Fading Echoes . • . X-Men Fanfic . • . BOOK 1

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Chapter One:

Lioness. That's what Father named her. Ekka hardly enjoyed the title, and the skin-tight costume that made her feel like she was going to die of asphyxiation at any second.

The act was hardly a pleasant one either. She absolute despised it. It was a cruel act to her friends, making them into mere pets when they should be in big packs in the wild. They deserved more than just jumping through hoops and being lead into circles. Ekka hated how they treated them like dogs — how she had to treat them like dogs.

There was clapping. It sounded excited, which had been her cue. The clowns stepped into the back tent as she exited through the entrance doors. The bright stage lights made her shrink back, squinting. "May I present to you, Lioness, the Lion Tamer!" More applause. It was louder this time. So loud, it shook her very bones. Ekka would have ran back into the room had she not been afraid of the punishment she would endure from Father even more.

She scurried out, her gaze trained on the floor, which was decorated in several colorful swirls and also popcorn thrown out from the audience. Definitely not the friendliest bunch then.

She easily made it to her lions, whom had still been in their cages, staring at the crowd with lazy, beady black eyes. Ekka exhaled, and opened up the cage. She reached out with her ability, easily able to find their minds. Come, she commanded, waving to herself.

The animals easily got up, trotting over to Ekka eagerly. The crowd ooh'ed at her, as she brought them to the crowd. "Say hello," she whispered, but her microphone clipped on her shirt picked her voice up. In response, the lion's roared, and the crowd screamed and cried in applause.

Ekka turned, going to the center of the room, and patting the side of her leg as a order for them to come as well, which they did. Picking up the hoop she had stashed to the side, she held it out, "Jump." The lions answered, bounding through her hoop easily. Again, the crowd clapped, but it wasn't enthusiastic as the first cheering. They had gotten bored now. They wanted something interesting.

Father must have noticed because he began to speak again, "Lioness will now make the lions walk across a tightrope!" The crowd gasped and Ekka looked at Father, surprised. He had brought up the idea once, but she thought he meant it as a joke. Lions don't — no, can't — walk across a tightrope, so she never trained them on it.

Two stagehands came out and set up a small tightrope that was a foot or so above the ground. It was high enough to allow the animal to step unto it, but nowhere near as thick to allow them to actually walk.

Ekka looked back up at Father, who was smiling at the crowd. She saw him glance her way, and in that single gaze that couldn't have lasted more than a second, she saw fury.

Ekka struggled to breath, her heart jumping in her throat. "C–Climb," she stammered, her mouth and her powers not quite matching, so they merely stared at her. The audience jeered at their lack of significant movement, throwing popcorn at her. Their complaints rising in her ears, making her inability to breathe even worse.

"Now, now, I'm sure they just need a little... Encouragement," Father's voice — although sounding cheery — made chills run down her spine. She knew she'd get several lashings for this later.

"Climb! Climb! Climb! Climb...!" The audience chanted, their voices ringing in her ears. She wants to curl in on herself and hide away from them, but knew that wouldn't solve her predicament.

Ekka swallowed the knot in her throat, "Climb," she said, now much more firmly. The lions complied, one stepping unto the small platform that could only fit about one foot at a time, and stepped forward.