8
Manifestations
Outside on the Quad, Mica sat down at the lunch table across from Kitty. A few seconds later Rogue, Bobby, Piotr, and Jubilee joined them. "Oh chocolate cake!" Kitty said.
"And mystery meat." Piotr said poking at what Mica had defined as untouchable.
"What's it suppose to be?" Jubilee asked.
"Meat Loaf." Bobby shrugged.
"So how was your sister's first class, Mica?" Hank had come up behind the kids.
Mica followed Mr. McCoy's gaze to where her sister and Kurt emerged from the building. "I'm guessing pretty good. Except…" Mica looked up at Hank with a pleading look, "She gave me detention to prove a point!"
"Well, What did you do?"
"She was late." Piotr said.
"How do you know?" Bobby asked.
Piotr shared a look with Mica, "News travels fast." they said at the same time.
"Or Piotr moves fast." Kitty snorted into her pudding.
"Shut up!" Piotr said throwing a French fry at her.
Mica rolled her eyes, "You guys need something to gossip about." glancing up Mica noticed Storm and Logan had just come out of the building, "Or maybe you already do."
Piotr glanced up and shook his head, "You're crazy."
Mica raised an eyebrow, "Am I?"
Piotr poked her, "Yes you are."
Mica stuck her tongue out, "Am not."
"Are too."
"Not."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Welcome to wonderful world of flirting. For our first exhibit Piotr Rasputin and Mica Griffin!" Bobby said.
"Shut up!" they both shouted throwing several fries at him. Just then the bell rang and the group broke up.
"Where are you going?" Piotr asked Mica.
"Study Hall."
"I'll walk you."
"Sure." The two of them joked all the way to her class. Stopping outside her class they faced each other, "Thanks, you're a lot of fun to be around."
Piotr grinned, "Yeah, I'm the best thing in town."
"And so modest." Mica said.
"Modesty never pays." Mica dropped her head and laughed. "You have such a beautiful laugh." Piotr said gently.
Mica's head came up and she found herself looking right into Piotr's eyes, "I should go." she said swallowing hard.
Piotr stepped back, "Yeah sure."
He sighed and walked away as Mica disappeared into the classroom. Slumping in a chair in the kitchen Piotr pulled out a pad and a pencil and started to draw.
- X -
Jadyn's second and last class of the day ended and she found herself sighing with relief. It had been a wonderful day, but she was tired. Not only had she managed to survive two classes full of teenagers and rambunctious kids, but she had mended the situation between her and Kurt. Well, rather he had. He always knew how to fix things and make others feel better. She sighed happily to herself as she gathered her papers thinking about lunch.
They'd grabbed some food and headed up to the roof. They had watched the students from afar, separating themselves from the real world for a while. She had felt so at peace and at home. For the first time since her childhood she felt like she belonged somewhere. She belonged here with Kurt and the X-Men and the kids. She had begun to feel a lot better about her decision to stay.
After organizing her things she locked the door and headed down the hallway. She thought she might go find Kurt and hang out a bit more. The first place she went was the kitchen. She didn't find Kurt, but, "we've got to stop meeting like this." She smiled at Piotr.
"Yes. We must. Perhaps we'll meet in the Recreation room one day." He cracked, his lips curving into a gentle smile.
"So, what are you drawing now?" She asked, noticing he once again had his sketch pad with him. She went over and leaned across his shoulder to get a better look. It was a portrait shot of Mica from two different views. In the side view she looked as she did when they first arrived, normal old Mica, and in the semi front view it was her newly improved mutant form. "I see."
"Yeah. I figured that if I am going to draw everyone I know I should go ahead and do you two, also. I have yours finished." He said, "that is what I was working on this morning. You want to see?"
"Absolutely!" She exclaimed, very curious to see what he had done.
He turned the page back to a colored drawing and she began to grin. "This is of the morning we first came here." She said. In it she was leaning back in one of the chairs in Professor Xavier's office, her hand over her face in an embarrassed manner. She was halfway looking at Kurt, who was gazing at her. "Why did you draw this?" She wondered.
"I don't know." Piotr replied truthfully. "It just came to me and seemed like the right thing. Anyway, what brings you in here this time of day?"
"I was lookin' for Kurt." Jadyn said, grinning widely, and the Russian shook his head.
"Do you like Kurt? I mean, I know what you said the day we met, but I want to know if you really do like him?"
"I don't know." Jadyn said thoughtfully. "In a way yes, but then again, everything is so confusing. I'll figure it out soon. If we're getting personal then let me ask this, do you like my sister?" She gazed at him challengingly.
He looked at her, then smiled obscurely.
- X -
Mica sighed as she slumped in her chair in the library, "You'd think this was Latin! No! Oh No! It's German!"
"Need help with your homework for my class?" Mica jumped and turned to face Kurt.
"Yeah!" Mica pulled up another chair. "Great."
Kurt sat down, "So how are you adjusting?"
Mica shrugged, "Like a monkey at the zoo."
"Oh, ok. Good." Kurt mentally shook his head, the sisters were so strange.
"So, I have a question for Kurt, not Mr. Wagner."
"Shoot."
"Do you like my sister?"
Kurt blinked, that wasn't something he'd expected, "Well, she is interesting."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, it looks you have this under control. I will see you later."
"Wait, you haven't helped any!" But she was too late. Kurt had already gone.
"Kurt leave you in the smoke?" Piotr joined Mica, sitting in Kurt's vacated chair.
"In a cloud of blue." Mica said, then she turned to him with a pleading look, "Do you speak German?"
"I Graduated before Kurt started to teach."
"You're out of school?" Mica asked surprised.
Piotr nodded, "I'm twenty."
"Really!?" Mica asked again.
"Younger right?"
"Yeah."
"Well I can try. I did pass Spanish with flying colors."
"Sure! I've only got three classes and I'm bound, dead, and determined to make straight A's."
"Then let's get to work." Piotr said smiling at her.
- X -
Jean Grey sat leaned back in her chair as she listened to Ororo play classical on the Piano. Jadyn was sitting on the couch close by, her legs crossed beneath her and a notebook balanced on her lap. "How was your first day, Jadyn?' Jean asked. "Anything exciting happen?"
"Not really." Jadyn smiled. "I must admit I thought it was going to be a lot harder than I it was. I enjoyed it, though. I can't believe I never thought of becoming a teacher before."
"I know what you mean." Ororo replied as she finished her piece of music and turned to face them. "When I was a child I would have never imagined being in a place like this."
"I did," Jadyn couldn't help but remember her teenaged fantasies of being sucked into another world and becoming part of it. Now she had, how funny was that? "Although I pictured myself more as a student than a teacher." She pointed out, also recalling her more than unruly adolescents. "Or I'd just take up space." She grinned, and the two older women shared her smile. "I guess you always knew you'd be here, huh, Jean?"
"In one way or another, yes. Ever since I came here as a teenager I knew that I wouldn't leave." Her reminiscent smile was soft and the silence it brought allowed Jadyn to delve into her own thoughts, but then…
"Ow…" She sat forward, gripping her head in her hands. A headache had suddenly come on, and very strongly.
"Jadyn, are you all right?" Jean regarded her worriedly. Jadyn shook her head as she bent even further forward. God, it hurts… Jean heard the girl thinking, and then her eyes widened. It was a strange static, a twisting and warping of her mind. "Jadyn?" The younger woman didn't answer, instead she pitched forward with a strangled cry before curling into a ball on the floor.
Ororo was immediately by the Jean and Jadyn's sides, "what is wrong with her?" Without warning Jadyn's hand shot out and her slim fingers wrapped around Ororo's wrist. A golden light began to surround the violet haired girl's form, pulsing and rippling violently as if charging up for something. What, the other two did not know, and they weren't sure they wanted to know. The light around her shimmered, broke into balls, then shot around the room in an unpredictable manner. Jean and Storm ducked, but attempted to stay by their new comrade's side.
Jadyn moaned, drawing in a pained breath before the light vanished and she was abruptly let free of whatever force had taken her over. She tried to open her eyes, but the lids were so heavy. "Jadyn…" Ororo said, "are you okay?" Jadyn shook her head weakly before completely loosing consciousness.
- X -
"How is she, Hank?" Jean inquired, peering at the girl. After her attack she and Ororo had taken her down to the infirmary.
"She should be fine." Hank replied, "she just passed out due to the extreme exertion that the manifestation of her powers caused. She should be coming around very soon."
On cue Jadyn's eyes fluttered open, her hand reaching to touch her forehead. "What the hell happened? She wanted to know, trying to sit up. She was struck with dizziness. Hank stopped her and laid her back.
"Rest for a while, Jadyn, you've just come into your powers."
"Have I?" She thought back and remembered the sensations. "Yes, I guess I have." She sighed, her brain felt so muddled. "Do you know what it is?"
"Well, from what I see it is an energy generated power. You draw the energy from your own body." He paused in thought.
Jadyn was coming out of her haze and it came to her. "You mean like Ki? A person's aura? The energy that surrounds their bodies?" She questioned in disbelief. "Can I take a guess at what it is?"
"Be my guest."
"Well. I'm able to manipulate it, aren't I? When I was in the other world I sometimes used to concentrate and try to imagine my energy going to the tips of my fingers or my feet and they would get all warm. That was how this way felt, except it was too warm and it was all over."
"That is exactly what happened." Hank said.
Jadyn raised a hand and concentrated on her palm, imagining a ball of her own energy. Seconds later a golden orb was glowing inches above her hand, bolts of green and blue swirled within it like electricity. She exclaimed in amusement, "Mica is not gonna believe this."
- X -
Later Jadyn had some visitors. Mica sat on the end of the bed, one of her text books in her lap. Apparently she was still trying to finish her homework. She had brought Piotr with her and he was seated in a chair nearby. "Energy?" Mica was saying, forgetting about the German assignment she was working on. "Are you telling me that you can used energy like they do in Dragonball Z?"
"Same principle." Jadyn explained. "I figure when I start practicing with it I can learn to form it into a weapon and do a lot of the things similar to Ki manipulation. It shouldn't be that hard for me."
"Yeah." Mica agreed. Jadyn already had a grasp on how to control her energy. After years of taking Martial Arts she would have to. And Jadyn wasn't one of the ones who took it because they wanted to look cool or learn self-defense. She was in it to help build discipline within herself. Mica remembered the years where Jadyn was misdirected and frankly frightening. She hadn't always been the Jadyn of today. But after getting into Martial Arts her sister had found something worth spending her time on, and through it she had learned about the use of energy, or Ki/Chi. Among other things.
"Dragonball Z?" Piotr looked at Mica skeptically.
"It's a show we watched where they fight each other using Ki-blasts." Mica said.
"That explains everything." Piotr murmured.
Mica ignored that. "Why are you still down here?" She asked her sister.
Jadyn sighed. "Well, that little display that took place used more energy than desired, so Hank says it made me weak. I should be on my feet by tomorrow if it replaces itself in the way we think it will."
"Cool." Mica nodded, then as an afterthought. "Oh, Kurt was worried about you. He said to tell you he hoped you would feel better soon."
"Did he?"
"Um-hm, but he couldn't come down here."
"Why not?" Jadyn asked suspiciously, there was something about the way Mica said it that was a little guilty.
"Oh, well, I kinda asked him earlier if he liked you. I think he wanted to avoid me asking him again."
"You did what?"
"Sorry, I was curious." Mica said.
After a moment Jadyn's own curiosity got to her. "So, what did he say?"
Sorry, it took so long to add the next chapter. We've been busy lately. And I, the Muse, start college tommrow. Yay. Can't wait. Kinda nervous, but hey. Anyways. Hope this will do til we can get the next chapter up. Poetry in Motion/Perfect Match. After that we'll be slowing down with the updates in the regular fashion due to both of us being in school and having work, but it will continue. See everyone round.
Apocalyptic Muse