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There was a small shocked silence in the room as what Jean Luc was stating overtook the assembled X-Men. Each one of them had at least a small amount of knowledge of what happened at witch trials in the early years of their country. Most even had the insight to compare early practitioners of the Wican religion to their own plight as mutants.

As they listened the horrors set upon a class of people simply because they believed something different were brought to vivid detail before their mind's eye. Jean Luc told them of how Rosa had screamed out not in fear of her own death, but for the safety of her husband and son. He told them how Robert had prayed to God for the safety of his son, the forgiveness of his and his companions sins and for the forgiveness of those that would do them wrong.

Ororo shed a silent tear for the loss of life in those innocents. Others around the room looked equally as involved in the history lesson that had turned into so much more. All felt the pain of loss for those who would have been long dead to them even if such crimes had not been committed against their persons. All could not explain why their hearts felt such a heavy burden.

The answer would have been simple had they examined the question long enough. They were heroes. They felt the loss of any life as if it was their fault and they felt guilty at not having been able to prevent it. The victims were all, by modern standards, innocents. And that played on the noble souls of all present at the time.

"As the flames took light to their bodies Rosa screamed out into the night, cursing a God that had forsaken her so. Through some sort of bond that was shared by mother and son, Remy was privilege to everything that was happening. Had Zoë not been a powerful enough telepath, Remy's mind would not have been able to survive the influx of despair and he likely would have died. As it were, the boy grew into a deep depression.

"Zoë found herself unable to deal with the pain that had been inflicted upon her by Rosa as she passed, and she soon left Thierry with the task of raising Remy alone. They sought refuge in a monastery in France and it was there that they lived for six years without further incident. Those in the monastery did not resent Remy for being such a freak and the two soon found a peace with themselves.

For all in all he appeared to be growing into a normal healthy boy. Apart from having to wear a blindfold over his eyes any time he went to the market, you would not have known him from any other boy of 7. The only point in which you would have noticed anything wrong with him would have been when you attempted to engage him in conversation. As if he had taken a vow of silence at the age of 1, Remy was constantly mute.

Thierry tried to have him speak but not once would Remy return a single spoken word. Every night before bed for 6 years straight he would try to prod Remy's thoughts out of the cocoon of his mind.

At first it was similar to the way that a parent would try to coax a child into his or her first word, each one trying to get the child to say either momma or dadda in a playful attempt to prove to their mate that they were indeed the favourite of the two. But after time, Thierry started to notice that there was something wrong with the child. He had take him to physicians to see if they could locate anything wrong with his vocal systems, however none could ever find anything wrong.

After the statement by one such doctor that severe emotional trauma had caused children in past cases to draw into themselves, and then a prodding as to Remy's life story Thierry decided it best to give up on doctors being any help. He instead decided to bring Remy back to the world himself. What could some stranger tell him about his nephew that he didn't already know anyway?

Every night Thierry would tell Remy stories about his parents. He would tell him about their lives before they met each other and the meaning that was given to them once they found each other. He avoided telling Remy that it was Rosa's love for Robert and Robert's love for Remy that had led them both to their untimely ends. Even without this statement though, Remy still knew. He had felt their love as they died, and even though he was an infant when it had happened the memories had been burned into his mind just as their bodies had been burned to the stakes that had held them in their death beds. Thierry instead spent time describing the places that he and Rosa had been and even relayed Robert's description of England to him in such a manor that Remy felt he could actually smell the sea air. But still, Remy would not speak.

This way he remained, a silently inquisitive child locked in a shell of depression until one fateful night when Thierry did not appear at his bedside with a story for him. Remy did not try to sleep the entire night. Instead he sat and waited, as his patience had taught him to do. By the time that morning's light broke through his window, Thierry still had not arrived to see him.

Hurt and confused Remy decided to search him out. He wondered through the building that he had come to call home in search of some sign of his uncle. After a thorough investigation Remy decided that it would be best to take his searching else where.

Tying a scrap of cloth around his eyes as he was always taught to do, Remy ventured out into the unknown world alone. It was soon apparent to him that searching for someone in a city you aren't entirely familiar with when you can't see and you refuse to talk is a little more than difficult. He began to ask in a quiet, unsure voice if anyone had seen his uncle.

It took almost the full day before someone began to pay attention to the poor lost child, however it was not the attention that Remy had been hoping for. Someone, a man, grabbed him by the hair and started half pulling half dragging him to the centre of a gathering that had been taking place.

There were many men there yelling in angry tones and Remy found himself too afraid to move. Their French words were too fast for Remy to truly understand and he wrapped his arms around himself in a fear that he couldn't explain.

He began to pick out words that he had heard spoken in church. Devil, God, judgment, redemption, salvation... He was starting to wonder if this was perhaps a church meeting. He thought it possible that the man was so rough with him for attempting to sneak out of church on a Sunday. Remy wasn't really sure what day of the week it was, but it was possible it was Sunday.

Remy forced himself to try to relax. Church was a safe place, and maybe after they were done with their worship Remy could ask them to help him search for his uncle. Just as he was letting his guard fall down, a man grabbed the cloth that concealed his eyes and pulled it forcefully away from his eyes.

Remy yelped out in pain as the knot he had tied on his head pulled out some strands of hair that he had caught up in it. He looked up at the man who had done that to him and his eyes shone in anger and pain. There was a gasp heard and an odd noise as those in the circle surrounding him all took a step back as one. For a moment Remy was confused at the fear they were showing him and he forgot about the pain that had been caused to him.

Then came whispers that were slow enough that he was able to make them out.

"Demon child."

"White Devil."

"Jesus save us..."

"Mother Mary?"

"Dear God his eyes!"

Remy gasped at that statement. He sank to a ball and covered his face with his arms, but he was soon pulled back up by the first member of the mob. His arms were pulled behind his back and tied tightly in place and he was lifted from the ground by his hair. The mob parted to the side as he was brought towards them. They then fell in place behind them as the man holding Remy began to speak again. Remy was too afraid and too confused with what was going on to really attempt to concentrate on the foreign words and what they meant.

He was brought to the centre of town and thrown into a cage that looked like a large bird cage. The man continued to talk, but Remy didn't care to listen to what was being said. He closed his eyes tightly and shrunk into himself. He scolded himself for having had the stupidity to speak and draw attention to himself and he cried in fear.

He didn't know how much time had passed when his mind registered a new voice in the mix of angry ones. It was a voice he recognised. Thierry roared out words in an angry growl that a lion could be proud of. He was also speaking too fast for Remy to truly understand everything that was being said.

There were sounds of tearing and screaming and clanging and breaking. Remy cradled his head in his arms and did not open his eyes to the sounds around him. He held himself that way in fear and exhaustion until he finally passed out.

When he woke it was as if from a daze. He was no longer in his bird cage. He found his arms still held, but the grasp was gentile. Cautiously he opened his eyes to find his favourite teacher holding him in a protective grasp. He looked at those around him and found that he was surrounded by others from the monastery. He searched the crowd and found their attentions no longer focused on him.

Pushing to the front of the group he found a creature surely from the pits of Hell. He had scaled black wings and black eyes. His skin was pale and dry to a point that it appeared that it too may have been scales. The creature was seated back on his legs with his hands forward on the ground. Claws protruded from his fingers which appeared to be stained in blood. He looked like some hellish gargoyle from the tops of Notre Damme.

Still beneath all of that Remy could see the humanity. He tried to run forward and envelop the demon that was his family, but someone from the group around him caught him up in their arms. He bit his lip against a scream in protest and fought against their grasp until Thierry spoke. "Remy, please be still."

Obediently he did as he was requested to and stopped his struggles. His eyes filled with questioning tears and he stared at his uncle in a demanding plead for an explanation.

Thierry did his best to manage a smile. "I have to prove to them Remy. I have to show them that you are not the demon that they should be fearing. I will stay here willingly. I will show them what they fear and in return you will be safe." His eyes turned almost pleadingly to the others around him. "The sun is almost up. Please do not force him to watch this. Please allow him to leave."

One of the mob members nodded. Slowly Remy was pulled back from his uncle and although he did not fight their movements he began to scream pleadingly to his uncle. "Uncle non! Please Uncle Thierry. Please do not leave me alone! Please!" He broke into sobs that he found he could not control and he was lifted to his teacher's arms and carried away.

He was a good distance down the road and the sun was beginning to rise when he began to hear his uncle's screams. Pulling away from the group that had began to escort him down the street he ran back towards the mobs. Flames began to tickle the sky above them and they had pulled back into a looser circle around Thierry.

Remy watched in horror as slowly the flesh on his uncle's skin began to bubble and blister before it began melting off altogether. Then in a final tortured scream and a lick of a brilliant blue flame, he was reduced to less than a pile of ashes.

Remy sank to his knees. Slowly with a trembling hand he reached up and replaced the cloth around his eyes. He did not want to see. He did not want to see ever again. His senses were overloaded with the sensation of death. The stench of a burning human being and the sound of the screaming that Thierry's skin made as it exploded against the firestorm was too much for him to bear. He felt as though his heart was about to explode inside his chest.

He thought of his parents and of how they had been taken from him this way. He thought of the torture that as inflicted upon as they reached of each other through their grave of flame. He thought of the sizzling sound that their hair made as it was quickly singed by the flames of hatred that had caused their deaths. Then, without even realising that he was doing it, he pushed these thoughts outwards towards all of those around him.

Everyone gasped in horror as their minds were assaulted. Some began to scream as the visions began to be too much. Others fell to the ground and passed out. One of the assembled became horrified and kicked Remy in the head in an attempt to stop the visions in his mind.

He kicked and kicked and kicked until the pain that entered his mind stopped. Then others began to join him until they had almost beat him to death. They probably would have continued long past that point had they not been stopped.

Always a survivor, Remy pushed out with a power that he had just begun to tap. With an indefinable speed the very air around them became charred and Remy's assailants found that they could not breath. Remy tried to push himself to his feet and run but he discovered that he could no longer find the strength to bring himself upright.

It was then that a woman's arms came around him. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a person that he recognised only from his dreams. She was his guardian angel. His parents had called her Zoë. Life. And that was what she was to him.

She held him to her chest as she raised the two of them to the air. She then turned a scolding eye on the crowd around them. She spoke to them both outloud and directly into their minds. "God has tested you on this day to see how you would be willing to react to one who was different. He has given you the chance to prove your worth in his eyes and you spit upon his loving gaze. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone indeed. Let he who is weak and afraid- even of this innocent- torture, beat and destroy all that they do not understand. One day you will come to know the true folly of your sins and that day shall be the day of your judgment."

She then lifted herself above the group and headed back to the missionary that Remy and Thierry had been living in for the past 6 years. Remy had ceased to react to any outside source and he simply held tightly to Zoë's shirt as shivers overtook his body.

When they arrived Zoë dropped to the floor and began to run inside. She ran through the halls as if she had been living there her entire life. She barely even had to look to turn. As she ran she chanted. They were words that Remy did not understand, but he enjoyed the sound of the lilt in her voice.

Remy could hear the sounds of doors slamming and locking behind him even though they were alone in the building and Zoë had not been stopping. Even through the blind he could see the oddly violet glow that followed him as they moved. He could feel the air around them take on a briskness and a dampness and realised that they were moving downwards.

When they had reached their apparent destination Zoë set Remy inside a silk-lined box. Remy recognised Thierry's sent surrounding him as Zoë pulled a blanket up over him. She paused in her chanting to instruct him as to what he should be doing. She thrust a set of beads into his palm and told him to hold tight to them and not to let go. "These were your mothers. Hold them tight and they will protect you from harm. Now Remy, I am going to leave you for a short time, but I will be back. I want you to go to sleep. You are very tired. I am going to close this lid on you but you will not be afraid. You will stay here, safe, and sleep until someone comes for you."

Remy heard the lid close above him and then lock in place. For a moment he was afraid that he would be trapped, but Zoë had told him that he wouldn't be afraid and so he pushed the thoughts of claustrophobia out of his mind and attempted to sleep.

His sleep was peaceful and dark. There were no dreams. His mind recognised that he was hungry, but he didn't leave to eat. He knew that his body was aching to be free and to move, but there were no movements to be had while asleep inside his coffin, and Zoë had said that he would stay there.

All remained silent inside his cage for almost one hundred years until, just as Zoë had predicted, Remy's sleep was interrupted.