Author's Note: Hey guys! Thanks again for all the great reviews! On a darker note, I had to cut a couple of the characters I've been using. I don't want to use Rachel anymore since I don't know enough about her to do justice to who she is. Until I can get my hands on more comic books involving her, I'm sending her and Rogue to Muir Island for a hiatus starting in my next chapter. Jubilee is also away, studying at a private school somewhere with people her own age. There really is no decent way to explain any of that within my story so I won't; they'll just suddenly be gone. Eventually I hope to reintroduce them, (I've already got a plan for Jubes), but right now I'm having a hard enough time evolving all my characters as it is. So sorry to any fans of theirs, I like them too. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
On second thought, I could just keep them and not let them talk much. Would you all be okay with that? Let me know which you think is better, getting rid of them or ignoring them. Reviews are greatly appreciated.
Shocked by his young friend's request, Kurt met with his teammates to decide what to do with her. After calling everyone to the library on the intercom, Kurt thought about his history with Sariceia. A good friend of his foster mother Margali, who was called Riela, had found Sariceia in an orphanage in Romania when the girl was four. The people at the orphanage knew nothing about her family, or so they said. Riela had always wanted a daughter of her own and adopted Sariceia, taking her back to Germany where she worked designing the costumes for the performers of a circus. Margali's children JimaineStephen, and Kurt were older than Sariceia by four or five years, and usually excluded her from their games. She had grown up tagging along behind them, eventually joining two of the other girls her age in a tightrope act when Kurt started to perform on the trapeze. She had been an average looking girl with almond skin, honey-brown hair and nearly black eyes. Sariceia had always wanted to be like Jimainewho had only befriended her half the time, and was alternatively in love with Stephen or Kurt, until she turned fourteen and started to date another circus performed named Joseph. When they were in their late teens and their age gap didn't matter so much, Sariceia and Kurt had been friends, but he'd always treated her like his little sister. He didn't know what had happened to her after he left the circus, but she was here now. He wasn't sure that was a good thing.
When the team had gathered in its entirety, they began to debate the pros and cons of a new member. There were now six members, which was about as many as there had even been at one time. The theory of 'more is better' didn't always apply went fighting in a team. There was also the girl sleeping in the med. lab to deal with. If she joined, there would be ten x-men. They'd have to extend the blackbird, in addition to the training of two new members. Then there was even the issue of who they were exactly. The first girl seemed harmless enough and she truly did not have control of her powers, as Rachel's Psi-probe revealed, but no one knew where she could have come from. But she was only a kid in any event; it was Sariceia who was the real issue. As they knew from bitter experience, those few years that Kurt had been away were more than enough for any one of the x-men's many enemies to corrupt her and turn her into yet another evil foe to worry about. It was a little far-fetched, but that mental brick wall was a force to be contended with. Rachel was unable to determine the extent of her powers, if she was a 'puppet' of a stronger mutant, or even any of her history. The only telepath who had a shot was Professor Xavier, but he was currently living at Muir Island and was unavailable for consult. All they had to go on was Kurt's word and their own brief experience with her.
Driani didn't like Sariceia much from the short time she'd spent with her, but since the x-men had taken her in she did not want to argue against taking in others that might not have a place to go. Rachel and Kitty flat out didn't want her, Kitty disliking anyone who could break into the Blackbird with such contemptuous ease and Rachel suspicious of the mental wall the prohibited her from scanning Sariceia. Piotr and Rogue were neutral; they didn't really care on way or another. Logan knew that the bulk of her training in fighting would fall to him and didn't want another pupil, especially after the way his last student had turned out. He glared at Driani, wondering if she was arguing against him because she felt that way or just to oppose him. 'We could trade the new kid for Driani and send her back to Europe...' Kurt didn't know what should be done. He liked her a lot and would enjoy getting to know her again, but didn't like the idea of putting someone his mother had used to regard as a niece in harm's way. His foster mother was not understanding about things like that; that last time she'd put him and all the x-men in a facsimile of Dante's hell when she'd believed that Kurt killed Stephen intentionally. That was not an experience he'd like to relive. Ororo spoke up. "I think that we should allow her to train with us on a probationary status, which enables us to ask her to leave at anytime if she doesn't mesh well with our existing team" Everyone agreed. A voice sung out from the doorway, "Great! When can I start?" Everyone stared at Sariceia. "How long have you been standing there?" "Only a couple of minutes. I came down when I finished all the magazines on the coffee table. If I'm in, then I'm going to go back to my hotel to get my stuff. I'll be back in an hour. See ya!" With a wave she strode down the hallway. In stunned silence the team watched her go. They had a new member. She obviously felt that she was here to stay.
Exactly as she had said, Sariceia was back an hour later with a suitcase and two duffel bags. Her taxi dropped her off at the entranceway. After he drove away she morphed and flew to the mansion. When her mutation had manifested, it appeared that morphing back and forth from human to faerie was easy, but in the past few years it had gotten harder and harder. Now it felt like every cell in her body was on fire, but the pain went away relatively soon. She thought that eventually she would be stuck in one form or the other, and didn't know which to choose. Of course, looking normal would be easier. She could probably get a job and eventually settle down to a very safe, very boring life, but probably make an existence for herself that would be fulfilling in the long run. Or she could remain purple-skinned and live with the x-men. Her life would be exciting but dangerous, and she'd never fit into mainstream society. She could go either way. The deciding factor was Kurt. She was in love with him, not the puppy love she'd had for him as a child but a deep passionate longing for him that she'd never had for anyone else. But if he wouldn't have her she would leave.
Entering the house, she found two of the female x-men in the kitchen, preparing dinner. "Hey What'cha cooking?" They stared at her warily. One of the girls spoke. "Various stuff. We've all got different dietary restrictions, cooking here is complicated. Speaking of which, anything you want?" "I'm not really hungry. Do you want help?" "No we're fine." The other girl had replied. "Okay. I'll see you later." Sariceia liked meeting new people, but these girls didn't seem especially eager to get to know her. They would come around eventually. Her ability to charm objects was mutation-based, but charming people had always been natural to her. She went upstairs to where she'd found Kurt's room before. In a wing adjacent to the residential hallway she found guest rooms. Putting her stuff down in one of them, she took a shower and then changed into one of her black nightgowns. Black matched best with her outré looks. Lying down on the bed she went to sleep, but with the uncomfortable feeling that she was being watched. She ignored her intuition and went to sleep. In a few weeks she might regret that decision.
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Dinner was very awkward that night. Besides the usually tension of Driani's and Logan's ongoing feud, there was the issue of the two new girls sleeping in the house at that very minute. No one spoke. Kitty was sitting next to Piotr, and it appeared to their teammates that they would probably start dating again soon. Logan and Driani sat at opposite ends of the table so as better to glare at each other. The other x-men were getting tired of their constant bickering but they were two of the most formidable members the team had ever had and no one wanted to confront them. Kurt was deep in thought over the appearance of the mysterious girl from his past. Ororo switched on the television. A news program came on. The newscaster was interviewing an author on their newest book. It wasn't interesting sounding so she turned it off. If she hadn't, the x-men would have learned about their newest threat; that writer claimed to be working on an exposé with inside information on one of New York's most mysterious super-groups....
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Logan woke up at one in the morning as he sometimes did. He went downstairs to the kitchen and got a beer. Upstairs, his least favorite teammate was also awake. Driani wanted a cup a tea, which was exceedingly strange for several reasons. She had never liked tea before, much less know how to prepare it. She also had a vague notion that she should not go downstairs in just her skimpy nightgown but put on a robe, which seemed like a memory from living in a dormitory. Of course Driani had never done that. These memories must be from the girl whom she'd had that...interesting exchange with. Now she wasn't sure that it had been fair to do that to the poor little mortal, but then again that might be thoughts the girl herself had given to Driani... So many questions. She knew that who she was now, her personality, was not who Driani had used to be. Whoever she was she was not Stephen's Driani. That didn't seem to matter right now. She was who she was, and that person wanted tea. Deciding to go with the robe thing, she found a black silky wrap and experimented with tying it like a sari, a Greek toga, or half a dozen other ways she'd learned in her travels before deciding on just wrapping it around her shoulders.
Making her way to the to the kitchen, she sensed someone's presence. To her horror it was the one x-man she had hated at first sight. Wolverine. She glared at him, very glad for her wrap. Her costume for fighting with the team was slightly revealing, tight black leather with a cloak, but she'd as soon have Logan see her pajamas as get caught in the noon sun. He felt just as happy to see her. Without a word she went to the cabinet and started to look for tea, which to her surprise she found. As she stood on tiptoe to get the teapot down from the hook it hung on above the sink she could feel him staring at her. Driani wondered if he felt the same way she did; that the other person was attractive but there was something about them that they hated. Putting the tea on the stove to boil she sat down at the table across from him. She felt like she should say something but didn't know what. He felt the same but didn't bother to ponder his words. "Dri, why do I hate you?" "I was going to ask you the same question Logan. But we do and that's that." "Shame, really." "Yes." The teapot shrilled that the tea was ready. Any compassion she might have felt for him was destroyed when he grinned wickedly and pulled her shawl off as she got up, exposing her lacy black gown. Not hesitating, she scooped up her wrap and tied it around his eyes before he got a good look at her body. Taking her tea with her she went back upstairs, leaving Logan to question his recent actions for another hour before sleep claimed him.
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The next day Sariceia woke up early. It was a glorious day, bright sunshine and a pleasant breeze. She was hungry but felt funny about raiding the kitchen of people she didn't know well, so decided to have breakfast later and go sit by the lake. She put on denim shorts and a T-shirt from out of her bag, grabbed a towel from her bathroom to sit on, and a book she had been reading by K.M. Bennet. Silently slipping through the halls of the still sleeping mansion, she made her way outside. After an hour of reading she turned around to find Kurt coming towards her. He still took her breath away. She'd found him attractive since she was a preteen, but when her mutant intuition kicked in she had known he was the one for her. It was strange, really, that she loved him so completely and utterly after not seeing him for all these years. But she wasn't going to let him know until she had some shard of proof that he might feel the same way for her. Until then, she would play the part of his little sister. He sat down on the grass next to her. "Hey, Sar-sar. Sleep well?" His use of her babyish nickname tormented her. "Yeah. You?" Before he started to answer she cut him off. "I guess you want to know what happened to me after you left." Kurt was mystified. "For one thing, my mutant powers include intuition. I can almost tell what people are thinking by reading their body language. Where shall I start?" "Why not begin when I left." "Okay. Well, after you went after Stephen, Jimaine left about a week later. I guess you know that by now. Margali felt that all three of her children were lost to her and didn't want to see me anymore. Riela was dead by then, did you know that?" Kurt shook his head sadly. "So all three of my mentors and both my mothers were gone. The stress of that must have been what caused my mutation to develop, giving me the ability to became what I am now." She gestured at herself, at her sparkling violet skin, sea-blue hair, transparent glimmering wings. "In addition to my intuitive six sense I can sometimes charm things into doing what I want. That's how I opened the door to the Blackbird. I used to be able to morph back and forth to my human shape, but I'm losing that skill. Anyway, with my newfound talents I was able to take over your trapeze act. It wasn't as good as yours, but I eventually became the star of the show." "But how did you find us?" "Shh, I'm getting there!" She smiled. "I was in Romania looking for my family again. You know all about my attempts at that." She'd been traveling to Romania every so often for years trying to find her birth parents. "Word spread of the vampire couple that was surrounded by a growing mob. I joined a group going to Driani's castle. I saw you there, and have been following you ever since. You people keep yourselves well hidden, but when I finally pinpointed your location I took my chances breaking into the jet. And here I am." Sariceia lay back down on her towel. Kurt reclined beside her. "That's really something. It hasn't been easy for you has it?" "No, but it's been interesting." 'And it definitely will get more interesting if I'm going to be an x-man...'
