When he had finished telling his story Jasper's mother's arms were wrapped around him with her forehead resting against the side of his neck suppressing her quiet sobbing. His father had one large hand on his shoulder and tears rolling unashamedly down his cheeks. The professor's hands had crept further and further up his face during the recount until he was covering his eyes completely and resting his arms on his desk.
Silence prevailed in the professor's office until Jasper looked at his father and asked, "Do you remember any of it now?"
"None of the facts, but zee emotions… I can still feel them, Ven you were little…" His face fell into his free hand as he struggled with his turbulent emotions.
Jasper reached up and put his hand on his father's shoulder and pulled his head down so that their foreheads were touching. He whispered Relax papa… in his father's mind and flowed deeper through Nightcrawler's mind searching for Cassandra Nova's impacts.
When he had overcome Cassandra Nova, he had raided her mind, much as she had done to his before, for all the information she possessed about his parents and what had been done to them. All he had to do was locate where she had severed the memories from his father's mind. It was quite simple to find the gap left by the missing memories because it was all that Nightcrawler was focussing on at that moment and because he trusted his son implicitly to do him no harm.
As soon as the gap was identified, as if he was flicking a light switch he reconnected the damaged sections and drew back into his own mind in time to see the look of wonder wash over his father's face.
More confident in his ability now Jasper turned in his seat and looked into his mother's eyes and repeated the process in half the time and as the realisation of what had happened dawned on Jean she was forcibly drawn into an embrace by her son.
"What just happened?" asked Professor Xavier, startling everyone else in the room, all of whom had been too engrossed in their new memories to remember his presence.
"I remember everyzing." Kurt said to the Professor, "Silver gave back our memories. Eden and Bethany… I remember teaching you all. And Bethany's vings!" he sighed in awe.
"We aged, but we are not old now. How is that possible?" Jean turned to the professor, "We aged with the children, I remember that I grew some grey hairs, but now I don't have any. Is that possible?"
"Yes." Silver answered before the professor could formulate a theory. "Cassandra Nova had another mutant under her control, this mutant was put into a coma. She kept her this way in order to control her powers to create an alternate dimension. This reality used information that she pilfered from your minds, information about the mansion and the things that you would need to raise a family.
"The dimension was created in such a way that anyone entering it through the portal would age normally while remaining there but when they left through the portal it would be as if no time had passed for them. So in reality you would have been gone no more than a second. But because she was able to teleport the three of us out by using my powers we stayed as we were inside."
"So you now possess all of her amassed knowledge?" asked the Professor.
"Most of it, yes." answered Silver quickly. He was restless and recovering his energy. He climbed up to balance in a squatting position on the back of the couch, unable to hide his pride that he could achieve something like this against so formidable a mind as Cassandra Nova. "It comes to me. It is separate from my experiences and even different to that of the hive mind. It is hard to explain…"
"Could you share it with me? Cassandra Nova's knowledge that is?"
"I could try, I'm feeling much spritelier now." As soon as he had said this he tumbled off the couch and jumped to land cross-legged on professor Xavier's desk reaching for his hand that lay on the desk between them. But the professor quickly pulled his hand away before Silver could grasp it.
"I will need to prepare myself Jasper, as you must know I have history with Cassandra Nova, and none of it is pleasant. I anticipate that, as beneficial to our situation as this knowledge may be, it will be a shock to my psyche. I will need to take some time to prepare. In the meantime, we shall see to Eden and Bethany. Please, follow me."
The professor reversed away from his desk then rotated towards the door of his office. Jean and Kurt fell in behind him and Jasper followed them as they left and they all made their way down the hallway to the elevators.
As the doors opened they were greeted by a surprised, white haired woman.
"Ah! The new recruit! Up and about I see. It is good to finally meet you, my name is Ororo Monroe, or Storm if you prefer." She said before anyone said anything get a word in, extending her hand to shake Jasper's, "I was just going to check on the others in the infirmary, care to join me?" She continued cheerfully, motioning for them to join her in the elevator.
"With pleasure, Storm, we were just going to see if young Jasper here could do anything for them. Your help would be much appreciated." Professor Xavier answered as he rolled into the elevator and pressed the appropriate button.
The doors closed and the elevator started moving downwards. Storm turned to Silver and asked cheerfully "So, Jasper, what are your powers? You look a lot like your father, so can you teleport?"
"Among other things." he answered hesitantly, with a cryptic smile. He was a bit taken aback by this new person's familiarity and not knowing how to respond he continued, "It is a long story, but let's just say that I have the best parts of both my parents."
The elevator doors opened as Ororo shot questioning glances at both Jean and Kurt who just smiled at her. "We'll explain later, Storm. Don't worry; we just need to see Eden and Bethany. Those are the names of the other two children; Eden and Bethany. They are our children as well." Jean spoke excitedly to her old friend.
"Um… Alright then." stated a confused, and strangely jealous Storm as she opened the doors to the infirmary for the rest of the group to pass through.
Silver gasped at the sight that greeted them and immediately felt his parents' hands on his shoulders, both reassuring him that all was well and restraining him from running to the two prone bodies on the beds.
Eden lay on his back on the bed closest to the door. The scratches on his face were healing well, but he was very pale. Bethany was on the bed behind Eden's. She lay on her stomach, with her wings falling lax to the floor beside her. Her wounds, like Eden's were almost healed, but she too was very pale.
Jasper walked slowly toward the beds where his brother and sister lay. He reached out to touch Eden's arm but hesitated before he made contact and drew back his hand.
He could not sense them in any way. When he searched for them telepathically he could only sense empty space, not even the usual synaptic firings of a normal living person.
"I don't know what is wrong with them; I can't remember anything that happened after I tried to teleport. I don't know if I can help them at all, but if anything goes wrong, just… well I don't know what you should do."
"Don't worry Jasper, we will do all in our power to help your siblings. Anything that you can tell us about their condition will be more than we already know." the Professor reassured him.
"Perhaps we should wait another day, so that you can rest some more?" Jean put forward, worried for her son.
"No, I should do this now, in case whatever is wrong with them can get any worse." Silver told his mother.
"Can we help you in any way?" Storm asked, confused at the sudden serious tone of the situation but not questioning it.
Jasper paused to consider the situation, "We should move their beds closer together so I can be in contact with both of them at the same time. From there I guess I will just have to wing it." He smiled nervously, "I may not even be able to do anything."
Kurt moved around to the far side of Bethany's bed and, carefully avoiding her feathers, pushed her bed on its wheels towards Eden's until the two were almost touching. He had to pull one wing up off the floor and place it over Eden so that the feathers were not crushed by the bed.
Jasper moved to stand at the head of the two beds and as he did Kurt put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Good luck, liebchen." he whispered and moved to stand with Jean and the others beside Eden's bed.
"What is he going to do?" Storm asked Jean in a whisper as Silver put one blue, four-fingered hand on each of his siblings' heads, closed his eyes and tried to enter the hive mind.
He didn't know what to expect, but he fell into the hive connection as easily as ever, and both Eden and Bethany were there within his reach. They drew him to themselves and said, Open your eyes. So he did.
Eden sat on his knees to Jasper's right and Bethany, completing the circle, sat cross legged with her wings folded tightly behind her to his left. They were surrounded by darkness. Above below and all around there was nothing at all to be seen.
You're here! Where have you been? Eden asked.
Silver, do you know where we are? Bethany added excitedly as she watched him take in the eerie surrounds.
We can't go anywhere here. We walk, but there is no way to see if we move. It is all just nothingness. Is it another dimension like the place with the silver mist? Eden asked.
Jasper turned to study him and Bethany seated side by side in front of him. Neither of them were wearing any clothing, nor had any of the wounds their bodies had displayed in the infirmary.
As soon as he noticed their nakedness they became clothed in garments familiar from the time with their parents before Cassandra Nova. They looked down at themselves in surprise and asked in unison; How did that happen?
I think that I did it. Jasper answered then continued, Eden, the pain, your powers? What has happened to them?
I don't know. There is no pain here. But also, I cannot sense anything but we three.
You cannot sense anything else? Jasper was confused. You should know that I have found mother and father. They are back in Professor Xavier's mansion, where we are, or our bodies are at least. They didn't remember anything, as Cassandra said would be the case, but I restored their memories and now they can remember everything.
Where are they? How do we get to them? Bethany asked excitedly.
Well, they are in the room with us right now. We are all in the real mansion. The both of you have been asleep for five days, as have I, ever since I teleported us back down to earth and… Silver trailed off as his guilt overrode him. He bowed his head ashamedly and continued, They say you were in a coma, and even I couldn't reach you telepathically until I touched you. I fear that I have made a mistake and caused both of you irreparable damage.
No! Don't say that Jasper! Bethany scolded. If it weren't for your actions we wouldn't even be alive! Either that or we would be killing other people. We would still be enslaved by that witch. Her mouth twisting venomously on the last word.
This is infinitely better than living under her power, brother. You should know that. Whatever you did to free us, we could never be anything but grateful for. Eden said earnestly, We have missed you here. We don't know how much time has passed, we don't seem to need to sleep… But now that you are with us, we will find a way to escape. He stated confidently.
But that is what I mean, I don't know if you can escape from this place. Right now I am standing over your bodies, which remain unconscious in the X-men's infirmary.
So where are we now? Eden asked.
Jasper reached out and ran the fabric of Eden's shirt through his fingers considering his brothers question, and looked down to notice that he was still clad in what his parents had picked out for him that morning.
If was to hazard a guess, we are in the sum of our three minds, in the space where we are always connected. The space that was previously occupied by Cassandra Nova. That is why you have no pain here Eden, because this place exists entirely within our own heads. And if this is true then I guess… he let go of Eden's shirt and held his hands together out in front of him, palms up, and three miniature figures of light appeared, dancing in a circle, one with luminous wings, and another with a tail, we can make or do anything as if it is real. Like in a dream, anything is possible.
Bethany held a hand in front of her and the winged figure left the circle and glided over to dance above her outstretched hand. Silver looked at Eden who smiled and held his hand out, summoning one tiny sprite to his palm.
So papa and mother… They remember us? Bethany asked absent-mindedly spinning her figure over her hand and looking to Jasper.
They do now. And they are young again. When they were taken out of the dimension that we grew up in they went back to how they were, before us. Mother looks especially young. He answered as he held his arms out straight from his sides to allow his figure to do a tumble across his shoulders to jump to and bow on his opposite hand; She was amazed when she remembered that she had had grey hair. He added with a smile.
At least she will admit she had some! Bethany exclaimed, Remember when we found father plucking his grey hairs out? He has probably blocked the memory out because he thought it was so traumatic! They all started laughing at the memory of their vain father.
I guess we can look forward to all that fuss with father again. Jasper went on; they are only in their 20's now, only ten years older than us. They are back living in the mansion with the professor and the other X men.
Did you meet Professor Xavier? Eden asked.
Yes. He is taller than I expected. Jasper answered with a grin and looked up to find an answering expression on his brother's face.
Eden looked down to contemplate the sprite in his lap. So, we can do anything here? he asked.
I guess so. Why? Jasper answered.
Eden suddenly jumped to his feet as his figure of light, disappeared in a brilliant flicker, What about this? He said as he spread his arms wide.
With a flurry behind his outstretched arms spread a pair of white, feathered wings similar to his sisters.
Wow! he exclaimed, surprised with the effects of his actions, then looking at Bethany, said with a smile and a shrug; I have always wondered what it would be like to fly and without further ado leaped into the air, spiralling over their heads. He was not really using his newly grown wings to fly but seeming to enjoy the experience regardless. He hovered in the air above them looking down.
What are you waiting for? he teased them.
Jasper startled as his sister instantly sprang to her feet and leapt after their brother.
This was the first time he had ever seen her fly and she was grace personified, obviously using her own skills to take flight. She spread her wings wide and pushed down, smoothly rising higher with each beat. No doubt she had been trained to fly in this manner by Cassandra Nova. Silver cringed at the unwelcome thought and its intrusion on this happy reunion. He pushed it out of his mind and looked up to see his siblings chasing each other through the black nothingness.
He considered calling them back down to try to solve the problem of getting them back into the real world but decided not to, and let them fly further away. He concentrated for a split second, and he was suddenly sitting on a grassy hillside instead of black nothingness, and watching them twirl around each other, climbing higher up through a cloud-strewn, sapphire sky.
Laying back on the soft grass he sighed out, relaxing into the cheerful situation, forgetting about the worries of bringing his brother and sister back and trying to just enjoy the idyllic scene around him.
From the green grass underneath him, to the clouds slowly rolling overhead and the cool breeze pushing them, he wanted to remember it all. But most of all he wanted to remember the sound of his brother and sister laughing with each other in sheer joy of the moment, denying that any problems existed for them. He wanted to keep it all.
The two would-be angels, previously circling each other in the air, suddenly made a dramatic synchronised swoop down upon him. As they each grabbed one of his arms, they soared straight back up into the sky dragging him along, with one sibling laughing madly on each side of him.
With a devious smile Jasper somersaulted out of their grasp and started to fall, with dangerous speed, towards the ground.
NO! they cried in a panic and immediately swooped, turning to dive after him, only to have him shoot up between them in a blue blur laughing at them just as madly as they had been laughing at him but moments before.
You don't need wings to fly here! Catch me if you can! Jasper hollered back the challenge to them as he sped away towards the horizon.
It didn't take them long to catch on and soon all three of them were racing though the air playing a death-defying game of aerial tag. Speeding through the air they saw nothing but each other as the blurred landscape passed underneath them. They were back in the mansion, playing a game of tag in one of the rooms and giving absolutely no regard to the furniture or any parents occupying it. It was old times again, laughing and playing.
Eventually they set down on another grass covered hillside and collapsed together in a heap of giggling bodies. Suddenly Eden's wings disappeared in a popping bubble of feathers, setting them off in another fit of hilarity as soft white feathers covered them.
They lay back on the grass as their giggling receded and hugged together, Jasper in between his siblings, relaxing on the hillside. They had recovered something during their crazy flying game. They all felt it. It did not need to be said.
Jasper had been worried that the forced servitude and isolation under Cassandra Nova's thumb might have damaged or changed his brother and sister for the worse. And while they were undoubtedly changed, when they were together like this he knew that they would always be their own, and that that would always be enough. On that reassuring thought he drew Eden and Bethany closer to his body and just like old times they wrapped around each other and drifted into sleep bathed in warm sunshine.
Silver woke suddenly, held in the grip of an inexplicable anger and unaware of how much time they had passed in slumber. His mind was filled with negative and heated thoughts. Unwittingly, he was drawn to re-examining the memories of the atrocities committed by Cassandra Nova. He did not know exactly what Eden and Bethany had been subjected to, though also he was sure that he didn't want to know.
When he had been inside her head that was one of the only of her memories that he had rejected entirely. He had felt the sadistic pleasure she took from her absolute control of people, and thinking about her actions now filled him with a righteous rage at the treatment of his family. If he could get his hands on her again he didn't think he would be as merciful, he would truly make her pay in full for her actions.
How did you defeat her? Eden asked curiously. He had been disturbed at having felt the anger rising in his brother and was trying to distract him from it.
Silver was at a loss for a moment. His mounting fury suddenly subsided and he was left considering his hateful thoughts of a moment before. They did not seem like his thoughts.
He had become accustomed to having his thoughts to himself while in hiding from Cassandra Nova during his servitude and had forgotten how in tune with his mind Eden and Bethany were, aware of even the thoughts he didn't frame for them.
Curious now, he explored his mind trying to find the space in which he had hidden from Cassandra Nova but was unable to find it. He did not have anything to hide from his siblings, but it was curious that it was there no longer. And without that indicator how could he find the hidden space within it that had puzzled him so much?
Jasper? Bethany, laying with one arm across his chest, shook him a little to get his attention.
I'm not really sure; he answered in a rush, quickly picking up the string of the conversation he had been distracted from.
I drew on powers I didn't know I possessed…he paused for a moment then continued; I was invincible. You must have felt it, felt the power in me. Cassandra Nova Xavier was powerless against my might! I was glorious!
Eden and Bethany pulled away from their resting places against their brother and looked at him, querying this uncharacteristic behaviour. Jasper looked up at them, as confused as they were at his boastful words. But as the silence drew out Silver's gaze was drawn away from his sibling's faces to the sky that was slowly darkening behind their backs.
The sky turned black and stars appeared that shone abnormally bright behind the pitch-black of clouds that were moving across the sky, converging together. His brother and sister followed his gaze and turned to watch the changing sky above them.
Are you doing that? Bethany asked.
It wasn't clear who she was talking to and both her brothers answered; Not me.
Never taking their eyes off the now sinister cloud formation, they stood up. Then clouds overhead were becoming more solid, becoming a colour darker than the nightscape behind. The clouds were condensing and taking a human shape, and more alarmingly were descending down upon them.
The three siblings drew closer together, not knowing what to make of this threatening occurrence in what they had assumed was their own minds. Growing closer and closer the cloud figure began to glow a dull grey, which then turned into a brighter shine and finally into a brilliant light, hurting their eyes when they tried to look directly at it.
The form set down a few paces away from them down the hillside and approached them with confident strides a tail trailing along behind it.
It's you! Bethany cried and grabbed onto Jasper's shoulder.
The form of light suddenly flickered out leaving a white doppelganger before them. Pointed ears, fangs, large three-fingered hands and tail, it was a mirror image of Silver though seemed to actually be made of silver and burned with white fire the same white flames Jasper displayed during the confrontation with Cassandra Nova.
Who… who are you? Jasper managed to ask in a stammer.
Sister is correct. I am One, one who is You. You are another. And together we are both You.
One is Power. One is Glory. One is Brilliance. One is Phoenix!
The declaration shocked and confused them. The being of light in front of them radiated an enormous sense of power. Even though it stood down the hill from them they felt as if they were looking up at a giant.
None of them spoke. All trying to make sense of what this brilliant image of power had revealed to them. Eden and Bethany were not sure if to be awed, angry or afraid.
It extended both hands in a gesture of appeal, Brother. Sister. Do not fear Me. One would never allow harm to come to you. I have only a need of communication with Jasper.
Speak then. said Jasper flatly, he feared that he was understanding far too much of this entity's meaning for him to remain comfortable.
One must find an accord with One's Other. You. My release has ended our peaceful co-existence. One's refuge is gone, and your full potential granted, thus our time separate is inevitably to end. Conflict between us is unacceptable, joined, as One is, to One's family.
One appears now to offer for peace. One has grown in nesting within Jasper for One's span and wishes no harm. Does Jasper understand?
You! You are the impenetrable box within my refuge. You gave me the power to defeat Cassandra Nova. You saved us from her.
Have you been in my mind all of my life?
One has been part of you since birth, yes. A gift of One's Mother heritage. The Phoenix is Jasper and Jasper is Phoenix. One is the other. One did not give Jasper power, One, when free allowed Jasper his power. Together We defeated Cassandra Nova Xavier, if Jasper had not restrained One, truly would have Cassandra Nova Xavier been destroyed.
One is bound to Jasper and Jasper is bound to Brother and Sister and thus any conflict would affect all, an unacceptable outcome.
So what are we to do? When we cannot co-exist and cannot fight one another? What peace is there to be between us?
One's only acceptable option is to unite with Jasper to be whole. One would relinquish action, thought, emotion to Jasper. One would be only an observant facet of One Whole.
The emotion that devotes One to Sister and Brother allows for no other action.
There was a pregnant pause before Jasper responded What would become of me? What must I lose to keep them from harm?
It was as these words fell from Jasper's mouth that he saw the truth of the dangers faced here dawn upon Bethany and Eden. Sister meant Bethany and Brother meant Eden. And something else was going to force their brother to sacrifice himself in exchange for their safety.
As one, they moved in front of Jasper, imposing their bodies between him and the shining interloper. Eden was scowling and Bethany had her wings raised and spread, instinctively trying to intimidate the Phoenix.
A small smile crept onto the Phoenix's face as he watched the siblings stand to oppose it. Phoenix again held out both hands in appeal.
Brother, Sister. Opposing me is to oppose your brother. Phoenix is but Jasper as he could be. What One does, the Other will do, for you.
Bethany and Eden seemed to lose confidence when they heard this remark and faltered for a moment.
I'm sorry… Jasper whispered as he spread his arms wide. As he did this Eden glided across the ground to his right and Bethany his left leaving open space between Jasper and his double.
They struggled to get back to their brother, to protect him from making this sacrifice, but neither could move. From their immobile positions they watched as the moon-lit hills and star-strewn sky faded around them.
Everything was empty and black again. All there was to see was the four figures, forming a square in the centre of infinite darkness.
Jasper's head was hung, his silver locks obscuring his face from the view of his siblings and his Other.
The glowing Phoenix broke the silence after what had seemed and eternity; One knows One's intentions. However One cannot predict the ultimate consequences. One has no wish to obscure Jasper.
But that may happen, might it not? I will be forced under your influence, be changed by you, to you. And what will be the results then? He let this question hang in the air between them before he continued But tell me, if I refuse, and we remain separate could we not stay as we are now, with no conflict between us? Jasper all but pleaded, never lifting his head.
One does try, but increasingly unsuccessfully to remain in control of One's impulse to hurl power towards you. To force you to wield your might. My might! To rise up and destroy those that would defy One! The Phoenix paused and settled one hand over its chest before continuing. One can harm you if necessary. And will if left unchecked. This outcome is unacceptable. Yet inevitable in this current state. To unite will gift You with power, Jasper's power. One entity, We, will be, One will try to submit under Jasper's control. This outcome is uncertain.
And uncertain is better than unacceptable. Jasper stated as fact. What must I do? Jasper asked, finally looking up to meet the gaze of Phoenix, tracks left by shed tears marking his cheeks.
Reach out. Touch my hand.
Jasper and the Phoenix each took one step forward, their right hands extended as if to shake in greeting. As their hands clasped one another the white fire spread from the Phoenix to flow over Jasper, engulfing his entire body.
As the fire spread his control was drawn away from holding his siblings in place, and as soon as they were released from his hold, they rushed towards the two flaming bodies only to stop short of touching the burning pair unsure of how to proceed.
They felt the conflict begin, the two opponents sizing each other up before they came together in battle, releasing an explosion of force and flame that flung Eden and Bethany away with its power. However they were unhurt and they regained their feet as fast as possible and looked back to see their brother transform into a being of light and fire like the Phoenix.
Each of the glowing bodies pulled at the other and merged together. At first their combined mass was nothing but a formless light levitating above the ground but it slowly transformed and took the form of a great fiery bird towering above their heads and rising higher away above them.
An internal clash of wills was taking place, both Bethany and Eden could feel the struggle clearly yet were unable to determine which of the entities was Jasper. When they tried to penetrate the mental barriers surrounding their brother's battle they were firmly excluded.
The bird of fire started to screech as if in pain, and dove towards the ground where Bethany and Eden stood in awe. It levelled out above their heads and took off behind them to climb and dive again. Over and over this went on in a seemingly erratic pattern, as within the two wills fought each other for dominance. Up, down and up again, the screech never ending.
The bird was working its way further away from where the two were standing and as the bird took another dive away from them they started to run across the black nothingness after it, afraid it would get too far away. As they gained on the burning apparition they saw it pause unnaturally mid-dive and felt one of the two clashing wills give way to the other.
NO! Bethany cried fearing that Jasper was the one failing, and with one swift movement wrapped an arm around Eden's waist, spread her massive wings wide and jumped into the air. She beat her wings rapidly to gain altitude and speed moving always towards the now stationary bird.
The faltering combatant became smaller and smaller as its opponent dominated it. It was desperately struggling to assert itself when Eden and Bethany barrelled full-speed into the flaming bird.
Eden and Bethany became a mess of arms, legs and wings as they fought to hold onto the hovering bird of fire. Help… whispered across their minds faintly, a message from Jasper confirming their fears.
They both felt as he failed to hold back the mental onslaught from the Phoenix.
NO! Jasper! Stay! Eden cried desperately and felt the struggle still.
All was silent as the two wills merged effortlessly into one and the bird transformed back into the tailed figure they loved so well.
Still hovering above the ground, aflame with white fire, with his brother and sister hanging off him, Silver looked at each of them in turn and said Home?
And all went black.
He opened his eyes to meet the astonished gaze of Professor Xavier. Before he could reassure him with a smile he was distracted by Bethany rolling off the bed in front of him and Eden reaching his hands up to press his brother's hand tighter against his fore head, not affected the white flames burning against his face.
"Is it you?" He asked, not even opening his eyes.
Silver bent over Eden's head and whispered "Of course! You saved me, brother." Clasping Eden's hands in his own he kissed his forehead in thanks.
There was a commotion in the lab and a waft of sulphur drifted over them as Nightcrawler teleported onto the bed behind Bethany and pulled her into a bear hug. Jean ran across the lab to throw herself across Eden who groaned in discomfort but smiled anyway.
"Well done young Jasper!" exclaimed the Professor, smiling widely at the comic antics of his brave X-Men.
Ororo, standing beside him, was similarly amused, "Do you know you are on fire?" she posed to Jasper with a raised eywbrow.
"Sorry!" he smiled back at her, too caught up in his family's emotions to say any more as the flames crawling over his body subsided.
Both Bethany and Eden were on their feet stretching their unused muscles. Mother and father hovering closely by just as they had done to him this morning. This morning? It seemed so much longer.
"How long was I with them?" he asked turning to the Professor.
"But a few minutes, perhaps 6 or 7." He answered
"It seemed longer, we slept and…"
He was cut off by a guttural moan from Eden. "Don't touch me!" he cried as he fell to his knees and clutched his head. Jasper watched this take place and the wave of pain washed over him before he could react. The pain pushed Bethany to her knees beside Eden and Jean visibly wavered and fell against the bed.
Jasper resolutely ignored the pain that had once been so crippling and jumped through the air, over one of the beds to land in front of his brother and placed both hands on his shoulders. White flames reappearing over his body.
"Fight it! Control it! I know that you can!" Jasper declared to his brother.
"There is too much! I feel too much! Too many people! I can't control it!"
Everyone in the room was starting to feel the mounting pain that Eden was unwittingly projecting. The only one unaffected was Ororo who was trying to help Professor Xavier.
Bethany crawled over to help Jasper hold Eden from falling face down on the floor.
Silver take him to the woods! The proximity of our minds is hurting him. There are only trees out there! This came from the Professor, along with the approximate distance and direction.
Go Jasper! Help him! Jean added her encouragement to the Professor's suggestion.
Bethany grabbed onto Jasper's arm and without words pushed him to teleport the three of them away as they disappeared in a puff of swirling silver smoke.
They appeared near to a small lake, in a deserted clearing overlooking a steep hill descending down to the water's edge. They were surrounded newly planted trees in what seemed like a picnic area.
As soon as they were out of the mansion Eden's mind became more peaceful, but only marginally so. It seemed that the tranquil nature of the outdoors affected his powers less than a man made environment. Bethany drew Silver's mind to regard the frantic efforts of Eden's mind to record every single atom in their proximity, pushing itself further and further, the pain mounting as it did so.
Despite the pain mounting in their minds Jasper did not force his brother's mind to withdraw instead he formed a plan that would allow Eden to harness his minds capacity by himself. If he cannot focus on the problem to stop it, they should try to distract him from it, persuade him to send his powers in a positive direction.
Jasper teleported a short distance so that they were surrounding one of the young saplings and he mentally nudged Bethany to put her hands on the bendy trunk as he placed Eden's above hers then grasped it himself.
He entered deeply into the hive mind and withstood the expected wave of pain as he sheltered Bethany from it. It was important they bear up under this pain to give Eden the confidence that he too could bear it. Together he and Bethany focussed on the tree and drew Eden's attention away from the pain and towards the functions of the tree.
He knew what they wanted from him and they felt him struggle against his instinct to try and escape the pain and try to turn the pain to his advantage.
He vented the pain he felt all over his body into the tree's structure, where it dissipated. With Jasper and Bethany beside him he grew to know the tree.
The bark underneath his hands, the roots in the ground feeding the branches in the air, the branches sprouting new leaves, the leaves absorbing sunlight to make the roots grow deeper and hold the tree closer to the earth which fed it. One action led to another and then another, on and on until it came back to the first. The tree drew the trinity in and held effortlessly their combined consciousness. The pain he had felt throughout his body faded as it became inconsequential in comparison to the majesty of Tree.
The Trinity sat on the grass around the sapling tree with one hand in each sibling's grasp. Between them the tree solidified, sprouted, strengthened and lived to tower above the trio, who sat in reverence of its peace.