South East England - 11:08 pm - February 1st, 1958
Moonlight was the only thing illuminating through the half-open shades of the well-sized apartment room, splitting pain was what awoke young Charles Xavier from his already light sleep. He shot up from his sleeping position with a loudly audible gasp, covered in cold drips of sweat and held both hands over his eyes and started to rub fingers desperately over his forehead. Pain had started in his forehead and had quickly started to spread through what felt like his entire head.
The excruciating burning sensation didn't cease anytime soon, in fact, the pain continued on for what felt like hours for Charles before it became even more intense and all he could remember was his eyes beginning to fuzz into darkness and pass out. Waking up to his alarm that next morning Charles' blue eyes snapped open in an instant, his head was still killing him but it had dulled to what felt like a migraine instead of the pain that had been so bad he had passed out from it.
Letting his alarm beep blaring over and over he finally reached and hit his shaky fingers over the snooze button without getting up. His entire body felt dry not unlike last night, but it felt sticky and stuck to his bed sheets that his own sweat had somewhat glued him to. Very slowly and cautiously Charles pushed himself to sit up and made a face at the feeling of being stuck to the sheets and proceeded to peel himself from the fabric so that he could go shower the feeling off and maybe soothe some of the aches inside of his mind.
Showering did help, but not with his head, powering through the feeling Charles cleaned up and dressed himself in a blue cardigan. Made himself a simple breakfast of tea and some buttered toast before grabbing his readied bookbag and heading out the door for his usual routine day.
College, and school in general, had always been easy for Charles. He was quite brilliant and at the young age of nineteen, he was close to finishing up his degree in the Genetics field. So the fact that he had a migraine that he was nursing throughout the day and had a hard time paying attention to teachers didn't worry him much, a single day of spacing out wouldn't harm his grades any.
"You feeling ok today Charles? You're awfully quiet." he'd heard several of those throughout the day and quite a few comments similar to that by his friends at school and one concerned Professor. "I'm fine, just another one of my migraines made an appearance last night." was always his response, migraines were nothing new to the young scholar and he'd dealt with them on occasion through his entire life.
A migraine wasn't a big deal to him, the pain last night had been very startling but Charles was trying to brush it off as a bad dream or an overreaction to waking up and feeling the pain...it had never happened before but it was over so he just wanted to forget it. Drifting through his day, which included picking up groceries and having a pleasant chat with the usual flirtatious girl at Register 4 with the brown hair, he finally headed home.
That night was no better rest for Charles than the previous one, he didn't wake up in searing pain but instead felt awake as he dreamt of a place. The room he had stepped into was a mixture of decor in reds and golds, the style and the way the tables were set up near a bar and with a big dance floor behind them made it look like a ballroom.
Sitting at the bar, was a woman, and she was facing towards the bar and away from Charles as she sipped on some fruity drink. Stepping to the side to get a side glance at her the woman looked no older than mid-thirties with fair skin, bright blond and long hair and wearing purely white clothing. Her boots notably had some rhinestones speckled around and white fuzz around the edges.
Setting down her pink colored drink she tilted her head to show him an award-winning smile, "Well? Don't just stand there sugar, come sit down so I can get a better look at you." Unlinking her feet from how they were crossed the woman pushed the stool next to her out a few inches as an invitation for Charles to sit, he hesitated but finally took the seat offered.
Clearing his throat of the lump that had formed and kept him silent, finally he said, "My name is-" "Charles." the blond woman cut him off though with her smile never fading. Extending one of her hands she touched his cheek ever so gently, stroking her thumb over his freckled cheek. "I know who you are, you're beautiful...you're all so beautiful."
The hand didn't feel threatening, in fact Charles felt more relaxed now than he had moments ago even as she retracted the touch. "I-I'm dreaming, hah.."
"Yes, and no. I don't have much time until my consciousness fades and I'll simply be an echo so I need to tell you a few things Charles. You're going to start experiencing some things, things with your own mind and things with other people...specifically three other people. I need you to know that you aren't crazy." Her smile had softened and every moment that flew by seemed to make it shrink on her face.
"I've had many children over the years, but you are the first who is like me sugar...I'm happy I got to meet you before I fade away." Feeling a shudder run through his shoulders at those last words Charles swallowed hard around the lump that was trying to reform in his throat, "What do you mean fade away, you're dying?"
"Yes, I've used up the rest of my energy giving birth to my last four children. Charles, I have to go now but remember, you are not crazy, the things about to happen to you are completely real. The people you are going to meet are real and they will be more important to you than you will realize." The beautiful woman then pushed herself to stand up from the bar and tipped her head back to swallow the last of her fruity drink with grace.
"Wait wait! This feels way too real even though I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming, what even is your name!?" Charles said a bit loudly due to his anxiety starting to rise, he felt like something was about to happen. Like he could physically feel Emma starting to fade even though she looked and felt real right in front of him. "How rude of me, my name is Emma Frost. Thank you for being born, I love you Charles."
Similar to the previous day, Charles awoke to his blaring alarm, sitting up quickly with dry sweat stuck to his body along with his having been fresh bed sheets. Great, he'd have to wash them again. That thought quickly wiped from his mind and he hit the snooze button, then let himself slide back down into his bed. Staring at the ceiling Charles touched a hand over his heart, it ached as if the pain from his mind had spread over to his chest.
No, it was different, less of a physical pain and more of an emotional one. "Minds can't make up faces right? But I would definitely remember seeing someone like her if I'd met her..." his soft and croaky morning voice muttered to himself trying to rationalize all of this. After a short time of no succes Charles decided it was something best thought over with a nice hot shower.
Southern Wisconsin, US - 5:08 pm - February 1st, 1958
Her entire evening had been a drag, Raven could remember thinking several times that she wished someone would trip her and she would fall so that she could get out of finishing her late shift for that evening. The chain restaurant she worked at had been working her to the bone for the last few months since they'd lost a lot of their younger employees who had gone back to school.
At nineteen she still didn't have her life figured out but she was more than happy to be out of the orphanage she'd been brought up in, even if it meant living with three other girls in a really shitty apartment across town and working where she did. She'd been working there over a year and had plenty of experience, but that didn't mean she didn't get exhausted from rude customers and lousy tippers.
Stopping by the bathroom for a quick five-minute break before she would have to get back to running tables Raven washed her hands and proceeded in tying up her long blond hair into a ponytail, she regretted not doing it earlier in the day. A lot of the time she had noticed that men would tip her better when her hair was down, but she could focus much easier with her hair up and out of her face.
Rubbing her hands over both of her cheeks Raven sighed loudly and then put on a big smile since the bathroom was empty, "Alright, just a few more hours and you're home free girl. You can do this!" Giving herself a little pep-talk she pulled out a cherry tube of lip balm to apply and stuff it back into her jean pocket, only to have her tiny woman pockets decide to spit it back out when she didn't push it in far enough and it went tumbling along the bathroom floor.
"Dammit." Walking over she crouched down, trying to avoid touching the floor at all costs but reached out for her lip balm. "Ow, uhn...where did that come from?" she muttered and retracted her hand and pressed it against her forehead. A burning pain had spasmed through the front of her head and wasn't relenting, in fact it felt like it was spreading all over her head.
Her bare knees painfully hit the tiled floor and with a last little effort to not flash someone if they came into the bathroom Raven pushed her skirt down once before the pain became too much and her vision was fading. She felt the small crack of her head hit the grimy tiles of the bathroom before Raven lost all consciousness.
When she woke up it wasn't until the next morning when she was able to peel open her blue colored eyes to look at the sterilized white ceiling of the hospital room she was laying in. Her long hair was splayed out beneath her on the bed and she raised a hand to rub one of her temples, "Nnn.." she groaned, a nurse noticed and peeked her head in. "You're awake." with a soft smile.
"Don't worry, your co-workers brought you in when they found you collapsed on the bathroom floor. From what they told us you've been overworking yourself a ton lately so you were probably just a mixture of exhausted and dehydrated." well that explained why she was hooked up to an IV as she flicked her eyes from the IV bag and back to the nurse.
"Um...thank you? Does that mean I can leave?" The fiery feeling inside of her head was still bothering her but she chalked it up to hitting her head on that damn disgusting tile floor.
"Most likely, the Doctor will be in soon to check you out but I'm sure he'll release you. I hope you have a good rest of your day Miss." the nurse said politely and straightened her rainbow scrubs once before leaving the room. As promised the Doctor checked her head and reflexes, just a few things before she was cleared before being sent back out on her own.
Getting a taxi and heading back to her apartment Raven headed inside, kicking the door closed behind her and locking it with habit before hanging up her bag and coat. It had felt nice to get out of that ugly hospital gown but she was very ready to get into some comfortable pajamas and just sit on the couch for the rest of the day and rest, after all she wasn't letting something like this stop her from going back to work tomorrow. She would have gone in for another evening shift today if her doctor hadn't scolded her so heavily and told her to rest up.
Pulling on some flannel and blue PJs Raven sprawled herself out on the loveseat and lumpy couch her roommates owned but rarely used. The three of them were good people, but like her they just had been dealt a bad start to life and been having a harder time getting on their feet. Also like her they seemed to have given up somewhat on making things better and instead chose to stay in a state of purgatory type of life, enjoying what they could when once in awhile one of them would manage a small thing of weed, and otherwise working their butts off at crappy low paying jobs to live.
Snagging the remote for their small tv that was so old it still had bunny ear antennas but somehow had been rigged up to work through sheer determination on Irene's part, who was one of her roommates and definitely the one Raven was closest with. Flicking it on Raven barely paid attention to what she'd chosen, the noise was just comforting and she listened as the soap opera played and she curled up with a pillow and blanket laying on the other side of the couch.
A day of rest probably did her body good, especially since she was still nursing the migraine she had mentioned to the doctor. He had suggested what she had assumed, that it was from hitting her head when she'd passed out the previous day and if the pain didn't cease or desist after a few days or grew worse, then he would want to take some brain images to check that everything was alright.
Napping throughout the day Raven had a very lazy morning and afternoon. Hearing the door open and boots shuffling inside Raven found a smile pulling at her face. "Welcome home Irene!" Stepping around the hallway wall and into their small living room then stood Raven's roommate and arguably best friend, Irene Adler, who was gorgeous even in her fast food work attire and her short brown hair shuffled under the work assigned hat.
Smiling back Irene walked over and plopped herself down onto the opposite end of the couch, giving enough way for Raven to pull her feet out from under her butt and move them into her lap. "You scared me half to death when I got that message on the machine from you...in the hospital. You doing ok Rave?" Her warm hands fiddled with Raven's toes playfully through the blanket.
"Feeling much better other than a headache, no idea what came over me but...I guess resting for today was good for me."
"Damn right it is, you work harder than Bobby, Kitty and me all combined! Just make sure to tell me if you need anything, you know I'm here for you." a warmth spread through Raven's chest hearing that, if she could consider anyone in this world family it would be Irene. "Thanks, I know. If you're not busy I'd really just like to sit on the couch with you and complain about customers and maybe watch some of this drama show that's playing a marathon."
"Love to." the other girl smiled and tore off her hand that smelled heavily of frying grease.
Both girls fell asleep later that evening, they had moved to be sitting next to each other and pulled several of the blankets from the house around them, they didn't have much money to spend on the heating bill so there were blankets for days hidden around. Cuddled up together Irene's head was resting on Raven's shoulder, and Raven's shoulder leaning back against the couch, her long blond hair dangling over the back as both of them snored gently.
Raven never dreamt, never had or at least could never remember her dreams. That night was different, she had opened her eyes and suddenly she had been standing in a large ballroom that was coated in layers of red and gold trimming. Just faintly Raven could swear she felt rocking under her feet, as if they were on the ocean but she couldn't see anything past the walls of red and the door that was spray painted a tacky gold.
Turning her eyes towards the bar she noticed there was a woman standing there that she hadn't seen before. Wearing all white, the outfit was a bit revealing but the blond woman could pull it off easily, even from a side view the other blond was a bombshell. "...Hello?" she called over, "Am I dreaming?" Raven looked at her hands and clenched them a few times, as if testing her senses if things felt normal.
Finally speaking the other woman said, "My name is Emma Frost. You're Raven aren't you sugar? Come here." she extended a hand as an invitation to come closer.
It was odd to describe but Raven felt no menace coming from this woman, Emma as she called herself, so she approached and took the hand to shake. Emma started laughing, "How polite! I love that about you Raven, I wish I could get to know you better but I don't have much time. I still need to greet the others and my time is fading."
Tilting her head in confusion Raven pulled her hand back, "Fading? Others?"
"I'm not much longer for this world, as I've given too much of my strength to gift my four last children with something...special. You are one of them, my last daughter. I want you to know that along with the migraine sticking around, you're going to experience some oddities with your body and...probably see some people that seem not to be there."
Clearing her throat the younger blond put a hand up right away, "Ok I'm dreaming, this is just stress getting into my head I'm sure."
"Not at all, everything that is going to happen to you is going to be very real. You aren't crazy sugar, this power is going to be great but it will be hard for you." Looking a bit frustrated with herself Emma said, "I fear I spent too much time with one of your brothers and I have to cut this shorter than with him. I'm sorry, just know that you aren't crazy, and I love you so much...I know it was hard and you feel abandoned by your biological parents but if I weren't about to fade into an echo...I would have loved to be there for you in every way you needed."
Feeling a slightly panicked emotion beating inside of her chest Raven reached a handout and touched Emma's shoulder, "Wait, don't go I-I feel weird!" But the older woman took Raven's soft hand in both of her own warmly and squeezed it in a reassuring way, "Take good care of the others, they're capable but very much...boys, you know how boys get into trouble without a strong lady to beat their asses once in a while."
"Wait!" The younger girl cried out but before she could grab Emma, Raven found herself awake and having jolted up from the couch and slipped, falling onto the carpet floor from tripping in the many blankets that were still wrapped around her and Irene. Her cuddle partner had woken up from the swift movement, "Nnn hey, you ok Rave?"
Looking around frantically Raven could feel the pain in her head festering a bit and she shook her head, "I have no idea..."
FBI Headquarters, Washington D.C, US - 6:08 pm - February 1st, 1958
There wasn't much to say about Hank McCoy, at least not if you asked him about himself. He often felt too scrawny for nineteen and that all of the muscle he should have had gone to his brain instead, having graduated Harvard at the age of fifteen. The young man barely managed to grow scuff on his chin and cheeks which infuriated him to no end, same went for his inability to get himself to put contacts into his eyes to rid himself of the glasses he'd been wearing pretty much out of the womb.
Hank didn't do much outside of work at the FBI building in Washington D.C, where he'd been working for the last two years and planned to be for a very long time if not forever. He liked the work well enough, fixing computers and running security for the building and every so often taking care of minor injuries when the agents there neglected themselves.
Not being much of a people person Hank was very shy, he had a hard time connecting with others even if it was obvious the people were making conversation with him.
Having been at work already two more hours than he'd been scheduled Hank finally was packing up his office, putting papers away and filing them in the right places and shutting down his computers properly and leaving the ones up that the agents would need through the night. Not forgetting to grab his pager, it felt old fashioned but he was technically on call most nights in case servers went critical and he would need to rush in to save the day.
It wasn't as if he didn't feel appreciated, Hank was constantly thanked at work by most of the agents, on a few occasions they had even bought him cake or donuts and he hadn't had the heart to tell him that he wasn't that fond of sweets like that.
No, he just usually preferred to be by himself and not to connect with others. Not even calling his parents very often who lived a few states over in Indiana.
Content with his clean up Hank grabbed the keys for his office, ready to leave, go home and sleep for a while before getting up early and coming back to do his whole work routine over again like every day. Instead, as he grabbed his keys a fiery pain blossomed through the front of his head, quickly pulling off his glasses Hank held a hand to his brow.
Lists of things that could have set off such a pain started to list through his mind, if he stopped by the med lab quickly he could probably find something to numb it so that he could get home and sleep it all off. Before he could even make it to his office door and open it, Hank's head became so overwhelming that he fell over and passed out quickly.
Never having been one to tolerate pain that greatly Hank awoke during the night and found himself unfound and unmoved. Struggling to get up he groaned and still held his pained head, "Guess everyone thought I was just having another late night and didn't want to bother me..." he smiled a little bitterly to himself, it was his own fault for not socializing more. If he did then maybe someone would have stopped by to say goodnight to him and found him passed out on the ground of the office.
Med bay would be locked and Hank really didn't feel like filling out an incident report so he proceeded in locking up and going home. Driving a little quickly in hopes that he didn't have another spell and passed out or get dizzy while he drove, maybe not the smartest thing for a genius to do but he did it anyway.
Living only fifteen minutes from work Hank owned his home already even at nineteen years of age, people often let him know how jealous they were of what he'd accomplished so young and Hank usually shrugged it off. Walking into his home and passing the almost unused living room, kitchen and several other rooms the young man made his way to his bedroom and curled up into the red flannel sheets.
Fidgeting or about an hour Hank managed a short nap and awoke at three in the morning before heading downstairs and going straight back to work. Stopping by his usual vending machines the teen bought several bottles of coffee and a few ready-meals he could pop into the microwave later when his stomach would start to growl.
Walking past the early morning break room one of the younger women employees smiled and gestured a wave, "In really early again today Hank?" Nodding as he sipped at his coffee the young genius made as little small talk as possible. "Yeah, got a few major things to work out in the system today so I thought I'd get a head start on it." Then proceeded in walking away.
"Ah ok, see you later if you come to the lunch room!" she called, it wasn't the first time she had invited him to eat with her and the others during lunch but each time he declined.
Making it back to his safe haven Hank downed almost his entire first coffee, hoping that pumping enough caffeine into his bloodstream would make the ache inside of his brain go away. No such luck for the young man, the ache in his head only seemed to hurt more with the caffeine and for the first in over a year Hank decided to leave earlier than six at night.
Only a little past noon Hank cleaned up his things, double checked all of the important systems and left with a mutter to himself, "Maybe I just need more sleep...it can't be stress, I know I'm not sick and it can't be anything serious. So why won't this headache just go away and let me work?"
All of the coffee kept Hank awake for another two hours even after he'd gotten home that he had fidgeted around his home cleaning a few things and then messing around with his personal computers. Falling asleep at his desk Hank began to dream, which to him was nothing new since he often dreamt, but never anything like what he was about to see.
Looking around Hank immediately frowned deeply, it looked like he was in a giant ballroom which meant parties, why would he dream about a party when that was the last thing on his mind. Normally he dreams about scientific discoveries or formulas, ok perhaps once or twice he'd dreamed of some of the beautiful girls at work like the one that often greeted him in the morning. But not for quite some time and never in a giant red room like the one he was dreaming about.
"Hey there sugar." said a beautiful blond woman, Hank was starting to think maybe he was wrong...maybe this was one of those dreams but just made stir crazy from his headache combined with the coffee. "I'm not a normal dream Hank, and no I'm not here for that sort of dream. I'm very real...at least for now, I am fading away.
Keeping hid distance there were possibilities running through the young genius' brain, they all just chalked up to him having a dream.
"I don't have a lot of time here Hank, my name is Emma Frost." she took a few long strides towards him and when the blond came close Hank took a tentative step back away. "Oh don't be shy sweetie, I want to get a good look at you before I have to leave." her eyes held a warmth to them that was almost motherly.
"Not much of a talker are you? That's ok, I already know a decent amount about you. You're brilliant...so smart and handsome. I'm so proud of you and all that you've accomplished, and of everything that you are going to accomplish." Meeting her eyes Hank blinked rapidly, "This doesn't feel like a dream...I've never wanted or needed confirmation that anyone thought much of me...but if you're any type of real how are you talking to me in a dream?"
A small giggle bubbled from Emma's lips, "You're a scientist, I'm sure you have many theories about abilities that are akin to almost magic. That's how, but I have limited time so let me tell you first off that I love you. You and your siblings are the closest things to children I can ever have again and I'm so happy I get to meet you before I fade."
Trying to take in every word that Emma told him Hank nodded, "Ah, it's...nice to meet you too?"
"I'm glad you say so, because me being here means your life is about to get harder. Soon your body is going to be doing some odd things, you're going to see more people almost like me that don't seem to be there even if you can interact with them." she started to explain, "You aren't crazy and soon things will become more clear. You just need to get through that initial hurdle and Hank...please don't push them away like you do everyone else."
Shrugging Hank immediately turned his eyes away, not making contact and becoming more self-conscious. "I don't push people away and I don't know these people you're talking about. I might really not like them."
"Trust me sugar, they're going to be like family to you, or closer in your situation. Try to trust me, I have to go now so please, be safe sweetie."
Despite the pounding in his chest that made Hank feel anxious he didn't say anything back and just watched as the dream faded away from him and he woke up at his desk. Staring into the dead but bright face of his desktop computer of the page he'd last left open. "Abilities...?"
Berlin, Germany - 12:08 am - February 2nd, 1958
Stepping through the doors to his messy apartment Erik tipped his head back and finished off the bottle of cold beer he'd been drinking and tossed it onto the floor where a few others and cans were left abandoned. His apartment was dark inside, just like outside and almost as cold. Earlier that day hadn't been that bad, it had gotten to a nice sunny high of almost 28F, but as the sunset and the wind picked up the temperature had dropped drastically almost to 0F.
Not that the cold had ever bothered the nineteen-year-old young man before, he'd lived in Germany his whole life and there had been times when he'd had no apartment or building to flee into from the cold. Just thinking about it Erik scratched his short nails over his forearm that was covered by his long sleeve gray shirt, he could practically feel the numbered tattoo like a scar underneath.
Even at his young age Erik had been through a lot, having been only six when the holocaust ended and his people had been set free of those awful concentration camps. By that age he had already lost all of his family and barely managed to survive himself due to the goodwill of some of the other inhabitants slipping the young child parts of their rations so he would not famish to nothing, borrowing him their ragged blankets so that he would not freeze to death. A lot of those people had died in his stead, he had watched many wither away in front of his young eyes.
Such an experience had hardened and warped him to an extent as it would anyone and the tattoo on his forearm reminded him of that every day. Growing up in foster care after foster care due to his own bad attitude and habits Erik only blamed himself, but had stuck around longest at the end with a harsh man whose wife had begged him for years for a child of her own.
He had taken Erik up in hopes that having an older child around would be less annoying for him but just as pleasing to his wife. Being somewhat right the man had been cruel but also useful, he must have felt some type of bond with Erik since he'd taught the boy all he knew about safecracking and stealing precious items in that sense.
That was where Erik was to the day, he would take jobs on occasion, some big and some small, sometimes for himself and sometimes for others as long as he would be paid well for what he was retrieving. Still, he didn't have much money, spending it quickly in both paying ahead for his apartment and on parties, drinking, gambling, anything pleasurable to him at the moment.
That evening he had just come back from drinking his evening away at the local bar called The Dying Star, his favorite, and where he always flirted with the older bar waitress there named Magda. She was very used to Erik popping in and staying long evenings, talking her ears off about this and that, she listened dutifully and made sweet conversation, she was a very kind woman.
Never once had he taken her up on the offer to take her home or vice versa though, it wasn't that he didn't want to but simply that Erik respected her too much. The young man knew he was very messed up, he would mess her up and if he slept with her then surely...surely he was going to fall deeply in love with her and never be able to let go. Then again he was drunk whenever he went there so what did he know what he was feeling.
Collapsing into his favorite leather armchair Erik leaned his head back and closed his eyes, "My head is killing me..." the pain was nothing at first, Erik had many normal days where he would wake up to pain from hangovers or where he would be unlucky and get the shit beaten out of him. That tended to happen when you worked in the type of lines that Erik did and had a smart mouth with no filter.
The pain only increased and spread, still he wasn't worried but moved to hunch over and hang his head between his knees with a small grunt of pain. "Dammit, I didn't even drink that much today!" With his vision fading all he could do was try to curl up in his chair and wait for sleep to overtake him in that position so that he wouldn't fall to the floor and wake up in a pile of his own vomit. Not again.
Waking up the next morning Erik lifted his arm to find that it was closer to afternoon than to morning, he swiftly wiped the drool from his lips and chin and stumbled into a standing position. "Good thing I don't fucking have to work today, my head is killing me..." he spoke to himself, often if he didn't then he wouldn't be talking to anyone anytime soon.
Instead of spending his day at the bar, more because he was close to being broke than because he didn't want to, Erik spent the last of his money on some dinner to cook up later and his favorite twelve pack of beer.
Evening came quickly and soon enough Erik's apartment was dark again but still he did not turn any lights on, he was just going to be getting drunk so why bother his senses with the light after all. The cold was starting to invade as well so after blowing warm air through his cupped hands for the tenth time Erik gave in and put some wood in his small stove to not only cook his dinner but warm the place.
Not too long after eating and finishing his beer Erik had curled up in his armchair and fallen asleep listening to the slow crackling of his stoves fire.
Normally when Erik dreamed, it was not of good things, the camps were the usual. Or maybe even his mother where it would start out great and turn twisted with her blood spread over the floors of a room. So when he looked around and found himself in a fancy ballroom coated with colors of red and a golden colored door, he blinked and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"Weird but...not unpleasant I guess. Where's the party at?" he muttered before a voice to the side answered him, "Erik, about time sugar. I've been waiting for you. My my so handsome and tall, taller than I'd guessed after you were such a tiny runt." An older but beautiful blond woman said with a warm but slightly cheeky smile on her face. "My name is Emma Frost."
"Alright?" he cocked an eyebrow and expected more. "I don't have much time Erik so I'll try to make this brief before I fade away. You're going to be experiencing some...oddities with your body soon and your mind. Just know that you aren't crazy, it's all going to be real, even the people you see that don't seem like they could really be there."
Erik didn't look like he was believing her one bit so Emma sighed gently, "I knew you were the stubborn one so I should have expected this. I don't think you're going to believe me until you meet the others, there are three and they are going to become important to you. Or at least I hope so, I hope for all of my children to love their Cluster's but I suppose it doesn't always happen."
"Ok lady you're really confusing me here, you show up in this weird room talking about Cluster's and fading away. This all just seems like a fever dream to me, brought on by booze and maybe some bad sausage that I ate." Putting a hand on his hip the young man put off a position of not caring in the least.
"As I said, I don't expect you to believe me since I know you're stubborn. I don't have time to argue semantics or explain much with you, at least not enough that would answer things instead of raising more and more questions. Remember this though, I love you Erik and no matter what you do I am so proud of you." A motherly feeling washed over Erik coming from the young woman named Emma.
Quickly trying to shake off the feeling he frowned and glared at the blond, he didn't want to feel that feeling ever again. Not after what had happened to his own mother, this woman could never replace her. "You love me? I don't even fucking know you! Piss off."
She only smiled though, "Don't worry I won't hold that against you. Take good care of the others, they're going to need your strength and you will need theirs."
His dream was cut short, Erik sat up quickly in his armchair awake as he heard gunshots from a neighboring apartment. It was normal but the sound had been startling enough to jump him out of the dream before he could have said anything more to Emma or learned anything. "Emma Frost, why does that name sound familiar?"
Running a single hand through his short but curly hair Erik muttered also, "I need a shower..." Meandering over to his small bathroom, it was early for Erik's usual sleeping schedule, often enough he slept until at least ten in the morning or later but as he relieved himself at the toilet Erik could feel the early morning chill settling through his bones.
When he was finished he let out a long yawn and stretched his arms far above his head, letting his pants drop to the ground and kicking them off. "A nice hot shower will do me some good." Moving his arms back and forth slowly Erik cracked one of his shoulders and his lower back before snapping his eyes open when he'd heard the sound of his shower suddenly running and steam filling the bathroom out of nowhere.
Behind his eggshell colored curtain, there was a person's shadow moving and a light hum in the air as the water ran. Looking around quickly Erik's instincts told him to grab his nearest weapon which happened to be one of his razor blades for shaving, he held it tightly but was careful not to cut himself with the sharp object. Holding it in a defensive position Erik used his free hand to slowly approach the shower.
Getting within range he grabbed the curtain and yanked it back, revealing a young man close to his age with semi-long brown hair and completely naked since he'd been showering. The other man's eyes grew wide and he screamed loudly before grabbed part of the curtain to cover his lower half, "Who the hell are you and why are you in my bathroom!?"
"Your bathroom, this is my bathroom!" Erik exclaimed back. "No it isn't, are you drunk or something, get the hell out!" the smaller man cried out and hadn't even noticed the razor in Erik's hand, which was being lowered slowly since he felt almost no threat from the young and naked man in his shower. He could easily overpower him with just bare hands.
"What?" Looking around the bathroom he noticed that no longer was it his darkly lit bathroom with the bare essentials. Instead, Erik saw yellow colored walls of a brightly lit bathroom, a shower curtain that had blue swirls on it that he did not recognize at all. "Where in the world am I then..?" Used to speaking to himself a lot Erik wasn't expecting an answer but got one anyways from the frantic young man pulling the curtain back to being closed to hide his naked body.
"An apartment near Oxford University you creep!" Letting the words sink in Erik looked around again before he asked in an exasperated tone, "In...England?"
A/N: I was really worried writing this that I was going to shortchange Hank and Raven because I'm not used to writing for so many characters in my fics. But I think I did alright, this story is definitely Charles and Erik centric but Hank and Raven are important of course as part of the Cluster-family.
Also, I'm torn right now who I want to deserve being with Raven, Hank or Irene...any preferences out there?
Pretty sure everyone got it also but since they live in different areas of the world they are in different time zones but all of the beginning of their pieces of the chapter is happening at about the same time. I think I got all of the time zones correctly. In fact I did my very best to get all of my facts right that I added to this like dates/times and etc so if you see something that is blatantly wrong or even misspelled or bad grammar please let me know, I'll fix it asap!
(So far the dates/things intentionally changed are 1. That everyone in the Cluster is the same age.)