PROLOGUE
She had been staring at the sky for hours now; though she didn't really know when she first became aware of the expanse of blue. The last thing she remembered was opening her eyes to see the sky.
Finally sitting up, she brushed the grass and dirt off of her white sundress, wiggling her toes in the grass under her bare feet.
She ran a hand through her long fiery hair as she stood, glancing around at her surroundings. A large mansion sprawled before her; it was grey stone and very grand, trees and lawns spreading out around the back as well.
She sighed, contemplating whether or not to go up to the house and see if there was anyone there.
Deciding to risk it, and not seeing anything else to do, she headed toward the mansion, not noticing that there were children sitting against the sides of the house and under the trees.
She rang the doorbell and waited, nervously looking around the doorframe at the intricate patterns carved into the wood. A potted plant stood in a corner, with little lights decorating it.
The heavy wooden doors swung open and there stood an older man with a bald head and a very surprised expression on his face.
"My, god."
The woman raised her eyebrows and smiled slightly.
"Um, no. Not god; just lost. I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if I could borrow your phone?"
The man stood staring for a full minute; the woman's eyes ticked to the foyer behind him and back to man's face.
"Sir?" She frowned when he blinked and shook his head slightly.
"Yes, of course, this way,"
The man backed out of the doorway and looked down to her feet, taking in her bare toes.
The woman smiled, "Thank you."
She followed him down a long hallway, and was surprised to see little faces peering out of rooms as she passed; some seemed to recognize her, but they quickly turned back to what they were doing.
"Excuse me, sir, but may I ask what kind of a mansion this is?"
The woman stopped behind the man as he pulled open a set of wooden doors, motioning for her to follow him into a large office.
"You may; this is a, boarding school. There are a little over 35 children here, not including myself and the teachers,"
The woman smiled, and looked around for the phone. Not seeing one, she opened her mouth to ask where it was.
"The phone; tell me, who are you going to call?"
The woman's mouth snapped shut. She frowned, taking a step back from the man.
"What do you mean?" She tried to keep her voice steady and even but found it difficult.
"One moment," The man seemed to stare off into space for a moment and then a woman entered the room.
"Yes, professor?" She asked, before gasping at the sight of the woman.
The woman that had just answered had shock white hair and dark skin with deep brown eyes.
The woman smiled slightly in greeting before taking another step backwards.
"Ah, don't be afraid. My name is Charles Xavier, this is a former student of mine, Ororo Munroe," The woman smiled a bit more politely as Ororo dropped down onto a couch.
"Professor?"
The man, the professor, frowned slightly, "It could be a side effect,"
The woman grew annoyed, "I'm still here, you know. And I just wanted to use the phone,"
She stood and went to leave the room when two more young men entered the room, blocking her exit.
They both seemed shocked; one had sunglasses of with straight brown hair while the other had a cigar in his mouth with fuzzy sideburns and shaggy dark brown hair. The second man seemed a little rougher around the edges.
"Okay, this is just getting weird; do I know all of you or something?"
"You tell us, Jean," the professor spoke from behind her and she whirled around.
"Is that my name?"