Disclaimer: "Who was she to say he was an orphan, this Ablah blah blah blah or whatever she called herself?"
(An: An Eragon reference? ...Maybe... I love that book. I've read it twice, just not recently. Eheheh... -nervous giggle- I'm certain the beginning scene in this was inspired by something, but who knows?)
The map on Rogue's back led them to a smooth stone wall with a couple of indentations in it.
"Well, this is helpful," said Wanda.
"The map is a dead end. Who knew?" said Kurt.
"No, no, this is it," said Remy, shaking his head. "There's a trick to get in, but I don't remember it; I was unconcious when we got to the gate."
"Are you ever going to tell us what you were doing here?" Rogue asked, hands on her hips.
"That would be a non, chere," said Remy. "Just leave it at they don't like me much here."
"So why would you be so keen on taking me here, then?"
Remy avoided her eyes. "I want you to be happy, is all," he said, in a voice too quiet for the others to hear.
Rogue gave him an odd look but was spared comment by Kitty saying, "I think I know how to get in."
"Enlighten us, si vous plait,," said Remy.
Kitty walked up to the wall and ran her fingers over the grooves in the rock. "See, look. Elves worship heavenly bodies and stuff like that, right?" She didn't wait for an answer. "See, this one here looks like a sunburst, and this one looks kind of like a star, and this one," she tapped a crescent shaped groove, "looks like a moon."
"And..." said everyone else.
"Can I have your necklace for a moment, Rogue?"
Rogue blinked and handed it over.
Kitty took the pendant and pressed it into the groove. There was a scraping noise as the rock slid open.
Kitty's triumphant smirk lasted only a moment as she saw the elves waiting behind the rock. The elves with spears.
Then one stepped out. He was short, with scruffy blue-black hair and three knives balanced between the fingers of his left hand. "What the HELL are you doing with my daugher, LeBeau?"
Remy instantly got an oh-merde look and Rogue blinked. "You're my father?" she asked.
Everyone else except the elves was clearly thinking the same thing.
ABOUT TEN MINUTES LATER, THE ELVES'S DUNGEON...
Wanda was leaning against the bars of the cell. Everyone except Rogue had been brought down here after entering the elves's citadel. She was talking to the guard. "Will you let me out?"
The guard just paused in polishing his sword to raise one eyebrow at her.
"I didn't think so." She took a step back and indicated for the others to crowd against the back of the room. "I have to warn you- I'm going to break out. If you don't back up, you'll get hurt."
The guard snorted.
"She's tellin' the truth, mate," John agreed from the back of the room.
"Sure you don't want to let me out?"
The guard just stared at her.
"All right, keep in mind I warned you..." Wanda rubbed her hands together. A bolt of blue energy formed between them. Wanda spread her palms and the cell door exploded. Luckily the guard ducked... really luckily, since a piece of the door lodged in the wall right where his head had been. "I warned him," Wanda muttered, looking down at the guard. He'd fainted.
"Nice work," said John, brushing dust off himself and joining her.
"...Nice?" Kitty demanded, indicated her dress, which had been a dark blue but was now grey.
"The last time she did this it was a lot messier," John informed her with a sage nod.
The three still in the cell just stared at him.
"What?"
Remy shook his head. "Dieu, you're such an idiot," he muttered.
"Yeah," Wanda agreed, but her mind seemed to be on something else.
&&&
While Wanda and the others were being imprisoned and subsequently escaping, Rogue was being briefed by her father.
She sat down on the bed of what she'd been told was her room, fingering her necklace. Looking around, she saw plenty of things that she'd like, but nothing that stirred any memories. It seemed that her past was lost to her forever.
She drew her legs up to her chest and rested her head on her knees.
If she stayed here, it was obvious she'd never see her traveling companions again. She got the impression that the only reason they hadn't been killed on the spot was because she was with them.
Nothing would ever make her admit it, but she'd become kind of attached to them... especially Remy...
She shook herself. To avoid such unsettling thoughts, she thought back to what'd happened after her friends had been taken away.
&&&
"It's good to have you back, kid," the elf claiming to be her father said, giving her a quick, one-armed hug.
Rogue stared at him.
"What's your problem, Stripes?"
"I lost my memory," she explained, trying and failing to find something familiar about the short, gruff figure before her.
"Well, that explains why you never came back from the forest," he muttered.
Just then, a short, black-haired elf in a plain blue shift came running up. "Logan," she gasped, "King-" She stopped midsentence and hurriedly curtsied. "My lady, I'm sorry, I didn't see you..." She trailed off, seeing the blank look Rogue was giving her. "Lady Marie?"
"She's an amnesiac, squirt," Logan informed her.
"Oh, great," she muttered. "And the New Moon ceremony is coming up, too."
"Go tell King Xavier I'm busy getting my daughter up to speed," said Logan, flapping a hand at her.
"Yes, sir," she responded, rolling her eyes. She ran off.
"Ok, Stripes, here's the deal," said Logan. "I'm your dad. Your mom was human. Even though you're only half-Blood, the Seer, Irene, Saw you being brought here by your mom, and also being made the priestess's apprentice. That was Jubilee. She's an acolyte in the temple and a messenger girl." He led her to a door. "This is your room. I'll send up the priestess. She'll explain," he gestured vaguely at her necklace, "all of that better than I could." He opened the door.
Rogue walked inside (even though she knew her name, she couldn't bring herself to use it).
&&&
While Rogue was pondering her past, the escapees were trying to sneak out.
"Stay here," Remy whispered to the others. "I hear someone coming."
&&&
Jubilee's excuse for not hearing the human sneak up on her was that she'd been fuming about Logan. The nerve of that guy! Just because he's older and a little higher ranking thanks to his battle experience, he thinks he can boss me around and call me squirt all the time!
Her inner rant was interrupted by a man stepping out of the shadows and grabbing her from behind.
She opened her mouth to scream, but he covered her mouth. "Now, now, petite, I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to know where the elf I came in with is. I'm gonna let you talk now, but if you scream, well, then..." He stuck his face next to hers, revealing flashing yellow eyes and fangs. "D'accord?"
Jubilee stifled a gasp and nodded. The man's eyes changed to brown and he gave her a reassuring (and thankfully close-mouthed) smile. He uncovered her mouth.
"You mean Lady Marie?" she asked.
"Does she have funny white stripes in her hair?"
"Yeah, that's her. She's in the room just above the stone gate."
"Merci, petite. I'm gonna let you go now, d'accord?" Jubilee nodded again and he let go. "Now, then, I didn't hurt you, and I'm certainly not gonna hurt R- Marie, so let's keep this between us, oui? I only want to talk with ma chere."
Jubilee frowned a little, but said, "Um... all right..."
"Merci beaucoup, ma petite," said the guy, fading back into the shadows.
After a moment, Jubilee scowled as she started for the King's chambers again. Even a complete stranger called me short!
&&&
After a couple of close calls, the group made it back out the front gate.
"Marie's up there," said Remy, pointing up at a window above it. "Can you get in?" he asked Kurt.
"Of course," said Kurt and bamfed.
&&&
What snapped Rogue out of her reverie was Kurt's arrival in a cloud of smoke. "Guten Tag!"
"Are you guys leaving?" Rogue asked.
"Are you coming with?"
Rogue paused, biting her lip. She looked around. She belonged here. Her father was here. Her past was here. Yeah, she thought, but my future's down there.
She took off the necklace, stared at it for a moment, then set it on her bed and took Kurt's hand.
He bamfed them down.
"Let's go," said Rogue.
"Sure about this, chere?" Remy asked her in a low voice.
"There's nothing for me back there, not anymore."
"Whatever you want, Marie."
"Call me Rogue," she replied.
(Well, there we go. There're only three or four chapters left here, depending on how long the next one goes on, can you b'lieve it?)