August 18th, 2003
Chapter 5
"Sorry about the whole stag issue, Shadowcat." Soniker apologized after proclaiming she could talk to animals. They were still in the clearing, but the hour was later so there were no longer any shadowy places. Persephone had made four more vine and moss hammocks and everyone was lying peacefully in one, getting to know each other better. Olivia nearly collapsed into hers because of the fighting then making the hammocks, but after a drink from the stream and sitting down a little shakily, she said she'd be ok. Nightcrawler kept glancing at back at her, with her al green eyes, leaf-like layer of growth covering her once-pale arms; the leaves shivered in the silver moonlight and cool June winds swept their hair. Toad kept avoiding everyone's eyes, except Soniker's, which he seemed determined not to meet, but always managed to.
"So." began Rogue, turning on her side in the soft moss to face the new recruits, "how exactly did you two.find each other?"
"Well, it was more that Julia found me," Olivia started, then launched into the story:
(This picks up from Chapter 4 where Olivia heard the voice from behind her in the grove.)
Olivia turned very startled and looked to the voice's owner. To her sheer amazement and joy, her friend Julia stood in the entrance to the clearing. "Julia!" Olivia called, seething with happiness at a familiar face. However, when she attempted to get up from the swing and go over to her friend's welcoming face, she felt her legs give way on the ground and she collapsed. The last thing she saw was Julia's worried face over her, and she passed out.
Few minutes later, she awoke, lying on her back in the cool earth, a few pieces of her moss bedding beneath her head. Olivia sat up, still a bit dizzy, and looked around; no, she said to herself, it wasn't a dream. Why'd you seem so hopeful? Seeing her friend up, Julia came over to her from the stream, knelt down next to her and spoke:
"Wakey, wakey, Olive-girl!" she said happily. Olivia turned to her, still unbelieving that Julia had found her.
"What.Julia how'd you know?" she stammered, struggling to get to her feet. Julia stopped her efforts.
"Whoa, now. You passed out, remember? You probably used all of your energy in making this place. Seriously I thought you'd know better." She stopped ad smiled, looking at her friend. Olivia still looking quite bewildered asked again, "How'd you know?"
"Oh, I'm a mutant, too!" she answered as if it were no big deal. She stared at Julia; one of her best friends, aside from her pal, Gwen Sparrow, who had taken to private schooling and phone line communication, was a mutant, and she had never known! Coming out of a light shock, she asked, "How.for how long?"
"Oh.I think since January, you know that's when I started wearing my hat to school." She tipped her hat, then paused, and took it off. Olivia gasped as she gazed upon a pair of mouse brown cat ears sitting atop Julia's head. Julia frowned. "Sheesh don't look so surprised. There are a lot of people you know who are like us; some are just more noticeable, like you and me.oh and Gwen, too. That's why she left school. She couldn't hide her mutation."
Olivia started, "What's wrong with her?"
"There's nothing wrong with her," Julia corrected patiently, "it's just that.well, you try hiding a fourteen-foot wingspan! And talons, to boot! She calls herself Raptor now, and in fact, I called her when I got out of the club. She should be here by about 9:00." Julia stopped a moment so it would all sink in. Olivia just stared. Now this was weird, yet how could she not have known? If only she'd noticed the changes in her friends.guilt flooded through her.
"Hey don't think it's all your fault." Julia reassured her laying a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "Yours is easier to hide than most. I've got to permanently wear a hat now. You just need to wear long sleeves and glasses! Hey, remember when Mitch tried to take my hat off in gym? I almost killed him for that." They both broke into giggles at the anecdote they remembered so well.
"But wait," Olivia said, energy returning so she could stand again. "What is your power and how did you find me?"
"I can talk to animals, for one, plus a trail of luminous lilies in the middle of the Pine Barrens isn't exactly a normal occurrence." She smiled at the sarcasm, and so did Olivia. She raised her hands again and another hammock of vines appeared in the trees.
"I'll make another one for Gwen- I mean Raptor when she gets here. I don't want to drain myself again."
"Speaking of names, you should get one!" Julia said. "Mine's Soniker now. What do you want yours to be?"
"Now this was something Olivia hadn't considered yet, but then again she hadn't had a reason to. So, digging deep in her mind, she searched for a suitable title.
".Persephone." She said finally, and happily accepting the new nickname. Julia pondered this.
"Cool. I like it!" she smiled. Then Olivia asked, "Wait, what are we gonna do when Raptor gets here?"
"Well, we can do one of two things. One: we could stay here and hide out forever, or until somebody find us. Or two: we could try to-" but she was interrupted by the scuffling sound of a small raccoon waddling into the clearing. He squeaked to Julia, and her face became focused in worry.
"Come with me," she said and pulled Olivia into the shadows of the nearby trees.
"What's wrong?" Olivia asked, scared now herself.
"There are people coming our way; four of them. From what the raccoon said, they were teens. Let's just hide here, and hopefully, they'll go away before they find this place."
"There's just one problem." Olivia said in the darkness.
"What?"
"Your eyes are glowing."
Julia turned to her. "So are yours. That's weird. Ok.ummm.all right, when you see them come in, if they do, keep your eyes closed just enough so that you can see. Good I can hardly see the glow. Now keep them that way; if they get too close." her voice trailed off. Olivia knew what would happen if they did get too close, but she hoped they wouldn't. Lack of energy kept her from closing the break in the circle of trees.
A few moments later, four teenagers entered the clearing (Shadowcat, Toad, Rogue, and Nightcrawler). They looked around, and when they laid eyes on the hybrid plant, they became entranced by it. Olivia kept watching them, eyes almost shut, and she paid close attention to the pale, dark- haired boy. He was kind of cute.Julia noticed this and smirked to herself, but didn't say anything. When he made the comment about eating the plant, Olivia worked hard to stifle her laughter and Julia gave her a quick "Shush!"
".And that's when Kurt came towards us and.well, the rest is history." Olivia finished and they all got up. "Hey does anyone have the time?" Julia asked. Rogue glanced down at her watch.
"Yeah, it's about 9:00." She answered.
"Oh, good then." Julia said pleasantly. "So.this clearing's about.20 feet across. That should give her enough room to land. I'd better signal."and with that she threw back her head and let out a prominent sonic blast which flooded the cool night air. Owls, hawks, buzzards and other birds began circling around the lack of trees above their heads. There was a somewhat distant screech in reply, and Julia smiled triumphantly. "She'll be here in a minute." She told the waiting group.
Olivia was as anxious as everyone to see Gwen; she had spoken to her friend quite often, but to see her the way she would be was going to be quite interesting."You might wanna step back," Julia warned, "and grab on to something." Everyone backed up to the surrounding trees and grabbed hold of the nearest rooted object they could.
Out of the face of the full moon, a shadow appeared and began circling around the grove's treetops. Gusts of wind from the shadow's wings blew down into the hollow, and the mutants kept hold on their supports. The flying shadow that was Raptor circled lower and lower, then finally landed in the middle of the clearing, stopping the gusts of wind for which everyone was grateful. A tall girl with glasses, 18, vampiric green eyes, long auburn hair, and a pair of moonlit auburn wings 7 feet long a piece stood there in a long black trench coat, baggy black pants, and a black t- shirt with the silhouettes of a wolf and eagle on with black sneakers. She had a black backpack with spikes on her back and carried two large suitcases. She looked around at the mutants emerging from the shelter of the trees, smiling at their gawking expressions and wind-blown hair.
"Hey Soniker, you didn't tell me there'd be so many people." Raptor said, "And where's Olivia? I haven't seen her since."she paused, thinking. "God, it must've been December!" Olivia was the last to come out and she paused right in the moonlight, looking teary-eyed at her friend. Their eyes met and Olivia and Gwen ran into a strong hug. Through silent tears, Olivia's eye remained shut until she felt the place where Gwen's wings came out of the rips in her coat; there were upraised areas that felt like they'd been slashed with a knife.it sent chills up Olivia's spine.
They let go after a moment and gazed at each other, then Raptor said, "holy cow, Olivia. You certainly have changed since December." She smiled.
"It's Persephone now." Olivia answered; then she turned around. "These guys-and girls-are from a place called the Xavier Institute up in Bayville, New York. They want to take us there." Gwen turned to look at them and they smiled back welcomingly.
"I'm Kitty; Shadowcat."
"Rogue."
"Just call me Toad, birdie." Rogue and Kitty glared at him, but Raptor just smiled wryly.
"Kurt, Nightcrawler."
She smiled, then said to Julia, "oh yeah I brought your stuff and some of Oliv- I mean, Persephone's as well." She smirked at this, but it was friendly, and Olivia returned it, the memories of all the fun they had had came back to her: Gwen was like the sister she had never had, sharing all of her age-earned perks with her and Julia, driving to the mall, movies, shopping, cafes, anything! Then something came into the light of Olivia's mind:
"Hey Gwen, what did your parents say about this?" for the first time since she had arrived, Raptor's smile completely faded from her face and there was silence. The light and happiness drained from her eyes, and Julia broke in quickly, "Well, now that we're all happily acquainted, let's go. Don't want to get back to late now do we?" she finished I a hurried voice s she walked out of the clearing into the dark if the Pine Barrens, followed closely by a hopping Toad. Gwen followed her somberly at first, then her happiness returned as she trudged after Julia in the thickets.
Shadowcat and Rogue looked at each for a moment, then Rogue called, "Don't you need one of us to show you where the jet is?"
"Nah, it's ok, I've got Toad with me. He remembers where it is." Julia's answer came back muffled by the growth. "This ought to be interesting." Shadowcat said as she and Rogue followed the parade of mutants to the jet, leaving Persephone and Nightcrawler to follow. There was a quiet pause between the two "deformed" mutants, and it seemed that as they looked into each other's eyes, something seemed to just *click* inside. Kurt smiled at Olivia and she gave a dimple-faced smile right back.
"So.I still don't know what your power is, Kurt." She said rather shyly.
"I'm a teleporter." He answered, only too eager to show off his abilities. "Look." Yet again, a small *bamph* was heard and Nightcrawler disappeared from Olivia's view. She looked startled, and looked around.
"Boo!"
Olivia jumped nearly a foot off the ground as Kurt laughed from behind her. After catching her breath, she smiled slyly and said, "So that's how you got away from me the first time. I was wondering where you had gone." A loud grumble from Kurt's stomach stopped the conversation there. He looked very embarrassed, but Olivia asked, "Are you hungry? Just go take something from over there. Heaven knows we won't be using it." She indicated the victory garden by the stream, and Kurt thankfully ran over to it, plucking several large apples from the tree and stuffing them in his bag and one in his mouth. She's pretty and can grown food at any time.he thought to himself.She's great!
Returning to her side, he said, "You want to take the shortcut?" he held out his three-fingered hand and looked at her, waiting. At first, she looked at his hand then up to his face and smiled. Putting her hand in his, and with another *bamph* Olivia and Kurt were back at the jet, waiting for everyone else and telling each other more about themselves.
When the rest of the group had arrived at the jet, Julia and Gwen amazed at how they had gotten there so fast they all clamored inside while Kurt and Kitty started the jet. Toad was none too happy about flying again, but when Raptor offered to fly him back to Bayville, he turned a sickening shade of pale and he said he'd 'stay with the Blackbird, thank you very much.' And with a wry smile, Raptor took a window seat next to Julia and Toad. Olivia sat on the floor in the back. Rogue paged the Professor and told him that instead of two, there were now three new mutants headed for Bayville.
About halfway through the flight, Julia got up and came to where Olivia sat, head down. She heard quiet sobs from her, desperately trying to be covered up but failing.
"What's wrong, Olive-girl?" Julia sat down next to her crying friend. She turned her glistening, tear-filled eyes to her.
"I just realized," she began quietly, tears slowing down from her eyes, leaving shining tracks in the dim light. "Everything that I'll have to give up and all the things I used to know that are now gone.what was left of my family, all my other friends." her eyes began to fill again, "at least in the Barrens I could have had some memory of what it was like."
"Hey, hey, hey." Julia pulled Olivia close to her in a hug. "We can't change what we've become, so don't bother. I cried at first too, but then I realized that if I cried about it for the rest of my life, then I'd never enjoy all the things I still could do. I'm not saying that you should forget your old life, but remember it and try to live your new life better."
Olivia looked up at her friend, her mascara running black lines down her face and her green eyes glowed with Julia's brown ones in the dim light.
"Thanks.Soniker." They smiled together, then Olivia turned to look at Raptor's seemingly sleeping form in the chair, wings touching the floor of the jet, rising and falling with her breath.
"Hey, Julia, what happened to Gwen, when her parents found out?"
Julia's face became serious and focused. "This ain't a pretty story, you sure you wanna know?" Persephone looked to Raptor's back again and nodded slowly.
Julia spoke solemnly. "You know how she supposedly 'moved away' in December? Well, she didn't; she ran- uh, flew, away. When her parents saw what had happened to her, they didn't like it; not very mutant friendly if you know what I mean. They loved her enough, they said, to try and change her to look more human.they tried cutting off her wings." Olivia's eyes widened in horror, but the story went on, "she screamed so much that they stopped, but then they locked her in the basement over Christmas break. When she grew talons, she finally cut herself free, but not before they had whipped and beat her everyday and told her that unless she let them near her again to cut off the wings, she'd die down there." She finished and looked at Olivia's face, now even paler than it normally was with black lines coming down from her eyes. Raptor shed silent tears in her seat at the memories. "She came to me because my house was closer. What a state she was in, let me tell you. Bruises, cut marks, lashings.it's a great pity that some people don't appreciate the gifts that are given unto others. I found her a place on the outskirts and she seemed to be doing fine. She doesn't like to talk about it, so don't mention it ok?" she nodded the settled herself back against the wall, wearing a troubled face as if Gwen's story reminded her of something she too had known.
Julia looked at her and said, "There's something still wrong, I can tell. What is it?" there was a deafening pause, then: "this is something I've never, ever told anyone, so you promise not to tell?" Julia nodded in an oath response.
"My dad's been a raging alcoholic all of my life." Olivia whispered. Julia stared at her; now this was something she would never have guessed. "He'd go out, get drunk, maybe go out with a few women, you know, the typical story. Sometimes, he'd come home at around 12 and wake me and mom up with his yelling. Then he'd."she stopped, tears practically running down her cheeks, "he'd beat my mom.and me, if I got in the way. Then one night, when my mom was away for the weekend, he.he tried to." she trailed off, waterfalls falling from both her eyes. Julia was horrified but she continued, "i.I didn't know what to do; he followed me wherever I ran. So finally, I ran to my room and locked the door, and stayed there until my mom came back. I couldn't tell her, and when she found my ripped shirt in the garbage, I told her I'd done it on accident. And then all this happening with Mitch yesterday and now the mutation."
She paused, turned over, and closed her teary eyes. Julia was silent, then whispered, with a comforting hand on her shoulder, "you don't need to worry anymore, Olive-girl. He won't find you where we're going."
"What did your parents do when it happened to you, Julia?"
She sighed and looked thoughtful, remebering. "Nothing, really. You know my parents; I don't think they ever really noticed me to begin with. When I started to talk to the cat during the night and wore my hat permanently, all they said was, 'oh well, at least no one knows.' I was lucky. I think they just.forgot about me after that. I mean, they didn't starve me or anything; they just stopped paying as much attention to me. I doubt they'll even notice that I'm gone." She stopped and seemed to be ok with what had happened. She turned to Olivia, who was looking at a far off object only she could see through the floor.
"Oh." She responded in a far off voice, "sorry."
"Hey, I told you not to worry about it.you look tired; maybe you should go to sleep for a while. We should be there soon." "Yeah maybe."still in a far off voice, Persephone answered, then turned over. Julia knew she probably wouldn't get another answer so she got up and walked back to her seat next to a very wide-awake Toad. Nightcrawler looked over his shoulder at her nearly asleep form huddled in the corner, then to Julia who nudged her head for him to go to her.
"Hey Rogue, could you fly for a while?"
"Sure." She got up and took his seat at the controls while Kurt walked back to Olivia. He knelt down next to her.
"Hey."
"Hey. Shouldn't you be flying this thing?" she didn't turn around.
"No, Rogue took over for me.are you.ok?" She finally turned and looked at him, and his face fell into a piteous state to see her glowing green eyes magnified with tears.
"I.I just need.someone to be near me."
"Do you want me to call Soniker or Raptor?" he offered.
"No, no.I'm sure they've got other things on their minds." she looked at the two conversing with Kitty in whispers.
"Well, do you want me to stay here?"
Olivia gazed into his eyes appreciatively. "Thanks." Kurt sat down next to her, and then put an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. She rested her head on his shoulder, and then said, "My boyfriend would never do this for me." Kurt's heart sank; Boyfriend? "I broke with him yesterday when I caught him cheating on me." his insides leapt up at this and his heart did a victory dance. She closed her eyes at this and whispered, "Thanks, Kurt."
"Your welcome." he answered, and rested his head on top of hers. She was soon asleep next to him as they flew over New York City.
"Sorry about the whole stag issue, Shadowcat." Soniker apologized after proclaiming she could talk to animals. They were still in the clearing, but the hour was later so there were no longer any shadowy places. Persephone had made four more vine and moss hammocks and everyone was lying peacefully in one, getting to know each other better. Olivia nearly collapsed into hers because of the fighting then making the hammocks, but after a drink from the stream and sitting down a little shakily, she said she'd be ok. Nightcrawler kept glancing at back at her, with her al green eyes, leaf-like layer of growth covering her once-pale arms; the leaves shivered in the silver moonlight and cool June winds swept their hair. Toad kept avoiding everyone's eyes, except Soniker's, which he seemed determined not to meet, but always managed to.
"So." began Rogue, turning on her side in the soft moss to face the new recruits, "how exactly did you two.find each other?"
"Well, it was more that Julia found me," Olivia started, then launched into the story:
(This picks up from Chapter 4 where Olivia heard the voice from behind her in the grove.)
Olivia turned very startled and looked to the voice's owner. To her sheer amazement and joy, her friend Julia stood in the entrance to the clearing. "Julia!" Olivia called, seething with happiness at a familiar face. However, when she attempted to get up from the swing and go over to her friend's welcoming face, she felt her legs give way on the ground and she collapsed. The last thing she saw was Julia's worried face over her, and she passed out.
Few minutes later, she awoke, lying on her back in the cool earth, a few pieces of her moss bedding beneath her head. Olivia sat up, still a bit dizzy, and looked around; no, she said to herself, it wasn't a dream. Why'd you seem so hopeful? Seeing her friend up, Julia came over to her from the stream, knelt down next to her and spoke:
"Wakey, wakey, Olive-girl!" she said happily. Olivia turned to her, still unbelieving that Julia had found her.
"What.Julia how'd you know?" she stammered, struggling to get to her feet. Julia stopped her efforts.
"Whoa, now. You passed out, remember? You probably used all of your energy in making this place. Seriously I thought you'd know better." She stopped ad smiled, looking at her friend. Olivia still looking quite bewildered asked again, "How'd you know?"
"Oh, I'm a mutant, too!" she answered as if it were no big deal. She stared at Julia; one of her best friends, aside from her pal, Gwen Sparrow, who had taken to private schooling and phone line communication, was a mutant, and she had never known! Coming out of a light shock, she asked, "How.for how long?"
"Oh.I think since January, you know that's when I started wearing my hat to school." She tipped her hat, then paused, and took it off. Olivia gasped as she gazed upon a pair of mouse brown cat ears sitting atop Julia's head. Julia frowned. "Sheesh don't look so surprised. There are a lot of people you know who are like us; some are just more noticeable, like you and me.oh and Gwen, too. That's why she left school. She couldn't hide her mutation."
Olivia started, "What's wrong with her?"
"There's nothing wrong with her," Julia corrected patiently, "it's just that.well, you try hiding a fourteen-foot wingspan! And talons, to boot! She calls herself Raptor now, and in fact, I called her when I got out of the club. She should be here by about 9:00." Julia stopped a moment so it would all sink in. Olivia just stared. Now this was weird, yet how could she not have known? If only she'd noticed the changes in her friends.guilt flooded through her.
"Hey don't think it's all your fault." Julia reassured her laying a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "Yours is easier to hide than most. I've got to permanently wear a hat now. You just need to wear long sleeves and glasses! Hey, remember when Mitch tried to take my hat off in gym? I almost killed him for that." They both broke into giggles at the anecdote they remembered so well.
"But wait," Olivia said, energy returning so she could stand again. "What is your power and how did you find me?"
"I can talk to animals, for one, plus a trail of luminous lilies in the middle of the Pine Barrens isn't exactly a normal occurrence." She smiled at the sarcasm, and so did Olivia. She raised her hands again and another hammock of vines appeared in the trees.
"I'll make another one for Gwen- I mean Raptor when she gets here. I don't want to drain myself again."
"Speaking of names, you should get one!" Julia said. "Mine's Soniker now. What do you want yours to be?"
"Now this was something Olivia hadn't considered yet, but then again she hadn't had a reason to. So, digging deep in her mind, she searched for a suitable title.
".Persephone." She said finally, and happily accepting the new nickname. Julia pondered this.
"Cool. I like it!" she smiled. Then Olivia asked, "Wait, what are we gonna do when Raptor gets here?"
"Well, we can do one of two things. One: we could stay here and hide out forever, or until somebody find us. Or two: we could try to-" but she was interrupted by the scuffling sound of a small raccoon waddling into the clearing. He squeaked to Julia, and her face became focused in worry.
"Come with me," she said and pulled Olivia into the shadows of the nearby trees.
"What's wrong?" Olivia asked, scared now herself.
"There are people coming our way; four of them. From what the raccoon said, they were teens. Let's just hide here, and hopefully, they'll go away before they find this place."
"There's just one problem." Olivia said in the darkness.
"What?"
"Your eyes are glowing."
Julia turned to her. "So are yours. That's weird. Ok.ummm.all right, when you see them come in, if they do, keep your eyes closed just enough so that you can see. Good I can hardly see the glow. Now keep them that way; if they get too close." her voice trailed off. Olivia knew what would happen if they did get too close, but she hoped they wouldn't. Lack of energy kept her from closing the break in the circle of trees.
A few moments later, four teenagers entered the clearing (Shadowcat, Toad, Rogue, and Nightcrawler). They looked around, and when they laid eyes on the hybrid plant, they became entranced by it. Olivia kept watching them, eyes almost shut, and she paid close attention to the pale, dark- haired boy. He was kind of cute.Julia noticed this and smirked to herself, but didn't say anything. When he made the comment about eating the plant, Olivia worked hard to stifle her laughter and Julia gave her a quick "Shush!"
".And that's when Kurt came towards us and.well, the rest is history." Olivia finished and they all got up. "Hey does anyone have the time?" Julia asked. Rogue glanced down at her watch.
"Yeah, it's about 9:00." She answered.
"Oh, good then." Julia said pleasantly. "So.this clearing's about.20 feet across. That should give her enough room to land. I'd better signal."and with that she threw back her head and let out a prominent sonic blast which flooded the cool night air. Owls, hawks, buzzards and other birds began circling around the lack of trees above their heads. There was a somewhat distant screech in reply, and Julia smiled triumphantly. "She'll be here in a minute." She told the waiting group.
Olivia was as anxious as everyone to see Gwen; she had spoken to her friend quite often, but to see her the way she would be was going to be quite interesting."You might wanna step back," Julia warned, "and grab on to something." Everyone backed up to the surrounding trees and grabbed hold of the nearest rooted object they could.
Out of the face of the full moon, a shadow appeared and began circling around the grove's treetops. Gusts of wind from the shadow's wings blew down into the hollow, and the mutants kept hold on their supports. The flying shadow that was Raptor circled lower and lower, then finally landed in the middle of the clearing, stopping the gusts of wind for which everyone was grateful. A tall girl with glasses, 18, vampiric green eyes, long auburn hair, and a pair of moonlit auburn wings 7 feet long a piece stood there in a long black trench coat, baggy black pants, and a black t- shirt with the silhouettes of a wolf and eagle on with black sneakers. She had a black backpack with spikes on her back and carried two large suitcases. She looked around at the mutants emerging from the shelter of the trees, smiling at their gawking expressions and wind-blown hair.
"Hey Soniker, you didn't tell me there'd be so many people." Raptor said, "And where's Olivia? I haven't seen her since."she paused, thinking. "God, it must've been December!" Olivia was the last to come out and she paused right in the moonlight, looking teary-eyed at her friend. Their eyes met and Olivia and Gwen ran into a strong hug. Through silent tears, Olivia's eye remained shut until she felt the place where Gwen's wings came out of the rips in her coat; there were upraised areas that felt like they'd been slashed with a knife.it sent chills up Olivia's spine.
They let go after a moment and gazed at each other, then Raptor said, "holy cow, Olivia. You certainly have changed since December." She smiled.
"It's Persephone now." Olivia answered; then she turned around. "These guys-and girls-are from a place called the Xavier Institute up in Bayville, New York. They want to take us there." Gwen turned to look at them and they smiled back welcomingly.
"I'm Kitty; Shadowcat."
"Rogue."
"Just call me Toad, birdie." Rogue and Kitty glared at him, but Raptor just smiled wryly.
"Kurt, Nightcrawler."
She smiled, then said to Julia, "oh yeah I brought your stuff and some of Oliv- I mean, Persephone's as well." She smirked at this, but it was friendly, and Olivia returned it, the memories of all the fun they had had came back to her: Gwen was like the sister she had never had, sharing all of her age-earned perks with her and Julia, driving to the mall, movies, shopping, cafes, anything! Then something came into the light of Olivia's mind:
"Hey Gwen, what did your parents say about this?" for the first time since she had arrived, Raptor's smile completely faded from her face and there was silence. The light and happiness drained from her eyes, and Julia broke in quickly, "Well, now that we're all happily acquainted, let's go. Don't want to get back to late now do we?" she finished I a hurried voice s she walked out of the clearing into the dark if the Pine Barrens, followed closely by a hopping Toad. Gwen followed her somberly at first, then her happiness returned as she trudged after Julia in the thickets.
Shadowcat and Rogue looked at each for a moment, then Rogue called, "Don't you need one of us to show you where the jet is?"
"Nah, it's ok, I've got Toad with me. He remembers where it is." Julia's answer came back muffled by the growth. "This ought to be interesting." Shadowcat said as she and Rogue followed the parade of mutants to the jet, leaving Persephone and Nightcrawler to follow. There was a quiet pause between the two "deformed" mutants, and it seemed that as they looked into each other's eyes, something seemed to just *click* inside. Kurt smiled at Olivia and she gave a dimple-faced smile right back.
"So.I still don't know what your power is, Kurt." She said rather shyly.
"I'm a teleporter." He answered, only too eager to show off his abilities. "Look." Yet again, a small *bamph* was heard and Nightcrawler disappeared from Olivia's view. She looked startled, and looked around.
"Boo!"
Olivia jumped nearly a foot off the ground as Kurt laughed from behind her. After catching her breath, she smiled slyly and said, "So that's how you got away from me the first time. I was wondering where you had gone." A loud grumble from Kurt's stomach stopped the conversation there. He looked very embarrassed, but Olivia asked, "Are you hungry? Just go take something from over there. Heaven knows we won't be using it." She indicated the victory garden by the stream, and Kurt thankfully ran over to it, plucking several large apples from the tree and stuffing them in his bag and one in his mouth. She's pretty and can grown food at any time.he thought to himself.She's great!
Returning to her side, he said, "You want to take the shortcut?" he held out his three-fingered hand and looked at her, waiting. At first, she looked at his hand then up to his face and smiled. Putting her hand in his, and with another *bamph* Olivia and Kurt were back at the jet, waiting for everyone else and telling each other more about themselves.
When the rest of the group had arrived at the jet, Julia and Gwen amazed at how they had gotten there so fast they all clamored inside while Kurt and Kitty started the jet. Toad was none too happy about flying again, but when Raptor offered to fly him back to Bayville, he turned a sickening shade of pale and he said he'd 'stay with the Blackbird, thank you very much.' And with a wry smile, Raptor took a window seat next to Julia and Toad. Olivia sat on the floor in the back. Rogue paged the Professor and told him that instead of two, there were now three new mutants headed for Bayville.
About halfway through the flight, Julia got up and came to where Olivia sat, head down. She heard quiet sobs from her, desperately trying to be covered up but failing.
"What's wrong, Olive-girl?" Julia sat down next to her crying friend. She turned her glistening, tear-filled eyes to her.
"I just realized," she began quietly, tears slowing down from her eyes, leaving shining tracks in the dim light. "Everything that I'll have to give up and all the things I used to know that are now gone.what was left of my family, all my other friends." her eyes began to fill again, "at least in the Barrens I could have had some memory of what it was like."
"Hey, hey, hey." Julia pulled Olivia close to her in a hug. "We can't change what we've become, so don't bother. I cried at first too, but then I realized that if I cried about it for the rest of my life, then I'd never enjoy all the things I still could do. I'm not saying that you should forget your old life, but remember it and try to live your new life better."
Olivia looked up at her friend, her mascara running black lines down her face and her green eyes glowed with Julia's brown ones in the dim light.
"Thanks.Soniker." They smiled together, then Olivia turned to look at Raptor's seemingly sleeping form in the chair, wings touching the floor of the jet, rising and falling with her breath.
"Hey, Julia, what happened to Gwen, when her parents found out?"
Julia's face became serious and focused. "This ain't a pretty story, you sure you wanna know?" Persephone looked to Raptor's back again and nodded slowly.
Julia spoke solemnly. "You know how she supposedly 'moved away' in December? Well, she didn't; she ran- uh, flew, away. When her parents saw what had happened to her, they didn't like it; not very mutant friendly if you know what I mean. They loved her enough, they said, to try and change her to look more human.they tried cutting off her wings." Olivia's eyes widened in horror, but the story went on, "she screamed so much that they stopped, but then they locked her in the basement over Christmas break. When she grew talons, she finally cut herself free, but not before they had whipped and beat her everyday and told her that unless she let them near her again to cut off the wings, she'd die down there." She finished and looked at Olivia's face, now even paler than it normally was with black lines coming down from her eyes. Raptor shed silent tears in her seat at the memories. "She came to me because my house was closer. What a state she was in, let me tell you. Bruises, cut marks, lashings.it's a great pity that some people don't appreciate the gifts that are given unto others. I found her a place on the outskirts and she seemed to be doing fine. She doesn't like to talk about it, so don't mention it ok?" she nodded the settled herself back against the wall, wearing a troubled face as if Gwen's story reminded her of something she too had known.
Julia looked at her and said, "There's something still wrong, I can tell. What is it?" there was a deafening pause, then: "this is something I've never, ever told anyone, so you promise not to tell?" Julia nodded in an oath response.
"My dad's been a raging alcoholic all of my life." Olivia whispered. Julia stared at her; now this was something she would never have guessed. "He'd go out, get drunk, maybe go out with a few women, you know, the typical story. Sometimes, he'd come home at around 12 and wake me and mom up with his yelling. Then he'd."she stopped, tears practically running down her cheeks, "he'd beat my mom.and me, if I got in the way. Then one night, when my mom was away for the weekend, he.he tried to." she trailed off, waterfalls falling from both her eyes. Julia was horrified but she continued, "i.I didn't know what to do; he followed me wherever I ran. So finally, I ran to my room and locked the door, and stayed there until my mom came back. I couldn't tell her, and when she found my ripped shirt in the garbage, I told her I'd done it on accident. And then all this happening with Mitch yesterday and now the mutation."
She paused, turned over, and closed her teary eyes. Julia was silent, then whispered, with a comforting hand on her shoulder, "you don't need to worry anymore, Olive-girl. He won't find you where we're going."
"What did your parents do when it happened to you, Julia?"
She sighed and looked thoughtful, remebering. "Nothing, really. You know my parents; I don't think they ever really noticed me to begin with. When I started to talk to the cat during the night and wore my hat permanently, all they said was, 'oh well, at least no one knows.' I was lucky. I think they just.forgot about me after that. I mean, they didn't starve me or anything; they just stopped paying as much attention to me. I doubt they'll even notice that I'm gone." She stopped and seemed to be ok with what had happened. She turned to Olivia, who was looking at a far off object only she could see through the floor.
"Oh." She responded in a far off voice, "sorry."
"Hey, I told you not to worry about it.you look tired; maybe you should go to sleep for a while. We should be there soon." "Yeah maybe."still in a far off voice, Persephone answered, then turned over. Julia knew she probably wouldn't get another answer so she got up and walked back to her seat next to a very wide-awake Toad. Nightcrawler looked over his shoulder at her nearly asleep form huddled in the corner, then to Julia who nudged her head for him to go to her.
"Hey Rogue, could you fly for a while?"
"Sure." She got up and took his seat at the controls while Kurt walked back to Olivia. He knelt down next to her.
"Hey."
"Hey. Shouldn't you be flying this thing?" she didn't turn around.
"No, Rogue took over for me.are you.ok?" She finally turned and looked at him, and his face fell into a piteous state to see her glowing green eyes magnified with tears.
"I.I just need.someone to be near me."
"Do you want me to call Soniker or Raptor?" he offered.
"No, no.I'm sure they've got other things on their minds." she looked at the two conversing with Kitty in whispers.
"Well, do you want me to stay here?"
Olivia gazed into his eyes appreciatively. "Thanks." Kurt sat down next to her, and then put an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. She rested her head on his shoulder, and then said, "My boyfriend would never do this for me." Kurt's heart sank; Boyfriend? "I broke with him yesterday when I caught him cheating on me." his insides leapt up at this and his heart did a victory dance. She closed her eyes at this and whispered, "Thanks, Kurt."
"Your welcome." he answered, and rested his head on top of hers. She was soon asleep next to him as they flew over New York City.