Spellbinder
Bitchcraft
- Real Name
- Morgan
- Missions
- 7,430
- Residence
- Manhattan- Sanctum Sanctorum
- Ability
- Magick-Sorceress Supreme, Stepping Discs, Elemental Embodiment of Air/Wind, Flight, SuperStrength
Chapter 21
9 Months have passed since the Bianca Ceasul (a.k.a. Millennia)/Black caper & the revelation of the curse that haunts Delilah Trelevan (a.k.a MorningStar) & Maxim Sheremetyev (a.k.a. Bishop). During this time, Delilah’s pregnancy grew more and more difficult.
24 hours before Delilah was due to give birth; Alison Marble (a.k.a. Harbinger) had a terrifying astral nightmare where she saw Delilah dying during childbirth and the rest of the Six & their allies being destroyed, along with Minerva’s Mansion itself, by a vengeful Circe. The dream was precognitive and rocked the seer from her sleep, just as Ava Cassadine (a.k.a. Persephone) arrived in Minerva’s Mansion to visit Alison.
Persephone avoided Harbinger’s direct questions about HER whereabouts since the Black/Bianca caper, instead, replying that she came to Alison because she herself had been cut off from sensing her mother, Demeter (the goddess of earth and nature), Athena (the goddess of wisdom and war) & Hecate (the goddess of the moon[crone] & witchcraft). This coupled with Alison’s revelation that she’d been having trouble with her precognition lately, according to Persephone, were signs of the coming Blue Moon- the other end of the curse of the Red Moon cast by Hecate many moons ago.
Under the Blue Moon, the veil between Earth & the Underworld was at its weakest & all magick would be in flux, flowing from earth to the Underworld, where Circe currently resided. It would be her one big chance to try to carry out her ultimate goal of possessing Spellbinder’s body and regaining her goddess level magickal power, fulfilling Hecate’s original prophecy “upon the death of witch & birth of witch, Hecate, by name & choice, shall repossess her soul.”
Alison revealed that a key factor in averting her vision of Delilah’s death was the presence of Bishop. As much as it pained her, he would have to be found and brought to the mansion. Persephone agreed. She also revealed that she saw Dominique Deveraux (a.k.a. Isis), member of the Sisterhood & the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, assisting them in their battle against Circe as well. The two women set out to warn The Six.
Stateside, The Six had been enjoying a prolonged period of peace & progress in their personal & professional lives. Cameron King (a.k.a. Prophet) had returned, settling in New York and making a big splash as a charismatic, savvy business man; Morgan Victoria (a.k.a. Spellbinder) was riding high on her success at the House of Spectra, enjoying a lucrative and advantageous business partnership with legendary fashion maven, Sally Spectra. Spectra Couture, the company Morgan oversaw, assisted by her [cross time alternate] sister Blaze Victory (a.k.a Firebird), extended key contracts to King Enterprises, which allowed Nicolas King (a.k.a. Rampage ) to work alongside the sisters, much to the delight of the brash, charming but also naughty Sally Spectra. Morgan & Nicolas had begun their path to reconciliation months earlier & were now in a very good place.
Sharon Kelly (a.k.a. Silver Swan) and Delilah have come quite far in repairing their strained relationship and now, Sharon has been acting as Delilah’s midwife, trained in the Amazonian tradition. Sharon had also began to forge a friendship with the newest arrive to Melrose Place, Cassandra Johnson (a.k.a. Ruby), a mutant psychic vampire. Ruby was a friend of Six associate Ella Price (a.k.a. Belladonna) & was now subletting Ella’s apartment at MP as well as operating Ella’s mysterious & alluring night club, After-Dark, in her absence. Ruby’s adjustment to life in Melrose Place & to the Six, a group that she had so many overlapping ties & connections with long before she’d finally met them, was difficult at best. With a chilly reception from Spellbinder, things began on the wrong foot, causing the already stand offish young mutant to be wary of the rest of them. By this time, she’d assisted the Six in a few small scale capers but largely kept out of their group dynamic. However in Sharon, she found not only genuine offer of friendship, but a stern “big sister” of sorts, as Sharon began teaching her about emotional intelligence & training her in the art of hand to hand combat as well as use of personal weaponry. Ruby also found warmth & welcome from Karen Victoria (a.k.a. Shadow Weaver), Michael Armstrong (a.k.a. Arsenal) & even Blaze.
Alison and Ava warned various members of the Six about the impending danger and Spellbinder made the decision not to inform Delilah, as her pregnancy had become increasingly difficult and she did not wish to add any further stress or risk of complication to her condition. The rest of the Six, and their allies followed her direction but unbeknownst to her and Alison, Nicolas contacted Bishop with a short but direct warning about the danger facing Delilah. This was a move that Alison did not anticipate, due to her precognition now being increasingly hampered by the effects of the coming Blue Moon. Indeed, all of the witches, including Dominique, were showing increasing signs of fading vitality as the magickal energy was being pulled away from them with each passing moment. Nicolas reached out to his aunt, Dominique, asking for her help in this caper & the sorceress readily agreed not only due to the standing truce between the Six & the Sisterhood, but due to her covenant with the Isis (Egyptian goddess of rebirth & magick) to safe guard Nicolas from his father Set (Egyptian god of destruction). During this time, Dominique & Cameron began a surprising & intriguing relationship, both in & out of the boardroom. Nicolas handled the revelation well, hoping that Cameron would not put a foot wrong with Dominique & invite her WRATH upon him.
Morgan & Cameron orchestrated a tremendous media event for Zenith Corporation and House of Spectra to herald the passing of the Parthenon, a luxurious world class hotel & long standing property held by several members of the Six, from her control back to Cameron. This event also marked Morgan’s return to the fashion & social scene in New York, the first time since the Six had been outed by Bishop & Illustra was destroyed by Sentinels. By this time, Ava & Alison had joined the team & allies as they all sat together in their V.I.P. box. Delilah, who was uncomfortable & unhappy, even in a specially designed dress by Sally Spectra, received support from Karen & Sharon as well as some physical relief from Sharon, allowing her to better enjoy the evening’s events & witness her best friend’s triumphant return to the catwalk. The witches in the group were looking visibly distressed & ill, this included Morgan- all of them suffering from the Blue Moon as it began to dawn.
The evening’s events, which also featured Dominique Deveraux, Sally Spectra & several House of Spectra models(including Nicolas King), was a smashing success & the Parthenon was returned to the hands of its original owner, while New York & the rest of the fashion world celebrated the return of Morgan Victoria. It represented a crowning moment for everyone involved, highlighting just how far the Six had come as a group & as individuals.
But as the beauty of the evening crested, the dawn of the Blue Moon began to eclipse that. Persephone reached out to Dominique for help in contacting Demeter, Athena & Hecate. The goddess Isis had enjoyed a friendship with Demeter & Persephone eons ago & the two pantheons had often reached out to one another in times of need. Dominique, though weakened by the blue moon, succeeded in creating a portal of communication for Persephone & Nicolas. Athena, Demeter & Hecate informed them of what was coming & what was at stake. They also charged Nicolas, who had earned favor as Athena’s champion, with journeying to the Underworld with Spellbinder to aid her as she confronted Circe. Grateful to Dominique for her assistance, Persephone departed, while Nicolas carried Dominique with him.
Alison, Karen & Dominique succumbed to the Blue Moon, passing out from utter exhaustion & Delilah, who had noticed the way her teammates had been whispering around her & acting strangely, not to mention how sick Alison, Karen & Morgan were appearing, now knew something was wrong. But still no one would tell her.
As the Six evacuated their fallen witches to Minerva’s Mansion via a charmed doorway in Michael’s apartment, Morgan was the last witch standing & the last person in Melrose Place, aside from Delilah. Bishop had arrived & been lurking. He made himself known to Delilah & they had it out about him not telling her about her pregnancy. As their confrontation continued, Delilah fell to the floor. Morgan, discovering Delilah’s door had been kicked in, arrives to confront the intruder only to discover it was Bishop. Despite her contempt for him there was little time for arguing as Delilah n needed help.
Alycia Barnett (a.k.a. Charope) arrived via DOME, per Alison’s request to retrieve Bishop, informing him that they could not take Delilah to any mortal hospital & that her best chance for survival was in the technologically advanced infirmary of Minerva’s Mansion. Morgan teleports them all, including DOME, to the Mansion’s infirmary where Delilah is immediately taken away for emergency preparations leaving Bishop in the presence of a team that collectively despised him, along with a few faces he didn’t immediately recognize.
The Blue Moon fully manifested itself & Circe began her attacks on the Mansion. Silver Swan stayed in the infirmary to lead the effort to safely birth Delilah’s baby & hopefully keep her alive. Ruby also remained, designated with the task of keeping an eye on Bishop, who was not trusted, despite the situation at hand. The rest of the Six went up to the upper floors of Minerva’s Mansion to battle against Circe’s monsters & attacks, while Spellbinder & Rampage teleported to Limbo so that she could draw her Soul Sword & then together, they teleported to the Underworld, to find & deal with Circe.
As The members of the Six battled to defend the mansion, Harbinger, Shadow Weaver & Dominique are revived by Demeter & given a measure of strength to cast a critical spell to block Circe’s withering attack long enough for Spellbinder to defeat it at its source. The witches & the remaining Six regroup in the Observatory of the mansion, where they make their final line of defense. Between the time Spellbinder departs & Harbinger arrives, Bishop requests an urgent, private meeting with Harbinger to discuss the details of her vision about Delilah & what can truly be done to save her.
Spellbinder & Rampage are carried across the dreadful river Styx by the mysterious Charon, toward the Isle of the dead, a place haunted & ruled by Medusa until Circe battled her to a standstill & offered her a “deal.” Now, in control of the focal point of the island, within the massive labyrinth, Circe casts a violent spell of destruction, directing it down on a globe/construct of Minerva’s mansion & the island it sits on. Harbinger, Shadow Weaver & Isis immediately fight back with a spell of t their own to defend the Mansion & island while the remaining Six continue to block any other threats sent by Circe.
As the battle rages & progresses in fury, the mansion begins to buckle. In the infirmary, Delilah delivers her baby, but at the moment of the baby’s birth, Delilah herself flat lines, dying. The baby unleashes a pulse of dark energy, vaporizing several medical staff while Silver Swan orders an evacuation from the OR. Prophet registers Delilah’s passing, but there is nothing he can do about it as he is in the midst of fighting for his own life.
Bishop, all but helpless, reels from Silver Swan’s news about Delilah’s death. He finds his new baby girl in an isolette as Sharon runs tests on her. Despite the risk, Sharon allows him to hold the baby, but by now, the baby is no longer exhibiting the dark energy aura that she was bathed in at the moment of her birth & she does not cause any harm to Bishop. He informs Sharon of the name Delilah & he had agreed to for the baby, should there ever be one- Alexia Morgana- in honor of fallen founding Six member Alexis Quartermane (a.k.a. Shockwave/Blackout) & Delilah’s best friend, Morgan Victoria.
Spellbinder & Rampage reach the isle of the dead only to find its demonic canine guardian, already dead. Rampage concluded that the kill was recent & that someone else must be on the island, the two continued their way into the labyrinth to find Circe but soon found themselves confronted by Medusa, a titan whose macabre trophy collection of her victims accented the room in the form of stone statues. Rampage is wounded by Medusa but driven away by Spellbinder. Medusa then attacks Spellbinder, who escapes her deadly grip & Rampage finally defeats & decapitates the gorgon, leaving them to continue their way toward Circe.
Delilah’s spirit is called to another realm of existence by Athena & Hecate, who offer to help tip the scales & right some of the wrong they unintentionally set in motion when they responded to her previous request to “take away her guilt” over destroying Bishop. The inform her that she is in fact dead & what has been happening. Delilah is angered by the realization that her teammates lied to her about all of it. But her anger was temporarily halted by the confirmation that she had given birth to a baby girl. Athena offers her the chance to become an Amazon, leaving her life & all memory of it behind to be reborn in the waters of Themyscira but she will never see the Six or her baby again. Delilah responds to Athena & Hecate’s offer with a gracious decline & a sincere thanks for them doing their small part to try to set things right with her life. They send her back to her body & life on Earth, restoring her body & vitality as she revives right before Silver Swan’s eyes.
Soon after she revives, she expresses intent to join the others upstairs in battling Circe & her attacks. Silver Swan & Bishop (for different reasons) object. But rather than waste time arguing, Bishop offers to bring Alexia Morgana to see Delilah. The precious moment of mother & daughter meeting for the first time is ruined as Delilah inexplicably flat lines right before Bishop’s eyes. Silver Swan arrives & separates the baby from Delilah, placing a power neutralizing collar on Delilah & placing a power dampening field around the baby’s isolette. She then confirms that the baby is not only a mutant, but that it’s powers have manifested at birth, a rare occurrence for mutant births. Delilah revives & Sharon informs her & Bishop that the baby cannot be in the same room with Delilah because it’s need for sustenance is such that it will latch on to Delilah & her power signature, draining her energy & her very life force. Sharon informs them that any further discussion about this will have to wait for Harbinger, if they even survive this night. She advises them of Harbinger’s plan to evacuate them should Circe succeed in crossing over & Delilah immediately objects, saying she will not leave Sharon behind.
The witches are losing ground against Circe’s destructive spell & the mansion begins to suffer damage. The Six members work together in a beautiful, fluent display of harmony & combat savvy as they beat back each wave of Circe’s attacks but there is little they can do as the magickal firefight between Circe & the witches rages, with Circe clearly gaining ground.
Spellbinder & Rampage find Circe & confront her. Rampage attacks Circe & battles her while Spellbinder destroys her harpie guardians & sets about breaking Circe’s spell & globe using her soul sword. Circe traps Rampage in mystic chains & shadow tendrils & then casts a spell to FORCE Set to come forward through his body. Set manifests, completely supplanting Rampage, & vows to murder Spellbinder & make Circe his concubine but before he can act, Rampage’s AXE, charmed by Spellbinder some time ago, begins to glow & PULSATE, emitting a burse of magick that BREAKS enchantments, freeing Rampage from Circe’s spell & condemning Set back to the confinement Isis had banished him to. Enraged at her violation of him, Rampage attacks Circe in earnest while Spellbinder finally succeeds in breaking Circe’s destructive spell & globe, freeing Minerva’s mansion from her assault!
In the mansion, Shadow Weaver & Isis fell, exhausted to the point of being nearly in a coma. The mansion begins to come apart even as Prophet desperately attempts to sustain he sister Harbinger & her last stand with his EMPATHY power via their psychic link as siblings. At the moment when all seems lost, the magickal assault ceases, as Spellbinder has broken the spell! Harbinger collapses into Prophets arms & he, along with the rest of the Six, attempt to carry their fallen witches down to the Infirmary.
In the Underworld, an enraged Circe attacks Spellbinder as the two sorceresses argue over the right to Hecate’s power & legacy. As Spellbinder reminds her that she is BORN from Hecate while Circe was merely a disciple who lost her way, Circe declares that she will not Spellbinder & Rampage stop her from having what she deserves. She unleashes a massive attack upon them, which Spellbinder promptly blunts & deflects as best she can with her Soul Sword.
A vortex of violent power opens in Minerva’s mansion & threatens to pull it through & down to the underworld. Prophet draws on all his remaining strength to telekinetically ANCHOR his team against the relentless power of the vortex while Arsenal, Charope & Firebird do their best to shield Isis, Shadow Weaver & Harbinger. Below in the infirmary, Silver Swan shields Bishop & MorningStar with her very body blocking the door way between them & the vortex’s pull while MorningStar tries to lessen Sharon’s burden by manifesting a force field just ahead of her in the doorway. Ruby shields and anchors baby Alexia Morgana in the nursery, holding on for dear life. Everything that ISNT nailed down or otherwise anchored is violently swept up in forces beyond control & pulled toward the vortex.
In the Underworld, Spellbinder pushes through Circe’s assault, supported & boosted by Rampage’s “neural jumpstart” as she uses her soul sword to continue her path toward the mad sorceress. Circe begins to gain ground against Spellbinder & Rampage & just as it seems they will painfully fail, Circe is assaulted by the transfiguring whip of Persephone! Persephone emerges from the shadows & interrupts Circe’s assault, pulling her into the air & suspending her by the transfiguring whip, allowing Spellbinder the moment she needs to strike the final blow. Spellbinder plunges her soul sword deep into Circe’s chest, destroying her newly formed corporeal form & destroying her hold on all the displaced magicks of earth. The backlash renders Spellbinder, Rampage & Persephone unconscious but soon, the blue moon turns WHITE & magick flows back to earth to its proper places, restoring magick users of all backgrounds & strengths.
Simultaenously, Harbinger is pulled from Cameron's arms & has an encounter with the astral essence/psionic ghost of Barbara Minerva, the original mistress of this mansion & cross-time ally to The Six, Persephone & the Masters of Evil. She encourages Harbinger to revive & stay true to her calling & power. Harbinger revives & using the power of her Time Staff, she closes the deadly vortex that is threatening the pull the mansion into the underworld.
Minerva’s mansion is finally free from all danger & the Six get their fallen to the infirmary. Spellbinder, Rampage & Persephone return to the mansion as the others recover while Sharon & Delilah share a private moment of friendship. The Six take time to decompress from the events of the evening, but this time is short lived as Delilah soon rejoins the group & immediately confronts them all for lying to her.
Spellbinder immediately attempts to take the blame & shield the group but others, including Rampage, Arsenal & Persephone stand firm by their choice not to tell her what they were doing or why. Karen appeals to Delilah’s sense of understanding & Isis supports Nicolas’ valid points but as the discussion continues & Delilah remains unhappy & heavy handed with them over their deception & placing her & her baby’s life in danger, Persephone & most especially Spellbinder respond with defiance, causing the discussion to take a sharp negative turn. Prophet attempts to restore calm & order while Firebird appeals to Spellbinder to be more understanding of Delilah’s position.
All the while, Harbinger & Bishop, who were noticeably absent since the vortex had been closed & Circe’s threat eliminated, had finally begun to carry out the plan they discussed & agreed upon in their earlier private meeting. Bishop, seeing Harbinger’s journal entries from MONTHS EARLIER about this very situation he now faced, knew that Delilah could not be around Alexia Morgana or it would kill her. There was no way they possessed to correct this problem. He asked Harbinger for her help & she made him t think long & hard about the choice he was about to make, to be sure that was what he wanted. Once he agreed, they carried out the plan.
Bishop wrapped his baby girl in a blanket while Harbinger cast a special memory/dream spell on her to allow her to remember her mother & father from these first meetings in her dreams so that she would always be comforted by them & know she was not an orphan. Then, with a heavy heart, Bishop watched as Harbinger departed with Alexia, carrying her to Ororo, the immortal weather witch of Limbo, guardian of the Dark Trinity & cross-time ally of The Six & Masters of Evil. Bishop would not see his daughter again.
After they completed this heart breaking plan, they rejoined the others, who by now were ALL feeling the sting of Delilah’s anger. Bishop informed her of the tragic but necessary news that Alexia was gone & that she could never see her again. Delilah angrily cursed him & cast him out before turning to confront Harbinger. The precog echoed Bishop’s words & that Delilah could not be with her baby because she would kill her. Delilah refused to accept this as a finality & angrily blamed Alison, accusing her of conspiring to kidnap & unleashing a torrent of verbal abuse upon her.
Spellbinder, incensed by Delilah’s lack of understanding & seemingly ungrateful attitude at all the lengths & efforts that were made to save her life & make it possible for her to see Alexia one day in the future, erupted in anger, attempting to defend Alison, herself & the team against Delilah. Little could be said or done at this moment to change what had happened or how Delilah would feel about it. Prophet once again interceded for CALM but it was too late, the destruction of the “sisterhood” of Morgan, Alison & Delilah was unfolding before all of them & nothing could stop it.
As Delilah demanded Alison return her baby, Alison refused, stating that she would die & that it would serve neither her nor her baby any good, Delilah snapped & physically attacked Alison, vowing to kill her. Fearing what Alison might do in response, Karen & Blaze quickly moved to prevent Alison from trying to hurt Delilah but the precog merely kept Delilah at bay while Cameron restrained her & removed her from the interview suite.
Morgan immediately followed Cameron & Delilah, teleporting them out of Minerva’s Mansion, back to the Parthenon in NYC where she left them, saying “GOODBYE” to Delilah.
Morgan then retreated to Limbo, while Alison finally broke down into Persephone’s arms in tears. Blaze informed the team that she felt Morgan depart Earth for Limbo via their psychic rapport & that Morgan had no intention of returning.
Arsenal, Silver Swan & Charope set about the unfortunate task of notifying the families of those lost during tonight’s caper, while Karen, Ava & Blaze took a distraught & broken Alison to her bedroom to help her as best they could. Nicolas escorted Isis outside of the mansion, w here the sorceress shared a heartfelt moment with her nephew before wishing him & his team well through this emotionally difficult time & departing herself, leaving Nicolas to now deal with Bishop, who sat on a cliff’s edge overlooking the ocean, drinking.
Nicolas & Bishop commiserated over the heartbreaking tragedy of the evening before Nicolas expressed hope for the future & assured Bishop that he would one day see his daughter again under far better circumstances. He informed her that she was in the best possible hands with Ororo & that only time would tell the future. Soon, with nothing else left to say, Nicolas psychokinetically shunts Bishop to Times Square in NYC via the astral plane, leaving the man to go his own way into the night.
Cameron King reels from the shock of all that has occurred & the very real possibility that Spellbinder has not only turned her back on her lifelong best friend, but on ALL of the Six. His empathy allowed him to sense her deep emotional reaction to the situation & Delilah’s words & was afraid for her & what she might do. He demanded that she come back to them when she was able & she promised she would, but still he wondered. For now though, he now had a fallen teammate, a grieving friend to care for & that is just what he began to do.
Nicolas arrives in Limbo via a stepping disc Morgan had bound to her bedroom in her apartment at Melrose Place. He brought Tinkerbell with him, gambling that she, as Morgan’s enchanted familiar, would home in on Spellbinder & prevent him from getting lost in the endless expanse of Limbo. His gamble paid off but he finds Spellbinder raging in the midst of a tremendous breakdown. She is not immediately pleased to see him until she notices he brought her beloved Tinkerbell.
As the sorceress calms down, she expresses sorrow, grief & doubt, which Nicolas counters with support & expressing his love for her. She returns that expression but informs him that he cannot stay & that she will not be returning at this time because she doesn’t want to look upon Delilah & because from Delilah’s own words, Morgan believes she’d be better off if she did not see Morgan or Alison anytime soon. She needs time & Nicolas understands, promising to come for her if it seems like she’s been gone TOO LONG. He departs, leaving Spellbinder & Tinkerbell behind & returns to Minerva’s Mansion to inform the others of Spellbinder’s leave of absence.
Over the next 24 hours, Cameron settles Delilah in at the Parthenon, attending to her as best he can, but she is not very receptive. As Delilah expresses sorrow over her terrible loss & the [in her mind] betrayal by Alison, Bishop, Morgan & the others, Cameron begins the delicate but necessary task of countering her thoughts on the idea that she’ll NEVER see her daughter again. Though his words are true & fair, they do not help her & she retreats to her suite, prompting Cameron to place a call to Karen for assistance with this delicate task of putting a broken woman back together again.
The Six had come so far & even managed to defeat one of their deadliest foes …only to have it all seem so empty & far away as their team was strained, a “sisterhood” was shattered & the future now looked a little less bright.
& in that following evening, in the executive study of Harbinger, the mysterious, beautiful crystalline chess board that had crystalline figures of the Six, their allies & the Sisterhood on it, began to show signs of activity as figures moved around the board, reflecting the changes of the events over the past 2 days with NEW figures- Bishop, Ororo, & in Ororo’s arms, a tiny crystalline baby representing Alexia Morgana, all appear on the board…a sign that this story is far from over.
9 Months have passed since the Bianca Ceasul (a.k.a. Millennia)/Black caper & the revelation of the curse that haunts Delilah Trelevan (a.k.a MorningStar) & Maxim Sheremetyev (a.k.a. Bishop). During this time, Delilah’s pregnancy grew more and more difficult.
24 hours before Delilah was due to give birth; Alison Marble (a.k.a. Harbinger) had a terrifying astral nightmare where she saw Delilah dying during childbirth and the rest of the Six & their allies being destroyed, along with Minerva’s Mansion itself, by a vengeful Circe. The dream was precognitive and rocked the seer from her sleep, just as Ava Cassadine (a.k.a. Persephone) arrived in Minerva’s Mansion to visit Alison.
Persephone avoided Harbinger’s direct questions about HER whereabouts since the Black/Bianca caper, instead, replying that she came to Alison because she herself had been cut off from sensing her mother, Demeter (the goddess of earth and nature), Athena (the goddess of wisdom and war) & Hecate (the goddess of the moon[crone] & witchcraft). This coupled with Alison’s revelation that she’d been having trouble with her precognition lately, according to Persephone, were signs of the coming Blue Moon- the other end of the curse of the Red Moon cast by Hecate many moons ago.
Under the Blue Moon, the veil between Earth & the Underworld was at its weakest & all magick would be in flux, flowing from earth to the Underworld, where Circe currently resided. It would be her one big chance to try to carry out her ultimate goal of possessing Spellbinder’s body and regaining her goddess level magickal power, fulfilling Hecate’s original prophecy “upon the death of witch & birth of witch, Hecate, by name & choice, shall repossess her soul.”
Alison revealed that a key factor in averting her vision of Delilah’s death was the presence of Bishop. As much as it pained her, he would have to be found and brought to the mansion. Persephone agreed. She also revealed that she saw Dominique Deveraux (a.k.a. Isis), member of the Sisterhood & the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, assisting them in their battle against Circe as well. The two women set out to warn The Six.
Stateside, The Six had been enjoying a prolonged period of peace & progress in their personal & professional lives. Cameron King (a.k.a. Prophet) had returned, settling in New York and making a big splash as a charismatic, savvy business man; Morgan Victoria (a.k.a. Spellbinder) was riding high on her success at the House of Spectra, enjoying a lucrative and advantageous business partnership with legendary fashion maven, Sally Spectra. Spectra Couture, the company Morgan oversaw, assisted by her [cross time alternate] sister Blaze Victory (a.k.a Firebird), extended key contracts to King Enterprises, which allowed Nicolas King (a.k.a. Rampage ) to work alongside the sisters, much to the delight of the brash, charming but also naughty Sally Spectra. Morgan & Nicolas had begun their path to reconciliation months earlier & were now in a very good place.
Sharon Kelly (a.k.a. Silver Swan) and Delilah have come quite far in repairing their strained relationship and now, Sharon has been acting as Delilah’s midwife, trained in the Amazonian tradition. Sharon had also began to forge a friendship with the newest arrive to Melrose Place, Cassandra Johnson (a.k.a. Ruby), a mutant psychic vampire. Ruby was a friend of Six associate Ella Price (a.k.a. Belladonna) & was now subletting Ella’s apartment at MP as well as operating Ella’s mysterious & alluring night club, After-Dark, in her absence. Ruby’s adjustment to life in Melrose Place & to the Six, a group that she had so many overlapping ties & connections with long before she’d finally met them, was difficult at best. With a chilly reception from Spellbinder, things began on the wrong foot, causing the already stand offish young mutant to be wary of the rest of them. By this time, she’d assisted the Six in a few small scale capers but largely kept out of their group dynamic. However in Sharon, she found not only genuine offer of friendship, but a stern “big sister” of sorts, as Sharon began teaching her about emotional intelligence & training her in the art of hand to hand combat as well as use of personal weaponry. Ruby also found warmth & welcome from Karen Victoria (a.k.a. Shadow Weaver), Michael Armstrong (a.k.a. Arsenal) & even Blaze.
Alison and Ava warned various members of the Six about the impending danger and Spellbinder made the decision not to inform Delilah, as her pregnancy had become increasingly difficult and she did not wish to add any further stress or risk of complication to her condition. The rest of the Six, and their allies followed her direction but unbeknownst to her and Alison, Nicolas contacted Bishop with a short but direct warning about the danger facing Delilah. This was a move that Alison did not anticipate, due to her precognition now being increasingly hampered by the effects of the coming Blue Moon. Indeed, all of the witches, including Dominique, were showing increasing signs of fading vitality as the magickal energy was being pulled away from them with each passing moment. Nicolas reached out to his aunt, Dominique, asking for her help in this caper & the sorceress readily agreed not only due to the standing truce between the Six & the Sisterhood, but due to her covenant with the Isis (Egyptian goddess of rebirth & magick) to safe guard Nicolas from his father Set (Egyptian god of destruction). During this time, Dominique & Cameron began a surprising & intriguing relationship, both in & out of the boardroom. Nicolas handled the revelation well, hoping that Cameron would not put a foot wrong with Dominique & invite her WRATH upon him.
Morgan & Cameron orchestrated a tremendous media event for Zenith Corporation and House of Spectra to herald the passing of the Parthenon, a luxurious world class hotel & long standing property held by several members of the Six, from her control back to Cameron. This event also marked Morgan’s return to the fashion & social scene in New York, the first time since the Six had been outed by Bishop & Illustra was destroyed by Sentinels. By this time, Ava & Alison had joined the team & allies as they all sat together in their V.I.P. box. Delilah, who was uncomfortable & unhappy, even in a specially designed dress by Sally Spectra, received support from Karen & Sharon as well as some physical relief from Sharon, allowing her to better enjoy the evening’s events & witness her best friend’s triumphant return to the catwalk. The witches in the group were looking visibly distressed & ill, this included Morgan- all of them suffering from the Blue Moon as it began to dawn.
The evening’s events, which also featured Dominique Deveraux, Sally Spectra & several House of Spectra models(including Nicolas King), was a smashing success & the Parthenon was returned to the hands of its original owner, while New York & the rest of the fashion world celebrated the return of Morgan Victoria. It represented a crowning moment for everyone involved, highlighting just how far the Six had come as a group & as individuals.
But as the beauty of the evening crested, the dawn of the Blue Moon began to eclipse that. Persephone reached out to Dominique for help in contacting Demeter, Athena & Hecate. The goddess Isis had enjoyed a friendship with Demeter & Persephone eons ago & the two pantheons had often reached out to one another in times of need. Dominique, though weakened by the blue moon, succeeded in creating a portal of communication for Persephone & Nicolas. Athena, Demeter & Hecate informed them of what was coming & what was at stake. They also charged Nicolas, who had earned favor as Athena’s champion, with journeying to the Underworld with Spellbinder to aid her as she confronted Circe. Grateful to Dominique for her assistance, Persephone departed, while Nicolas carried Dominique with him.
Alison, Karen & Dominique succumbed to the Blue Moon, passing out from utter exhaustion & Delilah, who had noticed the way her teammates had been whispering around her & acting strangely, not to mention how sick Alison, Karen & Morgan were appearing, now knew something was wrong. But still no one would tell her.
As the Six evacuated their fallen witches to Minerva’s Mansion via a charmed doorway in Michael’s apartment, Morgan was the last witch standing & the last person in Melrose Place, aside from Delilah. Bishop had arrived & been lurking. He made himself known to Delilah & they had it out about him not telling her about her pregnancy. As their confrontation continued, Delilah fell to the floor. Morgan, discovering Delilah’s door had been kicked in, arrives to confront the intruder only to discover it was Bishop. Despite her contempt for him there was little time for arguing as Delilah n needed help.
Alycia Barnett (a.k.a. Charope) arrived via DOME, per Alison’s request to retrieve Bishop, informing him that they could not take Delilah to any mortal hospital & that her best chance for survival was in the technologically advanced infirmary of Minerva’s Mansion. Morgan teleports them all, including DOME, to the Mansion’s infirmary where Delilah is immediately taken away for emergency preparations leaving Bishop in the presence of a team that collectively despised him, along with a few faces he didn’t immediately recognize.
The Blue Moon fully manifested itself & Circe began her attacks on the Mansion. Silver Swan stayed in the infirmary to lead the effort to safely birth Delilah’s baby & hopefully keep her alive. Ruby also remained, designated with the task of keeping an eye on Bishop, who was not trusted, despite the situation at hand. The rest of the Six went up to the upper floors of Minerva’s Mansion to battle against Circe’s monsters & attacks, while Spellbinder & Rampage teleported to Limbo so that she could draw her Soul Sword & then together, they teleported to the Underworld, to find & deal with Circe.
As The members of the Six battled to defend the mansion, Harbinger, Shadow Weaver & Dominique are revived by Demeter & given a measure of strength to cast a critical spell to block Circe’s withering attack long enough for Spellbinder to defeat it at its source. The witches & the remaining Six regroup in the Observatory of the mansion, where they make their final line of defense. Between the time Spellbinder departs & Harbinger arrives, Bishop requests an urgent, private meeting with Harbinger to discuss the details of her vision about Delilah & what can truly be done to save her.
Spellbinder & Rampage are carried across the dreadful river Styx by the mysterious Charon, toward the Isle of the dead, a place haunted & ruled by Medusa until Circe battled her to a standstill & offered her a “deal.” Now, in control of the focal point of the island, within the massive labyrinth, Circe casts a violent spell of destruction, directing it down on a globe/construct of Minerva’s mansion & the island it sits on. Harbinger, Shadow Weaver & Isis immediately fight back with a spell of t their own to defend the Mansion & island while the remaining Six continue to block any other threats sent by Circe.
As the battle rages & progresses in fury, the mansion begins to buckle. In the infirmary, Delilah delivers her baby, but at the moment of the baby’s birth, Delilah herself flat lines, dying. The baby unleashes a pulse of dark energy, vaporizing several medical staff while Silver Swan orders an evacuation from the OR. Prophet registers Delilah’s passing, but there is nothing he can do about it as he is in the midst of fighting for his own life.
Bishop, all but helpless, reels from Silver Swan’s news about Delilah’s death. He finds his new baby girl in an isolette as Sharon runs tests on her. Despite the risk, Sharon allows him to hold the baby, but by now, the baby is no longer exhibiting the dark energy aura that she was bathed in at the moment of her birth & she does not cause any harm to Bishop. He informs Sharon of the name Delilah & he had agreed to for the baby, should there ever be one- Alexia Morgana- in honor of fallen founding Six member Alexis Quartermane (a.k.a. Shockwave/Blackout) & Delilah’s best friend, Morgan Victoria.
Spellbinder & Rampage reach the isle of the dead only to find its demonic canine guardian, already dead. Rampage concluded that the kill was recent & that someone else must be on the island, the two continued their way into the labyrinth to find Circe but soon found themselves confronted by Medusa, a titan whose macabre trophy collection of her victims accented the room in the form of stone statues. Rampage is wounded by Medusa but driven away by Spellbinder. Medusa then attacks Spellbinder, who escapes her deadly grip & Rampage finally defeats & decapitates the gorgon, leaving them to continue their way toward Circe.
Delilah’s spirit is called to another realm of existence by Athena & Hecate, who offer to help tip the scales & right some of the wrong they unintentionally set in motion when they responded to her previous request to “take away her guilt” over destroying Bishop. The inform her that she is in fact dead & what has been happening. Delilah is angered by the realization that her teammates lied to her about all of it. But her anger was temporarily halted by the confirmation that she had given birth to a baby girl. Athena offers her the chance to become an Amazon, leaving her life & all memory of it behind to be reborn in the waters of Themyscira but she will never see the Six or her baby again. Delilah responds to Athena & Hecate’s offer with a gracious decline & a sincere thanks for them doing their small part to try to set things right with her life. They send her back to her body & life on Earth, restoring her body & vitality as she revives right before Silver Swan’s eyes.
Soon after she revives, she expresses intent to join the others upstairs in battling Circe & her attacks. Silver Swan & Bishop (for different reasons) object. But rather than waste time arguing, Bishop offers to bring Alexia Morgana to see Delilah. The precious moment of mother & daughter meeting for the first time is ruined as Delilah inexplicably flat lines right before Bishop’s eyes. Silver Swan arrives & separates the baby from Delilah, placing a power neutralizing collar on Delilah & placing a power dampening field around the baby’s isolette. She then confirms that the baby is not only a mutant, but that it’s powers have manifested at birth, a rare occurrence for mutant births. Delilah revives & Sharon informs her & Bishop that the baby cannot be in the same room with Delilah because it’s need for sustenance is such that it will latch on to Delilah & her power signature, draining her energy & her very life force. Sharon informs them that any further discussion about this will have to wait for Harbinger, if they even survive this night. She advises them of Harbinger’s plan to evacuate them should Circe succeed in crossing over & Delilah immediately objects, saying she will not leave Sharon behind.
The witches are losing ground against Circe’s destructive spell & the mansion begins to suffer damage. The Six members work together in a beautiful, fluent display of harmony & combat savvy as they beat back each wave of Circe’s attacks but there is little they can do as the magickal firefight between Circe & the witches rages, with Circe clearly gaining ground.
Spellbinder & Rampage find Circe & confront her. Rampage attacks Circe & battles her while Spellbinder destroys her harpie guardians & sets about breaking Circe’s spell & globe using her soul sword. Circe traps Rampage in mystic chains & shadow tendrils & then casts a spell to FORCE Set to come forward through his body. Set manifests, completely supplanting Rampage, & vows to murder Spellbinder & make Circe his concubine but before he can act, Rampage’s AXE, charmed by Spellbinder some time ago, begins to glow & PULSATE, emitting a burse of magick that BREAKS enchantments, freeing Rampage from Circe’s spell & condemning Set back to the confinement Isis had banished him to. Enraged at her violation of him, Rampage attacks Circe in earnest while Spellbinder finally succeeds in breaking Circe’s destructive spell & globe, freeing Minerva’s mansion from her assault!
In the mansion, Shadow Weaver & Isis fell, exhausted to the point of being nearly in a coma. The mansion begins to come apart even as Prophet desperately attempts to sustain he sister Harbinger & her last stand with his EMPATHY power via their psychic link as siblings. At the moment when all seems lost, the magickal assault ceases, as Spellbinder has broken the spell! Harbinger collapses into Prophets arms & he, along with the rest of the Six, attempt to carry their fallen witches down to the Infirmary.
In the Underworld, an enraged Circe attacks Spellbinder as the two sorceresses argue over the right to Hecate’s power & legacy. As Spellbinder reminds her that she is BORN from Hecate while Circe was merely a disciple who lost her way, Circe declares that she will not Spellbinder & Rampage stop her from having what she deserves. She unleashes a massive attack upon them, which Spellbinder promptly blunts & deflects as best she can with her Soul Sword.
A vortex of violent power opens in Minerva’s mansion & threatens to pull it through & down to the underworld. Prophet draws on all his remaining strength to telekinetically ANCHOR his team against the relentless power of the vortex while Arsenal, Charope & Firebird do their best to shield Isis, Shadow Weaver & Harbinger. Below in the infirmary, Silver Swan shields Bishop & MorningStar with her very body blocking the door way between them & the vortex’s pull while MorningStar tries to lessen Sharon’s burden by manifesting a force field just ahead of her in the doorway. Ruby shields and anchors baby Alexia Morgana in the nursery, holding on for dear life. Everything that ISNT nailed down or otherwise anchored is violently swept up in forces beyond control & pulled toward the vortex.
In the Underworld, Spellbinder pushes through Circe’s assault, supported & boosted by Rampage’s “neural jumpstart” as she uses her soul sword to continue her path toward the mad sorceress. Circe begins to gain ground against Spellbinder & Rampage & just as it seems they will painfully fail, Circe is assaulted by the transfiguring whip of Persephone! Persephone emerges from the shadows & interrupts Circe’s assault, pulling her into the air & suspending her by the transfiguring whip, allowing Spellbinder the moment she needs to strike the final blow. Spellbinder plunges her soul sword deep into Circe’s chest, destroying her newly formed corporeal form & destroying her hold on all the displaced magicks of earth. The backlash renders Spellbinder, Rampage & Persephone unconscious but soon, the blue moon turns WHITE & magick flows back to earth to its proper places, restoring magick users of all backgrounds & strengths.
Simultaenously, Harbinger is pulled from Cameron's arms & has an encounter with the astral essence/psionic ghost of Barbara Minerva, the original mistress of this mansion & cross-time ally to The Six, Persephone & the Masters of Evil. She encourages Harbinger to revive & stay true to her calling & power. Harbinger revives & using the power of her Time Staff, she closes the deadly vortex that is threatening the pull the mansion into the underworld.
Minerva’s mansion is finally free from all danger & the Six get their fallen to the infirmary. Spellbinder, Rampage & Persephone return to the mansion as the others recover while Sharon & Delilah share a private moment of friendship. The Six take time to decompress from the events of the evening, but this time is short lived as Delilah soon rejoins the group & immediately confronts them all for lying to her.
Spellbinder immediately attempts to take the blame & shield the group but others, including Rampage, Arsenal & Persephone stand firm by their choice not to tell her what they were doing or why. Karen appeals to Delilah’s sense of understanding & Isis supports Nicolas’ valid points but as the discussion continues & Delilah remains unhappy & heavy handed with them over their deception & placing her & her baby’s life in danger, Persephone & most especially Spellbinder respond with defiance, causing the discussion to take a sharp negative turn. Prophet attempts to restore calm & order while Firebird appeals to Spellbinder to be more understanding of Delilah’s position.
All the while, Harbinger & Bishop, who were noticeably absent since the vortex had been closed & Circe’s threat eliminated, had finally begun to carry out the plan they discussed & agreed upon in their earlier private meeting. Bishop, seeing Harbinger’s journal entries from MONTHS EARLIER about this very situation he now faced, knew that Delilah could not be around Alexia Morgana or it would kill her. There was no way they possessed to correct this problem. He asked Harbinger for her help & she made him t think long & hard about the choice he was about to make, to be sure that was what he wanted. Once he agreed, they carried out the plan.
Bishop wrapped his baby girl in a blanket while Harbinger cast a special memory/dream spell on her to allow her to remember her mother & father from these first meetings in her dreams so that she would always be comforted by them & know she was not an orphan. Then, with a heavy heart, Bishop watched as Harbinger departed with Alexia, carrying her to Ororo, the immortal weather witch of Limbo, guardian of the Dark Trinity & cross-time ally of The Six & Masters of Evil. Bishop would not see his daughter again.
After they completed this heart breaking plan, they rejoined the others, who by now were ALL feeling the sting of Delilah’s anger. Bishop informed her of the tragic but necessary news that Alexia was gone & that she could never see her again. Delilah angrily cursed him & cast him out before turning to confront Harbinger. The precog echoed Bishop’s words & that Delilah could not be with her baby because she would kill her. Delilah refused to accept this as a finality & angrily blamed Alison, accusing her of conspiring to kidnap & unleashing a torrent of verbal abuse upon her.
Spellbinder, incensed by Delilah’s lack of understanding & seemingly ungrateful attitude at all the lengths & efforts that were made to save her life & make it possible for her to see Alexia one day in the future, erupted in anger, attempting to defend Alison, herself & the team against Delilah. Little could be said or done at this moment to change what had happened or how Delilah would feel about it. Prophet once again interceded for CALM but it was too late, the destruction of the “sisterhood” of Morgan, Alison & Delilah was unfolding before all of them & nothing could stop it.
As Delilah demanded Alison return her baby, Alison refused, stating that she would die & that it would serve neither her nor her baby any good, Delilah snapped & physically attacked Alison, vowing to kill her. Fearing what Alison might do in response, Karen & Blaze quickly moved to prevent Alison from trying to hurt Delilah but the precog merely kept Delilah at bay while Cameron restrained her & removed her from the interview suite.
Morgan immediately followed Cameron & Delilah, teleporting them out of Minerva’s Mansion, back to the Parthenon in NYC where she left them, saying “GOODBYE” to Delilah.
Morgan then retreated to Limbo, while Alison finally broke down into Persephone’s arms in tears. Blaze informed the team that she felt Morgan depart Earth for Limbo via their psychic rapport & that Morgan had no intention of returning.
Arsenal, Silver Swan & Charope set about the unfortunate task of notifying the families of those lost during tonight’s caper, while Karen, Ava & Blaze took a distraught & broken Alison to her bedroom to help her as best they could. Nicolas escorted Isis outside of the mansion, w here the sorceress shared a heartfelt moment with her nephew before wishing him & his team well through this emotionally difficult time & departing herself, leaving Nicolas to now deal with Bishop, who sat on a cliff’s edge overlooking the ocean, drinking.
Nicolas & Bishop commiserated over the heartbreaking tragedy of the evening before Nicolas expressed hope for the future & assured Bishop that he would one day see his daughter again under far better circumstances. He informed her that she was in the best possible hands with Ororo & that only time would tell the future. Soon, with nothing else left to say, Nicolas psychokinetically shunts Bishop to Times Square in NYC via the astral plane, leaving the man to go his own way into the night.
Cameron King reels from the shock of all that has occurred & the very real possibility that Spellbinder has not only turned her back on her lifelong best friend, but on ALL of the Six. His empathy allowed him to sense her deep emotional reaction to the situation & Delilah’s words & was afraid for her & what she might do. He demanded that she come back to them when she was able & she promised she would, but still he wondered. For now though, he now had a fallen teammate, a grieving friend to care for & that is just what he began to do.
Nicolas arrives in Limbo via a stepping disc Morgan had bound to her bedroom in her apartment at Melrose Place. He brought Tinkerbell with him, gambling that she, as Morgan’s enchanted familiar, would home in on Spellbinder & prevent him from getting lost in the endless expanse of Limbo. His gamble paid off but he finds Spellbinder raging in the midst of a tremendous breakdown. She is not immediately pleased to see him until she notices he brought her beloved Tinkerbell.
As the sorceress calms down, she expresses sorrow, grief & doubt, which Nicolas counters with support & expressing his love for her. She returns that expression but informs him that he cannot stay & that she will not be returning at this time because she doesn’t want to look upon Delilah & because from Delilah’s own words, Morgan believes she’d be better off if she did not see Morgan or Alison anytime soon. She needs time & Nicolas understands, promising to come for her if it seems like she’s been gone TOO LONG. He departs, leaving Spellbinder & Tinkerbell behind & returns to Minerva’s Mansion to inform the others of Spellbinder’s leave of absence.
Over the next 24 hours, Cameron settles Delilah in at the Parthenon, attending to her as best he can, but she is not very receptive. As Delilah expresses sorrow over her terrible loss & the [in her mind] betrayal by Alison, Bishop, Morgan & the others, Cameron begins the delicate but necessary task of countering her thoughts on the idea that she’ll NEVER see her daughter again. Though his words are true & fair, they do not help her & she retreats to her suite, prompting Cameron to place a call to Karen for assistance with this delicate task of putting a broken woman back together again.
The Six had come so far & even managed to defeat one of their deadliest foes …only to have it all seem so empty & far away as their team was strained, a “sisterhood” was shattered & the future now looked a little less bright.
& in that following evening, in the executive study of Harbinger, the mysterious, beautiful crystalline chess board that had crystalline figures of the Six, their allies & the Sisterhood on it, began to show signs of activity as figures moved around the board, reflecting the changes of the events over the past 2 days with NEW figures- Bishop, Ororo, & in Ororo’s arms, a tiny crystalline baby representing Alexia Morgana, all appear on the board…a sign that this story is far from over.
