Chapter 3: Ancestors Gone Wild

"What is your name again, young lady?"

"Alara Netermu Nakia."

Xavier looked at her strangely.

"Really? Hmmm.... Well, I have a few questions for you Alara."

Alara nodded and Xavier looked up at Scott, who stood in the doorway.

"Scott. Go find Logan. He may be of some use for this."

Scott nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

"Now Miss Nakia, I'd first like to ask what you were doing here in the first place."

Alara cleared her throat calmly and, smirking, gave her reply.

"Well, I thought it was abandoned. I didn't know people were here as it was night and so I climbed over the fence and trans- I mean, picked the lock and came in looking for a bath, a place to sleep and some food. I didn't turn on the light because I didn't want someone to call the police."

"But if you worried about police, then why did you break in in the first place?"

"Because I needed a place to stay. I figured if I kept the lights off at night and stayed away from the windows during the day, no one would know that I was in here."

Xavier nodded.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Um... Well the guy who brought me in here... the one with the funky glasses... said that you were a professor and that your name was Xavier. I think you called him Scott."

Xavier nodded again.

"That's correct. My name is Charles Xavier. I run this institution."

"Institution?"

"Yes. We won't go into detail, but it's for others like me."

"Like you?"

"Yes. But we won't discuss that. I have to do something first."

"What's that?"

Xavier smiled.

"Just stay still and don't panic if something strange happens."

Alara nodded, but looked at him with suspicion. Xavier closed his eyes and began to concentrate, trying to find out who she was and where she was from. As he tried to read her thoughts though, he found a heavy block. The more he concentrated, the more his head hurt. Suddenly, an image popped up in his head.

A young man with short black hair and blue eyes held the hands of a woman with brown hair and green eyes and a big belly. They kissed and he said quietly, "I'll be back, I promise."

The woman nodded.

"Don't forget us," she murmured.

They kiss again and he walked off. The woman walked into a small cottage on the very edge of a town and then collapsed. She reached up, dialed 911 and yelled into the phone, "Help me! I'm having a baby!"

Then the images zoomed by. Images of a birth and a girl growing up. It slowed at about age five. She was on the porch playing with her small toys when the man from before walked up to her. She looked up and screamed, "DADDY'S BACK!"

She ran over and hugged him tightly. He ruffled her hair.

"Hey kiddo," he chuckled. "Where's your mom?"

Just then her mother walked out smiling. It zoomed by and stopped again at about midnight. The girl was asleep in her bed and the man and woman were whispering in the front part of the cottage.

"People have been looking for you. They didn't seem nice. What have you been doing all these years?" the woman asked.

"I've been trying to find a jewel that is supposed to make everyone into something like me. It's called the Metamorph Jewel of Egypt. If I can make everyone a mutant like me, then no one can hurt you or me or Alara."

The mother looked hesitant.

"But... Your ancestor... Look what happened to him..."

The man shook his head and pressed a finger to her lips.

"It will not happen to me. En Sabbeth was not right. He grew corrupt. Do not worry, my love. It will never happen to me."

Reassured, the woman smiled and kissed her husband on the cheek.

"I love you Amon."

"I love you too Aten."

They hugged briefly and Amon got up and headed for the door.

"I'm getting close. I can feel it," he exclaimed.

"Good luck," Aten murmured as he went out.

As Amon walked down the dirt road, he hummed a joyous tune. Suddenly, an explosion from behind him threw him forwards. He got up and turned to see his cottage in flames. He charged down the street towards his cottage and saw the burning corpse of his wife hanging from a gaping hole in the side of the house. He fell to his knees in front of the bonfire of a house.

"NO!" he screamed. "NO! NO! NO!"

He slammed his fists on the ground, causing the earth to rumble. Inside, he heard a loud cry.

"Alara!" he yelled. He jumped up and ran into the flaming building to the child's room. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, trying to stop her from crying, trying to stop crying himself. He held her tightly against his chest after wrapping her in a blanket and charged back through the flames. Suddenly he heard bullets whizzing by his ears. He charged down the road quickly. A bullet suddenly planted itself in his left calf. He still ran, but slower and with a limp. He made it to a small village on the outskirts of town. Another bullet planted itself in his side. He squinted his eyes and saw a familiar old woman in the road. He ran over to her, handed her the child, and said, "Take care of Alara for me."

The old woman nodded.

"Good luck grandson."

The man took off down the street as the old woman walked into a nearby building to hide the child. A group of men ran past screaming, "Kill the freak and his offspring!"

The old woman shook her head.

"Fools,"she spat.

She went to a window in the shop and looked out. A tear fell from her eye as she watched her grandson's body fall to the ground and another tear fell as they begin to beat him to death. She looked down at the quivering child and spoke grimly to her.

"Don't worry Alara. I will care of you as long as I live."

"Bu-but where's Daddy? And Mommy?"

The grandmother closed her eyes a moment before saying, "They're with Anubis, my dear... and all the rest.