Blue! Beautiful blue as far as the eye could see. Blue oceans teaming with life. Blue skies marred only by a handful of white fluff. Although in a few hours, the tropical afternoon heat might well give way to something more ominous. The white clouds replaced by storm clouds, but that was life. Storms always came when you were a mutant.
Raven rested her hand upon her fecund belly. Not this time. Never again. She was through with it all. Men's struggles. Being used as a pawn. Trying to be what others wanted. She had assumed hundreds, no, thousands, of forms in her life. Been who she needed to be to get the job done. Used by everyone in her life. But no more.
This island. This baby was her fresh start. He was all that mattered. She would gladly live out the rest of her days alone on this island to keep him safe. He would be born into a blue world. And when all you knew was blue then you were 'normal.' She would give her all to ensure that her son never heard the word 'mutant.' Never had to hide who he was.
It was a gift no one had ever given her. None of them. Charles had wanted to change her. Make her 'normal.' Eric had told her she was beautiful, but those were just pretty words to get her to do his bidding. He just wanted to use her talents...for his purposes.
She gritted her teeth as another pain nearly doubled her over. It would not be long now. The labor pains that had kept her awake all night would soon give her the one thing she needed most. A real reason, a purpose to live. She breathed through the pain. Welcomed and embraced it.
Just as she had embraced him. That once. She had been nostalgic. The battles had taken their toll upon her soul. She had long since abandoned the faΓ§ade that Charles had wanted her to be. But one betrayal too many had awoken her to Eric's flaws as well. She had spent decades whoring herself for the man's cause. Being what he wanted her to be when he needed her to be it.
Yet she was dispensable. Like a pawn in his chess game. All right, to be fair, maybe his queen, but one that he would gladly sacrifice for a check mate. Without a moment of regret.
So she had turned to him. In a moment of weakness, she had turned to the one man she should not have. She knew his weakness too. Knew that she would never be good enough. Never be beautiful in his eyes. Especially in his eyes.
He had wanted to be 'normal' his whole life. It had been a bond they once shared. Except that she had outgrown that vain need. He never would. Hell, the man probably hated her most of all, because every time he looked in the mirror he saw a piece of her. A big blue piece of her. It was that piece of her. The 'cure' he had synthesized from her blood that had released the Beast rather than giving him the normality he craved.
Raven screamed into the calm tropical blue morning as she gripped her stomach. This one was stronger than all the others. She thought to make her way to her bed inside but realized it was too late. For a moment she considered the folly of her actions. What if something went wrong? She and her son could both die alone on this island.