Chapter 54- Admitting Suspicions

  Citadel– 3rd floor Previously an Empty room- 2008- 10- 25 (Afternoon)

  Eric Lensheer- (Magneto)

  Erik and his daughter watched as the mage drew the magic circle surrounding the X-man, he was using a mix of red sand ground flower petals and, from the metal the mutant leader could feel, he knew it was silver dust.

  "Stop fidgeting," Nath'aniel told the young man in the middle of the circle. It wasn't the first time the mage had told him that, but this time he expined to Alucard. “The more you move, the longer it takes for the circle to synchronize with your energy. So think rexing thoughts and stand still.”

  Hearing that the young man did indeed remained still, but then he admitted. “Sorry. Its… just… I am so thirsty.”

  Erik thought for a moment that the boy's eyes changed color as he said that. He bmed it more on the boy's powers, rather than the fact that the boy's father was a vampire. Still, as the mage worked the mutant leader spoke his mind. "Are I, and my Brotherhood, not enough for you?"

  "What? no," Nath'aniel answered him right away, even while he drew some sigil with the mixture at the circle's edges.

  As the mage moved to the opposite side of the circle, Erik pressed again. “Then why go and form your own little order of magic users, and are we going to have enough resources for them and their Servants?”

  "Oh, they're not going to live here, I don't even pn on pcing their names on the guest list," Nath'aniel admitted while drawing another sigil with the mixture. Alucard and Gypsy share a look, while the two men continued to talk, and basically ignoring them. Still, the mage noticed and scolded the girl. "Feel the energies, while curse lifting isn't a common thing cast among mages, curses are commonly used by some of the creatures that live outside of our pne."

  That snapped the girl back into student mode, and she seemed to stare not quite at the mutant in the circle but above him. “But it’s not really doing anything, it’s just…”

  “Wait for it.” The mage instructed.

  Not that Erik felt what they were talking about but a moment ter the red sand seemed to fsh a burst of light, and he could feel the metal dust seemed to reverse its magnetic charge somehow.

  Then Nath’aniel moved at a quicker pace as he moved to the midway point between the two sigils, and he quickly created a third and then a fourth. Once the fourth was drawn, the mage wrote a yellow rune into the air, what looked to the mutant leader to be a rabbit and a cup, which merged into a mote of light before it shot out and struck Alucard in the chest.

  The young mutant was then lifted into the air for a moment, as grey and red smoke bleed off of the boy’s body. Erik covered his nose instinctually, not wanting to breathe in anything that looked like that.

  Then Nath’aniel walked over to join him at the room’s entrance. The two men watched the young mutant as whatever it was that had cwed its way into him slowly left his body. Then Erik asked. “Are all curses like this?”

  “No most are much worse, especially those that try to fight back.” The mage told him with a straight face. Then he instructed his disciple. “Pay attention to what it is you’re feeling, I expect a paper on it, not your next lesson with me, but the one after.”

  “Yes, Teacher.” His daughter said, almost absentmindedly.

  Then the mage turned to leave. Yet he didn't get far from the other side of the entrance as he was wayid by the two New Mutant members who stayed to look after the young man.

  “How is he?” Prestige asked him.

  Erik says two, but really it's just their telepath, as Sprite seems more interested in getting up close and personal looking at the constructs that were assigned to watch them like she was doing when they stepped outside.

  “He will be fine. You may enter in an hour or so, when the ritual is done. Afterwards, take him downstairs to the pantry, and have him eat something even if he compins. And have him stay away from all kinds of milk, alcohol, and juices for a couple of days. He is going to need clean water for the time being." The mage instructed the teen.

  “Why can’t we go in there and see him?” Prestige asked again.

  Erik stepped in and reported. "His body is releasing some kinds of vapors. My guess is it's whatever those cultists gave him. So unless you have a way to shield yourself, it is for the best for you to keep your distance."

  Hearing his expnation the redhead nodded and didn’t press again.

  So the mage and mutant leader were free to leave, and they did, but that didn’t mean Erik was done. As they neared the closest re-locator he asked. “Then what are your pns for this order you’re making?”

  Nath'aniel waited till they were inside the small room before he even partially responded. "If I answer your question, you will need to keep your temper in heck."

  “My temper?” Erik asked in surprise. The mage just raised his eyebrows at him, and then he remembered having to skip lunch today to fix the doors that he had personal damaged, because of his outburst that led to him learning the 'Great Truth', well that part that Nath'aniel had told him. 'If the crimes the Asgardians mentioned were any indication.' He thought.

  Then the mutant leader sighed before admitting. “Alright I have something of a temper, but can you, oh, I don’t know, cast something to help me keep it in check. I can’t help you if I don’t know what your pns are.”

  The mage looked at him before nodding that he could, but still suggested. "I have some breathing techniques or meditation routines that might help you more long term though." Then the mage wrote a blue rune into the air, it looked to Erik to be just a line, but then he got the feeling that it was meant to be calm waters from the couple of shallow peaks, just before the spell overtook him.

  Before they could continue their discussion, the room moved, and then they stepped out and made their way to the machinist shop that he had been working in before the X-men were first detected. As they walked the mage expined. "The Oracle was not the one who gave us the information when we were in the Stone Signer's home. She mostly pyed hostess, while her other guest spoke to us."

  Erik just nodded at the statement, even though he was confused then on who gave him the location for the X-men to chase after.

  Outside of the workshop, Nath'aniel added. "Cable was there, and he was the one who gave us the information."

  That caused the mutant leader to take a deep breath. Although the analytical portion of his mind knew that if he wasn’t in an altered state, he would be running off towards the settlement right at that moment.

  They then stepped into the room, and as they walked to the bed he had made the mage continued to expin. "He confirmed your suspicion that he is a time traveler, despite my doubts, and he also expined to Psylocke why he killed Destiny."

  Erik mustered enough care to ask. “Why? Why did he do it?” As he did, Erik used his power to lift the bed into the air.

  As the bed lifted up, Nath'aniel added more mystical charge into the parts that he had made for the bed. After a moment he had enough of his mind free to answer. "The long and short of it was that in the near future, I would owe one of her kids, and they would ask me to bind her as Servant to extend her life, and return to her, her youth.'

  "But that choice would in the end weaken me. Because the ultimate power of a Servant is limited to their retionship with their Master. And thus her being counted among mine would in the end weaken me."

  ‘Because Irene prefers the company of women, over men,’ Erik thought but didn’t care enough to voice. So instead he reinforces the field holding the bed in the air, before turning towards the mage ready to take the first of two parts.

  Nath'aniel still charged the part for a bit, as he did he continued his expnation. "He dropped hints about a few things, which happened in his past. This of course doesn't mean they will still happen mind you. Take the Stone Singers. They are completely different people thanks to his interference. And no, you will not harass them. Now that he has revealed himself, he has cut his ties to them. But still one of the things that he revealed is that when I died in his timeline, my Servants didn't immediately vanish with me."

  “So with your death, they would eventually starve.” Erik guessed. He wrapped the part in a field, as soon as the other man tossed it towards him.

  The mage nodded as he floated it to the port that it was meant to be connected to, adding. "And my children eventually ind a means to fix that issue, but not before some of them died. However, if I have a group tied to me with simir needs already."

  The part fit like it belonged because it did after the minor changes that Erik had made to the frame. Then he went back to waiting as Nath'aniel topped off the charge on the st component.

  As the weight of the spell waned, Erik cared enough to ask. "I understand that the bed is part of figuring all this out, but do you know why you succeeded and they have failed? After all, they have much more insight and I am guessing understanding than you do?"

  “I assume they do as well, since I’ve only had a couple of days with the thesis and the conceptual portion of it. As for while I could succeed where they could not, on that I have no idea, but I will figure it out eventually.” The mage admitted, before tossing him the st part for the bed.

  Erik again wrapped the part up in a field and floated it to its future home. The whole bed hummed to life once it was inserted, like a waiting circuit finally made whole. Before he started to lower it he heard the Citadel announce.

  “New hardware detected, calibrating. Please wait a moment before using.”

  "A bed designed to scan spirits and souls, how much of an insight with this thing will we get?" The mutant leader asked while they waited.

  "If it does what I designed it to, it will allow us to compare Servants skills and abilities. As well as test non-Servant's. To see if the people are compatible with a css." Nath'aniel admitted. When Erik gave him a look, he added. "It's true, my bind points seem to warm up when I am near people that qualify."

  They waited in silence till the Citadel reported.

  “Calibration complete, Spirit bed is now safe to use.”

  Erik then pointed at it and asked. “Can I?”

  Instead of answering the mage just gestured for him to go ahead.

  The mutant leader felt excited so he wondered if the spell had already worn off. Because he felt young again as he climbed up onto the bed. He rolled his shoulders as he tried to rex, especially when the Citadel reported the bed's activation.

  "Scan in progress. Please remain still till complete."

  Green and yellow light washed over him as the bed did its thing. It went over him two, three, four times before returning inactive. Then an image appeared above him, not an image of him, but rather just a panel showing him a pair of lists.

  The left one was in red text and was shorter than the right one which was in yellow text. This second list was twice as long as the first. Erik recognized some of the csses in the smaller one, while the other list seemed like a list of trade professions.

  "Archer, Assassin, Berserker, and Avenger are the csses that you qualify for. Not that I shouldn't been surprised, you have lived a hell of a life, from half of the stories I have heard about your exploits." Nath'aniel read out the shorter list. When he looked over at the mage, he saw that he was reading from another copy of the list which was floating in the air in front of him.

  “What about the other longer list?” Erik asked while he reread both again.

  "Non-combat Servant csses were added in the second amendment of the Thesis." The mage expined. Before he waved away his copy of the list, just ahead of him turning towards the door he added his thanks. "Thank you for your assistance, it would have taken a week at least to build what took you a couple of days."

  Erik hesitated, but as he thought. ‘He trusted me with the truth, I owe him the same.’ So he said. "Before you leave, there is something that, well two things actually, that I have to tell you. Since you were honest with me about meeting Cable. Although I admit I want to return to that topic again ter, when I know I can keep my cool without your spell.”

  Nath'aniel stopped his effort to leave but didn't ask him anything. He just turned and looked at him, so the mutant leader continued to speak. "One, may cause you problems down the road, and the other I know will cause you grief now.'

  “First, Mystique wants us to be more active again, and Exodus is worried about Psylocke’s close ties with you." Erik waved at him to try and downpy it, before adding. "It's an internal matter that I will settle, but I wanted you aware of it."

  The mage nodded in understanding but still didn't say anything.

  “Have you spoken with Frey or Freya yet?” The mutant leader asked. The Asgardians had requested to receive shelter for the night, but otherwise, he hadn't seen them interact with the mage yet. When Nath'aniel shook his head that he hadn't, he continued. "She confirmed that you were partially correct, that they, or rather that their king, Odin may have some poor feelings that you survived. However, you were wrong about the reason.”

  Nath'aniel frowned at that statement, and Erik didn't really want to be the one to tell him, but after a moment, he did. "Odin's daughter apparently died in battle while you were in the sarcophagus." The mage's lip quivered but he stayed silent, so the mutant leader added. "And her mother didn't take the loss well, so Odin used some magic to make people forget about her. Even Frey didn't know of her in the least.'

  “Wolfsbane isn’t exactly taking it well.”

  “Why? She couldn’t have met her.” Nath’aniel asked confused.

  “Not over the loss, over who they were fighting. Asgard was apparently trying to put down an Angelic rebellion of some sort.” Erik expined, before getting up off of the bed. The lists vanished from the air a moment after he did, not that he saw it.

  “And?” The mage asked clearly still confused.

  "And she is a devout Catholic. Generally, most Western religion is based around the worship of God and his servants, the angels." The mutant leader expined.

  After a moment Nath asked him oddly. “Even yours?” Faith had not been a topic the mage had brought up as far as he knew from the others.

  “I lost my faith during the war. But yes, even mine.” He admitted.

  The mage then nodded before saying. “Thank you for the insight and the news… Citadel?”

  “Online, young master.”

  "Please inform everyone that I will be eating supper in my quarters tonight," Nath'aniel asked the ceiling, and then he bowed to Erik, leaving him with. "Enjoy the rest of your day, would you?"

  AnnouncementWith the coming Holiday season approaching, and my needing to pick up extra shifts for work, i am not certain if i will be able to continue posting as i have been, so i will be cutting down to a chapter a week until the new year.