บท 149: Chapter 149 – Giving Something Back
[2009 – October]
Rising to his feet, his eyes pools of pure, lightless darkness, Elijah reined in his temper in just a moment as his eyes turned human once again while the suffocating murderous intent vanished.
His expression changed to one of calm once as he breathed out slowly, Emma's own heartbeat that was still erratic as she forced herself to work her lungs at an even rhythm.
"Forgive my loss of control, I didn't mean to scare you.", Elijah voiced out softly, his eyes filled with hints of remorse, his expression sincere. Her frightened state naturally didn't escape his inhuman senses, even though she wished it had.
"I-It's fine, I understand why you're angry.", she replied with a short sigh that helped release some of the tension in her body.
Emma had been witness to Elijah's wrath before, especially during their meeting with Selene and when he attacked Xavier's X-Men after Jean's awakening. This short flaring of his anger though seemed distinctly different, it felt 'darker' and much more dangerous.
She wasn't sure if this was just her imagination, or if the fact that she knew that her younger brother could potentially destroy this planet if he lost control made her more pensive when faced with his anger.
Still, Emma didn't warn Elijah to keep himself in check as she understood her brother well. He was perhaps the only one that hated losing control more than she did, even though this trait wasn't as obvious in him as it was in her, so she knew that any warning on her part was useless either way.
She stayed silent for a moment as she watched while Elijah turned around halfway, his gaze fixed on the dusty remains of the armchair that he had sat on just a moment before. And her eyes couldn't help but widen a bit when she saw the utterly destroyed chair reform itself a moment later as if someone had turned back time.
She knew that this had to be Elijah's doing but that didn't help her understand how he was able to do such a thing.
At this point, Emma realized that there was more that she didn't understand about her younger brother's abilities than things she understood. Elijah's powers didn't only seem to be growing stronger, it was more like they were evolving, turning him into a being that could dictate reality itself.
And if she had been unsure before, since their existence had only been one of Charles' theories, Emma now firmly believed that her younger brother was one of them, a Beyond-Omega.
…
Elaine Grey, April 4.1968 – March 23.1999, Beloved Daughter And Wife.
In the photo that was attached to the file, a tombstone was visible and those were the words engraved on it.
When before, I had tried to give Jean's father the benefit of the doubt while trying to find some sympathy for him in my heart for he had lost his wife, my emotions towards him were now far less kind. In fact, I was positively murderous.
As if abandoning his child hadn't been bad enough, he even went so far with trying to deny Jean's existence that he had not even mentioned her on the epitaph of her mother's tombstone.
Still, as soon as my anger manifested and I felt it bleed into the ambient psionic energy, causing it to turn violent and destructive, disintegrating the chair that I sat in as a consequence. I quickly reined it in though and calmed myself again before I destroyed anything else.
Thankfully most of my emotions were contained by my Mental Barrier while only a faint shadow of the violent mental waves slipped past my control for a moment, or it wouldn't have just been some poor chair suffering from my wrath.
Apologizing to Emma for my loss of control as I hadn't meant to scare her, I summoned an ethereal barrier and 'shielded' the remains, which were just dust and ash, from the consequences of my anger.
It was a rather complicated intent to invoke in a shield and I certainly wouldn't have been unable to do so before, as the strain would have been too great.
Now though, I just felt an almost imperceptible burden on my mind for a few seconds, during which the remains of the armchair went through a 'little' molecular reconstruction, after which it stood in place as good as new.
Sitting down again while consciously relaxing the tension in my muscles, I encased the folder in a small barrier and shrunk the space within to the size of a small marble before moving it into a deeper space inside the Darkforce Dimension.
It was a rather handy way to store away objects without having to carry them or having to worry about them being stolen or lost. My actions also were very quick, making it impossible for anyone to follow them with their eyes, so I was done in just an instant.
I knew that Jean would be hurt by this newest piece of evidence of her father blaming her for her mother's death, and her pain awakened something truly horrific inside me.
The fact that I could not do anything to spare her from this only made things worse, as I had no intention to hide this from her. She deserved to know the truth and I loved her enough to be honest with her even if it pained me.
Thankfully, I was still in very much control of myself, though my momentary lapse reminded me that there was no room for errors with my powers being as great as they were. I could have killed or at least severely injure Emma, had I been a bit more careless.
Secretly gritting my teeth, I swore to be more careful from now on as my attention was drawn to her next words.
"Maybe you don't have to tell her.", she spoke slowly, her eyes pits of frost, "The brakes in her father's car could malfunction or maybe he forgot to turn off the stove before going to bed. There are all kinds of accidents happening every day."
Her insinuation naturally didn't go over my head but I stayed silent while she continued calmly, "And the tombstone could have been damaged in a storm before having been replaced with one that looked almost the same."
To be truthful, Emma's words were tempting, especially so since I could still feel anger boiling in my blood. And I also knew that she only made this rather callous offer because she cared about Jean and me.
Naturally, one could argue that she was trying to manipulate me into doing something that she might be able to use against me later on, which meant that she was just trying to make use of my anger in an attempt to gain an advantage over me.
I didn't believe that this was the case though as my instincts were telling me otherwise, and I trusted them very much. Not to mention that I also trusted Emma.
In the first place, she didn't have to mention this to me at all and could have simply arranged for Jean's father to be killed. In fact, doing so would have been more beneficial to her. And yet, she hadn't done so and instead had suggested this to me upfront.
This also proved that Emma knew that I wouldn't judge her for her rather uncaring attitude towards another's life, or at least she trusted me not to, which I didn't.
"No. His life isn't ours to take.", I replied after a few moments of silence, shaking my head lightly while clarity reigned in my mind fuelled by my iron will.
Lowering her head minutely, to signal her understanding, Emma didn't continue to force the issue.
Turning to another topic, one that I had been thinking about for some time now, I voiced out: "I spared with John a few times now, and I noticed that his daggers were rather peculiar. Their edge won't dull even after striking my barriers."
"This is not something normal steel could accomplish, though he wouldn't tell me what they were made of.", I reasoned, pausing for a moment before I continued, " It's Vibranium, isn't it?"
A surprised look crossed Emma's eyes for a moment before she answered with a light smile: "Not bad. I didn't expect you to recognize the rarest metal on Earth so easily."
"It took me quite a bit of effort to procure the amount of ore necessary to have a pair of daggers forged for John. After all, Vibranium might have a price tag but it doesn't really have a market. It's simply too rare and there is basically no supply.", she explained with a helpless shrug.
She was most certainly right about that one, and I understood that John's daggers were worth millions.
"Still, unlike the other Hellions who needed, and still need a lot of specialized training and time to develop their powers, John's abilities are already at their peak. His enhanced physique and senses make him an incredible combatant, especially so since he spent nearly three years honing his skills on the African continent as a soldier."
"He may not have much room for growth but he is a natural leader and very loyal. It just took a special pair of daggers to elevate his combat power to the next level."
Nodding thoughtfully, I knew that Emma was right in her assessment that John's strength had already reached its limits. His fighting prowess might still grow though, considering that experience made up a large part of how effective a fighter one was.
Still, his base strength wasn't bad at all even now, as his bodily strength had reached a level beyond Peak Human while his agility and reflexes were also outstanding. I also was pretty sure that Emma had given him the Vibranium daggers in an effort to create a fighter that could match the most iconic X-Man, Wolverine.
Unfortunately though, John lacked Logan's healing factor so there was no way for him to beat the other party decidedly.
I wasn't too surprised about John's past as a soldier, though, as he was the oldest amongst the Hellions with his twenty years of age, not to mention that I also faintly remembered parts of his backstory from my former life.
And while I wasn't too familiar with the Hellion roster, I roughly knew about their backstory and their ending in the comics, which was rather pitiful. Thankfully, this reality was a mix of the comics and the MCU, so their end would be different, especially so with me around.
"Still, if you are interested in a weapon like his, I am sure I can arrange for that. Though it may take some time.", she added with a smile, her eyes looking almost hopeful.
Emma wasn't good with showing her feelings, so whenever I asked her for help, she readily accepted as it allowed her to show her care and affection in a more restrained and formal way, which made it easier for her.
It was a strange conundrum that someone that seemed outwardly cold and heartless was so vulnerable in another way. Though this was also what made her human in my eyes.
Still, I didn't bring up the topic of Vibranium to ask her to get me a weapon made out of the material. In truth, such a weapon was useless for me as I could crush Vibranium with my bare hands at this point.
Instead, I mentioned this rare metal as I had been thinking about a way to repay Emma for her help. Ever since Jean and I had moved into the Hellion Mansion, actually a little before that, she had been nothing but generous and kind.
Just her help in teaching Jean sincerely and helping her gain more control of her immense telepathic abilities was a favour that I found hard to repay.
And while I knew that 'repaying favours' was not something that family members should concern themselves with, it was simply wrong for one party to always give and the other to always take.
So, for the last few months, I had been thinking about a way to give something back to her.
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GodOfFreedom
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