Child of Death
by KazeRogue

Chapter One: Child of Wind

Victor Creed angrily slammed his fist against the wall.

"That damned rotten son of a bitch," he muttered under his breath.

"Creed?" he heard the voice of the high Lord yelling through the hallways. Still muttering he headed towards the thronehall.

Lord Lehnsherr sat on his throne made of bones, his hands resting on the skulls of former opponents. Now there weren't any worthy opponents left to add their bones to the symbol of Lehnsherr's power.

These so-called rebels weren't any more annoying than flies. Creed's soldiers were more than capable to deal with every problem occuring. Normally.

"I heard there was trouble in town?"

The voice of the high Lord rolled like thunder through the hall and even Creed felt a bit intimidated by the absolute presence of Lehnsherr. As if the air itself was crackling with it.

Lehnsherr was a born leader, but not in a democratic sense. Sure, there were people who shared his oppinions and followed him voluntarily, but most were simply afraid.

Lehnsherr's steel-like eyes met Creed's and the Captain of the high Lord's guards knew instantly that hiding something from his Lord was impossible.

"Just a little street rat who tried to steel something. He could escape with the aid of a stranger."

"A stranger?" Lehnsherr raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"A blind beggar" Creed hissed.

"Your soldiers weren't able to handle a street rat and a blind beggar? Who led this unit?"

"The young Summers, one of my best soldiers."

"And he was defeated by a blind beggar?" The voice of the high Lord became slightly menacing.

"He was a good fighter. A trained warrior. Maybe a spy of the rebels."

"And maybe you should attend to this business yourself and not your minors!"

Creed was surprised. he was surely not too happy with this incident, but he wouldn't have thought it that important. But obediently he bowed to his master and left the hall.

A faint laughter behind the curtain gave evidence of approval.

Remy was freezing. He couldn't believe that there were places as cold as the one he was wandering through. Despite the little pieces of ice that flew into his face he dared opening his eyes to look at his surroundings. He almost couldn't see anything because of the icy hurricane that was tearing at him with an unbelievable force. But then he detected the glacier at the horizon.

An appropriate place fer de wind's child, Remy thought sarcastically.

He had neither heard nor imagined that there would be glaciers in this area, but it seemed no normal human being had been here before, to tell of it's existence.

The first child wasn't easily found. If it hadn't been for Mattie's description, even he would never have detected the cave and even less it's hidden exit that led into this antarctic desert.

He sighed and wrapped his coat tighter around his body. It was as if the weather itself was fighting him to prevent him from finding the first child. Well, then he would show this hurricane that Remy LeBeau, the best thief in the world and recently proclaimed Visioner of this generation, wasn't that easily defeated.

Remy LeBeau, the best thief in the world and recently proclaimed Visioner of this generation laid face down in the snow and was freezing to death.

A rather unglamorous end of my short trip to de side of de angels, he thought and a wry smile appeared on his blue lips.

He was too weak to even tremble as the remorseless cold envelopped his body. So this was the end. He wondered how he got himself in such a mess. He should have stayed in his village and not get involved in all this world-saving crap.

He was barely concious when he heard the music. It was the melody of a song, the sad song of a sad person. Hearing it was like dying and being reborn at the same time. The melody filled Remy's head and soon he only clinged to life to be able to hear it. He knew he would die if the music stopped. The tones carried him away and he couldn't feel the cold or the hurricane anymore.

Then he heard a voice calling, very faint, but audible. Though he couldn't understand what the voice was saying, he knew instantly that it was calling for him.

With great strain he managed to open his eyes. He was nearly blinded by the light that envelopped him and closed his eyes immediately. When he opened them again, this time much slower, he could see that the light was only at his left side. The right side was darker than the darkest night. And right in front of him stood a girl, the girl who had called for him.

Remy held his breath, he had never seen someone like her before. She was beautiful and he knew that one could die just because of looking at her. But she also revived his spirits and he felt dead and more alive than ever in the same moment.

The girl had a wing like an angel on the left side, spread into the light, and a wing like a demon, leather-like with claws at it's end, on the right side, barely visible in the darkness. The rest of her body was torn as well. While her left part was a mirror of childish innocence, her right side was a threatening seduction to darkness.

Her face was hidden in the shadows so he couldn't make out her features, but he could see her eyes. Her right eye was a burning flame, like a window to hell and the pupil was shaped like the one of a snake or a dragon. Through her left eye he could see heaven instead. He couldn't describe it's color.

Then he heard her voice again. It was dark, quiet and beautiful, the voice of someone who had seen and experienced too much.

"Help me, Visioner, free me, or the world as you know it will die."

Then she was gone.

Suddenly Remy refound himself laying in the snow. Confused he looked around to see the glacier in front of him. Determined he gathered all the strength that was left in his body and stood up.

Whatever he would do, he wouldn't disappoint the girl he had seen. Remy LeBeau, the best thief in the world and recently proclaimed Visioner of this generation fought the hurricane. He had a mission. And he wouldn't fail. Never.

Remy wrapped his arms around him to gain a little bit warmth. His gaze wandered to the glacier that rose in front of him. His fingers were stiff with coldness and he couldn't imagine how to climb with them. He hadn't even the proper tools.

He sighed and grabbed his staff. He had to try it. At the foot of the glacier, climbing was rather easy and hopefully he wouldn't have to climb to it's top. Slowly and freezing he worked his way upwards.

After two hours of constant climbing he came to the conclusion, that freezing to death wasn't that bad at all. The thought of having to climb another yard made him shiver.

He had heard that just before you die of hypothermia, you feel warm again and Remy yearned for warmth. He had already forgotten the demonic angel he had sworn not to fail, the reason for his current troubles.

He closed his eyes, embracing the delirious numbness that flooded his indifferent body. Something was happening. He could feel that through the clouds that had envelopped his mind.

Yeah, you moron, ya're dying, a voice in his mind yelled, a voice he barely recognized, the voice that belonged to Remy LeBeau, survival artist.

He opened his eyes groggily only to see his fingers slip from the crevice on which he had found a hold. Terror filled his heart, but thanks to the adrenaline that rushed through his veins, he reacted fast enough and grabbed for another precipice.

He breathed heavily when he was save again. Then he wondered why he had done this, cling to life. He had WANTED to die, or at least he had thought he did, since he hadn't had the will to go on anymore. But normally that wasn't his style, otherwise he wouldn't have survived till now.

For the first time on his voyage Remy LeBeau realized how powerful his enemies were and how urgent the need to stop them.

"Damn!" Lord Lehnsherr yelled and threw the crystal ball to the opposite wall where it shattered into thousand pieces.

"You said he wouldn't make it to the first child. You said your spell would stop him!"

"I didn't know that his will to survive is that strong." The woman was calm, as if she didn't really care that her trap hadn't worked.

She resembled a spider waiting for the fly to get caught in her net, self-secure and therefore patient.

"I don't care how strong his will is. He must be terminated!" The high Lord was outraged.

"We don't know for sure if he's really the one."

"He's searching for the child of the wind, that's reason enough to be concerned!" the Lord bellowed and left the attic.

A cruel smile appeared on the beautiful lips of the woman. She looked at her companion who stood silently by her side, a warrior she had formed for years.

"Don't worry, my dear. I think I found the right measures to deal with this insect."

Remy LeBeau had seen many things in his life and he had faced them as the man he was, a rationalist. By the time he had come to think that nothing could surprise him anymore. Even his latest encounter with the unreasonable, him being the reborn Visioner, hadn't thrown him off balance, or at least turned speechless. But now he looked with wide eyes at the amazing thing that rose in front of him.

The upper part of the glacier wasn't a glacier at all. It was a great ice crystal palace, as perfect and breathtakingly beautiful that one got the impression it was the home of a goddess.

Remy finally remembered his mission and opened the large portals. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Inside the world of ice was one of the most beautiful and liveliest gardens he had ever seen. Remy finally remembered his mission and opened the large gate. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Inside the world of ice was the most beautiful and lively garden he had ever seen. He was surrounded by colors that were so different and beaming that he immediately felt pale in his grey and brown rags. Birds were singing in the trees and butterflies were flying around his head, not the slightest bit afraid of him.

Suddenly Remy could distinguish another sound, the voice of a woman, humming her part of the garden's song. Remy followed this sound and found a beautiful woman kneeling on the floor and planting flowers in an empty field. She was tall and slender, with chocolate brown skin. Her amazingly white hair was barely visible below the large straw hat she wore. She also wore the simple robe of a peasant, coarse woven, but surprisingly white. Remy decided that she was the gardener of this palace and spoke to her:

"Uhm, hello ... I'm looking for de mistress of dis castle. Could ya please take me ta 'er?"

The woman turned towards Remy and studied him, an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"Welcome to the temple of the wind, stranger. Please follow me, I'll take you to the mistress."

Remy followed the woman to the interior of the crystal palace and was overwhelmed by it's breathtaking miracles. The entrance hall was so high that he could barely see the ceiling that consisted of strangely shaped ice pieces that refracted the light and let the room beam in every color of the rainbow. The walls reflected the light so that Remy couldn't make out where one room ended and the next began. He felt like captivated in a labyrinth of mirrors, but it was an emprisonment he enjoyed. The woman led him to a room that was more magnifient than Remy could have ever imagined a king's room to be. There was a huge bed that seemed to be made of snow, but was comfortably warm in this icy castle.

"You can rest a bit now, you seem exhausted. Dinner will be ready in an hour. I'll pick you up."

The woman turned around to leave the room.

"Wait! I have to talk to the child of wind immediately. It's important!" Remy yelled and held her back by her upper arm. The woman turned around again to face him, a mysterious smile on her face.

"You'll meet her at dinner. Be patient."

Then, she was gone.

Remy looked at the table in awe. He didn't know what he had expected when the woman - she had introduced herself as Ororo by now - had picked him up after what had seemed an eternity to him, but certainly not THIS! A dinner table of the purest, brilliant ice was prepared with a hot steaming meal on it, that didn't even melt a single drop from the icy furniture. For the next hour, Remy forgot his mission and the fact that he was supposed to meet the first child at dinner. The exhaustion of the previous days took it's toll and he fell upon the meal as if he hadn't eaten for days. After this very hour, a look at Ororo's smiling face reminded him of her mistress.

"When will I meet the child of wind?" Remy asked after swallowing the last bit of his steak.

Ororo still wore that unreadable smile when she answered: "Whenever you want, Remy."

Of course, he wanted immediately and she led him into a huge hall. A throne of ice stood in the middle of it, nothing else. But even if, nobody would have noticed it because of this very throne's dominating presence and charisma. It looked so fragile that you were afraid to touch it, or even sit down on it, though it was huge. But it's legs and struts were as delicate as the rest of it. Directly above it was a lense shaped piece of ice in the ceiling, that refracted the light and made the throne stand in it's spotlight. The crystal chair refracted this light again and beamed beautifully in pastel colors. Remy, by now used to the castle's miracles, refound his speech quickly and asked for the first child, who he couldn't see anywhere.

"I'm here" he heard Ororo say, and when he turned around to face her, he noticed that she had changed in a strange but beautiful way. Clouds and mist were all around her body, whirled by the wind that seemed to caress her like a lover. Her paysan clothing had changed into a silky dream of nearly nothing, that seemed to be made of rain. Her formaer blue eyes were glowing like lightning bolts and her white hair was ...a cloud?

"You..." Remy whispered "you are the child of wind."

"Yes, I am." Her warm smile cracked her goddessly grandeur for a moment.

"Why haven't you told me?" Remy asked, his surprise - and of course her beauty - lessening his anger.

"You haven't asked..." Her smile broadened into a grin and Remy relaxed at this sight. She may be an eons old world savior, subject of legends, with goddessly power, but she was still the woman he had come to like. You should never judge somebody by his/her looks...

"Let's sit down" the first child suggested. "There's much I have to tell you, Visioner."

Remy LeBeau was comfortable once again. Talking to the child of wind was pleasant and the palace was warm despite it's icy structure, obviously the effect of Ororo's caring for his well-being. In fact, she hadn't told him much he hadn't heard from Mattie as well, but her calm explanations made it somehow seem reasonable and he couldn't understand why he had quarreled with his fate before. The serene woman somehow made him believe and willing to fight in a battle that wasn't his own.

"But it is your own" she said smiling.

"Can ya read my t'oughts?" Remy asked surprised and a little bit ashamed. She laughed, a rich, warm sound.

"No, but they were visible on your face. From what you told me about you I can understand how you must be feeling, being thrown into the cold water, your very identity turned inside out and you, in the center of events you've never imagined, burdened with a task you knew nothing about before. But I'll help you as much as I can."

Remy smiled at her thankfully and motioned her to continue.

"I was terrified when I first noticed you heading here. You see, the storm is there for my security, it was a kind of test you had to pass to come here. I had to be sure you were really the Visioner. Our enemies are trying their best to catch us off guard, we have to be careful. But my people have been watching you all along, they wouldn't have let you die. One time, they were really close to bring you to me, but you pulled through yourself.

"Then, when I saw your eyes, the symbol that the child of death will be needed, I was horrified. Although the child of death is one of us, we all fear it. It may be our last hope, but our nemesis as well. It's not sure which side the last child will choose."

That reminded Remy of something Mattie had said, something important, but he couldn't grasp it.

"So you want me to stop searching for it?" he asked instead. Ororo pondered over that questions for a few seconds.

"No," she finally said "the fact that you've been 'activated' indicates that we may need it. We, the elemental children, will do our best to prevent the evil from rising, but if we fail, you have to be ready. Find it, but, if possible, wait with waking it." Ororo looked at him sadly. "I just hope we will manage."

"So do I, chère, so do I."

Remy grinned smugly. That was his thing! Being an important piece in a puzzle, surrounded by beautiful women and with nothing else to do but finding this child and bring it to the battleground. He wouldn't even have to fight himself, that was the task of the children, what was pretty fine with him. Nonetheless he would be considered as one of the heroes in case they succeded. The other alternative - well, he had pulled through situations much worse, and if not ... he had nothing to blame himself for, he had lived his life to the fullest and there wasn't much he would miss.

Nonetheless, he would play along for now, find the last child. Remy looked at the poem that Ororo had given him. At least the first two verses of a poem that had been shared out among the elemental children and gave clues about the last child. Legend said that only the Visioner would be able to understand the true sense of it, but when Remy skimmed the piece of paper in his hand, he doubted it would be of much use to him. It said:

In a world of blind
There's one who sees
He'll bring the one
And pain may ease

It will be marked
With innocence
It will be death
Or last defense

Aaalriiight. Remy sighed. He just hoped the rest of the poem would be more useful than this. But he would see to the child of death after he had received all the clues from the first four children. Mattie had told him that it was senseless to search for it before. He would only be able to see the whole picture when he had all the pieces of the puzzle. So he tucked the paper away and started his journey to the child of fire.

To be continued.

Note: Okay, okay, I know this one isn't the best of styles (hello rewrite...), I had little practice recently :(
But stay tuned, I'll promise to try and do better next time. And the story hasn't even started ;)
Disclaimer: The character's are Marvel's.

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