~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wooded area outside Seattle
A line of twelve people walk slowly to a giant symbol of the Conclave that's burnt into the ground. The grass smells sweet here, too pure to be worthy of the Conclave. The burnt stench rises above the ground as they form a circle around the symbol, waiting for the elegantly robed girl to awake.
They hold their breaths without meaning to, the way somebody does when you're playing hide-and-seek and 'It' is near you. She lays on a dark, almost black wood altar, as still as death itself. They watch her, silently awing in her beauty. She is just a teenager, but they're forcing her to end all human kind- the stress doesn't wear on her beauty, though.
Her long raven hair falls in soft waves to her waist, where the seam of her old-fashioned, corseted black top that's adorned with maroon ribbons meets the long, flowy, poofy black and maroon skirt. High cheekbones lend her an air of elegance, and her nose softly turns up a bit at the end.
Her eyes open slowly, and she looks around groggily, wondering how the hell she got sucked into this mess. ~Two weeks ago I was just your average, every day teenager who happened to be an orphan who was immune to pain. Now, I'm dressed up like a vampire and the main event for some whacked-out cult planning on ending mankind. Great, just great!~
She tries to sit up, but is bound to the altar with black leather. ~Well, you got to hand it to whoever designed this ceremony- they sure do know how to color-coordinate~ she muses, trying to pull the restraints off.
She licks her lips out of nervousness, spitting in disgust to discover that it's not lipstick, but blood painted on her lips. ~What the hell else do I have on? And who's blood was that? Oh, dear...~
The cult-goddess rises from kneeling in the circle around the altar, and begins to chant a song in a foreign, forgotten language. The girl's heartbeat spikes out of nervousness as all of the loonies dance around her, singing the forboding words about impending doom and bloodshed.
The priestess twirls around, taking a knife out of a hidden sheath and raising it above the girl. "No, no, please...I'm sure you can end mankind without hurting me, really!" the girl cries out, watching the light glint in warning off the cool metal knife.
All of a sudden the cult members all grab their heads, in sync in their pain. For the first time, the word pain affects them, and they cry out with hurt. A man runs down from the hills, knocking the members unconscious with a very handy bat and untying the sacrifice-childe.
"Um...who are you?" the girl asks, bewildered beyond belief by now, and understandably so.
"A friend of the family." he tells her mysteriously, his blue eyes glinting in happiness.
~Those eyes look familiar...~ the girl thinks, observing him scrutinizingly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TC, Headquarters
"You all be ready to fight, ok? I'm going to do my best to end this without involving the troops, but just be ready." Lucy tells the core group as they get ready. They nod.
She turns to Xander, her eyes filling with tears. "Babe, promise me you'll be ok?" she asks, hugging him for comfort.
"I'll try, Luce. Just tell me that you'll be all right." he says, kissing the top of her head.
"I'll do my best, Xan...I swear. Just save me the last dance, all right?" Lucy asks, looking up at him with big blue eyes filled with determination.
"Already done, babe. But I just have one thing to say- you find out you're meant to save the world, and you're still mad that you didn't end up going to the dance?" he asks, smirking that patented smirk that Lucy can't get enough of.
"Hey, I got all dolled up for nothing, mister!" she says, pouting. Xander takes in her now sopping, tangled curls, scorched and ripped dress, and bare feet (the sandals were lost a while ago). ~She's so beautiful.~
"And you look great, too." he says, holding her tighter as Alec motions for him to go over by the troops. "I love you, Luce." he says, kissing her softly.
"I love you too, Xander. You know that, don't you?" Lucy tells him, kissing him again.
"Yeah, I do. Now, when you go for your Superhero of the Year Award, just remember to thank all the little people." he says wryly. "And don't forget to wear a coat, darlin'. It's cold!"
"I won't...already had Pepaw remind me." she looks out to the troops, waving a reluctant goodbye. "I'll see ya later, Xander." she assures him as she slides on his borrowed sweater.
"I'll see ya later, Luce." he says, watching as she ascends the steps to the stairs, not knowing if his newfound love will ever return.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Headquarters, TC.
"Okay, everyone. Let's move out!" Alec shouts, and everyone sneaks quietly out of HQ, not a noise floating through all of TC except for the silent sobs of Lucy, standing on the rooftop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Street, TC
Xander looks back at his girl, standing on the rooftop with her arms wrapped around herself. ~You can do it, babe. I know ya can.~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Roof, Headquarters, TC
"Follow your instincts. Follow your instincts." Lucy mutters to herself, closing her eyes. "What the hell does that mean?" she starts to ask herself, but she zones out, not Lucy anymore, but The Key, the one who needs to save the earth.
She raises her arms, rain running down her arms and into her hair. She closes her eyes and tilts her head back, letting the rain ready her. A beam of light shoots from her heart, shining light onto all of TC. She levitates slightly off of the ground, then grows farther and farther away from the roof, floating at least three feet high.
Her hair waves slightly in the wind and rain, turning to pure gold silk. Her mouth opens, but no sound comes out. The light around her grows as bright as light can, making the whole of Seattle, for once, bright and sunny. Problem is that it's night.
She raises her uplifted arms over the city, opening her eyes to reveal golden orbs.
The world stops for a moment, mankind in awe at her beauty, Familiars in pain from the waves of telekinetic pain she stabbed through them, and transgenics finally aware that she is not just Lucy, the mutant-girl-next-door, but some sort of earthly angel, sent by her grandfather to save them all.
But then time returns, as it always does, leaving the human world mystified, the Familiar one dead, and the mutant one scrambling to catch Lucy and keep her safe.
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A/N: so, whatcha think? Tell me, honestly, if you like it. Or even if not, tell me anyways...pretty please? *puppy dog eyes*
Molly jeane :D