THE COLD, HARD floor was the first thing Eleanor felt against her cheek. A groan escaped her lips as she rolled around and opened her eyes. What she last remembered was seeing Stryker and all of them being rendered senseless with a shockwave.

"Fuck," she cursed. "My head hurts like a bitch."

Eleanor suddenly remembered her children and panic built up in her chest. "Oh, shit." She sat up, looking around. There was no sign of them around. Only Raven, Moira, Peter, and Hank were with her. Her twins were nowhere to be found.

"Where are my children?"

"What?"

She then heard Peter's shriek just behind her and looked to see Hank transformed into his second self. "What's wrong with you? Is that going to happen to all of us?" He stood up abruptly, checking himself if he gained Hank's blue, furry appearance.

Hank grunted, standing up as well. "No, I just left my meds in the house." He sighed.

Eleanor felt herself panic for her children's well-being until she sensed them. They were somewhere near to where they were. She could feel the fear and anxiety they were feeling right now. She glanced around the room where they were being kept at. Green laser beams that she assumed would shock them if they got near surrounded the walls, barring them. She saw Valerie recently wake up and helped her stand on her feet.

"What happened? Where we are?"

"Hey!" Raven stared up, catching the attention of the people in the observation room above them. "Hey!"

"Hello, Mystique." greeted Major Stryker with a huge smirk on his lips.

"Major Stryker."

"Colonel Stryker." He corrected, proudly. "I wouldn't get too close to the wall if I were you. It may create some... discomfort."

Angered by his words and presence, Eleanor levitated herself to the window, causing some of the operators to back away in fear. "Where are my children, Stryker?" She growled. "Where did you keep them?"

The man before him only raised his eyebrow, not threatened by her. He slammed his palm over a large button and suddenly, an extremely intense and compressed sound waves were directly fired at her, causing her to crash on the ground, screaming. Eleanor placed her hands over her ears in an attempt to stop hearing it to no avail.

The next thing she knew Valerie was also thrown to the ground beside her. Eleanor saw in her mind that the woman had attempted to use her plasma forcefield to break free from where they were, but she was easily subdued as well.

The brunette rolled on her side, catching her breath. Her head pounded wildly from the loud noise she had just heard. Hank and Raven were both at her and Valerie's side, assisting them to get up. Eleanor slightly stumbled on her feet as Colonel Stryker addressed them once again. "Your mutations will not work here, Miss Swan, Mrs. Xavier. I know what makes you both tick."

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "I am not Mrs. Xavier yet, you dumbass. Do your motherfucking research or I'll poke your eye out when I get out of here." She snapped, clenching her fists.

The rest of their group stared at her for a moment. She sighed. "God, feels like a century since I have last swore." Eleanor checked up on Valerie then, patting her back.

They might not have been in good terms before, but Eleanor cared for her. After all, Logan once said that they were great friends despite of their opposing views.

"I swear I'm going to break every neck of those assholes once I'm out of here." Valerie breathed, staring at her.

Eleanor flinched a little then nodded. "I have no doubt you will."

"Don't worry about your spawns, they're all fine. They're somewhere here, just sleeping peacefully."

"I swear on your disgusting haircut, if anything happens to them, I will -- "

"You will do no such thing, Miss Ridges. I have you all in here." he taunted.

"My name is Moira MacTaggert." the human introduced herself then, stepping forward. "and I am a senior officer at the CIA."

"I know who you are, agent MacTaggert."

"You cannot keep me here in this..."

"Actually, I can." Colonel Stryker interjected. "A psychic event just destroyed every nuke from here to Moscow. That event emanated from exactly where we found you. At the home of the world's most powerful psychic." expounded the high-ranking officer. "So, you're going to tell me. Where is Charles Xavier?"

None of them answered.

"Miss Ridges, do you know where he is?"

Eleanor raised her middle finger as her response.

"Miss Ridges -- "

"I don't know where he is as of this moment, and even if I do, what makes you think I will just tell you? You seriously have some low IQ for a Colonel."

"I will be forced to draw it out of you then."

She laughed, sarcastically. "Kill me then, Colonel." dared the woman. "Oh wait, you can't. I am that valuable."

She must've struck a nerve since the official was silent for a while. "Charles Xavier needs to -- "

"It's not him you should be worried about." Moira interrupted, her voice now lowering into a snarl. "There's someone else. Someone more powerful."

The brunette was then brought back to the powerful mutant she have encountered earlier in the mansion. She stared at her hands, anxiously. She could still feel his effect on her like she was capable of many things. Her powers now have been amplified to some extent that it scared her a bit. Eleanor had no idea what she was now fully capable of.

"If you let us out of here, we can help you."

Stryker scoffed. "Do you really expect me to believe that? You can put on any face that you want, but I know who you are. What you are." And with that, he left them, deeming that he will not gain any information from them right now.

"Hey, Moira." Hank called. "What did you mean when you said someone more powerful than Charles?"

The human gave a soft sigh before going into an elaborate explanation as to who they encountered earlier. Valerie's head perked up at the mere mention of the name En Sabah Nur. "Wait, hold on, wasn't he the god the Egyptians betrayed and entombed inside a pyramid as he transferred his soul?"

"You know about him?"

"I'm an archivist. Of course, I do. I already knew about him way back in 1962. Although, I didn't perceive him to be a mutant at first, but I already had a feeling." Valerie narrated. "He was the world's first mutant and once ruled in Akkaba of prehistoric Egypt. His followers worshipped him as a god. Elohim, Shen, Ra... he was called those along with many other names. Throughout his reign, it was implied that he helped civilizations grow and when they became too populated, he would destroy them to clear the way for a new civilization."

Moira nodded in agreement. "That is true and wherever he goes, he always had four primary followers that he would bestow powers to. Wherever he ruled, it would eventually end in an apocalypse of some sort."

Eleanor rubbed her temples. "Which is what will happen if we don't stop him." concluded she. "He's even starting the end of the world as we speak. Shit."

She narrowed her eyes at the glass window, her lips tightly pursed together. Things were not looking good for them as of the moment. Charles was abducted by a mutant who views himself as god. Same mutant had also manipulated Erik, tapped into his anger to desire revenge. Her children too were somewhere in whatever prison they were in and the apocalypse was coming soon.

She hoped to the God she believed in to help them in their current time of need.

━━━━━━━━

ELEANOR LEVITATED the metal bearing above her palm, observing its speed as it went around in circles. She remembered that she picked it up before leaving the bedroom earlier. She didn't know what compelled her to bring it, but it had always given her comfort whenever she held it.

She sat on the floor and let her thoughts wander. She sighed. Hearing Erik had a family when he told her that they couldn't be together filled her with sadness. What could his wife do that she couldn't? What did she have that she didn't?

She sighed. Once they were out of their prison, they would soon have to face him, fight him if needed. It was like Washington all over again. Was Erik really fixed to a fate where he would always be the villain?

Eleanor knew he wasn't purely evil. He had goodness inside of him. She knew that, she saw that. The tragic events that happened in his life may have drove him to that path, but he was not hopeless.

But really, who wouldn't feel vengeful after their family has been killed? It might've been an accident, but an apology will not bring their lives back. She once again felt the sorrow and anger when she lost her first child, Erica. Even she herself contemplated to let that driver feel her loss, but then realized that she couldn't. Her consciousness wouldn't let her.

Now, En Sabah Nur tapped into Erik's wrath, promising him a better world, a better empire for them all.

A better empire.

She scoffed. There goes that blasted word again. She thought, bitterly. She remembered the times Erik would passionately apprise her with his grandiose plans of world domination. She would reprimand him for such thinking, saying that they didn't need to do that and just live in peace.

"That's a fantasy, Eleanor. Do you really think they will accept us and everything will just end happily ever after? That only exists in fairy tales, my love. This is reality."

"I still believe in happy endings."

"I used to believe in them once too, but then this world killed my hope in those."

Eleanor slouched and stopped the rotation of her metal ball, grabbing it. She rolled it across her palm, watching it. It still had its glossy appearance since she never stopped cleaning it. It was a possession she was scared of losing and she didn't know why.

"Mind if I join you?"

Eleanor perked up and caught sight of Valerie standing beside her. Swallowing, she patted the space at her side. The other woman sat down as the rest of the group talked with each other. They both sat together in silence as if just comprehending everything.

"Did you know that the first recorded patent on ball bearings was awarded to Philip Vaughan in 1794?" suddenly voiced out Valerie, looking at the ground.

Eleanor blinked twice, amazed by the trivia. "Oh?"

Valerie chuckled. "I'm sorry, I randomly throw trivias whenever I'm..." She swallowed. "afraid or nervous."

"You're an archivist, right?"

"Once. I was once an archivist."

"What happened?"

The other woman shrugged. "Well, after the Cuban missile crisis in '62, I went back to Oxford. I was about to resign so I could teach in Charles' school, but then... I was taken in by the CIA and things just went south after that."

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

"It's fine. I'm sorry too for what I did to you years back. I was blinded by my anger." Valerie uttered, letting out a soft sigh.

"Apology accepted."

"Friends?" She offered, smiling teasingly.

Eleanor smirked. "Sure, as long as you don't knock me out again."

Valerie winced, playfully. "Well, about that..."

They then both bursted into laughter and shook their heads. It was as if the moment between them had lifted the burdens they were feeling. A few moments later, the two went silent again. "You know, Charles really loved you. I can even go as far as to say your relationship would've worked had you not left him."

The brunette beside her looked at her hands, forlorn. "Yeah, well, it's too late for me. He loves you and you two have children -- "

"They're not his children," blurted out Eleanor. "They're Erik's." She then watched her companion furrow her eyebrows in confusion, her mouth hanging open slightly.

Valerie blinked several times before piecing it all together. "Oh." She muttered, staring down once again. "Who else knew?"

"Only you and Hank since he's their godfather."

"Why'd you tell me?"

Eleanor turned her gaze on the metal bearing on her hand. "I don't know. I just feel like I can trust you." She tightly held it once again. "Charles and I were going to tell them as soon as Erik showed up or even made his presence known to us. Actually, we're both kind of anxious about how to relay it to them as they see Erik as some evil person like that."

Valerie patted her back, comforting her. "Your children are very intelligent. I know they will find it in themselves to accept him."

The brunette sniffed. "Yeah, yeah. I hope they will." She then stood up from her position, grunting. "Come on, let's find a way to escape this hell hole." She walked towards Raven, releasing a red luminescent vapor that circled the whole room. She tried to find anything that would help them get out.

"Found anything?" Raven asked.

"No, but I'll keep trying." the woman replied. She soon felt a gush of wind move past her side and when she opened her eyes, she turned to see Peter standing beside her. He was biting his lip, heavily pondering about something. "Out with it, Maximoff. I wouldn't like to read your mind."

He swallowed, rapidly tapping his foot. "You both know him? Magneto."

Eleanor narrowed her eyes as she looked up at the window. "I'm pretty sure you knew we had some complicated history together."

"No, I didn't."

"Okay." She uttered. "Well now, you know."

"How about you?" Peter questioned Raven beside her.

"I used to. I'm not so sure anymore."

"What was he like? Was he... like they say he was? Was he a... bad guy?"

Eleanor licked her lips. "Well, he just believed our kind should just fight back against our oppressors by any means necessary. I guess, it depends on how you perceive the motives to his actions."

"Oh. Oh, okay." Peter nodded, taking her answer into consideration.

Raven stared up to the direction where Eleanor was looking. "Why do you care so much? Did you see his speech on TV or something?"

"Yeah, but... he's my father."

"What?" Raven and Eleanor simultaneously uttered, their eyes as wide as saucers. The brunette placed a hand over her chest, shocked by the revelation.

The silver-haired man put his two index fingers together, gesturing the act of copulation. "He and my mom, they..."

Eleanor gasped, placing a hand over her eyes. "Oh, my god." Her cheeks flushing red from embarrassment. Peter Maximoff was an adorable person, even hilarious. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"Yeah, we know! But... are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah. He left my mom before I was born. I met him 10 years back, but I didn't know it was him. By the time I figured it out, it was too late, you know." He expressed, feeling regretful. "Then, this week I saw him on TV again. And, I came to their house looking for him. But, by the time I got there... late again." Peter winced, shrugging.

"You know, for a guy who moves as fast as me, I always seem to be too late."

"Let's hope not this time."

Peter snickered. "Yeah, seriously."

Eleanor, standing in their middle, processed the whole information Peter had just disclosed. She blinked several times, placing both of her fingers to her temples. Her eyes were wide as she realized that Peter Maximoff was her children's older half-brother. "Oh, my god. Oh, my god." She chanted. "Oh, my god! Erik! You fucker!"

Just how many women had he been with? Were there more children other than her twins and Peter?

Not able to take it any longer, she left the two of them, turning away. She needed time to process everything. Eleanor stood in front of the wall, gazing at the green laser beams. She clenched her fists and stomped her feet once. "Seriously, Erik? You just can't keep it in your pants, can you?" She muttered under her breath as she pretended to punch the wall as if it was him standing in front of her.

"What's up with her?" She heard Peter slowly ask someone, presumably Raven.

"Just leave her be."