the inscription as fast
as he could, Blaine impending:

"121425 156 19201514519 7185120 1161611812091514 315135?"

Blaine raised his dagger, about to slash Lex. Lex closed his eyes. But
there was no pain. Slowly, terribly slowly, he let his eyelids open.

The LeFleurs, the mansion, were gone. Atla lay at Lex's side still,
clutching his chest. He was too consumed by pain to be responsive. It was
terribly quiet wherever they were. The sun was a mauve twilight shedding
silent light on jagged pillars of dark rock.

But the silence was broken quite promptly. A deep rumbling like an
earthquake resounded behind them. Lex turned around. He immediately didn't
like what he saw.

A giant golem of boulders, animated to gargantuan heights, had coalesced
together, standing tall like a tower. It was as if magic bound the seperate
stones together into a conglomerate body; circling purple lights began to
blink from its stony "face," and the monstrosity was complete.

"Pu-push... pushpushpushpush!" Lex instantly screamed.

The golem staggered backwards, mostly unharmed. Tiny pebbles trickled off
its body into the ground. The golem raised its arms above its head; giant
mounds of rock levitated from the earth, still spilling dust and sand. They
psychokinetically lunged at Lex as though drawn by magnetic force.

Lex threw himself in front of Atla. "Rebound!" As soon as he said it, the
rocks froze inplace. Lex felt an immense pressure in his mind, building up
like a bloated balloon. The rocks trembled in the air. The force of the
golem attempted to cleave forward, but Lex wouldn't give up, pushing back
with his own mental exertion. "Grr...rah!" Lex growled from the
sensation. The pressure finally burst in a psychic explosion, and the rocks
flew back to their sender.

It was all Lex needed. The golem was defenseless against the
onslaught. Huge boulder after boulder bombarded in a catastrophic swarm,
and like a crumbling suit of armor, it simply fell apart into a mound of
stone.

Lex heaved, finally noticing the sweat accumulating on his bare chest. The
mental strain was finally getting to him. Turning his attention to Atla, he
knelt down so they were face-to-face. "Atla... please, hold on, please..."

Atla simply grunted, not taking his eyes off the ground. "...Don't... it's
not..."

"What?"

"...Behind you..."

Lex widened his eyes. He quickly jumped back up and araound. The purple
light from the golem's face was floating in the air, as if its body hadn't
fallen at all. Too Lex's dismay, the stones of the golem's body began to
reform again, piling up on each other by an unknown force.

With great frustration, Lex crackedhis knuckles. he took a deep breath,
laying his palms open in front of him. "Here."

The huge rocks of the golem's body flew towards Lex. It was a maelstrom of
earth, preparing to crush Lex in the most horrible way imaginable. But
before they could reach their mark, Lex pushed his palms outward. "Ripple!"

Lex's new technique worked. A telekinetic shockwave suddenly surged
outward, concentric waves of force bursting from the epicenter of Lex's
palms. The boulders he pulled towards him now wcattered away into the
air. The power flung the stones far and wide, so far down the horizon and
so far from each other that tehre was no way they could reform again.

Lex sighed, slapping his palms together. He fell to the ground, completely
exhausted, feeling like a pile of rubber.

"You." A voice, deep and female. Lex looked up. "The purple light began to
descend until it was level with Lex. "You who have defeated me. Dare you
lay eyes on me?" Lex nodded, not sure what else to do. With a swirl of
indigo, a figure materialized before him.

She was a rotund woman, with rich olive skin and pitch black, scraggly hair
tied back in a braid. Her eyes were dark purple, her face strong as if
carved from granite. Her garb was curious: bits of cloth with bizarre
designs Lex had never seen before. Lex wasn't sure if he was going
delirious, but he could have sworn he heard the faint slithering noise of a
gentle horn as a herald, welcoming the stranger in a minature orchestra.

"I am yours to command."

"...What?" Lex still felt fatigued, and had trouble comprehending the world
around him.

"Command me."

Lex opened and closed his mouth. He looked back at Atla; he seemed just as
lost as he was, but Lex noticed that he was getting paler. Lex was getting
a bit frustrated. "Who are you?"

The woman crossed her arms. "I am Bathym. Her lady of stones."

It didn't help at all. Lex felt himself getting dizzy. In the last of his
conscience, he pointed to Atla. "P-please... he, he needs help. He's hurt."

"As you command." The woman named Bathym clapped her hands, and the noise
seemed to echo throughout the entire twilight valley. And then silence. Lex
didn't know what had happened, his vision getting blurry, his senses
convoluted...

But he was pulled out of the haze by a hand on his shoulder. Lex turned
around; it was Atla, color in his face, a rip in his shirt where a wound
once was. Lex smiled. "You're okay."

Atla nodded. "Thank you." he looked up at Bathym as well. "Why are you
doing this?"

Bathym seemed grim. "You have summoned me. You have proven yourselves
worthy, and I am obligated to serve you."

"Are you-" Lex attempted to get up, and stood only with Atla's careful
assistance. "-one of the Pseudomonarchia?"

"Of course." Bathym was surprised that Lex didn't know. "You used the Great
Grimoire. You summoned me."

Lex shook his head. "It was on accident. Bathym, the Ars Goetia was
destroyed."

A look of shock briefly broke through Bathym's fortified exterior. She
quickly recovered her stone demeanor. "Then... it would be impossible to
summon my brethren." Lex slowly nodded. Bathym gave a similar nod in
acknowledgment. "I understand."

Fatigue again made itself known to Lex. He found it hard to feel again, and
his eyelids drooped. Atla tried to shake him; the effect was
negligible. Lex almost whispered. "Who... who are the Pseudomonarchia?"

"Your influence wanes as your strength does." Bathym said,
matter-of-factly.

"Please, tell me."

"..." Bathym readjusted her stance. "You seem trustworthy, Lex Russel."

Lex barely heard her speak now, and didn't bother asking how she knew his
name. All he felt was Atla's grip, and fragments of Bathym's voice.

"Promise me. Promise you will find my brothers and sisters."

"Who...?" Lex found himself asking unconsciously.

The horn Lex heard slowly began to fade away. Spots of purple light pulsed
in and out like a dying star. "They are few now. So few. All are good, all
are evil. Let them find themselves."

The star faded and faded with the indigo sun, setting into darkness,
leaving stones in solitude. The shadows crept long. Each boulder was a
lonely nighttime dream. The only thing preventing Lex from falling so deep,
so far away... that only thing held him in the air, held him close to a
beating heart. That only thing gazed with deep green eyes, and escaped the
twilight with the epic sound of a rippling ocean.

- - - -

Lyla's red light faded away, leaving the rest of the caravan breathless.

"I... I don't understand." Prue said, frustrated. "I mean, I just- I just
left! How could they have known?"

"How could you have lost him?!" Aaron yelled.

The Halliwell Sisters gave him a nasty sort of look, making him shrink a
little.

Kincaid bit his lip. "Then I suppose this means the Ars Goetia's gone too."

"Well sure. But for all we know, Lex could be-"

The sound of a ocean roar. A blue rip appeared in the middle of the room,
just anterior to the pedestal that formerly held the Ars Goetia. All 8 of
the caravan put their guard up, anticipating the LeFleur. What they saw
instead was a little surprising.

The Dragon Warlock; and gently cradled in his arms, limp, weak, was Lex. He
was out. His bare, heaving chest was plastered against the Dragon Warlocks,
and he didn't seem much to mind.

Aaron conjured his bow, notching an arrow. "Who do you think you are?" He
growled.

The Dragon Warlock rubbed Lex's back with one of his thumbs. He held his
head high, not wavering his gaze. Although he found it hard to be strong
against a grand total of six Charmed Ones. All he knew was that the only
Charmed One he cared about was in his arms as he spoke. "I'm a friend."
Atla said. "I'm a friend."

- - - -



Oookay, we're back! After quite a long break, too. Sorry it took so long,
I've been a bit busy, I've been dealing with in-and-out bouts of
Depression, and plus this is a super-long episode :O.

Which really does remind me, sorry about the length. It's just that a lot
of really important plot points were revealed in this episode, and I really
couldn't afford to cut anything, no matter how hard I tried :P. Hope it
wasn't too boring for you. But now all the messy plot points are over,
things should move smoother after this :D. Similarly, the family tree; did
anyone have any trouble downloading it? If you did, I'm pretty sure I could
accomodate you otherwise by emailing it directly as a JPEG.

Trivia: Thank you for everyone who participated! Although unfortunately, so
far the most anyone has got right is 2. Yikes, I was afraid of that
:D. I'll still be accepting answers for a while, so just feel free to email
them to me at any time.

Lastly, I'm sure you've all noticed how awfully long it takes for me to get
this story written.Well... to tide you over while you wait, perhaps you
might be interested in other stories! I believe that last time I said
something about my other story/ies in the works? Err... I was actually
lying. I don't just have one, I have like, five. As promised, here are
their synopses. I'll upload them all in the course of the next week, so
keep an eye out for them!



Super-short plot synopses & commentary:

Final Fantasy Rosa: Rated R, for Sexual Content, Violence, and Language

An original Final Fantasy fan-fiction... (yes, I'm one of THOSE
nerds. :D). I dunno why, I've always had a primal urge to write one of
these. Takes place in an original Final Fantasy universe... and for those
of you who keep up with this sorta thing, it has vague similarities to
FFIV, VI, and IX.

Under the cruel rule of the Dostravi Impirium, two thieves and a rebel
white mage named Silver are caught in a story far bigger than any of them
could have imagined. Against all odds, they must gather the help of friends
and unravel the mysteries of the world itself.



Pokemon Amethyst: Rated PG-13 for mild sexual content and language.

Okay, I know what you're thinking. For one, sue me, I'm a college student
and I still like pokemon (haha!). For another, it's probably gonna be PG-13
(sorry, people), and none of the "original" pokemon characters will be
subject to any real romance; the romance lies in the people they meet. So I
don't promise any raunchiness. But I do promise romance, beauty, and a lot
of "touching moments." :D

Ash, Dawn, Brock, Max, May, Jessie, and James travel their respective paths
in the Sinnoh regions, and each of them learn stories of true love in
surprising places.



Teth: Rated NC-17 for Intense sexual content, nudity, and violence.

Kind of a spiritual sister to FF Rosa, Teth is a sort of sword and sorcery
item without the Final Fantasy, but with a lot more sex :O. Also one of the
first stories I wrote, but never uploaded until now.

Xusion, a vargulf, discovers Teth, the last of a race that were thought to
have long ago been killed in a cruel genocide. When Teth becomes a
saught-after prize by vargulves and humans alike, how will Xusion protect
him?



Diana Celes: Rated NC-17 for Intense sexual content, nudity, and mature
themes.

This one's a little out-of-the-ballpark compared to many of my other
stories, mainly because it doesn't involve anything vaguely
fantastical/supernatural whatsoever. Oh, and it's gonna be fairly sex-heavy
too, if you're interested.

Dee is the new kid at school, transferring from Diana Celes High. Although
a mousy character, Dee receives help from a kind classmate named Jake. But
does Dee have something to hide from his new friend?



Hallow: Rated R for Sexual content, mature themes, language, and violence.

One of my very first story ideas, but probably the last to actually go on
paper :P. A superhero-fueled sorta thing. And, uh-oh... it's another one of
those stories that takes a long time to get to the sex...

After an aurora mysteriously circles the earth, select people around the
world are suddenly blessed with supernatural powers. A group of these young
Blessed, constructed by the US government, form the Coronae; giving birth
to the beginning of a very long story, ultimately revealing the very
foundations of the universe itself...



And that's all. So anyway... Happy early Vamlumtimes Day, I suppose!

as per usual: thank you for reading!

Questions? Comments? Recommendations? Fan Mail? Hate Mail, maybe? Wanna
just talk about Charmed? email me at ThePleiadesCall@gmail.com . Love to
hear from you!