#What is your problem?!#

"Nothing, Daughter. Waiting makes you irritable, does it not? Patience is a virtue."

#Bite me.#

#Celeste, really. I don't mind this. You know that everyone is safe. We saw that much.# It really was amusing. Jean was trying to keep the peace between two women who had perfected the art of psychological long warfare before she had been born.

# *I'm* not safe! Did you see what he's done to my body?!# Celeste heaved herself off of the ground and began to pace. They'd been in Limbo for about half an hour, and she'd just witnessed Thepis dragging her off somewhere to. . .to do. . .Callie gagged. He already thought he had her capitulation, she knew what he would do next. He usually followed the same routine. What happened next was as natural to Soamna Thepis as the victory dance after a touchdown.

Illyana moved in front of her. "I don't understand. What is wrong?" Celeste looked away. She'd never told her mother what had happed that night in the Shadowlands of the Empire. She had been ashamed, and she had run away, as far and as fast as she could, all the way to the snowbanks of Canada. She hadn't been back home in fifteen years.

#Mama!# Celeste burst into tears. Illyana's gaze sharpened. Her daughter had never, ever called her "mama". #I'm pregnant, and anything goes wrong now, I lose my child!#

The last echoes of her shrill cry faded. The three women stared at each other for a long, tense moment.

"The child is born of a union between a mutant and a Elemental queen. The child will very likely protect itself."

"And if it doesn't?" Her voice was filled with hatred that the woman should be so flippant about her own grandchild.

"Then it was not meant to be."

"Damn you! How dare you! This is *my* child, and I don't care if every deity on Mount Olympus says it isn't to be, it's still my child," Her voice dropped to its lowest register, "And nobody takes what's mine, remember?"

"Of course I remember! I made that vow a hundred, a thousand times before you were born. But there is nothing you can do! Be thankful you aren't forced to endure his rape while collared and tagged like livestock. Helpless and immobile, and still knowing you can do *nothing* to save your child!"

Celeste turned away from her mother, knowing she was right and refusing to acknowledge it. She collapsed on the ground. Jean put comforting arms around her, and for a long minute, no one said anything. "How did you do it, Mother?" Callie finally asked, "Was it always like this? The queen of an empire, with legions of power at your command, and you were still helpless and weak as a . . . . a human?"

Illyana nodded solemnly. "Now you know what it is like to be a monarch."

"Your Majesty?"

The women glanced up. Gregor stood there, looking patiently down at Celeste. He couldn't see Illyana because she was only a shadow of herself, yet to pass over into the final realm. She would not be allowed to stay here much longer.

"Yes, Gregor?"

"Our army stands ready to assist you. It is time we settled this and put the Charon Sword in the hands of its creators. We need only a short while to ready ourselves. I suggest you find a body to inhabit. You will need flesh and blood to wield a weapon."

Celeste nodded, and Gregor disappeared.

"I have a better idea." Illyana looked thoughtful. "If I can work this just right, you shall get your own body back. I have found that using another body as a vessel makes you clumsy. Of course, we will need Phoenix's help?" Jean nodded. "Well, then, listen closely. . ."