Sanctum 2.2

The remainder of the flight was quiet. Ororo had turned down the lights in the cockpit and Logan had dug up the same moth-eaten blanket from the car she had used earlier and offered it to her again. Anna initially refused, so he left it on the seat opposite hers. It was only when he decided to leave to go elsewhere on the jet, did she take the blanket and wrapped herself up in it. The mint green scratchy thing smelt like a mixture of hay and motor oil. The pungent smell was still not enough to stop her from dozing as she watched the giant black clouds roll below them like floating wisps of dark chocolate.

Somewhere along the way, she found herself back at home and heard a knock on her bedroom door. She slowly blinked the sleep sand out of her eyes and called out to the person on the other side. Her door slowly opened and the face of her Mom was alight with the candle flame licking off the top of a giant chocolate cupcake. Anna remembered shooting up in bed when her Mom, with her Mah in tow, sat at the lip of her bed and rested the plate holding the top heavy icing monstrosity with a number '8' candle crown on her lap while they sang happy birthday to her.

The plane's descent Anna from her memory. As she pulled her forehead off the glass of the window, her tired eyes glazed over a body of water bigger than had ever seen. Dark waves thrashed like an assembly of faceless ravers beneath them. She was about to say something when the jet shifted and she was faced isometric profile of a great mansion. Nearly as tall as it was wide, the thing was unlike any house or plantation she had seen before. Illuminated only by a handful of yellow lamps, there was a great circular road dotted by well-trimmed trees that then fed into the mansion's extravagant-looking entryway. Two massive wings made up it's east and west end and to its rear was a humongous pool. Just beyond the pool was a shallow patch of pine trees before leading to a sheer drop into the chaotic waters just below.

"Welcome to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters." Ororo chimed in such a way that would put the most professional airline pilot to shame.

The craft slowed to a stop in mid-air, far more smoothly than it had when taking off, then gently began to descend past the mansion and down the cliff face. The craggy rock wall before them trembled before splitting into two semi-circular doors to reveal a wide hanger just within. Anna felt her forehead and eyes suction-cup to the glass as the jet eased inside and settle down on a great big launch pad. The cockpit lights flipped on, causing the glass Anna had been looking through to suddenly only reflect her own dead-eyed stare back at her.

"Come now." Anna turned around in her seat and saw Ororo looking down at her, her eyes smiling. "Let's get you settled in."

The hanger within the cliff face was so tall it was a wonder it didn't have its own weather patterns. Sticking close to Ororo, Anna spotted a number odd looking one-manned vehicles, gigantic parts suspended off cranes attached to the metallic walls, and long colorful lines with corresponding numbers printed on the floor. It almost felt like a relief when they hit a small bank of elevators and found one already on their floor.

"Where did Logan and… er -" Anna had a few choice words for the guy she had only known up to this point as Cyclops, but she wasn't so sure if giving them a voice to someone she hardly knew was such a great idea.

"If he wants to get his Blackbird clearance, Cyclops will be doing his post-flight checklist," Ororo said with a little wave as they rode the elevator together, backs against separate walls. "If I know Logan, he's either harassing the boy, or he went out."

"Went out? Already? How would he have gotten past us?"

"There is more than one way out of the hanger." Ororo pressed her forefinger into her cheek. "Actually, there are quite a few ways to get around this old place, as I'm sure you will soon find out."

Before Anna could ask further, the elevator chimed and the shiny metal doors split to reveal a rustic-looking hallway. A red carpet runner extended the length of a blonde hardwood floor and the walls on either side were painted a pleasant peach color with a dark wood molding. Ororo stepped out of the elevator and Anna followed close behind. Further down the hallway, Ororo flicked her hair over one shoulder and looked back at her. "Are you hungry? We are just passing the kitchen." Sure enough, to their left a wide archway lead into a shadowy kitchen the size of her old living room.

"Um, that's alright."

Ororo said nothing else as they snaked through a couple of other bends in the hallway till they were spilled out into a grand foyer with an even grander-looking staircase leading to a second floor. Like many other facets of the house, it was too cast in long twisting shadows that nearly made it feel haunted by the translucent specters of moonlight leaking in from the great windows.

"Holy hell -" Anna blinked, then looked back at Ororo who stood at the foot of the staircase looking back at her. "Sorry, I -"

The other woman snickered, held her head back, and looked around as if assessing the place for the first time. "It's a lot, isn't it? Sometimes I forget."

"How long have you been here? If you don't mind my asking that is."

She nodded. "Logan and I have known Xavier for a long time now. Our base of operations haven't been here till more recently, but we've had occasion to be here through the years." She ran a hand over the thick handrail of the staircase. "Xavier more than once thought about destroying the place."

"What? Why would he do that?"

"I'm… not sure it's my place to say. I'm sure Xavier will tell you, once you get the chance to speak." She nodded towards the stairs. "Come, your room awaits you."

'My room.' Anna mouthed then followed her.

The stairs, like many of the hallways, had a carpeted red runner resting atop its steps that felt like your feet sank into its flesh when you stepped atop it. At the peak of the stairs, Ororo lead her to the left down a row of doors.

"We've been running low on rooms," Ororo explained as they walked. "Xavier is in the process of converting some of the unused auxiliary rooms into bedrooms, but until then, you will have a roommate. However, she has been kind enough to spend the night in one of the studies so that you'll your space for the evening."

Ororo faced the door second to the last on the left and twisted open the golden knob. Ororo flicked a switch on the wall, and following her lead inside, Anna was faced with the sort of room she thought only existed in Renaissance paintings. A great half circle window fitted with two heavy-looking red drapes sat at the center most point of the opposite wall. The drapes were drawn shut but were cracked open enough to allow a glimpse into the stately lawn just beyond. The rest of the room was tall, like the hanger, but not to the point it made her head spin. Instead, it felt like a person could stretch comfortably without fear of scraping your knuckles on a popcorn ceiling or whacking your hand against a fast spinning ceiling fan. The walls were - themselves - like works of art. Crown molding within molding made the walls have a pleasing square design that still allowed plenty of room for paintings and other art to be displayed without the feeling of the walls being too crowded.

On one side of the room, instead of precious art or antiques, the walls contained tapped-up posters of weird-looking bands and smatterings of tacked-up photos all above a wide bed with hot pink sheets. The left of the room, however, was a blank slate. A well-made-up bed with crisp green sheets sat without even a crinkle. On the walls surrounding the bed were markings of recently removed tape residue and thumb-tack holes, presumably from where more tacky crap once hung on display.

Anna made to walk closer to the bed when she noticed a small bundle resting atop one of the pillows.

"Some things to help you get through the night and get you set up." Ororo crossed the room and drew the curtains tighter together. Anna approached the bed, pulled the bundle off the pillows, and loosened the strings securing it all in place. "Inside you will find a fresh set of night and day clothes, toiletries, and a new cell phone that's fully charged along with a paired smartwatch."

Sure enough, when Anna opened the bundle and dumped out its contents where she found a pair of comfortable-looking pajamas, some clothes that didn't look completely awful, a toothbrush and toothpaste, some fancy-looking bar soap, and the last to tumble out was a cell phone with a charger and a slim black smart watch taped to the back. She grabbed it from the top of the pile and thumbed the power button till the screen lit up. She could already tell it was better than her old phone. The biggest factor being it didn't have a giant crack down the middle from when she dropped it the one and only time. The next was that it appeared to be the latest and most high-end model in the series. She only saw the well-off kids in school with these. The home screen was absent of any apps and only a black and red 'X' surrounded by a circle made the background image. She immediately checked the contacts and couldn't help but feel her heart fall when she didn't miraculously see Jess inside.

"There are several pre-programmed contacts," Ororo said, half startling Anna. For a moment, she had almost forgotten the other woman was there. "Among these are your fellow students, myself and Logan, and of course Professor Xavier. You are to keep this on you at all times as well as the watch, or at least within reason."

Anna scanned through the list of completely foreign names when her thumb paused over one. "' Scott Summers' is that guy's full name?"

"The one from the jet? Yes, that's correct."

Anna made a sort of scoffing sound through her nose. "Wow, that name makes a hell of a lot of sense for mister sunshine down there." Her thumbs were already hard at work editing the name to 'Butt-Munch'"

"What he said to you wasn't right." Ororo started. "It's something I and Xavier will talk to him about, but there is also a lot of context you are missing here as well, Anna. His worries, while inaccurate, were not without cause. The Brotherhood are far from allies to us."

"Well if he didn't jump down my fucking throat at the first chance, maybe I could have given him some context of my own!"

Ororo nodded. "You're right. The problem here is that you both, and all of us, need to get on even footing with one another. It's something that we will work on and resolve, but that won't be tonight."

Anna shifted her jaw left and right, closed the phone screen, and crossed her arms. "He's not the end of it, is it? If my Mom is such a big deal to you guys, everyone is going to be gunning for me, won't they?"

"No one is gunning for anyone. Everyone here is on the same side and here to help one another. Everyone here comes from different backgrounds too. As I said, we just all need to get on the same footing is all." Ororo approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "You're also incredibly tired. You should wash up and get some rest. I promise you will start to feel better in the morning."

Anna hung her head and said nothing. Before she knew it, she was being wrapped up in the biggest hug she had ever experienced up to date. A wellspring of almost supernatural warmth radiated from Ororo that soothed all of Anna's aching muscles as they hugged. It felt like they split too soon and Ororo bent at the waist from her amazon-like height to rest her hands on Anna's shoulders and look her in the eyes at her height. "It's going to be alright, Anna. I promise." Anna couldn't help but smile back as the other woman stood and walked towards the bedroom door, stopping at its threshold and looking back. "The washroom is the last door on the right, and should you need anything, I'm a call away." With that, Ororo walked out the door and closed it gently behind her.

Anna watched the door and sat slowly at the foot of her green bed. Her eyes fell on the floor at her feet for a while. She eventually powered up her phone's screen again, and scrolled through the contacts, analyzing the names. Jean Gray, Evan Daniels, Kurt Wagner - then eventually she fell back on 'Butt-Munch.' She opened the contact again, cleared out the name, and her thumbs poised over the digital phone keyboard a short while before writing a new name: 'Summer-Boy.'