AN: I don't own any of the X-Men Characters. I do own Aithne and Kelpie, however, Aunt Erika, the story-line, and all animal characters she converses with, including the gang members :P. Vixen belongs to one Melody S. (an ex-friend of mine), Aquifer belongs to Rob G. (soon-to-be famous fantasy writer!), Sensherak (aka Alan) belongs to an ex-online/rpg-bf whom no longer speaks to me. Phew! If I've missed anyone, let me know :P

If any of you have read my bio, you'll know that I'm not fluent at Gaelic at all, I only know a few words and phrases. If any of you happen to know Gaelic, and I make a mistake, please, let me know, it's the only way I'm gonna learn! There are some Gaelic words in here that I've acquired through reading and such. Athair means father; mathair means mother and àillidh means beautiful.

Please review, guys, as it keeps me in good spirits and in the writing mood. At the moment, I'm merely doing this as a pastime but I'm back in school now so I'm going to need some motivation to continue posting.

PROLOGUE

Six-year-old Aithne MacGealach woke from a deep sleep and sat upright in her bed. Something had roused her. Something bad. What was it?

She stiffened. There it was again. That strange pressure in her head. She rubbed a hand over the skin above her eyes as if trying to dislodge whatever was stuck there. Something wasn't right.

Suddenly she just had to find her parents. As if with a mind of their own, her legs swung over the bed and she slid to the floor barefoot. Quietly tip-toeing past her younger sister, she made her way from the room and down the darkened hallway. The pressure was still there behind her eyes and she rubbed at them to relieve the pain.

Stopping before her parent's bedroom door, she peeked inside. The two were curled up together, her athair's arm around her mathair's stomach. She felt her fear abate a bit and love fill her heart, even as a thought totally alien to her flashed across her mind. How I hate them!

Aithne gasped. Where had that come from? She didn't hate her parents! She loved them!

Sniveling brat, came the voice again. It wasn't hers, it was an older woman's, someone her mathair's age. And evil. At that thought, the voice laughed, a high cackling sound that reminded her of the Wicked Witch of the West.

A sharp pain suddenly filled her head and she cried out, grabbing her temples. The sound awakened her mother, who blinked and asked groggily, "Aithne, dear? What's the matter?"

The pain intensified at the sound of her mother's sweet, kind voice and Aithne whimpered. "Mathair, my head hurts!"

Her mother frowned and held out a hand to Aithne. "Come here, honey. You can lay down here until it gets better."

Aithne tried to move, but her limbs wouldn't obey her. What was going on? Why couldn't she move? Why did her head hurt so?

The laughter filled the recesses of her mind again and Aithne stumbled to the floor, crying out as the pain increased tenfold. Her eyes started to burn, yet they made no tears. Something inside her was shifting.

Suddenly her mother was beside her, pulling her into her lap. But Aithne realized something wasn't quite right and tried to struggle away, crying from the pain.

"Hold still, honey, it's okay."

"Mommy," her voice said very small. "Mommy, help. My head hurts bad! There's a bad woman inside me!"

Her mother froze at that. "Allan, wake up!" she said loudly. "Allan!"

Her father stirred. "What's goin' on?" he asked groggily.

"Aithne says there's a bad woman inside her head! Allan, could it…?"

Her father was on his feet in an instant and then was kneeling next to the hysterical Aithne. He took her in his arms and held her tightly but gently. "Aithne, listen tae me, àillidh. Ignore the lady and listen tae me voice. I need ye tae push her away, àillidh."

Aithne's mouth opened, but it wasn't a child's voice that came out. A woman's sultry voice echoed as she laughed, "Too late, now, Allan. I've gotten a good hold on her. Goodbye, my brother."

And then it was Aithne's voice that sounded as she screamed. Pain engulfed her and her eyes began to feel like they were on fire. Heat exploded from her body and she heard her parents scream….