Upon the Horse of White Rides...Pestilence (Solo)

Agnes fidgeted as she sat on a chair in the lobby. She still could not believe that she was here or that she had even considered doing this! How could she let Sebastian talk her into going through such a procedure? Wait, she was the one that went to go see him, wasn’t she? She went to him because she was the one that wanted to make a difference. She was the person who had decided to join his cause and stop people like her parents. After everything that happened at her old house, with Rebecca nearly getting hurt, and now that she had joined the X-men, Agnes did not want to risk letting anyone she cared about get hurt again.

Just thinking about all this set the fire of her resolve once again. She was not just doing this for her, or for Rebecca, she was doing it to keep anyone from ever suffering in the manner that she did. There was no selfishness in wanting to take on this gift; she chose this for the all the good she could bring.

Yes, she was going to go through with this. She found the courage to dress in her jeans and favorite denim jacket and marched herself over to the university. No one was told where she was going or that she would be doing this. Rebecca, Gina, they just would not have understood her reasons for wanting to go through such a procedure, she was sure they would see it as ghastly.

Ghastly…hmm…Agnes began to start to reconsider again when a door next to her suddenly opened.

“Ms. Nicholas?” a man said.

Agnes bolted onto her feet. She didn’t know why she did that; probably because this was her last chance to flee or stay. As the seconds ticked down, though, she realized more and more that she was going to go through with this.

Meekly she nodded to the man. Momentarily she was distracted by that rather…large scar he seemed to have all around his lower jaw. She couldn’t even fathom what could have caused that but, since she didn’t want to be rude, she averted her eyes from it.

“I mean, I’m Agnes Nicholas,” she said.

The man smiled and nodded in a friendly matter. “Welcome, Agnes. You are a pretty one,” he said in a flattering manner. He then opened the door for her and stepped back. “I am Dr. Edward Shaw. We are ready when you are.”

“T-Thank you,” Agnes said with a little blush.

She paused, eyed the doorway, glanced down at her sneakers, and finally breathed. With a firm nod she stepped forward in and through the door.

She found herself being led down a long hall that looked as if it were part of any other doctor’s office. The man was silent, though he did comment once or twice that he was sorry for the delay in these last months. Items required for the procedure needed to be collected and assembled and, unfortunately, that took some time. But, he assured her, that everything needed was here and ready. Other than that, though, there was no small talk. Maybe Agnes was thankful for that, maybe she wished that there was the distraction of it. For the most part, she just wasn’t sure. All she wanted was for it to be tomorrow…

“Here we are,” he said with another smile.

Agnes held her breath as she looked into the room. It looked more like a lab now than any doctor’s office she had ever been. Though there was certainly the equipment, many of the machines she couldn’t identify. Licking her chapped lips, the runaway nodded and boldly walked into the room. From there, everything turned into a whirlwind that she could scarcely follow.

Inside, the staff had her remove her jacket and lie down onto the table to try and be as calm as possible. A little uncomfortable, Agnes closed her eyes and instead tried to picture more calm and serene settings: the city at night, a full moon in the sky, the sound of her violin, the kiss of Rebecca’s lips, the ringing laughter of Gina, she used all these to keep her body from trembling too badly. It worked to such a degree that she did not even feel the needle go into her arm.

She knew what would happen next. Sebastian explained to her that this was essentially a transfusion; his healthy, immortal blood would replace most of her own, granting her his ability to heal. She would not have to fear pain or death again; she could truly become the beacon of justice that she always wanted to be.

After all…

Ooh…t-that’s cold…

…how could people like her parents…

Feels…different…

…stand up to a goddess?

Agnes paused, staring at the dark world behind her eyelids. Did she really just consider herself a goddess? That was strange, Agnes had never had such thoughts before. Maybe it was just a fluke, a rush from feeling her blood seeping out and being replaced by that of the unicorns? She would never think a thing like that when she was in her right mind. It was just not like Agnes to do such.

Time passed, and before long, the procedure was complete. Agnes was surprised by how quickly it seemed to go by, as well as how painless it was. On top of that, she really didn’t feel any different. Question were asked to make sure she was fine and she answered them all with an affirmative yes before she was allowed to sit up, and finally stand.

Agnes, questioningly looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers, noting the faint blue lines of veins and imagining the unicorn blood coursing through them.

Were these…were these the hands of a goddess? Or a horsewoman?