{ Part of me - That was then & this is now }

[Genkai]

A X-Men First Class Roleplay between myself and TheCaptain }

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Running and running.

She was running as fast as her legs could take her. At the panicked speed she was running, the leaves brushing against her fair toned skin went unregistered. The emerald flushed scenery of trees and bushes also went unregistered. Heavy breathing and a narrow view of her path ahead swallowed up every ounce of her concentration. Her path seemed endless but she kept running forward, unwavering from the invisible path she had set as her only course. A wild wind was created around her slim form and as she hurried along, the wind started to morph from a simple transparency to a blue hue. Her chest began to ache but she didn't dare slow down, the blue around her soon turned dark and sent shivers up her spine.

Suddenly she let out a painful cry and lost her footing. Falling onto the harsh ground, the scent of dirt and blood filled her nose and suddenly her body jerked as if a jolt of powerful electricity had ravaged her body. Another cry was released as she withered on the ground and dug her nails into the dirt under her. Throwing her body over, she tossed herself on her back and her eyes squinted up at the pale gray sky above her head, though it was mostly covered by greenery. Bringing her hands in front of her face, her eyes filled with tears and horror. Her perfect human skin, the color of a baby peach, was slowly becoming tainted by the blue aura. Clenching her hands, she tried to move or sit up, do something to thwart off the color's attack upon her epidermis. Tears escaped the corners of her closed eyes as she twitched.

The weight on her body only seemed to get heavier as she struggled to breathe.

Raven's golden eyes snapped open and she finally unclenched her jaw. Eyes darted around her room. It wasn't home but it was her room. Her new room, to be more precise. The girl slowly pushed herself up in her bed and looked down at her blue textured hands, there were marks on them, most likely from the dream that had been distressing her. Swallowing, she tried to catch her breath. Relaxing slightly, she regained her composure and brought a hand up to her head. What was that dream about? Was she running away from herself? Why did her stomach feel like the internal organs had been twisted into knots. Raven shook her head and slowly got up and looked around once more. She, Emma, Erik, and the others had recently found refuge in the wilderness.

Well, technically they were in the northwest but in the wilderness regardless. Her room had been furnished rather simply but still held a feminine touch. The walls were a light lavender, like the comforter on her bed which she could compare to the softness of a cloud. Comfort and safety were on the top of the girl's list, after all, she had just been stripped of a life and was now adapting to a new one. Her mutant power was to change shape but this was something different, more real. Aside from her bed, she had a small bookshelf with some books she had collected over her travels, reading was one of her favorite pastimes. Sometimes she would need time to herself and when she did, she wanted to lose herself in another world, another story. Living an adventure through someone else at a safe distance was quite interesting for the girl.

She was older than her looks led people to believe, even so, she had matured in some ways but still lacked development in others. For instance, Raven wasn't too proficient in romantic affairs. Though the girl could be quite social and outgoing when the time called for it. Her looks would of course match her charming ploy. Having been so used to changing her appearance to whatever was needed or desired, she did lack the ability to narrow down herself buried underneath all the fabricated layers. As a child, she had a greater difficulty of looking at herself in the mirror. She didn't think of herself as ugly, but she knew she was different. Children were raised with the idea that being different was good, but her kind of different was far too extreme for normal society.

When she was little and tired to go out without altering herself, the reactions often led her to spend her days hidden, crying her eyes out. She spend several years using her imagination derived from reading, to make herself into a different that people would love and not fear or hate. Raven couldn't help but stick to her new mantra that change was good, that being herself would only bring pain to her and those around her. When she met Charles, he seemed interested in meeting another mutant and the two formed a quick friendship. The girl was also happy to find someone who was like her, though he was more blessed than she was, at least in her opinion. Charles was confident and didn't need to play pretend to get ahead in life. He was also smart and could read minds, he was amazing. Her amazement, over time seemed to transform into a full blown crush.

Yet she could sense Charles would never have truly accepted her in anything but friendship.

That truth left a bitter taste in her mouth that would take years to wash out. Raven and the newly formed group of mutants shared different beliefs from Charles. Raven was finally beginning to see that his dream was just that, a dream. All her life, she had been abused and neglected and rejected and hurt by humans. No more. After meeting Erik, someone like Charles but also like herself, she realized she could have another route in life. Something exciting, something that could get her to fight for herself. Didn't she and any other mutant deserve a new, better life? Even if they had to demand it themselves, it could be done. Acceptance from humans was asking for the impossible. The girl was struggling to accept herself as she was, so she knew asking others to do so, who didn't understand, was a lost cause. But with Erik, she found hope and happiness.

Two things that had never been familiar to her.

But of course she welcomed them. A smile tugged at her lips as she moved to the door of her room. The weight once threatening her life had subsided and she glanced over her shoulder. A simple yet cushioned dark blue leather chair sat in front of her white wooden desk. Simple. Moving back out, she wandered down the long hallway. They had taken over a large mansion and secured it with metal all around. Every day Erik seemed to be getting stronger and Raven wanted to do the same and become useful to their cause. The others had their own rooms and she didn't really disturb any of them since she didn't get along with them. It had been only a week since they left Charles but it felt like it had happened only hours ago. Finding her way to the large kitchen, Raven got herself a glass of water and leaned against the cold counter.

A sigh escaped her lips as she pushed away thoughts of Charles. If she thought about her friend too much, she would start to cry again. Raven had on a simple pair of white pants and a tank top, she was in her original form still and her mind seemed confused. The dream, Charles, Erik, the future, everything was hard to juggle. Part of her wondered if thinking was worse for those like Emma or Charles. And there she went again, drifting back to Charles, someone who couldn't see what was right in front of him. Didn't he know she catered her look to him? He loved blondes, so she stayed in that form for him. Clenching the glass tighter, she turned and refilled it and went back to drinking. One thing was certain though, she wasn't going to get any more sleep for the rest of the night. Perhaps she ought to go to the large sparring room and train?

It was an idea and could prove useful to distract her mind and improve her body.

[TheCaptain]

Erik stood amidst softly glowing light. Lighting the menorah, his small hand cradled in his mothers. Slowly they sang a soft song of peace and hope. A prayer to God in thanks for family and health. For a place in the world made just for them. A promised land. While Erik did not know this land, or the men who had lead his ancient ancestors towards it; had served as a place of solace for him during the darkening times of the Second World War. The madman Hitler was pushing for more regulation of Jewish citizens within German controlled territories. His mother and father were so afraid. So was he. But fear could not touch him while they sang. When she held his hand, he did not stand alone.

But she didn’t hold his hand anymore. Her voice had been snatched from the air by Shaw. Simply for the man’s experiments so he could understand mutation. Erik’s mother had simply been a pawn in some game to gain power over human and mutant alike. Erik had been little more than a pawn himself in that game. Until he had met Charles Xavier; a British telepath from a world of privilege and education. At first the idealist had seemed so different from Erik. But only at first. While Erik preferred a more severe approach to achieving and objective, Charles could coax a victory from conflict with a light touch. Even without his powers. Erik had discovered that the two of them had complimented each other in a way that he had never seen in all his life.

Together Charles and Erik had grown stronger. Organized. They used the government’s tracking machine, Cerebro, to find Shaw. While Shaw and his Hellfire Club had put up a fight, they had lost.

Shaw most of all….

The Hellfire Club had proven to be little more than that. A club of little rascals with superhuman abilities. Erik smirked, recalling the satisfaction of splitting Shaw’s skull open. The helmet had proven to be of little aid to the megalomaniac… Metal was Erik’s friend. The fact that he now wore the helmet, adorned in glossy scarlet and purple, showed that he had been the only completely in control in the situation. No matter how strong Sebastian Shaw had showed himself to be. He had not been strong enough to over Xavier and Erik together. And while the two men had different ends to their means, their means were justified by Erik’s end.

Revenge.

Shaw had died for the murder of Erik’s mother!

Erik, kept his eyes locked on the tender moment from his child hood in the recesses of his mind. The young version of himself, embracing his mother happily. He could never hold her again. The cold vice of anger clenched down around his heart. The bliss of the moment was over-ridden by the rage it made him feel when set in brilliant contrast against the great time in his life. His eyes snapped open as he plummeted through the air of the massive dining hall.

He struck the ground with such force, that the helmet was sent flying from his head, skittering against the hardwood floor, landing as a set of fair skinned bare feet. Erik grit his teeth from the impact, not moving from his position on his side for a moment. He glanced up towards the ceiling, only aware of the fact that he had indeed been floating, but unsure how high he had been. He rose slowly to his feet, locking eyes with Raven. “Ah, Mystique…” He commented, dusting his shoulders off as she knelt to pick up his helmet. “How high was I?” He didn’t want her to know she had managed to sneak up on him. That he had been lost in the meditation to grow stronger, all so her could understand the ebb and flow of the magnetic field of the earth. To control it. Master it.

Yes he would be The Master of Magnetism.

[Genkai]

Before the blue skinned female could make any sort of move to depart from her current location, a rush followed by a noise broke the veil of solitude she had shrouded over her head. Looking up, she tensed up and saw Magneto's signature helmet discarded not too far from her. Swallowing, she slowly lowered her guard and walked over to it, assuming Magneto had been training himself and lost control. It was unlike him. She picked up the helmet as Erik got up and asked about his height, she just shook her head, having not paid much attention until after he had disrupted her. "I'm sorry Erik," She still insisted on calling him by the human name she knew him by, rather than his mutant name. It sounded...better to her. Somehow better. She couldn't place her finger on as to why though. "I wasn't really watching." Raven finished her statement and found herself a bit on edge. She was of course taken by surprise, as was Magneto it seemed.

Now what?

This was a rare moment, when the two found themselves alone with one another. Erik was either off training or she just kept herself in her room, much like an adolescent teenager. Brushing some of her red hair back, she glanced around, finding herself avoiding his general direction. The night reminded her of Charles but it also reminded her of Erik. And that just brought further confusion for her to muddle through. Raven hadn't yet been able to talk to Erik about so many things which they ought to. There was Charles, their future, the kiss, among other things. But the moment never seemed right for her to bring up her concerns as she already assumed them to be miniscule in the mind of someone like Erik...Magneto. Trying not too appear so nervous, so anxious, she quickly moved toward the exit. Before she quickly fled the scene, she paused but kept her eyes set dead ahead. "It's not like you to lose concentration. I hope...that you can get over what's bothering you." She slowly managed to say. It could be the loss of Charles or it could be something entirely different.

But she knew for her, if she had trouble, Charles was a likely cause. Why couldn't it be the same case with Erik? "Anyway...I'm going to...train a bit, as I've acquired another mutant skill, insomnia." The last line was her dry and forced attempt at a joke but she didn't think Erik would get it anyway. If she told Charles, he would likely begin to prattle on and on about cures or something like that. His sense of humor was also a bit weird but she had grown fond of it all the same. Continuing to walk out, she turned and headed down toward the training hall. Once she arrived, she found the weight on her chest rise slightly and cease endless attempts of suffocating her. Closing her eyes, she began to gather herself once again. No more Charles or Erik or Magneto or anyone. This was about her, getting stronger and being of use to Erik and his cause. Their cause. Since her power was already well honed, she decided she needed to work on her physical attributes such as fighting, flexibility and defense.

When she found a calming state of mind, she began to slowly stretch, moving her body into various yoga-like positions. Raven was quite flexible as it was but she needed to sharpen her talents. Once she finished stretching, she began to practice handstands and flips. It was funny how many people around her would discard the use of gymnastics and yoga but it was useful when dealing with enemies. Soon she stopped and moved over to one of the punching bags which hung from the ceiling by a strong metal chain. Raven began quickly punching and kicking. Though she was still upset at so many things, she knew she couldn't hone her anger as well as she could with just pure talent. If Charles taught her anything, it was that anger wouldn't last as long as pure passion or determination. And the girl was passionate about living and fighting for her own future.

Moving every so often, she kept everything out of her head, as if meditating while sparring. Hopefully if she exhausted herself enough, she could sleep without the haze of suffering through more nightmears.

[TheCaptain]

Silently, Erik watched Mystique leave the hall with little ado. His fingers splayed over the scarlet and purple helmet, he slowly cast his eyes down to the glossy helm. His blue eyes locking on the horned crest. Mystique had grown very isolated since she came with him all those months ago in Cuba. At first, the rebel leader thought it was simply because she had lost her childhood friend.

But.... They both had. Charles had refused to come with them. To join the secret cause to be free mutants. Charles had chosen his side and forsaken all bonds of friendship; coming to heel at the urging of Moira McTaggert. Humans. Erik sneered at the thought of them. Weak... Inferior beings. So afraid of change they couldn't see the greatness that lie ahead. Evolution had brought about mutation for millions of years, and the course that the people of the Earth were now on was no different.

Magneto's mind drifted back to thoughts of the redheaded girl in the next room. He could hear her pounding away at the punching bag with quick little jabs. He chuckled softly at the mental image of her swatting away at the heavy bag, like Cassius Clay popping of swift but powerful blows at Sonny Liston. Erik had listened to the fight on the radio. Hatred of humanity aside... Clay was a powerful and admirable fighter.

He placed his helmet on the table he left at the end of the large dining hall and turned towards the door. Suddenly realizing two things. Firstly, Mystique and the others in his fledgling band of freedom fighters were all quiet and somber; not from loss of friends... But from the idle nature of their current existence. The thought tied perfectly to his second realization. They needed to become more active. Show the world what they could do and why they should cower before mutantkind.

But a simple direct assault wouldn't work. No.... They had to strike hard and fast. They had to attack like the new heavy weight champion. The still present sneer on Magneto's face shifted from an expression of disgust to confidence. He took his helmet back up in his hands and made a quick movement for the door. When he got to the door of the training room, he waved his left hand at the handle and willed the door open through the magnetic field he almost constantly emitted nowadays.

"Mystique...." He commented as he slid his helmet on, the smirk still on his lips. "Get everyone out of bed. It's time to plan our first move."

With the unceremonious orders given, he left her. He needed to a few items from his personal quarters.

[Genkai]

Raven had quickly assumed Erik would have retreated into his own metal lair, leaving her to the wade through the dark of the night. As she moved along, she slowly erased some of the haunting remnants that were struggling to consume her. Raven wasn't sure if she would ever have a home like the one she shared with Charles but the warmth would be a nice enough memory. Wouldn't it? The future was brighter now that it was becoming something within her control. The girl had a purpose, something to focus on. Even so, she felt terribly lonely. She was alone, she knew it during daylight hours but it was more obvious when she woke up from nightmares and just couldn't sleep. And this was one of those muddled nights for her. Even after crossing paths with their fearless leader, Raven felt little reassurance of any kind.

What was Charles doing now?

She would never know and she didn't need to know. Raven's punches became a bit hard, a bit more thirsty for blood. It was the slight shift in the air that had broken her new found concentration. Glancing and stepping back, she saw Erik had entered the Gym. She frowned slightly, not sure why he would be eager to speak with her. Was this about their alliance or something else? Should she ask all the questions which were infecting her mind? Or should she just forfeit sanity and just become a chess piece to the cause? Would it make her happy? Really make her happy? Really? Raven saw the man slip his helmet back over his head, which she found a bit unnecessary. To her, she saw it was more of a shield to keep not only Charles or Emma out, but others.

Like herself.

But what could she do? Not much. He then asked her to get everyone up and she wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly. Erik wanted everyone up now? Didn't he know it was the middle of the night? The larger man then left her alone and she couldn't help but let go of her heart as it slipped even lower. Needless to say, the words were unexpected and could have been given to anyone. It would be foolish to keep believing there was something between them. Clearly that kiss wasn't on his mind and it didn't need to be on hers, just like her past with Charles. Raven glanced off, feeling a bit more sour than when she had woken up a while ago. "Right." Raven just said and stood there, not wanting to venture off to soon and risk running into Magneto again. So she stayed still for a few more seconds before sighing and excusing herself.

What was Magneto up to? Whatever it was, would reveal itself soon enough. Maybe a bit too soon in her opinion. Walking along, she got up the others who weren't too eager to greet the dim night along with her. Emma and Angel headed off with Raven into the Gym. Erik hadn't told Raven where to gather everyone so she assumed the large space would have to do. The other males followed after the three ladies. Emma caught Raven's eye and snuck a peek at her thoughts. They were a bit stormy. This brought a small smirk to Emma's rosy lips as she folded her arms. Angel and Raven hung back together, being slightly closer in age, Raven was sure her best bet of being friends with anyone would be left in the hands of the ex-stirpper girl. But Raven was sure she wouldn't be making friends with anyone anytime soon.

There was still thing to be done within herself before she felt like she could attach to anyone on the outside. Maybe things between her and Magneto would never be. Maybe she was just unlucky when it came to forming relationships which could be someday considered stable. But it wasn't going to dictate her future. She knew who she was and she wasn't going to swallow anymore lies. If she just needed herself and her growing strength, she would be able to sleep a little better a night. At least that's what the blue tinted girl was hoping. She wasn't outgoing but maybe being among others who were, would help her acquire some camouflage to blend in and become someone a little better, someone a little stronger, someone a little more desirable. And perhaps she would catch someone's eye rather than her just looking at things she would never really be able to touch.

"I wonder what Magneto wants us all for..." Angel commented and glanced around with the others doing the same.