Chapter 10 Those that Creep
The X-men had just arrived to the mansion from their previous mission. The once dark sky was now beginning to lighten telling the world that dawn was vastly approaching. Everyone got off in a slow motion and headed towards the Professor with their visitor. Mr. Lu had taken all of this extremely well for someone who was just kidnapped. Not to mention the fact that his kidnappers and rescuers were mutants that fought over him like the last hot crispy crème donut. Most people would have been highly upset at the prospect of being surrounded by people of that nature. Even more so with all the violence he witnessed. As they walked down the hallway to the Professor, Nicole had hung back to walk with Mr. Lu at a leisurely pace to guide and be a pillar of support if he needed it. He spoke in Chinese about his desire to call his wife and check up on her wellbeing as well as his children. It was then followed by his profound gratitude for their help.
They finally made it to the Professor's office entering it with a quickened pace to immediately get the point of what next was to be done. The Professor was sitting in his chair talking to a new visitor Hank McCoy the diplomatic activist who held wisdom beyond his years. Soon as Mr. Lu stepped in the room he walked to Hank and bowed in the traditional greeting of his people. Hank also bowed to Mr. Lu out of respect. Nicole noticed the gentle smiles and the hidden messages as all three came together. She studied their movements and concluded that these three shared history.
The Professor directed the men to the chairs placed in front of the room. He waited till everyone was inside hi soffice and the door was shut closed to prying eyes and ears.
"Well I'm glad that you are all safe and Mr. Lu has been returned safely as well. Great job X-men!" The Professor stated. Everyone couldn't help but feel some sense of pride when the Professor praised them for a job well done. It was like receiving praise from a father or a beloved mentor. Nicole was positive the feeling couldn't get any better even if she met the President and King of every country.
"I trust your journey home was a sound one, Mr. Lu?" the Professor asked his Chinese nearly flawless.
"Of course Professor Xavier. They were very diligent in their rescue." Mr. Lu said in Chinese.
"Excellent! Now Mr. Lu would you be so kind to recount your story for us please? What pray tell, did Mystique kidnap you for? Nicole, please translate his words for the team."
Mr. Lu looked at the people around him and looked to Nicole who walked to his side. He nodded in confirmation before starting. His Chinese came out fluidly until he came to a pause. "Well I was home with my wife in the middle of sleep when I felt a hand cover my mouth." Nicole spoke. "That woman had pushed my wife up against the wall and pointed a gun at her face. My wife tried to run for the cordless phone but as soon as she grabbed it the woman shot the phone off the table." Mr. Lu swallowed hard listening to Nicole speak. She came to stop and looked back at Mr. Lu who began again frantically before looking desperately in the Professor's eyes.
"My wife! Is she ok?" Mr. Lu asked as he sat forth and began to panic.
"She is fine good friend. I went to retrieve her for you so that you wouldn't be troubled and she would be safe here in case your visitors came back. She is upstairs in a guest room sleeping as we speak." Hank explained in Chinese shocking everyone in the room.
Mr. Lu sat back and sighed in relief at Hanks words. He then finished on with his tale.
"She then shook me and asked me where the Ember Moon is. I of course had no idea what she was talking about. Until she said the amulet from the dig site I researched over 30 years ago. I told her that I didn't know where that was because I was only into the educational purpose of the burial site of Egypt's burial methods. She grew furious and sprayed something in my face and I can't recall anything after that." He finished.
Hank got up and poured Mr. Lu a glass of water from Xavier's vase and he came back and handed it to the man. Mr. Lu accepted it and thanked him with shaking hands. He took a big sip watching his own hold quiver from exhaustion. He took it down and held with two hands to stop the madness.
"I woke up sometime later. I was tied to a chair in a warehouse. I could tell I was near water because of the seagull calls and the smell of fish. When I came to my senses the blue woman came in and I overheard her talking to a blonde young man about how she is growing tired of their ways. She is waiting for her moment to come to power. I of course grew weary and tried to get out of the bindings but she turned and next thing you know I was bombarded with questions about the stone and its whereabouts." He finished with Nicole translating and nodding at him in approval.
"Well first let's cover the basics." The Professor said. "Did you give out any information about anything? Even the smallest detail?"
"Of course not! I am a man of dignity and I pride myself on being a good friend. I told her nothing about the stone or anything else out of protection of my friends and colleagues." Mr. Lu stated with pride. Nicole translated to the questionable glares of her peers.
"Ok so do you know anything about this stone at all?" The professor asked the man.
"Well on our excavation of a tomb of what seems to be a woman dressed in fine clothes near the Valley of Kings, we found materials such as gold, jewels, food, and an amulet. What was so shocking about this tomb was its location, items in her tomb, and the fact that it was a woman in her late 40's. See unless you were of royalty your tomb was nowhere near the valley of kings because only those of birth right were allowed burial such as this. Her tomb was buried almost near King Tut's burial grounds. Plus she was buried like she was part of the royal court with fine things that average citizens wouldn't be buried with." He explained.
"Around her neck was a large red amulet that was protected with the eye of Anubis on the front holding it in place." He clarified. "After months of research and digging through records we narrowed it down that she was a high priestess and apparently she had nothing to do with the pharaoh and that it may have been purely coincidental. She however has a name which is Isis after the Egyptian goddess. She was a great friend of Cleopatra during her life. She knew about all the deeds of her friend and even her love for the Roman Emperor Ceaser. She seemed to have died of natural causes. We researched the amulet and only found myths and legends about a stone that was made to save Egypt against the wrath of the Roman Empire if they were to ever come to conquer Egypt for political gain. No one knows where it came from. The priests of the Egyptians believed it held magical properties that could increase ones power tenfold. But legend has it that it was never used out of fear of what lies in it. So it is assumed each priestess passed it on and I guess our lady Isis decided to end the nonsense and take it with her in death." He finished.
Everyone was quiet trying to soak in the information. Once it had settled and stewed a bit, questions began to arise from the X-men.
"So you mean to tell me that Mystique is lookin for a piece of jewelry that isn't guaranteed to do anything but add to her looks?" Logan asked.
"Well we don't know that, I've heard of stories of things that were thought to be ordinary that turned into something man has no idea to deal with." Hank defended.
"What about this Isis lady, apparently it must be something to recognize if she died with it in her possession?" Chantel asked. "The Egyptians were superstitious but many times they had good reason to be."
"True! What if Chantel is on to something?" Jean asked.
"Well whatever the cause we must keep an eye on the Brotherhood and do our own research to find this stone for safety precautions. Once we find it, we destroy it or hide it ourselves. Simple as it goes" Scott stated as he crossed his arms.
The Professor wheeled toward the bookshelf and turned. "I believe Scott is right. I want you to divide into teams to research and find this amulet. Mr. Lu, do you have any idea of where the other gentlemen that went with you during the excavation are located? Maybe a heading for finding the stone?"
"Mr. Lu thought about it for a second. Well I can tell you to go to the Museum in Egypt and look there first. But it could only be with two others….Alphonzo Florenze and Huddad Myian. I don't know their stay now because we each have drifted away from each other in the last decade."
"Thank you Mr. Lu." The Professor bowed slightly due to his wheelchair. "Well X-men, you are dismissed. This weekend I want you to figure out an approach and Mr. Lu if you will come with me I will show you to your room and to your wife."
Soon Mr. Lu, Hank, and the Professor walked out into the hallway and closed the door. Everyone slumped and leaned on objects and each other as they tried to gather their thoughts and fight off the fatigue.
"OK lets' do this now so we can get ta bed." Rogue said as she sat in one of the vacant chairs.
"Well let's separate the topics. Finding the location of these guys, Florenze, Huddad, and then the amulet. Jean since you have telepathy, I believe you would make a great candidate to locate the gentlemen using Cerebro."Scott stated.
"Ok I can do that but in order to use Cerebro, I must first know the region I'm looking in. Searching the world for two men is hard and could take years if I don't have a mental footprint of them already in the system. The only reason we can locate you and the Brother hood is because we have looked into your minds and know your brain wave patterns. We find mutants based on the activity and flare of powers. You must first find out what region so I can search properly." Jean explained.
"Ok for now let's do one step at a time, I'll call a few people and look online to find Florenze." Ororo stated.
"I'll help you on that." Rogue said.
"I'll worry about Huddad then." Scott said.
"I'll help you on that too." Chantel volunteered. "What about the museum? Who is gonna check that place out?" she asked.
"Well I will lov' da pleasure o' scoping familiar territory and finding de' amulet." Remy volunteered with a smile.
"Well that does fit your resume of talents you have. You can do that in a few days. That way we can set you up a room and get the smaller jet ready for your transport. And I'll call a good friend of mine so you can park the jet on friendly territory without interference." Ororo stated with a smile.
"Jus' don't get sticky fingers while ya out!" Rogue stated as she looked at Remy with a suspicious glare.
"Well now yah kno' ole habits die hard!" Remy said. Everyone laughed at the Cajun knowing that what he said was true. Remy was a great friend and Xmen but every now and then during his disappearances he somehow manages to bring home suspicious gifts to the crew stating that they are souvenirs from his 'travels' and that he needed to get rid of them to lighten his load.
"Well that leaves Logan, Nicole, and Jacob." Jean stated.
Logan looked up and rolled his eyes. "I'll go where ever I'm needed."
"Well Logan we could use your nose and hunting skills to find Florenze." Ororo stated. "So you're with us."
Logan nodded and then yawned in the rudest manner ready to call it a night. He looked at Scott wondering why one eye wanted to call this meeting so late.
"Jacob you're with us then. Time to put those wolf instincts to good use." Scott said.
Jacob just laid out on the floor. "As long as I get some sleep first. Man I'm fried!" He looked at Nicole who slowly managed to creep her way towards the door. "Well Nicole seems like you're going to Egypt."
"I'm pretty sure he could use your cultural knowledge and language expertise."Ororo said with the biggest smile on her face.
Nicole nodded in seriousness and looked over at Remy who had the stupid grin plastered on his face. "You cool with that Remy?" she asked walking over to him by the door.
"Of course. Finally I have a chance to show yo' a different side of Gambit." He stated before turning to look down at her.
She rolled her eyes with a smile. "I'm not helping you steal anything. I'll be the distraction." She stated patting him lightly on the stomach. "I'm going to bed. Night everyone!" Everyone said their goodnights to her and watched as Remy followed talking with her jokingly about changing her perspective of business relations and the law.
Rogue crossed her arms over her chest watching heatedly at the scene before her. She couldn't believe that Ororo was actually trying to set those two together. She looked at Jean who shared a look with her. Jean had come telling her that she spotted the two together sneaking through Ororo's garden as well as him coming from the window of her room at all hours of the night. Nicole has to be all of 24 and Remy was 30 something. Also, Nicole and Remy did not come from the same side of the tracks. He did not need to get involved with someone like that. Also, did he even mention to Nicole about his past? Maybe this was just a phase. She was young and he was wanting.
Suddenly, she noticed Logan rise and she too followed his movements. "Ro, can I talk to you for a sec." He said moving towards the door followed by the bronze woman. Rogue frowned looking to Jean for insight as to what they could be talking about but Jean was too busy enjoying her conversation with Scott and Jacob. Growling lowly and catching the attention of Jacob, Rogue stood up and marched out into the hallway. She looked around and didn't see Ororo or Logan anywhere. Her feet took her towards the stairs where she heard Remy's laughter float through the halls. Her chest constricted and her mind took her back to a time that she used to laugh like that with him. His voice sounded so light and so care free as he made some crude joke that left Nicole laughing and slowly walking up the stairs.
"Good night Remy Lebeau!" Nicole yelled. "Get some sleep because you're going to need it."
"Is that a promise Cher?" He asked hearing the sound of her door slam shut purposefully. He smirked and fumbled for a cigarette making his way back down the steps when eh stalled seeing Rogue waiting at the entrance of the stairs with her arms crossed over her chest. Her uniform was still on making her look a tad bit dangerous. He sighed feeling his once good mood deflate with each second she stood there looking at him as if he had done something wrong…again.
"Remy, what are you doing?" Rogue asked.
Remy smirked a wicked grin and looked at her playfully. "Which part me laughing or me requesting what tomorrow's activities will be like?" Remy asked nonchalantly walking down and past her body.
"You're impossible!" Rogue said as she looked at him dirty before trying another approach to get any information out of the thief.
"What I mean is…." She dragged. "What's going on between you and Nicole?" she asked bluntly. "I never thought I would peg you two together. She's a little young don't you think?"
Remy just looked at her for a while before replying. But, the truth of the matter was even he didn't know what was going on himself. Her age didn't even come up in his mind. Nicole was a grown woman as far as he was concerned. His body felt it too. Over the past couple of months they had gotten close he'll admit that much. They still have yet to dwell into each other's deep secrets yet but, they considered themselves friends….at least that's what he thought anyway. Everything became complicated when she allowed him to kiss her and hold her as if he was testing to see how well she felt against his skin. She moved against him without care and embarrassment which only fueled his behavior. He was just caught in the moment and that's saying something since usually he calculated many opportunities.
He had never really felt like this with any female like he did with Nicole. Even Rouge couldn't compare he found as he looked up at the hardened woman. He loved Rogue but after what had transpired between them, love wouldn't be enough to keep them together. His relationship with Nicole was lightweight and she didn't bring up her faults or his own. She didn't sabotage or try to stop what was slowly developing between them. He enjoyed his time with Rogue and it was special. He learned a lot about himself and relationships with her. But he could no longer board the crazy express going through constant regressive steps after finding the strength to move forward and grow. And after what she had done in Antarctica…that was the last straw.
Remy looked down at Rogue watching her frown and her mouth open to say something else. Very quickly he walked away leaving her with something to keep her at bay. "Whatever is goin' on between us is nutin yo' need worryin' bout." He waved his hand in goodbye choosing to go outside and find another secure route to have a smoke walk before the sun began to rise.