Memories
Goodnight
Disclaimer: What do you think?
If you want to use Tora, or any of my other characters, PM me.
Big Eva had been carted off for a series of check-ups, courtesy of Hank who was also trying to persuade her to let him play with her reality-jumping tech. The rest of the X-Men were sitting in the staff room and Rachel had quickly linked Beast into the conversation.
"We need to get in touch with Steve. He's the one we can trust to help us…"
"After that whole fiasco where he tried to take Hope? Not a chance!"
And then suddenly, after the argument had raged back and forth, everyone simultaneously noticed that Tora hadn't said a word. As one, they turned to her.
"Tora? You must know about this?"
Tora slowly nodded.
"Yes. They've been leaping across realities killing as many of my alternates as they possibly can. In some cases, that's been a good thing."
"TORA!"
She turned her steady gaze to Logan.
"You may not realise it, but there are times that I would watch the whole world burn. I stand and I watch as the cities burn and the people with them. The Avengers…they took out those versions of myself. But… They also hunt down those who are peaceful and wish only to live in privacy."
She closed her eyes.
"I could feel it as they snuffed out one life after another. The stars go out and worlds die."
She got up.
"I… I need to go…do something…"
Logan caught her arm.
"Tora…"
"I'm just going to talk to the kids. I'm not doing anything stupid!"
"Tora, for you, 'stupid' has a slightly different meaning to everyone else. To most people, 'stupid' would be trying to trade your life in exchange for four others."
She shrugged.
"I'm talking stupid by your standards, Logan. Which admittedly, isn't a 'normal' view of stupid but it's not too far off."
She grinned at him and hurried off. She stopped by Eva's room. Her daughter –so small, so fragile, too young to understand- was curled up in bed. She walked over and sat down, gently stroking the short hair. A sleepy golden eye opened and looked up at her.
"Story, Maman."
"What do you say, Evie-girl?"
"Please, Maman… Want a story…"
Tora hummed.
"What story? The Colony of Cats?"
"No. Beast-Prince."
Tora sighed. Logan just had to invent that story for the kids, hadn't he?
"Fine."
"Actions?"
"No actions."
"Maman…"
"Eva. No actions."
"Kaaay."
Tora moved so Eva could snuggle herself closer in.
"Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a handsome prince. This prince had everything –a beautiful mother, a handsome father, devoted servants and playmates in the form of the cook's daughter and a lord's son. The three children played together and got on extremely well. But one day, the lord decided that he wanted to be king. He killed the king as the prince looked on. And something happened to the prince. The curse he had been placed under as a baby became true and he turned into a beast. He killed the lord and his servants, and scarred his friend. When the cook's daughter begged him to stop he turned back, for love made him human."
The story was Logan's way of telling the kids about his life.
"Seeing what he had done, he fled, terrified that the beast inside would consume him. He ran wild for many years until the lord's son, seeking revenge, came to punish the beast-prince for his scars. The lord's son tried to kill the prince who became the beast once again. But the cook's daughter prevented him from killing the crazed lord but died in the process. Horrified at what he had done, the prince ran once more."
Eva snuggled in closer. Tora embraced her daughter.
"The prince pretended he had no title, no money and enlisted in the royal army. He served as a soldier for many years until the enemy captured him. When they found out that he could turn into a beast, they sold him to an evil sorcerer who wanted to create an army of monsters. He cast spells on the prince, meaning that he couldn't become human. Finally, desperate to escape, the prince broke out, slaughtering every guard in his way."
As a simplified way of explaining Weapon X, an evil sorcerer worked.
"The poor prince lived wild for many years, as he could not become human. Then one day, he attacked a young lord with his new wife. The couple took him in, and cared for him until became human once more. But their king heard about the man-beast and decided to use him as an assassin and a spy for the country. So the poor prince had two lives. One as the human guest of the young lord and lady, living in a lap of luxury as the assassin of the king, an animal used like a dog for tracking."
Ah, Mac and Heather. Nice way of fitting them in.
"On one of these missions he met a good wizard who offered to release the curse of the beast. But the wizard needed ingredients for the spell. So the prince-beast left the lord and lady one stormy night and went to the wizard's tower. There he found that the wizard had pledged his service to seven others –Allez-Oop, the demon who wanted to be an angel; Ete, the blind prince who wanted to see once more and his love Flamebird, who wanted nothing more than to have eternal love; Catt, the ghost who wanted to live and Comrade, the man of metal who wanted to be flesh and blood; Siren who was cursed to speak in song and Wind-Rider, the goddess who wanted mortality. The beast-prince and the others swore that they would work together to break their curses, with no one leaving after they got their wish so that they were all healed."
The names weren't the most inventive, but seeing that Logan had made the story up on the fly one night, he'd done pretty well.
"They worked together, vanquishing enemies to gain the ingredients for the potions required to heal them. The young lord who had looked after the beast-prince was sent after him to take him back to the king to serve but the warriors fought to protect him. Siren lost his song when he was defending the others but he continued to help them. The lord came once again, this time with an army but the warriors managed to defeat them. All was well. Then one day, disaster struck."
It had taken Tora time to piece together the meanings behind the story, place events that she heard mentioned in passing to the story.
"Flamebird was corrupted by the sorcerer who had once imprisoned the beast-prince. She began Dark Flame, the ravager of kingdoms, who destroyed a city full of innocents in a burst of fire. The warriors and the wizard tried to save her but she saved herself. Realizing what she had done, she destroyed herself, rather than kill those she loved. The warriors could not save her and Ete left to wander the land, blind, unseeing, desolate after his love's death. The Wind-Rider lead the warriors to victory after victory, yet the beast-prince would not heal no matter what the others did. However, he did manage to make peace with the young lord and the two returned to their old friendship."
A bit of mixing up the timeframes, but it worked. And Weapon X responsible for Dark Phoenix? No, but it gave the story continuity.
"One day they were looking for the final ingredient which was in the Black Woods. They lodged with an old woman and her mysterious, veiled daughter. When the beast-prince was gathering wood to help pay for the rent the daughter came to him and said that her mother planned to kill them as the herb was what gave her eternal life. The warriors must be on their guard that night, as the witch would try to slit their throats. The daughter taught him what he had to do to be safe and begged that, when they fled they took her with them. The beast-prince realized that he loved this mysterious woman."
She smiled softly.
"That night the warriors lay alert in their beds as the witch crept up to slit their throats. Suddenly a tiger-woman leapt out from the rafters and began fighting the witch. As the beast tore the witch's throat out, the evil sorcerer appeared. He cursed the tiger-woman, calling it "his greatest folly" and preparing to kill it. The warriors leapt to the beast's rescue and the sorcerer transported them all to his fortress. In the fight that followed, the beast-prince and the others dodged and danced, using their abilities to the full. The Wind-Rider used all her power to surround the sorcerer in lightning, while Comrade used his metal body to protect the others. Catt was unhurt by the lightning and so was able to attack the sorcerer. And the beast-prince used all of his powers to attack the evil magician. Suddenly, from the fires that were burning rose Flamebird, more powerful than she had ever been!"
Eva giggled.
"This is the best bit!"
"Shhh… . Together they destroyed the sorcerer to discover that Allez Oop had gained his angel wings for protecting his friends. Catt found a body with no soul and was able to live again while Comrade had been turned to flesh by the lightning. Wind-Rider had used all her powers to defeat the sorcerer and was now mortal and Ete had regained his sight. Only the beast-prince had not been healed. Sadly he left only to be followed by the tiger-woman. As the sun rose, it turned into the veiled daughter. She pulled up her veil to reveal a beautiful woman. As she and the beast prince shared a kiss, both their curses were broken and they all lived happily ever after."
As an allegory tale, it wasn't the best. The X-Men were clearly determined to get rid of their powers, but hey, the kids loved it! Eva smiled sleepily.
"Love you, Maman."
"Love you too, ma petite."
And she rose, tucking Eva in tightly and closed the door, trying to hide the tears streaking down her face.
"Oh, how lovely!"
"It wasn't the best story I've heard."
"You're a spoilsport."
"And you, Death, are a sentimental sweetcake at heart."
A.N. I've had that story on my laptop for ages. Nice to finally get to use it...