by Nails

Notes: Definitely Alternate Universe, but it is based mostly on the X-Men Movie.  A character from my Dungeons & Dragons (yeah I¡¦m a geek) stories ends up in Westchester, NY.  This story arc centers on Jubilee and my character Liiran Silverscale.  Jubilee is now 19 and taking college courses at the Mansion, as are Kitty, Rouge and Bobby.  Italics are thoughts and bold is telepathy.

Background on Liiran: Liiran is the protagonist in some of my Forgotten Realms stories (none of which are posted on the web).  She¡¦s an Elf.  She¡¦s brash, energetic (for an elf), young (relatively) and has a streak of arrogance.  But all in all she has a good heart.  She is the younger (much younger) sister of two High Wizards of the Elven Court, and, in the wake of her parents¡¦ death, is constantly trying to earn their respect and approval.  Through her adventures she has become a powerful and prominent mage in the city of Silverymoon, but she is lacking something.  The one thing she wants more than power or respect, someone who will love her unconditionally, though she would never say that kind of mush out loud.

Synopsis:  Jubilee discovers a naked young woman with pointed ears in the Mansion¡¦s driveway.  The woman turns out to be an elf from another plane of existence that is trapped on Earth until she finds her destiny.

And remember, Feedback is the life¡¦s blood of a fanfic writer so please give me some at [email protected]

            Liiran inhaled the sultry smoke of the incense and prayed. 

            Mystra, Lady of Mysteries.  I grow weary of the City of the Silver Moon.  I feel that I have learned all that I can from its libraries.  I feel the thirst for adventure.  I must go.  As your servant I go to teach and spread the knowledge of The Weave and its intricate Art to others.  Guide me toward my destiny and teach me as I journey.

             Sighing, she stood up and walked out onto the balcony.  The city of Silverymoon lay before her, lights twinkling in the twilight.  She loved the city.  It was her home and sanctuary.  She enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the markets and the grave quiet of the Great Library in equal measure.  But she also had the heart of an adventurer.  And an adventuring heart will not still for long.  She walked back into her bedchambers and started to pack her necessities.  She intended to sneak out of the city, not wanting to be followed.  I¡¦ll leave a note for Vispahr and the others, but I intend to be long gone by the morrow.

            Unnoticed by Liiran, a pair of eyes as deep and mysterious as the Trackless Sea watched her from the darkness.

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            Jubilee sat under her favorite tree by the pond, and tried not to be bothered by the people around her.  Rouge sat on a bench next to Mr. Logan, talking while he tried to look disinterested.  Kitty and Peter sat under a nearby tree absorbed with just looking at each other.  Ms. Grey and Mr. Summers were out on the pond in a rowboat.  It was all about enough to make her sick.  Don¡¦t these people have jobs or homes or something?

            She stood up and headed back towards the mansion.  I gotta get out of her for awhile, this lovey-dovey stuff is getting to me.  She paused outside of the professor¡¦s office, wondering if he was in there.  She raised her hand to knock, then decided better of it.  He¡¦s probably busy if he¡¦s still in there anyway.  She turned to leave but stopped when she heard his voice. 

Come in Jubilation, I am not busy.

She stepped into the professor¡¦s office.  Taking in its simple elegance.  He was sitting behind the desk, which was strewn with papers.  He had been busy, but he put it on hold for her.  That made feel good, important even.  ¡¦Thanks for seein¡¦ me Professor.  Can I, uh, borrow one of the cars?¡¦

He raised an eyebrow.  ¡¦What do you need Jubilee?  I am sure Ms. Munroe will get whatever it is when she goes for supplies tonight.¡¦

¡¦Uh, well I just need to get away for awhile.¡¦ She gestured vaguely toward the gardens. ¡¦All the togetherness out there is starting to bug me.¡¦

He chuckled. ¡¦Ah, I see.¡¦ He turned his wheelchair towards the windows and gazed out for a moment. ¡¦Hmm. It seems amour is in the air.  All right Jubilee, you may take the Lexus, but you must be back on the grounds by midnight.  Is that satisfactory?¡¦

She ran up and hugged him. ¡¦Thanks Prof. You sure know how to make a girl happy.¡¦

¡¦Yes, well perhaps you should be going?  It is already almost eight o¡¦clock.¡¦

She nodded and scrambled out the door.  Professor Xavier looked after for awhile, the grinned and returned to his work.  He always felt good when he made the children happy.  Theirs was such a hard lot already.  Especially Jubilee.  With the traumas of her past, she couldn¡¦t seem to bring herself to become emotionally attached to anyone. 

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            Liiran walked through the shadows of the alleys of Silverymoon, putting the skills she had learned years ago as a thief in Waterdeep to good use.  The boots of her ancestors made no sound on the cobblestones and her elven cloak became one with the shadows.  She let herself briefly dwell on the days after her parents had died.  She had run from her home on the island of Evermeet and stowed away on a ship bound for Waterdeep.  She had become a thief in order to survive and she had been a good one.  The memories were bittersweet.  She shook her head and focused on the task at hand.

              She stood around the corner from the gate¡¦s guard-post.  She opened the pouch that rode low on her left hip and pulled out a small puff of cotton and a small lump of wax.  She wove complex passes of her hands through the Weave, and muttered an incantation.  Suddenly there was the sound of a furious fight in an alley up ahead.  She crouched low into the shadows and watched as the guards ran towards the scene of the ¡¦battle¡¦.  She laughed to herself and ran out of the gate.

            She stopped by a copse of trees about a mile from the city before she allowed herself one last look.  Lights were still on in some of the towers, magical research no doubt.  She again opened the pouch, this time producing some small gemstones.  She tossed them in the air and laughed lightly as they began to orbit her head.  She unrolled her bedroll and produced a sheathed rapier from it.  She unsheathed the sword and watched the dazzling blue energy that made up the blade.  Buckling the sword to her belt she felt ready for anything.

            Greetings Liiran.

            Liiran spun around. ¡¦Who said that?  Show yourself and stand down from my thoughts!¡¦

            Such strong words.  You wanted guidance and I shall give it to you. 

With that everything stopped.  The breeze quit blowing.  The crickets stopped their songs.  It seemed as if the stars themselves stopped twinkling.  In the center of the glade, the beams of moonlight that filtered through the trees began to coalesce.  In but a moment a woman with flowing black hair and softly glowing skin was born of the moonbeams.

 ¡¦I am Mystra.  The One True Spell.  Liiran, long have I watched over you and many are my plans for your life.  But those plans are far distant in your future and will call for much sacrifice.   For now I wish you to feel happiness and yet you feel sorrow.  You search for love, even if you don¡¦t admit it.  You must find love now so that later you know why you must to do that which I ask of you.  Come to me.¡¦  Liiran moved toward the incarnation of her deity with trepidation and awe.

¡¦You have no need to fear me Childe.  I am acting much sooner than I would have wished to, but you need my help and I yours.  I ask you, will you be one of my Chosen?  It is your choice, but I warn you.  To be one of the Chosen is not an easy life.  You will be one of my champions in Faerun.  You will enter a service that may last thousands of thousands of years.  You will suffer through thousands of battles and petty humiliations.  Some places will revile you while other simply fear you and yet others love you.  You will live to see Silverymoon and the Elven Court of Evermeet fall to dust and be forgotten.  But you will do works of good that will last through the eons.  It is a cold and lonely road if you have only me to keep you warm.  That is why you must find love now, so that it may warm your heart later, when you feel cold and forsaken and lonely.  I blame you not if you refuse, nor will I abandon you.  For the burden I ask you to bear should never be borne by anyone.  Yet I need heroes and the people of the Realms need heroes.  I ask only once and our time is short, what say you?¡¦

For the first time in her life Liiran¡¦s mouth held no words.  She stared wide-eyed at the avatar of the Lady of Mysteries.  Finally she managed a shaky nod of her head.  Mystra smiled.  Liiran felt faint and fell unceremoniously on her ass.  The Goddess knelt beside her.

¡¦When I am finished you will awaken in a world that is not our own.  There you are to search for the person to warm your heart.  That is the simplest magic, the kind over which I have no control.  I am sorry, but this will hurt.¡¦ Mystra lifted Liiran¡¦s head and stared into her eyes for a moment, as if confirming Liiran¡¦s will.  Then she nodded.  The Goddess bent in close and kissed the wizardess. 

Liiran felt the fire rise through her limbs and into her body.  She tried to cry out but the pain was too much.  The flames burned through her body and through her soul.  Reflexively she tried to pull away but it was too late.  The pain lifted her consciousness higher until she was no longer sure she had ever had a body and all she could remember was the pain.  Then everything started to fade.  Search for the simplest magic.  But remember my childe that sometimes the simplest magic is the strongest¡¦ and the hardest to control.

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Jubilee looked at the Lexus¡¦ dash clock.  It read one o¡¦clock in a damning blue glow.  She cursed under her breath and hit the button on the remote.  The mansion¡¦s gates swung silently open.  Well that¡¦s it, I am a dead woman.  She started slowly up the driveway and was halfway to the mansion when the headlights lit upon something in the road.  She braked quickly and stared out at the white body lying in the road.  This is just what I need.

She stepped out of the car and into the cool night air.  She approached the body and sighed in relief when she saw it was breathing.  Correction, she was breathing.  After that realization came another, the girl was completely naked and clutching a large leather-bound book.  Groaning she slipped off her own jacket and knelt over the young woman.  Jubilee put her jacket over the girl and lightly shook her shoulder.  ¡¦Hey kid wake up!¡¦

The girl¡¦s eyes slowly opened, they were the deepest shade of emerald Jubilee had ever seen.  ¡¦Ke¡¦kesir quarlani  es maskan¡¦ka.¡¦   The girl said painfully.  Then she looked into Jubilee¡¦s eyes.  ¡¦Syne nehel lani surinya?¡¦

Jubilee looked at her confusedly.  ¡¦Huh?  I don¡¦t understand.  What is your name?¡¦ She pointed at herself. ¡¦Jubilee.¡¦ 

The girl looked like she understood. ¡¦Ke¡¦kesir lahr es Liiran.¡¦ She pointed at herself weakly. ¡¦Liiran.¡¦  Then she closed her eyes.

 Jubilee nodded.  ¡¦Okay Liiran.  We¡¦re gonna take care of ya¡¦.¡¦ She tried to sound reassuring.  ¡¦Stay here.¡¦ Jubilee motioned that Liiran shouldn¡¦t move and ran off toward the mansion.

Jubilee practically threw the front door open and started down the hall.  The next thing she knew she was on her butt and her head hurt like she had run into a wall.  She looked up.  It was Mr. Logan, almost as bad as a wall. 

¡¦So yer finally home.¡¦ He was pissed. ¡¦You was supposed to be home by midnight, I got put up on guard duty.  Mind explainin¡¦ yerself?¡¦

She stood up. ¡¦Later.  Right now we have a problem Wolvie.¡¦ He flinched at his reviled nickname. ¡¦There¡¦s a very cold, naked young woman in the middle of the driveway.  An¡¦ I don¡¦t know who she is or how she got there, but she seems to be hurt.¡¦

He sniffed to see if she was lying. ¡¦Hmm. Okay, you go wake up Summers and Red.  I¡¦ll go get the girl.¡¦

Jubilee nodded and ran off toward the teacher¡¦s wing.

A few minutes later Jean was examining Liiran in the medlab.  Jubilee stood by a very disgruntled Logan and a pajama-clad Scott.  Xavier, in his robe, was sitting across from Jean looking into the book that the girl had been carrying.

Jean looked at a computer screen by the bed. ¡¦That can¡¦t be right.¡¦ She muttered.

¡¦What is it Jean?¡¦ Xavier asked.

¡¦The scanner says she has nothing in common with the human genetic code.  She isn¡¦t a human, there¡¦s no way she could even be a mutant.  Her bone structure is a little different, more angular and less dense. Her metabolism is much higher than ours and she doesn¡¦t appear to have any hair follicles below her scalp.  I won¡¦t know any more physiological differences until I can examine her more thoroughly while she¡¦s awake.  But as far as I can tell she¡¦s in excellent shape.  If she was in as much pain as Jubilee says she was then it must have been psychosomatic or something else.¡¦ Jean looked up at the assembly before her.

¡¦What about the book Professor?¡¦ Scott asked. ¡¦Can you read it?¡¦

¡¦Well the book is definitely old, several centuries old I¡¦d guess.  And it is written in an alphabet I¡¦ve never encountered.¡¦

            ¡¦Den es lersaatal arta lerret.  Den es Ke¡¦kesira¡¦ Issued a weak voice from the girl on the bed.  She looked distraught when they couldn¡¦t understand her.  Liiran looked about weakly then saw Jubilee and smiled thinly.  She pointed at Jubilee ¡¦Nehel.  Sehan ausa ke¡¦kesir.¡¦  She motioned for Jubilee to approach her and struggled to sit up.  Jean moved to help but Liiran waved her off.

            Jubilee stood beside the bed next to Xavier.  Liiran steadied herself, and started the motions of her spell.  I hope this works.  She muttered some words and put her right hand on her left ear and her left hand on her mouth, then she reached out and put her right hand on Jubilee¡¦s mouth and her left hand on her right ear.  ¡¦Speak with me.¡¦

            To her credit, Jubilee wasn¡¦t too freaked out.  ¡¦You¡¦ You¡¦re speaking English.¡¦

            Liiran lay back down.  ¡¦No, you are speaking elven.¡¦

            ¡¦Elven?¡¦ Jubilee listened to the actual word that slid off of her tongue and it was ¡¦kesir¡¦ka¡¦.  ¡¦So you¡¦re an elf?  What did you do to me?¡¦ She pointed at her mouth for effect.

            Liiran nodded. ¡¦I am Liiran Silverscale.  Wizard of Silverymoon and Chosen of Mystra, the Lady of Mysteries.  I cast a tongues spell upon you.  I am sorry if that was presumptuous of me.¡¦

            ¡¦Uh, I¡¦m Jubilation Lee.  Mallrat extraordinaire and Student of Xavier¡¦s Institute of Higher Learning.¡¦ Jubilee looked around and noticed the shocked expressions on her teacher¡¦s faces.  Then turned back to Liiran.  ¡¦I suppose I should introduce you.  This is Logan, Scott Summers, Jean Grey and Professor Charles Xavier.  He kinda runs things around here.¡¦ She said, pointing each person out in turn.  ¡¦They have some questions they would like to ask you, I guess you want me to interpret.¡¦  Liiran nodded.

            Jubilee turned to her teachers. ¡¦Okay shoot.¡¦

            ¡¦Is she still in any pain and what caused it?¡¦

            Jubilee conferred with Liiran then turned back to Jean. ¡¦She says the pain is abating and should be gone by tomorrow.  When I asked her what caused it she asked me if I¡¦d ever channeled the energy of a god.  Next.¡¦

            ¡¦If she ain¡¦t human, what the hell is she?¡¦ Logan asked.

            Jubilee rolled her eyes at him and said.  ¡¦She¡¦s a genuine J.R.R. Tolkien style Elf.  And a wizard to boot.¡¦

            The Professor raised an eyebrow at the word ¡¦wizard¡¦. ¡¦Why is she here, and where is she from?¡¦

            After another conference Jubilee again provided the answer. ¡¦She says she is from the city of Silverymoon in the continent of Faerun on the world of Toril.  As for why she¡¦s here all she¡¦ll say is that she is supposed to search for the something important.  She¡¦s kinda vague about it.¡¦

            ¡¦You said she channeled the energy of a god.  What did she mean?¡¦ Scott asked finally.

            After a quick discussion Jubilee said. ¡¦She says that she¡¦s one of the Chosen of Mystra.  Mystra is apparently the goddess of magic and to become one of Mystra¡¦s Chosen you must harbor an infinitesimally small portion of Her divine essence.  Apparently it hurts like hell.¡¦

            ¡¦How long has she been one of ¡¦Mystra¡¦s Chosen¡¦?¡¦ Jean asked.

            Jubilee asked. ¡¦About thirty minutes.¡¦

            Liiran spoke to Jubilee.  ¡¦I am quite tired, perhaps I can answer any other questions in the morning.¡¦

            ¡¦She wants to know if we can finish the Q&A in the morning?¡¦

            Xavier nodded. ¡¦Of course.  She needs her rest.¡¦

            ¡¦Jubilation, will you stay with me while I trance?¡¦ Liiran asked.

            ¡¦Trance?  What¡¦s that?¡¦

            Liiran smiled. ¡¦Elves do not need to sleep like humans do.  Instead we refresh our minds by meditating, remembering our pasts and doing some simple mental exercises.  We call the process our trance.¡¦

            ¡¦Oh.¡¦ Jubilee turned to Xavier. ¡¦Professor, is it all right if I stay with Liiran tonight.  She says she wants me to.¡¦

            ¡¦Hmm.  Ask her if I may probe her mind to see her intentions.  As a precaution.¡¦

            ¡¦He wants to know if he can look inside you head for a minute.¡¦ She told Liiran.

            ¡¦He has spells to do so?¡¦

            ¡¦Nah.  He¡¦s a mutant, like the rest of us.  It kinda comes naturally to him.  Like this,¡¦ Jubilee produced some plasmoids and made them dance between her hands, ¡¦comes naturally to me.  It¡¦s not a spell, just a natural ability. So whaddaya say?¡¦

            Liiran nodded. ¡¦Yes he can look at my thoughts.¡¦

            ¡¦She said yes.¡¦

            Xavier nodded and closed his eyes to concentrate.  After a minute he opened them again.  ¡¦She speaks the truth, though I never really doubted her.  I should say that I would like to know more about the customs of her people and the humans of her world.  But that can wait for another day.  You may stay here with Liiran tonight Jubilee.  Goodnight.¡¦  He turned his wheelchair and headed for the exit.

            ¡¦Goodnight Jubilee.¡¦ Jean said as she grabbed Scott by the arm and headed for the door.  He just waved his goodnight sleepily.

            ¡¦G¡¦night Jubes.¡¦ Logan said as he walked out.

            Liira turned over to look at Jubilee as the younger girl pulled the cot from the corner. ¡¦Jubilation, you demonstration was rather like a spell I know.  You said that this power comes naturally, is it like that of a sorcerer?  Do you know any other spells?¡¦

            Jubilee smiled and flopped down on the cot.  ¡¦I told you, it¡¦s not a spell.  If it was, I¡¦d guess that it would have to be the simplest magic there is.¡¦

            Liiran just stared at Jubilee for a moment because of her choice of words.  The words echoed in her mind.  I¡¦d guess that it would have to be the simplest magic there is.

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End Notes:  Eh, not that great a beginning but not bad either.  I guess I might need to clear up a few things.  The Weave is the magical web that surrounds Faerun and makes magic possible.  The translations for the elven phrases are below.  I think that Liiran might end up falling for Jubilee, whether the affection will be returned remains to be seen, in either case this will never go above an R rating.  So get your mind out of the gutter.  Like I said at the top, I really want feedback if you would be so kind as to send it here  And if you guys want them, I might post some of my earlier Liiran stories as well, but that depends on how many (if any) people want to read them.

Elven translations:

Ke¡¦kesir quarlani es maskan¡¦ka  = My soul is burning.

Syne nehel lani surinya.  =  Are you an angel?

Ke¡¦kesir lahr es Liiran  = My name is Liiran.

Den es lersaatal arta lerret  = That is a spellbook.

Den es Ke¡¦kesira  = That is mine.

You may have figured out that the phrase Ke¡¦kesir and Ke¡¦kesira are a lot alike.  This is because the word kesir actually means elf and the prefix ¡¦ke¡¦ denotes ownership so the literal translation of  ¡¦Ke¡¦kesir quarlani es maskan¡¦ka¡¦ is actually ¡¦Elf¡¦s soul is burning¡¦ or ¡¦This elf¡¦s soul is burning.¡¦ But humans, not being as long live or verbose as elves, tend to shorten things.  (And yes I do spend too much time on Dungeons & Dragons websites)