Hey everybody! I've decided that I want to try to write at least one chapter every two weeks, but it might get a bit iffy over the next few months when marching band season starts. Anyways, enjoy!

I sat on the white, sterile-looking floor in front of a large circular door marked by a large 'X.' The door to Cerebro. I could feel Logan's eyes staring me down from the other side of the hallway. He was stood with his shoulders rested against the wall, one ankle over the other, arms folded across his chest.

A scowl was scribbled across his face, but that seemed to be a permanent part of his facial expression.

I tried not to pay too much attention to him. Instead, I gently rolled Diamond's last crystal-clear tear between my fingers. What did she want me to do with it? I could feel the warmth of her body radiating lightly from the depths of the tear, welcoming and content like a hearth in the midst of winter.

The darkness inundating my body constantly crashed down my insides in torrents, beating my lungs and leaving me breathless. I tried to ignore it, but the pain was so much that I often fell to the ground, unable to breathe. Luckily none of the X-Men had seen this happen to me so far- though they were temporary allies, they were by no means friends. I had to stand strong.

But as the tear grew warmer and warmer, pulsating between my fingertips, the tsunamis and storm surges weakened to waves, then to soothing tides. The suffocating, infinite darkness- now seeming more like a dull shade of gray- trickled down my arms, through my hands, and to the tips of my fingers. It didn't dare reach out to touch its beauty, but simply stayed burning at my fingertips and admiring in awe.

I hadn't realized at the time, but Logan was staring at me intently while I the darkness changed inside of me, observing and carefully noting every flicker of the eyelid and twitch of the mouth. He didn't dare say anything to break me from my trance, but he didn't particularly want to leave me in it either.

An irrational, sudden urge swept over me and I shoved the tear into my mouth, swallowing hard and forcing it down my throat. I choked and gagged as the warmth turned to a burning sensation in my throat, and Logan ran forward to prevent me from falling over on my side.

The flames of the tear licked my throat, searing my insides on the way down to the pit of my stomach. But as this was happening and despite the pain, I could feel the darkness retreating to the recesses of my arms and legs, desperately fleeing the heat.

As the tear settled in my stomach, I could feel it start to seep through my veins and arteries, then through my tiny capillaries, stretching through each part of my body. The darkness wasn't able to run fast enough and was disintegrated with the outstretching warmth.

I curled up as tight as I could on the floor as Logan clawed through the X-door to get to the Professeur. I wanted to tell him not to, disrupting him while operating Cerebro was dangerous, but I couldn't manage to pry open my own jaws.

Hot tears streamed freely down my face, but I felt relief as the pain slowly ebbed. I was just uncurling when the Professeur rolled out of the perfectly spherical Cerebro room, breathing a deep sigh of relief.

The darkness that had been plaguing me, stealing my body from its own owner, was gone. Vanquished. Vanished.

Forever.

"Rhianna, are you okay?" The Professeur leaned over, concerned.

Normally, I would have thought of some sarcastic, snarky response to that, but I started laughing. It wasn't the maniacal, insane laugh that had overtaken my vocal chords recently, or the uneasy, uncertain laugh from my childhood years with… him. It was a light, tinkling sound. Uplifting. Spirited. Inspiring.

It just made me laugh more, and tears sprung from my eyes anew, but a smile was stretched practically from cheek to cheek. I could feel all of the joyous moments Diamond had with her sister Obsidian, the dances, the songs, the chants. I could feel the knowledge that she possessed, present but still just out of my reach and comprehension. I could feel the pang of grief that she felt next to her sister's corpse, but also the joy as she was lifted to the sky and reunited with her sister to stay forever.

Reality came back to me like a stone to the stomach. I jerked up, losing the smile and wiping my cheeks with my grungy sleeves as I did so, remembering my quest.

"So… where is he?" I held my breath and looked deep into the Professeur's dark, contemplating eyes.

"I've been tracking the location of the Acolytes for some time now, and was able to see you two staying in the same place for a short period of time, both using your powers quite often, and then Pyro staying there after you left. Since then- just a few hours ago, I believe- he started on the move again. He's going at a slow pace, I would guess on foot, but just a few minutes ago I lost him. He hasn't used his powers recently enough for the essence to be detected. But he's moving alone, and the most recently that I saw him was in the heart of New York City." I fought the urge to cry again- I had been doing that too much recently-as he continued, "And you have a friend coming to visit." I cocked my eyebrow, and a moment later the doorbell rang.

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"Piotr!" I exclaimed, running towards the gentle giant of a man. He seemed surprised by the gesture, but caught me in a hug anyways.

Once again, reality kicked in, this time in the form of several blurted questions. "Where iz Remy? Et Magneto? What 'appened to zhe Acolytes? Why are you 'ere? Are you okay? Est-ce que Magneto est fâché? 'Ow did you know où je suis?" He started to open his mouth, but I just hugged him again anyways, desperate for something familiar in this strange place.

"It doesn't matter. Zhank you for coming."

He awkwardly backed up, and reached into his large jacket for something. Logan tensed, ready to pounce, but another smile lit up my face as he pulled out a small canvas.

"Zhe painting…" I whispered, amazed that he had remembered it. The search for Magneto's helmet seemed to have happened forever ago. He turned it around so I could see the front, and I was frozen in awe at its beauty.

Just like the picture in my mind had been, the bluish-black night sky swirled across the once-white canvas in smooth streaks while small white stars scattered through the sky like a billion white tears. Darker parts of the sky emphasized the glory of the universes placed onto this stretched cloth by a skilled hand and brush, each constellation having just the right twinkle.

"It's so beautiful…" I reached out for it gingerly, putting just enough pressure on the canvas to not let it fall to the ground. Piotr released it and the weight fell firmly into my hands, feeling much heavier than it should have. The world- the universe- in my hands. I promised to protect it, not realizing that I murmured my promise out loud, holding it fast to my chest.

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As I lay in my cold, unfamiliar bed, I started to think about the letter I had found in my old home.

No, I berated myself crossly, my old house. Not my old home.

The one my… father… had left for me. I reached into the pocket of my jacket- dirty and stained from my refusal to take a shower- and pulled out the crumpled envelope, amazed. Had it really just been a few weeks ago that I retrieved it?

I grimaced at how disgusting I felt from lack of bathing, but I couldn't bring myself to strip naked in this cold, unfamiliar place. I was sick of feeling vulnerable.

I set down the painting beside me on the bed, slowly peeling off the faded, water-stained envelope seal. Sternly reminding myself to breathe, I ripped it open, leaving myself with just a plain, folded sheet of paper.

I slowly opened it, instantly recognizing my father's untidy scrawl. He seemed to have written it in a hurry, like someone who was afraid of forgetting what he wanted to write.

My Dear Rhianna,

I winced.

You have to kill me.

My eyes flew wide with shock.

There's a monster taking over my body, destroying me bit by bit. The darkness lingers in my veins and no matter how I try, I can't get rid of it.

I go through periods of insanity and sanity, sometimes I think I'm a child again and sometimes I feel twice my age. Sometimes I remember every detail of my life and sometimes I can't remember what I did yesterday, or your mother's voice. My heart feels different, my lungs aren't mine. My voice isn't mine, my laugh isn't mine.

Don't forget that I love you always, please don't forget it. No matter what I do or so, I love you with all my heart.

I'm going to hurt somebody. I don't know who, or how, or when, but I will. You need to end me. But if you meet me before reading this, it probably won't be hard to.

I tried to do it myself, I held a gun to my head, closed my eyes, and squeezed. But no matter how hard I pressed down on the trigger, the darkness inside me was pulling my finger away, forcing the tip of the gun from my head. I wasn't allowed to do it. It won't allow me.

Don't be afraid, my little angel. Tu es plus forte que tu penses. (You're stronger than you think)

-Papa

I fell into tears for the final time that day. I fell into dreams thinking of my poor father, desperate to the point of asking his own daughter to murder him. I fell into dreams thinking of Pyro, lost and wandering through a city that refuses to sleep and always keeps a watchful eye on 'freaks.' I fell into dreams thinking of my mother, the beautiful Victoire, who married and monster and gave birth to one before falling to her own internal monsters.

Mostly, I thought of the darkness that had made its home in me and the pain that Diamond went through to expel it from my body.

But I also thought about the ring that Amethyst used to wear, with a small hardened purple tear, and wondered what monsters she was trying to protect herself from.

Thanks for reading! I know how I want to end the story now, but it'll have some chapters more, so don't leave too soon XD