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.”