Well... I beg your pardon for this delay. -_- I finished this chapter long
ago, I was just too lazy to sign in and post it. I don't know why.
Thanks for all my reviewers!
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Chapter 9: Reborn at The Sanctuary
"What the HELL do you think you were doing?" Lika yelled, stopping the car at a red light and turning to Alexander who was sitting in the passenger seat, looking very, very angry. In fact, electric currents still passed on his body now and then.
"Let him be, Lika," Amber said gently from the back seat.
"You could have injured innocent people!" Lika continued, her eyes flashing with anger. "Xavier can enter your mind easier when your emotions get the best of you! He could have seen everything! We could all have been exposed!"
"I KNOW!" Alexander bellowed, making the nearest streetlight's lamp explode, a few people on the sidewalk starting to shriek.
"I don't know what Foe's going to do with you," Lika said, this time more softly.
Alexander didn't answer, and neither did he speak for the rest of the ride. The car turned in an alley and stopped in front of the same gate Magneto had stood in front of. They all got out of the vehicle and Lika opened the gate with a magnetic card, just like Coral had done. The gate opened electrically and they all walked in.
The paved alleyway up to the building was at least three to four hundred feet long and was simply bordered by freshly cut grass and flowers here and there. The gate that they had passed seemed to be the only way in and out of the place, as the whole set was bordered by a tall wall. Giant New Yorkan buildings didn't stop the light from illuminating everything.
The building was some sort of manor, being modern and classic all at once. It was of an impressive size, vaguely the same size Xavier's school was. The front façade had many, many windows. There was a fountain in the right middle, around which a car could pass to deposit people in font of a white staircase, delimited by two statues. Coral was sitting on the third step in her childlike form. She transformed back into a woman when they approached, and was about to speak but Amber stopped her from saying something that might fan the flames of Alexander's temper even more.
"Where's Foe?" Lika asked her.
"Guess," Coral answered, rolling her eyes.
"The lab?"
"Where else?" Coral said, turning back into her childlike form as they walked up the rest of the steps and passed the two carved wooden doors to enter the manor.
The main hall was gigantic and made of white marble. Their steps echoed strangely around he hallway until they reached a circular space, from which parted two other hallways and a staircase leading in spirals to a higher level. In the middle of the room was a table on which was a floral arrangement. A crystal chandelier was hanging a bit higher.
"There you are!" a voice said from the first floor.
William appeared at the top of the staircase and started walking down.
"You took ages for God's sake!" he exclaimed.
"Lika was driving," Alexander simply said, Lika giving him a glare.
"It's besides the point," she said. "You drive like a maniac."
"Whatever," William said, walking back up. "By the way . . . You okay, Alex?"
He nodded.
"We could have kicked their asses!" Will said jovially, disappearing on the second floor.
"Well, you head Coral," Lika said, walking towards one of the crossing hallways. "Foe's in the med lab."
Amber gave Alex a sympathetic smile and followed Lika. Alexander didn't move, listening to the unnatural silence for a while, until he decided to get this over with and tell what happened to Foe. He took the second hallway, crossed an empty common room where a wide screen television was installed in the middle of a circle of sofas and armchairs, passed a large window from which gardens could be seen, and finally found what he was looking for: a metallic door with a sign near which was a keypad. He pressed the eight-digit code on it and the door disappeared into the wall, revealing a staircase leading downwards. He took it and ended up in a dark corridor, where fish tanks were used as walls, and so there was water on either side. At the other end was another crossing, one making the hallway continue, the other being an archway to enter a room. Alex watched the continuation of the hall, but opted for the room. Knowing that it was most likely there that he would find who he was looking for.
The room, like everything else on this level, was plunged in darkness. There were circular fish tanks in the walls, and other tropical fish could be seen swimming around. The floor was carpeted here and there was a bar in front of the aquariums. Alex eyed the bottles of liquor with longing but walked to the darkest part of the room. Chairs were placed around a round table and he noticed that one of them was pulled backwards to the corner. Foe was sitting there, her knees brought up to her chin.
"Hey," he said, balancing his weight form one foot to another. "We . . . hum . . . ran into a little snag . . . Xavier and his people were at the mall . . . I . . . I . . . lost my temper . . . and . . . Lika arrived just in time to stop us from doing something foolish, but . . . he'll probably start keeping an eye on us . . . we need to be more careful."
Foe didn't say anything, her face buried under her arms and knees. Alexander watched her for a moment and walked back to the bar where he served himself a strong drink. He walked back to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down.
Foe didn't speak for a long time and it was only when she sniffled that Alexander jumped to his feet seeing that she was crying.
"Ah, Lord," he mumbled, guessing that she was crying because of her daughter again. "Foe, what- . . . a listen, you'll get Lily back . . . you just need time . . ."
"N-n-no," she sobbed, more tears rolling down her cheeks. "It . . . its not that . . . its . . . its that I found it . . ."
". . . found what?" he asked, rubbing her back lightly. "Tell me . . . we always used to talk."
"I found h-how . . . how to get her back," she said. "S-she's alive, Alex . . .She's alive!"
It was only then Alexander realized that the tears running down her face were not tears of sadness but of joy. He didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything.
" . . . Lily . . . is alive?" he asked timidly after a very long while. "She's . . . alive!?"
"Yes!" Foe said, jumping to his neck. "I . . .I'll need more time to rehabilitate her, but she's alive! . . . Her life's not in danger anymore! She's awake!"
"I can't believe it," he whispered. "It's . . . impossible. It's been years and years . . . I mean . . . how old is she?"
"I only got cryogenics three years after the accident, so theoretically, she's four years old now," Foe said, getting a hold of herself and so stopping to cry, wiping the tears from her cheeks and smiling widely.
" . . . Can I see her?" Alexander asked.
"Not yet, she's not prepared," Foe said, still smiling. "I need to block her powers for now, they're getting out of hand, and I need to teach her how to talk. She knows how to, but I need to show her . . . she's really smart you know . . . I need to go back to work, now, but I'll see you later."
Foe walked out of the room, followed by Alexander. She walked up the other hallway while he just stood at the intersection. He watched her disappear and walked back upstairs. The door closed behind him and he just stood there for a while, until someone came walking by. Foe's boy.
He was wearing a sleeveless black top and matching baggy pants. He was holding a soda in one hand and started ruffling his black hair with the other, watching Alexander with mild sympathy, a faint smile on his lips.
"What is it?" he asked, tiling his head to the side, something extremely mature, almost frighteningly so, in his voice.
"Y- . . . your mother," he said. "She . . . I've never seen her happier."
The boy's smile widened and his blue eyes shone.
"I know!" he said, his tone trying to be something close to happy. "Isn't it great?"
"You know about . . .?"
"Lily? Of course I do," he said. "She is my sister, by the way."
"How come . . .?"
"Oh, I talked to her yesterday," he said casually. "She can't talk very well yet, but she knows a lot. I mean, she told me her power was 'psychologically and physically exhausting'. What kind of normal four year old can say that? I can't wait for her to get out of the lab. Everyone's just going to just freak out."
Alexander stayed silent.
"So, have you found an alias yet?" he asked, wanting to change subject. "Not that you need one of course."
The boy smiled decisively.
"No, I haven't been thinking about it," he said. "And I don't think I need one after all. My name is just fine."
"You are such a weirdo, Lou."
The kid rolled his eyes.
"EVERYTHING about you is weird," Alexander said playfully, walking away with the boy.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you," the boy continued, almost seriously.
"Whatever," Alex said, walking back to the main lobby. "Hey . . . where were you last night?"
"Gambit and I were just fooling around down town."
"You two really seem to get along."
"Yeah, we do," the teenager said. "I can't wait to be sent on a job with him. It's going to be funny."
Alexander stayed silent, simply walking down the clean white marble hallways with Lou.
"Tell me . . ." he said finally. "You really like doing jobs?"
"I like fighting for what I believe in," Lou answered calmly.
"No, I don't mean it that way," Alex said. "I mean 'doing' the job."
"Alexander, its all a game," the teenager sighed. "It's you or them. Them or us. I know that in the end, we're going to win, but I can't wait two to three hundred years of evolution to pass while they keep torturing us like they do, wanting to exterminate every one of us. We're forced to love doing the job if we believe in what we fight for."
"Your so much like your mother," Alexander sighed.
"I know."
~~~
Alexander passed the rest of the day at the manor, commonly referred to as The Sanctuary, taking care of the kids he had been supposed to look after at the mall. The afternoon passed rather quickly and Foe wasn't seen at all.
It was at dinnertime that all the inhabitants of the mansion could be seen, all being mutants. Some were very young, others were teenagers and a small part were adults. A great part of them had obvious transformations, such as blue of purple skin, natural cerulean or green hair, scales or scars, different hands or ears, but all looked rather happy.
They all gathered in the dinning room, more precisely around a large rectangle glass table where countless assorted plates were placed. They all ate, talking and laughing with each other. It was here they al found their place. At The Sanctuary.
After having filled their appetite, most of the children walked to the common room Alexander had passed on his way down. Not too long after, Foe arrived. Everyone stopped what they were doing, turning to the entrance where she was standing. She was smiling, something they hadn't seen in a very long time. They noticed that a little person was standing next to her, holding her hand tightly and hiding behind the doorframe.
She was tiny and seemed to be around the age of four years old. Her hair was slightly peculiar, without being abnormal. It was a mix of light and dark brown and black, reaching her below her shoulders. She had light tone skin and auburn eyes. She looked timid and unsure of herself as she followed Foe into the room.
"I'd like to present you Destiny," Foe said, "my daughter."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Destiny: little girl that was talking to Nathan in his dreams. She was in cryogenics, which means that she was kept alive in 'ice' (for a reason not revealed to you yet!). she was not dead but wasn't alive. All you know is that she's been in there for a long time and stopped growing there. She's been 'alive' for about fourteen years, but is still a little six-year-old girl. She does not have the mentality of a fourteen year old but is very smart. As you will discover later on, she is something like a psychic (but isn't super powerful), can see things that happen at another place (but she can't control it. The images just pop up by themselves) and can vaguely predict things.
^_^ Next chapter is entitled "Stryker's return". I'm sending it soon.
Thanks for all my reviewers!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 9: Reborn at The Sanctuary
"What the HELL do you think you were doing?" Lika yelled, stopping the car at a red light and turning to Alexander who was sitting in the passenger seat, looking very, very angry. In fact, electric currents still passed on his body now and then.
"Let him be, Lika," Amber said gently from the back seat.
"You could have injured innocent people!" Lika continued, her eyes flashing with anger. "Xavier can enter your mind easier when your emotions get the best of you! He could have seen everything! We could all have been exposed!"
"I KNOW!" Alexander bellowed, making the nearest streetlight's lamp explode, a few people on the sidewalk starting to shriek.
"I don't know what Foe's going to do with you," Lika said, this time more softly.
Alexander didn't answer, and neither did he speak for the rest of the ride. The car turned in an alley and stopped in front of the same gate Magneto had stood in front of. They all got out of the vehicle and Lika opened the gate with a magnetic card, just like Coral had done. The gate opened electrically and they all walked in.
The paved alleyway up to the building was at least three to four hundred feet long and was simply bordered by freshly cut grass and flowers here and there. The gate that they had passed seemed to be the only way in and out of the place, as the whole set was bordered by a tall wall. Giant New Yorkan buildings didn't stop the light from illuminating everything.
The building was some sort of manor, being modern and classic all at once. It was of an impressive size, vaguely the same size Xavier's school was. The front façade had many, many windows. There was a fountain in the right middle, around which a car could pass to deposit people in font of a white staircase, delimited by two statues. Coral was sitting on the third step in her childlike form. She transformed back into a woman when they approached, and was about to speak but Amber stopped her from saying something that might fan the flames of Alexander's temper even more.
"Where's Foe?" Lika asked her.
"Guess," Coral answered, rolling her eyes.
"The lab?"
"Where else?" Coral said, turning back into her childlike form as they walked up the rest of the steps and passed the two carved wooden doors to enter the manor.
The main hall was gigantic and made of white marble. Their steps echoed strangely around he hallway until they reached a circular space, from which parted two other hallways and a staircase leading in spirals to a higher level. In the middle of the room was a table on which was a floral arrangement. A crystal chandelier was hanging a bit higher.
"There you are!" a voice said from the first floor.
William appeared at the top of the staircase and started walking down.
"You took ages for God's sake!" he exclaimed.
"Lika was driving," Alexander simply said, Lika giving him a glare.
"It's besides the point," she said. "You drive like a maniac."
"Whatever," William said, walking back up. "By the way . . . You okay, Alex?"
He nodded.
"We could have kicked their asses!" Will said jovially, disappearing on the second floor.
"Well, you head Coral," Lika said, walking towards one of the crossing hallways. "Foe's in the med lab."
Amber gave Alex a sympathetic smile and followed Lika. Alexander didn't move, listening to the unnatural silence for a while, until he decided to get this over with and tell what happened to Foe. He took the second hallway, crossed an empty common room where a wide screen television was installed in the middle of a circle of sofas and armchairs, passed a large window from which gardens could be seen, and finally found what he was looking for: a metallic door with a sign near which was a keypad. He pressed the eight-digit code on it and the door disappeared into the wall, revealing a staircase leading downwards. He took it and ended up in a dark corridor, where fish tanks were used as walls, and so there was water on either side. At the other end was another crossing, one making the hallway continue, the other being an archway to enter a room. Alex watched the continuation of the hall, but opted for the room. Knowing that it was most likely there that he would find who he was looking for.
The room, like everything else on this level, was plunged in darkness. There were circular fish tanks in the walls, and other tropical fish could be seen swimming around. The floor was carpeted here and there was a bar in front of the aquariums. Alex eyed the bottles of liquor with longing but walked to the darkest part of the room. Chairs were placed around a round table and he noticed that one of them was pulled backwards to the corner. Foe was sitting there, her knees brought up to her chin.
"Hey," he said, balancing his weight form one foot to another. "We . . . hum . . . ran into a little snag . . . Xavier and his people were at the mall . . . I . . . I . . . lost my temper . . . and . . . Lika arrived just in time to stop us from doing something foolish, but . . . he'll probably start keeping an eye on us . . . we need to be more careful."
Foe didn't say anything, her face buried under her arms and knees. Alexander watched her for a moment and walked back to the bar where he served himself a strong drink. He walked back to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down.
Foe didn't speak for a long time and it was only when she sniffled that Alexander jumped to his feet seeing that she was crying.
"Ah, Lord," he mumbled, guessing that she was crying because of her daughter again. "Foe, what- . . . a listen, you'll get Lily back . . . you just need time . . ."
"N-n-no," she sobbed, more tears rolling down her cheeks. "It . . . its not that . . . its . . . its that I found it . . ."
". . . found what?" he asked, rubbing her back lightly. "Tell me . . . we always used to talk."
"I found h-how . . . how to get her back," she said. "S-she's alive, Alex . . .She's alive!"
It was only then Alexander realized that the tears running down her face were not tears of sadness but of joy. He didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything.
" . . . Lily . . . is alive?" he asked timidly after a very long while. "She's . . . alive!?"
"Yes!" Foe said, jumping to his neck. "I . . .I'll need more time to rehabilitate her, but she's alive! . . . Her life's not in danger anymore! She's awake!"
"I can't believe it," he whispered. "It's . . . impossible. It's been years and years . . . I mean . . . how old is she?"
"I only got cryogenics three years after the accident, so theoretically, she's four years old now," Foe said, getting a hold of herself and so stopping to cry, wiping the tears from her cheeks and smiling widely.
" . . . Can I see her?" Alexander asked.
"Not yet, she's not prepared," Foe said, still smiling. "I need to block her powers for now, they're getting out of hand, and I need to teach her how to talk. She knows how to, but I need to show her . . . she's really smart you know . . . I need to go back to work, now, but I'll see you later."
Foe walked out of the room, followed by Alexander. She walked up the other hallway while he just stood at the intersection. He watched her disappear and walked back upstairs. The door closed behind him and he just stood there for a while, until someone came walking by. Foe's boy.
He was wearing a sleeveless black top and matching baggy pants. He was holding a soda in one hand and started ruffling his black hair with the other, watching Alexander with mild sympathy, a faint smile on his lips.
"What is it?" he asked, tiling his head to the side, something extremely mature, almost frighteningly so, in his voice.
"Y- . . . your mother," he said. "She . . . I've never seen her happier."
The boy's smile widened and his blue eyes shone.
"I know!" he said, his tone trying to be something close to happy. "Isn't it great?"
"You know about . . .?"
"Lily? Of course I do," he said. "She is my sister, by the way."
"How come . . .?"
"Oh, I talked to her yesterday," he said casually. "She can't talk very well yet, but she knows a lot. I mean, she told me her power was 'psychologically and physically exhausting'. What kind of normal four year old can say that? I can't wait for her to get out of the lab. Everyone's just going to just freak out."
Alexander stayed silent.
"So, have you found an alias yet?" he asked, wanting to change subject. "Not that you need one of course."
The boy smiled decisively.
"No, I haven't been thinking about it," he said. "And I don't think I need one after all. My name is just fine."
"You are such a weirdo, Lou."
The kid rolled his eyes.
"EVERYTHING about you is weird," Alexander said playfully, walking away with the boy.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you," the boy continued, almost seriously.
"Whatever," Alex said, walking back to the main lobby. "Hey . . . where were you last night?"
"Gambit and I were just fooling around down town."
"You two really seem to get along."
"Yeah, we do," the teenager said. "I can't wait to be sent on a job with him. It's going to be funny."
Alexander stayed silent, simply walking down the clean white marble hallways with Lou.
"Tell me . . ." he said finally. "You really like doing jobs?"
"I like fighting for what I believe in," Lou answered calmly.
"No, I don't mean it that way," Alex said. "I mean 'doing' the job."
"Alexander, its all a game," the teenager sighed. "It's you or them. Them or us. I know that in the end, we're going to win, but I can't wait two to three hundred years of evolution to pass while they keep torturing us like they do, wanting to exterminate every one of us. We're forced to love doing the job if we believe in what we fight for."
"Your so much like your mother," Alexander sighed.
"I know."
~~~
Alexander passed the rest of the day at the manor, commonly referred to as The Sanctuary, taking care of the kids he had been supposed to look after at the mall. The afternoon passed rather quickly and Foe wasn't seen at all.
It was at dinnertime that all the inhabitants of the mansion could be seen, all being mutants. Some were very young, others were teenagers and a small part were adults. A great part of them had obvious transformations, such as blue of purple skin, natural cerulean or green hair, scales or scars, different hands or ears, but all looked rather happy.
They all gathered in the dinning room, more precisely around a large rectangle glass table where countless assorted plates were placed. They all ate, talking and laughing with each other. It was here they al found their place. At The Sanctuary.
After having filled their appetite, most of the children walked to the common room Alexander had passed on his way down. Not too long after, Foe arrived. Everyone stopped what they were doing, turning to the entrance where she was standing. She was smiling, something they hadn't seen in a very long time. They noticed that a little person was standing next to her, holding her hand tightly and hiding behind the doorframe.
She was tiny and seemed to be around the age of four years old. Her hair was slightly peculiar, without being abnormal. It was a mix of light and dark brown and black, reaching her below her shoulders. She had light tone skin and auburn eyes. She looked timid and unsure of herself as she followed Foe into the room.
"I'd like to present you Destiny," Foe said, "my daughter."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Destiny: little girl that was talking to Nathan in his dreams. She was in cryogenics, which means that she was kept alive in 'ice' (for a reason not revealed to you yet!). she was not dead but wasn't alive. All you know is that she's been in there for a long time and stopped growing there. She's been 'alive' for about fourteen years, but is still a little six-year-old girl. She does not have the mentality of a fourteen year old but is very smart. As you will discover later on, she is something like a psychic (but isn't super powerful), can see things that happen at another place (but she can't control it. The images just pop up by themselves) and can vaguely predict things.
^_^ Next chapter is entitled "Stryker's return". I'm sending it soon.