Charlotte Xavier - A Thousand Years

Prologue

Eyelids flickered opened to reveal bright blue irises that stared past the door and at nothing as a young Charlotte focused on what woke her up. Sitting upright, she cocked her head as she heard someone downstairs. Charlotte slipped out from under her covers, and picked up the baseball bat that sat in the corner of her room, collecting dust as it was a gift from her father-that-wanted-a-boy-but-had-to-settle-for-a-girl that she never used.

Creeping out her room and down her corridor, she zigzagged down the hall; dodging all the creaky floorboards and dodgy rugs that could trip her up in the dark. Charlotte slowly climbed downstairs, gently jumping over the last creaky step and landing lightly to avoid noise before following the intruder to the kitchen. Charlotte walked inside to find the light on, the sudden difference in light making her flinch and squint against the glare. She blinked a few times, but managed to adapt to the light and make out the form of her mother standing at the fridge. Charlotte lowered her baseball bat and waited for her mother to notice her.

"You scared me, what are you doing out of bed, dear?" She asked, shutting the fridge quickly.

"I heard a noise, and I thought it was a burglar." Charlotte explained, staring at her mother.

"I was hungry and just looking for a snack. Why don't you go back to bed dear?" Her mother asked, smiling kindly at the child. Receiving no response, she then added, "I'll bring you a hot chocolate."

Charlotte glanced around the room, noticing the photo frame that was on top of the cupboard. Her first day of school, her mother was dressed in a red dress, with her blonde (dyed) hair curled up on her head and pearls draped around her neck and wrists. The child then returned to staring at her mother and took in the red dress, blonde curled hair and pearls adorning her body and simply stared at her, 'Who are you and what do you want? My mother has not stepped foot in this kitchen ever, nor has she ever offered to bring me anything, unless you count asking the maid to do something for me.' The voice echoed in the adult's head, but Charlotte's mouth didn't move.

Her mother, no, scratch that, the imposter seemed to frown and her skin rippled, before it slowly morphed back into a young girl, with blue skin, bright orange hair, bright yellow eyes and patterned skin. She watched Charlotte with a mixture of fear, sadness and hunger.

"Amazing! I always thought I was alone, but here you are! Help yourself to anything here, we have heaps, you do not need to steal." Charlotte said, grinning madly and gesturing to the small kitchen around her. The blue skinned girl smiled timidly, before returning to a blank face. "In fact, you do not ever have to steal again. Stay here with me, I will look after you."

"Really?" The blue girl spoke, barely above a whisper.

"I would love you to, I get lonely here, and I always wanted a sister." Charlotte grinned, placing her baseball bat on the table and opening the fridge, pulling the leftovers from dinner out and placing them in front of a chair. Gesturing to the other child to sit, she sat next to the empty chair. The blue skinned girl sat, glanced at the food, at Charlotte then ate the food, shovelling it in without paying any attention to manners. "My names Charlotte."

The blue skinned girl paused in between mouthfuls long enough to say "Raven" before eating again.

"I meant what I said, stay with me. You will have to stay hidden, but eventually we can move out and live together when we are old enough to pass as adults." Charlotte said, still grinning madly.

"How do you know you can trust me? I'm just a freak." Raven spat, disgusted with the word 'freak'.

'If you are a freak, I am too.' Charlotte voice echoed in Raven's head, but Charlotte didn't move her mouth to speak. "I am a telepath. I can read people's minds, but I try not to. I read yours briefly to see you were not a threat then stopped. I can also control people's actions and change what they remember." She explained to Raven as she finished eating.

"You can read my mind?" Raven asked, sounding a little scared.

"Yes I can, but only if I focus, or you shout your thoughts at me. I try really hard not to listen to anyone, and I promise to never read your thoughts without your permission." Charlotte vowed, with a seriousness and maturity that was beyond her age.

"Thanks Char." Raven told Charlotte, grinning at the brunette telepath.

...

Charlotte looked over at Raven as she sat on the couch and frowned at her.

"What now?" Raven sighed.

"I really do wish you would not hide from yourself when you do not have to. You are beautiful Raven, you really are." Charlotte told Raven, who glared at the brunette.

Raven pushed her blonde hair out of her brown eyes and said, "I'm not beautiful."

"Raven, you are unique and beautiful. Society does not accept you yet because mutants are not widely known, and those who do know about mutations lack the evidence to back their theories, resulting in them believing it to be fiction." Charlotte told Raven, who just moved next to the scholar and snuggled next to her. "Give it time, together we will change their views."

"We'll see." Raven sighed.

...

Charlotte left her university, arms linked with Raven. "So, professor," Raven said, her voice holding a teasing note that caused Charlotte to groan.

"Please, that gives people the interpretation of a stuffy, boring, old man. Not a young, charming girl." Charlotte requested.

"Fine, do you want to go celebrate with some drinks at the pub?" Raven asked.

"Now that, I enjoy hearing, let us go." Charlotte answered.

...

"Professor Xavier?" A young woman asked, stopping the newly graduated professor as she tried to get a refill of her drink.

Charlotte grinned, trying to block out the thoughts of those around her. Failing horribly, due to the alcohol in her system, she grinned and focused on the woman in front of her.

"I need your help. My name is Moira MacTaggert, CIA. I need your help. It's to do with your thesis on human mutations. I need to know if those mutations are possible in humans of today." Moira asked, leading her to a table and sitting opposite her.

This sobered her up. She focused on the Moira's thoughts and managed to just keep her poker face up as she relived the agent's memories of seeing a man control the air to create mini-hurricanes and controlling them, then a man with red skin and a tail pulling his own atoms apart, then re-joining them in a new location and then a woman harden her skin to become diamonds.

"I promise. I will do whatever I can to help you." Charlotte told her, suddenly sober again.

"Thank you." Moira said.