Jean and Korvus: Nandaki

[x-korvus.livejournal.com]

Korvus and Jean find out his new sword has a mind of its own.

Korvus meditated every morning. He was often outside, even if it was cold, and today wasn't any different. He was out front of the mansion on a bench above the snow dusted ground, a thin rice mat helping to insulate him from the stone. Behind him, buried handle up in the snow and earth several feet deep, was the gigantic sword shipped to him by Lilandra for Christmas. His eyes were closed and his legs crossed into the lotus position. Wind shuffled his thick, curly hair and his folded exercise pants. The tank top was too tight to be affected.

Stepping out onto the porch with her morning cup of steaming hot coffee, Jean took in snow-covered landscape. The wind was a bit breeze, so she let go of her coffee in order to readjust her jacket. The cup stayed suspended in midair until she retrieved it to take a sip.

"Good morning," she said. Her attention turned to the sword buried in the snow and she arched a brow.

"Is this yours?"

"Is what mine?" Korvus asked curiously as he opened his eyes.

Jean nodded behind him. "The sword," she said as she stepped off the porch to look it over. The way it was buried in the snow made her have a King Arthur moment staring at it.

Korvus turned to look at it. He was momentarily surprised. "It is but I do not recall putting it there." He admitted, turning to look back at Jean. His eyes searched for an explanation for a moment, as if she would have it.

Circling the sword contemplatively, Jean was silent for a few moments. The first thing she wondered was why he needed a sword but attributed that potentially to something in his belief system. Everyone had something unique about them.

"So that leaves one of three options," Jean said, tilting her head as she studied the blade. "Someone brought it out here and put it in the snow, knowing you'd find it, you did it yourself, possibly while under some sort of trance. Or the third option..." And it felt strange to even bring it up but it was entirely not out of the realm of possibility.

"It was not there when I came out. If someone put it into the ground behind me it would be necessary for them to be very strong and very quiet." He offered for the first option. "I have had vivid and specific dreams lately but no sleep walking to speak of."

Jean nodded a little, suppressing a sigh. Please don't be magic. Please don't be magic.

"Your family doesn't practice any sort of mysticism, do they? Magic?"

"The original owner of the sword was Rohan Roopak Shiar. My direct family line took his name. He was, in some way, capable of using this sword in combat. I do not know why. I have been having dreams of his experiences lately." Korvus clarified his earlier observation before admitting. "I do not know why."

"Shiar?" Jean repeated, then remembered bits of history from his file and nodded to herself.

"Are the dreams vividly detailed or are they something like you might imagine from a storybook?"

Again, there were a number of reasons why he would be dreaming those things. She wanted them to be more scientific but her experiences with Amanda and Nico had taught her to keep an open mind to a more enlightened type of explanation.

"They are very detailed. I experience smells and textures. I do not often do that when I dream."

Jean stared at the sword again for a couple of moments. "It's possible the sword still contains a connection to him somehow. When you became the owner of the sword, the sword forged a connection to you as well. It might have come to you because of the connection," she said, shaking her head.

"As far as how, I'm not certain."

She nodded to the sword. "Do you mind if I pick it up?"

If the sword did have a connection to him she didn't want to find out what happened if it happened to have a feature that prevented people other than him from using it.

"That sounds plausible." Korvus agreed. "Rook'shir is a hybridization of his name and mutations are genetic. Perhaps, because I am a mutant and a Rook'shir, it responds to me."

He assented with a wave of his hand as Jean asked to lift it. "Please."

"The question is..." Jean mused aloud. "How would a sword have enough 'foresight' as it were to know how to do those things if it is undoubtedly very old?"

She reached for the sword, attempting to pull it from the ground but managed to only get it to move a few inches. Furrowing a brow, Jean gave the sword a bit of a telekinetic push to try to get it going the rest of the way. Sword in the stone...Please don't be magic. Can there at least be a scientific explanation to this?

The pulse of psychic energy push Korvus completely off the bench. He flew several feet before skidding to a stop in the snow on the lawn. The blade of The Nandaki rippled blue for a moment before the energy faded to a soft glow, then a glittery shimmer in the polished steel blade.

Jean registered the lines of force emanating from the sword only a split second before it sent Korvus airborne. Strangely...she hadn't felt anything. Not a hair was out of place.

"Korvus!" she said, dropping the sword out of reflex as she bolted over to where he'd landed. She immediately crouched down beside him, automatically checking him over for any signs of injury.

"Are you alright?"

Korvus laughed softly as he stood. "I am not injured. This is very interesting." He moved toward the sword, glancing back to Jean. "You were unaffected. Do you have a theory?"

Jean followed him, after glancing him over as he walked to make sure he was telling the truth and not just trying to be brave. When it was clear he was really okay, she looked down at the sword in contemplation. "Not as of yet. I may have to take a page from Dr. McCoy's playbook and experiment."

She wasn't sure what had happened. Her powers wouldn't have made the sword glow blue, though. If anything, the sword would've been hot.

"Experiment." Korvus echoed before knelt down, wrapped his hand about the grip, and effortlessly picked it up from the ground. It glowed blue again when he touched it. "It was not previously so... light."

Jean took a step closer. "It turned blue when you touched it. It did that after emitting that...blast. But I didn't feel anything just then," she said, tilting her head curiously.

Korvus moved it about easily despite it's weight. "I am experiencing a connection that is not easy to describe. It is similar to my recent dreams. I dare to guess it is psychic."

"How so?" Jean said. "Are you experiencing the man's memories?"

"I believe I may be. It is similar to recalling my own memories." Korvus turned the sword over and pushed it back into the ground blade first. The glow faded as he released it, only a faint blue glitter left in the blade again.

"It may be the connection between you and the sword. Though I don't know why it reacted the way it did to you when I held it. Do you mind if I try again?" she said. She was hesitant to explore his mind for the connection if it was a mystical one but would if she had to.

"I do not." Korvus looked back to make sure there wasn't anything hard behind him.

Slowly approaching the sword, Jean reached down to pick it up. Holding it in her hands, she turned it over, but felt nothing. Nothing happened, or at least, nothing like what had happened before.

After a moment she put it back down on the ground and peered at it. The sword started to wobble as she tried to pick it up telekinetically, but before it barely got off the ground it shot forward like a lance toward the mansion. A loud crash followed, along with a hole in one of the windows.

Jean paused.

"Well. That answers that question," she said in deadpan.

"I hope it will be noted I was the more careful of us two." Korvus tilted his head as he looked through the large hole the gigantic sword had just made. He felt very confused.

Glancing over at Korvus, Jean couldn't help but laugh.

"So noted," she said, the smile still on her lips. "Sad to say this isn't the first time I've broken a window."

She cocked her head to the side, peering at the hole again with almost a feeling of admiration at the size of the destruction. It was already done, after all.

"Though not quite with a sword."

After a few minutes of calm, the sword fired out of an entirely different window hilt first at high velocity. It looked very much like the reverse of how it had just been shot into the mansion.

Jean's eyes widened, the lines of force coming off the sword showing her where point A to point B wound up. She couldn't use her telekinesis to stop it, it'd make it worse.

"Incoming!"

Korvus caught it by the handle out of reflex. The velocity didn't seem to transfer as forcefully as one might expect. "I believe I had had enough surprises for today." He looked down at the large blade, slightly shocked it hadn't accidentally carved him in half at some point.

All vestiges of a smile had disappeared from Jean's face as realization had taken hold. She shook her head.

"It was my fault for not taking more caution in a more controlled environment when trying to replicate what had happened. The damage inflicted could've very well been to you or another student or staff member. It was reckless of me and not a proper example to set as a teacher, I apologize."

"I suspect this is a unique situation." Korvus waved the sword side to side in his grip just a little. He was mesmerized by the new feel of the large sword. He could feel the momentum but it weight barely more than a feather to him. "Assigning blame would not serve any useful function. I may need my training adjusted to more than physical conditioning, however."

"Nevertheless. We deal with our fair share of situations most people would find unique and certain protocols are there for a reason," Jean said.

"But...I think training with the sword could be arranged."

Some loose bits of glass from one of the massive holes that had been made slipped out of the pane and shattered on the ground. Jean cocked her head to the side.

"Though I would recommend trying it in the danger room at first."

"I concur." Korvus nodded, looking from the glass to Jean. "Sooner may be better than later."

"I think we should take things slow until we know what the sword is fully capable of and why it's attuned to you," Jean said.

"Is there an accepted scientific process for producing those kinds of answers?" Korvus asked curiously. Xavier's Institute was the cutting edge of mutant science, as far as he knew.

Jean smiled. "I'm sure either Hank or I will figure something out."