Disclaimer: The X-Men don’t belong to me and all that jazz. I’m not profiting this
in any way. It’s just for fun so enjoy reading it (and if you do, please tell me about
it!).
Sorry, this is a rather uneventful chapter, but I needed to include it in order to
establish some character background. I promise that things will start to pick up
some time after this.
Revelations: Part 6
Chris Votulle, June 1997
Kali’s fingers danced along the keys of the piano in front of her, but her mind
was a million miles away. Music was her means of therapy, yet she felt that even
if she spent the rest of her life playing at that piano she still would not have
thoroughly resolved all of her inner turmoil. She
had spent the last couple of hours with Jean at her house discussing what life at the
X-Mansion was like, the X-Men, and being a mutant. Needless to say, her mind
was swimming with the abundance of information that had just been fed to her and
she was doing her best to sort it all out.
On her return to the mansion she ran into Bobby, who was nice enough to show
her to a room with a piano that she could use. Bobby didn’t want to leave her
alone, but she managed to convince him to go for at least an hour. It was obvious
that he was concerned about her, but she just couldn’t understand why. Why on
earth would these complete strangers care so much about what happens to
someone as utterly insignificant as herself? Unless, for some reason, she *was*
significant to them. This thought put her on edge. What if the X-Men thought she
would be useful in some way and were looking to exploit her? She shook her head
as if to expel the thought from her mind. She knew that not to be true because she
psi-scanned Jean herself -- something that Jean had suggested in order to establish
trust between the two of them. But then again, Jean was an extremely powerful
telepath and Kali had hardly ever used her own telepathic powers because of the
pain that accompanied them. Jean could have easily shielded the truth from her.
She started to play a slow, melancholy tune as her thoughts began to wander.
She knew that staying with the X-Men meant that she would be giving up all
future hopes for leading a normal life. However, she also realized that she couldn’t
lead the life that she had wanted anyway since she was already on the run from the
FOH -- -- and she had nowhere to run to.
As far as she was concerned, her life ended when she was exposed as a mutant and
now she has to build a new life for herself. She always knew that this day would
have to come eventually, but she never dreamed that it would be so soon. Her
mutant powers had begun to manifest themselves at an extremely early age --
unlike most mutants whose powers usually surfaced sometime around puberty --
so she learned early on how to control them in order to hide them from the world.
She did a pretty good job of it too, until her blood gave her away.
The music changed again as her thoughts turned to the memory flashbacks that
she had been experiencing ever since she woke up at the X-Mansion. She had
worked too hard at letting go of her past to let it come back to haunt her now. She
was still racked by guilt over the death of her family and reliving the experience
didn’t help to suppress those feelings. She searched her head vainly for answers, but was rewarded
with that same stab of pain that accompanied her attempts at remembering.
Frustrated, she banged her head against the keyboard producing an ungodly
noise and increasing the pain in her head. However, when she raised her head again
she was smiling. Then, in an effort to brighten her spirits and
forget about all her troubles, she began to play a light waltz.
“That was beautiful,” a voice from behind her said as she flourished the last few
notes of the tune.
Kali spun around on the piano bench to face a man who looked to be in his late
twenties. He had long light hair, bordering on being gray, that was tied back in a
neat ponytail.
“I’m sorry -- I didn’t mean to disturb you. It’s just that I was walking by and
heard such lovely music, so I decided to seek its source. Most of the people who
live here don’t have much of a taste for the classics. It was a refreshing change of
pace. Anyway, if you want to be left alone, I’ll go.”
Kali smiled. This man was different than the others whom she had met so far.
He was distant and seemingly uncomfortable. He didn’t push himself onto her and
she respected that. “Yeah, I guess that not many people my age play Strauss in
order to unwind. But then again, I’m not exactly a typical person. I guess none of
the people who live here are archetypal though, right?” She shrugged. “Don’t
answer that. It’s a silly question. Before you begin to think that I’m a complete
weirdo, instead of just a partial one, let me introduce myself. I’m Kali, a mediocre
pianist.”
He chuckled. “Hello Kali. My name is Joseph and I am a non-existent pianist.
I may or may not be a weirdo. I guess that’s for you to decide. Is there anything
else that we shall be confessing to today?”
“Oh, sorry. I’m not used to this meeting new people thing. I guess I’m kind of
nervous.”
“No need to apologize -- it’s perfectly understandable.” He paused, as if he
was deciding whether or not to say anything else. “I don’t mean to intrude -- and
you don’t have to answer me if you don’t want to -- but you said that you were
trying to unwind, and you definitely look somewhat distressed. Is there something
that is bothering you?”
To her surprise, Kali found herself being completely honest and open with this
man. It wasn’t that she instantly trusted him. It was more like she felt that he
would understand her, and she needed that more than trust right now. That, and an
open ear which he seemed to have. “Well, there isn’t any one thing that’s
bothering me. It’s just hard trying to swallow the fact that I’m now a mutant
outlaw, on the run from a group of blood thirsty extremists, who was
coincidentally rescued by a bunch of super heroes who now want me to join their
ranks. If that isn’t bad enough, I’m now being haunted by images from my past
which have decided to resurface at a very inopportune moment in my life. I guess
that’s what is bothering me the most. I’ve gone through a lot to put my past
behind me. It just seems that as soon as I finally started to live for the future I’m
starting to be dragged back into my past, and I don’t know what I can do about it.”
Joseph looked at her suspiciously. “How much have you been told about me?”
“Nothing. Why? Have I said something wrong?”
Joseph relaxed a little and had a seat. “No, it’s just that you’ve described a
problem that I’ve had ever since I came to live here. I thought that perhaps
someone had put you up to this. You see, I have a very *colorful* past. I’ve done
horrible things apparently, but the problem is that I can’t remember any of it.
Somehow I’ve been de-aged and my memory has been wiped. So, as a result, I
have to pay for a past that I don’t even recall experiencing.”
Kali’s eyes opened wide. “Wow. Why do I get the idea that problems like
these are commonplace around here?”
“Yes, life around here can get pretty complicated. You learn to expect anything
after a while. Now, where was I? Oh yes -- in regards to your past: I don’t know
what it is that you’re trying to forget, but I can assure you that eventually your
past *will* resurface. Life just seems to work that way I’m afraid. I think that the
best thing to do is confront your demons while you have the opportunity to do so.
Otherwise they might come to confront you -- and believe me, I know. Does that
make any sense?”
“Sort of, but I don’t know how it applies to me. I mean, how am I supposed to
confront my past?”
“I’m afraid that is for you to discover on your own. I’m sorry that I can’t be
any more help to you.” He stood up cautiously. “I really must go now. I
promised Rogue that I would help her to prepare this evenings meal. Will you be
eating with us tonight?” Kali nodded. “Good. Then I’ll see you there. It was a
pleasure meeting you Kali.”
Kali turned her attention back to the piano and resumed her playing. Joseph
had given her something to think about and she felt that this was something that
needed a great deal of meditation.
* * * * *
“You did what?” Jean looked at her husband incredulously.
“What did you expect me to do? Bishop was breathing down my neck and you
have to admit that a background check had to be made on her sometime soon.”
“I know Scott, but you didn’t have to go behind her back to do it. I wanted her
to open up to us first. I already found out a great deal about her today. I think she
just needs a little time.”
“She can still be given a chance to tell us on her own. All we have to do is
pretend like we don’t know anything.”
“That will be hard considering that she is a telepath. Besides, *I* don’t know
anything. You do!”
“Come on Jean. You said that she hardly uses her telepathy and that she’s
untrained. You know that this was necessary. I mean, she still hasn’t told you her
last name! There is too much important information stored here at the mansion.
It’s our responsibility to make sure that it remains safe.”
Jean hung her head. “I know. I just don’t want to alienate her. How did you
find out her last name anyway?”
Scott smiled knowing that he won this battle. “That was easy. You know that
duffel bag that she had on her when we brought her to the mansion? Well, her
wallet was in there and it contained several forms of ID. Her name is Kali Aadahl,
by the way. Shall I tell you what I found out about her, or do you insist on
maintaining her privacy?”
Jean shot him an icy stare.
“Okay, I admit that was uncalled for. Seriously though, there is some stuff
about her that I think you really ought to know. Please, just humor me here.” Jean
didn’t say anything in response so Scott took it upon himself to continue. “Well
first of all, Aadahl isn’t her real last name. It turns out that she was brought to an
orphanage in Oregon by a young boy claiming to be her brother when she was five.
He told the headmaster her first name, but no other information could be pried out
of him; not even his own name. After a few days he disappeared, leaving Kali
behind. The people who ran the orphanage decided that she needed a last name so
they took it upon themselves to give her one. Apparently they weren’t very
imaginative because they settled on the first name listed in the phone book.”
Scott’s bitterness was obvious. He had spent a lot of time in orphanages when he
was a boy and didn’t have many pleasant memories of life there. “That explains
why there is no record of her life before she entered the orphanage. She was listed
under a different name.”
“She was only at this particular orphanage for two months, after which she was
transferred to the Northern California Home for Mentally Unstable Children.”
Jean frowned noticeably at thie comment. “I know what you’re thinking, Jean, but
it isn’t as bad as it sounds.”
“Mentally Unstable? What was wrong with her?”
“Nobody knew. Ever since she appeared she had existed in a sort of catatonic
state, talking to no one and responding to very little. She was transferred to a place
where she could receive professional help for her problems. I don’t see how that
was a logical decision; locking up a little girl in a psychiatric home without even
giving her an opportunity to be loved. Sorry, this is getting pretty personal here. I
find that I’m relating a little too much to her situation.”
Jean placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, honey. That’s all behind you
now.”
“Yes, I know. It’s just hard to forget sometimes. Anyway, back to our little
friend. Soon she fell out of her trance, but she still wouldn’t respond to people.
Instead, she would withdraw into books. The doctors at the institute incouraged
this behavior by providing her with a plethora of books to read. I don’t know how
well it worked, but along with psychiatric therapy it was five years before she
spoke to anybody. Can you imagine? What could cause a girl to close herself off
to the world for so long? Don’t answer that -- let me finish first and then we can
go off into any tangents that we wish.”
“Well, she finally began speaking, but she still didn’t speak much. What she did
reveal was that she ‘posessed a heightened intelligence and an insatiable will to
learn.’ To make a long story short, this eventually led to her going to college
slightly ahead of schedule on a full scholarship to the California Institute of
Technology where she acquired a degree in computer engineering.” Scott shuffled
through some computer printouts that he was referring to for the report on his
findings. “From there on out my findings match with what she revealed to you
today. Both the FoH and the FBI have reports on her regarding mutant terrorist
activities, but they have similar reports on just about everyone else who lives in
this mansion so I know not to take them very seriously.”
“Is that everything?” Jean asked.
“No, actually, there is one more thing. Bishop and I were watching the two of
you when you were outside and he claimed to recognize her from a picture that the
Witness had.”
“Do you think that she has some kind of connection with Gambit?”
“I doubt it. Bishop said that they worked together in the mutant wars so most
probably Remy doesn’t know her yet. I just thought it was worth mentioning.”
“I see. So, what is your opinion on all of this?”
“Well, I’m satisfied that she poses no serious threat to security here at the
mansion. I hope that Bishop agrees with me here. Also, I agree with you that she
should stay here for both her safety and to be trained in her mutant powers. She
wouldn’t fit in at the Massachusetts Academy seeing how she is already a college
graduate. We’ll just have to wait until she comes to a decision.”
Jean smiled. “Or until we help her come to one.”
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