Chapter 7

A/N: Hi, I'm back! I am soooooo incredibly sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's just that school has been so hectic, and it's only been in session for nine days! Also, my Internet is acting all wacky, so even when this was finished, it was hard getting it up. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth waiting for.

"A knight? You've got to be kidding." Carey said, glancing at Jack. For some reason, he couldn't picture the smaller boy as a valiant knight in shining armor.

"I swear I'm not. Jack, don't you sometimes have memories of it? Most reincarnated people do."

"What? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and I live with her." Jack said, pointing to Fiona. Before he could add anything else, his vision became foggy, and all traces of the Philips's living room faded.

He was standing in a rather large, stone-walled foyer, with windows on either side. His wife, Odette, was sitting in a chair next to the window, and nervously staring at her husband. "Charles, you have to."

"I know, but I wish I didn't. Little Amelia will miss me terribly." He paced back and forth, keeping his arms crossed at his chest. He had just been summoned to the chamber of Lord Valiud, who had informed him that they were going to war with a nearby Lord, and that Charles was to be head of the soon-to-be gathered army.

"Yes, she will, and I will too. But it is your duty. She will grow to respect you more for going into battle than staying with her." She got up and went over to Charles. Odette then stopped his pacing and kissed him. "As will I."

"You're right, as usual. We still have a few weeks to prepare, but I feel as if I am already gone." He kissed her back. "And I shall come back after the battle. I am sure of it."

The scene became blurry, and once again Jack was looking into the faces of his current family. However, he was deeply saddened. I never came back, he thought gloomily. A few weeks into battle, he was literally stabbed in the back by a traitor while removing his metal armor. In the few seconds since he had regained consciousness, the memories of Charles Waldom immediately became his own.

"You were saying?" Fi smirked, knowing what her brother had just saw.

"Alright, so it's not so ridiculous." Jack rubbed his eyes and sat up. He found that he was on the couch, while before he had been standing, and was surrounded by everyone.

"Dude, what happened?" Clu asked.

"It was weird. It was, like, a memory or something. I was in a foyer, and talking to Odette – "

"Who is...?" Carey inquired.

"My wife. Or should I say, Charles' wife. Anyway..." Jack went on to describe the whole vision. "She said I had a daughter named Amelia. The strange thing is, I remember what she looked like, how old she was, which by the way was five, and just, everything about Sir Waldom's life."

"That's not surprising. When people realize they had a past life, they remember everything about their former self. Which actually makes sense, in a way. I mean, they are your memories, technically." Rick hated talking about this kind of thing – it always made him very confused. Along with time travel, but he usually avoided that unless absolutely necessary.

Everybody just stared at him for a second. Then, Molly stood up and stretched. "I think fighting demons, defense training, and learning about reincarnation is enough for one day. I'm going to bed. I think we're all comfortable in sleeping in separate rooms by now?" They all agreed, but Irene and Ned decided their family should still stay with the Philips'. An hour later they were sleeping, somewhat uneasily, in their beds.

A week went by, but it was mostly spent training and fending off demons. Molly had gained full mastership of her powers, and found them to be stronger than ever before. Meanwhile, Irene was helping Fi, who discovered that she could not only shape-shift others, but herself as well. Also, as an added bonus, she found that she could heal, after a nasty incident involving Clu and a broken window. Rick and Jack, who realized he had been an expert fighter, taught Molly, Irene, Fi, Ned, Clu, and Carey the art of self-defense. However, that was easily learned after several demon encounters, which had at one point occurred three days straight. Needless to say, by Saturday, all were exhausted.

"I'm sick of this!" Fi exclaimed suddenly. They were just clearing the table after having a gourmet lunch (after a hard morning spent working), made by Rick.

"What, food that's not take out?" Jack guessed, earning a playful smack on the head from his mother. "What did I say?"

"No, just...this." Fi spread her arms out. "Everything – the fighting, the training...I haven't updated my website in weeks!"

"So that's it. You're suffering from computer-withdrawal. I was wondering why you've been stressed lately." Carey teased.

Irene intercepted before a fight could erupt. "No, Fi's right. We've all been a little overworked lately, and I say we have a night off." They all looked at Rick for the okay.

He hesitated. "Alright, alright. We're ahead of schedule, and I guess one night wouldn't hurt." As everyone cheered, Rick couldn't help but think he would regret those words.

Hours later, Irene and Molly had gone on a well-deserved shopping spree, and the kids had gone out to who-knows-where. Ned and Rick had opted to stay home to spend some quality time together. And since then, the two had not stopped talking. They had been best friends when Rick was alive, and some things never changed. As of now, they were sitting on the back porch, talking about old times and both of their experiences after Rick had died.

Which was really very interesting for Ned. He was actually kind of curious about what happens after you die. "Rick, there's something I've wanted to ask you, and forgive me if it's a little blunt. What's it like to...you know..."

He didn't need to finish his question. Rick hesitated for a moment. "I'm not going to lie to you – it hurts. Ok, the way I went doesn't seem very painful, but it was. My soul was ripped out of my body. You remember when your arm came out of its socket when we were all on tour? Imagine that, then spread it out to every part of your body."

Ned visibly winced. "Ouch. Sorry I asked."

"No, it's alright. It's actually a little bit of a relief to be able to talk someone about this. Someone alive, that is – you try to talk to another ghost about it, and they'll try to top it with the story about how they died." At Ned's laugh, he couldn't help smiling himself. "But, man, that feeling you get after it's all over makes it all worth it. Any pain you might have had, any scar, any bad feeling, just goes right out the window. You feel better than you ever have in your entire life." He paused, then added, "It's just an expression."

"I figured as much. Anyway, why are you still here? Shouldn't you be, you know, in the great beyond?"

"Well, most people do. But you know about ghosts right? They stay on or close to Earth because they have unfinished business. I'm sure Fiona's had to have talked about it at some point or another."

"You can say that again." Ned recalled quite a few times where Fiona's shouted that she's seen a ghost or a troll or something supernatural. Now he realized she was probably right.

"In fact, she's part of why I'm still here. My one goal in my life had been to keep my family safe from whatever monsters I discovered. Now it's pretty obvious that I not only failed them, but I caused them to be in more trouble." Rick hung his head, being on the verge of tears. True, he was a ghost, but he could still feel and have emotion. "I should have listened to Molly. I should have quit while I was ahead. If I had, the Protector wouldn't be after them and we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Now you know that's not true. If you hadn't come along, Fiona probably would have gotten herself into even bigger trouble. And you said so yourself – Fi and Molly have power. Some demon or other would have come after them eventually." He patted Rick on the back, then said, "We better go inside. It's getting late. I wonder why at least the girls aren't back yet?"

"They're probably having fun. It's been a hectic few days; they need some down time. And for a woman, there's no better way to spend it than shop." Rick and Ned laughed as they turned to go inside. However, before they could reach the handle, a demon appeared, blocking the entrance. This one was different though – he carried a rather sharp looking blade.

(Annnnnd, stop right there. End of chapter everybody. Good-bye for another two weeks! He he, just kidding. You didn't think I'd do that to you again, did you?)

Molly jerked her head up from the dress she had been glancing at. She could looked no other place than straight ahead, and her eyes were glossed over. Irene, who was standing right next to her, noticed immediately. Waving her hand in front of her friend's face, Irene frantically, but quietly, repeated Molly's name over and over.

Still, Molly couldn't have heard her. She was having her first psychic vision since her powers came back, and she knew all she could do was sit back and watch.

She recognized the scene instantly; it was their backyard at night time. Demons were all over the place, and although their clothes were black, she could keep track of them because of their shiny daggers. Rick was fighting them off one by one, but there looked like he wouldn't be able to keep them all at bay for long. Suddenly, there was a bright, fiery blast, and every demon was turned to ash. He looked relieved for a moment, but then glanced around frantically. His face turned to one of horror, then ran off shouting Ned's name.

The picture faded as quickly as it had come. Molly opened her eyes, and Irene was clearly taken aback by the look of shock on her face. "Mol, what happened?"

"We have to go. Now." Using the same tone that she sometimes used with Fiona and Jack, Molly grabbed Irene's arm and proceeded to drag her to the nearest exit. In the process, she had managed to drop everything she and her severely confused friend were carrying, including things they had already bought. So among the cries of, "Miss, you dropped your bags!", the two practically flew out of the store.

Once outside, though, Irene yanked her arm out of Molly's grasp. "Before we go one step further, I demand to know what's going on!" Exasperated and out of breath, the singer gave a condensed version of what she saw in her premonition. When she was done, Irene exclaimed, "Then what are we doing just standing around here for? We need to drive, no, fly there right now!"

Molly sighed and grabbed Irene's hand. Before they could transport themselves out, however, the alleyway the nearest exit had led to was covered in shadow. Demons had appeared in every nook and cranny. More annoyed than scared, Molly held her hands up and prepared to blast them up to high Heaven, or rather, low hell. "This is not what I need right now!"

Meanwhile, Molly's vision was well on its way to coming true. Rick and Ned were using their best karate moves on the black warriors. Yet, their efforts were producing little results. These demons were much more prepared than the others had been, and the two were quickly finding out that it took more than a few blows to the head to get them to disappear.

Rick was doing his best to fend them off, but even when he did manage to make one go away, two more would take its place. It seemed like Ned and he were in a sea of black. Where is Ned, anyway? Rick thought anxiously for a second. He then tried to calm himself down. He's probably fine. Besides, there's no way I can get to him.

All of a sudden, he felt a warm glow come from behind him, then pass him over. The next thing he knew, fire had consumed every last demon. He heaved a great sigh of relief and turned around. Sure enough, there were Molly and Irene, their hands frozen in front of them after blasting the spirits to pieces. Just then, he heard a groan come from the porch, he screamed "Ned!", then ran over. There was a dagger stabbed in Ned's chest, and blood all around it.

A/N: I know, a little gory. I am changing the rating the PG, but I swear this is the worst, blood wise, that it's going to get. I promise! I mean, I might mention that someone is hurt, but I won't describe it that much. Anyway, I'll try to update soon!

Just an afterthought. This was a really weird chapter – death and premonitions and demon attacks, sheesh. Ah, well, weird is good.