Lost in the Woods - Epilogue
Dec. 2nd, 2005 04:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsIn the boathouse, Remy tries to come to grips with betrayal.
It was quiet in the boathouse. Remy had been there most of the last five days, rarely emerging to talk with anyone. It had just been too much. He'd sent the e-mail to the Professor, not expecting a reply and not being disappointed. He'd already served his purpose, afterall.
The betrayal hurt. What if something had gone wrong? For all his noble words, the man had manipulated people, even his own students, into a situation in which people had died, and more could have. Remy couldn't fathom why he would have hid it from those who could have made it safe, without risking Wisdom.
Mostly, without putting blood on his hands. Wisdom had slaughtered Remy's men; people he'd recruited and paid. Maybe they didn't matter to the Professor, but their death weighed heavily on him. He wasn't able to stay. It was the road back to who he was. At the same point, where was he going to go. It had been a surprisingly short trip to having nothing again.
He got up from the bed, using the damn cane to balance himself. Now what?
"Sitting in de dark, pretending dat his pain de only thing in de world. Jah, dis got t' be de room of Remy LeBeau." The voice shot electricity down his spine.
"Tante?"
"Who jah think it be. De Tooth Fairy?" Tante Mattie appeared, a bag in one hand. She looked him up and down and sighed. "Jah can't go five minutes wit'out getting jahself into some kind of trouble, can jah?"
"What de hell you doing here?" Remy had never seen her out of New Orleans, ever.
"Got business wit' dat 'manda. Jah already know what jah doing."
"Dat being?"
"Jah still got unfinished business wit' me, Gambit. Don't think dat jah free yet." Tante's eyes went hard. "So jah gather you t'ings, and take me ta 'manda's room. Dere's still questions dat need answering, and prices dat still need to be paid."
Remy opened his mouth to argue and closed it again. She was right. He still owed a debt to her, and she had the right to demand it. The question was why now? Tante didn't do anything lightly. What was her plan? Remy pulled up short following her as she stopped and turned. "Jah got time to say goodbye to her while I talk to 'manda. Here," She handed him a container of food. "Give dat to her. She don eat 'nough anyhow."
Remy took the container silently. Damn bog witch, he thought, scowling as he led her across the grounds and into the mansion. A few students stopped to stare as they walked in, but turned away quickly. Out of pride and stubborness, Remy decided on the stairs, awkwardly fighting his way up the treads to the top. Tante laboured beside him, both of them stopped for a moment at the second floor.
"Tryin' t' make a point LeBeau?"
"Not at all, Tante. 'manda's room is through dere." He said, ignoring the speculative look she was giving him. She said nothing, just turned and walked to the door, as Remy did the same, hiding down the hall for Lorna's room.
***
Doug, Marie-Ange and Jubilee get a surprise visitor. Or maybe not so much of a surprise to at least two of them.
Of all the people to open the door to the suite, Tante Mattie was the last they'd ever expected. She was half smiling to herself as she stepped in, suddenly confronted with the three teenagers. It was bizarre to see her in this environment, the thick gray long coat and purple wrap over her hair. In one hand she held the twine handles of a paper shopping bag.
"Jah going ta stand round here all day wit' jah mouths open or help an old woman. You dere, Doug, jah take my coat." She said, the swamp thick accent filling the room with her deep, rich voice. "Come all de way up here, and dat Remy just leave me here. Dose stairs could be murder, Tante tell you. Jah, merci childe." Doug helped her off with the coat, too stunned to react.
Jubilee eyed the woman with suspicion, moving herself to stand between Tante Mattie and the rest of the room. "What do you want?"
Rude of her? Most definitely, but she'd had a hell of a week and she wasn't particularly in the mood to see random strangers traipse in unannounced.
Marie-Ange silently wished for a sudden attack of even more mutant powers, specifically telepathy in this case, just so she could tell Jubilee to quiet down, lest she get turned into a swamp slug. "Tante? There is an elevator, you did not have to use the stairs..." She stepped forward, hoping to intercept Jubilee before the small girl went and did something really unwise, like try to escort Tante out of the room.
Doug recovered fairly quickly as he hung the coat neatly. Frankly, he'd been expecting Tante to arrive sooner, but he also knew that she did things on her own schedule, and not anyone else's. Angie hadn't been entirely forthcoming about why they had gone down to New Orleans, but given the events with Amanda, he had a suspicion it was something to do with that. Hence why he'd expected Tante a bit sooner after Amanda's return. "Hello, Tante," he said politely with a smile.
"You a good boy, Doug. Here. Tante brought dis for you." She reached into the paper sack and pulled out a large tupperware box, which was filled with a dark red and brown substance. "Jah too skinny childe. Don dey feed you in dis place?"
Doug reminded himself that it would be rude to snatch the tupperware box from Tante. It might lead to cuffings or lectures about civility. So he very politely reached out and took the box. Once Tante had let go of it, _then_ he cuddled it close to his chest as if daring someone to take it from him.
"Douglas, please tell me you are not cooing at the tupperware," Marie-Ange said in a tone of fond exasperation. Levelling another glare at Jubilee and trying to impress on her not to say anything more rude and impolite than she already had, she turned back to Tante. "Would you care for some tea, Tante?"
"Oui, childe." Tante put the bag down and sat on the couch. There was a palpable power in her, that was obvious, but also a strange edge now. As if she'd deliberately adapted things to the new environment. Anyone who didn't know her basically saw an older black woman, with the requisite bag of cooking and an occupied expression; even so far as to just see some crazy old baggage. Hidden under it, like an alligator in the black water of the bayou, was Tante's real nature.
"So, Tante see dat jah taken up as guards. Dat de case?"
"Something like that." Jubilee replied, smiling slightly but it didn't reach her eyes.
Doug and Marie-Ange obviously knew the woman but Jubilee wasn't about to let her guard down just yet. An amiable attitude and a seemingly harmless appearance weren't about to fool her into thinking that Tante was harmless. Till she knew exactly what was going on, she'd be standing right here.
Tante said nothing, taking the tea from Marie-Ange with a nod and taking a small sip. She smiled and set it down on the table, for the moment dismissing Jubilee.
"Marie-Ange, jah seen all of what's ta happen. Tell me, childe, how dis all works out?" It was always a test with her, and Marie-Ange was the latest victim in Tante's sudden life pop-quizzes.
The temptation to answer "We all marry the handsome prince and live happily ever after, even Doug." lasted for exactly as long as it took to remember that Tante's cold glares somehow managed to physically -hurt-, like frigid air in the lungs.
After a lot of careful thought, and uncomfortable nervous silence, Marie-Ange answered. "If I told you, well, perhaps not if I told you, Tante, but if I told Amanda, then any chance of her having a choice in the matter would be lost." The same as before, she couldn't take anyone's choices away from them.
"Bein childe. It appears dat jah can be taught." Tante Mattie's smile was slow coming, but unstoppable and huge, like a glacier. She took another sip of her tea before getting up and collecting her things. "Jah just remember dat. And feed dat boy. He skin and bones."
She got up and moved to the doorway, and Jubilee stepped in front, refusing to move. Tante shook her head and reached into her bag. She handed the puzzled Jubilee a tupperware container of food. "Jah done all dat jah can for 'manda now, girl. Now it's my turn."
Jubilee hesitated, looking down at the food container in her hand. Marie-Ange and Doug seemed to know this woman, and they weren't apparently distressed about her being here.
She didn't trust it, but she had no real reason right now to stop her. Besides, Jubilee wasn't the type of girl who would beat up on an old woman.
"Don't you hurt her." Jubilee replied, stepping to the side finally.
"Childe, dat's something dat's not up to anyone but 'manda." Tante patted her on the arm as she walked by. The door closed behind her, leaving the three students looking at each other, and Amanda alone to face her.
***
Amanda's turn. Things aren't always as you expect them to be.
It was a small room, sparsely furnished and stripped of anything that made it hers - Marie-Ange had offered to find her things when she'd been brought back from the Hellfire Club, but Amanda had said no. That stuff belonged to another girl, in another life, and Clarice had been right - she wasn't that person any more. Amanda was sitting, perched stiffly on the end of her bed, conscious that there was really no way she couldn't feel awkward. At least she wasn't standing at the window, staring poignantly at the grounds.
She'd been doing that earlier.
She'd heard Tante's voice, of course, although she hadn't made out the words. Tante's arrival wasn't unexpected - like Doug, she was surprised she hadn't arrived sooner - and she'd been trying to compose herself, readying herself for the punishment that had finally arrived. Then Tante had come in, her presence filling the small room, and Amanda's composure nearly failed there and then, her hands clutching at each other nervously in her lap.
"Tante," she said, not sure of how to greet her. Just because she was facing the consequences of what she'd done didn't mean she wasn't frightened of what Tante would say. Her disappointment, her disapproval. The fact no-one at the school really wanted to confront her on her actions had been both a disappointment and a relief.
"Jah remember dat much, at least." Tante dropped the bag of food by the door, the old black baggage gone, now the voodoo queen in control. "Jah found 'bout every way t' screw dis one up dat jah could. Almost should be proud dat if jah going t' fail, jah going t' fail large."
The girl dropped her eyes, unable to look Tante in the face. "I know," she said quietly. She focussed on her hands, twisting the hem of her shirt, willing them to stop. "If you're here to take the magic," she said at last, dragging her gaze up to meet Tante's implacable one. "Do it now. I won't fight you."
"Childe, jah get stupider by de minute." Tante said, finding a seat on the bed. "Jah know by now dat Tante not 'bout t' take anything from jah dat jah don't want t' lose. Magic 'bout choices, childe. 'bout deciding what jah can and cannot handle. If jah want t' lose it, Tante take it from jah, but de choice is yours. Do jah want t' deal wit' it any longer?"
Amanda gaped at her. This wasn't what she'd expected to hear, wasn't what she had been waiting for ever since she'd made the deal with Selene. This wasn't how the script went. "So if I said I wanted it, you'd let me?" she asked at last. "Even after everything I did?"
"Jah make jah own decisions. Jah decide to do harm, den jah going to face me. Jah going to do good, jah face yourself. Ultimately, jah make your own decisions, 'manda. I can make jah my slave wit' a word, but what good does dat do? De person dat jah got to face is yourself."
"I can see where Remy gets his wise words from," Amanda said with the barest hint of a smile, all the while her mind whirling. This wasn't what she'd been waiting for all these days at all, and she knew she was about to make the most important decision of her life so far. Briefly she wished Pete was still here, that she could talk to him - he'd be able to tell her if she was deciding out of guilt, a desire for punishment. But he wasn't, had left without a word and she was on her own, in more ways than one.
"The magic... I never got a choice," she said slowly, carefully, all her deliberations of the past week coming to fruition. Options, it was about options, as she'd told Marius that morning. "Rack took me, brought it on too early... I never got to decide whether I wanted it or not. It's gotten me through so much, given me so much, but it's cost me too. And now you say I get to choose." Biting her lip, she looked up at Tante, willing her voice to remain steady. "I don't want it. Not any more. I'm not..." She took a deep breath, her throat constricting. "It's too much for me."
"Den jah made your decision." Tante said, and opened her hand. There was a single point of light in it; a golden mote that danced across the deep brown palm. She smiled, once, and blew on it, and the mote danced into the world. It capered and gambolled, across the lines of the room, until finally it settled on Amanda's chest and melted away. She grabbed at the spot, but the mote was gone, settled into her bones.
"That's it?" she asked, looking at Tante. "I don't feel any different." Sure her mutant power wasn't working at the moment, but she'd thought she'd feel... something. Something to signify the loss of something that had been a fundamental part of her life.
"Dat's it. Magic doesn't need to be more den it is, just like people." Tante shook her head, almost sympathetically. " But dat's de end for jah. No more magic, ever. De spell has cut jah off from de root of it all."
"Good." There might have been the slightest tremor to Amanda's voice, but she held her head up. "Thank you." Then she laughed, almost ruefully. "Guess I'm gunna have to find something else to do with my life now."
"Dere's dat. What jah might do is decide to learn for de first time in jah life. Just because de magic is gone doesn't mean dat de learning stops."
"There is that." Amanda fell silent, thinking over things, her past year at Xavier's. "I don't think I'm going to do that here," she said slowly. "There's been too much, on both sides."
"And dey fear jah." Amanda looked up suddenly, and Tante waved her away with one hand. "Don't try to lie to me, childe. I smell it on de ones dat walk past dis place. Jah gone past a line dey willing to accept, and dat means dey ready to get rid of jah. But Tante not going to let jah go to a place dat dey say dat jah going. Jah made a choice, and dat means jah going to learn de ways to deal wit' it."
"They do," Amanda said reluctantly. "And that ones that don't... they don't know what t' do with me." Unconsciously she was picking up Tante's speech patterns, lapsing into the abbreviations she'd so often used before. "An' Pete's got enough on his plate without worrying about me. But... Margali won't have me and I don't want to go back to Rom." This last was said in a rush, as if she was afraid she wouldn't say it otherwise. "I understand it was all a test, t' give me the choice finally, but how can I trust her or Strange now? After just dumping me like they did?"
"Dat's something dat jah need t' answer for jahself, 'manda. Was what dey did right? Or was it necessary? Tante don't know dat, childe. What Tante does know is dat what jah did, and how jah going to stop if from happening again. De magic isn't just 'bout power. It 'bout knowledge. Jah got a lot of learning trapped in dat thick head o' you. Dat means jah still have a responsibility." Tante's look was inscrutable.
"There's people here - a few - that'll stick by me. But wanting to help... it's sometimes not enough, not if you don't know what you're helping with." She took a deep breath - she could ask, she'd learned that. And Tante seemed to be making the offer. "You do know. I... can you help me? You've already done so much, but I can't do this alone, I know that now."
Tante nodded slowly. She had seen this moment, the elements of the possible future finally fitting into place. Now, it was the reality, and the future opened up in front of her. None of that was obvious in her face. "If jah need it. You can help keep dat Le Beau in line while you dere."
A sudden, relieved smile crossed Amanda's face and for the first time since this conversation started, she visibly relaxed. If Remy was going too... "Thank you," she said, hand twitching a little as she restrained the urge to reach out and squeeze Tante's hand gratefully. "When do we go?"
"Soon as jah finish packing and make what ever arrangements jah need to. And hurry, childe. Tante not one for sitting 'round while jah figure out what jah need. Get to it."
"There's not much to pack," Amanda said with a wry grin, looking around the nearly-bare room. "But there's some people I'll need to talk to. And I should probably talk to Rom and the Professor, let them know you're not kidnapping me or anything." Pete would probably be upset, but he hadn't exactly hung around to talk about her options.
"You do what jah need to get done. Tante go collect dat miserable rat Le Beau now and find out what trouble he's got into in de last twenty minutes." Tante picked up the bag, and passed over a container. "Give dat to jah Professor. Looks like none of de femmes eat in dis place."
***
On the way out, Marie-Ange catches Remy, and gives him a gift.
Marie-Ange took the last corner of the hallway at a run, slowing down by the virtue of grabbing the wall and using her hands as brakes, and slid to a stop just before the stairs. "You are leaving too? " she said quietly, just before Remy took his first careful step down the staircase.
Remy paused for a moment, settling the cane in front before he turned. "Dat right, chere. Dis can't be home for me right now." He turned slowly, a slight wry smile on his face. "But Remy keep an eye on you, don't you worry."
"If you put a hidden camera in my bathroom, you will see far more of Doug than you ever wished, Remy..." She couldn't help but tease, despite knowing what he meant. "At the rate he sleeps in my room, he may as well just move in." After a moment, she added, with a sad smile. "And I want an address when you are settled. I know Tante's phone number..." In theory, anyway. Marie-Ange thought that, if necessary, even if it changed, she might be able to get Doug to find it. Maybe.
"Tell you what? When de dust settles, you come down to de Big Easy. Remy show you what it like when crazy mental drones not ruining Mardi Gras." He said, taking another slow step down, refusing the elevator like he always sure. "I'm sure dat I can find some dishonest work before den."
"I am going to hold you to that." Marie-Ange answered absently. Dishonest work... the phrase gave her pause, and for a moment, she couldn't put her finger on why. It relating to Tante felt wrong somehow, and she knew that the prickly feeling in the back of her head had nothing to do with Amanda. And then she realized -why- it was odd.
"Remy? Check the spare tire before you leave... I think.. " She frowned. "The back right tire, I think. Make sure you have a spare and a jack..."
Remy paused for a second, forehead furrowed. Must be one of her premonitions. "Course, chere. Remy make sure to do dat." He started down the rest of the stairs. If he left Tante waiting too long, he'd hear about it for the rest of the trip.
Marie-Ange smiled and nodded. "If you do not, you are going to spend four hours in the rain waiting for a tow truck." She leaned up against the banister and watched Remy go down the stairs. "And then get a cold, and have a runny nose for the next month. And an ear infection." She wondered when he'd figure it out. Remy was sharp, but this was different.
"Remy doesn't get sick often. Keep a flask of de cure in my coat, afterall." Remy reached the bottom of the stairs and took a final look around. It could have been home, he thought bitterly, before he adjusted his coat.
"'de cure' smells like old shoe polish..." Marie-Ange said, smirking. "Do I need to write this in big letters on your forehead, so that you can see it in the mirror next week when you decide to maybe shave off some of that scruffy stubble?"
"Got a strange way of saying goodbye, chere. Ever thought of working for dat Hallmark?" Remy shot back.
"Maybe that is what I should do, send you a card. "Congratulations on having a future, please do not go wasting it by drowning in the swamp or being eaten by an alligator." Marie-Ange said, her tone far more gentle than her words would have seemed. "Though, I have not actually seen you being eaten by an alligator. A llama once, but I think that was the wine, not a real vision.."
"Dere's no llamas..." Remy trailed off. It had been more than a year ago that Marie-Ange had told him that he had no future; he was a cypher, a blank. Now, she could see something there. Like every other person. He stared at her dumbly.
"Ever since Amanda brought you back, perhaps before, I am not quite certain..." Marie-Ange answered, before Remy could ask. "The futures were strange at first, chaotic and jumbled, but they are sorting themselves out into a few paths. Some good, some bad, but they are there now."
"Dat-" His voice failed him as he tried to come to grips with the idea. He believed he was a dead man walking; nothing more than a shadow of a monster. Now, that wasn't the only truth. "Dat's... it's, I don't know..."
Remy, at a loss for words, with no clever things to say. Marie-Ange couldn't have predicted that happening, not ever. "I would call it hope, but I am not as cynical as some."
Remy shook his head. It was too much, too fast. If she was right... he took a deep breath and settled the cane infront of him. "You take care of dem, Marie-Ange. When you can't, you come find Remy." He took the last steps to the door, and stopped. It was almost a whisper, barely loud enough for her to hear. "Merci, chere." Remy last words in the mansion seemed to echo for her, even after he'd closed the door and driven away.
It was quiet in the boathouse. Remy had been there most of the last five days, rarely emerging to talk with anyone. It had just been too much. He'd sent the e-mail to the Professor, not expecting a reply and not being disappointed. He'd already served his purpose, afterall.
The betrayal hurt. What if something had gone wrong? For all his noble words, the man had manipulated people, even his own students, into a situation in which people had died, and more could have. Remy couldn't fathom why he would have hid it from those who could have made it safe, without risking Wisdom.
Mostly, without putting blood on his hands. Wisdom had slaughtered Remy's men; people he'd recruited and paid. Maybe they didn't matter to the Professor, but their death weighed heavily on him. He wasn't able to stay. It was the road back to who he was. At the same point, where was he going to go. It had been a surprisingly short trip to having nothing again.
He got up from the bed, using the damn cane to balance himself. Now what?
"Sitting in de dark, pretending dat his pain de only thing in de world. Jah, dis got t' be de room of Remy LeBeau." The voice shot electricity down his spine.
"Tante?"
"Who jah think it be. De Tooth Fairy?" Tante Mattie appeared, a bag in one hand. She looked him up and down and sighed. "Jah can't go five minutes wit'out getting jahself into some kind of trouble, can jah?"
"What de hell you doing here?" Remy had never seen her out of New Orleans, ever.
"Got business wit' dat 'manda. Jah already know what jah doing."
"Dat being?"
"Jah still got unfinished business wit' me, Gambit. Don't think dat jah free yet." Tante's eyes went hard. "So jah gather you t'ings, and take me ta 'manda's room. Dere's still questions dat need answering, and prices dat still need to be paid."
Remy opened his mouth to argue and closed it again. She was right. He still owed a debt to her, and she had the right to demand it. The question was why now? Tante didn't do anything lightly. What was her plan? Remy pulled up short following her as she stopped and turned. "Jah got time to say goodbye to her while I talk to 'manda. Here," She handed him a container of food. "Give dat to her. She don eat 'nough anyhow."
Remy took the container silently. Damn bog witch, he thought, scowling as he led her across the grounds and into the mansion. A few students stopped to stare as they walked in, but turned away quickly. Out of pride and stubborness, Remy decided on the stairs, awkwardly fighting his way up the treads to the top. Tante laboured beside him, both of them stopped for a moment at the second floor.
"Tryin' t' make a point LeBeau?"
"Not at all, Tante. 'manda's room is through dere." He said, ignoring the speculative look she was giving him. She said nothing, just turned and walked to the door, as Remy did the same, hiding down the hall for Lorna's room.
***
Doug, Marie-Ange and Jubilee get a surprise visitor. Or maybe not so much of a surprise to at least two of them.
Of all the people to open the door to the suite, Tante Mattie was the last they'd ever expected. She was half smiling to herself as she stepped in, suddenly confronted with the three teenagers. It was bizarre to see her in this environment, the thick gray long coat and purple wrap over her hair. In one hand she held the twine handles of a paper shopping bag.
"Jah going ta stand round here all day wit' jah mouths open or help an old woman. You dere, Doug, jah take my coat." She said, the swamp thick accent filling the room with her deep, rich voice. "Come all de way up here, and dat Remy just leave me here. Dose stairs could be murder, Tante tell you. Jah, merci childe." Doug helped her off with the coat, too stunned to react.
Jubilee eyed the woman with suspicion, moving herself to stand between Tante Mattie and the rest of the room. "What do you want?"
Rude of her? Most definitely, but she'd had a hell of a week and she wasn't particularly in the mood to see random strangers traipse in unannounced.
Marie-Ange silently wished for a sudden attack of even more mutant powers, specifically telepathy in this case, just so she could tell Jubilee to quiet down, lest she get turned into a swamp slug. "Tante? There is an elevator, you did not have to use the stairs..." She stepped forward, hoping to intercept Jubilee before the small girl went and did something really unwise, like try to escort Tante out of the room.
Doug recovered fairly quickly as he hung the coat neatly. Frankly, he'd been expecting Tante to arrive sooner, but he also knew that she did things on her own schedule, and not anyone else's. Angie hadn't been entirely forthcoming about why they had gone down to New Orleans, but given the events with Amanda, he had a suspicion it was something to do with that. Hence why he'd expected Tante a bit sooner after Amanda's return. "Hello, Tante," he said politely with a smile.
"You a good boy, Doug. Here. Tante brought dis for you." She reached into the paper sack and pulled out a large tupperware box, which was filled with a dark red and brown substance. "Jah too skinny childe. Don dey feed you in dis place?"
Doug reminded himself that it would be rude to snatch the tupperware box from Tante. It might lead to cuffings or lectures about civility. So he very politely reached out and took the box. Once Tante had let go of it, _then_ he cuddled it close to his chest as if daring someone to take it from him.
"Douglas, please tell me you are not cooing at the tupperware," Marie-Ange said in a tone of fond exasperation. Levelling another glare at Jubilee and trying to impress on her not to say anything more rude and impolite than she already had, she turned back to Tante. "Would you care for some tea, Tante?"
"Oui, childe." Tante put the bag down and sat on the couch. There was a palpable power in her, that was obvious, but also a strange edge now. As if she'd deliberately adapted things to the new environment. Anyone who didn't know her basically saw an older black woman, with the requisite bag of cooking and an occupied expression; even so far as to just see some crazy old baggage. Hidden under it, like an alligator in the black water of the bayou, was Tante's real nature.
"So, Tante see dat jah taken up as guards. Dat de case?"
"Something like that." Jubilee replied, smiling slightly but it didn't reach her eyes.
Doug and Marie-Ange obviously knew the woman but Jubilee wasn't about to let her guard down just yet. An amiable attitude and a seemingly harmless appearance weren't about to fool her into thinking that Tante was harmless. Till she knew exactly what was going on, she'd be standing right here.
Tante said nothing, taking the tea from Marie-Ange with a nod and taking a small sip. She smiled and set it down on the table, for the moment dismissing Jubilee.
"Marie-Ange, jah seen all of what's ta happen. Tell me, childe, how dis all works out?" It was always a test with her, and Marie-Ange was the latest victim in Tante's sudden life pop-quizzes.
The temptation to answer "We all marry the handsome prince and live happily ever after, even Doug." lasted for exactly as long as it took to remember that Tante's cold glares somehow managed to physically -hurt-, like frigid air in the lungs.
After a lot of careful thought, and uncomfortable nervous silence, Marie-Ange answered. "If I told you, well, perhaps not if I told you, Tante, but if I told Amanda, then any chance of her having a choice in the matter would be lost." The same as before, she couldn't take anyone's choices away from them.
"Bein childe. It appears dat jah can be taught." Tante Mattie's smile was slow coming, but unstoppable and huge, like a glacier. She took another sip of her tea before getting up and collecting her things. "Jah just remember dat. And feed dat boy. He skin and bones."
She got up and moved to the doorway, and Jubilee stepped in front, refusing to move. Tante shook her head and reached into her bag. She handed the puzzled Jubilee a tupperware container of food. "Jah done all dat jah can for 'manda now, girl. Now it's my turn."
Jubilee hesitated, looking down at the food container in her hand. Marie-Ange and Doug seemed to know this woman, and they weren't apparently distressed about her being here.
She didn't trust it, but she had no real reason right now to stop her. Besides, Jubilee wasn't the type of girl who would beat up on an old woman.
"Don't you hurt her." Jubilee replied, stepping to the side finally.
"Childe, dat's something dat's not up to anyone but 'manda." Tante patted her on the arm as she walked by. The door closed behind her, leaving the three students looking at each other, and Amanda alone to face her.
***
Amanda's turn. Things aren't always as you expect them to be.
It was a small room, sparsely furnished and stripped of anything that made it hers - Marie-Ange had offered to find her things when she'd been brought back from the Hellfire Club, but Amanda had said no. That stuff belonged to another girl, in another life, and Clarice had been right - she wasn't that person any more. Amanda was sitting, perched stiffly on the end of her bed, conscious that there was really no way she couldn't feel awkward. At least she wasn't standing at the window, staring poignantly at the grounds.
She'd been doing that earlier.
She'd heard Tante's voice, of course, although she hadn't made out the words. Tante's arrival wasn't unexpected - like Doug, she was surprised she hadn't arrived sooner - and she'd been trying to compose herself, readying herself for the punishment that had finally arrived. Then Tante had come in, her presence filling the small room, and Amanda's composure nearly failed there and then, her hands clutching at each other nervously in her lap.
"Tante," she said, not sure of how to greet her. Just because she was facing the consequences of what she'd done didn't mean she wasn't frightened of what Tante would say. Her disappointment, her disapproval. The fact no-one at the school really wanted to confront her on her actions had been both a disappointment and a relief.
"Jah remember dat much, at least." Tante dropped the bag of food by the door, the old black baggage gone, now the voodoo queen in control. "Jah found 'bout every way t' screw dis one up dat jah could. Almost should be proud dat if jah going t' fail, jah going t' fail large."
The girl dropped her eyes, unable to look Tante in the face. "I know," she said quietly. She focussed on her hands, twisting the hem of her shirt, willing them to stop. "If you're here to take the magic," she said at last, dragging her gaze up to meet Tante's implacable one. "Do it now. I won't fight you."
"Childe, jah get stupider by de minute." Tante said, finding a seat on the bed. "Jah know by now dat Tante not 'bout t' take anything from jah dat jah don't want t' lose. Magic 'bout choices, childe. 'bout deciding what jah can and cannot handle. If jah want t' lose it, Tante take it from jah, but de choice is yours. Do jah want t' deal wit' it any longer?"
Amanda gaped at her. This wasn't what she'd expected to hear, wasn't what she had been waiting for ever since she'd made the deal with Selene. This wasn't how the script went. "So if I said I wanted it, you'd let me?" she asked at last. "Even after everything I did?"
"Jah make jah own decisions. Jah decide to do harm, den jah going to face me. Jah going to do good, jah face yourself. Ultimately, jah make your own decisions, 'manda. I can make jah my slave wit' a word, but what good does dat do? De person dat jah got to face is yourself."
"I can see where Remy gets his wise words from," Amanda said with the barest hint of a smile, all the while her mind whirling. This wasn't what she'd been waiting for all these days at all, and she knew she was about to make the most important decision of her life so far. Briefly she wished Pete was still here, that she could talk to him - he'd be able to tell her if she was deciding out of guilt, a desire for punishment. But he wasn't, had left without a word and she was on her own, in more ways than one.
"The magic... I never got a choice," she said slowly, carefully, all her deliberations of the past week coming to fruition. Options, it was about options, as she'd told Marius that morning. "Rack took me, brought it on too early... I never got to decide whether I wanted it or not. It's gotten me through so much, given me so much, but it's cost me too. And now you say I get to choose." Biting her lip, she looked up at Tante, willing her voice to remain steady. "I don't want it. Not any more. I'm not..." She took a deep breath, her throat constricting. "It's too much for me."
"Den jah made your decision." Tante said, and opened her hand. There was a single point of light in it; a golden mote that danced across the deep brown palm. She smiled, once, and blew on it, and the mote danced into the world. It capered and gambolled, across the lines of the room, until finally it settled on Amanda's chest and melted away. She grabbed at the spot, but the mote was gone, settled into her bones.
"That's it?" she asked, looking at Tante. "I don't feel any different." Sure her mutant power wasn't working at the moment, but she'd thought she'd feel... something. Something to signify the loss of something that had been a fundamental part of her life.
"Dat's it. Magic doesn't need to be more den it is, just like people." Tante shook her head, almost sympathetically. " But dat's de end for jah. No more magic, ever. De spell has cut jah off from de root of it all."
"Good." There might have been the slightest tremor to Amanda's voice, but she held her head up. "Thank you." Then she laughed, almost ruefully. "Guess I'm gunna have to find something else to do with my life now."
"Dere's dat. What jah might do is decide to learn for de first time in jah life. Just because de magic is gone doesn't mean dat de learning stops."
"There is that." Amanda fell silent, thinking over things, her past year at Xavier's. "I don't think I'm going to do that here," she said slowly. "There's been too much, on both sides."
"And dey fear jah." Amanda looked up suddenly, and Tante waved her away with one hand. "Don't try to lie to me, childe. I smell it on de ones dat walk past dis place. Jah gone past a line dey willing to accept, and dat means dey ready to get rid of jah. But Tante not going to let jah go to a place dat dey say dat jah going. Jah made a choice, and dat means jah going to learn de ways to deal wit' it."
"They do," Amanda said reluctantly. "And that ones that don't... they don't know what t' do with me." Unconsciously she was picking up Tante's speech patterns, lapsing into the abbreviations she'd so often used before. "An' Pete's got enough on his plate without worrying about me. But... Margali won't have me and I don't want to go back to Rom." This last was said in a rush, as if she was afraid she wouldn't say it otherwise. "I understand it was all a test, t' give me the choice finally, but how can I trust her or Strange now? After just dumping me like they did?"
"Dat's something dat jah need t' answer for jahself, 'manda. Was what dey did right? Or was it necessary? Tante don't know dat, childe. What Tante does know is dat what jah did, and how jah going to stop if from happening again. De magic isn't just 'bout power. It 'bout knowledge. Jah got a lot of learning trapped in dat thick head o' you. Dat means jah still have a responsibility." Tante's look was inscrutable.
"There's people here - a few - that'll stick by me. But wanting to help... it's sometimes not enough, not if you don't know what you're helping with." She took a deep breath - she could ask, she'd learned that. And Tante seemed to be making the offer. "You do know. I... can you help me? You've already done so much, but I can't do this alone, I know that now."
Tante nodded slowly. She had seen this moment, the elements of the possible future finally fitting into place. Now, it was the reality, and the future opened up in front of her. None of that was obvious in her face. "If jah need it. You can help keep dat Le Beau in line while you dere."
A sudden, relieved smile crossed Amanda's face and for the first time since this conversation started, she visibly relaxed. If Remy was going too... "Thank you," she said, hand twitching a little as she restrained the urge to reach out and squeeze Tante's hand gratefully. "When do we go?"
"Soon as jah finish packing and make what ever arrangements jah need to. And hurry, childe. Tante not one for sitting 'round while jah figure out what jah need. Get to it."
"There's not much to pack," Amanda said with a wry grin, looking around the nearly-bare room. "But there's some people I'll need to talk to. And I should probably talk to Rom and the Professor, let them know you're not kidnapping me or anything." Pete would probably be upset, but he hadn't exactly hung around to talk about her options.
"You do what jah need to get done. Tante go collect dat miserable rat Le Beau now and find out what trouble he's got into in de last twenty minutes." Tante picked up the bag, and passed over a container. "Give dat to jah Professor. Looks like none of de femmes eat in dis place."
***
On the way out, Marie-Ange catches Remy, and gives him a gift.
Marie-Ange took the last corner of the hallway at a run, slowing down by the virtue of grabbing the wall and using her hands as brakes, and slid to a stop just before the stairs. "You are leaving too? " she said quietly, just before Remy took his first careful step down the staircase.
Remy paused for a moment, settling the cane in front before he turned. "Dat right, chere. Dis can't be home for me right now." He turned slowly, a slight wry smile on his face. "But Remy keep an eye on you, don't you worry."
"If you put a hidden camera in my bathroom, you will see far more of Doug than you ever wished, Remy..." She couldn't help but tease, despite knowing what he meant. "At the rate he sleeps in my room, he may as well just move in." After a moment, she added, with a sad smile. "And I want an address when you are settled. I know Tante's phone number..." In theory, anyway. Marie-Ange thought that, if necessary, even if it changed, she might be able to get Doug to find it. Maybe.
"Tell you what? When de dust settles, you come down to de Big Easy. Remy show you what it like when crazy mental drones not ruining Mardi Gras." He said, taking another slow step down, refusing the elevator like he always sure. "I'm sure dat I can find some dishonest work before den."
"I am going to hold you to that." Marie-Ange answered absently. Dishonest work... the phrase gave her pause, and for a moment, she couldn't put her finger on why. It relating to Tante felt wrong somehow, and she knew that the prickly feeling in the back of her head had nothing to do with Amanda. And then she realized -why- it was odd.
"Remy? Check the spare tire before you leave... I think.. " She frowned. "The back right tire, I think. Make sure you have a spare and a jack..."
Remy paused for a second, forehead furrowed. Must be one of her premonitions. "Course, chere. Remy make sure to do dat." He started down the rest of the stairs. If he left Tante waiting too long, he'd hear about it for the rest of the trip.
Marie-Ange smiled and nodded. "If you do not, you are going to spend four hours in the rain waiting for a tow truck." She leaned up against the banister and watched Remy go down the stairs. "And then get a cold, and have a runny nose for the next month. And an ear infection." She wondered when he'd figure it out. Remy was sharp, but this was different.
"Remy doesn't get sick often. Keep a flask of de cure in my coat, afterall." Remy reached the bottom of the stairs and took a final look around. It could have been home, he thought bitterly, before he adjusted his coat.
"'de cure' smells like old shoe polish..." Marie-Ange said, smirking. "Do I need to write this in big letters on your forehead, so that you can see it in the mirror next week when you decide to maybe shave off some of that scruffy stubble?"
"Got a strange way of saying goodbye, chere. Ever thought of working for dat Hallmark?" Remy shot back.
"Maybe that is what I should do, send you a card. "Congratulations on having a future, please do not go wasting it by drowning in the swamp or being eaten by an alligator." Marie-Ange said, her tone far more gentle than her words would have seemed. "Though, I have not actually seen you being eaten by an alligator. A llama once, but I think that was the wine, not a real vision.."
"Dere's no llamas..." Remy trailed off. It had been more than a year ago that Marie-Ange had told him that he had no future; he was a cypher, a blank. Now, she could see something there. Like every other person. He stared at her dumbly.
"Ever since Amanda brought you back, perhaps before, I am not quite certain..." Marie-Ange answered, before Remy could ask. "The futures were strange at first, chaotic and jumbled, but they are sorting themselves out into a few paths. Some good, some bad, but they are there now."
"Dat-" His voice failed him as he tried to come to grips with the idea. He believed he was a dead man walking; nothing more than a shadow of a monster. Now, that wasn't the only truth. "Dat's... it's, I don't know..."
Remy, at a loss for words, with no clever things to say. Marie-Ange couldn't have predicted that happening, not ever. "I would call it hope, but I am not as cynical as some."
Remy shook his head. It was too much, too fast. If she was right... he took a deep breath and settled the cane infront of him. "You take care of dem, Marie-Ange. When you can't, you come find Remy." He took the last steps to the door, and stopped. It was almost a whisper, barely loud enough for her to hear. "Merci, chere." Remy last words in the mansion seemed to echo for her, even after he'd closed the door and driven away.
