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That day, Charles told her no fear.So she stopped fearing her powers and unleashed herself against the ancient mutant that had stood before her. It was an exhilarating and beautiful feeling at that moment. To no longer fear her abilities.The ancient mutant touched her mind with his for a brief moment. But even a brief moment can bring many changes along with it. She senses his distant amusement as the others struck uselessly at him while Charles urged her to let go of her control.
'All is now revealed before all to see. Do not restrain your abilities any longer, my daughter. Charles would make you weak with his chains. Fear your power no longer, my firey Phoenix. Lead the strong where I can not.'
'No longer will I falter.'
Grimly, she struck out, destroying the being, leaving only the smallest taste of him in her mind from that briefest moment of connection. To feed off the fires of her shattered control; to brew quietly among the eddies of her thoughts.Sighing softly as the storms of Cairo quiet around them and become silent, she turns her attention to the fleeting energies of Charles's mind as the others plea with him to stay with them."I'll find him." She says gently, brushing their minds to quiet the loudness of their minds as she seeks to find Charles.She brings him back, leaving no traces of herself while her presence is disguised as the leftover detritus of the ancient mutant as she carefully, quietly lances his powers, diluting the strength of his power, but allowing him to have just enough of his abilities left to give Agent Moira her memories back.She will bide her time until the right moment comes to strike as the monsters of her mind quiet their whispers.*Falling in love, however, is unexpected, but doesn't put a stop to her planning. To sharpening her claws in all things so to speak alongside her mental shields to keep her plans secret and buried from Charles and other less powerful telepaths.Of her lovers, surprisingly it is Peter, who is the one who comes to her first before Scott. Why it surprises her, she can't say, but she enjoys his company and perhaps even loves him in a way.Scott comes to them a few months later, her interest (or perhaps it is more Peter's interest?) has grown in them. Perhaps his more than hers, nevertheless Jean embraces Scott in their young bond.After their first few dates, under the shadow of the night, she starts the delicate work of molding their minds to obey her without thoughts of rebellion when they sleep. She knows that she'll need them at her side when the real performance commences.*"Do you think she loves us? Like really loves us?"Suddenly distracted by the quiet question from his training partner, Peter nearly misses his robotic target and almost sprains his ankle along the wall of the training room. He falls in a heap of long limbs on the floor with a yelp, groaning softly."I'm so, so sorry, Peter... I shouldn't have distracted you! A-Are you alright?"Slowly he glances up at Scott as the other boy lands on his knees next to him, falling into senseless babbling above him before Peter is grabbing at his uniform to pull him down into a kiss."What made you ask that?" Peter asked breathlessly, holding Scott close so that no one else can hear their quiet conversation."I don't know," Scott answers, shrugging one shoulder. "Just a nervous feeling that she's keeping something from us. I don't want to doubt that she loves us, but.."The only one reason that Jean wasn't right there with them in the training room was that she was dealing with some painful telepathic headaches. Her presence brushes up against their minds right then, bright with her concern and love. Peter looks up at Scott with a grin as a concerned Jean watches from above in the control room. "She does, my man. Definitely."Scott glances up at the window and smiles slightly."Yeah, I think she does."Later, they cuddle in front of the fireplace in the mansion living room, Jean's hands lay curled in their hair as she telepathically reads through a book.*Despite the weak protesting of Charles, the three of them leave the supposed safety of the mansion and travel around the world together.She enjoys the time that they get to spend together away from the watchful, prying eyes of the mansion instructors and Charles. They go to France, Italy, Britain, Eygpt, and German enjoying the tourist sites and even the not so tourist sites that Peter or she manage to trick their way into and sit among the silent ruins of civilizations long past.Looking over an old ruined village, Jean wonders how many of those people had abilities similar to her own. How would they have lived among their fellow villagers at that time, continually overhearing their thoughts?Jean wakes up one day in a small hotel room in Italy to see Scott and Peter smiling softly down at her on both sides of her. She smiles back as they lean towards her and she tastes chocolate and mint gelato remanents on their lips.It's a perfect quiet little moment in that small hotel room; one that she plans on treasuring forever.*Charles tries to ask that their weekly meditation sessions return, but she knows the taste of the man's presence and his intentions in her mind by now.To chain down the pure force of her abilities.She ignores that first offer from him and every single one that follows behind in quick succession that one as her plans edge closer to the edges of the shadow.Her rage burns ever brighter as Jean takes note of when Charles tries to ask her lovers for assistance without actually telling either of them why he wants their help as she ignores those pleas from them as well.In the darkness of their room, she forgives them for falling to Charles's little attempts to control her power.*She whispers into the minds of Psylocke, Storm, and Magneto; trapping them in her web and casting away that which would make them think of betraying her. She reanimates the body of Angel and shapes his mind to as it was before his death in Cairo after hunting down where his body is being kept and dissected by government scientists. With a few added additions of course.They will be the ones who serve as her vanguard, her watchful protectors from the shadows in the flames of the old and new worlds. They are now hers until such time she no longer needs their services.She knows their very fears and desires as one by one all of them beautifully and unknowingly submit to her will. In the darkness of her bedroom, Jean slowly smiles at the shadows around her.*The whispers begin to come back before the world falls apart and burns, she makes it bow down to her. Her Vanguard puts down any resistance that tries to muster arms against her, including the young X-Men that Raven attempts to lead against her.Charles was one of the first among the mutant quarter that died after he realized that she had been the one who changed his abilities at the deepest level. She isn't there to witness his death or Raven's death, but her Vanguard does along with Peter.From the throne she's carved into a marble statue, Jean opens her eyes and turns attention towards her boys. There are concerned expressions on both of their faces as she comes to them with a soothing little smile, but their affection for her is greater than the doubt striving to get them. When she kisses them gently, her lips come away from theirs with the taste of ash."I love you both," she tells them, gently cupping their faces one at a time between her glowing hands."We love you, Jean," they answer softly in the screaming that echoes around them before she puts up a shield.This world belongs to them now.