euphoria

Why

Ash was sitting in the corner of the room, where the others were sharing their powers with each other. She got up, excusing herself and taking a short walk, immersed in her thoughts.

Pain.

Anger.

Regret.

"Ah! Oh, dear lord." She clutched her forehead after feeling the collision of bodies, stumbling backwards. Her vision split in two, a figure with sharp blue eyes steadying her by her shoulders.

"Are you alright, Miss Cyrus?" His eyes, as her vision cleared, were riddled with concern. They were so close, their noses so close to touching, breath hitting each other's lips in gentle puffs.

"Never better." The blurry surroundings snapped back into HD as she stepped back, massaging the side of her forehead with her middle three fingers, grinning a little, "I'm sorry, I was just so immersed in my own thoughts, I probably wasn't looking where I was going. Are you-"

"I'm fine." He beckoned her to walk with him, admiring her serenity in the moment. She truly was an extraordinary woman on the outside. The inside, he knew, would be even more fascinating. "How did you know my name, that night in your house? And what I had come to ask you?" He blurted, turning to face her. She gave a small smile, her fingers playing delicately with the hem of her sleeve. Charles caught it all, his senses heightened somehow when he was around her.

"You told me."

"How so?"

"One of my mutations are advanced hypnosis. I can bend anyone to my will with just a snap of my fingers. The first time I did it was when I was four, when I told a bully to stop beating someone up and walk away. They did exactly as I asked, but they went too far. They escaped school and were never seen again. Over time I learned how to control it, but I only used it in self defence. Until..." She fell silent, turning away to hide her tears.

"Miss Cyrus." He gently guided her to face him, "I assure you, you are safe here." His arms twitched a little, "May I?" As she nodded, he wrapped his arms around her, startled at how warm she was.

'You freak!'

'No, please, no...'

He was horrified at what he heard, realising the reason for Ash's introvert-like manner. Letting go of her, he heard a whoosh coming from nowhere, and so did she, forcing each other to the ground as a red circle emerged out of nowhere, nearly decapitating them both.

"The kids." They sprinted over to where the children were meant to be kept, finding them all messing around.

"What are you doing?!" Moira yelled, having clearly just arrived on the scene. "Who destroyed the statue?"

"Alex did."

"It's Havok. We call him Havok, that's his name now. And we think you should be Professor X, and he should be Magneto."

"Exceptional."

"I expected more from you." Charles tutted, walking away in disappointment. Ash followed, stopping in front of him. "What?" He snapped impatiently, running a hand through his hair.

"Look, I know that they were horsing around a second ago, but they have extreme potential. They're inexperienced in the field and you have to accept that. The only thing you have to do is put faith in them and their potential is limitless." She vouched, gesturing to them.

"How are we supposed to do that? They're acting like monkeys!"

"You listen to me!" Ash's eyes turned a fiery red, a tongue of flame circling her right wrist, much to Charles' surprise and awe, "We are the best chance humanity has got in order to save the human race and you know it! So stop being so damn pessimistic and believe in them! Do you know what my sister once said to me? A little bit of faith can work wonders. And now you refuse to put a little faith into our only chance of survival!" Charles had never seen this type of burning fire in Ash before. Unfortunately, it was close to burning his face off.

"Miss Cyrus..." He stepped back just as the flame shot at his stomach, tripping over. He groaned as his head hit the floor, a gasp eliciting from Ash's mouth as she bent down beside him, shaking him. "I'm fine." He looked up towards her, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm too dangerous, Charles. I always have been, and now I hurt you. I'm so sorry." Charles smiled as he stared into her eyes, sitting up and gently tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. He didn't know how, but he felt that out of the many complicated minds he'd ever met, Ash... she was fascinating. An enigma that he craved to unravel under his fingertips. The more he craved it the more he felt himself falling into the spiral of feelings he never truly felt before.

"But what was it he felt?