Six whole years....

The young monk pulled his robes closer in on himself, the frosty wind of late February chilling him to the bone.  The miles of Tri-State highway stretched out along the horizon as it had all this time; no matter which way a compass might say he was going the road winded up and down hills and mountains and farmlands and cities.  The roadsides would change, the views would waver between dull and majestic and the amount of people of all manner of attitude and dispositions, but still through all of it the multilaned connections of the Mid Atlantic regions were nearly burned into Aras' ice blue eyes.  He had set out against his will nor better judgement, trying to make it by through whatever jobs came his way,  Through the generous hearts and souls every few steps in his journey, Aras had been able to make it to this point in his journey, his will holding on just long enough to see a light at the end of this tunnel.  The miles of road behind him evidenced by the soreness in his thighs and calves as he trekked along the winter road.

There had been rumors he had heard in his travels, houses and homes of people like him.  Gifted.  Mutant.  Whatever each individual called them, it meant all the same.  People with extraordinary powers unfathomable some fifty to sixty years ago, now common enough to be the headline of many an act of heroism and terrorism.  Aras had done his best to keep the reputation pure in his travels; serving as many a healer to those in need, and was able to squeak out a living.  That time would end soon enough, if these rumors of the school were true.  Following all the directions he could get he had traveled a long the roads for about four months before looking at the entrance way to the mansion's grounds, the wind blowing harshly in it's direction.  A sign from God, some of his old order would say.  Sometimes Aras himself would be sure of it.  After months of a long journey through all many of inclimate weather, however, he was more focused on keeping his legs moving, the anticipation of the end came before any divine revelation in his mind.  He needed to rest, and sonner more preferred then later.

The mansion walkway was the first bit of sign, the snow dusted lawn mesmerizing to the soul of the young monk, feeling himself slow down just enough to let the first impression last just that little bit longer.  He had heard it was a mansion, yet even his wildest imaginations from stock photos couldn't prepare him for the beauty of the place.  He had long stayed in whatever shelter could accommodate or whatever he could fix up.  If this is the place the rumors said, there would be none of that. The approaching door along his walk only heightened the feeling, footsteps growing faster to match the racing heartbeat pumping deep within, his normally stoic expression dropping as the reality began to process in his mind. 


He found a bell and rang it, stepping back and covering himself even further, the chilled wind cutting deeper as the act of walking became limited.  His mind had run on an autopilot throughout his journey, adreniline and willpower hiding every bit of discomfort just to keep him going.  Now as the wait truly began, his body began to process his surroundings.

Six whole years without a chance to truly sleep and pray.  A chance to learn how to take care o-dammit it's cold.

It was nice to have a day off from work. Most people take it for granted. They get so used to working through weekends or packing so many things to do to try and relax that they actually forget to relax. Unfortunate, really. But given her life as essentially a slave working for the ruler of Atlantis, Celeste Eel never had a day off before -- now that she had them regularly thanks to her regular job at the mall, she did everything in her power to thoroughly enjoy it as much as possible. So that is what this mutant made of space and starlight would do. She would enjoy her day off.

Humming to herself while in the kitchen, a young lady with a gentle hand appearing like a void in space full of darkness, passing stars and nebulas, carefully takes up a butter knife from the block and proceeds to use it to spread some jam across a perfectly buttered piece of sourdough toast. Only once every visible corner of the face of toast is covered is the knife set underneath a stream of water from the kitchen sink, wiped off, and returned to the block.

Another hand picks up a plate and sets the toast atop it. Snack in hand, Celeste Eel, a eerily beautiful young woman whose skin looks like a feminine form had been cut out of the night sky, turns on her heels and leaves the kitchen. Today she is dressed in cotton shorts and a simple t-shirt that merely says "Journey of the Gummy Bears" and features several differently colored, anthropomorphic bears in colorful costumes. Lately she was becoming a fan of what the surface dwellers referred to as "retro" things. Old cartoons, technology, etc. She just found them...neat.

As Celeste passes by the front room on the way to the stairs, she stops when there is the sound of bells. The front door? A piece of toast handing from between her teeth, she turns her starlit eyes around the foyer and sees no one in a rush to answer it. One second goes by, then another, and Celeste frumphs a bit before wiping her crumb covered hand across the side of her shorts and approaches the front door. Pulling it open, she stops and looks upon the newcomer at the entrance. She starts to say something but remembers the toast in her mouth. Toast that she quickly releases and drops back into her plate.

Chew. Chew. Chew. Swallow.

"Hello. Can...help you?" she asks with her extremely thick, Grecian accent. "You...looking for...Xavier's, yes?"

Aras stood in place, lifting his legs every few seconds to keep the blood flowing within. He couldn't remember the last time he had stopped walking outside of finding shelter and immediately crashing, whether that be a toolshed or an outhouse or whatever bits of furniture that could serve as shelter. The young priest pulled in his robes and pulled down his hood, shielding himself as best he could from the wind as it began to pick up again, harsh gusts throwing whatever loose bits of snow on the grounds blew up into his face.

Then suddenly the sound of the unlatching of a door knob broke through the howling wind, and Aras arctic blue orbs peeked through his raised hood to meet his savior. His eyes remained on the figure, though, for much longer than he could have wanted or even expected. Before him stood a feminine figure made completely of the cosmos, stars and nebulas at first thought tattooed over a human form slowly moved enough for Aras to come to grips that they were real. Aras gripped at the hood at his robe to clear the way for his gaze, meeting with the white eyes that stared back at him with reasonable confusion; the piece of half eaten toast hanging from her mouth the only true thing grounding him to the fact that this was reality. Her words spoke in a Grecian accent, inquiring about his motivations in coming to this place.

Aras did his best to shake his shock and awe out of his headspace as he nodded his head, focusing on her eyes as best he could. "Y-Yes, I am. My name is Aras, and I am one of the gifted this school seems to be for." The wind picked up once more before slowing for good, Aras wincing through the burning cold as he met the eyes of the universe once more. "If this is the place, I'd like to inquire about joining. If it isn't, than forgive me for intruding on your well cared for grounds. Could I offer assistance with any sick people in this place in exchange for an hour or two of shelter? Or maybe just directions?"

Munching any remains of the toast in her mouth, Celeste watches the newcomer closely as they stand on the other side of the door. The young man was dressed in robes and seemed to just be staring for several moments before finally reality seemed to ground him back into the present. He was a strange one, surely, but the demigod (mutant) didn’t sense any kind of subterfuge or dishonesty in him. He seemed mostly…pious. The robes reminded her much of the priests who wandered the wealthier halls of Atlantis but he was not Atlantean. He was surface dweller and thus she was not alarmed.

An innocent smile crossed her lips of violets, blacks, and blues. Her teeth, a starling shade of pulsar white gleamed even in the sunlight as she offered the younger man a genuine smile. Quickly she nodded her head as she pulled the door open wider and stepped aside.

”You have found correct place…” Celeste confirms with a nod and then waves him closer with her hand. ”Please. Come.”

This vision of living stars and galaxies steps aside then, now fully in view of Aras. She is a curvaceous young woman, in her early twenties, holding her plate of toast as her pale eyes watch him. It would be now, that she was fully in view, that the planetoids would be noticed. Very small, planet-like spheres of varying colors of blue, green, brown, and white, that circle around her head like a small tiara of planets. Truly she seems to encapsulate the idea of a goddess of space.

Only once Aras is in does she close the door and step back. The inside of the mansion is massive with antique and modern looking decor. A staircase in the foyer leads to the upper levels of the mansion while the doorways and halls on either side of the interior seem to lead deeper into the mansion and provide many unseen paths to take.

After several moments, Celeste speaks up, sneaking in another bite of toast. ”Did you…ummm…apply school here?” she asks. ”Or…show up…looking for place to stay?” She looks at him for a moment before gesturing to herself. ”Not staff. But live here. Can point out staff to you.” She chews her bottom lip and then holds up her plate. ”Hungry? Big kitchen. Many foods.”

Aras saw as the celestial being before him began to smile at his words, his plight seemingly a non-issue or as if his presence was all but expected. Not him specifically, but that strange people showing up for a place to stay was common enough for people to feel accepting of it. She stepped aside and invited him inside, the elation in his soul only overpowered by the shock of such a place. No matter how determined his legs moved towards this goal, Aras knew that he could never expect this journey could come to such a hopeful end.

All he had was a gut feeling and faith.

"Th-thank you. Thank you so much," Aras spoke fervently, bowing his head as he stepped through the doorway. The warmth embraced him instantly, his hands beginning to burn from the shift in temperatures. Rubbing his hands together to ensure all his feeling had remained, he lowered his hood revealing his light brown hair, curved face rigged with miles of journey without proper nutrition for some time showing through. His artic blue orbs peered at the very being that had given him warmth. Her frame, figure, being and orbit had been what Aras could imagine as a divine being. When the tiara of planets came into his peripheral vision, his eyes were fixated on them with pure wonder. He had never seen anything like it, imagined anywhere close to it in almost nineteen years of meditation and worship.

And that was but a fraction of the wonder that was the person who had welcomed him into this home; so much of his mind was distracted that he nearly missed her questions and offers of food.

"O-Oh! Uh, I-I hadn't even considered signing up for anything," Aras spoke as the last bit of the frost from the elements outside escaped him, the regulated heating of the mansion bring him back to life. "I would like to see what I can offer here, but I must be honest and say that I'm here to stay for as long as I can; or at least as long as I'm able to." Aras' stoic smile held firm as he spoke earnestly.

"Oh, are you sure?" The galaxy in feminine form had lifted her plate containing more toast atop it, his smile growing as the warmth of the company so far matched that of the mansion itself. "I can hold off until I at least inform an official here, but I don not think I could pass up such a generous offer. Thank you, Miss...?" He held his hand closer yet held back from taking anything yet, doing what he could to not be rude. He had not used this this warm a welcome since his days in the monastery and he wanted to maintain all deniability before embracing that this could be a home all the same.

>>"Oh, are you sure? I can hold off until I at least inform an official here, but I don not think I could pass up such a generous offer. Thank you, Miss...?"

So…the thing was that Celeste was in no way offering that the newcomer take her food. She was merely gesturing to her own plate to see if he wanted food in the broader sense. Like, she could take him to the kitchens if he was hungry but she didn’t necessarily want to give him her beautiful, artisan with warm butter toast. So when he looked between the plate and her, asking if it was okay, her expression broke into a smile.

”I am sure. But not my toast. I can take you to kitchens. Get the food you want. Fridge open for everyone. Or so I’ve heard Carrick say.” She shook her head, sending her long, navy hair twirling about the air in a cascade of nebula colored ringlets. She gestures then for him to follow. ”I call someone on staff to talk to you. But you can still eat first. Come…come…”

Celeste continues to gesture towards him until he begins to follow. If he does she will lead him towards one of the halls, at the same time taking a large bite of her perfectly made toast. A sigh of satisfaction falls from her lips at that moment. The bread was too good to keep it in. Still, she presses on and makes her way towards the halls and towards a room that seems full of natural light and smells honestly, like the most well stocked kitchen imaginable.

”I am name Caelistis,” she says, then winces and taps her palm against her forehead. ”Sorry. Atlantis name. On surface I am Celeste. Nice to meet you.” A friendly nod follows, along with another bite of toast. Stopping at the doorway to the kitchen, she leans back and, after brushing off the crumbs, continues. ”You have name, yes?”