Shortly after X2. Jean Gray is never Dark Phoenix, Cyclops never dies. Instead, something much worse happens. The school is destroyed, mutants are captured and made into servants, and the X-men are captured and imprisoned. The anti-mutants have won, and Magneto and his few supporters have made themselves scarce. There is no 'cure', though Leech has recently been found. This prologue simply tells the beginning of our hero's life… Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men. Any other relations to other materials or pieces of work are merely incidental, and I apologize in advance. I will not be repeating this as it applies to the full story.
Prologue
Ellen Sylva was delighted when her daughter was born.
Her husband, Joe Sylva, was angry. He wanted a son, and was only consoled by the fact that Ellen could try again, and give him the son he so desparately wanted. Until the doctor entered the room a few weeks later, and told them she couldn't have another child.
Joe was enraged. At his father's deathbed he'd promised to train his son in the arts of fighting, as his father had him.
Now he had a daughter. No son.
Ellen loved her dearly, so they christened her Aella Elma Sylva. Joe refused to eat for days, destroying twenty-two punching bags before he collapsed.
Once he woke up in his bed, Ellen at his side, she made a suggestion that would change their lives forever.
"Why don't you train Aella?"
Joe wasn't much of a thinker. It had never even occured to him to train a girl to fight. He didn't hate the idea. He would pass on his training and family secrets anyway.
Since Aella couldn't walk yet, Ellen made Joe promise not to train Aella untill she was five. He agreed, with the compromise of him at least teaching their daughter to make a fist.
When Aella was four, the Sylvas decided to homeschool her. It would be easier for Joe to make a training schedule.
Ellen taught her the alphabet. Joe waited for his turn.
On Aella's fifth birthday, Joe quit his job and dragged his daughter from the warmth of her bed to the cold of the basement training room.
Then it began. Joe taught Aella boxing forms and strategies, while Ellen watched from a distance. When Aella was six-and-a-half, it was clear she wasn't a boxer. So karate began. Then kung fu. Wrestling. Archery. Volleyball. She was terrible at them all.
Desparate, Joe took nine-year-old Aella to a professional.
"What's her style?" asked Joe, afraid of the answer.
The professional looked Aella up and down. He moved her arms. Asked for stances.
Finally, he nodded. "She's a fencer."
Joe felt a twinge of doubt. He knew nothing of the sword. He himself would also have learn in order to instruct her.
"Can you fence?" he asked the expert. The man smiled grimly, and the lessons began the next day.
The man's name was Sir John Alloham, and he took no jokes. He sat Joe down in a folding chair, and tuned his focus to Aella.
After an awkward moment's silence, he handed the nine-year-old a sword. He began instructing her on the most basic stance. He was shocked when she struck an advanced stance, and performed perfectly executed moves that were advanced even for him!
Angrily, Sir Alloham turned to Joe, who was equally as shocked. "IS THIS SOME KIND OF A JOKE?" he screeched. He took his cash, snatched his swords, and stormed from the room.
So Joe, after determining Aella had never touched a sword before, set out on a quest to find a better swordsman than her. The three Sylvas sold their home to voyage without an anchor in any place.
Joe failed his new quest miserably. Aella was, simply, the best.
When Aella was eleven, they bought a small apartment in Manhattan, and tried to settle down.
Every day, Joe made Aella practice her fencing, despite the fact she never got any better.
One day, she threw down her swords in disgust. "Why do I have to train?" she demanded. "Why?"
"So you'll be a warrior, my dear," replied Joe.
"I don't need to fight!" she yelled. "I just want to be a normal kid!" She clenched her fists, as her father used to force her to do constantly.
Her father drew back in fear and shock. Swords had sprung from her fists. Real, sharp, shining swords had come out of nowhere. Two of them.
Aella looked down, and gasped, gazing at her perfect swords that she had been born to use.
Her father pointed an accusing finger at his daughter. "You're one of them," he said. "You're a mutant!"
Ellen came from the other room and trembled. She cowered behind her husband from that monster of a daughter.
"Get out," she whispered. "Out of our home."
So Aella left. She took nothing. She unclenched her fists, and the swords disappeared, as if they had never been.
For nearly two months, she traveled the country, taking food from trash bins and people who were looking the other way.
Then she stumbled upon students from Professer Xavier's school, who were on a rare field trip. After realizing who they were, Aella begged them to take her in. They accepted, and she traveled back to the school with them, joining classes almost immediately.
When asked her name, she made up an alias.
She was Sword.
So, what do you think. Worth Chapter 1?
I need reviews, no matter how short! Please tell me if I got any facts wrong, or if I made any grammatical errors.
Thank you for your time!