The Wanderer - 205 (Patreon)

Chapter 205 – Cure

[2009 – October – Saturday]

Wearing one of my oversized white hoodies, a skin-tight pair of jeans of light-blue colour, and a black vest, Jean walked by my side as we slowly made our way over the quiet cemetery, her little feet hidden by a pair of black sneakers.

Her complexion was no longer as rosy as it had been after our bout of passion in the hotel, instead, it had been replaced by a quiet and somewhat sad air.

Her small hand held tightly onto mine and I could feel her anxiousness as we neared her mother's grave.

I didn't try to say anything to cheer her up since I understood that there was nothing that could just erase this pain, nor was this something that should be done as it would tarnish the memory that she had of her mother.

After all, having lost her was only painful because Jean loved her mother.

Her love was the origin of her pain, and at the same time, her pain made the affection that she felt 'purer'. Taking one part away would inevitably diminish the other.

So, the only thing that I did was stay by her side and give her a shoulder to lean on when she needed it.

Finally arriving in front of her mother's grave a few moments later, Jean didn't say anything for a while as she just stood in front of me, pressing her back against my chest while holding onto the arm that I had wrapped around her waist.

A few minutes passed like this before Jean wiped away her tears with her sleeves and parted her lips.

"Hey, Mom … ", she whispered in a choked-up voice.

…

[Sunday]

"These are for you.", Emma smiled as she said those words, her right hand extending as she presented me with a pair of sheathed daggers, a warm light glowing in her crystal eyes.

We were in one of her penthouses in New York as she had asked to come here to see her since she had been busy taking care of some matters in the city.

It was already late afternoon and Jean and I had just been back at the mansion for a few hours since we had made no detours on our drive back after having had a quiet breakfast in the sun lounge of the hotel.

Sitting at the side of a dark and sturdy-looking handmade wooden table, I could see the city through the large glass facade of the building while Emma sat to my right, a laptop and more than a few documents laying in front of her.

It was obvious that she had been busy with something before I had come here.

Taking the daggers, my Extrasensory Perception easily identified the metal as the same material that John's were made of, which made it clear that it was a pair of Vibranium daggers that Emma was gifting me.

I understood that she did this to show her gratitude and because she wished to repay with something, which wasn't an easy task, to be honest.

My power alone afforded me to get anything that I wished with a wave of my hand, while at the same time, Emma also knew me well and understood that material possessions weren't really important to me.

Though since I had expressed an interest in John's blades when I had proposed to her that I could help her with finding Klaue so that she could get the Vibranium that he had stolen, she arranged for these blades to be made for me even though she knew that they weren't any different from toothpicks to me.

On the other hand, I was a bit surprised at the manufacturing speed since Selene had just given her the Vibranium the day before.

Refining Vibranium ore and turning it into weapons was an arduous process that took a lot of effort and it had to be done with great care as reforging the metal was an even more difficult process, which meant that everything had to be done right on the first try.

To think that she had people that could turn Vibranium ore into two daggers in barely a day's time was rather impressive.

Still, I probably shouldn't have been as surprised since the resources of the Hellfire Club and Frost Enterprises, as well as the hidden forces that Emma controlled, were most likely beyond my imagination.

Drawing out one of the blades from its sheath, I saw the characteristic blueish-grey pattern of pure Vibranium, the edge glinting with sharpness. It was a slender dagger without a handguard, barely two fingers wide and a half-foot-long blade.

It was most certainly a work of art as much as it was a killing tool. Though what really struck me was the engravings on the blade.

On one side there was a snowflake while the other had the letter 'E' engraved just below the handle.

I had no idea how this had been done since it was incredibly difficult to leave even the slightest scratch on an object made out of Vibranium.

It was a beautiful gift, its sentimental value much greater than its already shocking monetary value, so I couldn't help but smile as I re-sheathed it and looked at Emma, one of my brows raised questioningly.

Her lips drawn up in a gorgeous smile, Emma answered my unspoken question: “Even if the Club has only ever dealt with small amounts of Vibranium ore, we still have facilities that allow us to process it quickly and almost flawlessly.”

“After all, the Club might be lacking large amounts of raw Vibranium but it certainly isn't lacking the money to build facilities to refine it.”, she ended.

Knowing that she was right about the Club's financial power, I couldn't help but laugh lightly, having gotten a glimpse into her world, where money was nothing but paper.

I knew my own views of wealth were different from ordinary people but Emma's was even more otherwordly. Still, I also understood that this was a difference in perspective born out of vastly different life experiences.

I was a bit intrigued by this, though not enough to spend time on it for a deeper understanding.

And so, I just voiced out my gratitude for her gift: “Thank you, Emma. Though this isn't all you called me here for, is it?”

My senses being what they were, even someone as in control of herself as this older sister of mine couldn't hide her emotions from me, which wasn't that surprising considering that even the Dark Priestess wasn't capable of such.

Being a Realm Lord, even a mature Omega-level mutant such as Emma was still just a mortal like everyone else when compared to my existence. At this point though, comparisons had already become meaningless as only a few special existences amongst the mutant race and other races on Earth could rouse a flicker of interest in my heart.

I had sensed a certain unease in Emma the moment that I appeared in the penthouse, though I had held myself back to give her the time to gather herself before asking her what made her anxious.

Her eyes widening a bit as she looked at me, Emma sighed the next moment and shook her head with a wry smile on her lips: "You are not even a telepath or empath, and yet I still can't hide anything from you … "

Pausing for a moment, she continued: "Your actions while saving Celeste have caused a lot of unrest in the government, which made some people careless and allowed the Club to get some intel on projects of the U.S. government that are normally out of our reach."

“And among those projects, there is one that endangers all of mutantkind.”, Emma's tone was grave as she voiced out that last sentence.

The world slowed down for a moment as my thoughts moved at speeds that were just impossible for normal humans to even comprehend. I tried to recall what I knew about secret government projects in the different timelines.

But there were just too many bits and pieces of information in my memories and I knew that this timeline was a chaotic mix of the MCU and several others.

I had no way of knowing which projects existed and which did not in this reality.

Shifting my perception again, the world returned to its original state as I asked calmly: “What kind of project are you talking about?”

"The one that promises a cure for mutantkind.", Emma answered, her tone gaining a chilling tint while her eyes flickered with a cold and ruthless light.