Hey. This is late. I tried to get to this prompt yesterday but I had a very busy All Hallows. Not only is it late but I went over time a bit in order to finish it up. Very naughty.

I want to thank everyone who gave this bit of paranormal fantasy a try. I'm sorry for the lack of fluffy goodness but it takes more time than I had to write a good bit of fluffy. Maybe my next Liason fic will be a romantic comedy or something. I had a lot of fun with this challenge and the writing was as much fun as reading all the great stories.

Rated: NC-17
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just like writing about them.

Song Credit: The Sky and The Dawn and The Sun from the album Celtic Woman, A New Journey

HFF07 # 13: Black Licorice

The Dawn & The One

Chapter Thirteen

"Ah, young Elizabeth proves worthy of her second trial."

The pang of bittersweet in her heart kept her silent to the echoed voice. Somehow in the middle of whatever mind trick was being played on her, Elizabeth found herself standing at the base of stairs that would lead to the upper level of the Temple. She glanced carefully around taking in her surroundings immediately noting that no one had lived in this place for many many years.

The furniture, what little remained was old and covered with dust and spiderwebs. The windows should have brought in the mountains outside but were black with layers of dirt. It made her wonder how something that was supposed to be good and powerful remained in such neglect.

"The Keep has not known any life for many years, White Mage." A solemn voice seemed to read her mind.

"Not since we were cast away from this world."

"To protect it from evil who would corrupt the Stave."

That was something she hadn't heard or read before about the Stave, "It can be corrupted? How is that possible?"

"Even the purest heart has it's weakness."

"And what was yours if not your father's love."

"The family who would love you the way you've never been."

"So that's why the trial was about," she paused, feeling betrayed in a way. This place had taken her deepest dreams and used them to test her to discover is she was worthy. How was this any different than some of the crap her father put her through?

"Loyalty, young Elizabeth."

"Sacrifice."

"These are not easy for even the purest of hearts. Vows are so often broken when faced with the seductive lure of the heart's desire."

"And you have proven yourself worthy."

"And wielded negatus well."

"Deflexus, negatus, I don't know what you're talking about. Is that the power I felt from my hands earlier." She felt lost as if she had been cast into a sea and it's dark abyss was fathomless.

"Yes, White Mage. The ability to sheild and the power to break the affects of a spell on the mind are powerful weapons in a White Mage's spell casting."

Jason was counting on her to leave this Temple with the Stave and the power to defeat Helena. The helplessness of the situation made her want to sit on the last step and cry. These were things she should have been learning all of her life. How could she be expected to just instinctively know how to use these abilities when she was faced with true danger.

"I don't think I can do this," she murmured, eyes squeezing shut at the painful squeeze around her heart. "I don't know what to do anymore."

"I will the moon to flight,"

"I will the heavens bright,"

"I will the earth delight."

"Open your eyes with me,"

"See paradise with me,"

"Awake and arise with me..."

"Great, riddles. As if I don't have enough screwing around with my head, I'm being tested by an empty Temple and phantom voices singing." Never one to give up without a fight, she placed her first foot on the step. The low creak of wood made her pause to ensure the steps would how her weight.

When nothing happened, she continued upward.

xxooxx

"So the Spencers have sent out their Guard dog to protect the Mage?"

Jason kept his sights firmly on the daemon before him but opened his other senses to his surrounding. He caught multiple heartbeats pounding irratically and knew Helena had placed her minions in the shadows. The question being how many were there and why had Helena chosen to show her hand so soon. No one knew what was going on in the Keep, if Elizabeth was passing her trials. Why was Helena here?

"You step dangerously close to violating the treaty," he reminded her needlessly. If Helena was pushing for a confrontation she didn't give a damn about a filmsy peace treaty that was one act of violence away from being broken.

"That would be the Spencers," she shrugged, lifting a negligent shoulder as if she had given the conversation more than enough of her time. "The Cassadines aren't harboring Beserkers who attacked without provocation."

"I believe the murder of a brother is enough to provoke retaliation."

"Maybe so," Helena conceeded with a incline of her head, "However, the Spencers are harboring the remaining criminals and refusing to turn them over to me."

"So you can place one of those control crystals in their head? I'd kill them myself first."

"Ah, yes. Our dear Nephilim. Forced to make such difficult decisions." Helena moved forward, the heels of her boots moving through the snow without making any sound. "You do realize you'll never have her. The little Webber Mage. Not if the Spencer Bitch has any say in the matter."

With a mere twist of his wrist, the blade of Raikiri was pressed against her throat threateningly. "Watch your tongue!"

"Still defending her? Would she be your strident supporter if the roles were reversed? You are nothing more than a trained animal who kills on command to them. If you're under their leash, they need not fear the true destiny of you, Nephilim."

The slick words were coated with the taint of her evil but they did not make them any less true. However, he had his honor and it had nothing to do with Spencers or Cassadines. It was all he had in this world and no one would take it from him. Especially not some slick tongued daemon who would just as soon offer him a bright shiny red apple as to stick a blade in his back and sever his spinal cord.

"You must truly fear Elizabeth to come to me this way," Jason smirked, refusing to play her game of seduction any longer. "You must know I'd never give her to you. Nor would I allow you to harm her in anyway."

"You need not do anything but stay out of my way and I would allow you to leave this valley with not only your life," she waved a wrinkled bony hand and from the shadows stepped Nikolas and two Cassadine Breeds both with a Jacks in their grasp. A moment later the valley was filled with Breeds. "But the lives of these two as well. Make your decision Jason Morgan and choose wisely for I will not give you another."

"I would die for her," he spat, relishing the rise of fury in her blood red eyes.

"Well, it's good that you've accepted your fate. For you will die and the Stave will be mine."

"Yeah, whatever you say," he muttered, slipping his legs into a kata stance. His mind was already focused on the battle to come. He didn't need to kill all of the Cassadine Breeds, he merely had to destroy Helena and Nikolas. The rest would scatter at the death of their Queen.

Mentally he was already ahead six moves to see what kind of trap he could lay or a vulnerable moment he could induce. Hopefully Jerry and Jasper would find some way to protect themselves. It wasn't difficult to kill a Breed but it wasn't a walk in the park either.

"Big talk from a daemon who is frightened of a novice White Mage and a little stick."

The wave of fury and and killer intent Helena released would have been enough to kill human and daemon alike. As it was, the bonfire behind him was estinguished, the snow around him melted down to the dirt beneath and it felt like someone had blasted him full on with a flame thrower.

Jason twirled his blades nimbly, allowing the crackle of lightening and the simmer of flame a burst of life.

xxooxx

"I remember this." It was the Hall of Omnis from her vision. Strange but she had thought there would be another trial. Instead there the Stave was right across the room waiting for her. All she would have to do is walk across the room, remove it from that blue material and it would be all hers.

"Okay, I've seen enough Indiana Jones movies to know there has to be a boobie trap in here somewhere," she grunted taking the first step into the Hall. When those melodious voices didn't rise in song, she knew something was going to happen. The only question was what? Did they want her to go to the Stave or should she wait until something happened?

She didn't know for certain if something would happen, so how long was she supposed to wait then. Five minutes. Ten. An hour. A lifetime. She could stand here in the door way to the all for the rest of her life waiting for something to happen simply because she didn't have the courage to move forward.

"Let's see," she slowly began crossing the room thinking aloud, "The first test was about courage. To see if I would run away when I had the power to fight."

After chancing a glance around the room to see if anything was going to happen, like the floor opening up beneath her feet or poisoned arrows flying from secreted places in the walls, she continued forward.

"The second trial was about loyalty and sacrifice. Whether I would stay true to my vow and my feelings for Jason or if I would take door number two."

Courage. Loyalty and sacrifice. What did that have to do with the Stave? Elizabeth thought back through every bit of information she had gleamed about the Stave and was brought back to one sentence. Wielded by one of pure heart and soul. "That certainly doesn't apply to me," she muttered aloud.

When she stood before the Stave, she could feel the power emaninating from it. It enveloped her in warmth, with an innocence and grace that she'd never felt before. The only thing she had to compare it with was the love she felt whenever she was in Jason's arms.

No sooner had she finished the thought, did the Stave rise slowly from it's place. It throbbed once with a pulse of energy that made her gasp in wonder. Then again, this time humming, first barely auditable then growing so loud she wanted to cover her ears. A third time, she watched as the flame shaped crystal at the tip began to glow in a royal light.

Was it telling her to take it within her grasp? Her instincts said yes but all of her fears and worries were growing louder in the back of her head. Was she truly a White Mage? Could she do the things Jason believed her capable of? If her own father didn't believe in her, why should anyone else?

And she remembered something Jason said. She didn't have to study to be a White Mage, she was born one.

Carefully she reached out a hand, noting its tremor but this time she could feel a taste of excitement in those nerves. Feeling the Stave calling to her, she believed she finally understood Jason's words.

xxooxx

Jason was thrown back into the snow and ice so hard it felt like the breath was snatched from his lungs and was proceeding to crush them like a tin can.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Jerry and Nikolas fighting at a stand still. Somehow during their capture, Jerry managed to lift a few of the Cassadine heir's abilities and were using them against him. The stand still wouldn't last long because the daemonic powers would drain just as quickly from Jerry's very mortal body as his own did. How Jerry continued for this long was a testament to how powerful a Thief the Jacks truly was.

Jasper had his hands full, taking advantage of a Thief's true gift, their speed. The Breeds were having a hell of a time keeping up with the man. While Jerry was more for head on attack, Jasper's specialty was more of a dash and stab. Jasper would blur to avoid an attack, come up behind a Breed and lift some of it's powers, blur again and use them to take down another. Jasper couldn't hold a gift as long as his brother could but his advantage was the man was a complete stamina freak.

Jason on the other hand knew Helena was merely toying with him as she awaited Elizabeth's arrival. Fortunately for him it just happened to be his plan as well. If he managed to get in a few good wounds in the process, like the nice one Helena was sporting on her left side thanks to Hizeme, all the better.

Helena stomped her foot, the ground erupted deep beneath into earth and Jason had to roll to his feet quickly to escape the burst of flame that ignited after it. Her laughter as he realized he hadn't been fast enough to avoid the nasty burn on his hand was beginning to get on his nerves.

"Why continue on this way Nephilim? There is only one way to truly defeat me and it won't be the way you're fighting now." From the ground flowed dark malevolent vines all moving so quickly there was no way he would be able to avoid them.

"Raikiri," he bellowed, slamming the blade into the ground and twisted, allowing the energy to pulse through his body. A streak of white lightening lit across the night sky, with a sharp crackle of power, then hit the ground. High pitched squeals and cries of pain filled the air as the vines filled with energy then exploded.

"Now we're getting somewhere." Helena chuckled. He watched in dismay as a pair of wings, warped and membranous extended from her back. An already wizened face, shriveled, until her skin darkened like weathered leather. White hair lengthened down her back and her eyes were sunken into her skull. From her forehead distended two long curved horns as she became the epitome of evil. A centruries old daemon that he had no possible chance of defeating on his own.

"I am one with the One."

Both turned at the shouted words, Helena with fury and Jason with a small smile of pride. At some point, she had lost her coat but never had Jason seen a more beautiful sight in his life. The cashmere ivory sweater she wore made Elizbaeth's pale face luminous with an inner glow and it was only enhanced by the dark curls that tumbled around her face.

"I will have the Stave, weak child."

When Elizabeth covered her mouth and pretended to yawn, he didn't bother to hold back the deep, rich laughter that rose in his chest. This only infuriated the daemon more. "How dare you!"

"I dare a lot these days." Elizabeth glanced down at the Stave in her hand, "I would never have understood, if not for Jason. I never knew what it felt like to be cared for or accepted. I was so afraid of what he believed I could be, that I really didn't want to accept it. I didn't want to believe a love like his could be meant for me."

The glint of wonder and promise in her eyes made his heart pound with happiness. "It isn't about finding the right path, it's about walking it."

"I am the Dawn," her voice was silken oak, strong and true, her eyes never leaving his. As she lifted the Stave as it began pulsing. She thrust the base into the ground and blue light burst free. His wings slowly expanded as Raikiri and Hizeme began rumbling with energy.

"And I am one with the One."

xxooxx

"Thank you for healing my son."

Luke Spencer had a formidable presence and Elizabeth could see how he had the power and determination to defeat Helena's two sons. But the gentle smile of gratitude he gave her held all of a father's love for his son.

She glanced over at Lucky Spencer, realizing with a blink of disbelief, he was the man in the vision from the Temple. The very idea of her and this man married with two children was unbelievable. Not because of the deep abiding emotions she felt for Jason but jeez, he just was not her type.

Besides, given the way he and the Quartermaine heiress, Emily, kept staring at each other, Lucky Spencer was off the marriage market.

The Spencer estate in Port Charles, New York was massive but beautiful in the way of an old fairy tale. This small lounging chamber was just as elegant and sophiscated as the lovely Lady Laura Spencer seated at her husband's side. If not for the look of disappointment on her face, that is.

"Are you certain you wouldn't like to stay here at the estate for a while," Laura tried again with a smile more like the expression Elizabeth made when she accidentally ate a piece of black licorice. But she wasn't blind. Given Jason's nervousness from the moment they stepped onto the Spencer grounds to the way Laura had been quietly trying to push her and Lucky together, she was quite aware of the matchmaking attempt circling in the woman's head.

"No, thank you," she denied with a disarming smile of her own. And just to make her point clear, she looped her arm within Jason's and leaned into his tall muscular form with more than a hint of possessiveness. "Jason and I will be quite comfortable at his cottage."

"Yes, of course." Laura nodded once and finally seemed to get the message.

"Well, Jason," Luke chuckled wickedly as his face split into a wide grin. "I guess you've found your very own Angel as well."

All during the discussion, Jason had remained silent but stalwartly by her side. Refusing to even look at the pointed glares Laura threw in his direction. This man was Nephilim, Captain of the Spencer Imperial Guard, complete with his ethereal stately white wings, dark robes and swords encased in the scabbards on his back.

When he glanced down at her, giving her a smile that sent her pulses racing, he was the Jason Morgan she loved.

"Yes, I believe I have."