* POLARIS !

@cfpolariis

jean had been on genosha a hundred times before. the relationship between erik lehnsherr and the x-men was a strained one, but time had changed them all, and the world around them… didn’t. so mutants had to make do. but being on genosha now, surrounded by so many newcomers, was like seeing it for the first time – she really began to understand why it was the way it was. it was beautiful in a chaotic way, much like herself – lurking dangers hidden behind lush flora and spectacular buildings. if it weren’t for the significantly less appealing statue of magneto himself, (with varying noses, courtesy of her stubborn creativity) she might never have known that this place originated as a home base for the brotherhood. she wondered if erik knew that it was becoming so much more.

jean found lorna nearby the statue in question – green hair catching the sunshine and reflecting color and light onto her cheeks. her head was tilted downward, gazing at her daughter, dawn – and the sight of the two of them, without having to feel afraid just then, softened jean’s look, and her lips curved into a soft smile. and she loved dawn like her own. “lorna,” she greeted warmly, wrapping her arm around the other in a half-hug. “i’m relieved to see you.” she was relieved to see almost anyone, after what nightmare put them all through. her own nightmare lingered like any other dream, a constant sick feeling in her stomach and an itch in the back of her mind that she couldn’t quite shake. “i’m relieved to see you, too,” she cooed, touching dawn’s little hand and smiling down at her. dawn wrapped her fingers around jean’s, and she could’ve cried. for just a moment, the sick feeling dissipated.

jean glanced back up at her friend. she believed that lorna was one of the bravest of them. one of the strongest, habitually shot down and always standing back up, stronger and, though most wouldn’t believe it, kinder. to endure so much and not turn into a monster was a difficult thing, and every time lorna didn’t, jean could only explain it as enduring kindness. care. love. “you look tired,” she said, not unkindly, and put her other hand on lorna’s shoulder. “how are you feeling?”

there was a calmness to genosha’s city that caused unease in lorna. despite the chaos in other portions of the island, the dangers beyond the city lines, they were able to live peacefully for the time being. she could hold her daughter, take her for a walk around the shops without onlookings looking to them with fear and doubt. lorna almost dared to think she saw admiration in some of their gazes. undeserved, in her opinion. they didn’t know her, not who she really was, only name and title as new and unfamiliar to her as the entirety of genosha. even so, it was all too good to be true, and she hesitated to allow herself to feel at peace, happiness – even if for a short while – because there would always be the fall. the more hopeful she’d allow herself to be, the more crushing it would be in the end when that fall inevitably occurred.

it was only when she looked down at dawn that a genuine smile tugged on her lips. only a year old now and she encompassed all the things good and pure that lorna knew, a bit of hope for their world. even at this moment she was happily giggling in her arms. her eyes lifted as she heard jean’s approach, accepting the embrace with one arm. “hey jean,” lorna greeted in return. the sight of the other woman cooing at her daughter, eyes filled with such love – it was warming in a way that she wasn’t accustomed to. the attention soon turned to her, though, and lorna hesitated, swiping strands of emerald green hair behind her ear. “i’m alright, really. i just know a little girl that still thinks three a.m. is party time.” she bounced dawn gently for emphasis, before allowing her expression to shift more seriously. “there’s still something about being here that throws me off. nothing that seems so good can last forever, you know?”

internally, she scolded herself for turning the conversation to negativity so quickly. jean had always been kind to her since they’d met, and lorna had quickly learned of the others strength – not just her powers, but her true strength – that the younger woman couldn’t help but admire. “how have you been doing here, though?” she questioned, feeling too privileged that she had a place for her and dawn in her father’s palace while there were still so many down here on the ground she strived not to forget about. “i take it a lot of kids from the school are here too – do they need anything?”

Erik had been looking for Lorna. He had the feeling that she was hiding from him, though he wasn’t sure why. They’d never really finished their conversation about her being the heir to Genosha. Though… while she hadn’t seemed to embrace the idea yet, Erik had been confident that she would come round. 

But as time moved on and the situation degenerated, Erik started to wonder whether Lorna was just trying to avoid the truth of the matter. And when he’d gone searching for her, he hadn’t been able to find her anywhere in the city. It took a few discrete inquiries before he’d been able to locate her, and when he did…

…he found himself standing back, watching as she called upon her powers. 

His heart swelled with pride as magnetic energy spiralled from her fingertips, humming and calling to him. So similar to his own powers, and yet so uniquely hers - it was beautiful to behold. No, it was more than beautiful; it was a dream that he had never quite dared to dream since Nina’s death - the sight of a child of his, standing tall and proud, unafraid of her powers, wield them in broad daylight without a glimmer of hesitation–

–then she stopped. The power faded, and with it, the humming symphony of the metal around her. Silence fell, slicing between them like an invisible knife.

“Why did you stop?” he asked, frowning. He activated his own powers, recalling the work that she had been doing, activating the metallic elements and making them resonate. “Do you hear them? Do they call to you? Listen, Lorna.”

her jaw clenched, attention focused on the mountain and the elements that pulled from beneath the surface. she could feel them, yet as she tried to grasp for them, they slipped out of her grip. disappointment, relief – an uncertainty of what she should feel, opposed to how did feel. perhaps a mixture of both. she couldn’t so easily tap into the raw power she had that day, though it also meant she had restrictions – she couldn’t cause as much unintentional destruction as she’d feared – maybe. 

too many nights of her childhood were spent watching the news, hearing them talk about magneto – a terrorist, a monster – and left wondering if these traits were genetic. the consequence of a shared ability, did it make it destiny that she’d have to follow the same path? while with age and maturity, lorna understood more of the choices he’d made, and how anyone could be seen as a terrorist in the eyes of humans. yet sometimes, she still wondered.

“i can’t –” she’d started, turning on her heel to face him. lorna knew she should have realized his presence sooner, while her she’d been more focused on the mountain. there was something about the way the natural magnetic fields moved around them that gave him away. as he’d called over the same elements she’d been trying, she flinched slightly at the sudden sound. “yeah, like a really bad ringing in ears.” she confirmed, eyes gazing down at pebbles shaking by their feet.

“are you sure that’s such a good idea?” she questioned, brows knitting in miild concern. “you know what can happen if it’s pushed too far, right? that whole mountain could collapse. or worse, carrion cove could break off from the rest of the island, although as someone that’s been out there recently – maybe not the worst idea ever.”

they were too quick to easily spot, giving lorna cause to fall back on her other senses. the metal blades they carried was the first thing she could feel in the distance, and she followed the familiar pull it gave until green eyes fell in a direction where one had stilled, even for a moment. with a raised hand, and the familiar swirl of her powers, lorna pulled the blade from them, stopping it shortly before her to turn it around threatening back towards them. it gave her a better view of the weapon, handmade – the handle seemed made of bone. 

“this is all seeming a little too wrong turn for me.” lorna muttered as she held the knife midair, waiting for a reason to throw it back. “come out, come out where ever you are, i don’t really want to skewer you.”

clarice had spent most of her time so far on genosha exploring. getting to know her surroundings. visiting places was always important to her – just in case she ever needed to make a speedy getaway, it was always better that she could either see the destination in her mind’s eye or physically. she was gradually getting better with using her powers, but she was cautious towards pushing herself too far.

picturing the place she wanted to go to, flickers of light formed between the palms of her hands as she slowly opened a portal. it required a good portion of her energy to do this, and though it wasn’t exactly painful, it could be difficult. it took a lot out of her at times. once the portal was fully formed, she stepped through, allowing it to close behind her.

when she spots someone else towards the border of the city, she slowly approaches them, cautious at first before she realizes that only one person in this city, that she knew of at least, had bright green hair. “hey,” she said as she walked over to her friend, offering her a small smile. “it’s cool. you okay?” she raised a brow, looking out at the mountains. “what’re you up to?”

lorna had known clarice long enough to be able to spot one of her portals a mile away. the flicker of light forming caught her attention, glancing over as it became a full blown portal. it made her relax slightly, to know it was clarice, a friend she could trust – that knew who she really was than the genoshans that looked to her in ways she wasn’t sure she’d ever be used to.

“hey – yeah i’m alright.” she offered, her shoulders lifting and falling in a small shrug. lorna wished it wasn’t so odd to explain what she was doing exactly, trying to determine what she could or couldn’t do – the destructive depths of her powers that could be more dangerous for her to know than remain oblivious to. “it’s... a long story.” she started with a sigh, glancing out to the mountain. “when we all ended up here, i was out there past the mountain and something happened, we all lost control of our powers. it was a lot... like i could feel everything on this scary deeper level.”

she didn’t want it to seem that she was dangerous, there were plenty of others here more powerful than her – but with her track record, maybe it was better to be on the side of caution. “i see your powers are working around the island, it’s a step up from the soul stone, right?”

There was so much technology and power humming around Gus, a part of him was itching to just turn on his glowing gold eyes and turn off all the power around him to give him the high that the drugs used to. But he knew better than to do that. The further he was away from everything and everyone, the less damage he could do.

Spotting a familiar figure with green hair, Gus made his way over. “No, it’s my fault.” He stood beside her now, eyes looking over the view of the mountains that separated the group from the city. “Working on your powers?” He asked the other with an arched brow. 

“That was pretty intense that day in the mountains, Lorna. Your powers have grown way past merely stopping fired bullets at this point.” She probably knew that and didn’t need him to say it but it still slipped past his lips. “How are you doing?”

lorna turned on her heel towards gus as she heard him approach. the fact that he was there at all, able to hold a conversation with her, was still surreal. he’d been a friend – a friend that she, john, the mutant underground had failed. she wasn’t there the day he’d been taken, presumed dead, but there wasn’t a day she’d wished she had been – as if maybe that would have changed things. he had to live with the trauma of going through hell now, and hell was something lorna knew well.

“something like that.” lorna admitted, holding a hand up to show a flicker of green energy wrapping around her fingers. she doesn’t take control of anything though, not wanting her abilities to aggravate his. “it’s situational though – i’ve been working on it, but the big things only happen when i guess i have the drive for it, the life or death type of stuff.” it was difficult to explain, the way her abilities surprised even her in extreme moments.

“i’m alright, though. just trying to get used to this place. the way people look at me here, it’s different.” her attention turned to him, a deep breath filling her lungs before she looked back out to the city. “what about you? are you set up with something comfortable? if you need anything... i have pretty good pull around here, apparently.”

the suddenly increased population of genosha proved that some adjustments would be needed to create comfortable living for the residents. more so, it offered a task for lorna to keep herself productive. an opportunity for peace and safety, a quiet life, the reason behind so many of her mistakes - felt obtainable on the island. there was no need to hide here, and yet it was so foreign that she didn’t know what to do with it. she’d once thrown herself into a war in the name of her family, for mutants everywhere – and now she didn’t know what to do without it.

they’d never even truly won, she realized. they were just hidden and trapped away from the people that hated them. the thought made her stomach sink, the notion somehow making her feel worse. her eyes narrowed, focusing on the task at hand with hands raised. she summoned the familiar magnetic mull on the metal around her. just on the edge of town laid various metal objects, from cars to dishwashers and vacuums. it was a stock pile of items that could either prove useful, or she could bend and shape into something new – furniture or new buildings, if needed.

lorna tossed the objects one direction or another, sorting through what they could use as is and what could be turned into something new. as she moved into a rhythm, lorna paid less attention to the object tossed – until she realized a tv satellite dish was hurdled towards someone. “oh – shit... shit. that’s on me.” cringing, lorna recognized the avenger. “at least you’re... durable? right?.”

Billy’s head was still ringing from the collision he had had with the ground. One moment they were about to be vaporised and the next he was falling from the sky and just managed to slip a spell, slowing his fall but still hitting the ground hard. He had taken a moment to familiarise himself with the surroundings and after noticing he was alone, many questions filled his head. Where was he? Where was Teddy? They were just together in space. Was this Earth? He managed to get himself onto his feet and began exploring in hopes of finding civilisation. 

It wasn’t until the vague outline of a city skyline caught his attention that his hopes finally rose. Half stumbling, he had almost made it into the city when he noticed someone looking out onto the mountains he had just come from. Approaching cautiously, it was the green energy that swirled around her fingers that gave her away. “Lorna.” He called out. “Thank god, I was so confused, I had no idea where I was and we were just in space and my spell must of gone wrong and I don’t know where Teddy is and–” He paused for a second, glancing at Lorna’s face. “And you look good, like, a few years younger good.” 

her brows knitted in confusion as a younger boy approached her. perhaps she shouldn’t have been taken off guard as someone called her name – this island was populated with locals that knew who she was. it would take some time for her to wrap her head around, a far cry from a girl out of a mental hospital trying to run a mutant underground to the heir of genosha. her hands fell to her sides casually, the hum of magnetic energy dissipating while she turned to face the one speaking to her, only causing her to question the situation further.

“–– you were in space?” she was trying to understand, racking her mind for possible explanations and scenarios playing through her mind. he expected her to be another age and some slight realization clicked vaguely into place. “i don’t think i’m the lorna you know. for starters, i have no idea who you are, no offense. but i have some friends that might be able to help you figure out where you should be.” she’d heard of other realities, time travel – everything she’d read of the infinity stones with stephen’s help gifted her some awareness to what was possible. “you were with someone else when it happened? do you think they’re here too? it’s dangerous outside of the city.”

“Whoa.” 

It wasn’t directed at him, but Tony felt the tug of power on the casing around his arc reactor, the metal responding to Lorna’s powers. 

Mental note, be sure to remove all ferrous material in the casing, given the opportunity and a proper lab. 

Actually, probably remove all metal. Carbon nanofibres for everyone.

“It’s just me,” he said, holding up his hands and grinning. “Why are you all the way out here, Lorna? Apart from trying to tug on my heart strings.” 

Stepping closer, he glanced at her and down at the ground, his mind working quickly. “Trying out something new with your powers? Or trying to create another metal city?”

lorna released the magnetic hold she held over her surroundings as she felt someone approach, turning her body slightly to find tony. her hands dropped to her side, a smile tugging the corners of her lips. “well don’t tell stephen that, wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea.” there was an obvious laugh under her words, knowing full well that she’d never be considered any kind of threat to them.

her shoulders shrugged in response. “option a – although another metal city might not be a bad idea with the sudden overpopulation.” she pointed out, glancing back at the city now housing more mutants and human and anything in between than they knew what to do with. 

“i ended up out here with wanda, steve, and another friend of mine back when we got here. something happened out in the mountains.. it was like our powers were spiraling out of control. i was more worried about wanda at the time but for a minute there i swore i could feel everything down to the metallic elements in the ground. just trying to see if i can find that again.”

she stepped away from the now bustling and crowded city, away from the prying eyes of locals that knew who she was and others that were now finding out. lorna had decided that after she ensured dawn was cared for and watched, that she’d need quiet and distance to test a few theories.

her powers had been growing, or perhaps it was just that she was exercising them more now than she ever had before. she’d used them to hold up again thanos in the soul stone, help crush the gauntlet made of alien metal, took down a building after pulling a bunker out from underneath, and most recently – she felt the metallic elements in the earth’s surface enough to shift the ground. she was always sensitive to metal and the electromagnetic spectrum, but to feel the specific elements mixed in the ground was new. 

lorna stood at the border of the city and ridgeback mountains, curious if she could recreate the moment it’d happened or if her powers were only situationally based. she held up her hands, swirls of green magnetic energy flowing around her fingers as she tried to search out the elements again. “come on, come on –” she muttered to herself, caught off guard as she could feel someone approaching and immediately let go of whatever grip she had over it. “shit – sorry. i was just.. working on something.”

lorna had various residences in her life – the modest home with her aunt, cold rooms in the mental facility that she couldn’t allow her memory to drift back on, the back of a truck and some motels, an oversized abandoned back turned underground headquarters, a jail cell, the soul stone, the sanctum – and now, a palace. steel tipped boots echoed too loudly in the empty halls of the living quarters as she sought out wanda’s living space. after the incidents when they first became trapped on the island, lorna insisted that wanda have a place in the capitol palace near her, even if their father didn’t yet understand why.

she shifted dawn on her hip as she approached the door, setting down a bag she’d brought with her in order to rap her knuckles on the door and await a response. of course, the doors and knobs were solid metal and she could open it herself, but privacy was a thing. lorna hadn’t had a sister for very long, the situation was complicated – but there was something in wanda that lorna felt it easy to identify with, parts of them that not everyone else would understand. it made her feel less alone. she had marcos and their friends, she loved them, but there were things that were hard to explain even to them.

hearing wanda at the other side of the door, lorna gave dawn a small bounce in her arms causing her to let out a giggle. “i have someone here that would love to say hi if you have the time.” a smile edged on her lips, always a bit softer with her daughter around and in company she trusted. “and i’m not much of a cook, but i brought food.”

@cfpolariis​:

Marcos appreciated the light hearted moments life gave him. There weren’t many and a few of them were missed due to unseen circumstances. He missed out on Dawn’s birth, something the Frost clones would never let him live down. There were also the first few months of his daughter’s life and god knows what he missed in that short time span. 

But this moment wasn’t a missed moment. He made sure he wasn’t going to miss anymore. He leaned against the door frame, a bright smile on his face as he took in the scene. It filled his heart with joy to see Dawn giggling as Lorna moved the toy wagon filled with stuffed animals around the room with her abilities. This moment was one he would cherish.  And it wasn’t too long ago when this moment was far from his reach. When Lorna and Dawn were gone. When the two of them were near impossible to find. 

Despite being stuck on Erik’s scrapyard, Marcos was content. He was happy to simply be living in the moment with his family and not worry about their next plan to aid mutantkind. His family came first and this moment was a nice reminder.

“Hey.” He finally spoke up after a few moments of just standing against the door frame, making his way over to Lorna and pressing a kiss to her lips. “I think we did good lining most of her new toys with metal.” He said as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

There was a lightness that came with being on Genosha that Lorna hadn’t expected, as the constant concern for the world outside that hated them faded enough to remove some weight off of her. They could be safe here – that was all she’d ever really wanted. It came with new obstacles and changing aspects of her life, ones that would take her longer to adjust to. Who she was and her place here wasn’t a secret, and the locals that were grateful to her father for giving them sanctuary and hailed him as a king, looked to her as well. She didn’t consider herself someone others should look up to – but she couldn’t deny the sense of responsibility she felt either.

Right now, though, Lorna was focused on spending time with her daughter. Time was going by too fast and Dawn would be a year old before they knew it. She was already beginning to move around – not quite walking yet but clearly wanting to, and Lorna tried to encourage her by moving the toys around the room to attempt going after. 

Her attention lifted to find Marcos making his way into the room and there’s a sense of relief in her smile. They ended up here, safe, and together. Despite the mistakes and hell they’d gone through to get there, it seemed worth it in that moment. “Hey.” She offered in return, meeting the kiss before nodding. “We did... and before you know it, we’re going to have to start doing the same thing to her clothes.” Lorna pointed out with a small laugh as she considered the prospect of everything Dawn would get into once she was walking around. Her body turned in his arms to rest her back against his chest, carefully as she reminded herself of the stitches in the back of her shoulder. Her hands rested over his and she tilted her head back to look up at him, knowing all the hell they’d gone through lately and hadn’t had the chance to talk much about. “How are you doing with everything?”

@cfpolariis​

{ trigger warning: infant death & blood }

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her heart feels as if it’s about to burst right out of her chest. anxiety bubbles up in her gut as she looks around and quickly realizes something is off. something’s very off. she’s… where is she? she racks her brain, attempting to figure it out before she realizes as she hears a truck engine stop outside. it’s driver gets out and slams the door. he’s back. he’s drunk. “who’s junk is this?!” her foster dad yells from outside. clarice tries not to panic at the sound of his drunken rage alone. “all y’all brats get out here now!” he yells. the night is a familiar scene, one she’s seen many times in nightmares. she and lily portal out of the room and outside the house, only for lily to insist that clarice open a portal to let her back in. she barely has a minute to think and process everything before she’s standing in the living room, watching as her friend is killed. a shaky gasp escapes her lips and tears well up in her eyes.

 “you did this to me, clarice.” lily says, causing clarice to turn on her heel to face her friend. “n-no, no, i tried to save us,” she sobbed. “you were a coward, clarice. you knew what he would do to me. to pete and freddie. instead of trying to do something, to help, you left. like a coward.” her foster sister spoke cruelly. clarice shakes her head, a choked sob escaping her lips as she begins to open a portal. “and you’re doing it again, clarice! taking the coward’s way out instead of facing things!” she did her best to ignore lily as she goes through the portal.

clarice sighs in relief as she walks into her shared apartment with john. she thinks things are normal, that that had been some bad dream that she’d woken up from now. an all too vivid nightmare. but then the nightmare gets worse. john is on the floor, bleeding. “john!” clarice yells, running to him, only to find that he’s dead. tears streak pale cheeks as the palms of her hands get covered in his blood. “wake up!” she cries, shaking him, despite knowing he’s already gone. she sits there for a few moments, cradling his body and crying. when she looks up again, she spots another body. marcos. “o-oh my god,” she whimpers, checking for signs of life, before she looks up and sees lorna not too far from them. “w-what happened?!” she exclaimed. “who did this, lorna? j-john… marcos… they’re dead, lorna!”

@cfpolariis

This wasn’t right, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way. She never wanted anyone to get hurt – especially not... She couldn’t think it, couldn’t even lift her eyes to look upon their bodies. Lorna pulled her knees closer to her chest where she sat on the wood floor, her hands slipping on the blood that coated them. She tried to wipe the slick redness away, staining her clothes but every time she looked at her hands, they were covered again. How had it gotten this far? All she wanted was to save everyone, but she couldn’t control it – as if death were just in her genes.

Lorna barely acknowledged Clarice’s presence in the room, her own body racked with uncontrollable sobs that made her tremble. An emerald aura shifted and surrounded her, the lights above them flickering with crackles of electricity, any metal in the room contorting out of shape – and most importantly, the blood soaked knives on the floor shook threateningly. Cautiously, her hand reached out, shifting and moving herself across the floor to take Marcos’ cold hand into her bloodied one – desperately wishing the contact would muster even just a shimmer of light.

“I did it – I didn’t... it was an accident.” Her voice broke as she answered, there was no denying the truth. “I killed them, I – I wanted to help but I lost control. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

She’d let out another sob when the bedroom door opened, snapping her attention up. Dawn. She stood in the doorway, older than before. Maybe five or six years old, but Lorna knew her anywhere. She knew the look she gave her in the moment as she saw what she’d done. Hate.

‘You’re a monster.’

She wasn’t wrong. Maybe this is what she was, all she could be. “No no no, Dawn, no.” She pleaded, getting to her feet to go after her daughter, but she ran away. Lorna pushed on, opening the door she’d gone through but it wasn’t the bedroom, she stepped into the mental hospital that once tormented her. Instead, she could see Dawn, in a cell and strapped to a table. “No!” She banged on the window, her eyes turned back to the doorway. “Clarice! You have to save her! Please... I don’t.. I don’t deserve anything but please save her.”