Chapter 3

Jean's POV

"And you're sure he's here?" Logan asks after Ororo tells us about The Shadow King; a being responsible for childhood trauma in Cairo. "I don't smell anyone. You sure you didn't just fall asleep?"

Ororo shook her head. Her entire body trembled as she held Kendall close. "It was not a dream. He was here. He was here and he wanted Kendall."

I know Ororo is telling the truth, but I am in a similar boat as Logan. Sleep deprivation is one of the biggest symptoms of new parents, and with long-term sleep deprivation comes hallucinations. Part of me is inclined to blame that on this sudden occurrence, but I know what Ororo is feeling. This is real to her, and it could be real to everyone else with our luck.

"Nothing set off the security," Scott says as he comes back into the room after checking the grounds. "There are no signs of a break-in."

"That is because, in his state, he cannot set off the security, Scott." The Professor comes wheeling in, setting a calming hand on Ororo's shoulder. "The Shadow King travels through the astral plane until he can find a new host. Current events indicate that he might be attempting to take refuge in Kendall."

"Why would he take refuge in a baby?" Scott asks while I watch Ororo instinctively hold Kendall closer.

The Professor sighs, steepling his hands. "I wish I had the answer for that." He then glances to my side. "Rachel, is there something you want to share?"

I turn to Rachel, who I am not realizing has been very tense this whole time. Eyes fall on her as she says, "He visited me in a nightmare just before he came to Kendall. I didn't know who it was at the time, but now it's pretty obvious. He's looking for someone to cause destruction with. I guess I wasn't who he was looking for."

So this Shadow King had been the darkness Rachel sensed? Part of this makes me feel guilty. I should have pieced it together earlier. Had I tried dismissing her concerns about her dreams? I wanted to convince her that it had been just a dream when, in reality, it was a real-life threat entering her mind.

Usually, when a child has a bad dream, it is their parent's responsibility to calm them down. To promise no harm will come to them. I cannot do that. I cannot promise anything won't hurt her when things have been trying (And succeeding) to hurt her throughout her entire life. What if The Shadow King had decided to take Rachel as his host? Could he do that with the Phoenix? Would it have led to the same issues I faced with the Phoenix? With the evil desires of the Phoenix enhancing with the influence of the Shadow King?

"Do you think he is going after the kids of mutants?" Scott asks. "Why else would he be going after a baby?"

The Professor hums. "With his intended target left undiscovered, one could presume that to be what he is doing. For now, I do not sense him, nor does it feel like any student has been bothered by his presence. Perhaps he was only gauging the threat of the other entity in the mansion before checking in on Kendall."

"So why Kendall?" Logan asks.

"Why not Kendall?" A new presence joins the room as Erik Lehnsherr enters the bedroom. His recent arrival at the mansion was met with skepticism as we X-Men had been raised to see him as the enemy, Magneto. But since The Professor had not had a lover since Moira McTaggart, and Bobby had attempted to (jokingly) call us homophobic for being opposed, we let it slide.

He continues as he stands next to The Professor. "If This Shadow King went after Storm when she was a child, then one could assume there is something about the children of her family that he is attracted to. And do not give me that look, Cyclops. I am not speaking of pedophilia. Beings like this go for powerful individuals to fuel their power, and complete weather manipulation is nothing to scoff at."

Storm speaks up once again, having been struggling to calm down this entire time. "He only used me to pickpocket people on the streets and rob the rich houses who had anything worth stealing. When I refused, he would project horrible images in my mind, but he never used me for more than petty theft, nothing like Rachel dreamed about."

"Shadow King's last form was a mutant, but not the most powerful one I have ever encountered," The Professor continued. "During the… shall we say, encounter, I had with him, I was able to defeat him in the astral plane, which I contribute to the mind of the host he had settled in. But in a more powerful host, like Kendall or Rachel, the strength he draws from them might be enough to defeat even me."

This doesn't ease my nerves. Or anyone else's in the room for that matter. Our children are at risk, and it feels as if there is nothing we can do to prevent it.

"Rachel, I get, but Kendall? Kendall is a baby," Logan says as if we need to be reminded of that. "What kind of power is this kid packing that makes her so attractive to this shadow king guy?"

"It is hard to say, Logan. It is possible that he is only staking out his next host but does not plan to take hold for years to come. He is an ancient being who has been alive for hundreds of millennia. He can wait ten to twenty years for Kendall to mature."

"So what do we do? Just wait for that to happen. Then what?"

"We are not waiting until then, Logan, but I need to gather more information. I cannot just send you on a wild goose hunt when I do not even know where The Shadow King went. For now, I want you all to try and get some sleep. We do not know what type of challenge we might face, and it is best to be well-rested. Unless I find something else out, we will reconvene in the morning." He wheels out of the room, followed by Erik.

I turn to Ororo. "Are you alright?"

She sighs and shakes her head. "I thought, when I left Cairo, that would be the last I had to deal with him. It never even crossed my mind that he would come for Kendall when he never came for me again. Maybe it should have." She looks down at the infant in her arms, and I see her eyes glossing over with tears. I cross the room and wrap my arm around her shoulders, but before I can say anything of comfort Scott speaks up.

"This isn't your fault, Storm. You were able to move on from the abuse this psycho did to you. Lots of people with childhood trauma can't do that. But I promise Kendall will not go through the same thing. We will do all in our power to prevent it." There is a hint of rawness in Scott's voice that makes me know this is deeper than just comforting a friend. I know there was more than just the plane crash in his childhood that caused him trauma, but he will never elaborate, and I refuse to abuse my power to find out. Something painful happened between his parents dying and Xavier taking him under his wing. And although I have suspicions, I cannot make assumptions about what it was.

"Hate to admit it, Ro, but Scotty is right," Logan says. "This guy is going to hell before I let him hurt my daughter."

"I think The Shadow King is above the concept of heaven and hell, Logan," Ororo said, shoulders deflating. "But I appreciate that you are trying to comfort me. I'm just going to sit up with Kendall, and get us both calmed down. You all should go get some sleep. Don't worry about me."

The rest of us file out of the room, and I turn to Rachel. "Do you want one of us to sleep in your room tonight?" I know it's been a rough night for her, and I don't want her to be alone if she needs us.

But, of course, like typical Rachel, she brushes the idea right off. "I'll be okay," she says as if she hadn't just been crying in my arms a little while ago. I know she spent a few years without having anyone to turn to for comfort. She was her only form of safety or security. But she has Scott and me now. She doesn't need to be so closed off from us at times like these. I don't like when it when she does this, but habits are hard to break. I don't want to force her to accept my comfort if she really doesn't want it.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not her real mom. Sure, her mom is Jean Grey, with the same genetic composure as me, but that Jean Grey is from an alternate reality. It is still difficult to wrap my brain around sometimes that I am not the only me out there. I can lay awake wondering about the fates of them all. Will we all meet the same violent death Rachel's mom did? Or are there enough ripple events in our reality to avoid it?

Either way, the thought is enough to cause a headache, which is the last thing I need when something wicked might be just around the corner.

We wish Rachel goodnight and head to our own bedroom, where Scott lays down and aggressively rubs his eyes from under his glasses, letting out a heavy groan. "So this is fucked up, huh?"

"I just wish we could be doing more," I admit. It feels wrong settling back into bed after the events of the night. It feels like there should be something we should be doing instead, but what? Staying up to make sure no evil being possessed a baby? No doubt Ororo will already be doing that.

So I settle in by Scott, close my eyes, and wait for the rest of the night to creep slowly by.

To Be Continued...