"Anybody seen Celeste?" Logan asked absently, rubbing his sore shoulder. He'd taken a beating in the Danger Room today, that much was obvious.

"Saw de chere dis mornin', but I haven't seen her lately. Thought she'd've come back by now."

"On one of her walks?" Gambit nodded. "She probably got sidetracked again." And Logan started toward the exit.

Wolverine turned once more, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. "I smell trouble. Who the hell could've-"

The door to the dining room swung inward, and a small figure darted through the opening. Blond hair flashed with silver lights as she ran through the room. She had just passed Gambit when the door crashed open and rebounded off the wall. Four men stood there, unarmed but for their venomous fury. The girl wrapped her arms around Gambit's waist and pressed her face to his thigh. "Gagne-moi," She whispered fiercely, asking him to save her.

"Hand over that girl!"

*Snikt* "Says who?"

"I say, little man."

Wolverine let loose a savage growl and advanced on them. He registered Gambit beside him, holding a glowing card at the ready.

The two wolves, however, were a new variable to the equation. With a bestial snarl, they leaped over the men from behind, sending them crashing to their backs with a little help from gravity. They watched numbly as the wolves unerringly went for the jugular with the men. The two others watched, terrified, as bands of fire surrounded them. Of all the elements, the creatures of magic gave more respect and fear to the Children of Fire than any other.

Of course, this only worked with Celeste's more cowardly subjects, the ones who relied on their brute strength than their tiny heads.

Blood pooled on the floor; both men were dead. The other two, surrounded by the bands of fire, awaited judgment. The bigger wolf, a massive gray with a white blaze down his back stepped back to survey the fresh kill, while the other one, a sleek black, continued to gnaw on the tender flesh of the neck.

The gray made some sound and the black looked up, dangerously annoyed. The little one growled with soft menace, but followed the gray as he faced the other two men. The black purred in anticipation, playfully taunting the captives by stretching her front paws out before her and snarling an epitaph of death for them both.

They recoiled in fear, as far as the barrier of fire would allow.

Logan inhaled sharply. The little black. . .and the way she moved. . . .

Celeste turned her lupine head and grinned at her husband, feeling his shock vibrate along the floor that separated them. Both wolves tipped back their heads and howled, long and triumphant.

The rest of the X-men stumbled through the room as Celeste and her companion changed. Sparkling purple mist swirled up from their feet and covered their bodies, acting as a screen while their bones and muscles shifted and elongated to become human.

The male was tall and blond and perfect--in every way, since he was currently naked. Storm, Rogue and Jean all let out sighs that said they knew what 'gorgeous' looked like. Callie motioned grandly to the bound men, saying, "You may go first, of course."

He gave a courtly bow and shook his head. "We must go together. Family should always do things together."

Callie laughed and, in unison, they punched the men. The male stuck one across the face, breaking the nose and splitting the forehead.

Callie was far less kind. She plunged her claws into the man's chest and twisted them before pulling back her hand in a bloody spray. The man should have collapsed, but Callie was hardly finished. She lifted his heart from his chest cavity as a plain black box appeared at her elbow. "Let it be known that those who threaten the House of Veritas pay dearly." She closed the lid with an ominous click, and turned to the last opponent. "You shall be allowed to live, and to carry the message to all those who seek to hunt children." She glanced down at the box. "I understand this was your brother. You have my condolences." The box touched his hands, and he screamed as he disappeared in a cold static flash, back to where he had come from.

The first words out of Callie's mouth were, as usual, sardonic. "Unexplained carnage before noon," she remarked to the team, "Must be your lucky damn day."

"Cousin!" A woman screamed, running into the room from the hall. She threw clothing at the blonde, and tossed a shirt to Celeste. She shrugged into it and winced. The other woman, short and dressed in purple velvet, grabbed Callie and squeezed her, thanking her mindlessly.

But she drew back, yanking her hands from Celeste's body as though they had been burned. "Oh, my God." Blood dripped in thick droplets from her hands.

The blond waved his hands and the evidence of the fight, corpses and all, disappeared in a silver flash. "She's a little damaged. She stripped her body of defenses and centered them around her abdomen."

"But why would she do something like that?" The woman wailed, staring at her hands. She looked up and caught her husband's expression. "Oh." This time, she gazed quizzically at Callie, who was staring off into the distance and looking distinctly unfocused. "What do we--?"

"I'm going to heal her. She might as well take some of mine." He spun Celeste around and crushed his mouth to hers. Celeste did nothing, she continued to stand there listlessly.

"Take some of what? What's he giving her?" Rogue asked of no one in particular.

The velvet woman answered without taking her eyes of Celeste. "He's giving her some of his energy, to heal herself with." Soft indigo light surrounded the couple, most vividly around the blond, but slowly the balance shifted. Celeste's colors heightened and Logan watched the bloody gashes across her back close in on themselves and disappear.

The blond pulled away from his wife and grinned as she blinked and slid to the floor, her eyes unfocused and lips red.

"Celeste," the woman said cautiously, advancing carefully on them. The blonde shook his head. "I wouldn't try it if I were you," he glanced back at Callie as he took his wife's arm and led her toward the X-men, "She's a little confused right now. Something to do with spilling blood as an animal and then having to shift back to human form, with all those pesky *rules*."

"Mom! Dad!" The little girl finally found the courage to unclench her hands from around Gambit's waist and open her eyes. The mother sobbed out loud and scooped up her child, holding her tight against herself. The father nodded, satisfied, and introduced himself. "My name is Kieran, the Marquis of Chanaux. This is my wife, Dani, and my daughter Maielle."

"Hello. My name is Charles Xavier. Not to be impolite, but what are you doing here?"

"My daughter is human. Someone, one of the few who knew the truth about her, told someone he shouldn't have. He will be dealt with soon. However, the damage has already been done. They have tried to kill her because she is not like them, and they do not understand that a child can be born human. They fear what they do not understand and they hate what they fear."

Jean exchanged a worried glance with Xavier. It sounded awfully familiar. "Hasn't anyone ever been born human in your world?"

He shook his head grimly. "No. Celeste is my cousin, and my level of 'mutation', I think you would call it, is second only to hers. No one has ever been born powerless in the Empire, and they will not stop until they make it as though my daughter was never born."

Dani moaned a little, already fearing for her daughter's life, and tears fell down Maielle's face silently; she was too stubborn to cry aloud.

Celeste regarded Charles sadly, still sprawled on the floor.

"I'm afraid that is incorrect," A chilly, aristocratic voice interrupted, "My daughter was born human."

"Yeah. I can't even use magic to get rid of my love handles."

The group turned to get a look at the newcomers. The man was tall and dark-haired, with frigid golden eyes, and the other one. . . .

The other one was Celeste's twin.

"Allow me to introduce my daughter, Ethereal Pleasure Veritas, second-born of the sixteenth generation of the House of Veritas," one eyebrow rose in an expression that could have said almost anything, "Impressive, isn't she?"

"Oh, yeah. My sister gets all the power, and *I'm* the impressive one?" Rea rolled her eyes and sauntered over to her sister while her father continued filling in the blanks.

"But I thought Ana was--" Jean looked confused.

"No," he shook his head, "Ana was never legitimate. The records don't even show who her father was. For the short time that Illyana and I were married, she gave birth once. Twins, whose only defining trait was the fact that one had all the power and the other had next to nothing. She escaped with immortality and nothing else. When the girls were born, I agreed to take Rea and leave. Rea was pretty sure everyone had forgotten about her until Celeste called her back and declared her the Regent of the Crown."

Kieran's mouth dropped open. "She's the Regent? A human?!"

"Careful, Keri, your stereotypes are showing," Rea hissed from the background before dropping to her knees in front of her sister. "Are you okay?" she asked, reaching out to clasp her shoulder and then slide her palm along Celeste's jawline in a reassuring gesture.

Callie must have understood the words, because she nodded. Rea nodded and, deciding to leave her alone to sort herself out, rejoined her father, who was now seated with everyone else at the table.

Celeste, however, was far more than reassured by her sister's caress. Her mind was slowly working its way toward humanity from a bestial, hedonistic mind that responded to sensation and little else.

And she liked the sensation of. . .touch. Yes, that was it. She wanted to. . .touch. . .someone else. Celeste licked her lips and stretched herself out on her hands and knees, blindly searching for the girl with green eyes and the black hair.

No one seemed to notice Celeste stalking her prey, as they were all focused on Callie's father and Kieran, who were busy trying to figure out the best course of action for Maielle. Everyone else watched and commented.

Logan glanced at Rea again, amazed that Celeste had a twin--and had never told him about it. She was like her sister in every way, except for the fact that the purple and green shimmers in her hair were fainter. Rea smiled as though she understood his thoughts, and suddenly her eyebrows drew together and she looked down at her feet in confusion.

"Did you want something?" Celeste looked up at the tone of voice, but seemed to ignore them as she went right on running her hands up Rea's leg. It wasn't quite the same, denim just wasn't what she was looking for.

She sat back on her heels, not sure what to do now, and looked up at her sister again. "Did you want a pair of jeans?"

Rea took the blank look she received as a yes. "We'll be back in a minute." She left the room and Callie followed along behind.

She followed her sister up the stairway with its dim light and interesting smells, down shadowy hallways, patiently waiting while her sister opened doors and looked inside.

"Ah. Eureka," she muttered when she found one that pleased her. She went inside the room and pulled Callie in beside her. She looked around, fascinated, and approached the armoire next to the bed. "Wow. Never knew a guy who liked so much flannel," she commented as she rummaged through the mahogany chest of drawers and pulled out a piece of cloth that resembled the thing she wore. "Here," she handed the pair of jeans to Celeste and turned around to tidy the clothing and close the drawer. When she turned again, Callie was still holding the denim and staring rather dubiously at it. Rea laughed and unfolded it, guiding her through the process of putting it on. As she pulled the jeans over her sister's hips, the back of her hand brushed Callie's thigh. Rea missed the gleam that lit her sister's eyes as she matter-of-factly buttoned them and worked the zipper into place. "There," she finished, "You look better. What's wrong?" She added, catching the odd look on Callie's face.

Celeste slowly moved forward, backing the other girl up against the wall. She raised her hands to the girl's face, stroking her jawline. When she had had enough of that, she did the next thing that came to mind, which was, of course, to press her lips against the skin. . . .

"Aaaaaaauuuuugggh! What is wrong with you?!" Rea shrieked and bolted from the room, before she could do more than lower her head. Celeste grinned and licked her lips again. She liked to hunt, too. She remembered that much.