Chapter 2
Remy’s eyes scanned the room, looking for the source of the voice. He managed to spot an outline of a figure crouching in the corner furthest from him right before a match was struck. The small flame gave enough light for Remy to make out steel blue eyes focused intently on the end of a cigar. Soon the end was lit and the match was extinguished. The figure rose taking a long drag on the cigar, the lit end glowing red, but stayed in the shadows.
“Remy ain’t a kid,” He patted his trench coat pockets, searching for his staff, but only found his old set of cards.
The figure snorted, “Look like one ta me.” Pausing a moment to crack his neck, the figure turned his focus on Remy, rolling the cigar between his thumb and index finger, “Must’ve ticked off Summers pretty bad ta land yerself in here.” He saw the young thief’s eyes glance over at the door. The only cell door in the prison reinforced with steel bolts and bars along its entire length.
“Dat don’ seem ta be de reason you in ‘ere, mon ami. Remy startin’ ta t’ink he should’ve kep’ ‘is mouth shut.” Remy heard the other man chuckle. It wasn’t a sound you’d want to hear without being able to see the person it came from. He took out his cards and began shuffling them, the images blurring between his hands. The other man stayed quiet, the light grey smoke forming a small, faint cloud around his head.
The cell stayed silent except for the faint ‘whooshing’ sounds of paper rubbing against paper as Remy continued to shuffle his cards. He glanced around the cell again; his eyes now accustomed to the darkness were able to make out the tall, rusty candelabra full of half melted dark candles near the bunked beds. Along the wall near where the other man was currently standing, Remy spotted the outline of a door.
“Where’s dat door lead ta?”
“Bathroom,” The other man replied. He felt Remy’s eyes watching him so he continued, “This is maximum security, bub. That door,” He pointed with his cigar, “ain’t openin’ again unless Scooter decides ta toss in somebody else. Some inventor made some contraption that pumps in water. Forge or somethin’.”
‘Maximum security?’ Remy thought, taking a quick glance back at the steel covered door. “An’ why did ya get thrown in ‘ere?”
The end of the cigar glowed bright red as the man took another long drag, the silvery wisps of smoke curling around him, “Murder.”
Remy was definitely starting to think he shouldn’t have taunted the Chief Prison Guard.
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Darkness began to creep over the kingdom and Ororo and her sisters were sitting around the living room wondering what was keeping their father. She had told her sisters not to worry, but they were getting a little restless. He had been gone all day. This only happened when something was wrong in the village.
Rogue was staring out the front window, her green eyes focused on the center of town. Betsy was sitting calmly in the middle of the floor, the wrinkle of concentration right between her brows slowly getting deeper. Ororo knew she was searching telepathically for him, but also knew if he did not want to be found Betsy’s powers would not help.
Trying to keep herself from worrying, Ororo went to check on dinner. A few minutes later, she heard Rogue scream. Running back into the room, stirring spoon still in hand and ready to call lightning if necessary, she saw her two sisters involved in a pillow fight “ Betsy using her telekinesis to use more than two pillows “ both shrieking with laughter.
Ororo shook her head, “Are you two determined to destroy the house?” Betsy sent yet another pillow in Ororo’s direction. She managed to dodge, chuckling as Betsy frowned. Rogue used the distraction to her advantage and leapt on her older, purple haired sister, hitting her with the pillow she held in her gloved hands. Ororo was considering breaking them up when the door opened and Xavier walked in.
Taking one glance at the girls who were in the midst of what was quickly becoming a pillow war, he quietly shut the door and walked over to Ororo, ducking as a pillow flew in his direction. The amused twinkle in his eyes and the small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth were betraying the stern expression he was attempting.
“Hello father,” Ororo greeted, with a smile. The other two girls still hadn’t noticed he had entered the house.
Xavier placed a light kiss on Ororo’s forehead, “Good evening, Ororo.” He nodded towards the other two girls, “It appears as if Elisabeth and Rogue decided to begin their torment of each other early tonight.” Ororo nodded and Xavier carefully entered the living room, taking his seat in the armchair by the fire without them noticing him at all. He sent her a wink once he was seated and she knew he had used his telepathy to block them from seeing him.
Shaking her head again, Ororo returned to the kitchen to finish dinner, ignoring the death threats that were now being shouted. A few minutes later the front door opened again and Ororo peeked out of the kitchen in time to see Henry McCoy walk through the door. He waved at her as she smiled.
“Henry!” Rogue shouted, jumping up from the floor. Betsy waved, sending another pillow flying at her sister.
“Good evening Rogue, good evening Betsy,” The furry blue doctor greeted the two girls. He had become accustomed to their antics long ago. “I brought the information you requested earlier, Charles.”
The two adopted sisters turned, finally seeing Xavier sitting near the fire.
“Father, when did you get here?” Betsy asked, telekinetically gathering all of the pillows and putting them back in their proper places.
“Only a few minutes before Dr. McCoy arrived. You two were much too distracted to notice,” Xavier added with a chuckle.
Rogue opened her mouth to say something, but Ororo called from the kitchen that dinner was ready. Before she could get out what she was going to say, Betsy had grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the kitchen to help Ororo move dinner into the dinning room and set the table.
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“Father, what is going on within the village?” Ororo asked after Henry had departed and her sisters had retired to their beds for the night. He was sitting again in his chair by the fire, chin resting on the top of his interlaced fingers. Xavier looked as if he had no intention of telling her and Ororo started to regret asking in the first place, but she knew something was happening. Xavier and Dr. McCoy had been quiet during dinner, both wore a distracted expression. It was obvious to Ororo “ and probably to her sisters as well “ that they were engaged in a telepathic discussion.
Xavier sighed, looking up at the oldest of his adopted daughters. He had adopted her about a month after her birth. Her mother had been a woman that lived in a town a few miles away from the village. Xavier only knew her through Henry.
The two had been working together trying to develop better medicines, combining her knowledge of plants with his knowledge of biological science. Her husband was unknown to Xavier, but she had spoken of him the few times they had met.
Xavier was sitting in the living room of his modest home, reading by the fire. A sudden rumble of thunder shook the walls, causing Xavier to look up from his book in time to see dark storm clouds rolling in, blocking out the light from the moon. Another rumble of thunder accompanied by a flash of lightning came from the sky followed by a torrent of rain and a howling wind. Soon he saw his front gate wrenched open, slamming back against the rest of the fence. He didn’t notice the cloaked figure racing through the storm up to his front door until there was frantic banging at the door.
Wondering who could possibly be out braving this weather, Xavier rushed to the door, pulling it open just as another flash of lightning streaked across the sky. In the brief flash of light, Xavier recognized the cloaked figure as N’Dare, Henry’s friend. The last time he had seen her she was a little over 8 months pregnant. That was almost three months ago, but here she was at his front door, cloak flapping around her frame as the fierce wind tugged on it.
“N’Dare, what are you doing out in this weather?” Xavier asked, moving out of the doorway to allow her inside and out of the storm. It was then he caught the waves of panic that were coming off of her. In the next flash of lightning he saw the terror in her bright blue eyes. “N’Dare, come inside. What is wrong?” He reached out to pull her inside the house, but she instead shoved a bundle into his arms. Xavier looked down to see a baby wrapped in a dark cloth, white hair peeking out from underneath it, sky blue eyes lighting up as she giggled at the next boom of thunder, tiny brown fingers reaching out for the bolt of lightning that followed.
“Take care of my Ororo, Charles.”
Xavier tilted his head to return his gaze to N’Dare, but she had gone. “N’Dare?” He called, but there was no answer. Xavier closed the door, reaching out telepathically, trying to find N’Dare as he searched for a suitable place for Ororo to sleep. After fashioning a small bed out of the cushions from his couch and setting Ororo in the center of it, he focused his concentration on tracking down N’Dare. He kept searching for her without much luck.
Suddenly he felt a spike of pain emitting from the woods. He briefly felt the presence of N’Dare before it vanished.
The storm died out as quickly as it came as Xavier glanced over at the now sleeping child that had been placed in his care.
“Father?” Ororo asked after her father had been sitting in silence for a few minutes. He appeared to be lost in thought. ‘Perhaps I should just leave him to his thoughts.’
Xavier looked up at Ororo as if he had forgotten she had standing there, “I am sorry, Ororo, I was just reminiscing.” He straightened in his chair, “What was it that you asked?”
“Is there a problem in the village?”
Xavier hesitated, unsure if it was a wise idea to tell her. He and Henry were attempting to keep it as quiet as possible. After another moment, he nodded, “Unfortunately there is a very big problem in the village.” Ororo stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. Xavier sighed, closing his eyes.
“There has been another murder.”
