A/N: Sorry it took so long, guys! Got panicked with a paper that I discovered was due in like, 2 days, 5 pages. AHH!

Okay, so some of you might know that I'm actually writing an original series. My rhetoric teacher is trying to help me get connected with someone who has connections at publishing companies. How cool is that? I ended up sending him my entire first book, which I'm sure can be edited more, but I decided I was finished editing it. The rest is for a professional editor. I think he talked to her today, so we'll see if she's interested in helping me.

Cross your fingers for me!

Anyway...this chapter went kinda slowly, but I liked the way the daughters talked in this. I also liked the interaction between...oh, well you'll see. This isn't ending how I planned it, but hey. I kinda like that.

I hope you do too :)

-Cali :)

"The only good follower is a dead follower," Jimena sneered right back at him. "What did you do to her?" she asked Stanton when she saw Kieran's glowing eyes.

"I opened her eyes," he told her.

"Destroyed her is more like it," Vanessa said, glaring. "Couldn't you find someone else to bother?"

As Kieran watched, the girls linked arms, and Stanton pushed her behind him. What are you doing? she asked him. I want to watch!

You'll either stay behind me or fight with me, he told her, but you're not watching. You're not on their side anymore - they'll hurt you. As Stanton spoke, Kieran felt power building up inside him, and automatically backed up. "It's a shame things didn't work out, goddess," he said to Serena, and the girl flinched, looking away from him. "It would've been fun." He let his power fly and the goddesses blocked it, sparks flying when the powers met in midair.

Kieran breathed in the smell of ozone and soon found her own body tingling in anticipation. She wanted to fight. Would Stanton let her? Maybe if he saw she could, he would, she realized, and began to let her power build. Her pupils dilated as she held it in, and when the daughters let their power fly, she let hers go, pushing the girls' power back at them, creating more sparks.

Stanton raised an eyebrow and turned his head momentarily to Kieran, stunned. The girl learned fast, and he wasn't even teaching her yet.

"Hmm," Kieran mused aloud, and leaned back, closing her eyes. She concentrated on letting her body go and picturing the shadow she could become, and turned into the shadow she imagined. As soon as her body disappeared, she flew around Stanton to let him know she had shifted and was going to play with the girls.

At his slight nod, Kieran wove around the girls' ankles, sending chills up their spines. Hello girls, she whispered across all their minds, delighting in the horrified looks on their faces.

Stanton used their surprise to his advantage and blasted his power in their direction. Serena pushed forward with her power, aiming directly at Stanton.

Kieran frowned when she noticed none of the girls were trying to hurt her.

Don't do this, Serena called to Kieran. You don't have to be on their side - we can -

Save me? Do you really think I want to be saved? I can finally do something different! Kieran answered, grinning internally, and blasted the girls with her power. Quickly, though, she felt she was tiring.

Stay out of this, then, Stanton told her, and blocked another blast of power from the girls.

It's my fight, too! Kieran protested, and solidified next to him. Stanton reached out for her hand and began to meld her power with his, creating a stronger force. He let the power fly and all their moon amulets pulsed.

Stop, Kieran heard Serena plead, and grinned.

Ooh, but this is so much fun! the new immortal answered.

You leave us no choice, Serena told her, and conversed quickly with the other daughters. As one, they focused all their power on Kieran, and the girl felt something being ripped out of her, gasping.

Stanton frowned, turning to Kieran. She recognized the question on his face and tried to answer, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she felt the same ripping sensation. "Stop," she choked out, but the girls didn't.

Kieran knew somehow that they were trying to help her, but they were hurting her, too. Finding herself unable to speak, her body wracked with pain, she fell to her knees. As soon as she fell, trying to get back up, she felt a pair of thin arms lift her. Panicking, she tried to flail and cause whoever it was to drop her, but Cassandra held on.

"You're going back into the fire," she hissed.

"Drop her," Stanton barked, stepping forward.

The daughters, unsure of what to do, stood back and watched the bickering. "What's going on with this?" Tianna asked. "I thought that one was one of them," she said, pointing at Cassandra.

Serena nodded. "She is." With a smirk, she added, "She's never been able to cope with the fact that Stanton doesn't love her. She's trying to force him to by taking away everyone else."

"Well that's not going to work," Vanessa said, pointing out the obvious.

"Let's attack them now, while they're distracted," Tianna suggested, and focused her gaze. Jimema, however, caught her arm.

"We don't attack."

"Maybe you don't, but I do," Tianna growled, refocusing her eyes on Stanton, boring a hole into his back with her telekinesis.

"Not if you're one of us you don't," Serena said shaking her head. "Don't, Tianna. We can still save Kieran." She knew Tianna was angry, but that didn't mean Serena wouldn't stop her. Suddenly, she had an idea. It involved quite a bit of luck on her part, but she was going to try anyway. Cassandra, she called to her, and the girl whipped her head in the goddess's direction.

What?

Why don't you let Vanessa turn Kieran invisible and fly her up to the bluffs? It'd be easier for you and that way you can dump her back into the cold fire, she said, making perfect sense.

Cassandra appeared to consider this for awhile. If she agreed, it meant she was helping the goddesses. However, if she helped them, she could knock Kieran out of the picture a little more easily. Was it worth the stigma of having aided the goddesses just to get Kieran away from Stanton? Yes, she thought to herself, and called to Serena. Fine, she answered.

Serena quickly ran over her idea with the other daughters, and as soon as she finished and they all agreed while Stanton continued to bicker with Casandra, Vanessa nodded and let her molecules expand. Serena concentrated on keeping her mind blank as she watched Kieran's hair being whipped around. Vanessa swirled around her, trying to make her invisible, but one look at Kieran's face andSerena knew she was fighting it.

Don't, Kieran, Serena begged. We're trying to help you -

NO! Kieran screamed so loud Stanton heard the thought solely directed at Serena, immediately pulling Kieran into him and shifting into shadow with her, scattering Vanessa's molecules in the process.

Vanessa pulled her molecules together and reappeared standing with the others.

"Perfect," Serena and Cassandra said in unison, then stared at each other, horrified. It would have been funny if not for the situation. "He's taking her up to the bluffs," she told the girls. "Vanessa, can you make us all invisible and fly us up there?"

Vanessa shook out her hands, as if she were trying to maintain control over her power, and nodded. "Sure. Everyone grab onto my arms," she instructed, and they all did.

"What about me?" Cassandra asked sharply, and glared.

"Fine, fine," Vanessa said, rolling her baby blues, and let Cassandra grab onto her shoulder, her daggerlike nails digging into the girl's flesh. Vanessa closed her eyes in concentration and when her molecules expanded, she felt the other girls disintegrating with her. Once she felt all the weight lift, she directed herself to the bluffs, carrying the others with her. She floated aimlessly for awhile until she saw a moving shadow, a little blacker than the rest of them. There they are, she thought to herself, and followed the two for awhile until they stopped, feet away from the site of the cold fire.

Everyone make your mind blank, Serena thought to them, reminding them that both Stanton and Kieran could pick up thoughts if they wanted to.

"They won't think to look for us back here. I doubt they'd expect us to go back to the cold fire site," Stanton said to Kieran. "Are you all right?"

"Tired," she told him. "And my dress is ruined," she added with a sigh.

"With your new powers, you don't need that dress to get attention," he reminded her, and leaned in to kiss her.

Now, Vanessa, Serena thought to her friend, and Vanessa let go of the others, allowing them to turn visible in shadow behind the pair. Vanessa, however, let her body go one more time and followed Stanton's arms as he curled them around Kieran, concentrating on making Kieran invisible again. All she had to do was drop Kieran into the fire once Tianna got it going again. A glance over her invisible shoulder told Vanessa that Tianna was already concentrating on doing just that. Stanton deepened the kiss and Kieran forgot to be wary of her surroundings.

With excellent timing, Vanessa broke through the mental block Kieran had on herself and watched the girl's arms begin to disappear.

Kieran quickly realized something was wrong and jumped away from Stanton, trying to force her mental block back up. Unfortunately, the sight of her arms slowly becoming translucent broke her concentration and she continued to desintigrate. "Stanton, help!" yelled the frightened girl - immortal or not, she didn't know what was going on and it freaked her out. At her cry, Stanton shifted into shadow and wrapped himself around her, trying to sort of hold her together.

As he grasped for her, however, he felt her molecules slipping through his arms. No!

Kieran's scream faded into the wind as the rest of her body disappeared. As soon as Vanessa could, she lifted the girl as she fought. The cold fire wasablaze again, feet away from them when Vanessa flew the two of them over it. She shivered as she felt the cold and flew higher, though she dropped about a foot when Kieran's molecules kicked against Vanessa's.

Will you stop it? You're going to make us both fall! Vanessa thought, knowing Kieran could hear her. Unfortunately, Kieran was determined to ignore her. She didn't care if she fell, being an immortal. Intrinsically, she knew she would heal quickly if she was hurt.

Kieran was going toget out of Vanessa's grasp if it killed her. She didn't want to go back into the fire and be a mortal again! Kicking and screaming, she finally fell out of Vanessa's grip, turning visible as she fell the ten feet into the fire.

A/N: So yeah. That was an interesting chapter.I love the Serena/Cassandra speaking in unison moment. It made me laugh. I could just imagine the looks on their faces when they realized they'd had identical thought processes.

:Giggle:

So what do you think?

Lemme know!

-Cali :)