Suddenly a voice reverberated around them, shocking in time, shocking in its power. +You who are my container, my human half, you have come at last. You have come, accompanied be a he who also carries my power+.
Harry and Jean watched in awe as a shape emerged from the flames in front of them. the shape was first an amorphous blob of fire but soon seemed to settle on two shapes, changing back and forth between them constantly. One was that of a woman, her body a replica of Jean's except made of fire, and the other was that of a majestic bird.
"A phoenix," Harry breathed in surprise. "What in the world is a phoenix doing inside someone's mind?" More, this phoenix was giving him an impression of such power he felt dwarfed by it, not overwhelmed, just as if they inhabited two different planes of existence. Harry had never gotten a feeling like that with Fawkes, power yes, and the sense of a powerful immortal mind in those eyes, but not this powerful, this ancient and all-knowing. He groaned a little as he remembered what he said to that guy in the death's mask and conjured a wall momentarily to slam his head against it a few times.
"I, I have no idea. What did it mean when it said you carry also carry its power?" Jean asked, looking a little wild-eyed at the entity and then to Harry and back, not really wanting to know why he was hitting his head against a wall that hadn't been there a moment ago.
Harry stopped what he was doing and closed his eyes concentrating, and his wand, which Death had infused into his very being, appeared in his hand. The piece of Yggdrasil surrounded and encased what Death had called a shard of the M'kraan crystal, and inside that was a piece of flame, an eternal fire that burned without any fuel, forever and eternal. "This is what she meant I think, but what she really is I have no idea. Nor why she is in your mind, care to enlighten us on those points milady?" Harry refused to be awed, it wasn't the first time he had faced something that could crush him like an ant, and he'd be damned if he backed down.
+A Defender should have the tools to do so+, the being stated, in the shape of a bird at the moment, its voice strangely amused. +Though you can only wield it because you met an avatar of my power in your home dimension. And I am here because I found one who was willing to give her all to defend life, that which I serve and create, one who had tried to give her all to bring back a friend from the endless+.
Harry shrugged off the part about tools, he knew what he was after all. The second part though, that interested him quite a lot. "Of course, fire, the power of rebirth and renewal, life and destruction in one."
Jean nodded, understanding suddenly dawning and she stepped forward, moving closer to the being until they stood a bare arms length from one another. "Those dreams I had the week after Annie died, the ones before Charles showed up, they weren't really dreams were they?"
The phoenix nodded, now in the shape of its fire based clone of Jean. +You had telepathically linked your mind to the mind of your friend in an attempt to keep her soul from moving to the afterlife. In doing so, your mind was being dragged to Death's realm, something I could not allow after seeing how hard you fought to sustain the life of your friend. I joined my power to your mind and broke that connection, yet in so doing I forged a connection with you. The meddling of the bald fool occurred before I could remove that connection, and his blocks cut off this portion of my power from the whole+.
"So the you in front of us, it's only a part of the whole?" Harry asked, a little freaked by that idea. The being in front of him was powerful as all hell, but he felt he could still fight it if he had to. Probably wouldn't win, but he could fight it. If it was part of another even vaster entity though, that was terrifying.
+Is the flame in your soul-wand different in appearance than the flames around us? I am phoenix, I am immutable, all parts connected and representative of the whole+, the being said haughtily, not breaking eye contact with Jean. +I was old when this dimension was created, I will be here when it returns to the flame. That is my charge, destroyer and renewer+.
"yet this portion is still trapped in me," Jean murmured. "You couldn't escape without hurting me?"
+I would not kill you in such a fashion, regardless of the fool's idiocy it was through no fault of yours+. The being paused then looking away before looking back at Jean. +Then too I became interested in actually living rather than simply being+.
"So what will happen when we remove Charles' mental blocks?" Harry asked, looking from the redhead to her fiery counterpart.
+This aspect of my whole will merge with the container+ the phoenix said simply, still seemingly staring at Jean, who was staring back.
"You get something out of this though, it's not just because of what I tried to do." Jean said. "My emotions, they fascinate you?" She said it like it was a question, but somehow she knew that was it.
+Yes,+ said the being, not even trying to hide it. +I have lived for a passage of time that you cannot comprehend, yet emotions and feelings are utterly new to me. I wish to feel more, but I know that I cannot afford to actually feel them, else I would be unable to pursue my duty. Thus this portion of my flame will be separated from the whole, separate yet the same. I will learn of these feelings as if I were seeing them through that human invention called a TV. They will not influence me or my sacred charge, yet I will still learn of them+.
"And I get my whole mind back," Jean said, realizing suddenly what she had been missing for years. "My passion, my imagination, my anger. They were all somehow chained down with you by the mental blocks Charles put on us." Those and much of my other emotions, she thought suddenly. That was why she never could sustain a single emotion for very long, why she came off as cool and distant so often. Duncan had often complained about it both to her face and behind her back, and even the other X-men had always thought she was sort of standoffish. Rogue had even called her a spoiled princess because of her attitude (though admittedly also because of Scott's favoritism, something Jean could not do anything about). That had faded lately, but that was because her harsher, more powerful emotions had begun to leak out of their 'books' into the rest of her mind.
Harry nodded thoughtfully, though inside he was questioning whether or not this was a good idea. "So will Red here" they both turned and glared at him but he merely smirked back un-phased, "Will Red here have a connection with you other than showing you her emotions like your very own soap opera."
The being actually wrinkled its nose somehow in distaste at that idea. +I hope it will not be a soap opera, I would prefer some stability in certain areas+. For some reason Harry knew that was directed at him somehow, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what the being meant, though from her rather startled look Jean seemed to understand. +In answer to your question, Jean will become an avatar of my power, her own abilities enhanced and empowered beyond what she could achieve on her own. It will be a gradual process, the power she wields from me will grow as her control does. I will not be able to influence her mind or emotions in any way that is why this aspect will be cut off from the whole, with just enough of a connection for me to view her emotions, not effect them+.
Jean nodded in agreement to the idea of merging with this entity but Harry frowned a little, realizing that Jean would also need to relearn how to control her emotions if the mental blocks had blocked out so much of them. What is it with the women in this dimension being cut off from their emotions? There's Emma because of her family, Ororo because of her connection to weather, and now Jean thanks to Charles' meddling and Ms Flame here. And I still don't know if this is a good idea, but whatever, it's better than anything else, at least this way Jean's mind will be her own, and whatever happens in the future that's worth it right now. "Alright, how do we do this?"
+You need do nothing Defender+ the being said warmly, now back in the shape of a bird. +It is for Jean and I to do this+.
Jean nodded and stepped forward, now within a foot of the entity. "Let's do this!" She raised her arms above her hand and to the side, and with a trill of joy the bird dived into her chest and disappearing into her astral projection. All around them the flames pulsed, becoming hotter, the light they gave off brighter, becoming almost blinding, then beginning to funnel into her from all directions, encasing her in fire that slowly sank into her skin to join the original shape the phoenix had taken to speak to them. Harry watched in awe for a few moments, than with a jolt found himself back in his own body in the physical realm.
He shook his head then looked across at Jean where she was sitting in her chair. She was glowing with power, her body lifting off the chair he had conjured for her to hover in the air, her eyes glowing with phoenix fire. Harry leaped up reaching forward to grasp her hands and hold her in place as flames began to spiral around the room, activating his protective warding array.
The array began to flicker wildly under the power of this assault, and he let go with one of his hands and reached for the wall slapping his hand onto the array there and pushing as much of his magical power as he could into it. "Come on Red, get it together, control this we really don't want you two to merge only to find you've blown up the mansion," he grimaced as the wards flickered and he pumped in even more energy into them, "Or, you know the state of New York or this continent."
Hammering on the door warned him that others in the mansion had sensed this build up, but Harry paid them no mind, all his attention on the beautiful utterly magnificent young woman who was trying to merge with an entity whose power was literally incomprehensible in an effort to finally call her mind her own. "Come on Jean, work through it, get it together!"
Metal claws slashed into the door frame, and a moment later the other X-men rushed in only to pause in shock at what was going on. Harry ignored them keeping all his attention on the girl whose arm he was gripping so tightly, knowing somehow that if he let go, the being known as Jean would be gone, the body would remain, but the soul inside it would no longer be hers, not because of any malice or evil intent, but because of the phoenix just not understanding what its power could do to her. "Come on Jean, you can do this!"
Ororo looked on in shock for a moment then strode forward, wincing a little as the aura of flame around Jean burned her a little, but she ignored it, grasping her young friend's hand firmly. "Yes Jean, whatever this is you cannot allow it to beat you!"
Jean clung to those hands like a lifeline as her very soul was bathed in a vast power unlike anything that any mortal had ever felt before. Then as more of the X-men piled in, adding their hands to Ororo's and Harry's, the power began to recede as the phoenix retreated, the aspect stuck within her mind merging with her and finally disappearing entirely. The aura around her disappeared and she fell back onto her chair, her eyes closed, but her breathing deep and regular.
Harry took his hand away from the wall, absently noticing how badly damaged the warding array was, he would have to redo the entire array later, but the specialized ward around the property seemed to have held, which was a blessing. Now though he concentrated on something more important. He gestured everyone else back and they gave way reluctantly to allow him to however over Jean in her chair. "Red, you okay in there? How are you feeling?"
Jean opened her jade eyes to gaze up into his emerald ones, then over to Ororo's worried face and around at her friends, smiling happily. "Whole." She yawned, then shook her head very slowly from side to side. "Tired, very tired."
"Well that at least is to be expected," Harry laughed a little, then leaned in and lifted her into his arms easily. "Bed I think for you."
Charles coughed a little and the two green eyed individuals looked at him, one frowning unhappily the other simply with a raised eyebrow. "May I inquire as to what happened in here? If jean is injured in some way we should take her down to the medical wing."
"I'm not injured sir, just exhausted. The problem you finally got around to revealing to me is gone now." She glared a little at him and he frowned and looked away sadly. The other X-men wondered what that was about but didn't really care at the moment, simply crowding in as Harry made his way to the door, Scott and the others adding their own voices of concern and worry. Ororo didn't bother with words, simply reaching forward and grasping her younger friend's hand, allowing her to feel her concern, worry and affection before reaching up and pushing some of her red locks out of her face.
Jean smiled brightly at all their concern simply saying she would be fine after some rest and tell them what happened later. Then she frowned up at Harry. "I can walk you know Potter."
"Can you?" Harry asked impishly letting her down enough to set her legs on the ground and she put her arms around his neck in surprise as her legs nearly gave way under her.
"Okay so maybe I can't walk right now." Harry smirked a little and she smacked his chest, but he merely chuckled and picked her up again, not noticing or caring about the frown that appeared on Scott's face during this little bit of interaction.
"I think you should let Harry carry you to your room Jean," Ororo said as the other X-men moved out of the way. "We don't want you hurting yourself in an attempt to tough your way through your exhaustion."
Jean frowned but resigned herself to being carried, not like it was exactly a hardship to be held against Harry's ripped chest. She flushed just a bit at that thought, but didn't pull away and soon found herself sitting on her bed. At that point Ororo shooed out all the men and she and Kitty went to work changing her for bed despite her protests that she could dress herself. The look of appreciation on Ororo's face as she looked at Jean's body while changing her shirt for a pajama top did more for Jean's ego than any amount of envy or lust from the cheerleaders or footballers though and she soon found herself tucked into bed like a little girl. The last thing she felt was Ororo caressing her check gently, then she was out like a light.
Outside Harry fielded a few questions, giving out just enough information for them all to stop questioning him, then changed the subject and ordered the rest of the X-men to report for a training session.
Jean remained asleep for the rest of the day and well into Sunday, though the others checked in on her occasionally to see how she was doing. Harry however received a surprise on Sunday.
Charles had felt a presence he hadn't felt for many years approaching the mansion and had wheeled himself down to answer the door and see his friend again. As the tall, distinguished gentlemen ran the doorbell (having noticed and ignored both the normal and magical defenses around the house) the door opened and Charles sat in his wheelchair looking up at him with a smile. "Steven, how are you doing my friend? I haven't seen you in years."
Steven strange looked down at his friend, frowning ever so slightly at the man's still crippled legs, a sign of not one but two of his life's failures. Charles had taken that injury while fighting a alien that called itself Lucifer, a name that had mystical/religious connotations and thus had been brought to Strange's attention. He arrived too late, with Lucifer beaten and retreating from the telepath only after crippling his legs. With the aid of a young mutant named Sage hwo had responded to Charles' psychic cry for aid he got Charles to a hospital in time to save his life but not in enough time to save his legs, the tendons in them having died by the time he got there, beyond even Steven's original medical skills. "It is good to see you as well Charles, but I am afraid I am not here to just see you. I believe you have a Harry Potter living here?"
End chapter