1142 AD: 178 Years(17)
"So," I look at Master Yao, after explaining the situation, and ask, "Is there anything we can do to help?"
Jean was in Hogwarts, still unconscious, 6 hours after our talk. I had first healed her the best I could, using my Light Energy, while feeding her the Heat from the Sun Divinity, but it was still not enough.
Her mind was not broken, it was simply.. restricted. I will have to either design a rune scheme to unblock her from the outside, or use Legilimency to try and do it from the inside.
Which, knowing about the Phoenix Force, is way more dangerous than it appears.
Master Yao strokes his beard, and says, "It is possible. There are very few Mind Arts Masters among us, and none of them are suitable in dealing with the Phoenix. What about your.. Hogwarts? Isn't there something that can help you?"
I sigh, disappointed, and answer, "There is, but I don't want to use it. I'll have to be a lot more proficient in using it, than I am now, to safely unblock her."
Master Yao looks at me, and motions with his hand. He says, "Well, don't keep an old man in suspense. I'm not getting any younger over here."
I chuckle at him, and then get a bit serious. I say, "It's an.. art, is all I can describe it as. The simplest form, uses your magic to invade the minds of others. You can view their memories, manipulate them, control them, and yes, block some parts of their minds. Theoretically, it's the ultimate Mind Art."
"Obviously, the shields that we have around our minds is something that can either stop it, or warn us of it, so we can do something. But, I haven't used Legilimency much, other than for practice, so I'll have to spend at least a few days getting better at it." I finish, scowling to myself.
Sure, I like mind arts. But Legilimency requires constant Eye Contact. At least, in the beginning. There were some notes by Salazar in the book I read, that said that you can simply use Legilimency by looking at the target's head if you're.. talented enough.
As we were thinking, on what else we could do, Blinky suddenly pops to my side, breathing hard.
"Goddamnit! Blinky! Did you apparate from Hogwarts directly? How many times do I have to tell you, USE THE GATES!" I shout, panicked. Blinky was almost on her last legs.
I immediately start healing her using my personal Healing Spell, and listen to what she's saying. She says, "I'm.. sorry.. Master.. But.. Lady Fire.. She be awake!"
"Don't speak, Blinky. For now, heal, and rest. That's an order." I glare at her, daring her to argue back, and she simply slumps down, while I heal her.
What was she thinking, apparating between planets? The planet's aren't even close! Of course she's so tired. I'm just glad she's alive.
A minute later, I'm done and Blinky is asleep. I turn to Master Yao, who was watching us, and say, "Master Yao, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to cut our talk short. If you figure something out, can you visit?"
Master Yao nods, and says, "Sure, my boy. It has been a while since I visited another planet."
I nod at him, and create a portal to Hogwarts. I suppose I can teach my planets residents sorcery. But no outer Realms. I'll only teach them how to gather Universal Energies and mix them with their Earthly Magic. At least that way, they can create Portals in cases of emergencies.
I come out of the portal and call another House Elf to take care of Blinky. Then without saying anything, I go towards the Medical Wing, where Jean was. Once I enter the Medical Wing, I see Jean eating something the House Elves cooked up, while they were looking at her, either in worship, or were scared of her.
Jean looks up from her soup, when I enter, and asks, "Question. What are they?"
I look at her, annoyed, and say, "Firstly, that was a rude question. You could have asked a bit politely. Secondly, they are Elves. Yes, they look different than what you'd probably imagined, but these are Offshoots of the Higher Elves race."
Jean blushes, properly chastised, and nods. She then asks, "Why am I in the... Hospital?"
I snort, and ask back, "What is this, twenty questions?" I shake my head, when she opens her mouth again, and say, "You, my dear, are hurt. A Telepath, a strong one at that, has put a block on your mind. When you were unconscious, I scanned you to see if there were any reasons why the Phoenix Host was so.. weak, despite being strong."
Jean looks pissed off, she asks, "What... Do you mean?" A few things like the cot, the table, and the few Potions that I had around start shaking, but the Elves snap their fingers and stop them.
I snort at the Elves casually stopping a temper tantrum, and ask back, "The block? Or the Host thing?"
"Both." Jean says, visibly trying to calm herself down.
I nod, and sit down, conjuring a chair for myself, near her. I say, "I'll start with the later. The Phoenix Force, is a cosmic force of Death, and Life. It, or rather, she goes around the Universe, and visits different planets. She either destroys the Planets, or renews them, depending on the quality of the life present on the planet. Get it?"
Jean nods and says, "She's like the Judge, jury, executioner of the Universe."
"Meh, sort of. Anyway, on each of the planets she visits, she either selects a host from the populace, or takes the host from the previous planets there. Using the Host's memories, she lives her life, along with the host, and then, decides if the planet gets to live or not. But, she has to have a balance. She doesn't control her hosts, but she can ask them to do something for her. If she destroys one planet, she has to bring life to another barren planet. Those are her rules. You, my dear, are the Latest Host of the Phoenix Force, and were meant to decide if Your Earth got to live, or not."
Jean was visibly shaking by that point, either scared, or excited by the potential she has, and asks, "Did.. did the Phoenix decide to destroy Earth, when it got that bad?"
I raise an eyebrow at her, and ask, "How the fuck should I know that? I haven't been the Phoenix Host, ever, so only you can know. But, either way, your connection to the Phoenix Force inside you, has been... dampened, or constricted."
"The Telepath that blocked me." Jean says, more like whispers to herself.
I brace myself for an upcoming tantrum, and begin, "There's no way I can gently say this. But, when you were a child, the Telepath found you, and realized there was something way more dangerous than anything he had ever known inside you. He somehow sensed, or saw the Phoenix Force, and thought it was too strong to let live peacefully."
I pause, and let her absorb this. I then say, "The Telepath, had the bright idea to block your connection to the Phoenix Force, thereby making you weaker."
Jean sniffs a bit, and asks, bitterly, "So my mutant powers are related to the Phoenix Force? I don't even have them for myself?"
"Are you dumb, Red?" I ask, bluntly. Seriously? That's what she took from this? Not that Xavier is a dick?
I shake my head when Jean opens her mouth to argue and interrupt her. I say, "Your mutant powers are just that, yours. The Phoenix Force simply amplified them. She selects hosts that have Psionic powers before bonding to them, so they can.. tolerate her powers being in their bodies. But, since the Force was blocked out, and it was a stupid thing to do, your powers are not stable."
Jean gets angry for only a second, and then slumps back into the bed. She looks at me, utterly defeated, and asks, "How am I supposed to kill Apocalypse then? If I can't even break through one block."
I nod, now she's asking the right questions, and say, "As of now, you can't. Over the next as many days, months, and years it takes, I will train you. I will make sure your mind is freed, and your own, and then, when you're ready, I will take you to your world, so we can restore Earth, and kill Apocalypse."
Jean nods, resolutely, and says, "I'll do it. I'll learn anything you throw at me. And I will become strong enough to kill Apocalypse."
"Good. You'll have to. Because the Phoenix Force from this Universe is coming here in 3 days. So we have that much time to unblock your mind, before she decides my planet does not deserve to live, same with Earth." I say, and turn to leave.
"WHAT!?" A shout is heard, which I ignore and go to the library.
I just got an amazing idea, which I was stupid not to realise before. Potions. POTIONS!
There are potions in Salazar's books, that can be used to reverse the Obliviate spell. There's another Potion, that gets rid of any and all the blocks that the Drinker has on their body.
Blocks on Magic, movement, thinking power, mind? Everything gets removed. The block on the Phoenix Force connection, can be counted in this.
Unfortunately, while the Potions are in stock, thanks to Salazar's paranoia, they only work on Wizards. And Jean Grey, is not it.
Meh, I'll figure something out.
~~~
It's been 2 days since our talk in the Medical Wing, and I had Jean on a fixed training routine.
Mornings begin with running, and then physical exercise, because a healthy body equals a healthy mind. After that, she would spend hours upon hours flexing her TK, as best as she could. I had set her down in the Room of Lost things, which had been filled with all the magical artefacts the House Elves found on Earth, and had her sort them all.
She would ask a house elf where an object goes, and then keep it where it belongs.
But, it's only been 2 days, so her progress was slow.
Meanwhile, I used the time to modify the Potions so they work on muggles. It was not that hard to be honest, and me, being a Potions Master, easily did it.
"Jean." I say, walking into the Room of Lost things, distracting her and making her drop the cupboard she was moving.
It drops down with a crash, and sends out dishes, spoons and cups from out of it. The utensils all get up, and start walking around, making both of us look at the walking cups and dishes in wonder.
Shaking my head at the weirdness of it all, I call Jean to the Medical Wing, and have her lie down. I offer her one vial, and say, "This Potion, will undo any erasure your memory has suffered, every. Drink this first, and quickly."
The Memory Restoration Potion did just that. Restored any memory ever "deleted", or blocked out. It was sort of like "Restore" button in the Recycle bin on Windows.
You cannot, no matter what, permanently delete memories from anyone's brain. Hints to that memory are always present somewhere. Unless of course, you are old.
Once Jean drinks the first Potion, with a grossed out look on her face, nothing happens, as it'll require her to sleep for it to go into effect. Once that's done, I offer her the 2nd vial, and say, "This one, will take care of the blocks on your mind, that restricts your access to the Phoenix Force. You'll get knocked out after drinking this one, so be in position to lay down, and then drink."
Jean takes the vial warily, and sniffs it. She chokes, at the smell, and drinks it in one go, struggling not to puke it out. I use my own TK to make her swallow the Potion, and nod at the House Elf standing close.
The House Elf, Herby, snaps her fingers making Jean lay down, and the cover to cover her.
Hopefully, she wakes up before the Phoenix Force gets here.
~~~
A few hours later, I feel the Phoenix Force acting out, furious, and uncontrolled, but it calms down only a few seconds later. The pulse of Energy was strong, I know that.
I also know, that the Phoenix Force from this Universe also felt it, as I felt her increase her already impressive speed.
The same thing happens a few more times in the next 7 hours. Finally, 10 hours after she got knocked out, Jean Grey wakes up. Other than slightly brighter and more intelligent eyes, she looks the same.
Jean smiles, as soon as she wakes up, and says, "She's here."
Huh? Oh, yeah. Now that I'm focusing, Phoenix is almost here. A few minutes at most. Almost like the Phoenix Force inside Jean chose this moment to wake her up.
I look Jean over, and scan her medically. I say, "Everything looks alright. Your brain is under a lot less strain than it used to be."
Jean nods and floats out of the bed, way more easily than she used to. She then waves her hand and transfigures her clothes from the medical gown she was wearing, to blue jeans, red shirt, and a black coat.
Huh. That's new. She couldn't do that before.
"Thank you for your help, Prince Baldur." Jean says, once she's changed her clothes.
I look her up and down, and say, "You're welcome. I don't think you need any more help, though."
Jean nods, and smiles at me. She says, "Yes. The Phoenix Force and I had a long talk. She trained me in using my powers properly, so you won't have to do that anymore."
I sigh, despondently, and say, "There goes my months of plans to waste. Well, nevermind. Would you be able to go home yourself? Or do you need me to drop you off?"
Jean looks up, and says, "I could go by myself, but I wouldn't be able to restore the planet to how it once was. So I'd appreciate if you came with."
I nod at her, understanding the Phoenix's reasoning. Then I say, "Well, lets go talk to the Phoenix. The other Phoenix."
Immediately, Sol flashes into the room, and takes me to a mountain near Hogwarts. Thankfully, I was ready for her, so she did not shock me. Barely a second later, Jean flashes in near me, using her own flames.
Damn. Telekinesis, Telepathy, Teleportation, Pyrokinesis, Matter Manipulation, That's... a lot of powers. Thank God, she's a novice at using them.
A few seconds of silently waiting later, another flame pops up in front of us, and dissipates, leaving behind a red haired, green skinned woman. Damn! I whistle to myself, and look her up and down.
She ignores my ogling, and looks towards Sol first. Smiling widely, the green girl approaches Sol, prompting me to get in between them.
I say, "Lady, keep the distance, and introduce yourself before trying to approach us."
The Lady looks me up and down, widens her eyes a bit at my armour, and Ljosgeirr, and then dismisses me, she says, "I have no intention of even talking to you, Asgardian. I'm here to meet my sister. The Fire bird behind you simply fascinated me."
I do not like her tone, and by the looks of it, neither does Jean and Sol. Jean comes forward, and say, "I am the one you are looking for. What do you want? Because I can tell that the Phoenix Force tried to stop you from coming here."
I snap my head towards Jean, and become even more weary, preparing myself for a fight.
The green lady looks Jean over, and says, "Yes, she's annoying like that. But she can't control me. I'm Lady Divadi, Ruler of the Zen Whoberi. The current host of the Phoenix Force. Who are you?"
Jean looks at her warily, and says, "My name is Jean Grey, of Terra. A host of the Phoenix Force, from the future."
Sol stays silent, and behind me the entire time, sensing the tension. Divadi scowls at Jean, and mumbles to herself, "A Terran!? How low could the Phoenix get?" I open my eyes to snap at her when she simply waves her hand and continues, "Nevermind. You're from another Universe, right? That means your death won't change anything here."
Sol shouts in my mind, 'MOVE!' and immediately flames away from here. I, being already prepared, quickly summon the Mirror Dimension around us, while Jean simply puts her hand in front of her, summoning a Telekinetic shield.
The reason for that? The flames coming at us from the green bitch Divadi. I should have known something was off when she dismissed me as an Asgardian. She's probably someone who thinks being the Phoenix's Host is the highest you can go. Who else would dismiss an Asgardian? ASGARDIAN!
Jean's telekinetic shield stops the flames in their tracks, making Divadi stop. She looks around the Mirror Dimension, and says, "Hmm.. You're more competent than I thought. I'll have to be more serious."
While she's busy trash talking, I immediately point Ljosgeirr at her, and fire a focused fire beam using my Sun Divinity.
"Really? Attacking the Phoenix with fire?" Divadi says, and absorbs the flames into herself.
Right. Flames. Phoenix. Dumbass.
"Hmm.. Divine Flames. You're a God of Sun, huh? You'll be fun to absorb." Divadi says, and starts attacking me with cosmic blasts. I dodge the first 7, but the eighth one hits my chest and pushes me a few feet back.
Jean floats towards me, and says, "Stay down, Baldur, the Cosmic blasts will kill you, God or not."
Ignoring her, I sense the damage done to my Armour. Negligible. Smirking to myself, I activate my Mystic mode, and enhance myself using the Light Dimension. I look to Jean, and say, "I'm not just the God of Sun, I'm also the God of Light. You've just learnt how to use the Cosmic Powers, and she's had decades, possibly centuries to do so. You won't defeat her alone, Jean."
Divadi snorts, and says, "I've been the Phoenix for a thousand years, Asgardian. Even together you won't be able to beat me."
I look at her, standing calmly, and gawk at her. How arrogant do you have to be, to not attack when your opponent is busy? And yes, she was arrogant, not 'honourable', there's a difference.
Looking at Jean, I raise an eyebrow, to which Jean nods, and says, "Fine. We'll fight her together."
Saying that, Jean keeps blasting Cosmic blasts at Divadi, while I fly towards her. She puts a hand in front of herself, deflecting the blasts and tries to push me away.
Unfortunately for her, I'm continuously absorbing the Light Dimension Energy, so her Telekinetic push simply washes over me. I summon Ljosgeirr, and swipe down, as she's shocked, cutting off her arm at her elbow.
"AARRGG!" She cries out, in pain and anger, and uses a stronger force to push me away. Jean uses the chance and fires a continuous stream of fire at her from one hand, while sending Cosmic Energy blasts from the other, burning her.
Divadi again cries out, and pushes the flames away from herself. Finally, looking at her, I see that she's somehow regrown her hand, in the few seconds she had to heal herself.
But, Jean burned her pretty bad, and those burns are not healing any faster.
I summon the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, pass it to Jean and say, "Jean. Fire your flames at the blade of this sword."
Jean looks at me like I'm dumb, but does as asked. The Phoenix flames harms the Host. She can't defend against herself. And what does the Sword do? Absorbs anything that might harm it.
While Jean does that, I fly towards Divadi again, and try and hit her. She's learned though, and uses stronger forces to keep me away from herself.
"HOW DARE YOU CUT MY HAND!? I WILL KILL YOU AND THEN GO DESTROY ASGARD!" Divadi shouts, getting hysteric.
I dodge the flames she threw at me, and shout back, "Lady, you're deluding yourself if you actually think you can destroy Asgard."
She gets a lucky hit, with the Phoenix flames hitting my left hand, making it burn a little, and shouts, "I'M THE STRONGEST THERE IS! Maybe if you bend the knee now, I'll let you live as my slave."
I gape at her, and say, "Fuck no." as my Light heals me up again.
Divadi shouts and shoots a wide stream of flames at me, leaving me nowhere to dodge. Taking advantage of the Mirror Dimension, I stomp down, manipulating my surroundings to destabilise the flames, and pull Divadi to me.
The floor underneath Divadi starts moving and comes towards me, and faster than she can react, I stab Ljosgeirr in her guts, firing Light inside her.
"AARGHHHH!!!!" She yells out, in pain.
Without giving her a chance, I conjure Light daggers, and stab them in her shoulders, head, and legs, making her scream again.
"JEAN!" I shout back, knowing that without me stabbing continuously, she'll always come back.
Jean flies down near me, and throws me the sword, which was now fiery red, just as Divadi pulls the last dagger out of her shoulder using telekinesis.
Just as she moves her hands to disintegrate me, I stab the flaming Sword of Godric Gryffindor in her chest, and out of her back, making her gasp, and choke in pain.
Unfortunately, I was a bit late, as evidenced by my missing left hand, and left ear. Grimacing in the pain, I remove the sword, ignoring the grossed out Jean, and cut off her head, bathing myself in her blood.
I grimace to myself, again, at all the blood I have to now clean up, and look at the body.
A few seconds nothing happens, other than Jean throwing up at the side. After that though, the body of Divadi, starts burning up, and disintegrating, which makes us lower our guards, knowing that she's dead.
"She's dead." Jean helpfully says, wiping her mouth, and pinching her nose at the smell. I nod, and am about to say something, when something interesting happens.
The flames that were burning Divadi, rise up from her body, and before I can even blink, they move towards, and into me.
I faintly hear a shout calling my name, when I drop down backwards, blacking out.
~~~
A/N: Sorry if the fight felt boring, I tried.
Now, a lot of readers understand that I'm writing for fun, and not to satisfy the readers. Sure, satisfying readers is a good thing, but it's not my highest aim.
I don't get paid to write! I write for fun.
If you feel that some plot point feels annoying, you can skip it without saying anything. What you're speaking against my plot does, is make sure I bring even more of those types out of spite.
eg. If someone says, "I hate time travel" I'll do my damnest to bring more time travel in the story to spite that one commenter. Just saying.
For those who have fun reading the fic, have fun! You're amazing, and i love you!
Everyone read the Wikipedia page on the Phoenix Force! After that, answer this question. When should the PF leave the body of Baldur? A few years later, immediately after healing him, or right before X-Men starts?