"Deep in the hive of imagination come dreams. Deep in the hive of memory emerge nightmares…" -- Charles Xavier
The warmth of the light is what nudged her out of her slumber. Amber light shone from behind her eyelids and she could smell the musky scent of dirt. She opened her eyes and immediately squinted at the harsh glow above her. Rolling over, she pushed herself off of the damp ground and stood up.
She stood in a clearing surrounded by plants. Great, fanning branches filtered the sunlight from above, leaving a slight green glow and sporadic batches of sun all over the underlying area. With barely a breeze, humid air clung to her nude body. She was standing in the middle of a jungle.
Pulling strands of white hair behind her ear to mingle with the chestnut neighbors, Marie looked around. She appeared to glow; her pale skin seemed delicate in comparison to the brilliant colors that surrounded her.
A sense of urgency hit her as quickly as she had awakened. She needed to find her way out of the forest. As naturally as Eve lived along side Adam in their nakedness, Marie glided into the dripping ferns letting the softness tease her whole body. After each passing plant, Marie surged forward with even more passion. Through beams of light that trickled past the canopy and over moss-ridden logs.
The roof overhead became thicker and as more time past, Marie found herself stepping into a darker realm. The forest ahead of her faded to black and she stopped running.
Staring into the impenetrable ink, Marie strained to see the way ahead. Turning around seemed the only reasonable way to continue.
Staring back at the path she had trodden Marie gasped at the image. Cut through the middle of the waist-high ferns, a brown trail of dead plants, leading to where she stood. Marie crouched down at a fern that only slightly danced along her calf. Slowly the green faded away and its stalk withered. The entire leaf drooped down and it soon became as brown as the earth at her feet.
Marie blinked and a blast of hot, dry air met her eyes when she opened them. The ambient black that had existed no more than a second ago was replaced by a blank desert. No plants or animals appeared along the vast horizon. A cloudy, gray sky met the red ground.
Marie no longer stood in the world bare-chested. Draped across her body were white linens. Thrown into brilliant contrast against the dark earth, she stood like a beacon to lost travelers. Wind ever-playing with her hair and gown, Marie stood as if nothing had happened.
Unfazed by the transformation of the space she stood in or of herself, Marie proceeded to explore the wide plane. Whispers began to emerge from the dusty distance and she turned towards them.
A massive dust devil twisted in the distance ahead of her. The unmistakable silhouettes of humans emerged into the air. Five stood there, unformed and unrecognizable. Marie walked up to the closest one as if this happened to her every day. The blackness softly spoke her name.
"Marie."
The figure grabbed her hips and leaned forward to kiss her. She accepted and placed her hands on its face. Spreading from its lips, the blackness faded into a crème complexion with the faintest of facial hair. David's eyes opened and met Marie's. She stared into the eyes of her first kiss as they rolled back into his head.
Pushing her down, she landed hard onto the cracked earth amidst the dust. She felt a foot connect with her stomach and she gagged forward.
"What did you do to me?" David screamed, his face distorted in anger.
The sound of scraping footsteps told Marie he had run away. She felt a hand wrap around her arm and lift her up. Tears of pain still clung at her cheeks. She felt a hand dusting the dust off of her clothes. She turned to thank the stranger, but was met with a stabbing pain in her chest.
Marie's front immediately became stained with deep red blood that radiated outward from three lacerations in her chest. She couldn't breath, heat spread across her body. A hand grabbed hers and the pain went away with the red blood. Logan stood there smiling.
He backed away from her to join another man. Marie frowned as the silver haired head turned to face her.
"Eric," Marie greeted half-heartedly.
Stepping between Logan and Magneto was Bobby who appeared frightened of Marie.
"A-A-Ah'm sorry!" Marie protested.
"It's okay," Bobby replied meekly.
The air became hotter and smoke rose behind the three men. John pushed his way to the front of the group and glared at her.
"I'm the worst one!" he calmly stated.
"A'h know, A'h had to do something," Marie pushed back.
John's placid face became disturbed into a frown. As did that of Bobby's. They both stepped towards her. Marie took a step back only to be met by a yank on her hair. She shouted in protest and reached back at the attacker. It was David. He pulled her head back and kissed at her ear.
"You took something from me!"
Bobby grabbed her arm and squeezed.
"And me too!"
John crouched down and grabbed her leg, bringing it up.
"Same with me!"
The three stood there holding Marie up. Eric had turned away and Logan circled the four of them frantically. He tried to get to Marie, but was met with a wall of ice or a torrent of flames.
The urgency returned to Marie and she began to whimper. Her surroundings became blurred and then they were standing at the edge of a cliff. The face was jagged with deep orange rocks. Marie could hear Logan yelling in the distance.
They held her above their heads. Marie began screaming back to Logan. She was suddenly pitched forward, over the edge, but not before John squeezed his burning hand around her arm.
Roaring down towards the ground Marie's mind became a jumbled mess. She clawed at the face of the cliff, only able to snap a fingernail tip off one finger and bend another one totally back. Her leg clipped a protrusion of the cliff and she began twisting and turning. She could still hear David, Bobby, and John laughing even though the wind tore at her ears.
She needed help. She had to find someone to help her. She continued to plummet towards the unseen ground. The urgency became overwhelming. A shudder ran through her. She began to convulse for a second. She began to feel drained. The feeling ran to the pit of her stomach.
A light green halo appeared around her entire body. Smoke like projections began to stretch out away from it. They flailed about her, reaching out. She had to find help. Survival of the fittest. She needed to try harder. The halo became wider and the tendrils stretched out further.
Her urgency disappeared. She had found someone to help her. The ground came rushing up at her just as an image of Jubilee flashed in Marie's head.
Rogue awoke screaming and sitting up. She drew a loud, choked breath in. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes. Her head was exploding in pain. She rubbed her temples and whimpered. She glanced towards Jubilee in her bed. A faint green haze seemed to fill the room. It curled, similar to smoke near the draped window. Rogue tingled all over. Her skin was actually tingling. It felt like tiny pin pricks all over her body.
She ran her hands up and down her arms. She winced when her rough hands caught on several new blisters near her wrist. Rogue gasped out through gritted teeth and groaned out of bed. She went to the bathroom to get some Advil. A different tingling now ran through just her fingers. Rogue walked back to her bed past a wilted, brown plant. She sat down and frowned at it.
Smoke met her nose with the smell of burning hair. She looked down to see the smoke coming from under her hands. She screamed in surprise and several fireworks shot out. They bounced off of the walls, squealing with smoky trail following. Rogue clenched her fists and looked over at Jubilee.
Ororo burst through the door appearing agitated.
"Jubilee, what are you do-!"
She stopped immediately seeing just Rogue standing there.
"What's going on Rogue?"
"A'h don't know," Rogue whispered.
They both drew their attention over to Jubilee's bed. She was making strange, strangled sounds. Ororo ran over to her.
Pointing at Rogue she screamed, "Go-go get Dr. McCoy, Jubilee's having a seizure!"
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