Mystique awoke, cold and alone. She shivered and realized that as her mutant self, she had rarely been bothered by temperature. Now as she was human, and once again warm-blooded, her body was bound to be different. Such a small thing, but she held back tears as she realized that she was well and truly different.
For how long? She did not know, and she knew that Eric did not know either. Mystique looked down at her hands. Pale, smooth, slender. Her body kept its same shape and size- she herself had always been taller than most, and very slender. Years of training had kept her toned, sleek, adding to the illusion of the dragon mutant. She moved to the mirror.
Physical beauty had meant little to her before- she thought herself beautiful in her mutant form, and always took advantage of copying lovely faces wherever she would see them. She felt a touch of relief that even as a human, she could still find beauty in her reflection.
Beauty was difficult to abandon.
Abandon? Mystique felt a ripple of fear in the back of her mind. Yes, she feared Eric's abandonment. They'd shared years together, and still she feared his abandonment. She thought that she should not feel such attachment- but who else did she have in the world?
Mystique touched her face. Smooth and pale. Light green eyes, touched with blue and gold flames. Full, girlishly pink lips. Black hair.
She didn't remember what she once looked like, her mutant form had been prevalent for so long; she did remember having black hair and green eyes, though. Well. She was lovely, Eric hadn't abandoned her.
I'm vain, but what could be expected of me when everything- even my life!- has depended on how I look?
Mystique dressed for the first time in years. She'd never needed to after she found the control over her powers. She found the process of buttoningthe shirt a little awkward, the whole thing was irritating beyond belief, but she was dressed and out the door in no time. I must find Eric, she determined.
Mystique left her room and did, indeed, find Eric. He'd been speaking quietly with Pyro. John turned once he saw her enter the room, and she had smiled at the both of them. She'd been silently praying for a warm reception from Eric; a word, a touch, anything! Pyro winked at her, but Eric retained the young man's attention and didn't bother to acknowledge her presence.
A spear of dread and anger shot through Mystique's chest. Eric didn't look in her direction, he went on talking to Pyro as if she wasn't in the room! A human, too pathetic to notice! Mystique crossed the room and slammed the door shut behind her, confused and angry. Why was he doing this to her? She'd moved to take a bullet for him, saved him from this fate!
Ignored, beneath his notice, pathetic, human!
Mystique kept a tight check on her emotions, reverting back to the factual reptilian mind that her mutantcy hadafforded her. The scales may have vanished, but the dragon lived on inside. She looked down at her pajamas, the only clothes that had been left in the room for her, and seethed.
These were not the sleek, designer "clothes" that once adorned her body. She wore Pyro's mismatched shirt and pair of sweatpants- uncomfortable, oversized, these were nothing like what she had become accustomed to!
She resisted the urge to tear the offending garments from her body right there in the front foyer of the house. She calmed within, smooth again. No. Leave the clothes for now. Find more clothes, become Mystique again. Beauty is power, and I am still beautiful. Ignore me now, Eric, but know that your beautiful warrior still lives on, for you!
She smiled, venomous, vindictive…and reached for a pair of keys.
Mystique had been gone for hours. To anyone else, it might have seemed that Eric wouldn't have cared whether she'd ever been born or not, but he did notice how long she'd been gone. Five hours and 53 minutes, if one were counting…
He had seen the pain and fury in her eyes, but he did not blame her. How could he? Eric knew that she more than likely hated him, blamed him for what had happened. Yes, it was his fault. He'd taken her in when she had been little more than a girl barely on the brink of womanhood. He'd nurtured her growing powers, trained her body, manipulated her mind…corrupted…
No!
Eric shook his head. Now was not the time to rue over Mystique's fate. He had no choice but to put her from his thoughts, it should be enough that he allowed her to remain with them, even though she was now human, as Callisto took such a delight in reminding him. There was another thought. That conniving little Morlock was quickly becoming a thorn in his side. He appreciated her obvious mutant pride, but her hostility was under very fragile restraint. Eric worried what would become of Mystique, should Callisto's hold break without him near enough to save her.
Just as she saved me…Eric's fist tightened. He'd never seen such a pathetic, agonized creature as Mystique when she'd lain on the floor of the trailer, naked and trembling. It had been strange to think that the scruffy woman lurking in and out of the base was actually the Mystique that he'd devoted so much time to creating.
He'd seen her morph hundreds of times, but this had been different. This time, he may never see her again.No time for this now- there were more important things to concern himself with. The cure source. Worthington laboratories. Amassing the Brotherhood. It was his divine right to protect his people, save them from the fate that had fallen upon his sensual demon, his beloved-
No, he could not think of her. His warrior, his beauty, Mystique must be kept from his thoughts.
Five hours and 54 minutes…