Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or X-men. I own Rayne, Rick and Liane.

I have gotten 984 hits! W00t!!

Ok, this is the next chapter of Chris's memories. I'm sorry this is taking so long. After this, there's gonna be one more chapter of Chris's memories, and then we'll come back to the present with Rogue and Logan.

Chris's Memories Part 2

I'm seventeen now. Wyatt has openly taken over the world. Magic has been exposed to mortals, and the demons are in charge now, with Wyatt at their head. Mortals are running, hiding, or else trying to prove that they are useful enough to Wyatt for him to keep them alive. Right now, mortals are the minority in the population.

There are two people who live with me in the safehouse. Their names are Rick and Liane, both of them are fourteen. Liane is a mortal, and a genius. She had the record of highest IQ, before she was forced into hiding. Rick has hydrokinesis. He can control small amounts of water: turn them into ice, throw condensed water balls at people, things like that. Apparently, good people or beings can find my safehouse.

Wyatt keeps trying to find me. If I wasn't so revolted, I could almost see it as a complement. He sends demon after demon to capture me. Whenever I'm not in the safehouse, they find me. Then I help them find purgatory. It's the least I can do. I leave the safehouse a lot. Usually I use my whitelighter side to try to help people, or at least, kill demons, which does help people in the long run. Also, I have to get supplies for the safehouse. People fight in the streets over food or water bottles. Usually I get supplies from demon corpses, but when I can't do that, I steal from thieves. I think of it as karma-come-early.

Liane is strange, even for a genius. She talks to me like she's an adult, and I know she's smarter then me, but she always obeys my orders, and listens to my opinions. One thing that's hard is to get supplies for Liane's 'time of the month'. Where is a guy supposed to find things like that in a demon-overrun city? Usually when I need to get her supplies I steal it from the evil witches. At least they're human.

Liane also is a really good tactition. Before Wyatt became the Source, she read a lot of war books like Beowulf, Cry of the Icemark, and Lord of the Rings. I bring her along with me sometimes when I go demon hunting, just because she can figure out their battle plan. Since Wyatt's takeover, the demons have been a lot more organized. I orb us to a pack of demons, I start vanquishing, and Liane tells me what the demons are going to do next when they start their counterattack. She's almost like a telepath.

Rick is a good guy, but not all that strong as far as powers go. His power is the kind that takes precise control, and timing to work. To change water into ice takes two seconds, which is a lot of time when you're in a demon fight. A lot of surviving is using every millisecond to its maximum. A lot can happen in two seconds. People can die, and I refuse to lose another friend. That's what we are. Liane's family was killed in a mass demon attack, and Rick's family was killed off personally by an assassin witch. I told them what happened to me. Not in detail, but enough to explain how my family died.

We show support for each other, and I trust them. We're almost like a mini family, though it can't ever fill up the hurt or loss in my heart. But it can help my wounds to heal.

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I'm eighteen. Wyatt had taken our house, the Halliwell manor, and had turned it into a monument. He turned the place of our birth into a museum. New technology had been developed. Demonic technology. There were probes that could identify witches and send alerts to Wyatt. There were other probes that, upon encountering a witch, would shoot a fireball at them.

I knew that I would have to go to the manor. This was something I would have to see. I needed to know what Wyatt did to the manor, and maybe this could give me the chance to restock on potion supplies.

Another person had joined my mini family, Rayne. She's thirteen years old, and she's a conjurer. Oh, and she's blind. Rick and Liane are sixteen now. I told them that I was going to spy out the house, and see what I could find out. I needed to find out if Wyatt had tapped into the power of the nexus.

"You can't just go to the manor!" exclaimed Rayne when I told them that I was going.

"I have to," I said, "Wyatt might have tapped into nexus."

"Even if he did, you're not strong enough to stop him," said Liane, "He's nearly killed you twice! If he has managed to tap into nexus, he'll be near invincible."

"And none of us are strong enough to help you," said Rick, "Maybe Rayne, because she can conjure weapons, but she's at risk because of her blindness."

"You think I don't know that?" I snapped back, angry. This was personal. This was dangerous. I had to be the one to handle it.

"Chris, Wyatt is the Source, and the manor is a perfect place for him to use as a power-base. It doesn't make sense to go up against him," said Liane, "There's a 72 percent chance of your death, if he' set a trap for you. Wyatt knows you, and he knows that you'd go to the manor in a second. You have to outsmart him."

"If you die, how will we survive?" said Rayne, staring slightly to my left, "We're too weak. You're the only reason we're alive at all, Chris."

I sighed. "Rayne, I have to go. Even if it is a trap, I have to check this out. There's too much risk if I don't know." None of them looked convinced, "I'll come back soon, okay? Don't worry so much."

"But, Chris--" said Liane,

"No Liane," I interrupted, "This is something I have to do. I'll be back." With that said, I orbed out.

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I was at the manor. I had three potion vials in my back pocket, and vanquishing spells memorized for Lower-Level demons, Clan leaders, some Upper-Level demons, Grimlocks, Harpies, and Darklighters.

I reformed in the basement, where nexus would hopefully still lie undisturbed. I walked to the center of the basement floor, crouched down, and stroked it with my hand. I got a sense of power under the basement floor. Good, nexus was still safe.

"He said you'd come," said a female voice behind me.

I stood up and turned around, looking into the brown eyes of a Phoenix assassin witch. They were known for their allegiance to Wyatt. You couldn't vanquish a Phoenix with magic, they would just reform. The witch was beautiful, with light brown skin, chestnut hair, and a tight black outfit surrounding her fit body. By 'he' I knew she meant Wyatt. Rayne and Liane were right. This was a trap for me.

"The Source wants me to bring you to him," she said, in a rich voice.

I didn't say anything. If there was only one witch here to capture me and bring me to Wyatt, she had to be really powerful. I started to orb out.

"No you don't," she said, and I felt something drag me down, something I had never experienced before. Suddenly I was forced to reform, which I did, and found that I was on the floor, with the witch standing over me. I kicked at the witch and rolled away as she moved back to avoid the kick.

I tried to orb out again, but this time I felt a pain as I was again forced to reform. The pain was in my shoulder, and I saw that there was an athame stuck in it.

"You're not orbing away from me," said the witch as she jumped towards me, another athame in her hand.

I jumped to the side, avoiding her attack, and I reached for the handle of the athame in my shoulder, gritted my teeth, and pulled. White fire ran across my arm, but I didn't make a sound of pain, except for drawing in my breath. I felt blood roll down my shoulder, but ignored it. I tucked the bloody athame into my belt as I dodged another attack of the witch's. This time, the witch flipped over once in the air, reaching me in less then a second. She slashed at me with her athame, and scratched my stomach. I gasped, and tried to back up as she released a kick at my face. I couldn't avoid it, and the strength of her kick knocked me to the floor. I pressed my hand against my stomach, and felt wet sticky blood. I let all thoughts go, and went with my instinct.

I rolled up from the floor, taking out my athame and lunging at the witch, not bothering to use my powers, which wouldn't do much against her anyway. She kicked the athame out of my hand, and it skidded across the basement. I make a fist and lunged at the witch again. I feinted a punch, and let out a kick. The witch didn't react to my feint, but caught my ankle and twisted it. I head a crack, and gasped in pain as I felt white fire spread along my ankle. I knew in my gut that it was broken.

I fell on the ground, landing on top of my other leg. The witch held out her athame, and came at me. I flailed my arm, and somehow managed to punch her in the face. She paused slightly, for less then a second, absorbing that she'd been punched. I tried to stand up, but my leg wouldn't support me, it burned as I stepped on it, and I fell down again, slamming my arm into the floor.

Dimly, I realized that I was trapped and couldn't escape. Nevertheless, I tried to crawl far enough away so I could orb safely. I hadn't gone more then two inches when the witch grabbed the back of my shirt and flipped me over onto my back, putting her athame at my throat, and kneeling next to me.

I felt my panic rising. The last time I had only managed to escape Wyatt by chance, and I had at least been strong and fit. Now I was beat up, bleeding from my shoulder and stomach, and had a broken ankle. If Wyatt got me now I wouldn't be able to escape. I would never join him, so he would torture and kill me. He would kill me, just like he'd killed our family. Suddenly I had a flashback. I heard mom's voice in my head. 'Never give up,' her voice said. I couldn't panic. I couldn't give up. I had to keep fighting, for Rayne, Liane, and Rick. For my dead family and friends. For mom. For Wyatt, himself. I had to keep fighting.

I summoned as much strength as I could into my arm, and swung it at the witch's face. The witch grabbed my wrist before it hit her face and smirked.

"You never give up, do you?" the witch said, smiling almost with respect.

"Until I die," I said.

"That might happen soon," said the witch, "Unless you plan to join the Source."

"Why do you care?" I asked, very aware of my throbbing ankle and the athame at my neck.

The witch looked confused for a second. "I don't know." she said, before looking back at me, "You fought awful hard. You must really not want to get caught."

"What does it matter to you?" I said. This witch didn't make any sense.

"Well, the Source kills his family, but lets his brother live, and then hires an assassin to bring him back, but alive. I'm trying to figure you out."

"Why?" I asked, despite myself.

"Because I can't figure him out, and I'm not dumb enough to try." she said, still holding my wrist, "You're strong, but not strong enough to be worth a bother. I just wonder why he wants you so bad."

"What are you waiting for?" I said angrily, "Most demons would take me to him right away, but you're not. What are you waiting for? Is this your idea of fun?"

"What, do you want to die so fast?" she asked, "Did you ever think that I don't like to send people to their deaths? I'm a witch, not a demon."

"You're evil," I said.

"No, I stay alive," she said.

"By the blood of the ones you kill," I said, not caring anymore about diplomacy.

"Beats being dead," said the witch, "You know, if you won't join him, he'll kill you."

"Fine. You kill me then, it'll hurt less." I said sarcastically, but also with a touch of honesty.

"I won't kill you," she said after a pause, "I won't send you to your death either." she lifted her athame away from my throat, stood up and stepped away from me.

I lay on the ground, stunned. "Why are you doing this?" I asked, using my sore elbows to raise myself slightly off the ground.

"You remind me to much of me," she said, "Just go. I won't stop you," she paused, "By the way, if you do ever get caught, you knocked me out by sending a rock against my head with your powers."

With that said, she shimmered out. Dazed, I orbed back to the safehouse, reforming lying down on my 'bed', which was really an old sofa Rayne had conjured.

Exhausted, injured and bleeding, I immediately fell asleep.

--------------------

I started to heal. It took a while, but it could have been worse. Rayne was able to conjure all the gauze and bandages she needed. Liane helped a lot too, but Rick was angry.

"Chris, how could you have done that?" he said, almost shouting after I'd orbed back, "You nearly died. You orbed back with a torn muscle in your elbow, a laceration on your stomach, an ankle broken in two places, a stabbed shoulder muscle, and several cuts and bruises. Your ankle could have gotten infected, and you could have died!" he paused, "You've been like a father to me and Liane, and Rayne too. We can't survive without you. My powers are too slow, Liane's a mortal, and Rayne's blind! What would have happened to us if you'd died?"

"You're all strong," I said, "You would have found a way to survive, I trust that."

"Still, Chris," said Liane, "Please don't do stuff like that again without taking one of us with you. We know we're not strong, but we're strong enough to help you gain the advantage in a fight."

"Guys, leave him alone," said Rayne sternly, "Chris just got beaten the hell out of him. Let him heal. We'll argue later. But Chris," and she turned to my general direction, "We may be weak, but I've got good ears. I can help you scout, if nothing else."

"Thanks, Rayne," I said, thankful for her vouching for me, and for her willingness to help. But, I would never put her in danger. She was the most vulnerable, out of all of us, and Wyatt would kill her if he got her, just to hurt me. I would protect my mini family, because I had been unable to protect my own, and then Emily and David after them. I wouldn't let Rayne, Liane, or Rick down.

I healed.

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I'm twenty now. Rayne has grown strong. She knows where everything in the safehouse is, and walks around like a seeing person. Her powers have improved drastically, and she can conjure things in under half a second now. She's become strong and confident. She's fifteen now, and she actually comes with me to demon fights, and helps out. Her hearing had improved too, so now she has almost a sort of echolocation. She's saved my life a couple of times. He sense of touch has also improved. She could feel a fly land on the shoe, and know exactly where it was and how big it was.

Liane and Rick are eighteen. Liane's intelligence is still increasing, as she had Rayne conjure books for her on the world of magic and demons. Rick's powers haven't progressed. He's still stubborn, and slightly annoying. He and Liane are 'together'.

One time, Rayne and I were going after a Clan of Lower-Level demons, when, just as she had finished up, something strange happened.

"Are there any left?" I asked her.

Rayne closed her sightless eyes and listened. "Nope. All gone." Then, suddenly she paused, "Someone's shimmering in."

The next second, someone shimmered in. Rayne's sensitive sense of touch could feel ripples through the air across her skin that let her know when someone was shimmering a second before they came.

The person who orbed in was familiar. She was the Phoenix witch who had let me go, when I'd first gone to the manor. Wyatt had turned the manor into a museum, actually more like a shrine to himself, though it was dedicated to the Charmed Ones.

Rayne's hand grasped the hilt of the athame in her right hand. "Chris?" she asked, wondering whether to attack or not to attack. For all she knew, it might have been one of my Underworld contacts.

"Defense, only," I said, "It's the Phoenix from the manor."

Rayne let out a small gasp, and moved into a defensive position, but didn't attack. I glanced at Rayne proudly.

"You've trained her well," said the witch.

"What do you want?" I asked, "Did Wyatt send you?"

"No, not this time," said the witch, "This time, I need your help."

"My help?" I said, stunned. This witch had nearly killed me, and now she wanted my help? But, she had let me live...she hadn't given me to Wyatt...

"Yes," she said, "Wyatt has ordered that every grimoire of every witch serving under him be handed over to him. He wants to increase his powers."

"So?" I asked.

"So, I don't want him to get the Phoenix grimoire. It's an old Book, full of spells that have been handed down from the time of the witch trials. I want you to make a fake one."

"You want me to invent a Book of spells?" I asked, incredulous.

"Yes," she said, "I must keep my heritage safe. You have a conjurer friend, and you have the ingenuity needed to make up spells."

"Why come to me?" I asked, still distrustful.

"Because, my family is dead, by Wyatt's hand. I won't give him my family's magic, and you're the only one who's openly opposed him and survived. I figure, if anyone can help me, it's you."

"How do I know I can trust you?" I asked.

"You don't. Unless you have a truth spell somewhere?" she said, raising her eyebrows. I shook my head. "Uh huh," she said.

"Look, Christopher, I did you a favor that day, not giving you over to Wyatt. I saved your life at risk to my own. You owe me, and this is your chance to pay up."

I sighed, unfortunately, she was right. She had saved my life that day, and she had done it at risk to her own. She wasn't threatening me now, and had no weapons out. That didn't mean much, but it meant she wasn't going to bring me to Wyatt.

"Rayne?" I asked, "What do you think?" Rayne had good intuition, as I'd found out on many occasions.

"I think she's telling the truth," she said after a short pause, "There's a mortal truth test I can try, if you want."

"Will you let her?" I asked the witch.

"If it'll make you help me, yes." she said, looking at Rayne, "What does she have to do?"

"I need to measure your pulse rate first," said Rayne, stepping closer to the witch's voice, and causing her athame to vanish. She stopped about a foot in front of the witch, and raised her hands towards her chin.

"Lower, Rayne, you're at the chin." I said, my body taunt and ready for a fight, just in case.

Rayne moved her hands lightly until her right hand was at the place where throat and jaw met. She put down her left hand.

"Answer the questions," she said, "What's your name?"

"Bianca," said the witch.

"What color is your hair?" asked Rayne.

"Brown," said Bianca.

"Are you a girl or a boy?"

Bianca snorted. "Girl."

"What do you want with Chris?"

"I want him to make a Book of fake spells so I can preserve my family's heritage."

Rayne closed her sightless green eyes, concentrating. "She's telling the truth," she said, taking her hand away from Bianca's neck.

Bianca raised an eyebrow. "Thank you," she turned to me, "Now, will you help me?"

"You won't turn me over to Wyatt? Or try to kill us?" I asked.

"No," she said with a sad smile, "I like him just as much as you do Chris."

"I'll help you," I said after a pause. I didn't see that I had any other choice, and there's no way she could have fooled Rayne. Her sense of touch couldn't be tricked.

"Thanks," said Bianca.

"Follow us," I said, as I stepped forward and took Rayne's hand, orbing us back to the safehouse.

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"You brought her back here!" yelled Rick, angrier then I'd ever seen him, "How could you bring the Phoenix back here?"

"The Phoenix has a name," said Bianca angrily, "It's Bianca."

"I don't care who the hell you are! You nearly killed Chris, did you know that! Then you have the nerve to ask him for his help? What the --"

"She also is the only reason I'm still alive," I said loudly, interrupting Rick, "She didn't bring me to Wyatt, and she didn't kill me. I owe her, I'm repaying the debt. That's all. If you have a problem with it, you're gonna have to find a way to deal with it."

Rick panted, scowling, anger seeping out of his every pore. Liane walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. Rick calmed down slightly, and Liane looked at me.

"Chris, it's really risky to bring her here. Even if she was telling the truth about what she wants, you can't know what she's going to do afterwards."

"Don't you think I know that?" I said, rubbing my eyes in stress. I knew and understood the risks. I also knew that Bianca didn't have a motive for bringing me to Wyatt, and that she was about as likely to betray me as any of my Underworld contacts. I could deal with those odds.

"So how do I make this grimoire?" I asked, turning to Bianca.

"All you have to do is make up one spell." she said, "Your conjurer friend can do the rest. Make up a spell that lets Wyatt think he has more powers, and all his underlings too."

"So the spell will just make him and his demons think he has more powers?" I asked, clarifying.

"Yes," she said.

"Okay," I said, "Rayne, conjure an old leather bound book. Make it a square foot in length, and on the top, put The Grimoire in green letters. Put a picture of a phoenix in flight under that, and make the book thick. Put lots of poems that seem like spells in the book. Only, put this spell in the front," I took a breath, thought for a moment, and chanted,

"For powers gained within our minds
Allies throughout space and time
The power flow through us, through me,
Through power I find my destiny."

Rayne closed her eyes and held out her hand. A book just like the one I'd dictated to her materialized into her arms. I used my powers to bring the book into my hand, and then gave it to Bianca.

"Will he fall for it?" I asked.

"I hope so," she said, "By doing this, you're saving the magic of the Phoenix.. I owe you now. If you need me, call my name." with that said, she shimmered out.

She didn't make any sense. She didn't owe me now so why did she say she did? I asked Liane, the genius, who looked at me with surprise.

"You didn't see it?" she asked, and I shook my head, "She admires you, Chris. I think she really, truly admires you."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, she was an awful lot like you..."

---------------------------------

I'm still twenty. Bianca and I have grown closer. She kept coming back unexpectedly to help me with demon vanquishes, at first. But, then she just started to come by to talk. And we did talk. I trusted her, and felt comfortable around her. Rayne and Bianca also became friends. Liane was friendly towards her, but Rick was always distant and slightly rude, which annoyed me to no end. I started to realize that I was attracted to Bianca. I couldn't stop looking at her, and I would feel her look at me. She helped me really deal with the death of my family. I'd been pushing my feelings deeper into myself, and she helped to gently help me heal. She was always willing to talk to me or help me. I realized that I started to love her.

I'm twenty one, and Bianca, Rayne, and I are at a demon vanquish. It's going well. We're fighting a Clan of demons, who had the potential to telepathically uncover our safe house. Rayne was conjuring and throwing athames right and left, never hitting Bianca or I. She was like Daredevil, from the old comic books. I was using me powers to direct demons powers into each other. I'd also discovered that my telekinesis worked inside the body. I could crush a demon's heart with my powers. The only problem was that that took time, and you don't have a lot of time in the middle of a vanquish. So, while I was redirecting energy balls, Bianca was shimmering in and out, stabbing, attacking and killing ruthlessly. Eventually we vanquished the last one, and as his screams died away, we all stood alert.

"Rayne?" I asked after a minute, "Bianca?" Were we done? Had the battle ended?

Bianca's eyes swept around the room, and Rayne stared blankly ahead. "Something doesn't feel right about this." said Bianca, "This vanquish should have been a lot harder. These were telepathic demons."

"I agree," said Rayne, "I don't think we got them all."

"Do you think it was a trap?" I asked. These demons had been working for Wyatt, after all.

"What trap could they set, though?" asked Rayne, but Bianca suddenly looked alarmed.

"The safe house," she said, turning to me, "It wasn't a trap for us, it was a trap to find our location."

"We have to get Rick and Liane," I said, anxiously. Had we been to late? "Quickly," Rayne walked towards me and I grabbed her arm and orbed us out, just ad Bianca shimmered behind us.

When we reformed at the safe house, the first thing I saw were the blood and bodies. Liane and Rick were lying on the floor, and three demons were standing above them. The demons leered at us, grinning. Suddenly one of them leaped into the air, the other two closely behind him.

"Levitation spell," said Bianca quickly, "Won't last for more then an hour."

I felt a rage consume me. Liane and Rick were dead, I knew it instinctively. I orbed out, reforming on top of the demon. His comrades fired energy balls at me, but I orbed off the demon and reformed on the ground. The demon had been hit by one of his comrade's energy balls, but it hadn't killed him. Either they were stronger then they looked, or the demon had good dodging reflexes. None of that was good.

"Chris, I can't find them!" shouted Rayne, looking more scared then I'd ever seen her, "I don't know where they are!"

"Conjure as many athame's as you can," I called back, thinking quickly, as Bianca started to attack one of the flying demons. I stayed on the ground, sending athame's at the demons. They were fast, they kept dodging the athame's and throwing energy balls. One of them threw an energy ball at Rayne.

"Duck!" I called, and she did, conjuring more athames as I sent them flying towards the demons. One of the demons got ready to throw another energy ball at Rayne. I ran to her, knocking her to the ground, and pulling her behind the sofa.

"Chris, I don't know what's wrong, but I can't feel them on the air," she said as the energy ball hit the sofa, making it rock violently. "I hear them, but there's too much noise. I feel blind."

If the situation hadn't been so bad, I would have laughed. She was the only blind demon-hunter I'd ever known, and she moved with a grace that almost fooled you into thinking she could see. Too bad we were facing two Upper Level demons who could fly. Bianca hadn't vanquished hers yet, so they must really be hard to kill.

The sofa shook again, and a demon shimmered in in front of us. This was one of the flying demons, and even as he shimmered in, he was careful not to touch the ground. Rayne would have been able to feel him in the ground.

I looked at the demon and clenched my fist, concentrating on his heart. I found it in my powers. I tightened my fist, squeezing his heart. Then I felt a release, and I knew that he was dead, just before his body burst into flame. I felt relieved, but then I heard Bianca scream. Rayne suddenly jumped up, and conjured athames out of her hands, throwing them into the air in a wide sweep. The daggers hit the walls with a clunk, and Rayne smiled happily.

"I know where he is!" she said, and I smiled, happy for this small victory as I orbed to Bianca. The demon had manage to stick a knife in her stomach. I came up behind the demon and clenched my fist. I crushed his heart, and he too burst into flames. One demon left. Bianca was sweating heavily.

"One left," was all she said, before she fell into unconsciousness.

I had to get the last demon.

Suddenly I heard a voice inside my mind. "Halliwell," I spun around looking at the last demon.

"I bring a message from the Source," the demon said.

"Chris, I can't hear him," I heard Rayne suddenly call. The demon shimmered out, and reformed behind Rayne.

"This," the voice said inside my head, as the demon pulled out a dagger.

"Rayne!" I cried, just as the demon stabbed the dagger into her back. Rayne's back arched as she gasped. She never had before screamed when she was hurt, and she didn't scream now. The demon pulled Rayne close to him and kissed her cheek, before pulling the dagger out of her back. He licked the blood on his knife.

I felt a rage build up in me that I never had before. I hated that sick, demented demon. I clenched my fist, and this time, the demon looked surprised as he burst into flames as I squeezed the life out of him. It had taken three seconds to kill him.

I orbed to Rayne, running would be slower, and reformed behind her. I pulled her onto my lap.

"Rayne?" I asked, and her blind eyes somehow knew to look at my face.

"Chris, I think I'm dying." she said.

"No, Rayne, you're not gonna die. I need you to conjure bandages. Conjure them." I said, stroking her hair to comfort her.

"I can't," she said, her body starting to shake from loss of blood.

"You have to." I said, looking around to see if there was anything I could use. There wasn't. The demons had burned all of our supplies before we'd gotten here.

"No, Chris, the dagger had a spell on it. It took away my powers." she said. God, she was going to die too."I heard Bianca scream. If she got stabbed too you have to save her. Her powers are gone too."

"Bianca can't die by magic." I said, "She's strong. I'll find some bandages for her later. Here." I took off my jacket and used my powers to divide it into strips. I started wrapping the strips around her back.

"It won't work Chris," she said, her skin deathly pale, "I'm going to die." I swallowed, wanting to deny the truth, but knowing that I couldn't. "Tell me about the colors, Chris." she sighed, sounding almost peaceful, not blaming me for anything, "The color of the grass and sky. I still remember from when I could see. Please tell me."

I swallowed the tears that threatened to overwhelm me, and I spoke. I told her about green grass and the grace of the alley cat. I told her about the thunder in the sky and the clouds and rain. I talked and told her all I could think of, when suddenly her body stiffened.

"I can see," she sighed, delight on her face, before she let out a last sigh, and died. I put Rayne's body gently down on the ground. I orbed to Bianca, who was conscious now, but just barely.

"Is she dead?" she asked. I nodded. Bianca looked up at me, "Chris I want you to stab me in the neck with this knife."

"What?" I said, she's gone insane. Why did she want me to kill her?

"The magic in the knife will let me reform unscathed. It's part of my Phoenix magic."
I understood. As a Phoenix, she would reform unharmed if killed by magical means. If I stabbed her she could reform because of the magic in the knife, but if I didn't do anything she would die of blood loss. I picked up the dagger and Bianca closed her eyes. I stabbed looked away and brought the knife down into her neck. I felt a burst under me, and Bianca reformed in back of me. I got up and turned around.

"Let's get Rick, Liane, and Rayne, and get out of here." I said. Bianca nodded.

"Let's go to where the monument used to be." she said, "He'll never suspect you to be out in the open."

"What about you?" I asked. Now that she was alive and safe, I didn't ever want to lose her.

Bianca gave me a small grin. "He doesn't know about me." she said. I nodded and went over to Rayne's body. I picked her up and looked at Bianca, who was holding the hands of the dead Rick and Liane. We nodded to each other and orbed and shimmered to the monument. No one was there.

I put Rayne's body down and went to see Liane and Rick. Rick had died from a wound in his chest, probably from an energy ball. Liane had a wound in her stomach that looked like it came from a knife. They had never stood a chance. I saw tear streaks on Liane's cheeks. That meant that Rick had probably died first, probably to protect her. I sighed, biting back tears.

I went back to Rayne's body and moved her over to the bodies of Rick and Liane. In my mind I looked at all of them, and I was dimly aware of Bianca chanting a cloaking spell.

Liane had been a genius. She had been tactical, sure of herself, and caring. She had been afraid of spiders, and loved to learn. I hated to see the look of pain on her face, and her eyes, closed in anguish. She had deserved so much more.

Rick had been strong. He had been obnoxious and rude at times. Sometimes he was downright suspicious, but he had been loyal and willing to do what had to be done. He had hated being a liability and had always tried to find ways to improve his powers. He had genuinely cared about Liane and Rayne. He and Liane had loved each other, and were married in every sense, without the certificate. He and Liane had been nineteen.

I looked at Rayne's peaceful face and remembered her last words. "I can see." At least she had found peace in death. She had been blinded in a demon fight at the age of ten. She'd become so assured of herself. She had been strong and loyal. Until I met Bianca, she was my closest friend. Bianca and I were closer then friends. Rayne was a good warrior, a brave girl, and a trustworthy person. She was a good friend. She had been sixteen.

It was my fault they were dead. I stroked the faces of my dead friends, and stood back up. Bianca stood beside me. She hugged me and kissed my hair.

"It's not your fault, Chris," she said. I didn't know what to say. It was my fault.

"How do we bury them?" asked Bianca.

I had an idea. I didn't want to bury my friends in the hard ground. I chanted a spell.

"Changing seasons changes all,
Life renews as creation calls.
Nothing is immune,
Everything transmutes,
Take these friends and give them roots."

The bodies of my friends grew upwards, and became trees. They had created new life with their death. It was all I could do for them.

It was then I resolved something to myself: I would protect only myself and Bianca. I couldn't let anyone else get hurt because of me.

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I know it's an evil place to leave the story, but more will come soon, I promise! Tell me what you think of the story! Reviews really help me decide what to do in a fic. I need any and or all reviews possible. And if you're one of the people who have just read this chapter, and are reading this, and won't review... I will find you, and make you sorry. REVIEW!!