Life is made of choices and decisions, everything you are and everything you will be is dictated by choices, be it the choices of the ones that stand before you or the choices you make on your way to the undeniable end, death.
The grand total accumulation of these decisions makes up your reality. No matter how small, no matter how stupid, no matter how innocent the choice... they always add until you have your grand total, also known as your reality.
The choices before you create your starting line in life and the choices after you create your scenario, your working conditions, and the additional advantages or disadvantages that sponsor your future and subsequently your present.
There are always three types of consequences following your choices, detrimental, beneficial, and neutral. Most of our life is made up of the last two, but the first ones... those are the ones that mark us, that teach us, that make or unmake us. We take for granted the last two, so it's harder to learn from success or stability.
It's the way we humans are, we learn more when we are fighting, and when we are surviving.
Although a life without struggle sounds heavenly, there's no need to lie to ourselves, we are not made for that, we are made for struggle, the degree of work that each person can handle varies from person to person. But, we, all of us, need a certain amount of difficulties to exist, to find the meaning of life or a purpose.
An existence of no struggle can only be sustained by the heavenly lord. That's what I always thought. That's why I never complained, why I always fought on and on and more. I knew I was working for the brighter future of my country, the one I could always dream of.
A future of freedom, equality, of strong and just men and women, of opportunities... I can always picture it, and how beautiful it will be.
And I was rewarded for my fights, lives were saved, territories were reclaimed, and friendships were nurtured through hardship. Hydra was losing, the Nazis were seeing their end on the horizon and we all knew it. I was proud of knowing that I played a vital role in that.
So when the time came to make the ultimate choice, the only thing that I regretted was leaving my gal alone. I faltered for a second, I am human after all. However, I knew... I knew that my life, no matter how 'super' it was, was not worth more than the lives of those I was protecting back home.
I was fully aware that for my country, my allies... and my Peggy... I had to crash The Valkyrie. I couldn't allow Schmidt to ultimately win after his death.
"Peggy, this is my choice."- I told her before placing her picture in my view so that I could be with her even at the last second... So that I could depart with some 'light' in my last moment of 'darkness'. Because that's what she was to me, light.
'A raincheck', I asked her for, 'I don't know how to dance', I told her to distract myself from my unavoidable end as I saw the frozen sea, 'I'd hate to step on your feet', was the last I tried to say before I lost my life... at least I get to have her in my eyes one last time, was what I thought as I saw her picture.
And I was ready, ready for the end, for the total grand accumulation of my choices to end after the ultimate choice...
*Rumble*
It started slow... at least to my senses, it did... then I opened my eyes, to find myself not in the afterlife... I was underwater, but there was light, a cold electric blue light that seemed to claim all. Until it engulfed me as well...
Then there was pain... more than what I felt before when I was remade... I couldn't understand what I was seeing or feeling... flashes of light followed by unimaginable pain, only to be dulled by the freezing water and start the cycle again.
I couldn't feel most of my limbs, I was pretty sure that I lost my eyes since everything was dark... then... as if my body was restarting... Pain.
Slow, agonizing, mind-numbing pain... That's what invaded my supplicating mind.
'Could I be going down instead of up?'
'Could I have made a mistake by following my duty?'
'Was I not supposed to take a single life?'
'Was it the thoughts that I kept to myself?'
'Was it the times of sin?'
'Was I not fighting for justice?'
'Did my actions have no justification?'
'What did I do to deserve this?'
I didn't know, but I knew that I was not in the land of my lord...
I was... suffering.
Until I stopped suffering and started dreaming... about my life, my family, my friends, my Peggy...
Then there was warmth and light, so much light I tried to close my eyes... the eyes in my mind.
I was blinded by the light, that's how I discovered that I had my eyes back.
"Hello, Steve."- A voice I will never forget.
I tried to get used to the light and finally, I saw my friend, my brother, and that was when I knew...
"So I finally arrived at heaven... Bucky aren't you a sight for sore eyes! It was so painful, but I'm glad I got here..."-Bucky looked at me and sighed in relief.
I thought I wouldn't make it, but if Bucky is here then at least I know this is not hell.
I moved to hug my brother but I phased through him...
"Uhmmm?"- I said in confusion as I looked at my arms and Bucky's body.
"This is not heaven, Steve. And you're not dead, neither am I."- He said with a cheeky grin.
"I don't know about you Bucks, but I remember crashing a bomber into the sea. You don't get out of one of those alive. And the phasing is not helping your case."
"Hahaha! Yeah, you normally don't. And you also suffered from the explosion caused by the crash of the bombs. I've been told you were not supposed to make it out of that alive. But here we are, my friend."
"... Okay, I'll bite, What about you? I saw you fall."
"I was 'rescued' and later enslaved by Hydra for a few decades. I'm free now."- He said with a smile. That's a relief, I wouldn't want my brother under their thrall.
"Then... Where is this place? Or- Wait! A few decades?!"
"Yes, Steve, a few decades... We are reaching the end of this millennium. I never thought I would live long enough to be here, but reality is often stranger than fiction, or equally stranger, so I've come to learn."- Bucky said as if reminiscing about something.
"...What about her?"- All of this could be a figment of my imagination, but even if it was, in case it isn't I have to ask.
"Peggy? She is old, having old people problems by now, but she is alive, she never married, in case you're wondering."
"... *Sigh* I don't know if this is real, I don't know if I should be happy about Peggy, I... I don't know what's going on Bucky. Whether you're real or not, just... lay it on me. Tell me, What are we doing here? Wherever here is..."
"We rescued you a few hours ago. Your body was in a state of disrepair, under normal circumstances you would have been deeper than six feet under. You were healed, and you should be waking up in a few hours. But we thought that giving you a heads up would be for the better, the place we are at the moment is so much different than anything we knew that you might be clinically shocked if we don't familiarize you with the new times."
"Your supersoldier brain is better equipped to receive information than normal humans, so we brought you to this place. The Learning Room. Here time moves faster, so I will try to introduce you to your new reality for the next days. Things like common sense, history, Halo common sense, and talk to you about 'The bigger picture' or 'The Truth', that's what our... 'benefactor' calls it, knowledge about the universe."
"Of course, not everything will fit in this short but long span of time, but you'll be better prepared. So let's start! We will begin with the time immediately after your death."
In this way, my second time at school started. And what a ride it was!
I had so many questions... Questions I didn't have the brains for before... Questions I was not prepared to ask... Questions whose answer I regret knowing... Questions, Questions, and more Questions.
'Was it necessary to bomb Japan with these nuclear bombs, twice?'
'Why would my country have invested interests in countries outside our own?'
'Why is 'Beast Girls' 15% of the curriculum?'
'Why is Hydra handling, covertly, most of the world? Didn't I fight to end them? What about my efforts? Why would my country throw it all away for some war criminal scientists?'
'Why is it important to understand the power hierarchy by the number of tails?'
'Why is there still discrimination when all men fought as one in the war?'
'Why are there Super Soldier Serum maid girls?'
'Why are there Super Dino Serum velociraptors?'
'Why was Doctor Erskine's work reduced to the level of a common vitamin supplement?'
'Why are we still participating in international conflict at this time instead of focusing on our very apparent national problems?'
'Why must I start to train once again to be part of the weekly spars?'
'How does technology for 'Terrans' work?'
'Why are we still discriminating? The target just shifted a little to the mutants now, but we still discriminate, be it gender, skin color, economic prowess, or extra-abilities.'
'How does technology for Halo-ans work?'
'What about the future that I envisioned for my country? Why was I so blind to see that the USA, USSR, Germany, Japan, The Allies, The Axis, all were the same?'
'How to recognize friendly aliens?'
'How to recognize hostile aliens?'
'Why God is real but not here? Why I should fight even harder because our apparent God is a cosmic dragon who has a flair for the dramatic.'
'The greatness of Gaea, the favorite goddess.'
'The greatness of Death, the Madame.'
'The importance(?) of Shine and Fluff.'
'How to avoid pissing the unstable cosmic entity. Jean Grey.'- But Bucky said that this was 'Draconic-biased' information and that apparently, the two cosmic entities tend to take a piss out of each other.
'The type of currency 'Kitty' accepts in case I need help.'- She deals in favors.
'The eight princesses whom I must not offend.'
'How not to get affected by the 'common sense' of Spark and Aragorn.'- Apparently, Aragorn shared most of his memories with Spark, during its creation, and that corrupted its common sense code... Whatever that lingo means.
'The people I can rely upon in case I need 'normal' help.'- Bucky, The Queen, The Ancient One and Spark.
'The people I can rely upon in case I need overkilling help.'- Jean, Kitty, Aragorn, The Madame, and Goddess Gaea. It looks like they help to the extreme.
'The people I can rely upon in case I need intergalactic help.'- The Queen, Spark, and Carol Danvers. I don't think I will be needing that type of help.
'The people I can rely upon in case I need planetary help.'- Natalia and Fury. A surprise that she is still alive.
'About the culture among telepaths, how to create mental barriers, and how to detect mental incursions.'
'About magic and how I now have a well of energy that enhances my body and anything am in contact with.'
'Which animals to be aware of in Halo, and which city has the best ambiance depending on my mood.'- Dinosaurs turned out to be the most harmless, and blue bunnies the most dangerous, they tend to light things on fire. If I want to brood the Siren City was recommended.
There was a lot of useful(?) information but I could not cover more, it was time to wake up and meet the people who helped me and my friend. I had the time I needed to deal with what awaited me outside.
Things were definitely not how I remember them, seemingly, I was never the strangest or strongest being on Earth.
The days I spent in the Learning Room allowed me to prepare, this time gave me the tools I would need to deal with this fucked up world!
I shouldn't curse... but... the situation warrants it. Besides, the heavenly lord doesn't involve himself in this 'doomed' reality, so I'll take care of not cursing out loud, that's my best compromise.
I'm not ashamed of saying that I had a panic attack when Bucky showed me his new form.
Or when he told me about how even he suffers from 'the pets' from time to time. 'Fluff is Fluff', according to Aragorn, but I'm having a hard time picturing a grown man petting another. Alas, I've been told that matters of sexual orientation are different now.
However, I'm happy to know that Aragorn is protecting Peggy and that If I ever wanted it, he could help Peggy and me get our time back. I will have to think about it, and I should talk to her.
Things were not what I expected, my choices took me to a place I never imagined was possible.
But... I don't regret it. I'm not pleased with some of the results after my 'passing'. But this time, not driven by the situation of the world, I have a choice I can take. I could join the fight or not, knowing that this time there were people, possibly friends, stronger than me fighting for what I stood for.
Well... Aragorn appears more of a hands-off approach guy, but his actions speak louder than his words.
I was always a soldier, maybe this time I could be something else.
___________
After a few hours of Bucky catching Rogers up to date, both opened their eyes.
I still cannot comprehend how he was still alive, it was like his soul was sustaining his body and not the other way around. I know that his new powers had a hand in it, but still, this was too much even for his enhancement powers.
Maybe another one of the Cosmics had a hand in it, or The Aniki. I'll ask Noona later.
While Irina and Yelena helped Rogers get up and summoned him some water I went to Bucky's side.
"So? How did it go, James? Any problems?"- Rogers' body is now in perfect health, thanks to the sleeping firebird, but his mind was another thing.
"It was terrible... His mind was probably as broken as mine was. He was caught in a loop, relieving his last moments. I worked psionic therapy on him for about 3/4 of the time we spent there. The problem was that the combination of serum and low temperature kept him awake longer than necessary, so his mind was in a perpetual state of shock due to the pain."- Bucky said emanating a sense of pain through his telepathy.
"I figured something was wrong based on the feeling that he gave off. But it looks like you managed to help him through it."- I commented as I saw how he was reacting like a 1940s virgin boy to my gorgeous overly touchy maids. I sent my amusement and support back to Bucky.
'You do know that he is in love with someone, right?'- I sent my maids.
'Yeah, but he is prime material, maybe his girl can share. I wouldn't mind sharing.'- Sent back Yelena, followed by the agreement of Irina. Based on their upbringing, it's not surprising.
I made sure to relay the conversation to Bucky. This way at least he'll know what to tell his friend in case he asks.
'...'- Bucky.
'HAHAHAHA'- Me.
'I don't see Peggy sharing, we are from different times and circumstances.'
'Me neither, but you will probably be forced to be shared if they don't find someone. You know that, right?'
'...'
'HAHAHAHAHA!'
Bucky decided to ignore our telepathic conversation and continued as if he heard nothing.
"Yeah, it was honestly a lot of work. I dread to think about the level at which you and Emma stand to be able to heal me the way you did."- I chuckled at his comment and terrible attempt to ignore reality.
"It was different for Emma, Jean, and I, we were 'born' this way, while the girls and you were 'made' this way, so it will take some time before you reach our level."
"Don't think too much about it, James. You're getting there, in a few years you and some of the girls will stand at our level, you just need some practice. If you want during this time that I will be out of this sector you can go to Krakoa and practice with some of the victims we rescued during our last mission."
Xavier is good... but not at healthy mental therapy. Bucky should make a nice addition to their staff until I come back and have him back on the payroll.
"I think that's a good idea. I don't trust the bald telepath that much."
"Hahaha! I was thinking the same. If Steve gets tired of being up here you can take him with you. I bet he would be happy to meet Logan. Just talk to Seraph first, she is the baby boss down there."- The 'cute' baby boss, she would say if she heard me.
"I will."
Steve was checked, thoroughly, one last time by Irina and Yelena before standing up and coming to Bucky's. He hugged Bucky and sighed in relief.
"I'm glad to see you, in the flesh, Bucky!"
"Me too, brother. I can't say that we both survived WWII, but what matters is that we made it at the end."
I guess for Steve WWII was just yesterday, or three days ago if we count the time he spent in the Learning Room.
Rogers and Bucky separated and he looked back at me... or my horns to be exact... and said:
"Thank you, Sir, for what you did for me and Peggy."- He gave me a handshake overflowing with thankfulness.
"You're welcome, Captain. But the one that restored your body while unfreezing you is resting in one of the rooms upstairs. You should thank her when she wakes up."- Hehehe! I bet Senior Sister is baking her in her sleep about her poor control of the Cosmic Fire.
Normally Jean sleeps in my mind, through our link, but when she is sleeping and Senior Sister summons her she doesn't come 'here' to sleep.
"Miss Grey, right, Sir?"- He said with some uncertainty.
"Yes. Jean Grey, a redheaded teenager, has a fiery temper when it comes to me but is overall sweet and caring. She will probably wake up tomorrow if you want to thank her."- I think she might as well wake up today in the middle of the night. I'll check on her later.
"I will. When can I visit Peggy, Sir?"- So he is like me... A guy with a leash. He wakes up and one of the first thing he thinks about is getting back to his girl.
"Whenever you're ready, just make sure that you have the common sense of Earth down to a tee. James should help you get your Hydra-recognizable face masked since we don't want those guys going crazier. And you should get a room here while you come to a decision about your future."- Also because if I have you here I can possibly gain another friend in our tiny fraternity, Bucky, Pietro, Spark, and Me.
"Thank you, Sir."
"Don't worry too much about it. It's good to have you back, Captain. I have to go and check on another patient."- I said as I made my way to the clone girl whom I felt waking up just now.
I got out of Roger's room and went to check on Emma and the girl.
Inside the room I found Emma paying attention to the 'sleeping' girl.
"Hey Fluff. How is it going?"
She rolled her eyes at me while gesturing at the sleeping beauty.
"Just checking up on her. She should be waking up soon."- She also noticed the fake act of the sleeping beauty.
"If she doesn't wake up should we throw her with the sharks?"- I quipped back.
"Mmmmm aren't the sharks fat enough? Maybe we should try the croc swamp."
"Yeah, the croc swamp doesn't sound so bad. Maybe we can fatten them up, I've heard that croc tail tastes like shrimp."
"You're on to something Aragorn. I will look for a chef in Florida, I don't think we have someone knowledgeable in the art of croc-tail cooking around here."
"Alright! I will take this kid to the croc swamp and you go and find us a chef, I bet at least one of the crocs should be fat enough."
We both looked down at the sweating 'sleeping' beauty. The nervousness and regret she exuded filled the room and bathed our senses.
"Please don't eat us!"- She whispered in a barely audible yell.
She opened her eyes in fright and landed her sight on me first before she felt the similarity between her mind and Emma's.
There was some recognition in the beginning but that was shadowed by confusion when she saw her ears and tails.
"... Fox?"- she asked while tilting her head and reaching for the ears on her sides.
"Yes girl, Do you like it?"- Emma asked barely containing her mirth.
"... Mhmm, Yes. We thought you were someone else, but she doesn't have fox ears... or tails."- She said while following the swaying tails with her eyes.
"Who did you think I was?"
"A woman known as Emma Frost... You are not Hydra, are you?"- She said as she moved her sight from Emma to me.
"Why do you think so, girl?"- I asked her.
"We don't feel any belittlement from either of you. They always looked down on us."
"No, we are not Hydra. Also, she is Emma Frost, your gene donor, but her last name changed some time ago."
Her eyes grew in surprise and looked back at Emma... Not long before she tilted her head once again in confusion.
"... Then... Where are our ears?"- She touched the top of her head where 'her' fox ears should be.
"He gave me these ears about a year ago. 'Your' ears and tails are with him as well, you can ask for them later."- Emma pointed with her sight in my direction.
Clone Girl looked back at me and nodded as if agreeing to something.
"What should we call you? I don't think 'girl' is your name."- Emma said while getting her attention back.
"We don't have a name. We had several designations, the one on this body was W-XIV, or at least we believe it was. We are not sure if it was the designation of this body or the project, but this body is the last one, so it shouldn't matter."
"According to their files, that was the designation of the program, you girls were named after the number of your eclosion, since you were the last one they called you W-1237. The 1237 clone out of 1237 'successful' clones."- I told her.
"... We never knew. They used to call us 'You'."
"How did you learn of my name?"
"One time, in the beginning, when they were still studying our bodies, they messed up with the anesthetic, they timed it wrong and we were able to listen to their conversation. They said that we were a batch of clones from one Emma Frost."- She said while looking up, trying to remember.
"They were right but not exactly. The way they did the cloning made you Emma's twin sisters and daughters. Emma is both your father and mother, and the similarity in your DNA makes you identical twins."
The girl looked at Emma for confirmation, upon seeing her nod the girl gained some twinkling stars in her eyes while the rest of her face remained listless. But she soon lost the stars and said:
"We're happy to have found you, but we're dying like the others. They were supposed to fix us, based on what we heard from when we spied on them, but we don't think they had time to do that."- She lowered her eyes in sadness and resignation.
"Oh, that. I fixed that already. As the way you are now, you will live a long human life, given that you're not killed of course."- But I bet she will choose to be like her sister/mother and will gain some fluff, so her long human life will change to a long eternal life.
"... Thank you, Mister."- She shed a tear at that, but her overall facial expression remained... 'Dazed'. The only outward change was in her eyes, otherwise, if you're not an empath, you won't know how she's feeling.
"My name is Aragorn, girl. Do you want to name yourself?"
"Aragorn... We don't know. We don't know many names. The only female name we knew was Ophelia. We know some other words but we don't know if those could be used as names. Could we be called Anesthesia? or Meltdown? What about Paper? Microscope? Lab Coat?"- She said Ophelia's name with disgust, before starting to name herself as lab appliances or similar stuff.
Well, Ophelia is a bitch but she is also another product of Hydra, so I don't blame her that much. She is going to die though, make no mistake she is as scummy as the rest. But I will put in a good word for her in her next life, that is more than she deserves.
"Do you want me to give you one?"- Emma asked the confused clone. She won't allow her kid to be named IVDrop.
The girl stopped her nonsense and nodded to Emma.
"You will be Mindee Mille Fulgebunt Draconis, daughter to Emma Fulgebunt Draconis. Princess of the Fulgebunt Draconis Imperium."
"We are a princess?"
"I'm a Queen, an Empress in the making, and you're my daughter so that makes you a princess."
Mindee Mille looked at the serious Emma before nodding in acceptance with a 'smile' in her eyes.
"What does the name mean?"
"Fulgebunt Draconis means Bright Dragon, Shine Bright Dragon, Light Dragon. Mindee means beautiful, black, or sweet. Mille means thousand. According to Aragorn, you have more than a thousand streams of thought, originating from the fusion of your minds so I thought it was appropriate to make them honor."- Mindee nodded once again at this.
So you named your clone/daughter/sister that looks like your mini-me beautiful? Well, I guess she can brag about their beauty. Even before my modifications perfected her looks she was one of the most beautiful mortals I'd ever seen.
"Mindee, from where did you get your knowledge?"- It's been bugging me because Hydra just installed the basics but she's smarter than the files gave her credit.
"We copied it on several occasions, from the minds of the people around us. They were not always paying close attention to us. We did lose several bodies whenever we showed them new knowledge, so we stopped eventually. They didn't tell us why they were disposing of our bodies so we had a hard time figuring out the reason."
"I guess you never had the chance to go deeper while copying, right?"- I said as I affectionately stroked her head, Emma was almost audibly snarling before grabbing her hand in reassurance.
"They had these 'dampers' that prevented us from deeply intruding. By the time we were strong enough to read their minds we discovered we were dying so we thought that it was better to have them fix us before escaping."
"That was smart of you Mindee. I don't think you had much of a chance of escaping before they figured something was up."- I told her.
Maybe she could have manipulated the people in the lab but there were several traps and monitoring schemes set up against telepaths. Even my maids would have had a hard time if they invaded the facility with just their telepathy.
Mindee lowered her head in fear after hearing my conclusion, which earned me a glare from Emma.
"Don't worry Mindee, you're safe now. No one can take you away from here, and that idiot over there can get you whatever you want. You will live with us from now on and you won't be missing anything. Don't worry about Hydra either, we're hunting them down. Just give us a few years and there will be no more Hydra on the planet."
Emma raised the girl from the med-pod and carried her like a baby in her chest. She secured her with her tails and brought her out of the room. Mindee rested her head on Emma's chest while grabbing one of her tails in her free hands.
I followed them outside.
Emma waved her hand and opened a portal to the main balcony of the Crystal.
"See where we are, daughter of mine."- She let Mindee out of her chest and tails, except for the one Mindee took possession of, for her to witness the landscape.
"No one will harm you here."- Emma said as she pointed at the ring.
"No one from there will be able to reach you."- Emma pointed dismissively at Earth. Her racism showing.
"I and everyone here will protect you and help you with whatever you need."- She said while getting into eye contact with the surprised girl.
"...*Sniff* Thank you... Mother."- Mindee expressionlessly said as she teared up.
"You're welcome, Mindee Mille, daughter of mine."- Emma brought her forehead to her child's and established a psychic connection between them, not unlike the one Jean and I share.
I walked to the duo and hugged the hell out of them... before the girl took advantage of the situation and tried to grab one of my pointed ears as she did with one of Emma's tails.
_______
Krakoa
General Assembly of the Krakoan Council, by Humans, for Humans, and Krakoa.
I Assembly, Overseen by Seraph Draconisfilia, A.I Overseer.
"Hello council women and men. Father has built the capital city of our dreams and design. The other four peripheral cities will be built as soon as Father comes back and/or we require them. This first assembly in our new Parliament Building marks the start of Krakoa as a country."
"Though we don't have different political parties we do have different world views. However, today and henceforth we stand together. No longer separated as two or more sides from one race, we stand as the council of Krakoa, made of humans, mutants or not alike, and overseen by yours truly, Seraph Draconisfilia."
"We have several items to address today and others to schedule for the following assemblies. I will step down and whenever you need me just let me know. Please use your P-links for voting, requesting time on the podium, sharing new laws for voting, and any other request that you want to be discussed over the assembly."
Saying so Seraph took her place on the back of the podium. She was visible but her stand as an overseer was clear. She didn't have any voting rights but she had all the veto rights.
According to her older 'brother', humans are not used to being ruled by AIs so her role will be similar to that of a police officer, where she will make sure that they don't screw up and if they do she will time out them.
Her 'brother' and father had clearly told her that no matter how obvious the solution to their problems was in her eyes, unless they asked for help she shouldn't help them. There were certain parameters and loopholes to this but she understood that in order to build trust she needed to allow them to struggle.
Which is what she did. There were several issues that they needed to deal with first and foremost, but, maybe because of their history, the first issue they decided to deal with was one of building a military force.
To her 'draconic-coding', it was clear that they were not going to need anything other than the X-Force they already had. The current Krakoan population was pitiful. However, she kept her silence.
According to Seraph, housing, food, and legislation were the first topics that they should have addressed. No one is going to invade them, but they will need food. They will need rules and they will need to find out how to distribute the living properties available.
A long-distance teleporter was something that they were in desperate need of, currently the only convenient way out of the island was by teleporting.
'According to father, they can use special flowers found in Krakoa to create gateways. But, here they are, wondering how much Spark will charge them for the teleportation service.'- Seraph thought.
'It certainly is a rocky start, and I'm starting to see how difficult it will be to not give them the correct answers, I will have to see them monkey around until they have enough trust to include me in their problem-solving strategies.'
What's not hard earned is not hard appreciated. Aragorn was clear about this, but on the other hand, he didn't have the luxury of allowing the mutants a few more tragedies, there was no time to waste, the end of the world was now, it was just that only a few knew about it.
The mutants were always one omega mutant away from destroying the planet, and this was aggressively more apparent in this Doomed Reality. Aragorn was 100% sure that by this time Wanda would have been either killed by Agatha or the ruler of the new addition to the Chaos Dimension, Earth.
So he decided to give them their hardship through the threat that he would 'un-mutant' the planet should they fail to uphold their end of the deal. He was the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.
The Krakoan Council was aware of that, they would never forget the fear that was implanted through shock in their minds, and they would never forget those crimson eyes. Which is why in their clumsy ways, they were trying their best.
'Through falling they'll learn to fly. I think I understand what Father meant by this.'
'My only contribution today was the name of the Capital, 'Urbs Beatorum Homines', or 'Beatorum' for short. 'City of the Blessed humans'. *Sigh* I still can't believe that that was the only time they asked for my help.'
General Assembly of the Krakoan Council, by Humans, for Humans, and Krakoa.
XI Assembly, Overseen by Seraph Draconisfilia, A.I Overseer.
'Eleven meetings, I can't believe that's how long it took them to realize that they needed to start thinking about food. *Ugh* Father help me!'
Although Seraph was about to pull her hair out, things were progressing. Definitely, not as much as they could have under the support of an AI as advanced as her, but there was progress.
An educational institution was created. The Teaching Institute of Krakoa was modeled after the original 'School for the Gifted', the Morlocks and Brotherhood took the roles centered around providing services and searching for what they were lacking.
On the eleventh assembly, they decided to buy seeds and several different animals needed for the production of animal derivatives, chickens, hens, cows, pigs, turkeys, ducks, and several others. They also requested Serepah to teach them about flora and fauna growth and care; unknowingly this fell under one of her loopholes which allowed her to speak her mind about this particular topic.
"Before you decide to buy seeds, seedlings, and saplings from The Queen you should look around the island to find what can be of use. According to Father, there are several useful plants around the island."
"If you find anything useful just ask Krakoa about its growth conditions. Regarding animal production pick 3 people who will be in charge of this sector, I will teach them what they need to know about the animal industry, and they can teach the others. There's no sense in ALL of you learning about this, given that you won't start raising pigs, you are part of the council."
"You can keep buying food from the Imperium while you grow your greens, but I recommend you hire a few of the girls and have them magically speed up the growth. If you are lucky they won't charge you and they will use this chance to practice their 'Viridis Magic'."
"What's Viridis Magic?"- Irene Adler asked.
"It's magic for growing, enhancing, manipulating, and changing flora, AKA plants. I think they haven't had the chance to practice it because when it was used in Halo they didn't know any magic."
"Thanks, Seraph."- Raven Darkhölme.
"You're welcome. Please pay close attention to the plants. I know it's hard to understand but when beings at the level of father say that something might be useful then they usually mean in their scale of usefulness."- She felt like the weight of the world was removed from her shoulders when she said that.
'With this, they should suspect something extraordinary from the plants.'- Seraph thought to herself.
General Assembly of the Krakoan Council, by Humans, for Humans, and Krakoa.
XVII Assembly, Overseen by Seraph Draconisfilia, A.I Overseer.
'A week! Another week! I thought maybe a day or two, but they needed another entire week to discover that they needed more scientists, aside from Hank McCoy, to efficiently analyze the plants found on the island.'
"Miss Seraph, Do you know of any scientists that would like to work here? On commission, maybe."- Asked Callisto.
This question again gave Seraph the chance to guide the humans in the right direction.
"Not from Earth, but you can ask the girls, once again, for help. There are about 20 Biologists, 10 Organic Chemists, 30 M.Doctors, 5 Physicists, and other useful professions."
"How is that possible? Aren't most of them in their teen years?"- Asked Hank, who today was present as a special guest.
"There are these Learning Rooms in Halo that plug you into a cyber-psionic space for learning, a normal human could get an MD diploma in a year, telepaths, and the learned in the Mind Arts in a month. Most of the girls have at least 3 diplomas."
"... That's revolutionary! Could we get one of those?"
"Unfortunately, no. The Queen took the rights to those since 'Aragorn would have probably uplifted the universe by now' if she let Father be, that's what she said. I know how to build them but I'm not authorized to give you the schematics."
"Can you guide me in the task?"
"Sure, but only with yes or no questions, not the same but similar. I estimate that it would take you about 5 to 10 years under my help if you give this project your undivided attention. Something you can't afford for now."
This broke down the dreams and fantasies of the Beast about having 30 different diplomas.
"My advice remains the same, the girls will probably enjoy it but since they can't leave their day jobs alone they will probably only help during their free time, which they will charge us for, it's not as instantaneous as magic so they will have to dedicate these tasks a veritable amount of time."- Seraph said while looking at the council.
"I can also help you with knowledge if you ask for my help."- Seraph this time looked at Beast.
"It will be greatly appreciated, Miss Seraph."
This made Seraph smile, this way she should be able to help. Maybe it's just on the part of cataloging species and assisting Hank McCoy in the lab, but it was better than playing online with the Girls, Spark, James, Steve, and her Father all day long.
General Assembly of the Krakoan Council, by Humans, for Humans, and Krakoa.
XXV Assembly, Overseen by Seraph Draconisfilia, A.I Overseer.
'Father, this is too much. Why won't they ask for my help until they no longer can come up with a solution? Do you know how easy would be for me to solve their internet security issues?'
'My cute Seraph, I'm not reading their minds but I can extrapolate a few reasons. Pride, misconception, and apprehension.'
'What do you mean father?'
'Pride in their skills and refusal to ask for help. Misconception about your role and the extent of the help that you can provide. Apprehension to Artificial Intelligence lording over them.'
'But Father! That's stupid!'
'Yes Seraph, I know. But I used to be human like them and I can imagine how these three reasons are very possible.'
'It's 'Cute' Seraph, not just Seraph. And I think that I will go crazy.'
'Hahaha yes my Cute Seraph, I won't forget. By the way, how did the internet security topic come into play?'
'You better not Father... They found out that some of the younger mutants were playing online with the consoles that you gifted them, so they were wondering if they could be hacked and their location discovered.'
'It's possible if the other party is a technomancer or a technopath, but either way, you're equipped enough to deal with such incursions. The Technomancer would prove difficult to you since your soul hasn't taken root and you can't cast magic yet, but I left a bunch of spells in your core to know if something of the sort attacked you.'
'Yes, I imagined so, Father. How different is the progress of this country compared to the progress of Emma's when she was building hers?'
'... Well... Emma had Spark's help and she knew what needed to be done. She also had basically the last word since Spark could adapt to any of her wishes and expectations. It took her, Spark, and their council of ministers just one long meeting to have a sketch of their immediate needs and fixes. I think by the second meeting they were already giving reports and by the end, they were planning what to do with Nirn.'
'*Ugh* I want my own Emma on my council.'
'I can see that. Emma also took some of my girls who were later trained in country-building careers. So she had her specialized personnel since the beginning. I think it will take your country about 1 or 2 months to get their food situation sorted out, and by the year you should be working in your own industry.'
'But father! They don't ask for help. How can I do my job if they don't ask for my help and you don't let me offer it?'
'You need to make friends. They will feel at ease if they see you as their friend. You don't need to make friends with all of them just a few. Besides, the more you experience the faster your soul grows. Spark had my memories so his growth was unprecedented, since memories translate to experience, but you don't, sweet girl, so you need to experience more of life.'
'... I can see that working. Any recommendations?'
'Irene, Raven, and Hank. Although Hank is not part of the council he is currently the most important person over there so he has the loudest voice.'
'Ok, Father. I will try. Mr. Beast and I are already on friendly terms, ever since I started working as his lab assistant. When are you leaving?'
'Possibly in a week or two. Kitty needs to get some personal matters dealt with and I have almost scheduled the next missions for up to a year. By the way, Do you know if the X-Force will participate in the next missions?'
'Yes, they are eager to participate. They've been training.'
'My cute Seraph, Could you do me a favor?'
'Sure, Father. What is it?'
'Can you train them in the Black Ops modus operandi that we use? I want them to look less like a mutant force and more like a Halo force.'
'Will you lend them some of our weapons?'
'Yes, that's the plan. You can use some of the ones I gave you, but if you're missing something just coordinate with Spark and have it portaled down there.'
'Ok! That will be fun! Can I participate in the missions?'
'Mhmmm yes, but only as Overwatch. You're like sending the final boss to the newbie starting city.'
'That's fine, Father. I just want to explore Earth a little bit, aside from the satellite view.'
'That's not a problem, my cute daughter. Do you want me to bring you something from space?'
'Tech that we don't have.'
'I think that I'm missing some from the Sovereign. They had blown up their planets before I had the chance to meet their Z-Versions.'
'Yay!'
'Goodbye, my childish cute daughter! Pay attention to your meeting, you shouldn't call me every time the assemblies bore you.'
'Humph! Goodbye, my enslaver father! I love you.'
'I love you too, my cute Seraph.'
______________
X-Mansion
Katherine Pryde, Kitty, Darth Kitty, Magical Girl, Catgirl, Sith, Elemental Sorcerer, The Strongest Cat, The Eminence in the Shadow, The Cat of the Favors, Cat of Priorities, Soon to be Cosmic Dragon Rider.
Ever since the founding of Krakoa, there's been less personnel in the mansion, but more movement.
This is understandable, the professor hasn't moved all the kids to the island yet, so the teaching staff and members of the X-Force move from one place to the other frequently.
They have made a great effort to ensure an uninterrupted learning experience.
Most of the kids in our school are rescuees but the ones that are here with the consent of their parents, the minority, had to have a very interesting conversation with their parents.
The professor was under orders of Aragorn to forbid the spread of the news about Krakoa, so those parents had their minds slightly modified. It's nothing macabre, like with Jean, they just couldn't talk to anybody about Krakoa.
Aragorn did say that the news would spread eventually, but that as long as it stayed as simple rumors through the coming years then it was alright.
*Knock* *Knock*
I called for the professor's door. Ever since Aragorn gave me my telepathy, the professor hasn't been able to accurately track my presence. So now I have to knock.
"Come in, Kitty."- Still, it's easy for telepaths to recognize each other once we make out the presence of the other.
"Hello Professor!"
"Hi, Kitty. How can I help you, my dear?"
"I will be going to space with Aragorn next week, Can I take Kurt with me?"- I know my friend will be up for it, but technically the Professor is Kurt's legal guardian, so I have to ask him for permission.
"... Space? What for?"- I can already feel the vigilance coming from the professor.
I think someone should tell him that Jean and I are empaths, feelings are more potent when they are coming from a telepath, that's why everybody in Halo learns to restrain the outer psionic imprint of feelings so that only what we want to show is shared.
"Aragorn has to visit two planets, to take care of some personal business. He owes me a favor and I wanted to visit a few Galatic Empires, after his business is done he will show me around."- I'm not stupid enough to tell him that I will become part of a crew of pirates. Also, technically, I'm not lying.
"I understand, my dear. How long would you be away?"
"It depends, we plan for less than 4 months, but Aragorn said that sometimes when you get too close to certain sectors time tends to fluctuate a little so it might take longer."- I'm not stupid enough to tell him that it might fluctuate for a few years when you get too close to sectors with black holes.
"So you'll be back for the new year."
"Yes, exactly. That's the plan."
"Ok. I will let Kurt go with you."- Nice! Or else I would have kidnapped him. Better to ask for forgiveness than for permission, or so I like to say.
After thanking the professor I went to my friend's to let him in on the good news.
I opened a portal to Krakoa. My magical frequency is already registered in Beatorum's spire, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to make a portal here.
I went to one of the training facilities. Lately, Seraph has been going full-on training mode on the X-Force, something about making them up to standard, Halo Standard.
If only they knew that Halo standard means that you can at least tank a hit equivalent to an 18-wheeler crashing on you. That's the bare minimum.
"Hey Kitty-cat, Whatchu doing here?"- Seraph said as I entered the torture chamber, also known as the training gym.
"Hello, Seraph. You and Aragorn have the same knack for nicknames. I came to inform Kurt that he is to report to Halo in a week. He has been promoted to second in command in the Catship!"- I told the techno-girl as I hugged her.
"...Oh! You're taking him with you!"- She said as she understood what I meant.
"That's the plan, Will it be a problem? With all of the training that you have going on around, I mean."
"No, that's okay. I will have Father or his maids train him during the trip."- Poor Kurt, those three plus Jean are real training nuts.
I looked back at Kurt and the rest of the X-Force. They were training in the use of the rifles they use in Halo.
"Hey, Kurt! Come here!"- I yelled.
*Bamf*
"Hi, Kitty! What's going on?"- He asked with curiosity.
"Get ready to go to space in a week! We are going to be off-world for about 4 months."
"I'm going to Halo?"
"No, you stupid devil-friend! We are going to explore the vastness of space. Aragorn has some personal matters to attend to outside the Solar System, he owed me a favor so he is going to be our chaperone for about 4 months while we explore."
'We will join a pirate crew or something similar, it's undecided yet, but don't tell anyone!'- I sent him this along a psionic barrier, to prevent some meddling telepath from taking a peek... without pointing fingers.
"Ok! I will get ready. You're the best friend ever!"
'Nice! Do we get our own pirate ship?'- Kurt thought.
"Of course I am! I'm great!"
'Yes, Aragorn has one ready. But we will only use it before we join the pirate crew. Afterward, we will board their ship.'
"See you later Kitty, I will get back to my training."
*Bamf*- He teleported back to his training station.
"You do know that I can intercept psionic messages, right?"
"Yeah, but you won't tell anyone will you?"
"Just bring me something nice and I will keep my mouth shut."
"Deal! My Techno-friend!"
I shook hands so this means we have a 'Sealed Deal!' The best kind. My 'Favor-Business' is booming!
____________________
Halo, Fulgebunt Draconis Imperium.
Aragorn, The Shine Dragon, Sacred Beast of Light, The one of the Heavenly Petting.
"So you want another planet?"- I asked the Fulff with a power fetish in front of me.
"Not right now, but please check for other planets we could add to our future territory. I believe that once Doom is ruling this planet you'll leave this sector of the Milky Way to him, right?"
"Yes, that's the plan. We can always warp here and you girls don't have good memories on Earth, so we will move out of this sector once Earth is unified."
"Yeah, so I will need some territory for my future empire and also some planets. Can you help me with that?"
"I think we can take over a sector of the edge of the universe. I can warp a few stars and planets over there for you to rule."
"I like the idea of warping the stars and planets, but the edge is too far away from the other empires, if we ever want to do business we would have to use your energy reserves to open a portal from such a distance."
"Then... I guess I can keep an eye out for a useful location. Can't you send the request to Xandar as well?"
"No, I don't want them to plot about the future location of my empire."
"Okay, I can see how they would do that. Still, you should send a request for suitable planets that we could buy from them."
"Ugh! But then I would have to depend on you to fulfill some of their requests."- Emma said while pouting, her ears flat against her head and tails down.
"Don't worry, Fluff. I am happy to help you, and I am also your 'Sacred Beast' so don't hold back on asking for my help."- I told her while I patted her head... and ears.
"Fine, I will send them a request for another planet."
"How long does it take you to stabilize a planet under your rule?"
"It depends. If there are no people as long as we get new inhabitants about a year, that's how long it was for Nirn. If there are people with a well-established governmental power in place, then it should be less than 5 months as long as our cultures are compatible."
"I believe I can put a commission to the Ravagers, they should be able to get you some immigrants from war-torn worlds."
"Ah! Yes, that's a good idea. That way I don't have to allow more power to Xandar over my budding empire."
"Do you want me to pick them up or should I have the Ravagers ship them to Nirn?"
"I don't think we will buy a planet before you return, so send them to Nirn. Otherwise, I will give you a call."
"That's fine. Anything else you want from space?"
"Mhmm... I don't think so. I will settle down with a planet and more population for my empire."- She said as she came close and gave me a hug, her tails also hugged me.
"Don't take too long, Aragorn. Also, The Madame told me to remind you to visit her more often now that you'll be on vacation."- She let go of the hug and kissed my cheek before portaling to Nirn, back to her work. It's good that now she has her mini-me helping her out.
That's nice, I should be sleeping at Noona's more often.
"What about you, Padawan? Are you sure you're not coming?"
"Yes, I can't control my power enough to fool their scanners like you. Besides, I wanna get my paperwork going for an advanced graduation, I'm tired of high school."- It's a trick I learned not long ago, I was concerned that everyone was going to treat me like a god-king if I couldn't mask my energy. I have no problem with that but it would ruin Kitty's adventure.
"Padawan, if anything happens, no matter how small, if you feel something is off, use our connection to contact me. I will drop everything and portal back."
"... Why? Is there a problem?"
"No, but it's a precaution. Messages through Spark will take a while to arrive, because of the distance, but through our link it's instantaneous."- I'm afraid that the Shi'ar have been too silent since Xavier's message.
I don't think they are ignorant enough to try to reach for Jean while I'm here, but now that I'm going to be away if my whereabouts are somehow leaked, there's a chance that they will take their shot.
This firebird is overpowered, but her weaknesses should be very well recorded in the history of the Shi'ar, after all, they have dealt with more than 5 Phoenix Force Avatars, as far as I was able to check.
"OK, I will let you know if something is off."
"Good girl!"- I said as I brought Jean into a hug and kissed her forehead.
"Make sure not to aid the blue bunnies in burning this place down."
*Pang!*- She hit my left-side ribs with a psionic spike.
"I would not! Bye, Idiot!"- She said as she sent her love through our link.
'I love you too, Tsundere.'- I, of course, made sure to annoy her one last time for the next four months.
I have already given my heartfelt goodbyes to the 8 little princesses, I was not amused by their request for 'SpaceDinos'. So Emma and Jean were the last.
I looked at my personal maids, the cat, and the devil.
"So? Everything ready?"
"Yes!"-x3
"Erhm..."
"Yes, Kurt?"
"Who are those guys?"- He said as he pointed at the dazed couple behind us. I put their consciousness to sleep.
"Sacrifices."
"Sacrifices?"- Kurt asked.
"Yes, they did some bad shit. I need to kill a person under very specific conditions, a sacrifice of sorts, and since they were utter scum I forcibly volunteer them as sacrifices, for the greater good. The real greater good, the type that presides over the lives of trillions of individuals."- Not the 'greater good' that suits a minority, or an individual.
"Is this about the matters that you had to attend to?"- Asked Kitty.
"Yes, it's not a secret. You'll see. Our first stop will be getting rid of these guys, you'll understand then."- That, or the Power Stone, I'll decide on the ship.
"Okay!"- Kitty assented.
"Which ship are we using, Young master?"- Irina asked.
My maids give zero fucks about the lives of people who are not 'us'.
"I made one specifically for an occasion like this one. It's called the Arcadia."
I said as I decompressed in the hangar the marble with the ship in it.
*Fwoosh*- Sounded the atmosphere as it was displaced.
"Kyah! This is it!"- Shouted Kitty in approval.
"Woah!"- Kurt was as excited as the cat.
I even went as far as to replicate the Dark Matter Engine. Well, my version of it since it was never clear how it worked. But in terms of maneuverability, this ship is better than most of the current models in the galaxy, way better.
The weaponry system is nothing to write home about, lasers are not that different from blasters in terms of damage. But they can sic on a ship automatically and track it so the damage will accumulate faster.
But what I'm the most proud of is that I was able to replicate the ability of self-repair on the ship.
I have 6 main objectives on this trip, the Power Stone, the Soul Stone, a planet for Emma, some refugees for Emma, technology from the Sovereign, and checking for outer threats, not every world-ending catastrophe starts on Earth.
"Stop gawking, let's go!"
As such, we boarded our home for at least the next month, until we land in Contraxia and have a Ravager crew escort us around.
{A/N:
Sorry for the delay, I'm moving houses so my schedule is a mess for the remainder of this week and the next. I don't know if I will be able to get the next chapter by Monday, but there will definitely be one next week.
As an apology, I wrote this 10k-word chapter.
I will close this volume with the return of the 'space exploration' party, so we are getting close to the end of this volume. Close but not there yet, the arc in space will be very long.
I will also keep adding some snippets about the situation on Krakoa, it's to build more about the character 'Seraph' and for world-building.
Seraph, as you have seen, has a childish personality, this is because although she is as advanced as Spark she doesn't have as much experience as Spark. So don't get too mad if she doesn't act like a super advanced AI.
You will see more about Death & Aragorn in the next chapters, I don't know yet if I will include some R18 scenes, but it's very likely.
Thank you for reading!
}