On Top Of Cloud Nine: Uh oh, I feel like different isn't good. Hope you still like it. I still like it.

AtsuibelulahIt has been awhile, but I decided I need to finish this, it's hard to drag it out, my mind takes the story different places, which explains why it's so much different from before. I mean, I thought it was going to be five chapters, I think we're looking at fifteen to twenty at this point! Ah! I very much like Lily too, I debated about putting her in, but I've decided she needs to be there. Thank you for sticking with me.

Rumor Goddess: Thankyou for pointing that out, but at this point it's far too late to change it. Thank you for your compliments also.

Magewhisperer: Wow, thank you so much!

HyperKathryne: Look more! After a day? How cool am I? Or how pathetic is my life? Lol!

Lutefa: I'm in love with Ukraine, which started out with a love for Russia.

Some Radom Reviewer: Thank you for your lovely compliments.

A/N: Quick note before we get started, I want to finish this before the first of September, so updates are going to happen fast. Please remember to review because your input really helps with the descriptiveness, well, it helps me to remember to explain things well. And thank you all for your reviews, Cookies for all of you!.

Unwanted Beauty: Chapter 11:

Smiles creep slowly across some people's faces. On others, they appear randomly. But it is the smiles that are slow in coming that are the most rewarding. Things people had told her in the past where now causing a smile to creep onto the face of a beauty. For her entire life she had believed that beauty was a curse, and for her entire life she had been told that it was a wondrous gift. But how could it be a gift when it caused people to think her ignorant? And therein lay the gift, she would always be underestimated. Therefore, she always had the element of surprise. I never wanted to be beautiful, but now I am glad that I am.

For days she had been given glares of suspicion from those in the Great Mother Goddess' compound. Women who obviously envied her, hated her for her behavior of late. They were just angry that they could not allow themselves to be true to themselves, the inner self that hates anything that bothers them. They were angry that they too could not refuse to wear the scratchy white robes, or the heavy metal armor that caused heat rash. Angry that they could not be beautiful, angry and aloof.

"Helene." An voice coated in age called to her, and the blonde turned to look at the old woman, a look of disgust distorting the beauty. "I believe it is time we talked. Your behavior of late is unacceptable." The elder said coldly. Helene's eyes flooded with tears and they cascaded down her face like tears. A reaction the elder was certainly not expecting, as was made blatantly obvious when her eyes widened considerably.

"I know Great Mother, and I am trying. But I've just been so sad and angry lately. I really do wish I could just be left alone, and when I finally find somewhere to be alone people show up. And it's so frustrating, and I lash out, and I know its wrong Mother. Please don't throw me out, I couldn't bear it." She said with a loud sob as she hid her face in her hands.

The elder sighed, of course that was why the girl was so rude lately; knowing that your husband was a powerful mage trying to find you would certainly be stressful. "Oh, of course dear. I'll leave you to your sorrows then." She said very quietly, exiting with the sound of a mouse. Helene looked up when the door clicked shut, and a smile slowly crept across her face.

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"I've never seen the city so subdued." Thom gasped after a moment. He, Neal, and Keladry where all atop the hill looking into the valley of the city. It was Market day, but looked as if it where Sunday. A few people moved here and there about the city, but for the most part no movement was seen. It was frightening; a city so large should not be so quiet at noon. A city this size should be bursting with life, creating noise that could be heard for miles around, a city this size should not be so sad.

As their gazes crept through the valley they were drawing ever-nearer to the unnatural storm that was fast approaching from the west. Technically it was a tunderhead, truthfully it was something closer to a nuclear bomb. It was a storm designed to rip buildings from the ground and toss them high into the air. It was a storm made to wash out entire city blocks. It was a storm to decimate and destroy. A storm created to kill.

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"The Jewel could possibly-" He began running his hands through ebony hair. The mage across from the table shook his head.

"It is very likely that the use of the jewel enabled this storm. We used it two years ago and didn't see very many draining effects; this storm may be the repayment for out last use of it. It will very likely make it worse Majesty." The taller man sighed. They had run into a wall, one that was as long as it was tall, as impassable as mountains in the dead of winter.

"Can you stop it?" Jonathan asked of his best mage. The taller darker man shrugged and looked defeated.

"I will certainly try. I am not sure however what effect it will have. That storm is a ball of rolling magic. It has to go downhill. This city is downhill. I…I will try, my liege." The older man said with a sad smile. He then got up and left. He knew he was battling with the elements. He knew he was once again battling death. The king knew that he had asked the impossible of Numair.

His young wife followed him after handing their baby to Alanna. "Numair." She breathed and he turned, sadness written on his face as blatantly as words on a page. "I love you." She said, wrapping her arms around him, holding him close for what could very well be the last time.

"I love you, forever and always." He said into her hair, smelling her, memorizing the way she felt to him, the way she made him feel.

"Into eternity and beyond." She swore to him, tears wetting his shirt. His tears fell into her hair. They stayed that way for several minutes, gaining strength from each other. And then he pulled away from her, and walked to the top of Balor's needle, wrapping his power along him as he went.

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Lily felt it when she was fifty miles from the city. Power, from the east, devouring everything in it's path. She began spouting all of the curses she could come up with, in all of the languages she could come up with. She had run from the compound, convinced she had learned everything she could from the library. Perhaps there were still things to learn from the Magus, but she could never listen to them talk. Their very existence made her want to kick them in the shins and run away giggling. As did the existence of this MageLord. How they were going to rid the world of him she had no idea. But he had to go. If he stayed, well, he'd take over the world and then the gods would have to get involved and basically destroy the world. Or so she thought.

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"We need to get down there." The lady Knight said, fear and pain alight in her usually stoic eyes. She guided her horse down the hill and into the city. The wind blew stronger, the horses began to indulge in their nerves. And a great beacon of light shined from Balor's Needle. It looked as though it was trying to burn the storm away. But how could you burn away a storm?

"Is he, absorbing it?" Neal asked, more to himself that his companions. If Numair was absorbing it…He'd be dead in a minute. "He can't be. That would be stupid." He murmured to himself. How much of the storm would dissipate is he absorbed it anyway? "Not much." Once again, he was talking to himself., as sure a sign of madness as anything.

A/N: There you have it. Remember, Reviewers go to heaven, those who don't go to hell. ;)