Strangers Like Me -Fic

[RavEnigma]

*Okay, hi and welcome to my second X-Men fic! And this fic has the special distinction of actually having a plot that goes beyond the first three chapters (yes, I did my homework on this one).

*Now, I’d like to thank all my friends for helping me with this idea: the wonderful people at Nightscrawlers (epecially sevati and maelstrom, you guys rule!) and my friend twistedmind (everyone go read her fics!), who gave me the courage to actually post this story that’s been rattling around in my head for a really long time now.

*This fic has some backstory, which I’ll give to you as you need it. This chapter’s installment: Juliet is the main character. She is from another planet. She is a mutant, and she is only eight years old. At the time of this chapter, she is still on her home planet, fleeing from the Queen’s Guards, who want to kill her (I’ll take guesses why, but you won’t find out the real reason for a few chapters). She is south of the equator, so even though it is August, it is winter, and there’s a lot of snow. Later in the chapter, when she is on Earth, there is snow, because it’s Alaska and summer’s only until late July, I think (feel free to correct me, I’ve never been there, I hate being cold).

*Disclaimer: I own Juliet, nothing else. I wish I owned Kurt and Gambit, though. ; ) (Yes, I’m aware that I’m slightly out of touch with reality)

( ) translations/Author’s Notes

*thoughts *

~~~~~ next scene

*One last note: since Juliet’s the only person in this chapter, I’ve written her dialogue in English (saves me time on translating). When Juliet is alone, all her words/thoughts, though said in her home language, will be in English, k? Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow,” a small voice sang out over the snowy landscape. “He will show you where to go. In darkest night or brightest day, he will keep you on the way.” The singing stopped. * Ai, my throat hurts. The air freezes when I breathe, the snow is making it so that I can hardly see, and I’m getting more frozen by the minute. * “God?” she called out, as loudly as she could. ‘I know that you are listening, please help me. Don’t let me freeze to death, you know I’m not very strong, I can’t make it through the night without shelter. Guide me to a safe place to stay for the night. Please?”

There was no answer. Trudging through the waist-deep snow, she spied a large shape looming on the horizon. * Maybe it’s a cave or something. *
Moving closer to it, step by painful step, she found that it was a butte, with a cave on the side away from the wind. Juliet eased herself into the cave, not stopping until she was far enough away that the wind didn’t blow snow in her face.

Fumbling in her pack to retrieve her flint, steel, and some fuel, she wished that she had her cousin’s gift of creating and controlling fire. It would certainly come in handy, now that her fingers were so frozen, she wondered if she would be able to start a fire at all. Miraculously, she did, finally managing to light the moss wick of her stone fire bowl. (A/N: a stone or ceramic bowl filled with tallow or some other sort of slow-burning, long-lasting, lots-of-heat-producing fuel with a moss/plant fiber wick that can be lit quickly and easily. Used by Native Americans for centuries)

Once the fire bowl was lit and giving off enough heat to keep her comfortable, Juliet used her pack as a pillow and went to sleep, cradling her doll against her chest.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Juliet woke up at sunrise, and looked around. She hadn’t turned around in the night, so why was the way she had come in a wall of solid rock and what had been the back of the cave was opening out on a completely different landscape than what she had been in the night before? * Magic, * she thought. * What spirit has played a trick on me? * She blew out the fire bowl’s flame and packed up her belongings. * Then again, perhaps it isn’t a trick. Maybe it’s the miracle I’ve prayed for. This is a very different land from where I was, perhaps I will be safe here. * She walked out of the cave and looked around. The ground was thick with new-fallen snow, and a large twin-peaked mountain loomed in the distance, like the tooth of some great beast.

The sun was shining, but it was still very cold, and Juliet knew that she wouldn’t be able to last another day like this, with not much protection from the bitter chill and the wind. * What am I to do? * She asked herself as she heard a wolf call in the distance. * Un luperia, a she-wolf! Of course! * She mentally smacked herself on the forehead. * I was given my gift, why not use it? But what to use? Bear? No, not fast enough, would be too easy to catch. Eagle? The thermals are not so good, and I am not strong enough to flap as hard as I would need to in order to get airborne. Wolf! Yes! Perhaps they will accept me into their pack? I do not know, but I should try, and I can carry my pack on my back. Yes, I will be a wolf. * Concentrating hard, she slowly morphed her body until she was a juvenile wolf with black and silver fur. “Help me!” She howled, moving toward where she had heard the she-wolf, her pack on her back, the straps looped around her neck.

Trotting off, she looked back at the cave, but it wasn’t there anymore. * Definitely magic, * she mused. * Someone up there really does like me. * About a quarter of a mile from where the cave had been, she was met by a pack of wolves. Their leader, a large gray male with large black ears, stepped forward toward her. “I am Black Ears. What brings you to our lands?” He growled at her.

Juliet lay down in submission. “I am Little Bird,” she whimpered. “I have no pack. They are far away, and I have no place to den, no food to eat. I ask that I may join you.”

A white she-wolf stepped forward. “I am Juniper, mate of Black Ears. We have pups that need watching while we hunt. Our pack is small, hunters have taken many, and sometimes it is hard to find food when one of us must stay behind and watch the pups. If we accept you, will you be the pup-watcher?”

“I will, Juniper. Though I am little more than a pup myself, I will, if you will let me share the den and food,” Juliet replied.

“Then we shall let you in, for now,” Black Ears decided. Two females, one a dark grey color with white patches, the other pure silver, stepped forward. “The grey one is White Spots, the silver one is Lichen. And the pure black male behind them is Night Paws. Follow us.” They ran back to the den, Juliet lagging behind a bit.

“What’s wrong, Little Bird?” White Spots asked. “Are you well?”

“I have not eaten in three days,” Juliet replied. “I have not much strength left.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Lichen assured. “Now that we have six hunters we can catch an elk, or even a moose!” She yipped in excitement. “And we will bring you back the liver so you will be strong, Little Bird.”

“Thank you,” Juliet said, truly thankful. The liver was the richest part of an animal, full of good energy and life, and was always given to ill people so that they could recover their strength more easily.

She was led to the den, which was cut into the side of a small hill, and was very large. Three pups, all unnamed, tumbled about while a gray-blue female watched. “Hello, Sweet Fur,” Black Ears said. “This is our new babysitter, Little Bird.”

Sweet Fur got up and sniffed Juliet. “She smells strange.”

“That she does,” Juniper agreed. “But we cannot afford to be choosy now.” They were all in the den now, and the pups were sniffing Juliet and one of them had climbed on top of her.

“Sweet Fur is right,” Juliet admitted. “I am no ordinary wolf.” She took the pack off her back, let the pup climb down, and then she shapeshifted back into her normal form.

“A hunter!” Black Ears snarled. “How can you take wolf form? Tell us now!” He growled at her, baring his teeth.

“Peace, my son,” Sweet Fur said calmingly. “She is not hunter-kind. Do you not see her eyes? They have wildness in them, as do ours. She is Eagle’s kin. Tell me, child, are you from around here? From the human villages?”

“No,” Juliet replied in wolf-language. “I am from far away. I am Eagle’s kin, as you say. I seek refuge. I will watch the pups, as I promised. I merely ask that you would let me stay here. I too have been, am being hunted. Please.”

“You poor youngling, barely more than a pup, and already you’ve had so much hardship,” White Spots said, nuzzling against Juliet’s side. “She should stay with us, brother,” she told Black Ears. “We can’t leave her to fend for herself, you can see her bones through her skin!”

“And if she’s eagle’s kin, like she and Sweet Fur say, she is smart,” Lichen added. “She can teach us new things, and tell stories to the pups. Besides, if she’s the babysitter, then everyone can hunt, and we can bring down more game!”

Black Ears sighed in exasperation. Having his mother and sisters gang up on him was not his idea of a good time. “Oh, all right, she can stay,” he grumbled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*What does Juliet have to do with the X-Men? Where is she from, and why is she being hunted? Will she make a good puppy-sitter? Review and find out!

*Next Chapter: A light, an accident, and a rescue

*Please review!

[Rowena]

Those wolves really must be desperate to take her in so quickly...and to put her in charge of their cubs!

You've got me curious, now, with all your hinting. I look forward to the next chapter, and her meeting with the X-Men!

[RavEnigma]

As you'll soon see Rowena, her meeting with the X-Men will be quite...interesting. Hint: the language barrier isn't so easy to break, and Ororo finds herself once again called a goddess. Oh, and the Greek myth about Harpies isn't so mythical as you'd think.....

[Rowena]

Harpies...hmmm...sounds quite intreiguing! And I'll think about that Bamf idea. It has definate possibilities...

[RavEnigma]

*Uber-thanks to Jacob and Nandireya, who really helped me with this chapter.

*Also, MEGA-THANKS to Amy, my mentor and the coolest person ever. This fic is officially dedicated to her.

~~~~~

Juliet was curled up in a fetal position, trying not to move her left arm too much. She had slipped on some rocks a few days ago while she was leading the pups outside the den to play a bit, and had broken her arm. It was a nasty break, parts of her bone had been sticking through her skin until she had pushed them back into place, and now the wound was all red and puffy, and it really hurt.

She was in a lot of pain. It was hard to breathe, and she kept coughing, so hard that she felt her lungs would pop out sooner or later. The wolf cubs kept nosing her, trying to get her to move, but she couldn’t, she was hurt too badly. Worst of all, she couldn’t keep anything down. Lichen had brought her Elk liver, raw and full of life, but she ended up vomiting it up two hours later. Since then, she hadn’t kept anything down long enough for it to digest, which made her even weaker.

Her malnutrition had made the illness worse, and she had started hallucinating, screaming in pain as she relived memories from her past, only to suddenly calm down as she fell into coma-like sleep. If she didn’t get medical attention soon, she’d die. “God?” she cried out in a moment of lucidity. “Why? Why did you bring me this far, save me from so much, only to die here? Please help me!” The wolves didn’t understand her language, but they cuddled up around her, trying to help her in any way they could. She was part of their pack now, and they’d protect her to the death.

~~~~~~~~~~

Xavier awoke with a start. He had just had a very strange dream, very strange indeed. It wasn’t really a dream even, just a constant, repeated message, not even thoughts, but a subconscious cry for help. He had tried to get a mental reading on the sender, but all he could get was an internal distress signal, growing steadily weaker, as if the person sending the distress call was fading fast.

He hurried to Cerebro to try and lock in on the distress signal. Surprisingly, it was not very hard to find. The sender of the distress signal had brainwaves very different from those of mutants and humans, which led him to believe that the sender was neither, leading to another set of problems entirely. He managed to place a lock on the location, Mt. Denali National Park in Alaska, about two miles from the mountain itself. He was able to tell that the distressed person was a juvenile female, and was severely injured, almost close to death.

‘Ororo, Kurt,’ he mentally called them. ‘Sorry to wake you up, but I need the two of you to go on an important rescue mission. Suit up and head to the Blackbird. I’ll send the approximate coordinates into the navigation systems.’

Ororo and Kurt met at the Blackbird and got in. Kurt had passed his certification to fly just a few months before, but Ororo was experienced enough to make up for that. “Who exactly are we rescuing, Herr Professor?” Kurt asked over the com unit.

“I’m not quite sure, actually. There’s something blocking me from finding out more. I do know that the person is young, female, and in quite a bit of distress. You need to find her and bring her back as soon as possible. I have a hunch she’ll need medical attention.”

“Jawohl,” Kurt said as he and Ororo started the launch sequence. Within minutes, they were at sub-orbital velocity, speeding toward Mt. Denali National Park. The jet made the flight in half an hour, and soon they were circling over the radius the professor had given them.

“I’m going to run an infra-red scan,” Ororo said, switching it on. “In theory, it’ll pick up every heat signature possible. However, snow makes a very good insulator, and it might hide some things.”

“What about that?” Kurt asked. There were two unusual patches of heat on the screen. One was a funnel-shaped column, the other was tube-shaped.

“Maybe some kind of underground shelter. It seems like the best place to start, anyway. Let’s set the plane down and check it out.” They left the plane in a clump of pine trees not too far from the shelter. Not too far away from the shelter, they found a series of tracks that were unusual to say the least.

“The tracks are wolf until this point,” Ororo said, pointing at the pawprints. “But then they change into normal, human footprints that lead off toward the shelter. How could that be?”

Kurt shrugged. “Perhaps we should look closer to the shelter,” he suggested. They did, but when they got close to the entrance, a wolf lunged out at them, snarling and baring her teeth. “I’m thinking that this might not be the place we’re looking for,” he said meekly. “Nice doggie.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lichen had been keeping guard while the others slept when she heard a strange noise. Looking towards the source of the sound, she saw one of those metal-birds hunters used when they came to kill. She kept on alert as she saw two hunters get out of the metal-bird, and walk over to the pups’ playground. They were chattering to each other in hunter-language, and walked closer to the den.

They were coming for the pack, she realized. Lunging out at them, she gave them the fiercest growl she could do, warning them not to come any closer. She’d attack if she needed to, there was no question of that. Even if they hit her with a thunder-blaster, she’d fight as long as she could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Juliet opened her eyes weakly, even though she couldn’t see much. Lichen was outside, barking about some kind of hunters, sending a chill down her spine. Could the Queen’s Guards have followed her here? They couldn’t have. She sniffed the air, sighing in relief. It wasn’t them, but it wasn’t hunters, either. They smelled, they smelled like Elerie’s friends, almost. But older, and different. Maybe they could help her. But before she could think about it more, she fell into another coughing fit, and everything went into darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Ororo heard Juliet’s coughing fit first. “There’s someone in there,” she breathed. “Kurt, I’ll hold off the wolves. You go in there and get her to the Blackbird.”

“But I don’t know where I’m going! I could teleport into a wall or something!”

“It’s just snow, and I know you can do this, Kurt. I trust you.”

Kurt blushed a bit, then remembered the task at hand. “Ja, Ororo,” he said, teleporting and hoping that he didn’t mess up. He landed about a foot away from a large wolf that thankfully was still asleep. Even though the inside of the den was dark, the only light source being a small fire in a stone bowl, he could still see quite well. Over to his right there was a medium sized lump of what looked to be animal hides and blankets, with a shock of dark hair peeking out from it. ‘That’s probably her,’ he thought, moving closer to her and picking her up.

‘Mein Gott!’ he mentally exclaimed. She was extremely light, she couldn’t’ve weighed more than forty pounds, and her breathing was very shallow. He also grabbed the leather satchel she had been using as a mattress and the fire bowl, extinguishing the flame. He didn’t want to leave anything behind that she might need. He teleported to the Blackbird, reclining one of the seats back as far as it would go, and strapping her in, trying to move her as little as possible. Then he teleported outside to get Ororo, and about five minutes later, they were in the air.

“We need to get her to Hank as soon as we land,” Ororo told him as she flew the plane, going as fast as was safe. “She’s comatose, and her pulse is weak. If she doesn’t get medical treatment fast, she’ll probably die.”

Kurt nodded. Once they reached the mansion, Kurt teleported to the infirmary with Juliet.

“Oh my stars and garters!” Hank exclaimed when he saw Juliet. “I take it this is our newest addition?” He took Juliet out of Kurt’s arms and laid her on a bed. “She barely weighs anything!”

He checked her pulse, but it was barely detectable. “Ororo, I need your help. Get her into a gown while I get an IV ready.” Ororo often assisted Hank with medical procedures. She had helped Jean so often; she could’ve passed the RN exams without even trying. Ororo did so, and by the time Hank had the IV ready, Juliet was lying on a bed, all ready.

Hank noticed Juliet’s arm. There was a huge gash on her left arm, oozing pus. It was clearly infected, and would need serious attention once they had stabilized her. But what really caught his attention was that Juliet’s arms were covered with feathers. Several kinds, overlapping to form what appeared to be some kind of wing. Hank was intrigued, but decided to wait until later to check the wings out. He hooked up the IV, inserting it into the main vein on her arm. She didn’t even flinch. “Ororo? We need to stabilize her heart rate.”

“Already ahead of you, Hank,” Ororo said as she got the defibrillator over to the bed and hooked it up, adjusting the amperage so that it wouldn’t hurt the girl. “Ready?” she asked. Hank nodded. “One, two, three, clear!” The girl’s heartbeat shot up, but then returned to very low. They tried it again. “One, two, three, clear!” This time her heartbeat shot up and reached a normal level, staying there. “Well, that was good. She’s stable, at least.”

“If you’re referring to her heartbeat, then, yes. However, I need to run several tests. Her arm is obviously infected, and likely has spread to other parts of her body. We may have gotten her heart rate stable, but we are not out of the proverbial woods quite yet.”

“I take it that means that we need to run more tests.”

“Precisely.” Hank filled a hypodermic needle with an antibiotic. “Would you please sterilize that area right there?” He pointed to a spot on Juliet’s arm. Ororo did so, and Hank injected the needle into the young girl’s arm. “This broad-spectrum antibiotic should at least help until I can get a clearer picture of what ails her.” He took a syringe-full of blood. “Will you please place her in the X-Ray machine? I would like full-body pictures done, as well as some of her chest cavity and arm.”

Ororo gingerly picked up the girl and placed her inside the X-Ray tube, doing as Hank had asked. As the X-Ray buzzed and hummed, she wondered who the little girl was. Kurt had retrieved her belongings; there wasn’t much, but it might give them a clue or two. Of course, they could always ask the girl when she awoke.

Hank carefully measured out the blood. Some of it went into the Microbial Analyzer, which would tell him the contents of her blood, what bacterium were present, the amount of white and red blood cells, that sort of thing. Some more of it went into the Genetic Evaluator, which took the DNA from a blood sample and examined it, comparing it to the DNA stored in its banks, and pointed out unique features. The MA’s tests would take at least fifteen minutes, the GE’s, twenty. He went over to the X-Ray machine and helped Ororo remove the girl and place her back on the bed. By the time they had put a dressing on her arm and placed blankets over her to keep her warm, the x-rays had developed.

“Oh, Goddess,” Ororo gasped when she saw the x-rays. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Neither have I,” Hank agreed. “Her physical structure is even more avian than I realized. Look at those lungs and that heart, they’re quite large. And her bone structure. Not completely hollow, but close. But her frame seems.....emaciated. See? Bones tell more than you would think. She’s suffered from malnourishment for most of her life, I’d guess. It’s put her growth plates into remission. But recently, she must have found a way to get good food. Her body shows signs of rapid growth, catching up. However, I cannot be sure. Her physiology is so radically different, I’m not even quite sure how to treat her. Too little medicine and her body might not be able to fight the infection; too much and it may be overwhelmed and do more harm than good. I figure that if we take the normal dose for a child and reduce it by one-half, we should be all right.”

Ororo nodded. “How old do you think she is?”

Hank shrugged. “She could be anywhere from late childhood to early teens. I’d place her between nine and eleven, but I could be wrong.”

“Poor little girl.” Ororo brushed a lock of hair away from the girl’s face and started looking through the belongings that were placed on the adjacent table. She carefully undid the knot that tied the knapsack shut and took a leather-wrapped bundle out, gently unwrapping it. The bundle contained a book, its cover was leather-covered wood, its pages were printed paper that had been treated with some sort of solution to protect it. Ororo opened the book to the inside cover, seeing an inscription in a fine hand.

“Te min neaita, Juliet,” she read, stumbling a bit over the unfamiliar language. “Per tu neata, Elerie CeraVierle. Rejada mi, e rejada pa I amer tu eterna. Ai Sida, ha’s tara’sh, a su, vihai’i.” Ororo looked confused. “What does that mean?” She flipped through the book, finding what looked to be a table of contents. “Enesa, Esodus, Levitisus, Nafai, Dutereonoy.........Hadassah, Ruth, Deri d’ Solomon...Hank, I think this is a bible.” She flipped through further, to an especially thick page. It was an illustration of a myriad of people walking across a path in the middle of a sea. “Definitely a bible.”

“Most fascinating.” Hank examined the fire-bowl. “This appears to be some sort of a camp-stove. The inside is filled with a type of fat, presumably fuel. It’s actually quite similar to what the Inuit and certain Arctic tribes use as a portable fire.”

“They have things like that in Africa, too, in some parts. They’re useful.” Ororo continued to look through the bag, pulling out another book, which was very thick. “L’Dejiai Covajsa d’ William Shakespeare. I think it’s obvious what this is.”

“Yes, it appears that I am not the only thespian here anymore. And there is no need to tell me what this is, either,” he said, showing her what he had just finished examining: a rosary. “Silver and amethyst, quite well crafted I should say. But these items don’t seem to fit together.”

Ororo shook her head. “I know. It’s strange. The books and the rosary are in such fine condition, it’s easy to see that they were well made, and they probably cost a lot of money. Yet the empty food bag, her clothes, all the rest of her belongings show signs of extreme wear and tear, including her.”

“Perhaps a wealthy family fallen on hard times, clinging to the last items of finery? Or maybe she’s a thief. I really don’t know. We’ll just have to ask her when she wakes up, I suppose.”

Ororo nodded. Just then, the GE and the MA beeped. Hank went over to the MA and looked at the printout. “Pneumonia, as I suspected. Her white blood cell count is low, but the antibiotic should help. I’ll keep her on penicillin and vitamin supplements until she recovers.” He then went over to the GE, his eyes growing wide as he read the results. “Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle,” he gasped. “Ororo, take a look at this.” Ororo walked over.

“Yes?”

“Her DNA is completely unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The machine doesn’t know what to make of it. It doesn’t even come close to any of the DNA in its banks. The basic structure is the same, but there are some marked differences. I don’t think she’s either human or mutant.”

Ororo was confused. “Then what is she?”

“I think we’re dealing with some sort of new species. I can’t wait until she wakes up, a conversation with her will be most enlightening, I believe.”

~~~~~~~
Sorry for so long between updates! Hope this super-long chapter makes up for it!

[RavEnigma]

*Okay, this part is from Juliet’s POV mostly. So everything she says will be technically in her language, but will be written in English. When it switches out of her POV, anything non-English will be written in its original language.

*This is a chapter I’ve been waiting to write for a loooong time. Hope y’all like it!

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She woke to find that she was cold. Groggily opening her eyes, she looked at her surroundings and gasped. She wasn’t in the wolf den anymore; she was in a large room full of machines. A needle with a bag attached to it was in her arm. ‘Perhaps the Queen’s Guards have found me!’ she thought, panicking. ‘Perhaps I am in one of their torture rooms, and they are going to kill me!’ She was unsure of what to do, so she did the first thing that came to mind: she screamed.

00000000

Ororo was walking down the corridor to check on the little girl when she heard a sound from the medical lab. It was a primal scream, a sound that chilled her to the bone. She rushed into the lab to find the little girl thrashing about on the bed, her IV leaking onto the floor. The girl was obviously too weak to get up, but was doing her best to. “Calm down, sweetie,” she said in her most calming voice. The girl immediately stopped, staring at her with large, dark eyes. “Rehana,” she said, gasping. “Ai, Rehana! Jasa d’ nin neaka! Tu avescase mi! Na de, Rehana la Artalha! Na de!”

Ororo was puzzled. She moved closer to the girl. “I’m sorry, honey, but I can’t understand you. Can you speak English?”

The girl looked at Ororo quizzically. “Rehana? Tu nen rejaskave mi? Nedra Rehana, qe evejarse?”

“I suppose not.” Ororo sat down on the bed beside the girl. “You probably don’t understand a word I’m saying, do you?”

The girl just looked even more puzzled. “Rehana,” she said, gesturing toward Ororo. “Juliet,” she said, pointing at herself. “Mi Juliet, tu Rehana. Peresh, neh?” She looked at Ororo hopefully.

Ororo smiled, understanding. The girl’s name was Juliet. But why was Juliet calling her “Rehana”? She looked closer at Juliet. Her face was lean, with two large, almond-shaped eyes that were dark with flecks of gold. She was smiling, showing off teeth that were pointed, almost fanglike. The long black hair that framed her face was matted and oily, looking like it hadn’t been brushed in weeks, or even months. Her skin was the palest Ororo had ever seen, with thin red scars on her cheeks and jaw. The bridge of Juliet’s nose also had several scars, telltale marks of broken noses past. Looking at the parts of Juliet’s body not covered by gown or blanket, Ororo could see many more scars.

“Qe ei tu vuejhan ge, Rehana?” Juliet noticed where Ororo was looking. “Oh.” She made a feeble attempt to cover herself with the blanket, looking ashamed. “Tu ei vuejhan ge nin shajshkavai. Se e qe vanahde, jan tu ei an zavkajna’vusja. Tu uri ujarun te po.”

This time, it was Ororo’s turn to be confused. “Zavkajna’vusja,” Juliet said, picking up one of her blankets and twisting it like a rope around her wrists, then picking up another, twisting it, and pretending to hit herself with it. She pointed to the scars. “Shajshkavai.”

Ororo’s eyes widened. The girl wasn’t saying what she thought she was, was she? That she had been whipped, that that was what had caused the scars? Who in their right mind would do that to a little girl? She picked up the twisted blankets and untwisted them, placing them around Juliet. “Don’t worry, sweetie, no one will do that here. You’re safe.”

Ororo picked up the IV, which miraculously hadn’t leaked all that much, replaced the needle with a clean one, and prepared to re-insert it into Juliet’s arm. “This will only hurt a bit, and it’ll help you, okay? Don’t pull it out this time.” Juliet just stared at her. Ororo pantomimed putting the IV into her arm, then pantomimed pulling it out, shaking her head to show that she shouldn’t pull it out. Juliet looked confused for a minute, then nodded her head in understanding and let Ororo put the IV back in her arm, barely whimpering.

Juliet yawned widely, showing off extremely pointed teeth. “Je se sana, Rehana,” she said, curling up into the blankets further and instinctively reaching for something. A look passed over her face, one of realization. She pulled herself upright and looked around, seeing her satchel on the nearby table. She pointed to it.

Ororo went over to the table and brought out a cloth doll that she had seen the night before. It had yellow yarn hair, blue-stitched eyes outlined in black and red, red lips, and was wearing a light blue dress with wide sleeves. “Is this it?” she asked, holding up the doll.

Juliet smiled, her eyes brightening, as she nodded her head as vigorously as she could. Ororo brought the doll over to her, smiling a bit as Juliet hugged it to her chest possessively after Ororo handed it to her. “Na de,” she said, bowing her head in a gesture of what Ororo interpreted as thanks.

“You’re welcome,” Ororo replied. She couldn’t help smiling. This little girl was probably in a lot of pain from the pneumonia, yet she didn’t whine or complain, she just toughed it through. “If only I could speak your language, little one,” she sighed. Juliet looked wide-eyed at her for a moment, then closed her eyes, snuggling deeper into the blankets with her doll. “Sweet dreams, Juliet,” she said, patting the girl on the head and getting up from the bed.

“Niva Peresh, Rehana,” Juliet said softly, in her soft, musical voice, then started coughing a bit, but the fit didn’t last too long. The penicillin had really helped, even after a few hours. Ororo left the lab, closing the door, and went to get a late breakfast.

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Juliet had been surprised to see the woman rush into the room. The calming voice, the beautiful features, she couldn’t believe it, but it had to be. It was Rehana, protector-spirit of her father’s clan, just like Elerie was the protector-spirit for her mother’s. “Ai, Rehana!” she called out, greeting the divine one. “Spirit of my clan! You rescued me! Thank you, Rehana the Beautiful, thank you!”

But Rehana didn’t seem to understand Juliet’s call of greeting, saying something in a strange language. Perhaps the spirits had a different language than Das Ha’ar? “Rehana?” she asked. “You do not understand me? Lady Rehana, what is the matter?”

More of the talking in the spirit-language. “Rehana,” Juliet said, pointing toward the spirit. “Juliet,” she said, pointing toward herself. “I am Juliet, you are Rehana. Good, neh?” Rehana seemed to understand that. Juliet could feel Rehana’s gaze moving, looking at her more closely, and then her eyes widened as she saw something.

“What are you looking at, Rehana? ” Juliet saw where she was looking. “Oh,” She was ashamed, trying to cover herself with a blanket, but she didn’t feel like she had the strength. “You are looking at my scars. That is what happens, when you are a slave. You get used to it.” Juliet felt even more ashamed, lying to a spirit, but she didn’t want to scare Rehana off. The truth was, you never got used to the beatings, even when you’d been getting them ever since you could remember. Every one hurt like the first, the only difference was that you could stand more lashings before passing out. She saw how confused Rehana looked. “Slave,” she said, taking a blanket and twisting it like a rope, winding it about her wrists, then taking another, twisting it, and pretending to hit herself with it. She pointed to the scars that covered her body “Scars.”

Rehana untwisted the blankets and put them around Juliet, speaking to her comfortingly in the spirit-language. Rehana then took the strange bag that had been in Juliet’s arm, placed a new needle in it, and pantomimed putting it in her arm. Juliet understood, the bag had healing herbs in it, and would help her. She nodded her head, and clenched her teeth against the pain of the needle going into her arm. Juliet yawned. “I’m going to sleep, Rehana,” she said, curling up into the blankets and reaching for her doll. Panic flashed in her mind; Elerie wasn’t there! She pulled herself upright, seeing her satchel on the table, pointing to it.

Rehana reached in the bag and brought out the doll. She asked Juliet a question. Juliet figured that Rehana was asking if that was what she wanted. Juliet smiled, nodding her head. She hugged the doll to her chest after Rehana gave it to her. “Thank you,” she said, bowing her head in thanks. Rehana spoke softly to her, patting her on the head, then standing back up and turning to leave. “Good night, Rehana,” Juliet said as she curled even further into the blankets, falling asleep.


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*So, what do you think of it? Like it? Love it? Please review!

*Oh, and so you know, the doll’s name will be REALLY important later on, as will the whole “Rehana” thing.

[RavEnigma]

“This will teach you to steal food again, slave!” Mata swung her whip through the air and onto Juliet’s back, the bite of the leather making her cry out in pain. Mata did it again, and again, every blow making Juliet scream louder. “Mercy! Have mercy!” Juliet cried, but it was to no avail, Mata neither heard nor cared. “You little thieving mongrel, you deserve everything you get. It’s your fault, you know. If you’d remembered your place, I never would’ve had to give you extra lashings now, would I?” Mata put away the whip and took out a cat-o’-nine-tails, each piece of leather studded with razor-sharp spikes, and brought it down hard against Juliet’s sides. Blood ran in rivers down Juliet’s back as she screamed bloody murder, but it was to no use. Nothing short of passing out would make them stop, and sometimes not even that. Juliet closed her eyes, praying for death.

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Hank had been doing some research in the lab when Juliet started thrashing about in her sleep, crying out. He paged Ororo on the intercom, letting her know that it was happening again. In the three days since Juliet’s arrival, she had slept most of the time, a mixed blessing, because while her body needed the sleep to heal, the nightmares that plagued the child’s dreams were unsettling to all. Only Ororo could calm the girl down when she got like that.

A few minutes later, Ororo arrived in the infirmary, sitting down on the bed and comforting Juliet, stroking her back and murmuring to her. Juliet opened her eyes. “Another bad dream?” Ororo knew Juliet couldn’t understand English, but she seemed to get the message, nodding, her eyes wide with fear. Due to the language barrier, Ororo couldn’t understand much of what Juliet said, but she suspected the nightmares had to do with the scars that covered most of the girl’s body. After a few minutes, Juliet had gone back to sleep.

“Any luck with finding out her language?” Ororo asked.

Hank shook his head. “I’ve entered passages from the two books she has in every translator I could find. No matches, nothing even close. Though I have been able to do some translating, of a sort, on the book of Shakespeare. The grammar structure, at least, is somewhat familiar, quite similar to that of English. At least, that’s what I think. I have no real information. Everything is just an educated guess. And since the Professor can’t read her mind, it looks like we have a very tough time ahead of us.”

Ororo nodded, remembering Xavier’s failed attempt to read Juliet’s mind. The girl possessed a natural mental barrier that was quite formidable. “Well, maybe we can try harder to communicate with her, once she’s recovered more.”

“That does seem to be our best course of action. At least she trusts you. It’s actually quite interesting, how she acts around you. Almost reverent, yet a bit confused.”

“Tell me about it. Meanwhile, the students have been gossiping like you wouldn’t believe. It seems like everyone has their own theory about our newest arrival.”

Hank chuckled. “Yes, Bobby entertained me with his idea that she’s an alien invader just this morning. And some of the girls seemed quite disappointed that we hadn’t brought back a cute guy from Alaska.”

They both laughed. “See you, then, Hank,” Ororo said, turning to leave. “I have a class starting in fifteen minutes.”

“All right. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

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“Rehana?” Juliet asked as she woke up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. She saw someone moving towards her out of the corner of her eye. For some odd reason, she was reminded of that one person Elerie had introduced her to, Lord Droios. Except Lord Droios looked like a cat, and this person didn’t. But both Lord Droios and the man were tall and blue and furry. Maybe he was the clan-spirit for Lord Droios’s kin? He wore eye-glasses, like Erren’s girlfriend, Hisperia. The furry-spirit spoke to her in the spirit-language. Juliet didn’t really understand him, though. “Hello, sir,” she said as respectfully as she could.

The furry-spirit smiled, and said something else in the spirit-language. He took out some kind of pen and wrote on a pad of paper, giving Juliet an idea. Maybe if she drew what she was trying to say, the spirits would understand her! “May I please have some paper and a pen, like yours?” she asked, gesturing toward the pad and pen.

Elerie had taught her how to use a pen, back in Jeinar. Elerie had even showed her how to write not only her name, but some other words as well. And Elerie had said Juliet was a good artist, when Juliet had shown her some pictures she’d drawn. Elerie was the nicest person she knew, though Rehana was close. But Rehana was a spirit, so maybe she didn’t count on the ‘nicest people ever’ list.

The furry-spirit looked a bit confused, but when Juliet repeated herself, he seemed to understand, handing her a big pad of yellow paper with lines on it and a pen with a clicker-thingy at the top making the tip with the ink on it come out. Juliet clicked the pen a few times. It was different than the ones most people used back in Jeinar, back there most people used quills and ink-pots. But people like Elerie’s friends used clicker-pens, maybe because they were from Everia. Or maybe it was because a lot of them were human? She didn’t know. But finally, she had a way for the spirits to understand her.

She took the pen and drew a picture of herself, then wrote her name above the picture: Juliet Cera. She pointed to herself, then the drawing, saying her name aloud. The furry-spirit looked surprised, chattering excitedly in his language, and writing some more on his pad of paper. Juliet drew more pictures, explaining them and writing the words for them, if she knew them. She was feeling a lot better, and now with the clicker-pen and the paper, she could make the spirits understand her! ‘Elerie would be so proud of me!’ she thought.

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That's it for now, folks! If you read this, please post what you think of it! Otherwise I have no idea what I'm doing wrong/right, and if I'm getting characters right. Please?

[RavEnigma]

Hi y’all and welcome to another chapter of Strangers Like Me!

Reviewer Responses:

darkstorm5000: Actually, her mental block is an inherited trait- she got it from her mom (more about her later, Juliet’s family is pretty messed up, especially her mother). As for the ‘alien invaders’ thing, well, Juliet isn’t from Earth, that’s for sure. As for someone looking for her, how’d you guess? Are –you- a telepath or something? But that won’t happen for a while, there’s plenty more to get sorted out first. Glad you like my fic so much!

Author’s Notes: If you think Juliet is a bit too smart for a little kid, take this into account: Juliet is a member of an advanced alien race, one that matures at a different rate than humans. Typical people of her race start their equivalent of grade school at age 2, finishing at age 14, and then they go on to college/ apprenticeship for 2-5 years. Also, her race has no pollution, they have an enormous surplus of food, and they haven’t had a civil war in 4,000 years. Back home, Juliet would be considered very uneducated, actually.

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Juliet followed Rehana down the hallway. She was feeling a lot better than she had been a few days ago; thanks to the medicines the fuzzy-spirit (she had heard the other spirits call him Hank) had been giving her. She could get up and walk around now, and her lungs didn’t hurt as much. She still had to keep the cast on her arm, but she knew that her bones were healing and she could take it off soon. She had learned a lot about healing when she had lived with her Aunt Nadia, that’s for sure.

Rehana was taking her to see the man in the metal chair. ‘He’s so interesting! I’ve never seen a metal chair like his! And his head, it’s so shiny! Why doesn’t he have hair? I’ve never seen anyone like that, either. So strange! But he is very nice. I am starting to think I am not in the spirit-world after all, though. Now that I think more upon it, their language is like that one Elerie and her friends used, what was it called? Oh, yes, English, a human language.’ Besides, it didn’t feel like the spirit world, not at all. She had been told that the spirit world was full of happiness and joy, and while she sensed these feelings here, she also sensed pain, sadness, and fear, which had no place in the spirit world. ‘I think that I am in the world of the humans. Yes, that is where I am. But I will still call the lady who looks like my father’s clan-spirit Rehana. After all, it is fine for a person to have more than one name.’

She walked into the office. The metal-chair-man gestured toward an armchair that looked very squishy and comfortable, and Juliet sat down. Rehana also took a seat. Hank and the other blue man, the one Rehana called Kurt, were sitting in chairs on the other side of the room. Juliet liked Kurt, he made Rehana smile and laugh, and he was very nice. The red-eyes man wasn’t there, but it was okay because Juliet didn’t like him very much. He never smiled. The shaggy-bear-man was there, and Rogue. Juliet waved at Rogue. ‘Rogue is nice. I’m so glad Rehana took me to meet her, I like her a lot. She reminds me of Elerie, but sadder. And she has pretty eyes like Zenobia and Aunt Nadia. Too bad that she can’t touch people without hurting them. She told me that it will hurt, what we’re going to do now, but it can’t be worse than what Mata did to me, nuh-uh!’

Everyone spoke. Juliet knew that they were deciding if it was the best choice. It had been her idea, actually. She was frustrated with them not being able to understand her. It wasn’t her fault she’d never been to school, so she couldn’t speak English or anything but the language of her people. ‘I wonder if it will hurt Rogue? I know she gets people’s memories, does she feel their pain, too? I don’t want her to be hurt because of me; I’ve caused enough trouble as it is. That’s why I had to leave Jeinar, so that Aunt Nadia and Erren wouldn’t get hurt, and that’s why I couldn’t live with Elerie or Zenobia, because then they’d get hurt. That’s why I couldn’t stay with my family.’

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“Hank, are you sure she’s well enough to go through with this?” Storm asked.

“Nothing’s sure with her, Ororo, you know that. But it was her idea to do this.”

“Seems pretty sharp for a kid,” Logan commented.

“I believe that the decision is Juliet and Rogue’s. Juliet has conveyed to me that she understands the risks, and that she deems it the best way for us to be able to understand her,” Xavier said.

“I don’t want to hurt her, she’s just a little kid,” Rogue protested. She turned to Juliet. “Are ya sure this is a good idea?” Juliet looked at her quizzically as she processed the words in her mind, blinked, then nodded vigorously. “All right, then.” She took a deep breath, removed her glove, and placed her hand on Juliet’s face.

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It did hurt, at first. She felt her memories copying themselves and flowing out of her mind into Rogue’s. It was the strangest thing she had ever felt, but there wasn’t much pain, that is, until the memories hit. It seemed like she was reliving everything that ever happened to her. Mata’s curses and blows, Elerie’s hugs, Sandra singing to her, the time she had caught Erren and Hisperia kissing in the gardens, the day she had run away from Queen’s Citadel, every single thing. The mental anguish was excruciating, her brain raced with trying to keep up with everything until it just gave up, and the flood of memories was replaced with dreams as she passed out.

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“Let that be a lesson to you, you good-for-nothing thief!” “Please don’t tell anyone you caught us kissing, Juliet, Hisperia would never hear the end of it from her friends.” “How could you betray me like that? I should have killed you at birth, like you deserved!” “I’ll always be there for you, Juliet, you know that. We’re family, and I love you, baby sister.” “I thought slavery was illegal in Harpja.” “Have mercy! She’s just a child, what did she do wrong?” “You were never meant to be born. You were a mistake, the result of too much wine and a festival.” “Juliet, save me!” “Two houses, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we make our scene...”

The voices swirled in Rogue’s head as she absorbed Juliet’s memories. So much pain, so much sadness in so short a life. She pulled away as Juliet passed out, the young girl’s head hitting the arm of the chair with a muffled “whump”.

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Next chapter: Rogue and Juliet sort through the memories, and the X-Men get quite a few surprises.

Please review!

[Nightcrawlis]

Good start, liking what I've read so far. Juliet is certainly an interesting character, I'm looking forward to finding out more about her.

[DarkCrawler]

Great fic you have in here! More...please?

[Rowena]

This is really cool so far! I like that she's an alien. That's such a neat idea! Keep up the good work! I look forward to reading more!

[CurlyyHairGirl]

Sorry for not posting earlier. This is a really interesting fic, I like it. Will you update soon?...Please????:puppy

[RavEnigma]

WOW. I'm amazed that I got so many posts while I was at camp! Don't worry, more Juliet is coming soon. Just give me time to catch up on all the sleep I missed, kay?

[RavEnigma]

Welcome to the chapter we’ve all been waiting for, the one where Juliet’s past is revealed! You WILL find out who Elerie is in this chapter, and why she’s so important to Juliet, as well as exactly how Juliet got all those scars...not for the weak of heart, folks!

A/N: I know it’s been over a month since I updated last, sorry about that. There was camp, and vacation, and a HUGE case of writer’s block. (Thank you, Michelle2! Everybody go read her fics, they’re absotively posolutely fabulotastic!)

Disclaimer: when in doubt, do it anyway!

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Juliet wasn’t out for long. ‘I guess Harpjans have different reactions to stuff,’ Rogue mused as she sorted out the torrent of information that had entered her mind. A lot of the memories were painful, with the occasional happy experience thrown in. Most of her recent memories were quite happy, though.

“Is there anything you’d rather me not tell the others?” Rogue asked Juliet.

Juliet shrugged. “In order for them to understand, they must know all. I do not mind; I have nothing to hide. I am not ashamed of my past.” ‘It is so nice to have someone who can understand my language! Especially someone so nice. She really does remind me of Elerie, uh-huh, she does.’

“All right, then. I’ll ask you if there’s anything I need clarification on, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Juliet is from a world different than ours, a world called Evre,” Rogue explained. “I guess you’d say it’s in another dimension or something. It used to be connected to ours, back in ancient times, but there was a war, and the connection was destroyed, along with all the evidence that the other world ever existed in anything but myths. Her world is populated by a bunch of races, each looking pretty different, though Juliet herself hasn’t seen that many. There are a lot of mutants in her world, though. Most of Juliet’s relatives are mutants, and apparently, there have been mutants ever since recorded history began, at least where she’s from, which is kinda weird.”

“Indeed,” Hank said. “I’ll take a closer look at her DNA, we might find some very interesting things.”

“Maybe,” Rogue agreed, nodding. Juliet tugged on the sleeve of Rogue’s shirt and whispered something. “Juliet says to tell you that almost everything from myth is based on something in Evre. Her race, for example, is what the Greeks based their Harpies on. Apparently it was some kind of ancient propaganda, because she says that most races in her world didn’t get along very well with the Greeks and Romans, that they liked the Celts and Egyptians more.”

Juliet tugged on Rogue’s sleeve again. “I’m getting to that,” Rogue replied in Juliet’s language, then switched back to English. “Juliet is a member of a race that calls themselves ‘Das Ha’ar’, which means ‘The People’. Other races call them Harpjans, though, because her race lives in a country called Harpja. Until about six months ago, Juliet had never left Queen’s Citadel, the capital city, where she lived in the palace...as a slave.”

There was a collective gasp from the others. “In Harpja, slavery is used on criminals who are too valuable to kill, but too dangerous to put in prison.”

“Why would a little girl be enslaved, then? She doesn’t seem like a criminal,” Kurt asked, shocked and confused.

“Juliet was enslaved on the order of Queen Nerai.... Juliet’s mother. Queen Nerai was second in line for the throne, so she killed her older half-sister, and then killed her own mother, gaining the throne. Nerai feared that Juliet would do the same to Daria, Nerai’s oldest daughter, so when Juliet was born, she told the public that the child had been stillborn, and had Juliet enslaved in the palace, where Nerai could always keep an eye on her. Until she was two, Juliet was raised by Sandra, a scullery maid, but when Juliet was weaned, Sandra was killed and Juliet was put to work at the lowest tasks possible. Failure to do the jobs perfectly earned beatings from the head servant, Mata.”

Juliet said something else in Harpjan. “Juliet says that Mata took it as her life’s mission to make Juliet’s existence as miserable as possible, often beating her for no reason or making her go without food for days at a time. Some of the other servants would sneak her food, but not often. The only time she was ever really happy was when she was allowed to go to Mass at the servant’s chapel each week. Praying became a way for her to escape the pain of everyday life, and every night she’d pray for freedom. About six months ago, a chance came and she took it. Mata became sick, and Juliet, who had been practicing with her powers, shapeshifted to slip out of her chains, stole some food, and ran away from the palace, flying by night and sleeping by day, making her way south. In the south, below the equator, there was a city on the border called Jeinar, and Juliet knew that Nerai’s younger sister, whom she had disowned, lived there, and that the sister had no love for Nerai at all. She planned to throw herself on her aunt’s mercy and ask for help.”

By now, everyone in the room was on the edge of their seats in suspense. They were both appalled at how Juliet had been treated and at the same time, eagerly anticipating the next part of the story.

“It worked better than she’d planned, in some ways, and worse than her most horrible nightmares in others. Her Aunt Nadia welcomed her with open arms, letting her stay in the guest room, and for the first time in her life, Juliet had regular meals, a warm place to sleep, and proper medical treatment. Nadia was a healer, and was able to correct the effects of a lifetime of malnutrition. About a month later, in June, is when the trouble started. There was the great midwinter festival, and spectators from all over the world came to Harpjan Jeinar for the festivities. The Queen of Everia, Harpja’s neighbor to the east, was one of them. Juliet had just gotten used to living with her Aunt Nadia and older cousin, Erren, when Erren’s older twin, Elerie arrived. For the past year, Elerie had been working for the Everish government, serving as Secretary of State, and Nadia had told Elerie that she and some friends could stay with her and Erren during the festival. Juliet was happy to finally meet her older cousin, who was somewhat of a local celebrity, but she had no idea that Elerie’s two friends would be the Queen of Everia and her second-in-command.

“Juliet followed them around, mostly because she wanted to be with Elerie, but also because the royal elite force, the Queen’s Guards, were tracking her, and Elerie, as a ‘foreign’ diplomat, had political amnesty. She figured that Elerie would protect her, and she was right. Unfortunately, Elerie also got her in trouble. Nerai was more of a dictator than a queen, and Elerie was a member of a secret group of rebels. When their leader, Jeia, found out about Juliet’s parentage, she convinced Juliet into helping her with the rebellion, saying it was only right that Juliet get revenge on her mother, even though all Juliet wanted was a place where she could be safe, she never wanted vengeance. She says it would be wrong.” Juliet tugged on Rogue’s sleeve and added something. “Juliet adds that for a crazy person, Jeia was very persuasive. Anyway, by day, Juliet stayed at Nadia’s house or followed Elerie around. Elerie was the first real friend Juliet had ever had in her life, and acted like a big sister to her, teaching her things, like how to read and write a bit, and especially telling her stories about all the great things Elerie had done. She was the one who gave Juliet the rosary, and the bible, and the book of William Shakespeare’s plays, and especially her doll, who Juliet named Elerie, in her honor. Erren was the one who gave her some gold coins in exchange for not telling anyone that Juliet had caught him and the Everish queen kissing in the gardens.” Juliet giggled a bit. “But back to the part about the rebellion. Jeia and her fellow rebels managed to capture the Lord Consort of Harpja, Juliet’s father, intending to hold him for ransom, then murder the queen when she came to rescue her husband. Juliet was appointed to bring him his food and guard him while he was imprisoned. Jeia thought it would be ironic, but it didn’t work. The Lord Consort didn’t even recognize his own daughter.

“Jeia’s attempt to stage a rebellion ended in disaster. Queen Nerai sent her most elite troops to storm the hideout, rescuing the Lord Consort and capturing all there. Elerie and a few of her friends, including the Everish royalty and Juliet, escaped to safety, but six of the rebels were executed for high treason. Jeia, who apparently was insane, threw herself off the roof before she was captured and died when she hit the street. Juliet hid in her aunt’s house, but she knew she wouldn’t be safe for long, now that the Queen’s Guards knew that she was in Jeinar. Elerie offered to take her back to Everia with her, but Juliet knew that might make Nerai declare war on Everia, and if Nerai ever caught her, her life would be forfeit. So under cover of darkness she ran away again, this time heading to the southern sea, where she planned to buy passage to Sebayira, which doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Harpja. Once there, she’d work as a servant or something, she hadn’t really planned much past getting on the ship. But things didn’t work out that way, obviously.

“She took shelter for the night in a cave in a rocky outcropping, and in the morning, when she woke up and left the cave, she was in a different place. As she turned back to look at the cave, it was gone, leaving her in the middle of a snowy landscape with a mountain in the distance: Mt. Denali Park, Alaska.

“She transformed into wolf shape when she heard a wolf’s howl, and howled back. She pleaded with the pack to accept her, and they agreed, as long as she watched the pups. In return, the wolves brought her food and kept her safe. But one day she was outside with the pups, playing with them, and she slipped on a rock, breaking her arm. She was able to push the bones back through her skin, but not much else. To make things worse, she got sick. About four days after the accident, Mr. Wagner and Ms. Munroe showed up and rescued her. She thought she was being taken to the spirit world. Actually, until about three hours ago, she believed she was in the spirit world, but then she realized that she was on Earth.”

Logan snorted. “Sounds like the kid was seriously mixed up.”

“Well, you would be, too, Logan. It’s not like she’s had much experience,” Ororo put in.

Rogue and Juliet nodded in agreement. Juliet asked something in Harpjan, and Rogue answered, and then Juliet said something else. “Juliet says that you’re right, Miss Munroe. And so is Logan. She was very mixed up, but she says that you should take into mind the fact that she was ill.” Juliet said something else. “Oh, and Juliet says for me to tell you that Juliet Cera isn’t her real name.”

Xavier raised an eyebrow. “And what is her real name, then?”

Rogue gave Juliet an ‘are you sure about this?’ look, and Juliet nodded. “Her real name is Eliantha CeraVerai. She changed it when she ran away. A few years ago, when a company of traveling players came to the palace, she snuck into the banquet hall every night to watch them perform. They performed plays by Shakespeare, and she loved every one of them, especially ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’. She decided that she no longer wanted the name that she had been given by Nerai, so she changed it to Juliet. And she thinks that her new name sounds prettier.”

Xavier smiled. “Well, welcome to the Xavier Institute, Juliet.”

Rogue translated for Juliet, and then replied. “She says thanks.” Juliet added something, and Rogue gave her a questioning look and said something in Harpjan. Juliet repeated herself, more firmly this time. Rogue rolled her eyes, but spoke anyway. “Juliet says that she’s really grateful for letting her stay here so long. She wants me to warn y’all that this place is in danger because she’s here, though. The Queen’s Guards are after her, and they won’t stop until she’s dead, or they are. She doesn’t want anyone to get hurt because of her.”

“Tell the kid that no offense, but I think we can handle these ‘Queen’s Guards’ and whatever they throw at us. After all, we have the home team advantage, right?” Logan said, chewing on his (unlit) cigar.

“Logan is right,” Xavier. “If the Queen’s Guards do appear, we will deal with them as best we can. In the meantime, though, I believe that we should not worry about things that might not even come to pass, all right?”

Rogue translated, and Juliet nodded, though she was still wary. They had no idea what the Queen’s Guards could do. They hadn’t seen Sandra, who had nursed Juliet until she was two, and her young daughter, Zara, murdered so that no one would find out that Queen Nerai’s second child had not been stillborn, as the queendom had been told at Juliet’s birth. They had not seen a girl beheaded because she had been walking by the taverna at the wrong time, when the Guards were raiding the rebel base beneath the taverna’s floors.

They had not seen the joy in the eyes of the murderers, the pure elation of these queen-sanctioned killers. They loved killing. They were not like Kiya Roja, Fitaliney Diamondclaw, and Vegnencia, the thief and two assassins who had rescued Juliet and Elerie and Elerie’s friends more than once; Kiya, Fitaliney, and Vegnencia had honor, they had morals. The Queen’s Guards were monsters, pure and simple. There was no good left in their hearts, only darkness that threatened to pull everything it touched into its poisonous embrace.

And Nerai was their queen, the reincarnation of Numa, Ancient Queen of Darkness and Destruction. Juliet did not understand why her grandmother, Queen Alarina, had not seen the darkness in her daughter and summoned a priestess to cleanse her, or do something to keep the darkness from spreading. Instead, Nerai had murdered both Queen Alarina and Nerai’s oldest sister, Nadira, the first two in a long line of deaths by Nerai’s hand. And just a few months ago, Juliet had almost joined the number. She shuddered. She didn’t want to think about that, it still gave her nightmares. If Vegnencia hadn’t saved her by using her magic and disappearing with Juliet into the shadows....it wouldn’t’ve ended well.

Juliet’s stomach growled. She tugged on Rogue’s sleeve. “I’m hungry. Can we please go and get some food? Please?” Rogue laughed a bit. “Sure, let me ask the Professor and then we can go to the kitchen, okay?” Juliet nodded vigorously.

“Erm, Professor? Juliet wants to know if she can go and get some food now. She’s hungry, and so am I, actually. It is lunchtime, anyway. I can fix her a sandwich or something, and she could meet some of the other students.”

Xavier thought it over for a bit. “All right, then.”

Juliet smiled widely, bowing her head in thanks as her stomach growled again, louder this time. “Let’s go and see what we can find to eat,” Rogue said, taking Juliet by the hand and leading her toward the kitchen. Juliet grinned even wider.

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Well, there ya have it, folks! Whaddaya think? Like it? Love it? Lemme know! Post what you think of it!

-Rav

[Nights_dreams]

brillantly done... keep them coming!!!

[Nightcrawlis]

I like it, keep up the good work

[CurlyyHairGirl]

Hallelujah!!!! I so glad that there was an update to this, and a very good one at that. I missed sooo much while I was gone and it's good to come back and see the world is still moving... I think..,:bamf