Sprite slowly regained consciousness, her mind still swimming in an ocean of confusion due to Charles’s earlier ‘episode’.

As an Eternal, Sprite’s mind was intrinsically different from a human’s.

Much more focused, much stronger, and more efficient than a supercomputer, but somehow, Charles’s outburst almost sent Sprite’s mind to the brink of oblivion.

Perhaps it was exactly because a part of Sprite’s illusion abilities encroached on the domain of the mind that she reacted especially strongly to Charles’s mental pulse.

If it could even be considered a mental pulse since it seemed more like a doomsday weapon of sorts.

The first thing Sprite noticed when she awakened was the unfamiliar ceiling of Logan’s, Caliban’s, and Charles’s abode.

It was more of a shed than anything, but it could somewhat pass for a house.

Or maybe, a modern shanty to be more exact.

Sprite kept her abrupt awakening a secret, scanning her environment with a critical eye, memorizing the placement of everything and everyone in the room.

Without anyone noticing the movement, Sprite created the illusion of a perfect clone still unconscious, shrouded herself in invisibility, and walked around the room nonchalantly.

Learning from her previous mistakes, and knowing Logan’s and Laura’s noses were much more sensitive than a normal human’s, Sprite ensured her scent was shrouded thoroughly.

Sprite strolled around the room, outside and around the house, through the bedrooms, and eventually found herself digging into the refrigerator without anyone being the wiser.

There were a few times Logan sniffed the air, sensing something amiss, but Sprite stilled in those moments, ensuring she could not be detected.

‘Damn sensitive animal!’ Sprite cursed, somewhat confident that Laura had already detected her but chose to stay quiet.

‘At least, the little girl is not a betrayer,’ Sprite mused.

And honestly, Sprite was being a sneak for a very good reason – she was looking for Tyrone.

There was little chance that Tyrone made it to this location given the devastating scenery in the desert, but after living so long, Sprite had learned to investigate even the smallest possibilities.

Around five minutes passed before Sprite was certain Tyrone had not made it to this location, and with that knowledge letting her mind ease, Sprite released her illusions.

One second, Logan, Caliban, and Charles were speaking to Laura while keeping an eye on Sprite, and the next second, Sprite disappeared and reappeared around the table, nonchalantly eating some cereal.

Logan’s body was tense, ready to protect Charles by whatever means necessary, but Charles seemed calm, aware that Sprite would not try for his life a second time.

“Nice to meet you,” Charles said, slowly turning his wheelchair in Sprite’s direction.

Sprite snorted, unwilling to start a conversation with someone who could very well be her death at any given moment.

Instead, Sprite turned to Logan “You seem to know this old man very well, so you should be aware of his illness… keeping him alive is a danger to us all!”

“You would have to stick around for him to be a danger,” Logan snorted, “And I don’t plan on you being around that long, so why don’t you do us both a favor and state why you came.”

Sprite quirked her brows and gestured to Laura “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Grrrr…”

“Grrr…”

Logan and Laura growled simultaneously as if to prove Sprite’s point, but they growled for entirely different reasons.

Logan growled since his feral instincts that had been quelled for almost a decade started to become active again with Laura’s arrival.

As if his body knew that a better, healthier version of himself had arrived, and would not stake a claim to his territory.

Laura growled because she was hungry, so without any show of decorum, she leaped over the table, and found a cozy spot next to Sprite, snatching the cereal Sprite was previously eating.

And, of course, Sprite didn’t mind.

Usually, she would, but in this scenario where Charles was a doomsday device waiting to activate, Sprite needed all the allies she could get.

Though she was unconscious due to the incident, Sprite could guess what happened after Charles’s mental pulse had shattered her mental barriers.

It was very likely that Laura and Logan could move due to their healing factor, and if Sprite knew Laura as well as she thought she did, then Sprite was confident Laura tried to kill Charles as well.

Probably, Logan got to Charles in time and somehow deactivated his ‘Episode’, allowing the Old Man to live another day.

However, Sprite had little doubt about what would have to be done, one way or another.

“So… we have more cereal if you would like,” Caliban inserted himself into the conversation, unwilling to allow the awkwardness any longer “I noticed the little girl took the cereal you got for yourself.”

“That would be nice, thank you,” Sprite responded positively, completely unlike her usual attitude “And I am sorry for burning you before… I didn’t know you were a vampire-kin.”

“I am not a vampire,” Caliban clarified, walking to the dashboard, retrieving another cereal box “I am just a mutant with sensitivity to the sun.”

Sprite frowned, her eyes glowing a bit golden “No, you’re definitely a Vampire-kin, but also a mutant… interesting.”

“Enough!” Logan tapped the table in frustration “Time to tell us why you’re here, kid.”

“Kid?” Sprite scoffed “Hold old are you, like less than a century? You’re way too young to be calling me a ‘kid’.”

“She is right, Logan,” Charles directed a lingering gaze at Sprite, not trying to probe her mind since he had already done so with his earlier mental breakdown “This small girl is much older than the two of us combined.”

“We have killed old things before, Charles,” Logan assured his old comrade while simultaneously notifying Sprite that he wasn’t afraid of battle.

“Not like this one,” Charles murmured and repeated, “Not like this one.”

“Here you go,” Caliban interrupted, sliding a bowl of milk and a box of cereal in front of Sprite.

Caliban couldn’t find any milk, so he had to settle for milk powder mixed with water.

However, as soon as Caliban set the bowl in front of Sprite, it was gone just as fast courtesy of Laura’s hungry stomach.

---SMACK---

Sprite smacked Laura on the shoulder, and the ravenous girl growled in response.

“Ya robé para ti, déjame comer!” Laura grunted, causing Caliban’s and Charles’s brows to twitch ever so slightly.

Logan seemed at a loss for what was said, but Caliban and Charles could understand Spanish, and they didn’t like what Laura’s words implied.

It almost seemed like Sprite was the big bad wolf forcing Laura into a life of crime.

Which, in some ways, was true, but without Sprite’s guidance, Laura would just have likely ended up a serial killer in some random neighborhood in the suburbs.

“I came to deliver your daughter,” Sprite clarified, seeing that Logan would deny the matter for as long as he could.

“That’s impossible,” Logan replied instantly “Mutants are a dying breed, and I don’t have any kids, especially not one so young.”

“So, you’re telling me you don’t notice the resemblance?” Sprite cocked her brows, gesturing to Laura’s very animalistic attitude that may have well had been her intimidation of Logan.

Laura and Logan eyed each other, growling a bit as their feral senses argued for superiority – a challenge that Laura clearly lost.

Logan may have been extremely weakened since his prime, but he still had a host of experiences that Laura lacked as someone new to the outside world.

Laura’s posture relaxed, and she seemed more assured than previously.

“I see the resemblance,” Logan admitted since even he could tell there was something more to the story, but he still wasn’t excited to have the responsibility of a daughter.

“It will be fine, Logan,” Charles reassured his old friend “The girl is just like you, so she can take care of herself… she only requires some guidance in adjusting to the world.”

“Then they can get that guidance somewhere else,” Logan argued.

“She is your responsibility now,” Sprite replied immediately “My job was to get her here, and you will take care of the rest.”

“We have problems of our own,” Logan grunted.

“If she is your blood, Logan,” Caliban interrupted, finding a seat around the table “Then you cannot abandon the girl.”

“You are not a part of this discussion!” Sprite snorted, not very receptive of Caliban since he was a Vampire-kin, and she had a rough past where Vampires are concerned.

“I would appreciate it if you can have a bit more respect in my hom—”

Caliban didn’t get to finish his justified statement of anger because Sprite waved her hand and the illusion of a snake appeared in front of Caliban.

“Hehe,” Sprite giggled with her usual mischievous delight, and Laura giggled because it was fun to see someone else at the whims of Sprite’s trickery and not herself.

For the next five minutes, Sprite and Logan argued back and forth, neither willing to assume responsibility for Laura.

Actually, Sprite was more than willing to take Laura on her journey in search of Tyrone, but like always, Sprite didn’t like the be the losing party in a negotiation.

Hence, even if she was winning, Sprite wanted Logan to know she was winning.

Due to the frustration of the argument, Sprite projected illusions constantly, scaring Caliban with each new gruesome thing she drew from her centuries-long memory.

Sometimes, it was deviants.

Sometimes, mythical creatures of Elder Gods.

But most of the time, Sprite just projected different species of aliens that had once tried to invade Earth.

Such invasions were amongst some of Sprite’s most treasured memories since those were the only times the Eternals were allowed to fight something other than deviants.

“Can you stop that?” Charles pleaded, aware that Sprite was projecting scarier and scarier projects for Caliban.

Logan may not be able to see it, but Charles could barely see it by occasionally glimpsing shadows through Caliban’s eyes.

To Logan and Laura, it seemed like Caliban was scared of his own shadow, but Charles knew different.

“Stop what?” Sprite questioned, playing the lost, innocent girl.

Laura snorted at Sprite’s display, wondering if the Ancient little girl had no shame unless Tyrone was nearby.

“ARGH!”

A loud, terror-filled screen from Caliban caused everyone to scan their surroundings, wondering what was coming, but nothing came.

Sprite had projected an illusion of a Hydra, and Caliban got so scared that he dashed outside, into the sun that was toxic to his wellbeing.

Logan, faster than anyone could react, dashed outside, grabbed Caliban by the collar, and tossed the Vampire-kin back into the shaded protection of the house.

“What the hell were you thinking?!?” Logan questioned angrily, stomping his way back inside “Why did you go outside?”

“I am not sure… I thought – I thought I saw something,” Caliban tried to explain but received only grunts of disapproval from an angry Logan.

“It wasn’t his fault Logan… the child made him see illusions,” Charles intervened, explaining in a disoriented Caliban’s stead.

“She what?” Logan growled, and Sprite’s body tensed, ready for battle.

An illusion already overlaid her body since Sprite was aware she had messed up somewhat.

Her intention was to distract Logan a bit so she could slip something into Charles’s cup, but instead, Caliban reacted a bit too intensely and now the matter had blown up.

To add to Sprite’s sour feeling was the fact that she was distracted by Caliban’s antics, missing her chance to poison Charles to death.

“You did this?” Logan turned to Sprite and growled.

“What of it?” Sprite shot back, trying to appear braver than she actually was.

A simple truth of the matter was that Sprite was hesitant for the first time since injuring Logan in his current weakened state could lead to the man’s untimely demise.

Still, Logan had a lot of life left in his old bones.

Before Sprite could cast an illusion, Logan had already dashed into her personal zone, claws aiming for her defenseless neck.

Just as Sprite was about to retaliate with deadly force, someone even faster intercepted Logan’s attack.

---CHING---

---CHING---

Sparks danced as adamantium claws clashed against adamantium claws.

Laura’s and Logan’s claws were locked in a battle for supremacy.

Logan had the advantage of experience, but Laura had the advantage of genetics, specifically, Logan’s genetics with all the benefits and none of the weaknesses.

After a couple of seconds of remaining locked, Logan and Laura snorted simultaneously, backing away from each other.

Sprite would have thought they reached some sort of feral agreement had she not noticed the subtle telepathic link established by Charles.

Apparently, the Old Man didn’t want the father-daughter duo to clash.

“¿Me protegiste?” Sprite inquired, surprised that Laura would do such a thing when they don’t even get along that well.

Little did Sprite know that she was Laura’s first true friend, and in some ways, even more of a mother figure to the girl who had been raised in a laboratory…

Laura smirked and pumped a fist in the air. “¡Poder femenino!”

“Ha Ha Ha,” Sprite laughed a bit before also pumping a fist in the air “¡Poder femenino!”

Charles rolled his wheelchair next to the girls and also pumped a fist in the air “¡Chica y poder de silla de ruedas!”

“Ha Ha Ha Ha,” Sprite and Laura subtly chuckled, trying not to let laughter burn through their stomachs.

‘Maybe the old man isn’t so bad after all,’ Sprite considered, a bit embarrassed that she tried to kill Charles without ever really giving the old man a chance.

Still, that was just another mistake on a long list of mistakes.

Sprite was sure she would forget about it by tomorrow if she survived to see tomorrow seeing how this day was going.

When Laura saw that conversion was progressing no longer, she decided to take a more progressive report.

As fun as spending time with Sprite was, Laura knew how to keep her priorities in check, and unlike Sprite, her number one priority was not finding Tyrone.

It was finding her friends on their way to Eden.

Laura removed the map from her pocket, slowly unfolded the paper, and laid the entire thing on the table, clearly gesturing to the marked areas on the map.

“You want us to take you there?” Charles questioned, and Laura nodded solemnly.

Logan seemed unconvinced, but Laura had learned something important from Sprite.

Something integral to the world and how it worked.

So, when Laura noticed Logan’s rejection was inevitable, she did the only thing she could – the only thing that could change an adult’s mind.

A band of one thousand dollars was smashed on the table.

Caliban’s and Logan’s eyes widened, finally able to see an end to their uncomfortable, prolonged stay in this shitty house.

Yet, a thousand dollars was not nearly enough to change Logan’s mind, and he almost had enough for the boat that would get them out of the house.

Laura dropped another band of a thousand dollars.

Then a third.

And a fourth.

Until the total amount of money on the table was fifteen thousand dollars.

Laura was going to continue dropping money since it meant nothing to her, but Sprite’s scathing gaze promised Laura pain if she offered Logan any more money.

“You may be my daughter after all,” Logan mused, being in a much better mood. “All this money must be back father-support.”