Seraphina was happy.
It felt like it had been years since she had been properly happy, basically since before the serum Charles took. Still, there was that little seed of sadness that had grown into her heart when she thought of him.
She hadn't stopped loving him.
But he'd stopped loving the world, and she didn't want to see him like that. It made her a bit selfish, she knew, but he'd basically asked her to leave. Drunken, yes, but still said and it stung.
Furthermore, if she hadn't contemplated leaving she would never have found Roderick.
Seraphina did as she said, and called Hank monthly. He had almost nothing new to say each time, but unknown to her he secretly liked the calls. Hank didn't leave the house much as he was highly concerned for Charles and was nervous about 'beasting' out while outside for long than two hours.
It had been a year now, but it felt like no time had passed. It had though.
Seraphina filled her basement level apartment with her style choice, and the overall theme reminded her of her past homes meshed together. Her life was carrying on in the best of ways. She had never had a closer relationship with her brother, and was soon very close with Dan and his wife after learning that they knew of Roderick's ability. She figured that was why they nodded at him the day they met.
Maybe it was her overall lack of immediate family, or the happiness of finding one again, but she soon found her walls in her apartment to be lined with pictures of the four of them, or her and her brother, and one very ratty, peeling old photograph of her parents and sibling. It was a tiny treasure she cherished.
Seraphina had even earned herself a decent job at Trash Industries. Unlike Dan, who was a desk worker, she had an office due to her minor in genetics and all the books of Charles' she'd read over the years. It was just a job though, and all she really did was sort files and write reports on issues. A quiet job, one with no excitement.
So she thought.
She had a routine, and she followed it on the dime.
Seraphina would leave her home at eight, and arrive to work at nine in the morning. She'd go through the security checkpoint, be cleared and proceed to her office to spend the rest of her work hours there. Today though, speakers throughout the building--the whole building, as the sudden announcement caused her telepathy to link to every mind briefly-- told the staff blood workers would be collecting samples to safeguard against a disease that may have accidentally be released. So, being herself, Seraphina left her office and went to the employee lunch room to catch all the gossip. Here, she saw her few friends, a couple acquaintances, and one or two workers she did her best to avoid.
"What's this about?" She asked no one in particular, going instead to the coffee machine. A woman, Margaret, spoke up.
"I heard someone on the bio sublevel released somethin' that might kill us all." Seraphina mentally scoffed. It that was the case, there would be Hazmat suits here, not blood drawers.
As the men and women chattered away, she noticed one who stayed silent. Seraphina read his mind, and found startling information.
The man, Jonathan, was a guard. He had a gun tucked away under his belt and jacket, and he was on the lookout for suspicious behavior from this floor's workers. She noticed how close the lunchroom was to the elevator and stairs. In short, he was close by to guard the only safe exits. The reason: The CEO of Trask Industries, Bolivar himself, had discovered the X-gene, and he hated mutants.
Seraphina knew she needed to leave, but the guard would notice a door opening by itself. She didn't much like to control those around her, but she had no other choice. She went to her office, and, after shutting the door, discretely burned every paper. In the trash can of course, and she controlled the fire while expelling the smoke out the window. She gathered her messenger bag of papers that might come in handy and left the room. She went up to the elevator and pressed the button.
"Where do you think you're going, ma'am? All employees stay on their level." She turned and smiled.
"Oh! I got permission, you see, my brother's wife just got home and the baby's fussy. She needs my help." Both of the guards adopted a dreamy expression and allowed her to pass with muttered good lucks. She smiled and took the stairs instead since they didn't have cameras so often.
Taking hops as large as five steps she was out of breath when she reached the ground floor, and headed to the door. Almost slipping by another pair of armed men.
"You can't leave just yet."
"I can, actually. I've permission and my floor's already been swept." She stated. The guard required no outside influence and let her pass. Seraphina ran as fast as she could in heels to the bus stop and caught the next one in ten minutes. Breathing out in relief, she settled into her seat for the hour ride.
Sighing, she unlocked the door to the main floor and stumbled into the living room whilst simultaneously kicking off her heels. Dropping the messenger bag and plopping on the couch, she only then realized she had interrupted something.
Roderick sat on the chair opposite her with a terse smile on his face. He was sweating, and he looked rather unnerved. Seraphina had seen the look before, for it was when his power we being used. Roderick never called on lost souls, for fear of making his fragile life more hectic, but it came with the side effect of making him shaky when one came around for a visit. Often times, souls looking to move on came to him with a purpose. An apology perhaps, or consolation.
"Sera, why are you back so soon?"
She flashed a grim smile made from sheer relief at escaping the building. "Trask Industries is a bad place," was all the information she gave at the moment. "What about you? Who's here?" Roderick knew her implication. "A young man is here, to--uh, t-to see you. Since you know about our kind," Her brother said quickly. Seraphina raised an eyebrow. Her mind was mush, and she wasn't quick on the uptake at the moment. "He says his name is Sean," Roderick topped off his introduction.
Just like someone had opened a gate, the waterworks started. Seraphina made a noise between a squeak and a cough as tears fell down her cheeks. She covered her open mouth with her hand and followed her sibling's eyes towards the empty space of couch next to her. She noticed--and thought it a bit cliché--but the temperature in that particular space was a few degrees cooler than the rest of the room, which was strange considering they only had two window air units and they were in the ground and upper floor master bedrooms.
"What--what has he said?" Seraphina hiccuped at the end of her sentence. Roderick gave her a sympathetic look, which was nice of him since he had no idea what was going on. "He says that it's fine that he died, and he was happy at the mansion with you and Alex and everyone else," He paused when she closed her eyes and rocked back and forth in her seat. "He also says that whatever happened with Charles will get better soon."
It was completely silent except for the muffle sniffles that she made, when Roderick announced that he went on--presumably to Heaven and out of this strange Purgatory. He gave her a couple minutes to compose herself, then asked the question he'd been holding back.
"Sera, who is Charles? What needs to get better?"
His simple question was so innocent, it could have passed for a toddler's. Roderick was always like that, she realized looking back on their early years. He always had a way to ask something in the gentlest tone that made you want to open up about everything. That's exactly what she did. She told him the X-men's brief story. She told him about Erik, Sean, Alex, Hank, Angel, Darwin, Raven, and even Moira. Last of all, she told him about Charles, her Charles. It was hard, but after she finished, it was like a twenty pound weight was off her chest.
Truly, her brother was the best sibling anybody could ask for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aghhhhhh it makes me sad that Seraphina's been sad for the last few chapters. Don't worry though, she'll be happy soon.
Comment, like whatever :)