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Post by Kurt Wagner on May 19, 2008 20:27:29 GMT -4
It was not the first time that Kurt Wagner had crept his way into the complex's chapel under cover of darkness. It was, however, the first time he had come hoping to be observed by the priest. It wasn't that his entrance was grandiose or more than even marginally noticeable.
It was that it was detectable at all.
On each of his previous visits, he had managed to draw enough attention to lure the priest to the confessional.
This time, as Kurt melted from the shadows he walked down the central aisle of the small sanctuary and went straight for the altar like someone entitled to partake of holy sacrament.
And though he bowed his head with due humility before the crucifix that gleamed down from beyond it, he did not walk like a servant or creep in like a thief.
He walked as one determined to do the will of God.
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Post by Gambit on May 21, 2008 17:54:32 GMT -4
The darkness was both comforting and suffocating. Perhaps it was the darkness that was comforting, and the close vicinity of the walls that was suffocating. It didn’t matter. As the priest sat alone in the small confessional, he felt completely beside himself. Part of him wanted to hide away here for eternity, to throw everything away and continue with this life he had created. Perhaps it was not truth, but this was the man he had become. Maybe he did not feel the touch of God, but he could recite His words by heart. This church had become his home, the robes no longer a costume but a part of him. No matter what lies he concealed, the cross around his neck... that was truth.
Maybe that was how it had to be. Perhaps he had to lose himself in his faith to truly understand what this was all for. Fear told him to hide, to leave things be, but faith in God’s intentions, in His creations, made it clear that there was only one path for him now. He had to do what was right; it was his mission. Whether he felt ready or not, it had to be done.
Running his fingertips over the scarred cover of the bible in his lap, Remy breathed slowly, deeply, until a sound caused his breath to stop. Footsteps. He had heard no door, and the sound was quiet, but it was unmistakeable. Holding his breath, he waited, listening for them to stop at the empty box beside him, but they continued past to the alter. Clutching the bible close to his chest, the Cajun man slowly opened the door to his sanctuary and peered out. A dark haired man strode confidently forward, only stopping once he reached the end and bowing his head.
If this man wanted to pray alone, the priest did not want to interrupt, but there was something that drew him forward, that made him step from the confessional and make his presence known. He did not speak, just stood to the side, but his entrance had been far from silent.
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Post by Kurt Wagner on Jun 26, 2008 15:59:11 GMT -4
He was silent for what seemed like a very long time. Inhaling sharply, Kurt crossed himself and raised his eyes to the crucifix once more. It was the priest to which he spoke.
"I have long been a servant through no choice of my own", he said. "And I, too, believe that much is wrong with the way things are."
His eyes turned to the man dressed in black. Where before there might have been humble deference or fear in the human's gaze, now there was only resolve.
"I will no longer serve unwillingly", Kurt said, and there was iron in his softly spoken whisper. "But I will serve, if you will let me. "
“If y’ had even de slightest chance t’ set t’ings right... would y’ take it?” the words echoed again in his head. He hoped that it meant something -- that the priest wasn't merely being philosophical. He knew if he had misjudged anything about their conversation that he was putting his own life at risk.
It no longer mattered to him.
"Let us set things right", Kurt said with an urgent plea in the tone of his voice.
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Post by Gambit on Jul 2, 2008 17:28:35 GMT -4
Trying to give the man privacy while at the same time studying him, the priest did not recognise him as one of his usual parishioners though he did look familiar. Bowing his head and saying his own silent prayers, it was the voice when it spoke that caused recognition to dawn. It was a voice he heard in his dreams, a mystery that plagued his thoughts. The servant, the “homo-inferior” that possessed no mutant powers, yet was somehow one with the shadows. Voodoo, Remy’s Tante Mattie would have called it.
He had taken a great risk in saying what he had to this man, but the priest had never lost his faith that it had been the right decision. Even so, there was a strike of fear within him as their eyes met. This one man could destroy everything he had been working so hard toward for years with only a word.
But he wouldn’t; Remy’s faith had not been displaced. The man before him was no longer the terrified servant who feared his own dreams and snuck into the church so quietly, fearfully. The man before him was changed, confident. Confident in himself, his decision and his beliefs. He knew as Remy did that this was not how God had intended his world, and that something needed to be done to save it.
Letting his breath out slowly, the holy man with the Devil’s eyes stepped forward, extending his hand to the former servant. “Welcome, my son,” Remy spoke softly, the barest hint of a smile on his lips. “Y’r choice is a wise one.”
Perhaps wise was not the proper word, but it was the right one. The only one.
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Jul 7, 2008 10:55:15 GMT -4
He had been hard to follow as he had kept mysteriously and impossibly disappearing, but somehow Katherine had managed to follow the servant to the chapel. The night air was cool, the grass cold between her bare toes, and she could feel goosebumps raising on her arms as she stepped slowly, breathlessly, toward the solid wall where she had lost site of him. He had seemingly melted through the wall, an ability the princess was no stranger to, but that no servant should have.
God, her head was pounding! The pain, the memories of her parents, seemed to get stronger with every day that passed, but she couldn’t risk making an appointment with Ms. Frost. If the telepath looked into her head and saw her feelings for this homo-inferior... she didn’t even want to think of the consequences. And the memories... although they were jumbled, unclear, she could see their smiling faces; and although she couldn’t quite remember any specific event, there was one thing that she could always remember: happiness. The image of her parents, the little snippets of days past, always brought with a feeling of love and happiness, feelings she hadn’t felt for so long.
But this wasn’t the time for thinking of any of this. If she stopped to think of them, or of how he moved like her, then she’d never find out where he was going, and for some reason she needed to know. Not taking the time to dwell on it, she drew in a deep breath and stepped through the wall.
Poking her head through first, Katherine watched in amazement as Kurt strode confidently down the aisle to the alter. His determination was both beautiful and frightening. Emerging completely from the wall she stayed in the shadows, moving slowly forward as if drawn to him. She shouldn’t be here for a millions reasons, and certainly it was a sin to spy upon one’s private moments or confessions in a church, but she couldn’t seem to turn away, even as the priest suddenly appeared. Her curiosity was too great and she couldn’t deny it.
The men’s voices were quiet when they spoke and she had to strain to hear them, but as she listened she found herself wishing she hadn’t.
"I have long been a servant through no choice of my own, and I, too, believe that much is wrong with the way things are."
"I will no longer serve unwillingly, but I will serve, if you will let me. "
"Let us set things right”.
“Welcome, my son. Y’r choice is a wise one.”
Oh God. What was happening here? What were they talking about? The glowing eyes and smirking lips of the priest unnerved her. He had always seemed so trustworthy, so innocent and approachable and everything a priest was supposed to be, but now? It was obvious this was not their first meeting, but what was this choice? What were they planning. The tone of Kurt’s voice sent chills down her spine.
Pressing herself back against the wall, Katherine held her breath, unsure whether to stay and listen, to turn and run or to step out and demand an explanation. Unable to even think of moving right now, the default solution was the first one. It was all she could do.
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Post by Kurt Wagner on Jul 10, 2008 20:02:36 GMT -4
The priest's acknowledgement encouraged him.
"There is but one thing, Father", Kurt said with humble apology. All their talk before of selfish choices, the servant had never made it clear exactly what those choices were.
"I will do whatever it takes", he said, "but I will not harm the Royal Family."
But that wasn't true. It was only one of them he truly cared about.
"I will not harm the Princess", he ammended and admitted. It was a very difficult truth, one that stopped him short of revealing her name.
"But for this one exception, my life is yours", he said.
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Post by Gambit on Jul 13, 2008 15:11:19 GMT -4
Folding his hands in front of him, the priest listened closely to the stipulation posed by the human who stood before him. At first it left him feeling confusion. The man was longer willing to serve the Royal Family, and was ready to do whatever it took to change the world, yet didn’t want them harmed at any cost?
But soon it all made sense. The servant had spoken of someone before, someone he was so devoted to that he stayed a slave when he could have escaped the castle long ago. The Princess, but which one? There were three, of course, and each of them lovely to those who could only watch from afar, but was that enough to keep someone so captivated?
“I plan fo’ dis t’ be quiet, I don’ plan on anyone gettin’ hurt,” Remy began to assure him. “But dere are no certainties in life. But she ain’ gonna be where we’re goin’.”
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Aug 1, 2008 20:23:51 GMT -4
((I thought I'd let you boys go a few more rounds without me but you were probaby waiting on me while I was waiting on you which is just a whole lot of waiting and not a lot of posting, so here we go!))
This was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Father LeBeau was a priest! She didn’t even know his first name! He was the one man among all of them that she was supposed to be able to trust with anything and everything and it was all a lie! Her head was spinning, pounding; she felt like she was going to be sick. Clutching her stomach with one hand and using the other to support herself against the wall, Katherine closed her eyes and listened as they spoke.
Kurt’s words left her confused. They made her heart pound as well as her head. She knew he was talking about her. Whatever he was doing he wasn’t willing to harm her, but didn’t he see? If he harmed her father, her family, it would hurt her.
She saw her mother’s smiling face, her father’s big hand dwarfing hers... no, not that family. Not that father. She wasn’t supposed to remember them. She hadn’t remembered them, didn’t want to, but she couldn’t stop now.
Then the priest spoke. Liar! He had used her father for years! He had lied to them all, used them all for some personal goal. He was no man of God, and the betrayal cut deep. She hated him. She hated what he had done, what he was doing, what he was going to do and that he was involving Kurt in any of this. No matter what the priest said he didn’t care. Whatever it was he was planning, he didn’t care if people got hurt.
She couldn’t take it any more. How could he pretend to be so righteous? How could he advise people on what to do with their lives and their problems? How could he preach honesty when his very existence here was a lie?
“Like hell I’m not!” Katherine heard her voice saying. Somehow, without barely realising what she was doing, she had pushed herself away from the wall and stepped out of the shadows. She looked small and frail in the white nightgown she wore, but there was fire in her eyes, hatred in her expression that smacked of strength.
“You’re not going anywhere, you... you... traitor! I don’t know who you think you are, but you are not who I thought you were, and whatever you have planned it stops now.” Her voice echoed loudly in the almost silent church as she glared hard into the eyes that looked more like those of the devil than she ever could have imagined.
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Post by Kurt Wagner on Aug 3, 2008 23:11:51 GMT -4
((Not entirely your fault...I got caught up in the lead-up and prep for my vacation. And the vacation, too.  Done now.  )) The sound of the voice seemed to cut at Kurt Wagner like knives. The words cut even deeper. It was obvious that as careful as he was he had allowed her to notice him...to follow him there...and he was torn by the twin guilt of having been caught in his betrayal and escape and also putting the priest and his purpose at risk. "M-Mi lady....", Kurt choked out in a mixture of guilt and admiration and subservience. |
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Post by Gambit on Aug 4, 2008 11:31:30 GMT -4
((I was completely innocent in the whole matter. Shame on you two! ;D))
The priest had had faith that involving this man would not be a mistake, and he was relieved to find that his faith had not been misplaced. There were still a few details that they needed to discuss, but he felt that the pieces were all finally falling into place, and some of the fear regarding his mission began to fade.
Until the princess made her presence known. The princess by her words and the look on the young servant’s face. He should have guessed that the one that could charm a human so easily and garner such devotion could only be Katherine. The other two were much more frightening, women that Remy did not wish to be on the bad side of, but seeing the youngest as he saw her now, furious and fuming, the much taller man almost seemed to shrink under her gaze.
“Please, Princess Katherine, y’ don’ understand,” he began, imploringly. He had come so far, been so close, and now everything was being threatened. He could not allow the mission to be compromised under any circumstances.
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Aug 4, 2008 16:21:50 GMT -4
Had she not felt so betrayed and angry, Katherine might have taken some satisfaction in the fact that she was intimidating a man who was much larger and probably much stronger than herself. But as it was she only became more furious as he tried to speak.
“Of course I don’t understand!” she screamed, clenching her hands into small fists at her sides. “My priest and my... a servant meeting in the middle of the night in a sacred place to discuss some sort of plan to undermine my father’s rulings? How could I possibly understand!”
She couldn’t bear to look at Kurt. It was easier to focus her gaze and her anger on the priest. This was all his fault, after all. He was a liar, a manipulator... so many sins for a supposed man of the cloth.
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Post by Kurt Wagner on Aug 5, 2008 0:17:45 GMT -4
It was the first time he didn't hesitate. It was the first time he spoke to her with conviction instead of apology in his tone.
It surprised him as much as it must have surprised her.
"Your father", Kurt said, "is wrong."
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Post by Kitty Pryde on Aug 5, 2008 9:37:02 GMT -4
When she did turn toward Kurt is was involuntary, her eyes widened slightly in surprise. He had never spoken so directly to her before, never argued with her, and it took her off guard. Staring silently for a moment, memories flashed in her mind. Her biological father smiling as he lifted her up to sit on his shoulders; a much younger version of herself as she laughed and squealed in delight.
“What do you know about anything?” Katherine finally managed to say. Her head was practically screaming in pain, the pressure behind her eyes excruciating. “You believe him,” she spat, motioning toward the priest, “because he wears a cross and carries a bible? He’s a liar, and he’s using you!”
To what end she didn’t know. Whatever was going on here she couldn’t even begin to understand it.
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Post by Gambit on Aug 10, 2008 17:47:08 GMT -4
The priest could have sighed in relief when the princess turned her fury to the other man, but he wasn’t in the clear yet. Almost anyone else who could have caught them he could have easily dealt with, but Princess Katherine’s abilities made her nigh impossible to subdue if it came to that. Hopefully they could convince her of what they were both certain; that the world was wrong and needed to be changed.
“Y’r father t’inks dis young man is inferior t’ us,” he said slowly, his red on black eyes fixed on Katherine’s face. “He says dat he don’ deserve t’ live free, an’ is only good fo’ servin’ us. You t’ink dat is right?”
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Done now. 
))