The Song of Eternity

Canto 10 : The Gift

Verse 7: Almost

All things pass in time,

Especially happiness.

But hatred and vengeance,

They are eternal.

Winter was in full swing in Bayville. A full foot of snow on the ground was the constant for the New England town for December so far. The last couple inches from last were busily being shoveled from a driveway in a normal looking part of town. Murphy smiled as he looked at his breath in the cold air while he worked. Ah, the simple pleasures, he thought to himself. After the driveway and sidewalk were cleared he walked back into the warm house, being staggered by the first blast of hot air.

He shook the snow off his clothes and stretched out his muscles as he walked into the kitchen for some breakfast. "What's cooking?" he asked as he draped his arms over the two women cooking breakfast.

"None of your business," Elena said as she smacked his hand.

"So harsh," Murphy replied as if hurt.

"Give it a rest Murphy, go bug Cole or Vincent," Rogue told him as he left them to cook.

He walked into the living room and plopped himself down on the couch beside his twin and Vincent. "Sheesh, don't know how you guys put up with it," he shook his head as he joined them with watching the television. "Never thought I'd see the day that you two got whipped," he laughed before 2 death glares shut him up. "Lighten up you two, it is Christmas after all," he added as he sighed and laughed at the tree in the corner.

The five of them ate breakfast, not talking much as was normal for this group. Murphy used the time to reflect on the past month. Following the dance, things had changed for the better in Bayville. The tensions between the humans and the mutants were very calm, the Turks barely spent any time at Xavier's providing guard duty anymore. Well, most of the Turks. Damon had taken a shine to Ororo following the dance. Their relationship was progressing slowly, but progressing.

And on the other end of the spectrum, were Vincent and Elena. Shortly after the dance they had moved all of Elena's things into the house and she had been sharing a room with Vincent for about 3 weeks now. Rogue and Cole were inseparable, except at night when she had to go home by Xavier's decree. She had come over this morning to spend Christmas with them.

Murphy laughed to himself as he finished breakfast and they all went to open their presents.

Later that evening they had all gathered at the mansion for an evening together. Murphy had excused himself to go outside, he needed a cigarette. After he lit up and exhaled a big puff of smoke he leaned up against the wall at peace.

"Those things will kill you kid," Logan laughed as he too exited the mansion and lit up a cigar.

"Yeah well, I think I can handle it," Murphy laughed.

"Yeah, you probably can," Logan agreed as they both looked up to the clear night sky, enjoying their respective cancer sticks. "So, I know who Cole is, but who the hell are you?" he asked after a minute of silence.

"His brother, just here to make sure he gets his life on track," Murphy laughed as he tossed his cigarette into the snow. "What the hell?" he muttered as the butt stopped before contacting the snow and he realized he could not move either.

In another part of the mansion, Cole and Rogue were enjoying some fun and games hanging out with the other kids. He sighed and sunk down into a comfortable chair by the fireplace. Cole stared into the fire, reveling in the warmth until Rogue came over and took a seat on his lap.

"What're you thinking about?" she asked him.

"Nothing," he replied as he looked at her face.

"That's nice," she replied as she got comfortable and rested her head on his chest. "Don't think too hard," she laughed as she looked into the fire.

Some time passed as Cole smiled and looked down at his girlfriend. "Cole," Rogue murmured.

"Yes?"

"Something is wrong with the fire," she said as they both looked into the fire that had completely stopped moving as if frozen in time.

"Shit," Cole swore as he found he could not move either.

"Interesting year, isn't it?" Vincent asked Elena as they stood out on the front porch together to get some fresh air.

"That's putting it lightly," she said as she felt Vincent's arms wrap around her. "It all worked out for the best though," she smiled as she felt Vincent turn her around.

"You know Elena, ever since I had my Jenova and Mako removed and we started seeing each other, things have been special. They have just seemed right," he said as he looked into her eyes. "What I'm really trying to say is," he stopped as he dropped to one knee. "Elena Marshall, will you marry me?"

"Yes, Vincent, I will," she said happily. "Aren't you going to put the ring on me?" she said as she looked at the small box in his hand.

"Oh, nothing more that I would love," Vincent muttered. "But I seem to be unable to move," he added before a bright white light enveloped them and the entire mansion, knocking them out.

Murphy awoke to murmuring voices. "Sonofa....interrupting my smoking...giving me a headache...," he swore as he struggled to his feet and opened his eyes. He was in a plain white cell and could hear voices on the other side of his door. "Open the hell up!" he shouted as he beat on the door.

A small panel slid open and a pair of eyes looked in on him. "What do you want?" the guard asked him.

"Where the hell am I? What is going on?" he demanded to know as he tried to see behind the guard.

"You are in orbit above your planet, you are here to witness the trial of the two greatest murderers that our world has ever seen," the guard told him before closing the panel.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Murphy shouted as he continued to beat on the door. "Screw it," he sighed as he gave up and slid to the floor. "Wish I knew what was going on here," he muttered as he waited until his door opened an hour later and he was ushered out.

Everyone who was at the mansion was ushered through the hallways of the ship at gunpoint until they were all in a large stadium-like area. "What is going on here?" Xavier asked once they were all assembled.

"Silence," one of the guards threatened.

A minute later a man in a white robe came out to a raised pedestal in front of the captives. "Welcome to our ship the Vengeance," he greeted them. "I am Talik. We apologize for the way we abducted you, but it was necessary to ensure everyone's safety."

"What do you mean?" Xavier asked him.

"A long time ago, our people lived on this world. But we were forced to leave when our own extinction stared us in the face. Since then we learned to negate the powers of the Lifestream, even in it's current evolution into your homo sapien-superior race," he explained to them.

"You negated our powers and abducted us for our own safety?" Xavier asked angrily.

"If only it were that simple," the man continued. "We left this world when death stared us in the face, vowing to return and right the wrongs someday. And that day has prevented itself now. Vincent Valentine, for crimes against the Planet, you are sentenced to death."

"...what crimes are these?" Vincent asked as he stared back at the man.

"Aiding in the attempted extermination of life on this planet," the man stated.

"What? Vincent has saved this planet more times than I can count," Elena shouted at the man.

"You may prepare your defense for tomorrow, for what little good it will do," the man told Vincent. "The same goes for your dark master, the one who made your demons appears as angels," the man continued as he stared into the group. "Travis Starmore, you will be executed for crimes too horrible to speak."

Most of the group looked around, wondering what the man was thinking. "Umm...Starmore died back in May," Lance pointed out to the man.

"Is that what you all think?" he asked them smugly.

"No, I am not dead," Cole replied as Rogue burst into tears.