Thanks for the reviews, here is the next chapter sorry it took so long. I will try to make the next update quicker but I have a couple of things I'm doing at the minute so I can't make any promises.

Phoenix? Part 2

The streets of Baville were filled with revellers celebrating another great year for the people of the province, smells of food wafted through the bright and colourful streets as the sound of music wafted on the air as gently as the smells.

Alex was not enjoying the festivities and neither were his companions as they sat in the shadows of the great wall that surrounded the palace waiting for a way in. Guards stood at either side of the open gates staring angrily at every reveller who passed.

"This is too easy" laughed Rahne as she slipped into her wolfs form and walked slowly round the corner in her most casual wolf like manor trying not to draw attention to the key moment, a small child ran his hand over her fur as he walked past with a smile so Rahne stuck close to him till he got close to the gates and then she darted quickly between the two guards barking at the top of her lungs.

"They're following her" informed Alex as he grabbed Scott's arm and led his brother quickly along the wall and through the gates, Scott hated to feel helpless but he needed this moment to pass quickly and he couldn't have kept up with Alex otherwise. The two brothers stuck close to the wall on the inside of the courtyard as they tried to avoid the gaze of any passing guards. They could hear the barks of Rahne as she led the guards on a merry chase around the palace, the two slipped silently and unseen into the main building, in the main hall they looked up at the arching stairways that led to numerous corridors (or at least Alex did).

Scott stood listening for any noise as Alex looked nervously down all the corridors "We'll never find her, especially if the guards find us first" said Alex with a sigh.

"We better hurry up I lost them by pretending to be a servant girl but they should be returning to their posts soon" said Rahne as she glided down one of the halls as fast as her feet could carry her.

"We don't know where to go" said Alex "Did you get any scents?"

"Where's Scott going?" asked Rahne as she pointed down one of the corridors where Scott was walking rather quickly without even using his stick.

"Scott where are you going?" asked Alex as he hurried to catch up with his brother.

"This way" said Scott simply as he turned a sharp right and kept walking, he dodged a plinth with a vase on it and kept walking. "Alex I can see, I know this is the right way" said Scott with a great deal of conviction as he kept going.

"What do you mean you can see?" asked Rahne as she and Alex looked at one another with confused looks.

"Shhhh" said Scott "this is it", the three stood in front of two giant jewel encrusted doors with a giant mural of a glowing bird in the centre, Scott pushed gently on the door and it didn't budge, he pushed harder but it still wouldn't budge.

"We best find another way in" said Alex as he began to walk away followed by Rahne, the two stopped when they heard a loud explosion and turned to see Scott surrounded by dust as he pulled his wrapping back over his eyes and stood before a giant hole in the wall.

"Scott what are you doing!" yelled Alex as he grabbed his brother "The guards will be on us any second now".

"I'll explain later" said Scott as he darted into the room and looked down at a girl who he thought must have been a goddess incarnate, she was beautiful with long flowing hair the colour of fire, he scooped her up in his arms and looked at the room before looking straight back at her.

"Scott what's going on, lets go" yelled Alex as he and Rahne entered the room.

"Destroy this wall" ordered Scott, Alex stood looking at his brother "Do it now" ordered Scott with great anger in his voice. Alex blasted the wall with his powers creating a huge hole which led to the courtyard.

Scott charged out of the hole while Alex and Rahne screamed at him as they were several stories up. Scott stood in mid air and turned back simply with a smile "Come on…it's safe".

The three ran on air as they cleared the outer wall and dropped gently to the alleyways of Baville.

…

The three huddled in an alleyway holding the princess Jean, the partying continued and it seemed no one was actually looking for them.

"What in hades happened there?" asked Alex as he looked towards the end of the alley way.

"I don't know exactly but she did it, she called to me and then helped us walk on air" said Scott as he continued to stare at Jean and stroked her hair gently.

"Scott that's not all, you acted strange all day and then you just threw away your common sense that isn't like you" growled Alex as he took his brothers hand and began to lead him into the main street.

"Xavier gave me a dream…"

…

Scott stood in the main square of Baville during the festivities, everyone stared up at the main balcony of the palace as the current queen made her speech. "Changes are happening through out the land, the war rages on and we can no longer sit on the side lines, we must choose our side and sit in our rightful place. Today Princess Jean will make the ultimate sacrifice to guide us and enable us to win our battles and survive" she raised her arms above her head and placed them slowly on the temples of the red haired beauty who had appeared in front of her. The queen chanted and unknowingly the crowd as if in some sort of trance chanted along in time with her, the Phoenix was summoned as it flared magnificently behind the pair on the balcony, the blinding light and heat caused everyone to turn away but Scott, he stood staring at the scene in front of him, his eyes unaffected by the glare. Jean slowly began to fade away as she began to age before finally turning to dust. The Queen screamed as the power crackled around her and finally exploded.

…

"I thought it was just a dream until I saw the Phoenix emblazoned on the door" said Scott as he stroked the hair of Jean gently, Alex and Rahne looked at one another worried by what Scott was doing and saying.

"You're telling me you made us the most wanted criminals in the whole town if not Greece just for a dream?" asked Alex "and even if that dream is true, were now caryring the source of the legendary Phoenixes power which if ever released could destroy the whole world?"

"That's about it" said Scott as he looked down at Jean.

"Oh, okay then" laughed Alex as he stood up and cast an eye into the main street.

"I could live to a millennia of age and still I would not understand you two" said Rahne with a smile as she transformed into the wolf and sniffed the air before walking slowly into the crowd.

…

The patrols had been up and down the streets all days, yelling and swearing as they looked for the princess or her kidnappers, Alex, Scott and Rahne had hidden well and even managed to steal a large cloth to cover Jean with so she would not be instantly noticeable because of her fine clothes and brilliant red hair.

They walked quickly through the streets but never running, they could not afford to draw attention to themselves. Once they were outside the city walls it would be a quick hike through the woods on the hill to the secret stronghold of Xavier which Nightcrawler had informed them of.

"Get out of my way girl!" screamed the gigantically fat man as he slammed into Rahne by accident, Rahen stumbled out of his way and on instinct transformed into the wolf as she ran into Scott's legs. Scott tumbled over the wolf as Jean's body rolled out away from him as the cloth she was covered in unravelled.

"The princess!" yelled one soldier in amongst the screams of having witnessed a girl transform into an animal. Scott scooped Jean up into his arms and effortlessly jumped over the fallen body of the fat man who had stumbled over at the shock of Rahne's transformation, he didn't know why but he could still see and that helped him to no end as he sprinted through the streets followed by Alex and Rahne at astonishing pace.

Alex blasted a nearby stall of fruit which exploded on the guards causing a few to slip and fall and another couple to tumble over them. The trio turned the corner but the guards kept closing on them, Rahne stopped for a second and began to growl at the following guards, she was faster in her wolf form then they could hope to run so she would have no trouble to catch up and this would buy them a little time. The guards skidded to a halt in front of the wolf who looked more vicious then any creature they had ever seen, the guards backed off slightly and began to part. "This is working better then I thought" thought Rahne as she continued to snarl, some of the soldiers parted as a few others stepped forward with their bows drawn. Rahne turned on her heel and ran at full pelt through the crowd after her companions who had just destroyed a wall with Scott's optic blasts to get them into the woods, she felt the sting of something sinking into her leg and she tumbled through the hole into the bushes in the forest as everything went dark.

…

Rahne woke up in her human form lying on a cold hard stone table with a cloth lying across her body, Alex was stood nearby as he stared from the balcony of the room into the dark forest and at the lights of Baville in the distance.

"Alex?" said Rahne as she sat up slowly, a twinge of pain shot through her leg, she cast a glance at the bleeding bandaged leg.

"Rahne" said Alex as he rushed to her side and sat on the slab next to her, his arm touched hers causing the blood to pump through their veins and pulse in their ears. Alex opened his mouth to speak again but he was silenced by Rahne's hand, she leaned forward and kissed him gently but passionately on the lips. The two lost the use of words as they sat in each others arms, usually a girl who made the first move or was so forward would scare a man in Greece but Rahne was wild and had no time or care for social rules, she had never felt this way before and she wanted to make it last.

…

"There exists a mental link between you…you are aware of each others feelings and emotions…she lets you see" said Nightcrawler as he sat perched upon the back of his chair staring at Scott. Scott stared towards the giant circular slab of stone which blocked their vision of the large circular room in the temple.

"Cerebro boosts Xavier's power, the room shall let him help her" said Nightcrawler "she will be fine."

"I must thank you again for our rescue in the woods" said Scott as he still stared (psychically through Jean's powers) at the door.

"It is my duty to help you and also my pleasure" said Nightcrawler "I do all I can to help…I must ask you Scott do you think prayers can help?"

"They can't hurt, why do you ask?" asked Scott as he continued to stare at the door.

"I have been thinking that I may be more of a help on the quest you are on then praying for our victory here" said Kurt with downcast eyes, he had been taught prayer was good and he should not use violence but he recently began to thought no matter how much praying he had done had done their cause any help and now was the time to act.

"You are welcome to join us if you…" began Scott but his voice broke down into a gentle mumble as the giant slab rolled out of the way moved by the giant Juggernaut of a monk who worshipped in the temple of Xavier. Juggernaut smiled ad nodded politely as he stepped out of the way and allowed the red haired girl to walk into the chamber first, she smiled sweetly at Scott which set his heart racing.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you" she smiled as she kissed him gently on the cheek "I understand we have a lot of work to be getting along with."

…

The six mutants sat quietly in the room waiting the seventh to arrive, she was the oracle, she knew the future and she was due to arrive at any second. A single small figure appeared in the doorway and walked slowly but methodically towards the group, her eyes were white and you could tell she was blind but it didn't seem to let it effect her, she had no need for vision when she knew what was to come.

"Oracle…it is a pleasure to see you again" said Juggernaut as he bowed low to the woman and took her small hand in his own gigantic palm and kissed it gently.

"The pleasure is all mine" she smiled, she sat down and sat before suddenly her head snapped back and a deep gravely voice shot through her. "The war is coming…it is closer then you may think…your family shall be torn apart…blood set a sunder…" the voice stopped and she began to speak in her own normal voice "The possible future is cloudy but one thing is clear, your journey will not be easy and it shall test all of you to your limits, I wish you good luck but that is all I can give…the journey you are going on you shall definitely need it."

To Be Continued…

Bit of a quick cliffy ending sorry about that but I just wanted to weave Detiny into the story and give a little glimpse at the future. Review please it will make me update faster.

Next Time:- an interlude, as our adventurers continue on their quest another quest continues in another part of the land. The quest is one of destruction as an army marches across the land but who are their allegiances too, some familiar faces crop up who will play a larger role later in the series (I think (I'm still not sure how or when this is going to end lol)).