Sophi: Thank you so much! I'm sort of still figuring out what she'll do. It'll come eventually XD The Kurt part sounds adorable though, I'll definitely stick that in.
Slow Down: Noted and attempted :)
Remember, deep breath.
Okay, I'm ready.
Lift off using only your legs and torso; do not use your wings.
Alright.
Once you're in the air, find the air currents to aid you in your flight.
Got it.
After that, look in the direction you want to go and fly to it.
Right.
Then- up.
What?
Up.
Fly up?
No, wake up.
Wake up?
Yes wake up.
Are you sur-
Lorelei wake up.
But-
Wake up Lorelei, wake up Lorelei, wake up Lorel-
"I'M UP!" Lorelei awoke with a start and sat up quickly. Ah… I've moved again. She glanced around the room and took in its tidiness. This is definitely not my room.
It most certainly is.
Lorelei shuddered at the sound of a voice in her head other than her own. No… I have a room in my own house-
In Germany with parents wanted by INTERPOL and every other conceivable police force?
Lorelei nibbled her bottom lip, and recollected that she was in an unknown place and unable to contact her parents. But that wasn't the end of it, oh-no. What really ruffled her feathers was the fact that Baldie had interrupted the most important instant of her life.
"HEY! YOU WOKE ME UP BEFORE THE GRIFFIN KING TOLD ME THE FINAL STEPS OF FLIGHT!"
There's no need to shout Lorelei! Everyone's asleep!
YOU MONSTER!
Lorelei, you've been asleep for over two days.
I don't care! Learning to fly is not something you absorb overnight!
Or over three, apparently.
Lorelei fumed silently and crossed her arms. I shan't stay here.
Oh you most certainly shall, the professor corrected. I won't have another child being influenced by drugs and all other manner of vulgarity if I can help it.
You can't help it, Lorelei though. And it's not your choice.
Professor X paused for a moment and chose his next few words very carefully. Lorelei, he entreated, you are in a crucial spot right now. You are in such a position that you may choose between a life of secrecy and imprisonment, or to start over and have a chance at a new life. Right now, the police are unaware that the Stillmans even have a daughter; if you disappear now they will be none the wiser.
Lorelei stared angrily and the embroidered "X" rug at the foot of her bed. I can't just leave my family, they're… my family. You don't abandon your family.
They don't seem too concerned that you've disappeared, Lorelei.
Because I'm always outside; they probably haven't realized I've left yet!
Professor X nodded to himself in his room. He knew a lost cause when he saw one, but that didn't mean he'd ever give up on it. Lorelei, he began, obviously you're free to leave at any time. I won't hold you here against your will – but I implore you to think about your next course of action very carefully; it may end up being a matter of life or death.
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Lorelei continued seething in her room long after the professor left her mind and the mansion woke up. She could hear the sound of people running up and down the halls and a hellish cacophony that came from the kitchen seemingly at all hours of the day. I hate this place. I need to get out.
Lorelei stretched and got off the bed. She made her way over to the window on the other side of the room and pulled back the curtains. Oh nice…
The window was actually a door that lead out onto a tiny balcony. Lorelei tried the handle; Do they leave everything unlocked in this place? Guess he meant it when he said he wasn't going to hold me here. She walked out and suddenly felt very homesick. There's no edge of the world here… I miss my perch.
Lorelei grabbed the metal railing and pulled herself up. I think I'll go on the roof; it's quieter there... maybe Baldie can't read my mind if I'm far away from him. She reverted back into her old stone form and scaled the side of the house and heaved herself onto the roof. She dodged the bird poops and missing tiles until the came to what looked to be the front of the mansion. This place is huge… it's way bigger that my house. She grinned impishly, but do they have golden doors?
She crouched in the gutter and took in the huge garden before her. There was a group of people being led into the forest by the blue bear that stopped her yesterday. There were other smaller groups of kids milling about randomly; playing basketball or just sitting on the grass. Some of the groups had joined together and started playing football; but that was broken up when one of the kids kicked the ball at a group of girls who squealed and popped it.
Lorelei looked about, but couldn't see any gates or perimeter of any sort. The grounds are huge, is this a school or something? An orphanage? Weird hospital… thing? What is this place? She looked down just in time to see a white haired woman watering a spiral plant with her hand.
What the hell…?
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
"Jean?" The professor looked up from his pile of documents at the woman who'd just entered, "You look anxious, what's the matter?"
"It's about the other night… in Germany."
"Yes, I was wondering about that." He straightened the papers and pushed them into a drawer. "Do you want to talk about it? Tell me what happened."
"I don't know," Jean frowned and sat down in one of the chairs. "It all seemed to happen so fast… and slow at the same time. When we were approaching the estate I heard someone singing, but the closer we got the more it sounded like… like…"
"White noise?"
Jean looked up at him. "Yes, that's exactly it. It interfered with my telepathy and made it hard for me to concentrate. I could feel myself slipping… my head was killing me."
Professor X wheeled around his desk and stopped in front of Jean. "It's alright, Jean. Luckily no one was injured…" Wait… Garvey.
"Who's Garvey?"
"Uh, gravy… Jean. I meant gravy."
"Professor…?"
"The gravy is burning."
Jean stared blankly at the professor, and then shook her head. "I must've lost it when the noise became unbearable. I couldn't keep it in."
Professor X placed his hand on top of hers and patted it. "I know it's hard Jean, and I hate to sound curt but-"
"Vat?" Kurt poofed into the room and landed on all fours next to the professor.
"Not you, Kurt. Curt. I was being- for goodness sake, aren't you still recovering?"
"Ja, but Beast said I could-"
"He most certainly did not. Now please, go back to the lab and strap yourself in… and no teleporting!"
Kurt grumbled all the way down to the lab and got back into bed. He tied himself in but struggled putting the restraints on his right arm, as he had already tied up the left one. "This is impossible!" He cried.
Jean turned back to the professor. "What were you going to say?"
Charles looked at her apologetically and spoke a bit softer than before. "We need to get you to control your outbursts more. You've been doing fine up until now, but it appears we may have an aggravator on our hands."
"An aggravator?"
"Yes, if Lorelei decides to stay."
Jean looked puzzled "Why is she trying to get the phoenix aggravated? Well, besides giving the Stillmans the upper hand…"
"She's not," the professor corrected. "She doesn't even know she's doing it. I'd have asked her to stop, but after discussing it with Hank and getting everyone's side of the story on what happened in Germany – including Lorelei's – We've come to the conclusion that it's just a byproduct of her powers."
After Jeans look of doubt, Charles continued. "You see, Wolverine said that when he cut or stabbed her she acted as if she felt no pain. This is confirmed by Scott who destroyed one of her wings and was met with only a look of confusion. Also, Lorelei even stated she feels no pain in that form."
"So…?"
"It means she has no nerves or internal organs when she changes."
"But what does that-?"
"Lorelei is the source of the noise you've been hearing. It's a sound that only telepaths can pick up; in fact, it's not even a noise. It's the absence of a noise; she has no brain chatter… I suppose you could say it's the heads equivalent of elevator music."
"She has no brain?"
Professor X snorted softly. "Not when she's in her stone form, no."
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Up on the roof, the stately griffin scratched its beak majestically.
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
"She's just a conscious rock; she wound up here because that sack we were all so enthralled with actually contained pieces of her. Thus when her original form was destroyed…"
"She moved her consciousness to a different part of herself."
"Precisely."
Jean massaged her brow. "So if we hadn't taken that sack of dirt…"
"We wouldn't even have a Lorelei." The professor finished.
Jean sat there and thought about what the professor had just told her. "But, she's still part of a criminal organization. I understand you wanting to take her in, but is it really the best idea?"
"The authorities do not know that Lorelei exists; she could easily slip away unnoticed. She's a good kid… she just needs to get her priorities straightened out."
Jean shook her head no, "I wouldn't trust her."
"Well, we may not even be faced with that dilemma. She's up on the roof right now, probably deciding what to do."
"Probably?"
"I can't read her mind when she's transformed."
"Wait… the white noise…"
"It is rather annoying, but I've already managed to tune most of it out. We'll work on getting you to turn a deaf ear to its sound."
"I can't hear it now..."
"I'm blocking it out for you," Professor X murmured, glancing up at the ceiling.
They were silent for a minute, and Jean suddenly spoke up, "I wonder what would happen if she went up against Ms. Frost."
"Probably the same effect, she's telepathic…"
"I meant in her diamond form."
"Jean…"
"Just wondering."
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Lorelei stayed on the roof, contemplating her next move and oblivious to the conversation below her. She went over what she knew so far about her current situation. She was in America; the bald one sounded American, and the kids shouting below her all seemed to have a similar accent to Baldies'. Baldie also was in possession of her sack. When she first saw him he told her that she was in his basement, so she was in Baldies' house in America.
America. Didn't Garvey say something about America? Lorelei's shoulders slumped at the thought of her friend. He was like an angry uncle… with drugs... Drugs! Lorelei's ears perked up. Well, one of them; the other was still broken. Garvey said the X-people lived in America. He said they were mutant boy-bands hit squads… they were upset with Papa because he sold the drugs to… Mitten People. Right? Right. So… The invisible cogs in Lorelei's invisible mind were spinning out of control. So… the X people… were the ones who broke in. They might also be the ones who stole my dandruff! So… if they took my sack… back to their base… that means that Baldie is a… Lorelei's mind wandered back to her bed, and the rug at the foot of it.
Ho-ly shit NO!
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Professor X was pulling his papers back out the drawer when Lorelei smashed through the window. "Lorel-"
Lorelei grabbed the professor by his collar and pressed her face against his, "You kicked in my door."
Professor X was taken a bit aback. "Yes well, you seem to have shattered my window."
"You broke into my house…"
"And you mine…"
"Trashed the place!"
"…Glass shards in my hair!"
Lorelei paused. He had no hair. "YOU STOLE MY DANDRUFF!"
"I WISH I WERE ABLE TO EVEN FORM IT!"
"YOU BURNED MY HOME…!"
"That was an accident."
"…MADE ME SMALL…!"
"I'm afraid I didn't plan that part eith-"
"…BROKE MY EAR…"
"Also not my-"
"AND NOW I'M A MILLION MILES AWAY FROM HOME UND PAPAS GOING TO KILL ME!"
Professor X raised his hands in apologetically. "You raise very good points, Lorelei but I'm afraid-"
"YOU SHOULD BE!"
The professor sighed. The small griffin inches away from his face gave meaning to the saying 'if looks could kill'. "Lorelei, listen, can you do that for me for a second?"
Lorelei frowned. I wish I could squint; I'd be much more terrifying right now.
Professor X took her silence as an indication to keep talking.
"I did not send the X men-"
"I KNEW IT! YOU ARE BOY BA-"
"For heaven's sake let me finish!" The professor cried. Everyone was interrupting him today...
The stone creature stayed silent and he continued. "I did not send the X men to kidnap- SHH!"
He shushed her when she opened her beak to talk. "I did not send them there with the intention of kidnapping you, or your family. We went to gather evidence of the Stillmans involvement in Michigan, so that we could confront the politicians with it and essentially shock the people into action. They've been ignoring it – people are going missing, kidnapped right in the streets – and no one's doing anything about it!
"Not my problem."
"But it is, Lorelei. You are a Stillman, and if somebody were to find out…"
"You said they didn't care."
"In Michigan."
"They won't."
"They will find out eventually."
"They won't."
"And how do plan on skirting around law enforcements?"
Lorelei inspected a stony talon.
Professor X looked at her doubtingly, "You can't take on all of America."
Lorelei looked up at him with one eye. "Not… all of America… just the ones who know…"
Professor X leaned back in his wheelchair. He did not take kindly to people threatening his family, or the children in his school. "Lorelei, do not be fooled. The X men are not push-overs..."
Damn that's exactly what Garvey said. I thought this phony air confidence was working on Baldie. Lorelei glowered at the bald man. I wish I were taller!
The two continued their stare-off, and the tiny nonexistent cogs in Lorelei's head slowly began to turn again. I wonder…
Professor X continued watching the creature in front of him, it wasn't moving at all. What are you doing…? He wondered. Suddenly, it grabbed a pen and threw it across the room. Professor X scowled. "I hope that's all your temper tantrum has to offer."
Lorelei continued to stare at Baldie, slightly amazed. I thought you could read my mind… Let's do it again. Lorelei looked directly at the professor's forehead and thought very hard about her next move – slashing his desk. She stayed stock-still for five seconds then…
Professor X watched incredulously as the small beast slowly gouged a hole into the wood. She then dragged the talon along the entire space of his desk. "That is enough!" The professor ordered. Lorelei continued writing.
"ENOUGH!" Lorelei continued onward, unfazed. The professor turned his mind towards her, pushed through the white noise and forced her mentally to stop. She did.
"Now," He ordered, "You will return to your room and stay there until I come up." Lorelei looked at him blankly, turned, hopped down from the desk, and walked through the door that had suddenly burst open.
"Professor!" Scott rushed in, almost tripping over Lorelei. "HEY! It's-"
"Leave her." The professor answered. "She's going to her room."
"Uh… oh?" Scott was ever so slightly confused. "What's going on here?"
Professor X wheeled over to Scott and they both watched as Lorelei ascended the stairs to the women's wing.
"She threatened us and scratched the table... smashed the window too."
Scott looked over and realized where the nice breeze was coming from. "…I swear that's not the thing we battled."
Professor X chucked. "I know. We do have good news though; I've found a way to push through Lorelei's white noise. I can... persuade her mind now."
"You couldn't before?"
"No…"
Professor X wheeled over to inspect the furrows in his desk. He stopped when he saw that Lorelei had actually written something.
"Butter".
~~~~~~~~OoO~~~~~~~~~
Lorelei stopped in front of her door. Baldie couldn't actually read her mind, he was only pretending. And what was with him ordering her to her room? Did he really think she would go? Lorelei contemplated the meaning of all of it. The bald one presumed he knew what she was thinking, and thought he could boss her around. He was wrong. But he still did it… so he thought he was right?
Lorelei looked at the crack between the door and the floor and watched a little ant crawl through. I think… she mused …I know how to get back home.
NEVER JUDGE A ROCK BY ITS LACK OF BRAINS. Wise words from Confucius (Don't hold me to that)
Thanks for reading! :)