A/N: Uh.... none as of now. Check @ the end. Oh, I did change his name. Thanx for the suggestion. It's Nightshade now instead of NightShade. Sorry, no suggestions from me tho', for Toby.
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I stood atop the cliff all that day, meditating and perceiving Kiro. I cast out my senses to the mansion, and I could feel the tension. It was mostly from the X-Men, not the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood appeared to be excited about getting their revenge. I silently wondered just how vengeful they were.
While I was distracted by my thoughts at the mansion, Kiro moved. I tried to pinpoint where, but could not. He was gone, at least for the moment. I checked for Magneto, and could not find him either. But I did sense Mystique, and she was where she had been. Then, my senses went on full alert. I had been kneeling on the edge of the cliff, but now I stood up and turned around in one flurry of a movement. There he was.
*Nice to see you Jeriko* He said. His voice had the Irish lilt, but none of the musical tone. His voice was cold, lifeless.
*I wish I could say the same, Kiro.* His expression was blanketed, but his eyes betrayed him. He was doing all he could to hold back his anger.
*You know what we are, don't you? Of course you do. We're Wiccans. Mutants. But most of all, we are brothers.* He said it as if it was a thing to be despised. *Twins, and although we're mirror images, we're also exact opposites. Which, in the cruel sense of irony, makes us more alike than we'll ever know.*
*I am not like you.* I told him.
*Is that so? Take a hard look, my brother. Then again, perhaps you are right. You were the one that was taken it, cared for, and most of all loved. I was the one they casted away, ignored. Thrown into foster care. Maybe, though, it was for the better. Here I am, one the winning side, and you on the losing. Maybe it was meant to be so.* I felt waves of rage coming forth from him. His eyes were almost on fire, a deep blue sapphire that would entrance anyone.
*Mother and Father would never cast you away! Not for those reasons. There has to be a true, honest one. One you cannot give.* I told him. His eyes flared, but he did not attack.
"Mother and Father are dead. Gone. They abandoned his in the worst way possible, because now they can never pay for their deeds! They are beyond all reach now.* His voice now had life, but a deadly sort of life.
*Who told you these lies? Magneto? He is liar and deceiver. I met some former comrades of his, who he abandoned! But he is not beyond their reach now, and he will pay for what he did. Then you can see what he really is.* I told him.
*I believe you are mistaken. Those comrades you speak of fell short of the goal he set for them. They were useless.* His eyes glazed for a minute, and I was tempted to attack. But held myself back. His eyes cleared, and I saw a dangerous grin on his face. A triumphant one. *And apparently, still are. They lost. They are now prisoners of their own device. Forgive me for leaving you so soon after our... heartwrenching reunion, but I have business to attend to!* He disappeared in a flash of bright lights. I knew it was called orbing.
How can they be prisoners? The battle hasn't happened yet! I turned to look back off the cliff, and I was stunned to see that it was deep into the night. Kiro! He had put a time spell on us! I cursed the Wiccan sense of irrelevant time. I shimmered as fast as I could to the mansion.
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There had been a battle. The earth, the trees, everything was scarred with some sort of power. In one tree I found several spikes, and on another burn marks no doubt made by Scott's optic lasers. It was here, among the smoke and darkness that I found someone collapsed against a tree. It had to be one of Magneto's warriors, for I did not recognize him. I checked his pulse, and it was there, beating steadily.
I gathered him up and took him to the infirmary. There I patched him up and recited a spell to help relieve the pain. He was still unconscious, but alive. I went back out into the darkness, and found two more. As I did with the first, I brought them in and fixed them up. As I was finishing the third, who was also unconscious, a felt a familiar presence. I looked up to see Mystique in the doorway. She, too, was cut up, but not badly.
"I tried to help. I tried.... But he was too strong." She walked in and collapsed into a chair.
"I know ye did. I should been there. Kiro used time spell. I lost time." I told her. She nodded.
"I had heard him mentioning time spells, but he often spoke in Gaelic, of which I barely understand." She rubbed her forehead, obviously having a headache. I got some Tylenol and a glass of water and gave it to her. She was very thankful.
"Who be they?" I gestured to the three unconscious people laying on the infirmary's beds. There were all male, looking slightly older than Scott and/or Lance. I placed them in their early 20s.
"Nameless warriors. Magneto stole them when they were but children. He used his mutant enhancer to bring out their powers very early. He has trained them ever since." She said, the effects of the Tylenol taking hold.
"They why he have Brotherhood?" I asked. She shrugged.
"Who knows? Magneto does many, many eccentric things. He's not right in head, even for a psycho-path." She said. I lapsed into thought, and nothing was said for a very long time.
"We free them, ye know." I told her. She looked truly surprised.
"How? He's taken them to God knows where and even if we did know, how would we get there? I seriously doubt you know how to fly the jet. Lord knows I don't know how." I wasn't used to these Christian terms, but I understood the meaning. She was right, I didn't know. The only people who did were prisoners.... all except.....
"Logan!" I shouted, making Mystique jump.
"Wolverine? Wasn't he in the battle?" She asked.
"No, he left in the morning!" I told her. "But I no know how to get him."
"Wait, you're a Wiccan too, like Kiro?" Mystique asked. I nodded. "He would use some sort of telepathy to report Magneto, a Wiccan telepathy or something....."
"Witch message." I told her. "That be hard. Magneto, use mind well. Logan, he not... uh...." I searched for the word. I found it. "Receptive."
"True." Mystique said with a sigh.
"I try." I said, shrugging.
I closed my eyes, and cast out my senses to find Logan. They weren't very good a large distances, those over a 100 miles. There was nothing. I searched again, and again. Finally, I felt him at the very limit of my senses.
/Logan! Come to mansion! Need you! Help!/ I cried out to him. I repeated it over and over, until finally his presence was out of my reach.
"I find him, send message, not know if he got it." I told her.
"You tried, that is what matters." She said. True, I tried. But would it be enough?
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I stood atop the cliff all that day, meditating and perceiving Kiro. I cast out my senses to the mansion, and I could feel the tension. It was mostly from the X-Men, not the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood appeared to be excited about getting their revenge. I silently wondered just how vengeful they were.
While I was distracted by my thoughts at the mansion, Kiro moved. I tried to pinpoint where, but could not. He was gone, at least for the moment. I checked for Magneto, and could not find him either. But I did sense Mystique, and she was where she had been. Then, my senses went on full alert. I had been kneeling on the edge of the cliff, but now I stood up and turned around in one flurry of a movement. There he was.
*Nice to see you Jeriko* He said. His voice had the Irish lilt, but none of the musical tone. His voice was cold, lifeless.
*I wish I could say the same, Kiro.* His expression was blanketed, but his eyes betrayed him. He was doing all he could to hold back his anger.
*You know what we are, don't you? Of course you do. We're Wiccans. Mutants. But most of all, we are brothers.* He said it as if it was a thing to be despised. *Twins, and although we're mirror images, we're also exact opposites. Which, in the cruel sense of irony, makes us more alike than we'll ever know.*
*I am not like you.* I told him.
*Is that so? Take a hard look, my brother. Then again, perhaps you are right. You were the one that was taken it, cared for, and most of all loved. I was the one they casted away, ignored. Thrown into foster care. Maybe, though, it was for the better. Here I am, one the winning side, and you on the losing. Maybe it was meant to be so.* I felt waves of rage coming forth from him. His eyes were almost on fire, a deep blue sapphire that would entrance anyone.
*Mother and Father would never cast you away! Not for those reasons. There has to be a true, honest one. One you cannot give.* I told him. His eyes flared, but he did not attack.
"Mother and Father are dead. Gone. They abandoned his in the worst way possible, because now they can never pay for their deeds! They are beyond all reach now.* His voice now had life, but a deadly sort of life.
*Who told you these lies? Magneto? He is liar and deceiver. I met some former comrades of his, who he abandoned! But he is not beyond their reach now, and he will pay for what he did. Then you can see what he really is.* I told him.
*I believe you are mistaken. Those comrades you speak of fell short of the goal he set for them. They were useless.* His eyes glazed for a minute, and I was tempted to attack. But held myself back. His eyes cleared, and I saw a dangerous grin on his face. A triumphant one. *And apparently, still are. They lost. They are now prisoners of their own device. Forgive me for leaving you so soon after our... heartwrenching reunion, but I have business to attend to!* He disappeared in a flash of bright lights. I knew it was called orbing.
How can they be prisoners? The battle hasn't happened yet! I turned to look back off the cliff, and I was stunned to see that it was deep into the night. Kiro! He had put a time spell on us! I cursed the Wiccan sense of irrelevant time. I shimmered as fast as I could to the mansion.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There had been a battle. The earth, the trees, everything was scarred with some sort of power. In one tree I found several spikes, and on another burn marks no doubt made by Scott's optic lasers. It was here, among the smoke and darkness that I found someone collapsed against a tree. It had to be one of Magneto's warriors, for I did not recognize him. I checked his pulse, and it was there, beating steadily.
I gathered him up and took him to the infirmary. There I patched him up and recited a spell to help relieve the pain. He was still unconscious, but alive. I went back out into the darkness, and found two more. As I did with the first, I brought them in and fixed them up. As I was finishing the third, who was also unconscious, a felt a familiar presence. I looked up to see Mystique in the doorway. She, too, was cut up, but not badly.
"I tried to help. I tried.... But he was too strong." She walked in and collapsed into a chair.
"I know ye did. I should been there. Kiro used time spell. I lost time." I told her. She nodded.
"I had heard him mentioning time spells, but he often spoke in Gaelic, of which I barely understand." She rubbed her forehead, obviously having a headache. I got some Tylenol and a glass of water and gave it to her. She was very thankful.
"Who be they?" I gestured to the three unconscious people laying on the infirmary's beds. There were all male, looking slightly older than Scott and/or Lance. I placed them in their early 20s.
"Nameless warriors. Magneto stole them when they were but children. He used his mutant enhancer to bring out their powers very early. He has trained them ever since." She said, the effects of the Tylenol taking hold.
"They why he have Brotherhood?" I asked. She shrugged.
"Who knows? Magneto does many, many eccentric things. He's not right in head, even for a psycho-path." She said. I lapsed into thought, and nothing was said for a very long time.
"We free them, ye know." I told her. She looked truly surprised.
"How? He's taken them to God knows where and even if we did know, how would we get there? I seriously doubt you know how to fly the jet. Lord knows I don't know how." I wasn't used to these Christian terms, but I understood the meaning. She was right, I didn't know. The only people who did were prisoners.... all except.....
"Logan!" I shouted, making Mystique jump.
"Wolverine? Wasn't he in the battle?" She asked.
"No, he left in the morning!" I told her. "But I no know how to get him."
"Wait, you're a Wiccan too, like Kiro?" Mystique asked. I nodded. "He would use some sort of telepathy to report Magneto, a Wiccan telepathy or something....."
"Witch message." I told her. "That be hard. Magneto, use mind well. Logan, he not... uh...." I searched for the word. I found it. "Receptive."
"True." Mystique said with a sigh.
"I try." I said, shrugging.
I closed my eyes, and cast out my senses to find Logan. They weren't very good a large distances, those over a 100 miles. There was nothing. I searched again, and again. Finally, I felt him at the very limit of my senses.
/Logan! Come to mansion! Need you! Help!/ I cried out to him. I repeated it over and over, until finally his presence was out of my reach.
"I find him, send message, not know if he got it." I told her.
"You tried, that is what matters." She said. True, I tried. But would it be enough?
