Even after almost one year at the Xavier institute, Anna had not yet fully gotten used to her new reality.
And honestly, you couldn't judge her. Almost a year ago, she was just a normal teenage girl like all the others, with common dreams and life expectations.
Now, she was part of a race that was hated simply for existing. And yet, not even her new colleagues, other mutants like her, liked her. All because of your power.
Absorption or assimilation as Beast called it, allowed her to absorb the memories, skills and vital energy of the target through physical touch, and could even kill someone if the touch was prolonged. For this reason, people avoided her as if she were radioactive.
Anna didn't judge them, she would do the same if the one who had that power was someone else and not her, but this not made the isolation less painful.
She was lucky enough to meet the X-men and finally win a place she could call home. But her life became a tide of revelations and secrets that she was having a hard time understanding.
To begin with, her parents, the same ones that always took care of het since she knew herself as a person, were actually not her biological parents and had, in a way, been paid to take care of her throughout her life.
And they also knew she was a mutant. Anna didn't know how, but they always knew that she would awaken some kind of ability, so they were just waiting for the moment when she would awaken her powers so that they could kick her out of the house pretending disgust and repulsion, as they had agreed years ago.
And to make matters worse, her biological mother was Mystique, the woman who had already tried to kill her knowing that Anna was a daughter and also Magneto's most loyal and lethal servant.
And she was also Nightcrawler's "sister", who also turned out to be Mystiquez's son.
There were so many shocking things happening to her in such a short time that sometimes she thought it was all just a big nightmare she was having. Unfortunately, reality tends to be disappointing.
Even though she was grateful to the X-men for helping her and enjoying helping people using their powers, sometimes Anna just wanted to go back to the time when she was just a normal girl. At least her life was simpler before.
Lost in her thoughts, Anna barely noticed when the bell rang and her colleagues began to leave, leaving only her and two other people in the room.
One of these people had to get her attention by hitting a heavy book on the table. This obviously scared Anna and made her look better at the person.
This person was Kitty Pryde, one of the few friends Anna made at the Xavier Institute. And also one of the most talkative and boring people she knew.
"Girl, you need to stop daydreaming during classes. That's not good for you, " Kitty said as she took the book and put it in her bag.
Anna just sighed as she got up and packed her things. "I have a lot to think about"
"We all have a lot of things to think about" Kitty replied with a slightly tense voice "Especially after what happened to Jean..."
That simple sentence made Anna stop and look at Kitty with a tense expression. And if you looked closely, you could see that she was shaking
None of the X-men liked to remember that day. Of what happened on that island. In the things they had to do to get out alive...
And Anna, specifically her, didn't like that place. I didn't like to remember that man. In what he did to her...
Before either of the two could say anything else about the "incident", the third person in the room manifested himself in the conversation, literally appearing in the middle of them with a smokescreen.
This person was, obviously, Nightcrawler.
"Guys, let's not talk about this. The best we can do is hope that Jean recovers quickly after what happened " Said the blue demon trying to lower the spirits.
Anna just took her things and left the room as quickly as possible, crossing the corridors of the institute while avoiding accidentally bumping into any of her colleagues, until she finally reached the women's bathroom and locked herself in one of the cabins.
Anna stayed there for a few minutes, taking a deep breath and trying not to have a panic attack while the memories of that day kept passing through her head.
She didn't like to remember that day...
|........... |
The cafeteria of the Xavier institute was certainly one of the largest structures of the institution. More than 200 teenagers and young adults fit perfectly in that place and there was still space left.
It was also the place where Anna and her group of friends met now, eating while talking about how boring and difficult Beast's math class was.
Anna's group of friends, the only people in the institute who were not afraid of her powers and who were also with her in the X-men, consisted of Nightcrawler ( Kurt Wagner ), Kitty, Bobby, Piotr and Jubilee, the latter being the one who talked the most in the group.
"Did any of you manage to understand the equation that Mr. Hank made on the board? "Piotr, the only one in that group who knew what the word study meant, asked while looking at his notebook.
Piotr was a Russian mutant who had arrived at the institute 6 months ago. He was the living definition of the word "human wall" and his power, which was to transform his body into a kind of super resistant metal, only made him more intimidating.
But Piotr was a good person, a giant with a kind heart so to speak. In addition to having a captivating personality that made him fit in with everyone in the group almost instantly.
"Nope. I didn't even understand the numbers he put in the group " Bobby replied while shrugging his shoulders.
"The same goes for me" Kitty and Jubilee said at the same time.
Piotr just sighed a little disappointed as he kept looking at his notebook, still trying to solve that equation that the Beast called "simple".
The conversation continued for some more time while they ate, until Bobby caught the attention of everyone at the table by pointing to the cafeteria door.
At that moment, the most infamous group of the Xavier institute appeared, receiving not very pleasant looks from others as they made their triumphal entrance.
Pietro Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff, John Allerdyce, Lance Alvers, and the latest addition, Ethan Carter.
The group sat at a table further back while talking about something, giving some occasional laughs throughout the conversation.
"I still can't believe the new guy joined that group of assholes" Bobby was the first to speak, not making a point of hiding his anger towards Pietro's gang.
"Yeah. He seemed to be a nice guy, but it seems not " Jubilee agreed with Bobby.
"I still don't understand why they don't like them" Piotr said glancing at the group in the background "They don't look that bad"
"You don't know them like we do, big guy. These guys are just assholes, especially John," Bobby said while staring daggers at the blonde.
"Still, it doesn't seem fair to judge someone you barely know just because he's part of a group you don't like," Piotr replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Come On, Colossus? Those guys are assholes," Jubilee said.
"They may be, but that doesn't make Ethan an asshole just for hanging out with them" Piotr said "Wait, what did you call me? "
"Colossus. That's what they've been calling you around. It's a good one to be honest " Kitty replied before Jubilee had a chance.
"Colossus..." Piotr muttered to himself, as if he was seeing if the name was good or not.
Anna also didn't like Pietro's gang very much, but not because they were assholes as the others said (although they really were assholes), but for her own reasons.
The truth was that, in the first weeks they arrived at the institute, Wanda and Pietro seemed to have a strange fixation on Anna, more precisely on her mutant skills. And this generated strange and uncomfortable situations where, wherever she went, one of the twins was there to talk to her.
But eventually they stoped. Anna didn't know why, maybe they had just lost interest in her, but they just stopped bothering her and went to do something else.
Anna was even relieved about this, because she hated their persecution. But for some reason, whenever she was near them, sometimes not, she felt headaches and a strange dizziness, as if she were sick or something like that.
But she simply dismissed it as something she could worry about later.
She was more interested in Ethan.
The mysterious Ethan. The boy with blond hair and green eyes who had already been at the institute for 2 months and who was one of the main topics of the conversations at the Xavier institute.
Maybe it was because he was handsome, maybe it was because no one knew what his powers were, or maybe it was simply because people like mysterious things.
Despite being curious about him, Anna preferred to keep distance for now. The further she was from Pietro's group, the better.
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As promised, a new chapter. Hooray!
The next 4 or 5 chapters will be the povs of other characters. I will use them to expand the lore and show somethings Ethan did during these two months and others things that happened before Ethan arrival.