Chapter 14
Ivy sat on the bed in sweatpants and a tank top, the windows above her bed wide open as she somehow managed to get her hair knotted into a messy bun to keep it out of face while she worked through her schedule for her class. The Earth Puppeteer looked over at Remy as a warm breeze swept into the room, causing his hair to rustle into his face, though he made no move to brush it away. His face was creased with uncertainty and doubt, which made her worry. She thought the training session in the Danger Room had helped them, but then maybe it hadn't. Ivy stuffed the papers that were scrawled with her lesson plans for the semester into the binder, and snapped it shut. She laid a hand on the Cajun's arm, and he glanced over at her. His fingers were curled around something that she could not see, but he was rubbing them over it concernedly.
"What's wrong?" she questioned, and his forest-green eyes dropped to look at the dark blue fabric of his jeans.
"I wanted to ask you something, Petite Fleur," Remy answered and released the hidden object from where it had been concealed.
It was a black velvet box, the top rubbed away a little from his thumbs. He popped the lid to reveal a small silver ring. The garnet in the middle was in the shape of a heart; two leaves shaped around the heart were made of emerald.
Remy cleared his throat, looking like he was about to jump out his skin. It was odd, even for Ivy, to see him so nervous. She looked down at her hands; they were shaking with excitement as he placed the ring on her finger.
"Deviendras-tu ma femme?-Become my wife?-" Remy asked in his Cajun-slick French.
Ivy nodded dumbly, awestruck, her heart pounding in her chest, as she finally answered, "Oui, je deviendrai ton épouse, Remy LeBeau. Qu'est-ce qui t'a pris si longtemps pour demander? -Yes, I will become your wife, Remy LeBeau. What took you so long to ask?-"
Remy laughed and kissed her. "I needed to wait for just the right moment."
Ivy smiled. "You waited fifteen years for just the right moment?"
The Cajun nodded and kissed the ring on her finger. They were now engaged and she could not be more ecstatic. She glanced down at her phone while Remy pried open her binder to look at her lesson plans, which were not written in English, but in French.
Ivy continued to stare at her phone. She could not call her mother. She was dead after all. She did not know the whereabouts of her father, or her brother, Edmund. And she was pretty positive that Aster would care less about her overly joyous news. Sighing, she kissed Remy and made her way out of her room and down the hall toward the rest of the staff bedrooms, only to see the students, new and old alike, start to flood into the place for the start of Fall classes. It made her nervous just thinking about the fact that she was now a professor, officially. The vibrating and ding of her cellphone drew her out of her thoughts. She looked down at the device and shrugged, deciding to check the text later. Instead she finally knew who she was going to tell. Morgan. She had to share her news with someone, and the young mutant was as close to a friend as she had in this place.
Knocking at her bedroom door, she received no answer. She had thought she would be in her room, resting, what with it being only an hour or so after the training session. After a second knock confirmed that the twenty-four-year-old wasn't in, Ivy decided to continue her search on the first floor, feeling too elated to pass up on the opportunity to share her happiness. It proved fruitless; Morgan wasn't to be found there either. Huffing in defeat, the earth controller considered giving up when she happened to look outside through a window. She paused in her walk and retraced her steps to the door that led to the courtyard, exiting into the cool air. It was indeed Morgan, sitting on a bench near the basketball court, talking animatedly to a blonde girl no more than thirteen years old. Ivy walked slowly closer, absently tuning in to their conversation.
"But I still don't know how, and I'm afraid..." the girl's voice was small, blue eyes staring up at Morgan pleadingly.
The young woman smiled gently. "That's why I'm here, to help," she reassured her. "Now, take a deep breath and close your eyes." As the teenager did so, she went on, "Using your power voluntarily is like moving your arms or legs. You simply think, 'I want to wiggle that finger' and it happens. It's the same with mutation. At first it might be a bit difficult, but then it'll be as easy as breathing." She fell silent, gazing at the girl. "Relax." The word had the weight of an order. "Try not to think about anything; empty your mind, let it go blank." Her voice softened, just as the girl's features became smooth and calm.
"There's a tingling in my fingers," the teenager said in an excited tone, but fought to keep her eyes closed and concentrate.
"That's your power. You're getting in tune with your mutation," her tutor explained. "Stay focused and open your eyes." The thirteen-year-old complied and looked at her with somewhat glassy eyes. "Try to visualize the electricity going from your fingertips into mine." Morgan raised her right hand, fingers stretched out slightly. "You won't hurt me," she added hurriedly, seeing terror contort the girl's face. "You can't, yet," she assured her.
The young mutant was uncertain, and stared at the physics teacher hard before finally holding out a hand tentatively. She brought one index close to Morgan's, and took a breath. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a bluish white spark crackled in the space between their two fingers, connecting them like a sparkling thread. The girl's eyes shone bright with pride.
"You did it, Mel," Morgan echoed her smile and nodded contentedly, seeming unaffected by the amount of electricity that had zapped her skin.
Ivy was only a few paces away from the bench by then, hovering there, not wanting to interrupt them. It was the thirteen-year-old who had noticed her first, and then Morgan took in the look of pure joy on her face.
"Be right back," the physics teacher turned to her young charge, and got up, walking to the earth elemental. "You look like a bundle of sunshine," she greeted her. "What happened?"
Ivy felt she couldn't contain herself. "Remy asked me to marry him."
Morgan found that the smile was contagious. "That's great news. Congratulations." From what she had gathered so far, the two had been a couple for a quite some time. "Have you set a date?"
The Earth-Puppeteer shook her head. "Not yet. I was so excited; I sort of rushed off without planning anything." A blush rose to her cheeks as she explained, but then her cell phone went off. She flipped it open.
Her brows crinkled with confusion. She never thought she would get a text like this from her sister, ever. Helft mir-Help me-Ivy clicked her portable closed and glanced at Morgan, that was until she heard the screams coming from inside the mansion. Screams of anger and terror. The terror from her sister, the anger from Wolverine. Ivy swore and bolted into the hall, several of the planted plants following after her as her mutation activated. She found Logan frozen to the far wall by a block of ice that encased him up to his neck. Aster was on the floor, sprawled on her knees with claw mark scars on her arms, screaming as the flood from the kitchen surrounded her in a protective octopus-like barrier. She was still screaming like a wild animal, clutching her head as tears streamed from her eyes.
Ivy did the only thing her mind could rationally think of at the moment: she sent the plants and dirt from where they squirmed around on the floor and enveloped her sister with them. They tightened around her, and wrapped around Aster's eyes and hands until it was like an earth cocoon. A card infused with kinetic energy hit the block of ice that Logan was trapped in, exploding into shards and freeing him. Remy stood on the last couple steps of the balcony, staff in hand.
Ivy carefully approached her sister, the water elemental still screaming at the top of her lungs. But once the Earth Puppeteer got close enough, she felt her sister's mutation pulling at her heart and at the blood that pumped to it. Remy yanked her back by wrapping her arms around waist, until the sensation of death stopped tugging at her heart.
What could have caused her sister to flee back here, with her mind torn to shreds? Ivy finally made out the words her sister was screaming hysterically.
"Sie nahmen ihn! Sie nahmen Victor!-They took him! They took Victor!-"
A/N: As always please leave a review in the box! -Maiden of the Heavens (MOTH)