AN: The Coven has nicknames so here's a list just in case you get confused. Read and enjoy!

Harry - Merlin

Ron - Arthur

Hermione - Guinevere

Neville - Lancelot

Ginny - Morgana

Luna - Nimue

Chapter 1

In all the cities they've visited so far, Steel City was the worse city they had ever seen. The crime rate was high; the air was overwhelmed with the smell of pollution and decay. The politicians were no better. Much of them were corrupt and deceitful, promising one thing yet doing another. If a cause did not personally enlarge their accounts they showed no interest.

There was no reprieve for the average citizen. The police force was corrupted, if not more so, than the politicians. He quickly learned that most were hired guns, easily swayed with the promise of extra credits added to their bank accounts. It didn't matter where it came from, be it gangs or politicians the crooked cops didn't discriminate.

It was why the crime rate was exceedingly high. Why there was a sense of oppression with little to no hope for the common people. Majority of them were in fact living in poverty. The lucky ones managed to keep their squalid homes in buildings that were nothing more than condemned husks. The older streets were narrowed, shadowed by gleaming skyscrapers and flying cars of the wealthy. And many were cluttered with garbage and other suspicious odors as well as broke down vehicles.

But despite all of the city's faults, and there were plenty still unsaid, it was safe for him and his friends; at least for now. The neighborhood they were currently making their home was nearly abandoned, a forgotten corner of a time long passed. The vagabonds outnumbered the few residents that still dared to live in the crumbling buildings. To an outsider, it would appear that the neighborhood was practically a ghost town. The residents knew better.

As more people packed their belongings and left for a better part of Steel City, or the city altogether, others moved into their places. Beings that even the most hardened gang members were hesitant to cross. The homeless and residents were all too aware of their existence and feared them immensely. They slept fitfully knowing there were "dangerous" beings lurking in the shadows.

Beings like him, Mutants. By an unspoken agreement the people and the Mutants lived on opposite sides of the neighborhood. The main road that led into the impoverished buildings was the imaginable borderline. The residents kept to themselves; as did the Mutants. But the normal people always returned home before nightfall. The chance of running into a Mutant increased the moment the sun set behind the horizon.

Had it been any other city, the police force would have already sent in a specialized force to apprehend the Mutant vagabonds. But since the justice system was as corrupt as the criminals, the Mutants could live unbothered. It also helped that the people were more so afraid of cops and gangs than they were of Mutants, but only barely.

The media didn't paint him and the others in a pretty picture. There was always news of Mutants destroying cars, streets, even whole buildings that would lead to the deaths of many people. In turn the people would retaliate, playing the victim and the Mutants the villains that threatened the "American Way of Life". And like true politicians, many of them fed and bolstered the fear of the people, just so that their own agenda could be furthered.

Of course this was just speculation on him and the Coven's part. There was no way to prove the sincerity, or lack thereof, of the elected officials outside Steel City. But as passed experienced has shown him, there was no low a person with power would sink to, to gain more power.

In his opinion, the people were nothing but hypocrites and now he cared little about their lives. Not when they so easily captured or killed the lives of others like him. He would never understand the minds of them. One moment the people want to help the Mutants readjust to life outside of Itexicon, and the next they were a danger to mankind and should be dealt with the utmost severity.

The young man's eyes alighted in a searing white-blue color in anger, scaring off a trio of homeless men, before he quickly calmed himself. He took a deep breath and released his frustration in a heavy sigh. It was difficult keeping a level head. His powers were nearly impossible to control once anger got the better of him; and he was always angry.

Some would think he was jaded, viewing the world from only one point of view. But if they saw it as he did, maybe the humans would understand a Mutant's plight. For not only did Mutants have to worry about the government, they had to worry about themselves as well. Many of the Mutants had abilities that were hard to control when the person was calm; never mind when the Mutant is angry or scared. Add in that most Mutants were under the age of fifteen then it was no wonder why there were a lot of property damage when Mutants were attacked.

The normal people (the Coven referred to them as Muggles) didn't understand, they thought he was just a "pyromaniac" that took a thrill in setting buildings and cars aflame. They thought he was nothing but a fire demon.

Thunder rumbled in the distance seconds after streaks of lightning cut through the air. With another strong gust of wind, the young man hunched in on himself and held the plastic bag closer to his chest.

It was beginning to turn into a bitter night. Low dark clouds rolled over the bustling city since the early morning and it was now that he felt the first of cold raindrops against his exposed skin.

The Mutant was a tall young man, standing at a height of six-feet-two-inches, long limbs with a thin build. Shaggy black hair fell over his green eyes and he had an abnormal amount of old scars littering across his skin. The most peculiar one was in the shape of a lightning bolt located on his forehead. He had no memory of when he retained the scar; then again many things were still fuzzy from his years at School.

Another anomaly about him was that he didn't know his real name. The ones that kept him and the others locked up never gave them one. To the Whitecoats, he was only seen as an experiment number; property to the company. It wasn't until he turned eleven when a nice Whitecoat named Charity read the Coven a book on Arthurian legends. He liked the name Merlin and so that was what he decided to call himself. The others also had names taken from the Arthurian legends.

It was the only fond memory Merlin had of the School. Charity wasn't just another masked Whitecoat that saw him as just another experiment. She saw them as individuals. It was too bad she disappeared without a trace never to be seen again. He tried not to wonder what happened to her; he had enough nightmares as is.

Shaking his head of depressing thoughts, Merlin continued to walk down the vacant street. With each step more and more rain droplets would pelt the concrete or his head. Finally, Merlin came up to a three-story apartment building built on a corner just as the rain began to fall in sheets.

"Lucky timing." he muttered. He walked up the stone steps and passed the front doors. The doors had long since broken off their hinges and the walls were littered with graffiti and what looked like bullet holes. His nose scrunched up in disgust when the faint scent of urine and feces reached him. He had a keen sense of smell and the first time he and his Coven smelt the place they nearly lost their stomachs. Poor Lance actually did.

Slowly and carefully the young man trekked up the creaking stairs to the second floor. The odors of this floor weren't as retched as the floor below; really that didn't mean much. Merlin walked down the narrow hallway until he reached a door with chipped, green, paint and old metal writing displaying "2D" onto the front door. The black haired man gave the special knock and shifted from one foot to the other impatiently.

A few moments later the door creaked open and there stood another young man in the doorway. He had shaggy, ginger hair, blue eyes, and many freckles that dotted his face and arms...and chest. The green eyed teenager rolled his eyes. "Arthur, why are you shirtless...again?" he pointed out, tiredly.

The other Mutant, Arthur, smiled sheepishly and stepped aside for Merlin to walk through. Once more Merlin rolled his eyes. Arthur had a thing for taking off his shirts as soon as he enters their current place of stay. He didn't like to wear shirts, nor sweaters or clothes in general. If he could get away with it, Arthur would have walked around in the nude. He almost succeeded once before Merlin levitated him to the ceiling and stuck him there for nearly three hours.

"Are the others here yet?"

"Guinevere and Morgana got here half an hour ago. Lance just arrived a few minutes before you did. I came after the girls. And Nimue was just on the roof, she wanted to see if the wind could make her fly."

Merlin smiled softly at the mention of Nimue's antics but sobered quickly when he saw the troubled look on his friend's face.

"What's wrong?" he asked, alarmed. "Did something happen to one of the others?"

"No, everyone is fine." Arthur quickly placated the young man. He leaned close and whispered in the other's ear. "I saw another undercover fed drive by today. I think they know Mutants have moved into the neighborhood."

Merlin frowned and muttered "Fuck" under his breath.

That meant another snatcher raid was coming. It shouldn't have surprised him. But it did. Ironically, because of its corrupt system, Steel City was one of the safer cities for Mutants to reside without the fear of Snatchers; a unique force and specializing in capturing Mutants. Merlin supposed it was only a matter of time before the national government overruled the city's own bureaucracy. He just wished it happened later, when they were ready to move on.

The newly elected president was keeping his promise and taking a no-nonsense approach against the "Mutant Epidemic". "We'll have to make sure everything is packed then. We're going to leave tomorrow, before sunrise."

"You think they'll attack that quickly?"

"I don't wanna hang around to find out. Just don't tell the others, we'll let them know after we finish eating."

Arthur gave a curt nod and plopped himself onto the floor. He stared longingly at the plastic bag in Merlin's hands. Merlin snorted and once more wondered why he made Arthur his second-in-command. Ignoring his friend's antics Merlin called out to the rest of the Coven. "Guys, I brought food!" He lifted the bag up triumphantly.

The remaining coven members filed out of the two rooms and into what would be considered the living room. Guinevere was the first to reach Merlin and Arthur, bushy brown hair and brown eyes. Followed by Arthur's sister, Morgana, she had the same ginger color hair, brown eyes, and freckles. Nimue smiled serenely up at the Coven leader with her stranger silver eyes. Her dirty-blond hair was tied back with a knobby stick, and she had a necklace made of bottle caps. Finally there was Lancelot; he preferred to be called Lance. He was the same height as the other boys, with shaggy blond hair and brown eyes.

Merlin noticed that the other two also had to push their hair back from their eyes. Any day now, Guinevere was going to threaten them with a pair of scissors in her hand. Merlin shuddered, he hated haircut day.

The six coven-mates sat in a circle, and Merlin took out simple cheeseburgers and passed one to each of them. The five members thanked the young man for the food before scarfing it down their throats. It was the first time any of them had ever eaten that day. The Coven could survive days without food, they've done it before. But Merlin preferred not to put his Coven through the same torture the Whitecoats put them through at The School.

The burgers were gone in minutes and it did little to sate their hunger, only pacified. Merlin knew, from the amount of time the Whitecoats talked about them, the Coven required more food than the average Muggle did. As such, food and water were more precious to them but was harder to come by because of their Mutant status.

More often than not, Merlin and the others would have to resort to stealing their food and supplies. They usually had no money (they had to steal that too) and didn't have a permanent residence or even real names, only letters and numbers tattooed on their left forearms. Needless to say, getting a job was impossible for Mutants.

Zeus gathered the soiled paper wrappings, tossed them into a plastic bag and threw the bag in a far corner of the living room. "Alright, what did everyone get?" he asked around.

"I had to steal more shirts and sweaters." Guinevere spoke. "The others are too tattered after that run in with the Wolf-men last week." She pulled out three pairs of men's shirts and sweaters, and three pairs of women's shirts and sweaters from her backpack. Smiling grimly at the others, she passed the acquired clothing to each respective coven-mate. Guinevere hated stealing, Merlin was aware of this, but they didn't have the luxury of buying their necessities.

"I got two pairs of shoes for Merlin and Lance. Try not to destroy these so quickly this time." Artemis said humorously to Lance. "I had to outrun an abnormally athletic security guard at the mall." Lance's face lightly flushed and he took the shoes with grace. Merlin's lips twitched in bemusement.

Lancelot was the fastest runner of the Coven. And when Merlin meant fast he meant really fast, as in it should be impossible for a Muggle to run at such speeds. It almost looked like the other boy was flying at times. Unfortunately this caused him to wear out his shoes more often than the others; which meant more stealing. At this point Merlin was sure they had wanted pictures at every major mall in the New England area. A small part of him couldn't help but feel smug at their unbreakable track record.

"I also got jeans for everyone and thick socks. Hopefully these can last us all winter."

Merlin congratulated his friend but mentally frowned. He hated winter, especially since they were on the east coast. For normal, non-Mutant people, it was a time of snowball fights, Christmas shopping, singing jolly music, badly, and at night sitting cozy in a warm house with family and friends.

That wasn't the case with the Coven. Winter was a time of strife and hardship. And while they had their aura to protect them from the freezing snow and ice, it was still difficult to survive. Last winter was particularly bad; they'd nearly lost Arthur to a horrible fever. The Whitecoats had injected them with hundreds of different formulas but never thought to give them vaccines. Go figure.

They were lucky that Guinevere and Nimue were excellent at using their auras for healing. "We'll have to get new jackets as well, I think everyone outgrew theirs from last winter." said Merlin. "Lance, what did you get?"

"I got some toiletries, some fruit snacks that can last us awhile; I nicked some fruit seeds like you asked." he smiled secretly while he dug into his backpack. "And I also managed to get a bunch of bananas for desert!" Lance proudly held up the bananas.

Merlin chuckled and applauded with the rest of his Coven and Lance blushed deeply with a smile on his face. He passed around the bananas and luckily there was enough for each member to get two. It was certainly helped satisfy their appetites more. Merlin ate the sweet tasting fruit in relish. Before the Breakout, he had never imagined food could taste so flavorful, much less some of them being so sweet.

Arthur went next. He told everyone how he managed to steal over-the-counter medicines for the upcoming cold and flu season. A good thing too, since they nearly lost him in the last season and did not want a repeat with any other coven-mate. Just because they had heightened senses and extra abilities, it didn't make them less susceptible to common illnesses. And even if Guinevere and Nimue could heal wounds and fevers, there was a possibility that they couldn't heal another sickness. He'd rather err on the side of caution.

Unfortunately, Nimue didn't find anything that would benefit the Coven and so she spent the day at Arden Park picking flowers and watching nargles buzz around people's ears. To this day, none of the others knew what a nargle was but went along with her anyway.

Nimue had a very unique way of viewing the world and was sometimes hard to understand. She wasn't always like this. When they were younger, she was fairly normal; as normal as a locked up Mutant kid could get anyway. It wasn't until the Whitecoats did something to her in one of their procedures that she became this way.

The Whitecoats and even other Mutants used to make fun of her, either behind her back or to her face. Nimue would simply brush it off and skip away. No matter how many headaches Nimue would cause, the Coven liked the new way she viewed the world. It was different, nearly childlike one moment and scarily wise the next.

Moving on, Merlin himself had a good run, as he managed to steal books on building cottages and modern tree-houses as well as steal up to a number of cards from people's wallets. The credits in each would be transferred to the blank one they used when they had credits; hence how he was able to acquire the cheeseburgers. It was small luck that Muggles were unobservant. He passed the stolen cards and their blank one to Arthur as he was the expert when it came to technology.

With business out of the way, the Coven was able to enjoy their bananas. Jokes and laughter filled the room in a rare moment of contentment. Guinevere even pulled up an old radio to play some pop music. And for just a few minutes, the Coven acted like normal teenagers without the weight of the world crushing their backs. He only wished they could do it more often.

Merlin sighed, everyone was in a good mood and he hated to be the one to ruin it. But it couldn't be pushed back any further, they were potentially in danger. He cleared his throat and the jubilant mood came to a crashing end. With one look on his face, the others tensed up. Guinevere hastily turned off the radio and the room reverted back to heavy silence.

He kinda wished the stupid song was still playing now."I want everyone to pack up whatever belongings you have around the apartment into your backpack. We leave Steel City before dawn, tomorrow." The others, with the exception of Arthur, leaned back in shock.

"But I thought we weren't going to leave the city until the end of winter." Lance stated, puzzled. "What's changed?"

"Arthur spotted a fed drive down the block. I know winter is around the corner, but we don't have a choice. The other Mutants will start to take notice and will begin to leave in waves. It'll be better for all of us if we leave before the others. I don't want to get caught in another Snatcher Raid."

The Coven, shuddered. The last raid was still fresh in their minds even though it happened a little over eight months ago. They were in Huron, Michigan for only a week when Snatchers came barreling like a train. Luckily, the Coven managed to escape from their grasps. But the images they saw them doing to the unfortunate Mutants...it was just another event that would haunt Merlin for the rest of his life.

"Remember, if we're somehow split up, meet up underneath Jefferson Bridge. We'll wait for twenty-four hours before heading to Connecticut. Understand?" There were mumbled replies of yeses. "Good, get some sleep, I'll take the first watch."

The six teenagers gathered their new and old belongings and stuffed them into backpacks. Guinevere, with a wave of a hand, extinguished the white-blue, flame-like lights flickering above their heads and casted the room into darkness. Each of the coven-mates said their good nights and went to their respective rooms; girls in one and boys in the other.

The doors closed softly behind the young Mutants and Merlin was left alone in the living room. He groaned wearily and arched his back until he heard a loud popping noise. Shaking loose his muscles, he padded silently over to the dirty window and gazed out into the pouring rain.

Merlin could hear the faint sound of cars driving, and sirens. Like all metropolises, Steel City never slept. He couldn't wait to get out of the city and to a place that was quieter and smelled better.

It was why he stole books on building houses, why Lance took more seeds for growing fruits and vegetables. Even Morgana had a book or two on hunting. Guinevere had more useful knowledge and had an eidetic memory when it came to books and remembered everything she ever read. Everyone was helping in their own way. They all knew they couldn't hide in the slums of cities for the rest of their lives. The Snatchers were getting better and sooner or later, the Coven would be caught, and be dragged to a new kind of hell.

Merlin wasn't going back, not to the School or the government's custody. And he would be damned if any of his coven-mates were captured too. It was why they were slowly making their way through the states from city to city. They've been on the run for two years now since Itexicon was seized and shut down. And nearly two years since the government declared Mutants as a national threat to security.

After the Breakout, Mutants fled in all directions, and there were too many for the government forces to catch. The Coven was in a School right in the middle of New York City; they escaped through a series of unused subway tunnels. It was only after wandering aimlessly for weeks starving, did the government open up foster buildings to tend to the Mutants and maybe reunite some with lost family members.

It was nice at first. It was the first time the Coven slept on beds, had warm showers, and eaten more than one meal a day. But then it slowly changed, not their living arrangements but the building. Bars were added to the windows, doors were locked. They were even setting up electric fences. But before that could happen, Merlin and the Coven made havoc (something they specialize now) and set free all the mutants in the building.

The Muggles no longer felt sympathy or pity for Mutants, but fear. Since then the Coven traveled city to city, slum to slum, and ran into both Wolf-men, old security guards of the School, and Snatchers alike.

It was only after the last Snatcher Raid, did they come up with the idea to live in seclusion of nature; outside the United States. Canada was the closest country and, luckily for the Coven, was neutral on the Mutant Epidemic. Which was as good as they were going to get.

Merlin would have moved the Coven up to Canada right now if it wasn't for the encroaching winter. The first snowfall was said to come the following week and there was no way Merlin and the Coven were going to travel through the bitter cold. They'd have to wait until spring. Of course they were planning to tough it out in the slums of Steel City, but now that wasn't an option.

The coven-leader held his palm out in front and watched, with little fascination, as white-blue "flames" hovered over his skin. It was like fire in some ways, and drastically different in others. It burned when he was angry, but was soothing when he was calm. Nimue used hers once to heal a cut that needed stitches on Morgana; by accident. With it, they could heal through touch, and their body temperature was higher than others; Merlin swore he flew across a room once.

The Whitecoats called their strange fire-like powers aura. Guinevere later explained it dealt with manipulating the energy found within them; whatever that meant.

The young man closed his fist to extinguish his aura, settled back against the windowsill, and prepared himself for what was going to be a long night.