Chapter 39

"Is everyone ready?" Azriel asked. Nods went around the room and Dyson's hand went into Kenzi's. She lay back on the bed and took a deep breath. Azriel and Valac locked hands and moved to stand next to Kenzi. They let go of each other and then they each put a hand on Kenzi. Leila's remains had been laid out on a gurney and now they were lying next to Kenzi. Azriel and Valac reached out and put their other hands on Leila. Leila's remains were in relatively good condition considering the years and years of decay. The bones were not nasty or harmed at all. Azriel begin to speak in slow soft words.

"Speak with us Leila." Valac said before he started speaking the same words as Azriel. Dyson listened intently and he quickly realized that these words were incredibly similar to the ones the things in Aros' home were saying as they hovered over Kenzi. But something was different. The whole chant was the same except for one word. One word was all it took for the whole thing to change its meaning entirely. Aros had been trying to remove Leila and give her no place to go. He hadn't cared about Kenzi losing her life in the process, but one word changed all of them. Kenzi moved suddenly, pulling Dyson out of his thoughts. Her breathing was increasing. Valac and Azriel's chanting picked up in speed and Kenzi let out a soft moan, turning her head to the side and squeezing her eyes shut.

"What's happening?" Bo hissed.

"It's working, be quiet." Trick shushed her. Dyson watched intently, his eyes never leaving Kenzi. Her mouth parted and breaths were coming in short quick gasps, it reminded him so much of when this all started and the visions that allowed her to find their friends. Their chanting was so fast now that it was slurred and Dyson could barely understand what was being said. He knew they were speaking the same words, but knowing what they were saying and having the ability to understand what they were saying were two very different things. Kenzi arched off the bed and screamed, her eyes opened wide and they were white. Dyson held onto her hand, it was the only thing he could do. He couldn't interfere even though he desperately wanted to hold her and calm her down. He kept reminding himself that this was the only way, they had no other options. Kenzi's grip on Dyson's hand was bone crushing, her small fingers digging into his skin like she was trying to get to his muscle. Her scream stopped suddenly and she dropped back to the bed. Her eyes remained white and she started shaking her head back and forth. Tears sprang forward and rolled down her cheeks.

"I can't, I can't." the words spoken were not Kenzi's words, they were Leila's. The chanting continued, they ignored Leila. She cried out and her hand dug into Dyson's.

"Please! I can't get out, I just can't do it." she cried harder.

"You're strong, you can do this." Dyson said. Leila's head turned to his and she stopped sobbing.

"I don't want to hurt Kenzi, I didn't mean to do this. But I can't get out."

"Why did you choose Kenzi?" Dyson asked. Leila looked at him confused for a few moments, but then she swallowed hard and nodded.

"Because she's strong, she's so strong." Leila said softly.

"She's the strongest person I know. She can survive this and so can you. You've survived for a very long time, now is not the time to give up." he whispered into her ear. Leila nodded and screamed again as the chants increased in speed once again. Dyson watched as Kenzi's body arched up off the bed again and her screams stopped, her mouth was wide open but no screams came out. Dyson stared at her, Kenzi and Leila fighting inside, struggling. Leila fighting to get out, fighting to move into her old body and be whole once again. Kenzi fighting to keep her body and her life. The chanting came to an abrupt stop and Kenzi's body went limp. Kenzi let out a breath and with it came a white swirling puff of what appeared to be smoke, but Dyson knew it wasn't smoke. He reached forward and checked Kenzi's pulse, he felt nothing, was this supposed to happen? He waited and watched. The white cloud slowly moved across the room and hovered briefly over Leila's remains. Everyone in the room was silent, just watching. The white smoke dropped from its spot over Leila's face, falling onto her and dissolving. What happened next was the most amazing thing Dyson had ever seen. The bones that lay on the table began to move quickly, placing themselves in their proper positions. Porcelain colored skin began to appear, covering the bones. Valac moved quickly and covered up the portions of the body that were private. Delicate small hairs were next, the fine hair, peach fuzz appeared, followed by eyebrows and eyelashes. Then the white hair, that Dyson assumed all sphinxes carried, appeared, the long white strands sprang forth and splayed out across the bed and then hung off the sides. Dyson's eyes didn't leave Leila's body and he watched as her chest slowly moved up and then down once before her eyes sprang open and she sucked in air like she'd been without it for five minutes. Dyson noted that her eyes were the same cattish eyes Azriel and Valac carried. But no sooner than her eyes had opened and she'd taken a breath, her body fell backward against the sheets, limp again. Dyson looked down at Kenzi, he waited for what seemed like an hour until finally her chest rose again signaling she was breathing. Bo and the rest of their friends huddled around Kenzi. Dyson felt for a pulse and he found one. His heart leapt and his stomach flipped. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

"Her pulse is strong." Dyson said. Dyson looked to Valac, Azriel, and Leila, he knew Leila was breathing by the way that her chest rose and fell, but he didn't like the looks on the sibling's faces. Something was wrong.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" Dyson asked quickly. Azriel sighed and shook her head.

"This isn't supposed to happen. They're supposed to wake up."

"Then why aren't they?" Bo asked hurriedly.

"I don't know." Azriel said softly.

"What the hell do you mean you don't know?!" Dyson shouted.

"Whoa, everyone just relax, calm down." Trick said holding his hands up.

"How are we supposed to relax, this was supposed to work." Bo said, it was clear that she was getting upset, Dyson was close behind her. They were angry, and sad, and just all around exhausted.

"Ok, calm down, Leila is out of Kenzi and back in her own body. Kenzi is alive ok and if she's alive and Leila is out, then that means it worked. I think everyone needs to relax. Lauren can hook both women up and monitor them, she can run some test and we'll figure this out. But for now, we all need to take a break and relax. Everyone could use a good night's sleep." Trick said.

"We can't relax with her in this condition." Bo said.

"What condition Bo, she's alive, she's breathing, she's ok for now. Lauren's machines will keep monitors on both women, if anything changes, we will all know." Trick said. Dyson nodded his head just a bit, agreeing with Trick, he was worried about Kenzi, but right now she was ok. She was taking nice deep breaths, her pulse was steady, but most of all, Leila was out of her.

"Ok, you're right." Dyson nodded. Bo sighed, she was obviously frustrated, but she knew that Trick was right, they couldn't do anything until they knew more. They could stand over her and stare at her and shake her, but that would yield no results. So the only option they had was to stand by and wait.

A/N: We are coming to an end guys. Next chapter will be our last one. I have enjoyed writing this story and it was so much fun to develop it. I'm not sure if I told you guys or not, but this was originally supposed to be a one-shot. Just one or two chapters, but it turned into 40. WOW! All thanks to you guys though. Thank you for being faithful readers and thank you for the reviews and favorites and follows, you all are SO SO SO SO very special to me. I love you all!