black angel's wing - So a huuuge thank you to my one reviewer for doing so, and I have looked into it. I hope I do a good job with it!
Disclaimer : Nothing's changed here. Still don't own X-Men : Evolution.
Chapter 3. Troubled Mind and Tortured Soul
Dreamscape
Darkness filled the air no matter which direction he looked. He was standing on solid, sandy ground; his sense of touch told him that much, but there was nothing to be seen. Memories or thoughts usually flowed freely around a persons mind, even while they were unconscious, yet this one was almost completely empty. This frightened him, for it signified that she was capable of denying him access to the far corners of her mind. The most likely reasons were that she had something to hide, or did not wish to relive the memories of her past.
After walking around aimlessly for some time, he finally spotted it. A single blue light was meandering its way toward where he stood, and sucked him into the only present memory of a tortured young mind.
Memory
"No, no please!" pleaded a small voice in desperation. A young girl was strapped to a long, metal laboratory table; chained down by her arms, legs, and torso. She was struggling against the bonds that held her, all the while crying out for somebody to help her.
"Please, sir, you can't do this to me!" she tried to reason.
A large man stepped forth from the shadows. Dressed in a white laboratory coat and a surgical mask, he walked slowly over to the girl's side. He held a scalpel in his gloved left hand, and swung it loosely by her face, a smirk obvious in his hazel eyes as the girl shied away from the instrument in fear. Gently, he pressed the flat of the blade against her porcelain skin, right along the edge of her jaw.
"Well my dear," he spoke causally, almost carelessly through the mask. "You're a mutant. Therefore I can, and therefore I will."
With that, he dug the utensil into the right side of her jaw, stopping once he hit the bone, and dragged it all of the way to her chin. The girl shrieked and cried out in pain, fresh tears flowing heavily from her icy blue eyes and blood pouring from the new wound, and dripped onto the table and floor at a constant rate.
The man withdrew the scalpel and clicked his tongue at the wimpering little girl. Almost regrettably, he shook his head. With his free hand, he stroked his thumb under her eyes, wiping away her tears and softly patted her left cheek.
"Now darling, we can't have you making such a fuss every time we draw a little blood. We'll have to fix that. And what a shame. Your voice is so pretty too."
He turned away and called out to someone, "Bring me a syringe filled with an anesthetic and my tools. We'll be doing a total laryngectomy on her shortly."
The girl began to squirm around nervously, her tearfilled eyes betraying her fear. Her voice steadied some, but still quavered as she posed the inevitable question.
"What's a laryngectomy, sir?"
The man trained his eyes on the girl for a few moments before they narrowed and he answered.
"We're taking away your voice."
End Memory
The memory wasn't yet finished when he was roughly kicked out and thrust back into the darkness of the girl's mind. Slowly massaging his temples, he tried to find the reason for his ejection. His answer came in a way he had not anticipated.
'I know that you're in here sir, I can feel you,' echoed the light voice of a young girl through the vast darkness. His head began to pound as the voice went on. The man's eyes widened suddenly as he realized who was speaking.
'But you really shouldn't be here. What's left of my mind is sacred; it's the only thing that they couldn't take from me. You may feel entitled to answers, but snooping around in my head isn't exactly the best way to gain my trust.'
An ominous wind had started as she spoke, and the man had to cover his face with his arms to keep the sand from blinding him. The voice dramaticaly increased in volume, going from the light trill to a deafening roar.
'Get out!'
End Dreamscape
Professor Xavier gasped and immediately withdrew his hands from their place on the girl's temples as if they were burning. His eyes were still wide as he slowly backed his wheelchair up and tried to understand what had just happened.
"Professor, are you alright?" A slender hand appeared on the man's shoulder. The hand belonged to a beauiful woman with long, red hair. Her dark green eyes showed her concern for her mentor, and she squeezed his shoulder in anticipation. When he failed to answer right away, she grew more worried.
"I-" began the professor as he massaged his temples in attempt to rid himself of the headache that sent his bald head throbbing. "I should be. Thank you, Jean."
Jean removed her hand, and fiddled around nervously, her hands turning over and over, desperately needing something to occupy them. In the tense silence that followed, she took the time to study the still form of the girl that they had just rescued.
The first thing that truly stuck out was how pale she was. The color of her skin was barely a shade darker than that of the bed sheets that she was tucked in to, and Jean could easily see the dark blue veins that created a web around her arms and neck.
Her thin arms were littered with scars, both old, faded ones and the angry, puffy pink ones that had had yet to heal all of the way. A darker scar was visible on her throat, about three inches in length. It was thin and precise, and expertly closed; most likely the result of a surgery or a doctor's careful hands. The most noticeable scar was not on her arms, but along the right side of her jawline. Stepping closer, she lightly fingered it, trying to expel the gruesome images that came to her mind as she wondered how she had gotten it.
Moving to her hair, she took note of how well kept it was. Finally let out of its ponytail, it was a beautiful midnight black, and in thick layers that reached around the middle of her back. There were no split ends, it was not greasy, and had a soft shine to it as well. Jean sighed as she played with a few strands. Wherever she had been, they had taken excellent care of her hair, yet refused to take even decent care of the human being that the hair belonged to.
As her green eyes continued their observations of the new female, she realized just how skinny she really was. Even through the loose white shirt that she donned and the thin sheets of the infirmary bed, the young adult could count each and every one of her ribs.
"Jean," the professor called lightly. Finally being brought out of her daze, the young woman tore her gaze from The girl's small form. Turning to face he professor, she sighed, curious as to who would have the nerve to do thi to a child. The professor was staring blankly at the IV as it dripped its fluids into Calypso's body.
"I searched her mind," he continued in the same soft voice. "But I could only see one memory, an even then, not the whole thing."
He swung his eyes around to meet his student's confused ones and paused.
"She blocked me Jean. She blocked me, and yet she shows no signs of being telepathic."
Jean's brow furrowed in confusion. "Well, what did Cerebro say that her powers were?"
"That's just it. It never did say. Something happened to her at that facility that blocked Cerebro, and prevented me from getting a lock on her powers. For almost two full years now, I've been getting small signs from this girl," he said exasperatedly as he gestured to the bed where Calypso lay. "But I haven't been able to find her until last night."
Professor Xavier slowed in his rant and took a deep, calming breath.
"And when I did find her, only her name and location came through. There wasn't a read on mutant abilities nor her age or origin."
Jean tried to console him. "Maybe she'll tell us once she wakes up," she suggested hopefully. Before she had finished the sentence, her professor was shaking his head.
"She is incapable of speech. One of the things that happened to her was the removal of her larynx, the organ that allows us to communicate with words or sounds."
Jean gasped, and clasped her hands around her throat as she stared disbelievingly at the man in front of her, all the while wondering how people could be so heartless.
The professor sighed once more, and turned to face Calypso.
"When I was in her mind, she threw me out of a memory. Before she expelled me entirely, she made it clear to me that gaining her trust would not be easy. I fear that I have just made it harder by entering her mind uninvited."
Silently, he closed his eyes and bowed his head. Walking over, Jean stood by him and placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder once more. The professor covered her hand with his own, and together they waited for Calypso's eyes to open.
Dreamscape
Calypso's inner self stood stock still in the darkness of her mind. Thoughts streamed from her human form's head, different colors showing the unique emotions behind each one. The majority of these were bright red, showing her anger.
How dare he enter her mind. He should have known that after what had happened to her that she would be wary of strangers, yet he still waltzed in without an invitation. She seethed, the river of thoughts exiting her head at a quicker pace than before.
In the midst of the chaos that was her mind, a single strand of yellow-green became visible through the red haze, soon overtaking all of the rest of her thoughts.
She realized too late her mistake, and try as she may to take it back, the single feral thought plagued her soul. Her inner self fell to her knees, and grabbed he head. Slowly, what was a human figure turned into a wolf, a silent snarl escaping her lips.
Calypso knew that she would always be traumatized by what had happened to her, but, for the most part, kept the aggressive personality in check.
With that inner Calypso locked away for now, the feral side of her personality had free reign of her body until the usual one could take back control.
The wolf gave an evil grin, ready to wreak havoc once her body regained consciousness. She knew that her time in the physical world would be short, but was going to make the most out of every second that he had. All that she needed was for her body to open its eyes.
End Dreamscape
Jean and Professor Xavier had the same relieved smiles on their features as Calypso's eyelids fluttered, proof that she would soon be awake.
Her eyelids remained closed for a few moments more before they snapped open to reveal ice blue eyes. They narrowed as her mind made sense of what was happening, and an insane grin spread across her lips as Calypso sat up slowly. Making eye contact with the retreating forms of Jean and the professor, her grin widened. With what time this personality had, she was going to make someone, anyone, know how it felt to be helpless. Even if it meant that she had to draw blood.
black angel's wing - phew, another chapter done! And I think it's pretty good, if I do say so myself. *grins* for those of you who skimmed, a laryngectomy is a surgical way to remove someone's larynx, or voice box. The voice box is what allows us to make sounds, like sighing, coughing, or talking. So no, Calypso won't be able to make any sounds. Whatsoever.
And basically, she has a split personality. Part of her is totally a sweet girl, but that was locked in the deepest and darkest recess of her mind after she got kidnapped. Gone forever. So the dominant personality is pretty normal, it's just shy and easily angered all of the time. And then there's the totally feral side, which will basically destroy everything in it's path until the middle persona comes back and locks it away. Each 'fit' lat only a few minutes each, so dot worry. Jean and the professor won't get hurt. Too badly. ^.^
And if y'all were confused, she was in that place for about two years. So mutant powers usually manifest at around age thirteen, which is how old she was in the very first flashback way back in the first chapter. Which puts her at about fifteen now, and she's not mentally stable. Au revoir!