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Post by lvsphinx on Sept 2, 2024 2:22:58 GMT
A young woman knelt on a patch of dirt and moss that she made for herself, shifting the earth with buried roots and rapidly growing the moss with a simple touch. She was very far from home, instead a few feet in front of the Battery Park Memorial for the Battery Park Massacre, when Captain Nazi and Empire 88 soldiers slaughtered Magneto and the assembled Brotherhood of Mutant members in broad daylight. The trip here was important; this was almost a pilgrimage for her.
Emily remembered those days vividly, for the event happened only a few weeks before her own parents were in killed in another act of anti-mutant violence close to home, the gunman being inspired like others after the event to commit heinous acts of their own. She remembered being outraged at how long these cases took to go to trial, how there were even chances for innocence for the perpetrators. She remembered cheering when the life-imprisonment sentences were handed down, and how the delivery of justice still left her feeling empty long after the deaths of her parents.
Emily knew these acts continued to this day. Not as publicized as they used to be after Captain Nazi's massacre, but still a regular threat for those within the community, her community, the incident rates still remaining steady. Law enforcement continued to be misunderstanding instead of helpful, often wondering why mutants didn't use their powers to flee or defend themselves from anti-mutant discrimination, perhaps not realizing all the potential legal repercussions of using your powers even in self-defense.
The memorial grounds were covered with a verdant explosion of flowers, the flowers having suddenly blossomed from seemingly everywhere spontaneously once Emily had shown up, pleasantly surprising park-goers with a rainbow of floral colors. The plants around them released a pleasant-smelling, euphoria-inducing pollen into the air; Emily's attempt to make sure there wouldn't be too much alarm.
As the flowers swayed and the mind-affecting pollen spread in the wind, Emily simply read from a small book, one of Erik Lehnsherr's few published works. Emily wasn't religious, and didn't particularly feel one way or another about God, so she was unsure how to pray. Instead, she settled on reciting selected readings of Magneto's philosophy for her impromptu memorial service, the young woman murmuring to herself as she read.
""There are no sides. There are no heroes or villains. There's just what we want and how we'll get it.""
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Post by Countess on Sept 7, 2024 1:58:36 GMT
Rogue isn't sure why she has come here... but every so often, she finds herself gravitating to this place. Erik had been... so formative in her life. For better or worse. Even how things ended up, she can't help but come back to him. Maybe it is the complexity, maybe it is just... the depth of it all. She always comes here with a new intention, a new emotion. Right now, it is grief. Loss. Of him, of Remy, of... love. Whatever capacity, giving, receiving, simply... being.
Because... she really had loved him. Really. Maybe that's why it all hurt as much as it did, how it all went down. What he made her do.
"He also said, "“I find scars are far more vivid reminders than memories,"" Rogue murmurs to the other woman here, approaching quietly. She had recognized his words, and came prepared with her own. This is the first time she has come across someone else here. There is something in this cornucopia of flowers that is making her a bit giddy despite it all... despite this being his grave, despite her missing him, despite her hating him. It is a complex feeling. She remembers him telling her those words before he made her-
Rogue winces, looking away from the grave. For someone who hated others following orders... he sure gave a lot of his own. Ones she regrets. Ones she wishes she could take back. Ones she would do anything to rectify.
But she can't. She was just following orders, so she has to bear the weight of them. Now, he is dead, and the dead carry nothing, do they? The living do.
"You knew him?" Rogue asks, quiet. She doesn't know her, maybe she had come after her time.
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Post by lvsphinx on Sept 7, 2024 15:25:11 GMT
Emily looks up from her book, a touch surprised. Surprised that someone had approached her. Even more so that someone else had quoted Erik to her. "You know Lehnsherr," she says, using his last name as though he were already a great historical figure or philosopher. There's something like appreciation in her voice.
"I wish I knew him," Emily says, shaking her head slightly, answering Rogue's question. "I never had the privilege of meeting him." For Emily, the source of her solemnity comes from the memory of her parents. Erik's writings were a constant companion for years after their deaths.
Emily takes a breath, often nervous before asking this question. "I...assume you're also a mutant? You can lie and say "No" if you are. It's just that I've only met mutants at the memorial. Not many humans would be able to quote Lehnsherr, anyway."
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Post by Countess on Sept 7, 2024 17:56:47 GMT
Rogue knows what it is like to have that fear and doubt. Erik was very good at recruitment- too good. Not that the world they all live in made it any harder. In fact, she would say it made it all the easier. It certainly had for her. Vulnerable youth was his bread and butter- he had been one, himself.
"I don't think anyone ever really knew him, save for his oldest friend," Rogue says, looking down at the grave. It is... well loved. He always wanted a martyr. She isn't sure how she feels that it ended up being him. "I knew him... as well as I could. I knew him the way he wanted me to. He..." she says, looking troubled. "For all the love I have, I also have hate," she says, sighing. The pain she has caused...
"I am a mutant, yes. I was... with him, for a while," Rogue says. "Him and his group, I mean," she adds. No need to... muddy the waters. His manipulation of her was easy, all things considered. All he needed to do was show only he could give her what she craved. Now that she is older... Rogue shakes her head. Some things are only learned through experience. He taught her the most valuable of lessons... Trust no one with your heart. Especially the ones who profess to be the only one.
It has bled into her relationship with Remy. It has bled into... everything.
".... are you?" Rogue asks. "You don't have to answer truthfully, either. I know... I know."
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Post by lvsphinx on Sept 7, 2024 22:55:56 GMT
Emily gives a firm nod, a small smile on her lips. "Proudly," she answers, raising a clenched fist, a symbol co-opted by the Mutant Liberation Front. She's too proud to be afraid of showing her allegiance, or at least her support, to the MLF here, on this hallowed ground.
"Wait, you were with him? You were part of the original Brotherhood?" she asks, her eyes lighting up, awe and admiration seeping into her voice. Questions flood her mind at this revelation. Where were you during the Battery Park massacre? Did you know Lehnsherr's daughter? What was his favorite food? Unknowing, Emily is envious of Rogue's experience. She is tempted to nerd out with what she knows (and doesn't know) about Lehnsherr, but restrains herself to one question for now.
"What was he like? He always seemed so...fierce in videos and speeches."
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Post by Countess on Sept 7, 2024 23:17:54 GMT
Rogue does not mirror the motion. Those days are long behind her. "I am glad you have pride," she says, the only diplomatic answer she can give the young woman. She is worried for her. Already. She remind her of herself. Sometimes... all you can do is hope. Rogue forcing her idea of life on her... that already happened to her. She takes a deep breath.
"I was. I love him deeply," Rogue murmurs, eyes only for the grave. "I was in the Brotherhood," she adds, and Emily might hear the pain of it. She shouldn't be admired. What she did...
Fierce. Charismatic. Could lead a revolution. Could lead a genocide. Just like... "Erik... was complicated. He was... human. In the ways we all try to deny. We all have flaws. I still loved him, despite those flaws. For a while, I would do anything for him, and I did. I... regret that," she says, holding herself.
".... I am sorry. You are entitled to your opinion, even if it is different than mine. I can tell... he has had an impression on you. When I was younger, he had one on me too. I knew him well, and he knew me well enough to... use me. All in the name of his movement, right?" Rogue says, laughing hollowly. "The greater good. I still fear what that means. Have nightmares."
Rogue shakes herself.
"Sorry. Again. Erik and I- Magneto- it was... complicated."
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Post by lvsphinx on Sept 7, 2024 23:46:19 GMT
Emily frowns slightly. "Human". The use of the word bothers her. Some silence lingers after Rogue's words. Yes, Magneto was complicated. Still is, for Emily. Already, this meeting reminds her that she still has much to learn, and much to think about, moving forward with the MLF. She has a several responses in her head, but like Rogue, chooses the most diplomatic one.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. Thank you, really, for sharing. I'm sorry, that my questions dredged up painful memories. I could have, should have, been more considerate. I'm already lucky to meet someone who knew him personally." She hears the pain in Rogue's voice. It's too familiar. Still, something from earlier still bothered her. She had to say something.
"Don't they like to remind us that we're anything but human?" she asks earnestly, clutching her book tighter. There was no need to elaborate on who "they" were. It was clear she meant the oppressor. The enemy.
"You know...your experience is very valuable, to people fighting on the front lines of things," she says, truthful, unable to keep from reaching out as a recruiter, from trying.
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Post by Countess on Sept 8, 2024 0:11:01 GMT
"We are at the grave of someone we both have a lot foe feelings for," Rogue murmurs. "It is okay... to have painful memories," she says breathing out deeply, then fully turning to Emily.
"You are right. They do," Rogue says, eyebrows furrowing. She knows that sentiment so well, wants to rally against it- but it isn't enough to do what she once did. "But we are so much more connected than they want to say. In the ways that matter. We hope, we have fears, we fold laundry," Rogue says, then under her breath she adds, "We fear for our children..."
Rogue gulps. "They want the X gene to divide us. More than anything. No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us,” Rogue says, careful. She quotes Marsha P. Johnson here, a human woman she looks up to. "We are not the only "Other" they rail against," she says sighing.
"I think... your front lines and mine are very different. I don't... kill people anymore. I don't steal powers anymore. It isn't... right. Even if it is what I am ordered to do."
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Post by lvsphinx on Sept 8, 2024 16:26:10 GMT
Emily raises her hands, palms outward, almost as if in surrender. "Hey, I didn't say anything about killing people or, wait, did you say "steal powers"? That's incredible," she says, with sincere and barely subdued awe. ""No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.” I like that. I like that a lot."
"It sounds like you're very free, free enough to defy orders. I think part of what Lehnsherr wanted for mutants was self-determination. It sounds like you've succeeded in that regard," she muses. "Not all of us can claim to have that freedom of choice."
Emily literally bites her tongue, then shakes her head a bit, at herself, at her own thoughts. "I'm sorry. I realized that I haven't even introduced myself. My name's Emily." she says, extending a hand.
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Post by Countess on Sept 8, 2024 16:44:10 GMT
Rogue looks a bit sheepish. "Sorry, sugah. I am... I have very mixed feelings about Erik," she says, taking a breath to simmer as Emily lifts her hands up in surrender. "Don't always mean to be, but I am a bit of a hot head. When I was younger, it meant a lot of yellin and protestin," she says, sighing a bit.
"That's my ability," Rogue says, lifting up her gloved hand. Emily would see that every inch of her body is covered, save for her face. "Bit of a parasite like that," she adds. "He found it useful," she says, nodding towards his grave. Of course he did- he never was subject to it.
Rogue chuckles at the idea of Erik wanting self-determination. "Yeah, at the expense of others," she says, sad about that. "It seems no matter what we do, what side we are on, someone wants us to put our boot on another's throat. Then, if you are the one on the ground saying you can't breathe... they tell us to be really careful to get that boot off of us ethically. "Don't get my boot off your throat in a way that would compromise your values, or call into question your ethics. I am going to keep this oppressive weight, but, make sure YOU handle this in the right way,"" Rogue says, shaking her head.
"Comin here always made me wax philosophy. Erik always dragged it outta me," Rogue says, trying not to get too deep into that part of her life. "Call me Rogue. I left the name my parents gave me far behind," she says, offering that gloved hand to shake. "Nice to meetcha, Emily."
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Post by lvsphinx on Sept 8, 2024 17:38:29 GMT
Emily shakes Rogue's gloved hand. "Rogue. I'll be sure to remember it." The name sounded familiar, but Emily isn't sure why. Emily doesn't remember Rogue coming up in her studies about Erik, and yet... This was something she would have to ask Mystique about later.
"I don't mind the philosophy. I got my degree in philosophy." she says with an appreciative smile. Emily's eyes return to Erik's grave for a moment. "Lehnsherr's writings were a constant companion after my parents were killed. They, um, died in a shooting at a pro-mutant rally that I...that I brought them to..." she trailed off, her expression growing somber, her gaze dropping to the flowers below. Guilt still weighed heavily on her for the horrible misfortune. "Happened a few weeks after the Battery Park Massacre. One of the many anti-mutant incidents that got lost in the news back then."
"I guess that's why I do a lot of yelling and protesting myself these days," says Emily with a sad smile. "It's a little more fun than writing papers about Lehnsherr. It's sad that I have to do it, but I kind of enjoy throwing the boot off my neck, in my own way."
"Besides, if the boot on your neck is fatal, is it rational to be careful, instead of forceful, when removing it?" she questions sincerely. "I think when confronted with lethal force, lethal force may be justified. Some of us are confronted with that possibility almost daily."
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Post by Countess on Sept 9, 2024 0:26:37 GMT
"Well done," Rogue immediately praises. She always wants more for her students, college is a part of that. It is hard, however, for their kind. Seeing any kind of success story has her happy. So many have to fight tooth and nail for the most basic of treatment. With the rise of online schooling, however, it has gotten easier. Much, much easier. "Don't have a degree, myself, but I've got enough of other people in me to teach. That's what I do now, teach languages to the young'ns," she says, a degree of pride in her. She is so, so proud of them. Loves them to bits- in all the ways many parents don't. It is the easiest, for her, almost like breathing.
Rogue realizes... aside from Remy... she is really at peace right now.
"I'm sorry to hear that... my own parents, well..." Rogue starts, then trails off. Every mutant had their story. Rogue's is all too common- aside from the Mystique curveball. "My human parents didn't want much of me after I had my accident, and my mutant mom," Rogue says, then flinches. Mom of the year. "I love her. Just wish I felt like she loved me as a person, not as a tool," Rogue says, settling on that. "But, she made me strong. In many ways. In our world, that is a grand gift," she murmurs.
"What I'm tryin to say is... They musta really loved you," Rogue says, eyebrows knitting together. "They musta taught you a lot of things... like how to be strong, too," she finishes. Her own complicated history with parents are her own- she has people like Logan... Betsy... Kurt... they are a good family. A found one, and a good one.
"That's the rub, ain't it? If we fight back, we prove them right," Rogue says, shaking her head. "Everything we do, we have to be that much better than everyone else. Everyone is a diplomat, everyone is a example of their entire race, not an individual," Rogue says, and she sounds dismayed about that. It is a conundrum she doesn't know the answer to- it has to be better than what Erik had told her. Death isn't the answer. That's too... bleak. Too evil. Too much what they want.
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Post by lvsphinx on Sept 9, 2024 1:22:55 GMT
Emily nods, listening intently. "That's true. I wish we were treated as individuals. It's one of the things that would make the work so much easier," she comments, biting her lower lip as she thought over the problem once again. She's had many similar conversations with other members of the MLF; every mutant's response to the question was always enlightening. "I'm guessing you don't have a solution either. However, we can't just do nothing. If violent resistance is off the table, and so is inaction, how far can nonviolent resistance take us? There's only so much protesting can do. Some of us don't have the luxury of protesting and waiting." Emily sighs, trying not to get ahead of herself. She understands the merits of a nonviolent path, but that path does nothing to address her anger and her grief. The alternative, a life of warfare against mutant threats, at least fulfilled her, though in a way that sometimes disturbed her. "But "all who take the sword will perish by the sword", right?"
She shakes her head. "I loved my parents, but my parents taught me to be afraid. How to hide and blend in, how to navigate this world as prey, as a potential target," she admits. "But they did help make me strong, you're right about that part. I'm sorry your parents weren't so great though, if I may put it mildly."
Emily's gaze moves to the statue of Erik, lingering on the helmet, smiling slightly at the pigeon currently perched on his shoulder. "Since you're a surviving member of the Brotherhood, may I ask you for some advice?" she asks.
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Post by Countess on Sept 12, 2024 22:59:51 GMT
"If I had a solution, I swear I would have done somethin by now," Rogue says, and the exhaustion is clear in her voice. "I am so tired of it all. The fightin, the hate, the lonliness... I ain't got the best track record with it all, a lot of the top brass either want me dead or want me used," Rogue says, shaking her head. There will never be an in-between for her. One or the other, no room for her to live her life as she really chooses. Sometimes, she wonders when Charles or Scott or Emma will have her do what Erik had her do.
"Protesting only puts us on lists," Rogue says, knowing that well and good. They have her face, her name, her abilities, her family, her everything. They have used it, and they will again. How could she be so dumb as to fall in love? Yet another reason to push Remy away.
"Lie. Hide. Be someone else," Rogue murmurs. "There's many other powered people out there- hide among the crowd. Sad... to think they can accept an alien like Superman before they can accept their own sons and daughters. There is no winnin, I think," she says, shaking her head. "Don't tell my students I said that... They don't need to know I ain't got that fight in me no more," she says, breathing out hard. Took her a while to realize it, but with Remy gone... well and truly gone, like she always wanted... all her hope is gone. She has her family, sure, and she will keep it all up for them, but...
"Ask away," Rogue says, hugging herself a bit tighter. Erik always made her feel like an onion, peeled back layer by layer. Why should visiting his grave be any different?
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Post by lvsphinx on Sept 13, 2024 17:30:15 GMT
Emily sympathizes with the exhaustion in Rogue's voice, even if she hadn't reached that point herself yet. She continued listening closely, greatly valuing the perspective of the former Brotherhood member, someone who had experienced the life before her. Rogue seems to Emily to be free to live the life she wants, yet she still sounds so haunted. Maybe not as free as Emily thought...
Emily felt like arguing a few times, especially when Rogue said there was no winning, but she bites her tongue. Trying to disappear among the crowd was a very fair suggestion, but she did not like the idea of spending her entire life lying and hiding away. Emily flourished out in the light. She was too proud to just quietly hide among the masses, she wanted more for herself.
"I'm going to Genosha soon," she says somberly after a few moments, sounding as though she were heading off to some faraway warzone. "I'm sure someone like you already knows that the mutant apartheid there has only gotten worse over the years. Do you have any advice for surviving? For people who plan on continuing Lehnsherr's work." She paused for a moment. "Maybe you can teach me something you'll hopefully never have to teach your kids."
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