FALLING EMPIRES ✵ 𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐊 𝐋𝐄𝐇𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑 [on hold]

𝟮.𝟵 | 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦

SOMETIMES, ELEANOR HATED how she depended on Erik's gift to calm her nerves.

The woman observed the metal ball float above her palm once again, glowing red. She had indeed grown so attached to it that she greatly feared losing it. A smile crept up her lips as she remembered a moment she thought she lost the ball bearing. Eleanor searched her whole house and even retraced her steps at the grocery store she went in that day, only to discover it was just sitting neatly inside her cabinet. She placed it there since she took a bath and completely forgot she put it there.

The brunette let the smooth ball roll between her fingers and her palm, soothing her. She shut her eyes for a moment, biting her lip.

In a few minutes from now, she would be fighting a mutant who thinks he's god himself, convince her ex-boyfriend not to rip the world apart, and save her fiancé from all this madness.

The universe must indeed hate her existence.

She sighed. She also had to make sure Moira and her children would not get caught in the crossfire. There were just a lot of matters at hand that she wasn't sure she could take anymore.

"Mommy, are you alright?" Anastasia placed his hand over her hand. "You look kinda pale."

Eleanor smiled at her daughter, brushing her little girl's hair back. She pocketed the metal ball, safely keeping it. "I'm fine, sweetie. I'm just thinking."

She then watched Anastasia hung her head low, a bit of fear present in her blue eyes. "Dad's going to be okay, right?"

Which dad? She wanted to humor her child, but then just nodded. "Of course, he'll be. We'll save him."

"I don't want anything to happen to him." said Anastasia, anxiously. The young girl wrung her hands together, wiggling her foot. Eleanor watched her daughter sigh and pinch her little nose. She almost chuckled at that.

If Nathan was Erik's copy when it comes to mannerisms, Anastasia was Charles'. Her girl adored and idolized her fiancé so much -- no, actually both of them do. Eleanor couldn't imagine how heartbreaking it'll be for the two of them once they find out the truth about their father.

"Were you scared?" suddenly asked Jean, her head turned to Raven. "That day in DC, were you scared?"

"No." Raven curtly responded before realizing her harsh she may have sounded. "But I was scared on my first mission. I was on a plane like this with my friends." She recalled, fondly. "About your age. We called ourselves the X-Men. Actually, Valerie was the one who came up with that."

"Your brother was there." the blonde continued narrating. "We used to call him Havoc. He was a real handful, but... when it came down to it, he was very brave."

"What happened to the rest of the kids that went with you?" Kurt questioned in his thick German accent. "The X-Men."

Eleanor watched Raven look at the floor, remorseful. "Hank, Valerie, and I are the only ones left. I couldn't save the rest of them. I told you, I'm not a hero." she asserted.