New fanfiction that I have already wrote the first three chapters of. This is an AU that takes place around the time of First Class, where Erik and Charles have the school up and running. However, they notice a certain presence trying to attack their school and destroy their mutants. So, they recruit more skilled mutants including Rosa (which this story centers around).
Title is from the song Light by Sleeping at Last; check them out, their music is truly beautiful.
Enjoy!
Rosa traced the plastic waist of the barbie doll in her delicate hands. Subsequently, she sighed when she looked at her own body and realized that she still was not as skinny as a barbie. She was sitting on the floor of her one room apartment with her legs crossed in front of her. She wore black stockings and a long sweater that her mother had bought her.
"You look like a bag of bones," her mother had said, "the least you can do is try to look like you have some padding on that body of yours."
Rosa had smiled at the compliment.
A small knock on her door brought her to attention, causing her to drop the barbie doll on the ground. Rosa stood up slowly, or else the all to familiar dizziness would return to her. She strode over to the white wooden door that separated her from the outside world. At the door, she outstretched her long, thin fingers to turn the brass doorknob. Her reflection was distorted in the doorknob but made her feel insecure none the less. She opened the door and revealed two men, one in a brown leather jacket and a black sweater and black pants, the other in a nice two piece suit.
"Rosa Attlee?" the man in the suit said, offering a small smile. Her eyes were absorbed in the other man, who stared at her with the most curious expression.
"Yes, that's me," Rosa said lightly. The man with the brown jacket turned his head downwards, observing her body. She wrapped her arms around her thin waist and tried to hide herself, but it was no use. The man was prying with only his eyes, so Rosa focused on the one talking.
"I'm Charles Xavier," he said, extending his arm to meet Rosa's hand. He winced a bit when their hands connected, after he felt how cold she was. The room was rather warm.
Rosa gestured for the two men to come in. They walked in, one after the other with Charles leading. Both of them observed the messy room, Charles' eyes landing on the barbie in the middle of the floor. The other man finally spoke, "Erik Lensherr," he said. Rosa shook his hand, bidding the same confused reaction at recognizing the temperature of her hand.
"What do you two need?" Rosa asked in a curious voice. She wiped at the light brown hair that covered her neck. The action drew both of the men's eyes to her neck. She insecurely flipped her hair back in front of her.
"We know you're a mutant," Charles said strictly. Rosa licked her lips and furrowed her brow. her dark eyebrows followed the squinting of her eyes.
"Right," She replied in amusement.
Erik smirked at Rosa, lifting the small tele in her room by simply looking at it. He wavered it in front of her, almost mockingly, and then set it back down in its rightful place. Meanwhile, Charles just watched Rosa's reaction. She felt his presence in her head and instantly kicked him out.
"Don't do that again," She warned him. He looked offended.
"Your turn," Erik smiled. Rosa obeyed, allowing her mind to concentrate on their life lifted them slowly from the ground until their heads almost hit the ceiling. Then, she allowed them to float back down until their feet hit the carpet floor carefully. Charles clapped and Rosa allowed myself to preform a small bow.
"Lovely," Erik said, turning his head lightly to the side. She made eye contact with him and kept it for a few seconds, much like how she did when she first saw him outside her door. She studied his sculptured body, wondering why he chose to hide it so well behind his black turtleneck. He looked a bit goofy in clothes from years ago.
"What do you need?" Rosa questioned.
"We would like you to join us, at our humble abode," Charles replied. "We've been searching for mutants all over and well, you popped up on the radar."
"There's nothing here for me," Rosa sighed. Of course, her mother would be just heartbroken with her sudden disappearance, as would her stepfather. With the thought of her family, Rosa also called into question her ex boyfriend who tended to come around from time to time to remind her of her rightful place in this world. As a whore; a good for nothing slut.
"Good, shall we leave?" Erik questioned. The two men exited the room and Rosa followed solemnly, glancing back at her room and whispering a small goodbye to it before following the two men out of the room.
Rosa was shown her room of the large mansion named Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters as soon as they arrived. It had taken a few hours to get there, and Rosa's legs felt cramped after stepping out of the car. Once in her room, she observed the place with her keen eyes. There was a nice bed positioned by some windows, and a dresser for some clothes. The room was small and quaint, with a bookcase next to the door and a chair facing the case. The walls were creme colored, the bedsheets matching. Curtains covered the window, allowing only light rays of the sun to make their way into the room. Rosa had brought nothing with her, so she found it pointless to spend much time dwindling about. Charles had asked her to join him in the dining room for dinner and introductions in twenty minutes, and with twenty minutes to spare, Rosa set off about exploring the castle.
Across the room from her, she heard noises of excited children. It was separated from the rest of the house with a large wooden door, similar to her own that she dared not go near, so Rosa continued on her way. She walked down the hallways, glancing at the woodwork on the delicate walls, tracing patterns with her fingers. It wasn't long before she came across Charles talking with a blonde haired women and a young brown haired male with glasses. They were talking about something regarding another man. They were standing in a sun-lit room with a few couches and tables to accompany the furniture. Rosa disregarded the conversation and turned forward. She came to a dead end eventually and stared at the wall in front of her. The hallway ended in two doors. One of them opened, revealing a tired looking Erik in the same turtleneck as before. Looking past him, Rosa could see that this was his room.
Erik graciously looked over her and straightened the wrinkles in his sweater. Rosa watched curiously.
"What are you doing here?" Erik asked.
"The better question is what are you doing here?" Rosa shot back, defensively.
"This is my room."
"Good excuse," Rosa said, shaking her head, and looking down at her feet. "I was wandering the hallways so I could find my way around in case of an emergency."
Erik nodded. Rosa crossed her arms over her chest. The two both stared at each other in silence for a few minutes before he parted his lips.
"We should get to dinner," Erik said. He walked past Rosa, leading the way. She followed him through the labyrinth of hallways and wondered how she would ever be able to find her way around here. It took a few minutes filled with an awkward silence until they arrived in a large dining hall with copious amounts of food across a table fit to sit tens of peoples. Erik walked away from Rosa, towards the blonde she had seen Charles talking to. The exchanged a few words that ended with both their glances on Rosa's body. More people started to arrive, including Charles himself.
"How does it look Rosa?" Charles asked with enthusiasm. The girl turned around and faced him.
"It's pretty here," she said. The man with the glasses appeared behind him, and eventually ten more mutants arrived in the room with their eyes all on Rosa. Some came in pairs, but they all murmured something about her to one person or another. Eventually, she felt my eyes starting to sting with newly formed tears. So many eyes were on her, looking at her body and say something about it to the person next to them. With pressure building, Rosa found herself leaving the dining room before Charles had even started the feast. She walked quickly away from the concentration of mutant and focused on how to return to her room. However, she only found herself ending up at Erik's room. So, she retraced her steps and passed the room where she saw Charles. Eventually, she made it to her new room. She threw herself inside of it, and collapsed onto her bed in a fit of tears.
They were all looking at her body, her fat, thick body she told herself. Her eyes were forced into the detergent smelling bed spread and she cried into it, feeling just as alone as she did in her own apartment. After a few minutes, she calmed down and crawled to the top of her bed, hugging her knees. She stayed there for a few moments until a soft knock on her door forced her to open her mouth and speak.
"Come in," she beckoned softly to whoever was there. The door opened and Charles appeared, looking distressed.
"What happened?" he asked curiously, closing the heavy wooden door behind him. It closed with a click, and Charles quickly strode over to Rosa. Her wet eyes were still red, so she kept her head facing down.
"There were so many people," she mumbled. "So many people, and they were all looking at me!"
"I'm sure they were just wondering who you were, hence the whole arrangement of the feast. They're teenagers, they're going to pass judgement. It's up to you to prove them wrong."
Rosa made eye contact with Charles. "I've had my share of proving people wrong," she said, remembering the start of her own self hate. "Doesn't end well."
Charles sat carefully on the edge of the bed. When Rosa didn't shift away, he further positioned himself to be closer to her.
"This is different from anything you've ever done," he said lightly. "It's not a matter of weight."
Rosa shifted uncomfortably on the bed after realizing that he knew about her disorder. Charles sighed when he realized what he said.
"My apologies- it was there when I first looked into your mind. Actually, it was there the second time too and it's still there now." His eyes turned a concerning shade. "I don't know what happened when you were a child or a teen, but I'm not going to let you live like this any longer. I know you told me not to do it again, and believe me I truly promise that I will not. Come, eat dinner with us." Charles lightly reached for Rosa's hand. She extended it from her body unsurely, but gripped his warm hand, feeling the warmth radiate to her own. "Your hands are always so cold," Charles chuckled, standing up and then subsequently allowing Rosa so slide off the bed. She was led back to the dining hall by Charles, who constantly looked behind him to make sure that she hadn't run off again.
Everyone at the table was already seated, and there were only two seats left open. One was positioned at the head of the long, narrow table and one was between the familiar looking blonde girl and a girl with jet black hair. Charles left Rosa to find the empty seat while he headed towards the head of the table with Erik on one side, and the brown haired boy on the other. Once Rosa was seated, Charles started his announcement.
"For those of you who don't know, though I'm sure you've all heard the rumors, we are being targeted by unknown forces. While it seems as if everything is fine for now, Erik and myself have taken it upon ourselves to arm the house and the children in it with new mutants. Now, these mutants will either be going to school here or they will be given a job whether it be to teach, to train, etcetera." He paused in his speech to catch his breath. "The first mutant has been located and joins us here today. Rosa, please stand up."
Rosa stood up awkwardly, bumping into the white tablecloth in front of her as she did. The girls around her laughed for a second and then stopped. Rosa twisted her head to observe the crowd. Most of them looked around twenty or thirty, and there were about twenty people all looking at her. Her knees felt as if they were about to buckle, when Charles saved her from saying anything.
"While we're still discussing her role here, her power remains extremely useful. Rosa harnesses the ability to lift and move any living organism, including humans. She will be staying in the teenager hall in room twenty two if any of you need her assistance." Charles moved his hand towards Rosa and she sat down carefully. Her heart dropped dramatically when she realized that teenagers were surrounding her. It dropped more when Charles broadcasted the ability to eat, and hands reached in all different directions to grab at stake, chicken, turkey, rice, beans, bread. Rosa sat still, feeling the bile in her stomach rise. The girl next to her took notice of her empty plate as she was filling her own with mashed potatoes.
"Want some?" she asked in a lavish voice, her warm smile burning through Rosa's cold face.
"No thanks."
"Hey, you're welcome here okay? I'm Raven," the blonde put the bowl of mashed potatoes back down onto the table, and offered Rosa her hand. Rosa shook it.
"Rosa," she mumbled lightly. For a second, Raven smiled at Rosa before reaching for her fork and knife. She cut into her steak, sticking a piece of the delectable meat between her lips before speaking again.
"So you move living things, huh?" she asked, chewing between words. Rosa nodded. "That's awesome! I guess you're sort of like Erik, right? Considering he moves metal."
Rosa offered a peek at Erik, who was in deep conversation with Charles. However, his eyes swiveled to meet her cold ones after a few moments. Rosa broke the stare and returned to her conversation with Raven.
"What's your power?" she asked.
Raven shoved another piece of the cow into her mouth, chewing slowly this time. "I can basically transform myself into any person," she said. Rosa placed her arms in her lap, when suddenly Raven's clear complexion turned from stark white to a dark blue. Scales lined her body and her clothes disappeared. Her hair turned a sheer red, and went down to her shoulders.
"Awesome," Rosa replied, offering a smile. Raven nodded.
"I mean yeah, it's cool but this stinks," she gestured towards herself as she switched her body back to her previous one. Rosa felt a sense of comfort when realizing that Raven also felt uncomfortable in her true body. For the rest of dinner, she continued to watch over all the mutants while they ate and conversed with each other. Some of them had abnormal deformities to their body, while some remained looking much like a normal human. Everything changes once you dig into genes, and it interested Rosa. For a while, she stared at her empty plate until she noticed people leaving the table. It had been an hour since she first sat down, and it seemed as if dinner was over. Most people left their plates on the table so she did the same, and stood up in order to get back to her bedroom of solidarity with a side of teenage excitement.
The end of chapter 1! I hope you liked it, if you do don't forget to follow, favorite, review, anything to let me know you enjoyed it. It helps me write more and then you get to read more.
So sorry about the slow start, next chapter will be a bit slow save for a surprise twist at the ending and then it should kick up into the main story line. Thanks for reading.