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Post by Image on Oct 18, 2003 22:44:37 GMT -4
Noel looked up in amazement at the girl who had spoken. Had she really read her mind? Without a second thought, the illusionist laughed. Oh you are naive, Noel. What did you expect? These are mutants! She felt childish for her astonishment, but brushed her embarrassment aside.
"I certainly hope so." She said, once she had completely regained her senses. "Though the future doesn't exactly look bright." She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair as she thought. "I suppose we must keep faith no matter what." She said softly. "For the sake of the ones we love."
Noel wasn't exactly sure where that last comment had come from; it wasn't like she'd ever really loved anyone. Except her brother...but he was dead. Since then she had just been content to smile upon other people's fantasies and relationships, with no real envy of whatever it was they had.
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Oct 18, 2003 22:46:42 GMT -4
Christine blushed shyly at the comment and glanced up and over her shoulder at the sleeping elf. "I'm sure your prince charming will find you soon." She laughed quietly. "Mine's still trying to convince himself that he is."
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Post by Image on Oct 18, 2003 22:59:58 GMT -4
Noel smiled and gave a side glance to the sleeping Kurt. So she had been right in her assumptions...
"Oh, I don't think so. I don't really think I have a prince charming..." She said, turning back to Chris. Her voice didn't hold even the smalled hint of regret, and in truth there really was none. There usually wasn't much time for relationships when you were constantly fighting for your life.
"And if there is one for me, well, he'll just have to wait. My priorities differ quiet a bit from most teenagers my age." Almost without realizing, she opened her hand up and allowed a tiny image of the Blackbird, flying past holographic oceans of misty clouds in circles around her hand. "Before I even begin to think about relationship...I have to know that I have a future."
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Oct 18, 2003 23:05:37 GMT -4
"Very cool," Christine breathed as she saw the holograph. She glanced up at the sleeping Kurt again and smiled shyly. "Well, I hope we all have a future - and we will. Once we get the professor back."
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Post by Image on Oct 18, 2003 23:17:26 GMT -4
Noel nodded. She had been about to contradict Chris with a 'what if', but it was obvious now that hope was all they had to hold on to. Image didn't want to be the destroyer of the one thing that gave them a better chance at a future, the one thing that kept them from falling off the edge of faith into the pit of endless sorrows and doubt.
"What will you do when this is over?" Noel asked her new friend, not wanting to dwell on such dark thoughts. "I mean, when the professor is safe, and whoever has caused this has been stopped?" Looking down at her hand, she watched the little holographic clone of the jet they were traveling in go around in a few more circles before letting it fade away.
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Oct 18, 2003 23:19:27 GMT -4
"Go on a nice quiet hol and visit my mother," Christine said, smiling slightly. "I haven't seen her since I came here to learn. Who knows, I might talk Kurt into coming with me. He looks like he could stand a vacation as well."
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Post by Image on Oct 18, 2003 23:27:15 GMT -4
Noel smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Yes...I guess it would be nice to visit family. Unfortunately, I don't really have much of one. It's a rather long story, and one I prefer not to dwell on. Beleive it or not the closest thing I've had to a family," She paused for a moment and lowered her voice so Magneto wouldn't hear, "has been the Acolytes. And believe me. They make a pretty disfunctional group."
Noel sighed, several flashbacks coming to her of the times when she had actually thought of the Acolytes as her family. She had had no one else to turn to, and it appeared to her that the Acolytes were the only ones who understood her, which of course was not at all true. They understood her even less than her own parents.
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Oct 18, 2003 23:31:05 GMT -4
"If you want, you could come home with me for hols, I'm sure Mum won't mind. She keeps saying she wants to meet my classmates," Christine said. She laughed quietly. "Would you believe that I've started my Christmas shopping already?" She looked amused. "I'm still trying to figure out what to get certain people."
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Post by Callisto on Oct 18, 2003 23:50:07 GMT -4
After heading back to her seat, Callisto sat down and closed her eyes, trying once more to sleep. She did manage to come close to actually sleeping, but her senses kept her awake....as well as her awareness of the people around her. I'm the one place I swore I'd never go again. I'm surrounded by Upworlders and no one to trust. They can read my mind, they could find out anything they wanted to about me. But they won't...would they?
Suddenly feeling uneasy, Callisto decided to go somewhere quite and away from prying eyes. Getting up, she made her way to the room occupied by Kurt and Chris a few minutes ago. Quietly closing the door behind her, she sat down in a corner and closed her eyes. I'm alone...the one thing I love and hate to be.
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Oct 19, 2003 0:35:23 GMT -4
Christine looked up from her spot on the ground when Callisto walked into the hanger part of the jet. 'I'm worried and I'm scared that this mission is going to end in disaster and it'll be my fault. Kurt... I wish I had an ounce of your faith..' she thought, again unknowingly sharing her thoughts with him. 'How can you stay so brave in the face of danger without wanting to run and hide?'
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Post by nightcrawler on Oct 19, 2003 0:52:31 GMT -4
Trapped within his own mind, the peace Kurt had felt earlier was gone. He did not budge from his position in his seat, did not speak. He was completely still; the only sign that anything was out of place was the unnaturally rapid movement of his eyes beneath their lids.
Inside of his dream world, happy day dreaming had become terrifying nightmare. He was running, from what he didn't know. A shadow seemed to loom over him, beckoning him to it and at the same time propelling him further and further towards...nothing? Kurt's entire world seemed to be darkness. With every desperate footstep the blackness became more complete. Somehow he knew he was in a dream, but it was impossible for him to wake up.
"Fool." Something whispered far away yet right beside him. "Worthless fool. You have allowed them to fall into a trap. And in doing so...brought them straight into my grasp." The voice hissed and burst into insane laughter. Kurt tried desparately to cover his ears with his hands, to block out the insanity that was threatening to take over him, but his arms were helplessly plastered to his sides.
"Now...now that you are helpless..." The voice whispered evily and Kurt tried to look around him to see where it was coming from. But he get not even move his head. "Now you are mine. Mine to control...mind to kill...but I won't do that just yet. No...I have better things in store for you." More laughter.
Suddenly the blackness erupted into a cascade of images. Every mutant he had ever known appeared in the empty space surrounding him. Kitty, Wolverine, Scarlet Witch and many others zoomed by him as he ran on. It took him a moment to realize exactly what he was seeing. They weren't happy and smiling, their faces shining with the hope and faith that had brought them through everything so far...they were tormented, screaming...
"ROGUE!" Kurt cried as his sister appeared. Or at least...he tried to cry. instead he found that his voice had left him. Rogue was doubled over, sobbing. There was a gash in her side, and he couldn't see her face. Even as soon as it had come, she was gone again, and Kurt was back in the darkness.
Yet not so dark. There seemed to be a light ahead of him, looming ever closer and clearer. When he finally saw what it was...his entire being screamed.
"You see?" The voice hissed as Kurt was forced ever closer to the image of Chris's mangled body, limp and lifeless.
"NO!" Kurt screamed, his eyes finally opening, his mind finally escaping from the dream. "No." He breathed again, unable to clear the memory of the nightmare from his mind.
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Oct 19, 2003 7:48:43 GMT -4
Christine rose from her position behind him and walked to the front and embraced him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Sh.." she whispered quietly. "It was just a nightmare, Accushla, nothing more." She turned her head in his direction and gently smiled at him. "Sh..."
"You are my home You make me strong And in this world of strangers I belong to someone You are all I know You're all I have I need you so I won't let go," she sang softly, finding herself lost in his golden gaze.
1) sweetheart/love/term of endearment
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Post by nightcrawler on Oct 19, 2003 12:33:32 GMT -4
Kurt jumped slightly in his seat as Chris came towards him. He whinced when he saw her, still unable to erase the image of her from his mind. He couldn't imagine something like happening to her, or to any of his friends for that matter.
"Uh...yeah. It vas just a dream." He said softly, trembling slightly as he began to force his thoughts back to reality. He couldn't live in fear of what might happen or could happen, he had to keep his focus on what needed to happen, and that did not include anyone from the group getting hurt. If they did, it would be him. He wasn't about to let anyone else lay down their life...
"I'm ok now." He whispered, smiling at Chris. Without thinking, he kissed her breifly on the cheek. She seemed as surprised as he had been earlier, and she blushed. Kurt sighed, still a bit shaken from the dream, but as there was nothing more he could do about it he put it as far from his immidiate thoughts as possible.
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Post by Christine MacTaggart on Oct 19, 2003 12:38:08 GMT -4
"Want to talk about it private, Accushla?" she asked quietly. "It might help banish it better if you understood what you saw."
Her cheeks were stained a rich shade of crimson when he kissed her cheek. "I love you," she whispered shyly, and turned away in hopes of hiding her blush.
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Post by nightcrawler on Oct 19, 2003 12:44:09 GMT -4
Kurt smiled, but didn't reply to her statement.
"No...I don't vant to talk about. Beleive me, it vas pretty hard to understand." He sighed, shaking his head as the thoughts began to slyly creep back to his consciousness. "Fear of vat may happen during zis mission. I can't let it take me over." He looked up at her again and smiled forlornly. "I know you are leading zis, but...if anyvon stays behind it vill be me."
He knew she would contradict him. It was the natural thing to do when someone so close to you condemned themselves to death. But the truth was, he would die anyways if something were to happen to the others...
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