Chapter 101: Meeting the Morrigan
3rd September 2005, New York City
(Jean POV)
Jean had barely slept last night; she was thinking about her, frankly, insane theory that her history teacher is one of the most feared entities in the world. It was inconceivable, unthinkable, absurd. It was already surprising that she was a mutant as well, and a very powerful one with very good control over her powers. But that doesn’t mean that she’s some sort of mass murderer.
Then why can’t she get it out of her head? The only thing to connect her to the Morrigan was her voice and that is flimsy at best. But now that she was thinking about it, there has always been some sort of carefully concealed aura of danger around her. There was a reason that no student has ever been disrespectful of her even when she rarely punished any of her students.
Jean still remembered Ms. Sayre’s implied threat, ‘I’m telling you, that once you leave this office, what happens to you is your responsibility and if you become a danger to everyone, I will deal with you accordingly.’
Jean was still scared shitless about that sentence and for some reason she had no doubt that her history teacher would go through with it. Holy shit, if she’s actually the Morrigan, is she going to kill her?
The redhead was terrified and nothing would reassure her other than the fact that if this was true, she would have killed Jean back in Egypt. Maybe she’s just imagining things? Maybe all of this is in her head and her history teacher is just some woman who has the same powers as her.
Jean slowly walked down from her room to the garage where Scott was waiting in his pretentious car. Why did he waste so much money on a convertible? The guy had used up a good portion of the money he inherited from his family, after they died on a plane crash, on this. He should have saved it up for college or something. Why had he bought it anyway? He wasn’t particularly interested in cars other than a method of transportation. So why buy a convertible of all things? Oh shit, he bought it when she started dating Duncan, who also had a convertible. She really needs to break up with that douchebag. Oh God, please don’t tell her that he wasted so much money in an effort to impress her.
Jean was starting to feel bad about it. It wasn’t natural that someone his age be this obsessed over her. It was like she was the center of his universe. She came before anything else and it creeped her out. And right now, he was sitting next to her in the car, rambling on his leader duties or something. Jean sighed in relief when Kitty and Rogue came down to the car. At least, he wouldn’t ask her out or something with them there. They waited a few more minutes until Evan joined them. They decided that Kurt would teleport to school because the backseat was getting too crowded. Lucky bastard gets to sleep half an hour more than they do.
Speaking of her fellow X-men, Jean didn’t know how to get along with them. For the first time in almost a decade, she was thinking clearly and while she knew that they had nothing to do with what the Professor did to her, Jean felt uncomfortable in their presence. The X-men represented her broken past. She just didn’t know how to treat her teammates. Were they her teammates anymore? She was thinking about leaving the mansion for a while and Dr. Strange’s offer of training was an attractive one.
For now, she’ll focus on Ms. Sayre.
The rest of the ride was spent in silence; her teammates had probably noticed that she hasn’t been herself since Egypt.
When they arrived to the school, she met up with Taryn and Duncan as usual. Her ‘Boyfriend’ greeted her, “Hey babe, missed you yesterday. Heard you were sick or something.”
“Yeah, Duncan, I’m fine but we need to talk,” she looked at Taryn, “privately!”
Taryn responded, “I’m gonna go inside. I’m kinda cold.” She left towards the school.
When they were alone, Duncan grinned lecherously, “So Jean, you wanted us alone?” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
The redhead sighed inwardly, this was going to be troublesome, “We’re done. I’m breaking up with you.”
“What? Why?”
“You really think that you could cheat on me without me knowing about it?”
Ducan growled at her, “I have no idea what that bitch Taryn said to you…”
Jean interrupted him, “I never said anything about Taryn, who by the way isn’t the one who told me. Don’t try to act innocent, I know that you did it. So, I’m dumping you. It’s simple enough for someone with your limited intelligence to understand.”
The redhead turned to walk away but he grabbed her hand, “You think you could just walk away from me. We had a good thing going. The star quarterback and the head cheerleader. Are you really willing to give that up?”
“Yes, now get your hands off me!”
“Fucking tease! Is it because of Summers? I knew you had a little thing going on.”
Jean looked at her now ex-boyfriend incredulously, “What the hell does Scott have anything to do with this? You fucking cheated on me. That’s why I’m breaking up with you. Now let me go before I make you.”
Jean was starting to get angry and was seriously tempted to use her powers to hurt him. She took a few deep breaths, trying to regain control over her emotions. This was getting very dangerous. Before she could do anything, they were interrupted by a voice, “Detention Mr. Matthews, Ms. Grey if you would please come with me.”
It was Ms. Sayre, the woman who had plagued her mind, the previous night. The woman who could be one of the most dangerous beings on the planet. Her history teacher’s tone, left room for little arguments. Duncan nodded and let go of her hand. Her teacher turned around and Jean followed her into an empty classroom.
Jean was practically shitting herself. She was alone with a person who probably killed thousands of people if what Dr. Strange said was true. Before she could control herself, she asked, “Are you going to kill me?”
Her history teacher looked amused at the notion, “Now, why would I do that, child?”
“Because you’re the Morrigan. Because you killed a lot of people,” Jean answered unsurely.
Her history teacher’s face was blank for a second, until she burst into laughter. Jean stood there awkwardly for a good minute until her teacher calmed down. Was she not the Morrigan after all?
“Is this what Strange told you? Huh, I’ll ask his master to clarify some stuff especially since he’ll probably be the next sorcerer supreme. Sure kiddo, I’m the Morrigan. Oh, goodness, you’re shaking. Are you really that scared of me?”
Oh shit, she really is the Morrigan.
Jean replied indignantly, “Hey, I figured it out on my own, and you can’t expect me not to be scared of someone who is a mass murderer and is practically the living embodiment of the Boogeyman!”
“Oh honey, I’m not exactly the boogeyman. I’m the one that kills the fucking boogeymen.” Jean paled at that sentence. Her teacher continued, “Do you think you know how the world works? What you are witnessing in your daily life is just a front, a fantasy. The real world is far grittier and deadlier than you can possibly imagine. I’m the one in charge of making sure no one goes too far.”
“What about what happened in central Africa? You killed all these people.”
Ms. Sayre tilted her head as if deep in thought, “Central Africa… When was that?”
“A couple centuries ago, I think. That was Dr. Strange told me.”
“Oh yeah, the demon summoner. Nasty ending, I’ll admit. Some idiot tried to take over the world by summoning demons using a cursed book called the Darkhold. The idiot summoned an army of demons so that was alright, but he accidentally got possessed by a Demon Lord called Beelzebub. Horrible demon who is very powerful but a side effect of his presence is the aura he emits. Even when weakened since he’s only possessing a vessel, his mere presence is enough to affect all those around them in a cycle of violence. The inhabitants of the nearby village turned into savages and started turning against one another. By the time I defeated Beelzebub and his demon horde, they had turned to cannibalism. I killed them out of mercy. Because that was death was for someone that suffered that much. A mercy.”
“You could have healed them,” Jean exclaimed.
“The curse was soul based and perhaps if I tried, I could have reversed it. But the damage was already done. What they had done when they were affected by the curse cannot be erased. They would have lived the rest of their lives with these memories and I guarantee you, they will not have chosen to live for long. I do not like taking lives, child. But I will do so when it is necessary.”
“It’s never necessary to take a life!”
The history teacher chuckled, “That’s just Xavier talking.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
The teacher looked at her, surprised, “After everything he did to you. You still believe in him?”
“It doesn’t matter what he’s done. His dream is something I can believe in.”
“Xavier dream is naïve.” Before she could protest, Ms. Sayre continued, “It’s a beautiful dream. I’ll admit to that but I’m old child. This little mutant problem is not the first to appear, nor will it be the last.”
Jean was shocked at that, “What do you mean?”
“You really think that mutants are the first race to appear with powers? Before mutants even existed, mages roamed the earth, my people. They were powerful, like mutants. And the non magicals were afraid of them. Like any people, most mages were good, they were just regular people having regular jobs like anyone else, but some were evil and power hungry. The non magicals took the first opportunity to massacre them. They used Christianity as proof that their fear was justified and this begun the witch burnings. Adult wizards weren’t really affected but they killed so many magical children that it almost crippled the magical population.
So, in the seventeenth century, they created the statute of secrecy. They decided to hide. I have no idea why they thought it would work, since everyone knew about them but I chose to get involved. I created one of most complicated pieces of magic that the world has ever seen. I created a global spell, that I charged for seven years. I created an enchantment anchored to the earth itself. It manipulated reality itself, erasing any and every trace of magic outside the magical world. I call it the mist. To this day, security cameras are automatically being affected, memories erased with my spell. My people and the non magicals have lived together for thousands of years and yet they were hunted like animals and chose to hide. What makes you think that mutants will be any different?”
Jean was shocked at the story. An entire civilization hidden from the world. Entire pieces of history erased.
“Am I going to forget now that you told me about it?”
“Nah, kiddo. A non magical cannot learn of us if they are not told by another mage. Even then, you will not be able to speak of it. I added a secrecy enchantment so that no idiot would blabber to everyone around them. Even then, a mage can only reveal magic to a non magical if they have no negative intent in doing so.”
Jean hummed in thought, “People are a lot more civilized now than back then…”
“Human nature doesn’t change child. Believe me, they will find a loophole in their laws to condemn you. You will not be considered humans and they will hunt you down like animals. The only reason that you haven’t already been revealed in because of my mist. While it isn’t as effective as with mages. It still helps you retain your secrecy.”
“How?”
The history teacher grinned at her, “Where do you think mutants came from in the first place?”
Chapter 101: Meeting the Morrigan
3rd September 2005, New York City
(Jean POV)
Jean had barely slept last night; she was thinking about her, frankly, insane theory that her history teacher is one of the most feared entities in the world. It was inconceivable, unthinkable, absurd. It was already surprising that she was a mutant as well, and a very powerful one with very good control over her powers. But that doesn’t mean that she’s some sort of mass murderer.
Then why can’t she get it out of her head? The only thing to connect her to the Morrigan was her voice and that is flimsy at best. But now that she was thinking about it, there has always been some sort of carefully concealed aura of danger around her. There was a reason that no student has ever been disrespectful of her even when she rarely punished any of her students.
Jean still remembered Ms. Sayre’s implied threat, ‘I’m telling you, that once you leave this office, what happens to you is your responsibility and if you become a danger to everyone, I will deal with you accordingly.’
Jean was still scared shitless about that sentence and for some reason she had no doubt that her history teacher would go through with it. Holy shit, if she’s actually the Morrigan, is she going to kill her?
The redhead was terrified and nothing would reassure her other than the fact that if this was true, she would have killed Jean back in Egypt. Maybe she’s just imagining things? Maybe all of this is in her head and her history teacher is just some woman who has the same powers as her.
Jean slowly walked down from her room to the garage where Scott was waiting in his pretentious car. Why did he waste so much money on a convertible? The guy had used up a good portion of the money he inherited from his family, after they died on a plane crash, on this. He should have saved it up for college or something. Why had he bought it anyway? He wasn’t particularly interested in cars other than a method of transportation. So why buy a convertible of all things? Oh shit, he bought it when she started dating Duncan, who also had a convertible. She really needs to break up with that douchebag. Oh God, please don’t tell her that he wasted so much money in an effort to impress her.
Jean was starting to feel bad about it. It wasn’t natural that someone his age be this obsessed over her. It was like she was the center of his universe. She came before anything else and it creeped her out. And right now, he was sitting next to her in the car, rambling on his leader duties or something. Jean sighed in relief when Kitty and Rogue came down to the car. At least, he wouldn’t ask her out or something with them there. They waited a few more minutes until Evan joined them. They decided that Kurt would teleport to school because the backseat was getting too crowded. Lucky bastard gets to sleep half an hour more than they do.
Speaking of her fellow X-men, Jean didn’t know how to get along with them. For the first time in almost a decade, she was thinking clearly and while she knew that they had nothing to do with what the Professor did to her, Jean felt uncomfortable in their presence. The X-men represented her broken past. She just didn’t know how to treat her teammates. Were they her teammates anymore? She was thinking about leaving the mansion for a while and Dr. Strange’s offer of training was an attractive one.
For now, she’ll focus on Ms. Sayre.
The rest of the ride was spent in silence; her teammates had probably noticed that she hasn’t been herself since Egypt.
When they arrived to the school, she met up with Taryn and Duncan as usual. Her ‘Boyfriend’ greeted her, “Hey babe, missed you yesterday. Heard you were sick or something.”
“Yeah, Duncan, I’m fine but we need to talk,” she looked at Taryn, “privately!”
Taryn responded, “I’m gonna go inside. I’m kinda cold.” She left towards the school.
When they were alone, Duncan grinned lecherously, “So Jean, you wanted us alone?” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
The redhead sighed inwardly, this was going to be troublesome, “We’re done. I’m breaking up with you.”
“What? Why?”
“You really think that you could cheat on me without me knowing about it?”
Ducan growled at her, “I have no idea what that bitch Taryn said to you…”
Jean interrupted him, “I never said anything about Taryn, who by the way isn’t the one who told me. Don’t try to act innocent, I know that you did it. So, I’m dumping you. It’s simple enough for someone with your limited intelligence to understand.”
The redhead turned to walk away but he grabbed her hand, “You think you could just walk away from me. We had a good thing going. The star quarterback and the head cheerleader. Are you really willing to give that up?”
“Yes, now get your hands off me!”
“Fucking tease! Is it because of Summers? I knew you had a little thing going on.”
Jean looked at her now ex-boyfriend incredulously, “What the hell does Scott have anything to do with this? You fucking cheated on me. That’s why I’m breaking up with you. Now let me go before I make you.”
Jean was starting to get angry and was seriously tempted to use her powers to hurt him. She took a few deep breaths, trying to regain control over her emotions. This was getting very dangerous. Before she could do anything, they were interrupted by a voice, “Detention Mr. Matthews, Ms. Grey if you would please come with me.”
It was Ms. Sayre, the woman who had plagued her mind, the previous night. The woman who could be one of the most dangerous beings on the planet. Her history teacher’s tone, left room for little arguments. Duncan nodded and let go of her hand. Her teacher turned around and Jean followed her into an empty classroom.
Jean was practically shitting herself. She was alone with a person who probably killed thousands of people if what Dr. Strange said was true. Before she could control herself, she asked, “Are you going to kill me?”
Her history teacher looked amused at the notion, “Now, why would I do that, child?”
“Because you’re the Morrigan. Because you killed a lot of people,” Jean answered unsurely.
Her history teacher’s face was blank for a second, until she burst into laughter. Jean stood there awkwardly for a good minute until her teacher calmed down. Was she not the Morrigan after all?
“Is this what Strange told you? Huh, I’ll ask his master to clarify some stuff especially since he’ll probably be the next sorcerer supreme. Sure kiddo, I’m the Morrigan. Oh, goodness, you’re shaking. Are you really that scared of me?”
Oh shit, she really is the Morrigan.
Jean replied indignantly, “Hey, I figured it out on my own, and you can’t expect me not to be scared of someone who is a mass murderer and is practically the living embodiment of the Boogeyman!”
“Oh honey, I’m not exactly the boogeyman. I’m the one that kills the fucking boogeymen.” Jean paled at that sentence. Her teacher continued, “Do you think you know how the world works? What you are witnessing in your daily life is just a front, a fantasy. The real world is far grittier and deadlier than you can possibly imagine. I’m the one in charge of making sure no one goes too far.”
“What about what happened in central Africa? You killed all these people.”
Ms. Sayre tilted her head as if deep in thought, “Central Africa… When was that?”
“A couple centuries ago, I think. That was Dr. Strange told me.”
“Oh yeah, the demon summoner. Nasty ending, I’ll admit. Some idiot tried to take over the world by summoning demons using a cursed book called the Darkhold. The idiot summoned an army of demons so that was alright, but he accidentally got possessed by a Demon Lord called Beelzebub. Horrible demon who is very powerful but a side effect of his presence is the aura he emits. Even when weakened since he’s only possessing a vessel, his mere presence is enough to affect all those around them in a cycle of violence. The inhabitants of the nearby village turned into savages and started turning against one another. By the time I defeated Beelzebub and his demon horde, they had turned to cannibalism. I killed them out of mercy. Because that was death was for someone that suffered that much. A mercy.”
“You could have healed them,” Jean exclaimed.
“The curse was soul based and perhaps if I tried, I could have reversed it. But the damage was already done. What they had done when they were affected by the curse cannot be erased. They would have lived the rest of their lives with these memories and I guarantee you, they will not have chosen to live for long. I do not like taking lives, child. But I will do so when it is necessary.”
“It’s never necessary to take a life!”
The history teacher chuckled, “That’s just Xavier talking.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
The teacher looked at her, surprised, “After everything he did to you. You still believe in him?”
“It doesn’t matter what he’s done. His dream is something I can believe in.”
“Xavier dream is naïve.” Before she could protest, Ms. Sayre continued, “It’s a beautiful dream. I’ll admit to that but I’m old child. This little mutant problem is not the first to appear, nor will it be the last.”
Jean was shocked at that, “What do you mean?”
“You really think that mutants are the first race to appear with powers? Before mutants even existed, mages roamed the earth, my people. They were powerful, like mutants. And the non magicals were afraid of them. Like any people, most mages were good, they were just regular people having regular jobs like anyone else, but some were evil and power hungry. The non magicals took the first opportunity to massacre them. They used Christianity as proof that their fear was justified and this begun the witch burnings. Adult wizards weren’t really affected but they killed so many magical children that it almost crippled the magical population.
So, in the seventeenth century, they created the statute of secrecy. They decided to hide. I have no idea why they thought it would work, since everyone knew about them but I chose to get involved. I created one of most complicated pieces of magic that the world has ever seen. I created a global spell, that I charged for seven years. I created an enchantment anchored to the earth itself. It manipulated reality itself, erasing any and every trace of magic outside the magical world. I call it the mist. To this day, security cameras are automatically being affected, memories erased with my spell. My people and the non magicals have lived together for thousands of years and yet they were hunted like animals and chose to hide. What makes you think that mutants will be any different?”
Jean was shocked at the story. An entire civilization hidden from the world. Entire pieces of history erased.
“Am I going to forget now that you told me about it?”
“Nah, kiddo. A non magical cannot learn of us if they are not told by another mage. Even then, you will not be able to speak of it. I added a secrecy enchantment so that no idiot would blabber to everyone around them. Even then, a mage can only reveal magic to a non magical if they have no negative intent in doing so.”
Jean hummed in thought, “People are a lot more civilized now than back then…”
“Human nature doesn’t change child. Believe me, they will find a loophole in their laws to condemn you. You will not be considered humans and they will hunt you down like animals. The only reason that you haven’t already been revealed in because of my mist. While it isn’t as effective as with mages. It still helps you retain your secrecy.”
“How?”
The history teacher grinned at her, “Where do you think mutants came from in the first place?”
