Legends [Book Two]

7

Psylocke sat on the back porch with his knees pulled to his chest. His eyes were red and puffy from crying over Reaper. He had hoped that reaching out to Reaper with his mind would make him come back, but it was like radio silence, he heard nothing back. Psylocke felt lost but he didn't know what to do, what could he do?

Polaris was on the couch in the living room, Ira and Warlock had their hands intertwined as they sat next to him. The room was silent as the other mutants were fast asleep in their bedrooms. The only reason the four of them were up was because they couldn't sleep.

"What are we going to do about Psylocke?" Warlock finally asked. His eyes were closed as his thumb made circles on the back of Ira's hand.

Polaris shook his head as he stared at the fire. "I don't know. He's a mess."

"Do you think Reaper did something?" Ira asked.

"Like what? He's immortal. He can't die."

"I guess you're right about that," Warlock exclaimed with a sigh.

Before any of them said anything else, Doc shuffled into the living room. He sat down on the floor, his arms wrapping around his knees. "Are we talking about Psylocke?"

The three of them nodded.

"I wouldn't be too concerned."

Ira's eyebrows pulled together. "Why?"

Doc looked at Ira with emotionless eyes. "If Reaper missing was going to be life and death for him, he'd be dead already. As it is, he recuperated quicker than anyone has before. At least that's what Donghun said."

Warlock nodded in agreeance. "I guess you're right. Maybe he's hoping Reaper will return."

"I know. I sure hope he does," Ira said.

Suddenly Psylocke stormed through the living room, shooting a dirty look at the four of them. He was angry that they were talking about him like he wasn't just outside of the house. They were treating him like he was a kid who didn't know how to live with someone else and it was beginning to drive him crazy. Now he understood why he never had emotions before, because they were useless.

Polaris cleared his throat as he sat up straight. "We should try to get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow."

The three of them agreed with Polaris and went to their assigned bedrooms. Ira and Warlock walked hand in hand to the small storage room they turned into a bedroom for themselves. They made it clear to Angel that the two of them weren't going to share a room with anyone else. The only way they were going to get away with it was by finding a place for themselves to sleep. That's when they came across the storage room that was completely empty.

As the mutants laid in their beds, some sleeping, some wondering about what the next plan was, and some thinking about Reaper, there was something happening hundreds of miles away from them. Reaper was breathing softly as he sat with his back against a tree. When he had landed against the ground of the field, he had broken every bone in his body. He had died momentarily but it didn't last long. Within a matter of minutes his body was healing itself and he was getting the life back into his eyes. Reaper drew in a large breath of air when his lungs finally worked again. He looked around while clutching at his chest, wondering if it was just a hallucination that he had heard Psylocke's voice. However, when he heard him begging for him again, he knew he hadn't heard wrong.

There was just one problem.

Reaper didn't know where they went. He could no longer sense them near him and with him dying twice in twenty-four hours it was impossible for him to sense where they were in the world. The only way he'd be able to find them was to gain his strength back after a series of days. He didn't like it, but it was his only choice.

With a quick movement his body spasmed and his back muscles tightened as his wings broke free from his shoulder blades. He looked up at the sky one last time before he flew up and went wherever his wings took him. Unknown to him he was heading towards the direction the other mutants had gone. Maybe it was his extra senses that were bringing him to his boyfriend, or maybe it was his stubbornness, either way, he was prepared to do anything to get back to Psylocke.

Psylocke, on the other hand, was at the farmhouse having a nightmare. All he could dream about was Reaper drowning or jumping off a cliff to his death. He didn't understand why he was dreaming these things. They weren't things that he wanted Reaper to do. Stone was the one who shook him awake, telling him to get some fresh air.

"I don't need it," Psylocke angrily said.

"Yes, you do."

Psylocke shot a look of annoyance at him. "Can't you just leave me alone."

"No," Stone said with a sigh. "You think I haven't lost people I love before? I have. I know how it feels. But you know what? Reaper isn't dead, he can't die. So, you should be happy that you can't actually lose him," Stone angrily retorted as he got up from the floor and walked out of the bedroom, he was sharing with Psylocke, Rogue, and Blizzard.

Stone walked down the stairs to the first floor where he saw Vortex sitting next to Bunny who still hadn't woken up. Vortex looked to be more depressed than ever. His eyebrows were lowered in sadness as he stared at Bunny. He couldn't help but feel guilty for this happening to her.

"Hey," Stone exclaimed as he walked over to Vortex who quickly pulled his hand away from Bunny's.

"Hi," Vortex said back.

"How are you holding up?"

Vortex cleared his throat and stood up. "What do you mean?"

Stone took a deep breath in and nodded his head. "I know you blame yourself."

"I don't..."

"Yes, you do. You can't lie to someone who has blamed themselves for someone else's death before."

Vortex closed his eyes as he admitted defeat. "How'd you get over it?"

"I didn't."

"Then how..."

"Do I live with it?"

Vortex nodded.

"I just remind myself that even though they are gone, I can't change the past. But here's something you need to remember. Bunny isn't dead, she just not awake. When she wakes up, you know she'll forgive you."

"And if she doesn't?"

"She will," Tempus said as he walked into the room with an exhausted smile on his face. "I've known Bunny long enough to know that she forgives everyone, it's in her nature."

Vortex nodded again and looked down at Bunny, slipping his hand back into hers. He didn't care if the two of them saw him holding her hand anymore. All he cared about was her getting better.

Polaris walked down the stairs and stopped in the doorway of the dining room. "Tempus," he said without looking up from the ground.

"Yes?" Tempus said back.

"Please go around and wake everyone. We're going to have a memorial for Split and afterwards we are going to make a plan."

"I'm on it."

When Tempus left to go wake the other mutants, Polaris walked out the backdoor and look around the property that used to be a farm. Tears came to his eyes as he thought about Rain, Split, Psylocke, Bunny, and Reaper.

How many others must die for us to have their freedom? How many more mutants must suffer for our freedom? Why can't we just live peacefully?

Polaris thought to himself as he finally cried for the first time since they started to fight for their lives.