Okay, the consensus is that the prophecy has become much more confusing.  I hate to say this, but that was the idea.  I love prophecy stories, but the answer is always so obvious to me by the midpoint of the first book in the trilogy.  Since you all are hanging on my every word (again according to the general consensus), I figured it was guinea pig time.  I'm trying out a prophecy from a trusted source (Lilly) that got muddled up in the telling.  It's all going to come true, but not in the way anyone thinks (including Remy and Jimmie).  It all resolves itself in the end, but until then, I live for your confusion.  [FOR THE PROPHECY ONLY!  If anything else is confusing, tell me right away so I can try to fix it.]

***

Runnin' to de Kidnapper

***

Kitty sank onto a bench in the mall.  She waved Jean off; pointing to her legs and then the stilettos she wore.  Those shoes had been specifically chosen for the shopping trip.  Her fellow institute female was a victim of high, often very thin heels.  Every night the redhead threw away the monsters for a pair of soft slippers and swore, "Never again."  But no matter how strong her resolve, they were back on her feet come morning.  Kitty had long suspected the telekinetic's seeming ability to glide through the air as she walked was real, that she used her powers to lift some of her weight off her painful shoes.  The point was: because of her little unstoppable self-torture, Jean immediately sympathized with anyone who had to rest their feet.

Grey put her hands up in front of her shoulders and extended all of her fingers.  Kitty shook her head, also held out her hands and opened and closed them twice.  Her transportation shrugged and walked off.  The seated girl relaxed.  Twenty minutes was more than enough time.  She relaxed and watched the large clock hanging on the opposite wall.  4:59, she had cut it close.  The minute hand ticked forward to lay on the zero minute mark.  At the same time, a cell phone rang on the bench beside her.  She looked at it quietly.  It rang again.  Kitty took a deep breath.  Third ring.  She quickly picked it up and answered the call just before the soft chime ended.

A deep, contemptuous voice reverberated through the small phone.  "You were having second thoughts.  How typical of the young and foolish."

Kitty narrowed her eyes, stung.  "I picked up before the third ring was over.  Like, don't you think twice about your actions?"

"All the time, but not as I make them.  Indecisiveness can spell death.  In this case, Mr. Wagner's life depended on you being prompt.  Did you believe I would not follow through with my threat?"

"Yes.  The way I remember it, you were very careful not to hurt him."

"Blackmail doesn't work very well if the ransom is dead."  Pryde gripped the phone, barely remembering to not let her hand phase through and kill the call.  The person on the line laughed.  "Temper, temper.  Don't destroy my phone until after we are finished."

She looked around, startled.  "You can see me?"

"Of course.  I wouldn't still be alive if I didn't use every advantage at my exposal.  I have learned that some people are very good liars when only speaking.  It is their faces that tell the truth and I go by that.  Ah, but you are on a time limit.  Let us move the conversation to more fertile topics.  Our encounter in Mississippi, for example."

"Do you wish to torture me on my failure?  If that is the case, get it over with."

The woman's voice was faintly amused.  "I thought congratulations were in order.  You did well, my worthy opponent.  If only you weren't so poorly trained."

"My Institute teachers are excellent."

"For understanding your abilities and basic survival skills, yes, they are...proficient.  But survival is not victory and understanding the power you possess does not mean you can use it properly.  But your professors, they have not even taught you about your ability and what you may do."

She gritted her teeth.  "I do not wish to do anything.  I am working for control."

"To know control, one must first let go."  Before Kitty could question her on the proverb, Mystique changed topic.  "I see you have dropped that deceptively carefree speech of yours.  Good, even if it is an accident.  I take it I am speaking with the real Katherine now.  Keep it that way." 

Kitty pulled the cell from her ear and looked at it bewildered.  She had fooled people with her airhead ways for years.  Was she losing her touch?  Returning it to talking position, she asked, "Is it that obvious?"

"Only to someone who has studied human mannerisms and copied them for centuries."  The caller's voice grew a little sharper.  "Now to business.  We are both too mature for idle chatter.  You want the return of Mr. Wagner, that is a given.  But ask yourself, "What does the blackmailer want?"  Oh, there are several things, but there is one in particular at the moment.  And you are the only person who can get it for me."

"A coincidence, I'm sure."

"Perhaps.  The point is this.  I will do anything to ensure my demand is met."

Kitty's voice rose uncontrollably.  "If you hurt Kurt..."

"Remember where you are.  Where you sit in that busy place and where you stand with me."

"I am this close to losing control and destroying this phone!"  She snarled in a furious whisper, careful to keep her face calm.

"But will you risk it?"

Kitty slumped into the bench.  The back's pattern, slats of wood spaced next to each other, reminded her of the bars of a cage.  She closed her eyes and felt her features twist into a painful sorrow.  She didn't care what the woman saw in it.  "You are the mother of all monsters, Mystique."

"You have no idea how right you are, child."  There was something behind that sentence, but Kitty was too mentally exhausted to think what it was.  "In your shopping bag there is a jewelry case.  Open it."

Kitty reached into the bag at her side and felt a small leather box.  Inside, there was a strange sort of ear ornament.  Made of some golden metal, it was meant to fit over nearly the entire ear, leaving only the ear canal and the bottom of the lobes exposed.

"Put it on."

"How many different ways can it kill me?"

"Good girl, you are not entirely naïve.  It contains a poisonous needle that extends out roughly six inches and can punch through steel.  You would be dead before you could think of ghosting."

"Interesting."  There was no response.  Kitty didn't need to ask what would happen if she took it off without Mystique's permission.  Goodbye Kurt.   Sighing, she continued, "I assume this may be safely removed when I have completed this task."

"Never assume, Katherine," Mystique chided.  "In this case, your assumption is correct.  I despise continued blackmail.  It is only proof that a person is not intelligent enough to control another in more than one way."

"Why does that make me feel uncomfortable about my future?"

"Because it should.  Learn to keep the book of your life chained and locked three different ways.  It will save you pain."

"I assume you speak from past experience."

"Never assume.  Put on the earpiece.  All you need is in the backpack next to your bag.  Follow my instructions perfectly and you and Mr. Wagner just might live to see your lovely Institute again."

The phone went dead.  Kitty felt near ready to cry but didn't give the watching monster the satisfaction.  She thought of warning the Professor and all the others, but she knew it would just kill Kurt.  The situation was impossible; Mystique held all the strings and she was just a little puppet. 

Kitty placed the earpiece on her left ear and nearly yelped when it snapped shut, piercing itself to her ear in several places.  "Joy, I can wear about twelve earrings on that ear when this is over," she grumbled as she rummaged through the bookbag that had mysteriously appeared next to her own.  She drew out a leather-bound notebook.  Paging through it, the Shadowcat didn't like what she saw.  There, in a transparent sleeve on one page, was money for a taxi cab down to Philadelphia and a train ticket to Ohio from there.  There was even a forged letter with birth certificates and three kinds of identification that said Raven Darkholme was sending her daughter, Katherine Darkholme to her residence for the rest of the school year.  It shocked Kitty to see her Principal's name registered as her mother.

'Mystique is the principal?  Well, that explains why she hates us.'

Kitty flipped the page and saw another train ticket taped next to a list of some sort.  She set the notebook aside and looked through Mystique's backpack.  There were several changes of clothes and...she couldn't help but smile.  A sturdy pair of tennis shoes, very high quality, and a pair of socks came out of the bag.  She put them on and stuffed the stilettos in her original bag, trying not to think how the monster had known the right size.

Looking back at the list by the second train ticket, her faint smile dropped into a glare.  It was a long list of rules. 

'Never talk unless directly told to speak...bullshit.'  Kitty put the ticket with the other one and promptly crumpled up the list.  She was forced into Mystique's claws, but she wasn't going to be a meek little servant.  She hefted the back over her shoulder and walked towards the exit.  She only stopped to throw the list away before walking out to the cab Mystique had said would be waiting for her money.

***

Mystique laughed quietly as Katherine tossed the wadded up piece of paper into the trash.  "Good girl."  She hit a button on the remote and her hack of the mall surveillance severed itself.  She put down the small little channel changer and rolled over on her bed to see two test tubes of red blood.  A computer buzzed faintly as it analyzed the samples.  Mystique fought to keep the faint smile she had picked up when dealing with the girl.  Soon she would know who the boy really was.  She would redraw her plans for Katherine after she knew.  The woman fingered a tiny white-gold locket.  "Soon."

***
Jean went back to the bench on time.  She milled about, confused at Kitty's abandon on the area.  Startled at seeing the shopoholic's bag all by itself, she rushed forward to investigate.  Sure enough, it was Kitty's bag.  Her shoes were even inside the bag.  Jean called out wildly for the girl.  Kitty just wouldn't walk away barefoot.  There was no answer.

The redhead sat on the bench and concentrated.  *Professor, I can't find her!  Kitty, she's disappeared.*

After a minute of silence, she heard Xavier's sorrowful voice in her head.  *Come home Jean.* She just sat there shocked.  "She can't be dead," Jean whispered as her eyes swam.  Numbly, she stood and walked towards the parking lot.

The shopping bag sat all alone until closing time.

star_of_chaos:

You think I implied Remy married the wrong woman!  What sort of depraved mind do you take me for?  I'm not mad, don't worry. 

Jimmie explains in CH 7 that Rogue is the only one of the three that couldn't just take off the necklace (see, even he knows it means that the necklace means marriage LeBeau style).  Kitty would phase through it and Mystique could just morph into something small and crawl/slither/hop out of it.  They'd have to think about it, but it would still be a piece of cake.  Rogue (without outside absorption help) has no way to get rid of the adamantine, booby trapped marital bond, so that part of the prophecy can only be for her.     

Gothic Cajun:

Now this is what I'm talking about, Master Nitpick. 

Why have the mutant powers of the small children already manifested?
            Explained in the next few chapters

When she has the paint war with Matt and Kurt, is she just seeing this in her head, like an inner movie?

Yes, it's in her mind.  Sorry if that wasn't clear.  But where else could Matt, Kurt, Martin, the dog, and Rogue be?

Where did the dog come from?  Is it Mystique?
1: Rogue hasn't met Mystique yet.  In some fics she has an earlier relationship with her adoptive mother, but I think that Mystique just pays Irene to "watch" over Rouge while she keeps her distance.

            2:  Guess I dropped the ball on this one.  It will be explained later, most likely in the same chapter that explains the kids' early mutations.               

Will Jimmie tell Remy what the prophecy means?

Maybe.  I don't really know yet.  He's mostly in this fic for foreshadowing.  He lets the reader know about future events and explains things without letting the cat out of the bag for the other characters.

How would polka-dotted hair look?

Have you ever seen clown costume material?  Think bright orange silk with large blue circles every now and then.  Take that pattern and put it in Caleigh's hair.  It won't stay perfect because hair moves, but whenever it settles down flat; the circles can be seen quite well. 

Lilith Night: Now that's a review. 

I knew most of what you told me but thank you anyway.  It's going to be resolved soon.  About the name of "Knave" fitting Remy better, I don't know.  I think Jean-Luc fits the bill quite nicely.  You'll see why as the fic progresses (think about the negative connotations of Knave).

Athena:  Surprise!   I updated just for you.  But I'm serious now.  My report card is coming in on Friday and I have to study for about twelve tests this week.