Author Note: Sorry it took me so long to update. I try to update sooner in the future. Plus some readers are wondering what happen to Oz. Let assume that Willow and Oz did date for a little while. But their relationship was so new that when Willow moved away they didn't have time to develop any real feelings for each other. They are now just really good friends.
'Italicized words with single quotation marks indicate thoughts.'
Chapter 3: What are you?
Willow froze at the entrance of the office. Her body refused to go any further. Willow's breath caught in her throat and her body tremble slightly with fear and exhaustion. The magic that she used earlier had completely drained her powers and if anything happened to her now she wouldn't be able to protect herself. To be honest Willow really didn't think these people were going to hurt her, well at least not Kurt, but her exhaustive state left Willow feeling vulnerable and her emotions raw. She didn't want to go into that room and explain herself to these people. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep where she knew she was safe.
Kurt looked at Willow in concern. She was shaking like a leaf. Her green eyes were slightly glazed and her face was unnaturally pale. Her brow was creased in trepidation and all Kurt wanted to do was kiss the frown off her pretty little face. Kurt intertwined his long tripedal fingers into her hand and squeezed gently. When Willow looked up into the fuzzy blue mutant's face Kurt gave her his best lopsided grin in attempt to ease her fears. Willow responded with a small shaky smile of her own. She was still scared but somehow Kurt's comforting presence always seemed to make her feel better.
Kurt placed his other hand on the small of Willow's back and gently guided her through the door. His hand felt warm against her skin and the intimate touch sent chills up and down Willow's spine. The feeling was so detracting that Willow didn't realize that she was in room until she heard the soft click of the door shutting closed behind her and she jump slightly at the noise. The sound seemed so much louder to her ears and Willow stared longingly at the now closed door.
The gruff hairy man that Kurt called Logan walked towards the large window behind the wooden desk that dominated the room and leaned against the window sill with his arms crossed over his broad muscled chest. His face was expressionless and his dark brown eyes weighted heavily on Willow as if he was studying her every move. His quiet demeanor and searching eyes resemble that of a predator stalking his prey and Willow thought he was a lot like Angel dark, silent and deadly.
Professor Xavier sat behind his large wooden desk with his fingers lace together. He was an older man around fifty years old and completely bald. Despite his obvious handicap Professor Xavier was not a decrepit old man. His body was in excellent condition for man his age. His physique was lean with out the extra bulk that one tend to gain with age and if he wasn't confined to a chair Willow would of guess that he would have stood at least six feet tall. He was a distinguishing looking man who demeanor spoke of sophistication, intelligence and authority. But of all those things it was his eyes that caught Willow's attention. Those were the eyes of a scholar, a philosopher, a man with vision. They spoke of intelligence and understanding. His eyes were piercing as if they could see straight into her soul and Willow was afraid that if she stared at them to long she would lose herself within their seemly bottomless depths.
A beautiful woman with dark skin, pale gray eyes and long silky white hair sat to Professor Xavier's left with her legs cross and her clasped hands resting lightly in her lap. She had a quiet grace about her that made Willow straighten her posture and brushed the wrinkles out of her skirt. They both were smiling at her, which was kind of creeping her out and only managed to make Willow even more nervous if that was even possible.
Professor Xavier was slightly startled by what he had picked up from the girl's mind. She believed she was a witch and that her powers were supernatural. Of all the most preposterous things he had ever heard. Witches weren't real. They were fictitious aspects of folklore and legend used to explain phenomena in nature that couldn't be accounted for before the age of science and reason. Obviously no one had ever explained things to the poor child and Professor Xavier feared that it would be difficult to convince her otherwise.
But Charles Xavier was certain of one thing, Willow was powerful. Anyone who could immobilize both the X-men and the Brotherhood with just the twist her wrist was someone to be reckoned with. Even he with all his telepathic abilities couldn't seem to break the hold she had over them all. Charles just couldn't understand why Cerebro hadn't detected the signature of such a powerful mutant in the area. But that was a question to ask at another time. For now there were more pressing matters. Willow had the potential of becoming the most powerful mutant he had ever seen and he feared for the girl's future. If Magneto learned of the girl's abilities he would stop at nothing to gain access to her power to aid him in his insane campaign against humanity. Willow was in danger and Charles was determined to protect the girl from the likes of Magneto and others who would want to use her.
"Please take a seat Miss Rosenberg. I'm sure you have a great deal of questions about what you have seen?" offered the Professor.
'Yeah and I'm sure you have a few for me too,' thought Willow in trepidation as she seated herself in the plush leather coach on the other side of the room.
Kurt was force to sit next to Willow due to the fact that she had yet to let go of his hand, a fact that pleased the Kurt immensely. Not only had Willow kissed him but she seemed to prefer him to stay in close proximity and she wasn't averse to the ideal of touching him either if the death grip she had on his hand was any indication. Kurt wasn't use to the ideal of people wanting to touch him. Usually his appearance insight the opposite response and people tend to avoid touching him if not out of fear than out of disgust. In reality Kurt was starving for physical contact and he reveled in the new attention that Willow was giving him. It was a novel and addictive sensation. Kurt just couldn't seem to stop touching Willow and his long prehensile tail uncurled and unconsciously wrapped itself around her bare calf.
"But let me first introduce myself and my colleagues. My name is Professor Charles Xavier founder and benefactor for Xavier school for the gifted. The woman to my left is Ms. Ororo Monroe and the man behind me is Mr. Logan. They are instructors here at the school," continued the Professor as he gestured to himself and the others.
"This school is for people such as Kurt who have special powers and needs. Our goal is to provide a safe and nurturing environment where mutants can learn to control their powers. But it seems you have already made great leaps in that area if what we have seen was any indication," finished Xavier as an opening for Willow to speak.
Willow fidgeted nervously in her seat as everyone waited quietly for her to explain herself. She placed Kurt's hand in her lap and played nervously with a loose strand on his yellow glove as she tried to order her chaotic thoughts. 'Oh boy now they want me to say something,' panicked Willow mentally. 'Okay don't panic, keep calm,' thought Willow as she took deep calming breaths. She wasn't quite sure how much she should tell them so she chose to stick with the simple stuff and avoid anything that sounded Hellmouthy.
"Yeah about what happened outside. I usually don't do that kind of stuff a lot. Well actually never. I usually lack the control. Floating pencils is more my style," babbled Willow nervously. 'And ensouling vampires,' added Willow silently. Actually to be honest Willow didn't know how she was able to do the things she did tonight. Usually her spells had a tendency to go wonky. Her magic seemed to be stronger away from the Hellmouth and she guess without the dark forces her power was much more unrestrained. Here the magic flowed freely through her body and it felt wonderful. However she could feel the magical induce high mellowing out leaving her body weary and drained.
Professor Xavier sensed that there was more to Willow's statement but she chose to remain silent. So he used his mental powers to lightly scan the girl's mind. Willow jerked suddenly when she felt the first feather light touches brushed against her psyche. Xavier sensed some resistance and quickly retreated from Willow's mind. He didn't want to alienate the child by forcing into her mind. Xavier was very concerned about Willow's mental state. From what little he had sensed he could tell Willow was highly agitated and any wrong move from their part would send the girl running. She was also physically and mentally exhausted and he frowned at Willow's pale complexion and glassy eyes.
"So your powers are telekinetic," offered the professor finally.
"Um not exactly," answered Willow timidly as she continued to nervously unravel Kurt's glove one strand at a time.
"What do you mean?" asked Ororo gently while her pale gray eyes observed Willow intensely. She was also growing concerned over Willow's deteriorating health as the child seemed to be growing paler by the minute.
"Well it does take a lot of mental control to do what I do. But I can do other stuff that isn't consider telekinetic," said Willow thoughtfully.
"Like what exactly?" questioned Xavier.
"Well anything really. I have tried some simple spells like transfiguring, shape shifting, element casting and evocation just to name a few," said Willow thoughtfully as she ticked off each spell with her finger. "Oh…oh! I have tried astral projection once but that ended kind of badly. Not everything worked out the way I intended it to but I'm getting better," admitted Willow finally.
"But that's impossible. Most mutants have one or two latent powers. There haven't been any cases with more than three," said Xavier in alarm. If this was true Willow was truly the most powerful mutant he had ever seen. She was like Rogue in a way, who had the ability to absorb any mutant's powers for a short amount of time. But unlike Rogue Willow had the potential to manifest and mimic an infinite number of mutant abilities without having to borrow them from other mutants. In theory Willow could do almost anything and that was truly a frightening thought.
'Okay now it's time to drop the bomb,' thought Willow nervously. 'I just hope they don't think I'm nuts,' "Well that's the thing, professor. I'm not a mutant. I'm a witch and our powers are based on the supernatural. A witch can practically do anything if they have enough power and the right spell," explained Willow in a rush.
The room fell into silence as everyone absorbed Willow's words. It was obvious that Willow believed what she said even to those who didn't have telepathic powers. It seemed like ages until Professor Xavier sighed and finally spoke. He chose his words carefully and deliberately. "Ms. Rosenberg I know that you believe you're a witch and your powers may seem like magic. But witches are not real. The myths that surround them were probably the first cases of mutation. For lack of a better explanation people conjured up these myths to explain these phenomena. True there are accounts of mutants using mysticism to hone their powers as a form of meditation but magic is not real."
"I'm sorry but from where I come from magic is real. I have seen way too much that can't be explained scientifically or rationally," argued Willow stubbornly. Willow was getting annoyed. She didn't like the way Xavier was talking to her as if she was a slow child. The fact that her head was pounding and she was so tired also didn't help her mood any.
Professor Xavier sighed and rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Willow I do not want to debate this with you. We can prove this if you will consent to a simple blood test and…" but the Professor didn't get to finish his thought as Willow began to sway drunkenly back and forth in her seat and her skin turned an interesting shade of green.
"Willow are you okay!" cried Kurt in alarm as he wrapped his arms about Willow's shoulders in order to steady her.
"Yeah I'm just a little tried," slurred Willow unintelligibly. Then the room began to spin and the pounding in her head increased. White dots danced about her vision and everything sounded so far away. "Whoa why is the room spinning," mumbled Willow in confusion and that was the last thing she said before everything went black.
AN: Do you like? Please, Please review.
So is Willow a witch or a mutant? I'm opened to suggestions and tell me what you think.
