Chapter 97: The Endless Desert

Chapter 97: The Endless Desert

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1st September 2005, Valley of Kings

(Mystique POV)

For the first time in her life, Mystique was absolutely speechless. What she has just seen, what she has just experienced, was something that both humbled her and scared her out of her mind. Here in the sands of the desert, in the heart of Egypt, she stood still, in shock.

To be honest with herself, the shapeshifter entered this fight knowing that she had a small chance at surviving it. They weren't fighting some upstart mutant who got a taste of power and got addicted to it. They were fighting someone who was able to take control of both Charles and Eric. No, they're Xavier and Magneto now. It's sad that the people she had once considered to be her closest friends are now nothing but strangers to her.

Magneto stopped being her ally and became her superior. The man actively frightened her into obeying his orders, and who wouldn't be terrified at someone of his power and skill. Xavier on the other hand, lost her trust when she decided to leave with Magneto after the fiasco in Cuba. He had tried to persuade her using his powers to stay with him, removing the point of her having a choice in the first place. Fortunately, Mystique was familiar with his telepathy, having lived in his house, or mansion, for years. She was able to resist his powers somewhat, which was something she did when she noticed the mental compulsion. He stopped being Charles after that, he became Xavier instead.

The shapeshifter stayed under the thumb of those two super mutants for decades. Truth be told, she disagreed with both. Magneto was too violent, focusing on the extermination of humans in general. The master of magnetism was still affected by his childhood in the concentration camps during the second world war. Charles, however, was too pacifistic. He put his faith in the understanding nature of humans, hoping for some sort of coexistence. It was a beautiful dream, but that's the problem; it's just a dream. Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

Charles never understood the true nature of humans. When you remove all threats or supervision, they became little more than animals. Mystique saw this side of the world before she met Charles and moved in with him. On the streets, might makes right. However, society punishes those who break the rules, and that allowed the people to feel safe and secure, but also to curb their instincts. The reality of mutants throws that security out of the window. If Magneto decided to one day kill the president, there was little that anyone could do to stop him, or apprehend him after the fact.

Fear breads anger and anger breads hatred. Charles never understood that, he hadn't suffered much, nothing more than neglectful parents and his paralysis from the waist down during the shitstorm that was Cuba. Charles always put humanity above mutants and that belief scared the crap out of her. She chose Magneto, not because she supported him, but because it was the only path in front of her that had a chance at her kind's survival. Irene said so herself, and she was rarely wrong when she divined the future.

But now, Mystique understood how outclassed she really was. They fought a foe so much stronger than them; it would have been impossible for them to survive. The shapeshifter had held hope after their little team defeated the three horsemen, Jean Grey proving, surprisingly, to be a valuable asset to their makeshift team. After Magneto being free, she thought they had a chance. She thought wrong. Apocalypse played with them, and beat them soundly.

To be fair, Mystique didn't mind dying. She was far older than she looked and she lived a full life. She knew misery, and knew great love. She has seen conflict and experienced true serenity. What she wouldn't accept was her son, Kurt, dying as well. Mystique had many regrets in her life, but losing Kurt had to be one of her worst. It was nice to see that he was well taken care of, and was overjoyed when she saw him in the institute, recognizing him the moment she laid eyes on him.

However, his joining of Xavier's little team posed problems to the missions he will be expected to accomplish in the future. The thought of having her little teleporter in a conflict like the one she just experienced sickened her. She'll need to talk to Xavier about it.

Yes, Mystique was aware of magic, but only in passing. She had an acquaintance in the form of Agatha Harkness, who was also a witch. She also seemed to be as ageless as Jasmine but appears to have a few screws loose. It was safe to assume that Jasmine was a witch as well.

Logan picked up the unconscious teenager and Mystique noticed the lustful look on Summers' face when he looked at the exposed belly of the redhead. Seriously, what was wrong with that kid? The was unconscious for crying out loud. What kind of school was Xavier running? Mystique knew that she shouldn't criticize him, especially with how the members of the Brotherhood acted. But these kids came from very poor backgrounds, and only respected power, a survival instinct so to speak.

Logan sniffed once more, "Chuck's that way." He pointed at another direction. And once again they followed him, with Pietro being carried by Fred because of his broken leg.

They were tired and sore. They were barely standing but they carried on to get to Xavier. Perhaps he could explain what the hell actually happened to the Grey girl. They found the telepath lying down next to Kurt, looking visibly relieved at their survival, "I'm so glad to see you're okay."

Magneto interjected, "This changes nothing, Charles."

"Surely you can see how much we could achieve together."

God, they're going to have that absurd argument again. The shapeshifter was rather sick of it to be honest.

Magneto shook his head, "We are fundamentally different Charles. My ideals have not changed and you still won't give up your ridiculous dream."

Scott interrupted them, "Hey!"

One look from Magneto and the kid crumbled. Mystique didn't think less of the boy. Magneto sometimes terrified the hell out of her too.

"You once believed in that dream too, Eric."

Magneto didn't respond to Xavier and just turned to face Mystique, "We're leaving."

Suddenly, a sphere of iron came from the sky. It opened up, showing the fact that it was hollow. Magneto stepped inside in utter silence and Mystique mentioned to the members of the fellowship to follow. Once the sphere closed, she heard Magneto mutter, "Goodbye, old friend."

Mystique smiled to herself; perhaps Eric was still in there somewhere.