Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I making any money from the X-Men
characters. Thank you to Corrinth for the use of her character Dr. Ilehana
Xavier. I do own Blaze, and appreciate authors not using her without
asking.
A/N: Reviews always welcome!
Scene 06
Ilehana the Wolf had an itch. So, being a wolf and therefore endlessly practical she stopped her lope through the Black Forest and scratched it. She was thoroughly enjoying herself when she caught the whiff of a familiar odour on the breeze. The Wolverine had entered her forest...
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Mystique snarled at the computer screen in fury. Whilst working at Jacobi's lair she had of course frequently emailed all the information she had gathered to herself. Some information was too precious to loose, and Magneto was depending on her. But in her last few days there she had learned much, and lost all of it to Blaze's hand. Now the progress of the mutation accelerator hung in the balance, and she did not have the information she needed to complete the complicated program. Abruptly she struck a brainwave. What was it Gambit had said about Blaze having a powerful memory? Perhaps the very mutant who had caused her this problem could solve it, for a price? Of course it would be Blaze, not Mystique who paid...
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Xavier's mansion was still, the snow had stopped falling leaving everything blanketed in pallor. Somewhere an alarm bleeped, a stranger was entering the grounds through the front gate. Dressed in a dark trench coat, the stranger made a black smudge on the clean white landscape. Xavier smiled; dismissing his class he went to welcome his X-Man home.
Blaze dropped her single case on the floor of the mansion with a clunk and a heavy sigh. She was exhausted, and how come it had to be so cold here?
"Blaze! You're back!"
"Yep, looks like it." She had to grin as Scott gave her a friendly hug. "Good to see you, Cyclops."
"You too," He'd forgotten how pretty she was. Why did he feel guilty for thinking that? "Is it me, or is that coat a bit big for you?"
"Its Remy's," Blaze grinned, "It's the only one that will fit over the twenty-seven jumpers I'm wearing underneath! It's freezing here!"
"Is it? I kinda like it!" Bobby hugged her too as Rogue grinned happily.
"Bobby put Blaze down," The Professor smiled easily. He addressed Blaze then mentally. **Did you find the answers you were seeking? **
**No, only more questions I'm afraid. **
**If you need to talk...**
**I know Professor, thank you, but...** Storm came into the corridor from the underground labyrinth of the X-Men. "Where did you get that ring?"
At Blaze's almost angry question, the X-Men glanced at each other, confused. Except for Storm.
"It was given to me, a gift."
"Do you know who from?" Storm did not balk from Blaze's interrogation. Down the hall Nightcrawler appeared in a cloud of purple smoke, and several of Xavier's students were already staring at the pride of X-Men, especially Blaze.
"No. It came with a note, but it was unsigned." Storm frowned. "Why are you so interested, Blaze? Do you know something about it?"
"You could say that." Blaze flashed her own ruby ring at the older woman. "Professor, is there somewhere private Storm and I could talk? You are welcome too of course."
It was not lost on the other X-Men that Blaze was excluding them. To Rogue and Bobby, it felt like an ageist prejudice; did Blaze, only a few years older, really think they couldn't handle themselves. Scott was hurt by Blaze's lack of trust in him, hadn't he proved himself to her yet? Nightcrawler did not wish any ill will on Blaze, he knew better than any of the others that some councils are best unshared. Almost overpowered by the strength of emotions she could feel from her friends, Blaze took strength from Kurt's acceptance that she would do what she needed to, and followed Xavier and Storm into the lift down to the lower levels of the mansion.
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In a small briefing room, Blaze dumped Remy's beloved coat and threw off several big woolly jumpers, before rifling through her small case for her hard backed notebook. Xavier and Storm watched her carefully, before Blaze sat down with them.
"After I left here, what, nearly five months ago? I went back to the town I grew up in, in England. I was staying in some nameless motel whilst I tracked down my parents' graves..." Blaze choked a little, but steeled herself to continue. "One morning, as I was leaving the building, a royal mail van pulled up outside. The parcel it delivered was addressed to me, at the motel, even down to my room number. But I hadn't told anybody I was there, and I hadn't been there very long. In the parcel were this ring, and a note that was very cryptic and unsigned."
"This happened to me also," Storm muttered at the Professor, placing her own ring besides Blaze's on the table in front of them. The diamond and ruby winked in the light.
"And you were told that the ring would help you remember something." Blaze looked at Storm very carefully.
"Yes." Storm frowned again, "But I don't know what."
"I don't know what 'they' want us to remember either. But I did realise two things. Firstly, that the postage paid on the parcel, and the postmark, was from the town where I was born." A wave of recognition ran over Storm's face, followed by a wave of worry. Blaze continued. "I wasn't born in the town I grew up in. My Mother was Irish, I was born in a little village in Ireland and we only moved when I was two. But we also frequently visited the village throughout my childhood, because my Grandmother lived there. And so I also realised that some of the runes on this ring were very similar to ones I had seen engraved on an Ancient Celtic monument, a great tablet of carved stone, about twelve miles from the village."
"That marvellous photographic memory of yours again, Blaze? To remember things from childhood like that?" Xavier was intrigued. Blaze nodded and opened her notebook.
"These are the runes on the tablet. It is definitely the same alphabet as the writing on the rings, wouldn't you say so Professor?" Xavier took the notebook from Blaze and examined it carefully. "I also tried to track down who had posted the box, but no-one in the village could help me."
"And these runes are those you found in Egypt?" Xavier asked turning the page of the notebook.
"No. Those I remembered seeing in Paris, when Remy and I lived there, in a museum. Did you know there are more Ancient Egyptian artefacts in Paris than in Cairo? I went back to France to check, found the mummy whose casket they were carved into. In both cases the runes are much later than the artefacts, archaeologists would call it ancient graffiti. Anyway I was so desperate to find some answers now that I tracked down the place where the mummy had been found, and went to the tomb in Egypt. There I found more runes, and something else. Somebody else has been doing the same thing as me; somebody else had been in that tomb looking for the runes. Storm, you and I are not the only ones with strange rings..."
A/N: Reviews always welcome!
Scene 06
Ilehana the Wolf had an itch. So, being a wolf and therefore endlessly practical she stopped her lope through the Black Forest and scratched it. She was thoroughly enjoying herself when she caught the whiff of a familiar odour on the breeze. The Wolverine had entered her forest...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mystique snarled at the computer screen in fury. Whilst working at Jacobi's lair she had of course frequently emailed all the information she had gathered to herself. Some information was too precious to loose, and Magneto was depending on her. But in her last few days there she had learned much, and lost all of it to Blaze's hand. Now the progress of the mutation accelerator hung in the balance, and she did not have the information she needed to complete the complicated program. Abruptly she struck a brainwave. What was it Gambit had said about Blaze having a powerful memory? Perhaps the very mutant who had caused her this problem could solve it, for a price? Of course it would be Blaze, not Mystique who paid...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Xavier's mansion was still, the snow had stopped falling leaving everything blanketed in pallor. Somewhere an alarm bleeped, a stranger was entering the grounds through the front gate. Dressed in a dark trench coat, the stranger made a black smudge on the clean white landscape. Xavier smiled; dismissing his class he went to welcome his X-Man home.
Blaze dropped her single case on the floor of the mansion with a clunk and a heavy sigh. She was exhausted, and how come it had to be so cold here?
"Blaze! You're back!"
"Yep, looks like it." She had to grin as Scott gave her a friendly hug. "Good to see you, Cyclops."
"You too," He'd forgotten how pretty she was. Why did he feel guilty for thinking that? "Is it me, or is that coat a bit big for you?"
"Its Remy's," Blaze grinned, "It's the only one that will fit over the twenty-seven jumpers I'm wearing underneath! It's freezing here!"
"Is it? I kinda like it!" Bobby hugged her too as Rogue grinned happily.
"Bobby put Blaze down," The Professor smiled easily. He addressed Blaze then mentally. **Did you find the answers you were seeking? **
**No, only more questions I'm afraid. **
**If you need to talk...**
**I know Professor, thank you, but...** Storm came into the corridor from the underground labyrinth of the X-Men. "Where did you get that ring?"
At Blaze's almost angry question, the X-Men glanced at each other, confused. Except for Storm.
"It was given to me, a gift."
"Do you know who from?" Storm did not balk from Blaze's interrogation. Down the hall Nightcrawler appeared in a cloud of purple smoke, and several of Xavier's students were already staring at the pride of X-Men, especially Blaze.
"No. It came with a note, but it was unsigned." Storm frowned. "Why are you so interested, Blaze? Do you know something about it?"
"You could say that." Blaze flashed her own ruby ring at the older woman. "Professor, is there somewhere private Storm and I could talk? You are welcome too of course."
It was not lost on the other X-Men that Blaze was excluding them. To Rogue and Bobby, it felt like an ageist prejudice; did Blaze, only a few years older, really think they couldn't handle themselves. Scott was hurt by Blaze's lack of trust in him, hadn't he proved himself to her yet? Nightcrawler did not wish any ill will on Blaze, he knew better than any of the others that some councils are best unshared. Almost overpowered by the strength of emotions she could feel from her friends, Blaze took strength from Kurt's acceptance that she would do what she needed to, and followed Xavier and Storm into the lift down to the lower levels of the mansion.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In a small briefing room, Blaze dumped Remy's beloved coat and threw off several big woolly jumpers, before rifling through her small case for her hard backed notebook. Xavier and Storm watched her carefully, before Blaze sat down with them.
"After I left here, what, nearly five months ago? I went back to the town I grew up in, in England. I was staying in some nameless motel whilst I tracked down my parents' graves..." Blaze choked a little, but steeled herself to continue. "One morning, as I was leaving the building, a royal mail van pulled up outside. The parcel it delivered was addressed to me, at the motel, even down to my room number. But I hadn't told anybody I was there, and I hadn't been there very long. In the parcel were this ring, and a note that was very cryptic and unsigned."
"This happened to me also," Storm muttered at the Professor, placing her own ring besides Blaze's on the table in front of them. The diamond and ruby winked in the light.
"And you were told that the ring would help you remember something." Blaze looked at Storm very carefully.
"Yes." Storm frowned again, "But I don't know what."
"I don't know what 'they' want us to remember either. But I did realise two things. Firstly, that the postage paid on the parcel, and the postmark, was from the town where I was born." A wave of recognition ran over Storm's face, followed by a wave of worry. Blaze continued. "I wasn't born in the town I grew up in. My Mother was Irish, I was born in a little village in Ireland and we only moved when I was two. But we also frequently visited the village throughout my childhood, because my Grandmother lived there. And so I also realised that some of the runes on this ring were very similar to ones I had seen engraved on an Ancient Celtic monument, a great tablet of carved stone, about twelve miles from the village."
"That marvellous photographic memory of yours again, Blaze? To remember things from childhood like that?" Xavier was intrigued. Blaze nodded and opened her notebook.
"These are the runes on the tablet. It is definitely the same alphabet as the writing on the rings, wouldn't you say so Professor?" Xavier took the notebook from Blaze and examined it carefully. "I also tried to track down who had posted the box, but no-one in the village could help me."
"And these runes are those you found in Egypt?" Xavier asked turning the page of the notebook.
"No. Those I remembered seeing in Paris, when Remy and I lived there, in a museum. Did you know there are more Ancient Egyptian artefacts in Paris than in Cairo? I went back to France to check, found the mummy whose casket they were carved into. In both cases the runes are much later than the artefacts, archaeologists would call it ancient graffiti. Anyway I was so desperate to find some answers now that I tracked down the place where the mummy had been found, and went to the tomb in Egypt. There I found more runes, and something else. Somebody else has been doing the same thing as me; somebody else had been in that tomb looking for the runes. Storm, you and I are not the only ones with strange rings..."