Charmed Reborn

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!