Ok, here's the next chapter. I wrote this part a while back, when I was having something short of an obsession with this song. Reading through it again, I'm not sure it really works with Rogue's voice, but as I can't think of something else at the moment, it will have to stay. However, that doesn't mean that it won't change. I just haven't thought of something yet.
Anyway, I would like to that everyone who has reviewed this story so far, it's great to get feedback about what people think, and I hope you like this chapter. :-D
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Several hands went up in the air and Jean-Luc scanned the crowd carefully. "K, well, Remy, mon fils, ya can get yerself up 'ere as I know yer can 'old a tune. Den we'll 'ave Vivian an' Francoi. " He annouced.
The four all walked up on stage and stood in a line, all of them looking through the books which showed which songs they could choose from. hen they had all chosen they decided on an order by drawing straws, Rogue ending up last, which she was a little nervous about, although on the plus side she would get to suss out the competition.
Vivian went first, singing the song Candyman, by Christina Aguilera. She earned a loud clap at the end, having sung the song quite well, although everyone knew that the others would have to be extremely bad in order for her to win.
This was put to the test when Francoi stepped up on stage, taking his place in front of the sang a Tom Jones classic, sexbomb, which was ruined slightly by the effect of his accent, but other than that he was really good. At least Rogue thought so anyway.
Next up was the Cajun snake charmer. He had taken his accent into account and chosen a more local singer, who Rogue had never heard of, but she was astonished by how well he sung. She had no idea if it was a true likeness to the singer, but she knew that she would have to be brilliant in order to beat that, something she wasn't too sure she was.
Taking a deep breath Rogue took to the stage, seeing Kitty, Jean and Storm all grinning at her, having heard her sing before in a school concert, all of them having been astonished at how well she had sung. She gave them a small smile and then turned and gave a slight nod to the guy with the music and he plressed play, the intro beginning to play. Rogue rested her hand gently on the mike, letting the music flow through her.
"I heard there was a secret court,
where David played and then pleased the Lord,
But you don't really care for music, do ya?
But it goes like this, the forth, the fifth,
The minor fall and the major lift,
The baffled king composin Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah."
Everyone felt their breath catch in their throat at the sheer beauty of the girls voice. Remy found himself staring at Rogue transfixed, unable to believe how heartfelt the song seemed to be as it came from her. It was certainly not the type of song he had expected her to sing, he had expected something with a bit more of a beat to it, probably a bit more rockish as well. The xavier group however just smiled softly at her, still overcome by how beautiful she sang, just like they were every time they caught her singing, which was a lot more now that she had gained control over her powers.
"Your faith was strong but you needed proof,
You saw her bathing on the roof,
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrough ya,
She tied you to her kitchen chair,
She broke your phone and she cut your hair,
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Halleluuuuujah."
The crowd began to let the song wash over them, really paying attention to the words, finding themselves smiling softly at them as they continued to listen to the beautiful girls singing.
"Maybe there's a God up there,
But all I've ever learned from life,
Is how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya,
It's not a cry that you hear at night,
It's not someone whose seen the light,
It's a cold, and it's a broken, Halleluuujaaaah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujaaah,
Hallelujah, Halleluuu, haahoo,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Halleluuuujaaaaaaaah.
. . .. .. . . Hallelujah, Halleluuuujah."
As she finished the song and the final notes played, the entire room erupted into thunderous applause, shocking Rogue slightly, not having thought that she was all that good.
Jean-Luc took to the stage again, smiling this time, truly begining to see just how remarkable how this girl really was. "Well, I don' t'ink I really need ta ask who da winner is, but jus' so dat it's fair. I want you all ta go an stand in de corner of de room fer de contestant ya t'ink shoul' win. Go over ta de far corner fer Vivian, de corner ta me lef' if ya wanna vote fer Francoi. De corner over near de bar for mon fils, or de corner ta me righ' if ya wanna vote fer Rogue." He announced, waiting for everyone to move to the appropriate corners of the room. No one was really all that suprised when everyone walked straight toward the stage on the right hand side of Jean-Luc. The man gave a small smile then brought the microphone back to his lips. "T'ought so. Rogue, I'm pleased ta announce dat yer da winner of dis contest." He announced, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, pulling her back toward the centre of the stage. He then presented her with an envelope but told her not to open it until she got back to her hotel that night. She looked at him slightly confused for a moment, but nodded that she would anyway. She figured that it would all explain itsefl when she read whatever was inside the envelope later on.
There was another couple of hours of dancing before people began to trickle away, Jean-Luc and the professor agreeing a time and place to meet up the following day; having thought that it would be nice to spend a little more time getting reaquainted.
Shortly after that the groups both went their own ways, Remy giving Rogue a nod and a wink, causing the girl to smile and roll her eyes, shaking her head at his behaviour, causing the man to chuckle at her reaction, but pleased that he had made her smile no the less.
In the car back to the hotel, Rogue just looked out of the window, thinking over everything that had occured throughtout the evening, and the day as well. The rest of the car seemed to be oblivious to this as they all talked about everything they had seen and done throughout the night. "It was truly amazing, although I thought it was a little odd the way that they all bowed and curtseyed, didn't you?" Jean commented.
"It's because he's a figure of authority. They're obviously quite traditional around here. They treat him like you would treat a king or queen." Rogue piped up, in explanation.
"Huh?"
"Why?
"A king?" Came their responses.
Rogue sighed. "Well, didn't you notice how tightly knit the group were. They weren't just Jean-Luc's friends in there, they're more like his followers. They're a sort of group, kinda like the x-men. Jean-Luc is the equivalent of the Professor, only their system is more of a monarchy than a democracy or whatever it is that we have." She tried to explain.
"Oh my God, we must have, like, seemed so rude to them. That was totally bogus. Rogue, how did you figure it out?" Kitty fretted, wondering how her friend had known.
Rogue shrugged, not entirely sure herself. "Not sure really. Ah just saw what they were doing and copied them, ah didn't get the gist of it until one of the guys ah danced with called him 'le roi', which is french for king." She told them. "After that, ah treated him as ah expect you would have to treat the Royal family if you went to England or something." She explained to them.
"And you didn't tell us any of this because?" Logan asked.
Rogue scoffed. "Please, like you would have bowed even if you had known. Besides, how would you have reacted? Probably like you are now, and you would have ended up saying something stupid to him, or any of them for that matter, so ah figured it would be better if you could claim ignorance." She told them.
They frowned at her, but when they thought about it they realised, a little painfully, that she was right. Although they weren't about to tell her that, so they decided to change the topic. "So, what's in the envelope Rogue"? Storm asked her.
Rogue looked down at the unopened envelope still lying in her lap and shrugged. "Ah don't know. Jean-Luc told meh not to open it til ah got back to mah hotel room, so ah'm not going to." She told them.
"What? Why on earth would he tell you that child?" The Professor asked.
Rogue shrugged. "How should ah know. These people have a pretty mysterious air to them. All ah can hope is that it will somehow become clear when ah open it up." She told them, sighing slightly.
The rest of the journey was pretty silent, all of them wondering what was in the envelope. Not to mention what they would do tomorrow. All they knew is that a car was coming to pick them up and would take them to Jean-Luc;s house. Rogue couldn't wait. With having some of Remy's memories in her head, she already knew what the house looked like and couldn't wait to see the looks on the others faces when they saw it.
Soon enough they reached the hotel and they all decided to go fo a quick drink before bed, after all, it was only 11:30pm. Logan scoped out the room as soon as they walked in and led them over to a table in the corner so that he could keep an eye on the room, not wanting anyone getting close without him realising it. They others were used to his paranoia so just let him get on with it, waiting until he had sat down to take seats around him. It was odd, after all, the Professor was supposed to be the leader, but in these kind of scenarios Logan always seemed to take the lead, no one else wanting to bother with the fight that would no doubt start if they didn't just shut up and follow him.
As he scoped out the room, they all went to check their coats in at the desk, where a porter would whisk them up to their rooms. Once again, there was an odd sort of silence as Rogue took her coat off and walked across the room with the others, not really focusing, her mind preoccupied wondering what was with the letter. Whether it was a letter, or just some wierd kind of prize or booby trap. She gently shook the thoughts from her mind, causing her hair to bounce slightly, the curls catching the light. She sank gracefully into a seat between Logan and Kitty, taking a sneaky glance around the room, not quite sure what she was looking for.
Finally seated a waiter approached the table and asked if he could take their orders, everyone taking turns in ordering what they wanted, although Logan frowned when Rogue and Kitty tried ordering something alcoholic. The waiter raised an eyebrow but said nothing, almost as though he knew they were underage, he didn't seem to care however, after all, he was under orders to give them whatever they wanted, and he wasn't about to let the drinking age get in the way of that.
As soon as he had handed out the drinks and left the group, Rogue having tipped him generously before he left, the others seemingly having forgotten, the others all turned to her expectantly. "What are y'll lookin' at?" She asked them.
"Well, aren't you going to open it?" Scott asked her.
Rogue frowned. "No, ah'm not. Ah was told not to open it til ah'm on mah own, and that's what ah'm gonna do." She announced, taking a sip of her Jack Daniels and coke.
The others glanced at each other. "Why not? How's he going to know?" Scott argues, wanting to know what they wanted with Rogue.
Rogue glared at him. "Look around you Scott. Half the people in here and all of the staff are known associates of Jean-Luc. If he tells you to do something, you do it. They're watching us. Keeping an eye on us, making sure we're safe and that we don't do anything we shouldn't. You forget, ah'm from the south, ah know how things work down here." She pointed out. "Now, unless you want to get us all in trouble, ah suggest you drop it and start talking about something else." She added, taking another sip of her drink.
There was a moment of silence as they all took a sweeping glance around the room, finding that indeed, they were being watched. "We're sorry Rogue, we're just curious child. We didn't mean any harm."Storm apologised. "I've been meaning to tell you all night, but you really do look beautiful tonight." She told her.
Rogue gave a small smile. "Thanks Storm. Not as nice as you though. Ah love that dress." She told her.
There was a chuckle around the table. "You are joking right?" Jean asked her, still laughing.
"Er, no. Ah'm serious. Ah'm no prettier than any of you." She told them.
"Oh my God, Rogue. You are ten times prettier than us. I mean, did you see the entrance you made at that party, the entire place silenced when they saw you. The same thing just happened when we got here." Jean told her, unable to believe that Rogue was incapable of seeing just how beautiful she was.
Rogue shrugged. "Really? Ah figured it was just because of mah hair or the amazing dress or something. Or maybe the fact that none of you had seen it or whatever." She told them.
"No way. Rogue you were the most beautiful girl in the room tonight and everyone knew it. Every guy was battling to have the chance to dance with you. I saw a couple trying to sabotage each others chances by tripping each other up, there were arguements going on in corners and everything." Jean told her.
Kitty chuckled. "Yeah, but as soon as you stepped out with Remy no one else had the guts to ask you." She told her.
Rogue blushed a little. "What? You have got to be kidding meh. There is no way dancing with someone like me could be that great." She told them, folding her arms.
They all smiled at her. "Rogue, you are beautiful, but you shouldn't put yourself down. You still think of yourself as the untouchable, but you're not. You're free now, you can do what you want. Touch who you want. You don't have to keep people away." The Professor told her.
Rogue didn't say anything, just glanced down at her drink for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, well, anyway. Kitty, who was that guy ah saw you dancing with. He seemed real inta you?" She asked, wanting to turn the conversation away from her.
All eyes turned to Kitty, Logan scowling whilst kicking himself mentally. He had been so busy keeping an eye on Rogue and Gumbo that he had completely let Kitty slip under the radar. "Oh, his name's Dan. He was, like, so sweet. We just talked and danced, but it was, like, so amazing. And he's so dreamy." She told them, grinning.
Rogue, Jean and Storm all laughed, whilst the guys scowled, the Professor laughing a little at them. "Yeah, well, ah'm feeling a little tired, so ah'm gonna head up. See y'all in the morning." Rogue told them, standing up after swallowing the last sip of her drink.
"Night Rogue."
"Night."
"Goodnight, mein schwester."
"See you in a bit."
"Night Stripes."
"Goodnight Rogue."
"Sleep well child." The bid her goodnight.
Rogue gave then a wave, then walked out of the bar and up to the room she was sharing with Kitty, glad that the girl hadn't wanted to come up with her. 'Why is that? Kitty's mah friend, why don't ah want her with meh right now?' She wondered. She looked up and caught her reflection in the mirror, startling herself slightly. She looked at it closely. 'Huh, maybe they are right. Ah can see beauty in mah face. But ah wouldn't go as far as they said. After all, at the end of the day, ah'm still a gal with problems.' She told herself. She sighed as the lift opened. She walked out and along the hall until she reached her room, slotting the card in the slot until it turned green, opening the door.
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Ok, bit of an anti-climatic ending to the chapter, but if I went on to a cliff hanger, I have been assured that the chapter would be too long. So, tell me what you think and I'll get the next chapter up ASAP. Hope you liked it.