Felipe Andres Coronel would be proud of that remark.
Although I suspect he mightn't be too fond of the headmistress.
l'Académie: The Huntington Academy
It'd been over a year since the Prince of Power had stepped down as President of Venezuela. Relinquishing political control of the country had come easily to him. Doing so had given him more time to focus on the one thing that drove him - a ruthless ambition for outright mastery of his physical powers and skill. An uncompromising commitment to his self-realization; becoming the world's greatest warrior. It was, in Rafael's mind, his birthright. But at the root of his myopic and almost psychopathic determination to fulfill this destiny, was something - someone who was far more important than his goals. Someone who was perhaps the true reason he had abandoned Venezuelan presidency for. And someone who, through hours of intimate conversation, had seen his ambitions and goals broaden.
And as sunlight shone through the large windows lining the hallway, Rafael strode through in deep thought. Arms held at his sides, his Adonic features somewhat earnest, he wondered, battling his thoughts over the echoes of his own footsteps. There were decisions to be made, decisions he'd need a second opinion for. And as he made his way through the Delacour Mansion, who better for him to consult than his fiancé? Valerie was his greatest friend, his confidant, and his deepest love. And like him, she believed in nurturing the future of mutant-kind, in ensuring that their kind not be wiped out by the prejudiced, the bigoted and the fearful. Glancing all about him, at the storied portraits of his fiancé's ancestors and the founders of the Delacour Mansion, the Prince of Power wondered. Had Valerie's ancestors been alive, what opinion would they have held of the plight of mutant-kind?
Casting his gaze elsewhere, Rafael decided it didn't matter. It was not up to them anymore. It was no longer their time. And it was time for he and Valerie to decide what was right for mutant-kind. And for her to help him make a decision on two other thoughts. Finally, at the sight of a door, Rafael slowed his steps and with a knock, entered the bedroom. Closing the door behind him, his sharp amber eyes cast their gaze all about, searching for Valerie. A chandelier glistened from the ceiling, chairs and sofas covered in red velvet stood here and there, the air was perfumed, and the floor was carpeted. Glancing at the unmade bed with a suave introvert's smirk, Rafael stepped forward, making his way towards the balcony where Valerie stood overlooking the mansion's grounds. And at the sight of her, his face softened and gave way to a love-struck smile.
Opening the balcony doors and stepping out before closing them behind him, the Prince of Power approached her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist, his lips grazing the nape of her neck with a lover's kiss. "Meu amor", he said in a cool and low voice that could be made of silk. "I have been meaning to talk with you of some things", he paused, taking her hand and leading her to a pallet balcony couch. "Or are you too busy for me?", he teased, cocking his left brow and subtly smirking in the wake of his Portuguese accented words.
Life had drone along quietly, yet steadily, since the phenomenon that had been Valerie’s twenty-eight birthday party in India. Celebrities, politicians, and meta-humans alike had gathered to celebrate the world-renowned It Girl. Liquor poured as men and women from worlds apart absolved their differences to enjoy an uninhibited evening that lingered well into the early hours of the following morning. The man she loved on her arm, her closest family and friends surrounding her, and the entire event orbiting the celebration of the perfect existence that was the Modern-Day Aphrodite, Valerie couldn’t help but feel as though she had been whisked back into hazy glory of her teenage splendor.
The White Queen’s statuesque figure leaned lazily against a balcony rail overlooking an ocean of French countryside. Brazen sunlight set the expanse of grass in front of her alight with amber ecstasy. It was her favorite time of the day to enjoy this view. The sun would soon disappear behind the horizon, but, if only for a few short minutes, it would temporarily bathe the entire world beneath it in its fiery affections.
The sea of golden color in front of her reflected in Valerie’s pale blue eyes. In this case, Valerie’s eyes truly were windows to the soul, for at that moment her mind and soul burned with the same fervent affections as the sun.
It had become very clear, yet still not quite tangible, what she was to do with the rest of her life. She had torn through parties, dominated business, and become an icon synonymous with beauty and power. These things no longer seemed to entertain her. She had nothing left to prove to the world, or even to her own raging sense of vanity. Valerie now found her only existing engagement in life to be that which could never hold her restless soul: Love.
It had taken time for her to understand the love Rafael had brought into her life. A love that never diminished her, never quelled her fierce independence, and never asked her to relinquish the super nova she was. Rafael simple saw her as she was, and loved her irrevocably for it.
As powerful as she was beautiful, Valerie’s telepathic mind recognized Rafael’s presence long before he had even reached the grounds of the Delacour Estate. However, as a woman in love, she allowed the sense to dissipate for her lover to surprise her. And after an agonizing wait, she felt the warm embrace of her hands around her lithe waist.
Purring in his grip, Valerie did not turn to greet him. She merely closed her eyes and tilted her head, offering up more of her neck for his velvety lips to graze on. It never ceased to amaze her how divine he was of both body and soul. A man unmatched on this earth.
“I’m too busy for everyone, darling,” she teased through a subtle curve of her pout lips. He guided her adoringly to a couch on the balcony, where she spread out her tantalizing frame while resting her light golden head on his lap.
She wore nothing but a pale pink Dior slip dress, which relaxed high upon her legs and exposed their glory to the soft sunset. She shut her eyelids and felt the sun’s warmth against them as the rich timber of Rafael’s accent sensually sedated her.
“But for you, I will always make an exception. What’s on your mind, mi sol?” she questioned, reaching blindly with her hands to entangle them with his own.
Her head on his lap, Rafael ran his fingers through her golden locks before her hands found his and their fingers were intertwined. "A lot", he began, his voice low and cool, his eyes meeting Valerie's. "The wedding is one of the things I keep thinking about", he smiled fondly, stroking the engagement ring clinging to the White Queen's finger, "But also this mansion and what it once was", the Natural Born Phenom paused, admiring the setting sun's warm glow on his fiancé's icy blue gaze. "We have both been busy", Rafael conceded, one hand sliding from hers to play with her hair, his touch never short on a lover's intimacy. "But this has been on my mind for a long time. I want you and I to reopen this academy", he revealed without hesitation.
"Not now or even any time soon. But eventually", he clarified. "The mutant world needs us to". Rafael and Valerie had always been driven by personal ambition. Valerie's focused more on asserting her social dominance in the world, and Rafael's more on perfecting his talents as a warrior. But at the core of their beings, they were mutant idealists who shunned conformity by having pride in their X-Genes. They embraced their own uniqueness and individuality. It was the root of the Natural Born Phenom's unshakable self-assurance and steely confidence. He followed his own code, one which was not only not compatible with those of others, but saw him lead an extended exercise in opposing the anti-mutant mentality of the world. And it was that personal code that was responsible for his long stint with the Shogunate of Venezuela.
"We could walk into a country and you could take control of the government with the power of your mind alone, while I could end their military before anyone could form a thought", he asserted, his confidence impenetrable, and his words delivered with an icy matter-of-fact certainty. "But that is just us. You and me", Rafael lamented, his fingers still playing with and caressing her hair. "It is not these young mutant children who do not have what we have and cannot yet do what we do. And without us, they may never get the chance to do what they were born to - inherit this world", he asserted with an ironclad determination to destroy anything and everything that harmed the progress, self-determination and future prosperity of his fellow mutants.
"I only want you to think about it for now. We still have many things to do before that". Smiling, he lowered his head till their lips met and grazed one another in an intimate kiss by the sunset. "Like getting married to each other", he reminded, breaking away from lips he could linger on for all eternity.
Valerie’s figure began to stir gently from underneath the embrace of ivory Egyptian cotton sheets. The night was still and silent, a gentle breeze occasionally finding its way from the starry sky and through the open balcony leading into the chateau’s master suite. There was nothing to perturb the sleeping Aphrodite’s peace, and yet she couldn't fight the instinct that told her eyelids to open softly.
Her gaze was first greeted by the olive skin of Rafael’s powerful back and shoulders. She watched his Herculean frame rise and fall in time, the vision of his serenity bringing the ghost of a smile to her lips. Rafael was a man of such intense awareness, a quality that had drawn the White Queen to her fiancé, that she cherished witnessing his rare moments of vulnerability. As she inhaled the all too familiar natural fragrance of his skin, she thought to herself that there was no force on Earth or beyond that she would not give herself to protect him from. She let the sentiment wash over her with ardor as she traced her fingers delicately across his skin, knowing without hesitation he shared the same feelings for her.
Rolling her lithe frame over, the embrace of sleep continued to evade the Huntington Heiress. Rather than trying to conquer her restless mind, Valerie arose from her lover’s nest to stand in her full statuesque glory. Every line of her amorous silhouette became cherished by the moon’s silver light, as if the stars and heavens themselves were highlighting their divine craftsmanship in the vision that was Valerie. She drifted silently into the bedroom’s palatial closet to retrieved a supple lace robe, resembling that of a vintage piece of lingerie, and tied it around her waist.
The mutant Madonna had known from the moment she was brought back into consciousness what had caused sleep to escape her. It had been the essence of her every thought, waking and subconscious, for the past ten months of her life. The emotions had consumed her with a fervor Valerie had not known herself to be capable of feeling which had burned and sweltered away any sense of identity she once possessed.
Pacing to stand at the foot her bed, she rested a delicate hand on the ivory wooden panel of a baby’s crib. Tousles of blonde hair fell across her face as she tilted her head to look down into the crib, where the blanket-wrapped shape of an infant rested. The baby made no movements, no sign to indicate that he was not wrapped in utter bliss amid his sleep.
“Vicente,” Valerie breathed nearly inaudibly as she graced her eyes upon her and Rafael’s newborn son.
Valerie had been, from birth, consumed with an insatiable vanity. It was this love for herself that had allowed her to conquer in every facet of life, knowing with an innate awareness that there was no being among her that could compare to the glory she possessed. Now as the White Queen looked down at her firstborn child, mesmerizing his face again and again as each moment passed, there was not any question in her soul that the baby boy before her was the greatest celestial creation to have ever lived.
Reaching forward she brushed her fingertips with a surgeon’s refrain against Vicente Romeiro’s cheek. No matter how many times she embraced the silk of his skin, she could not believe any living thing could possibly be so free of imperfections. The feeling rose up from her stomach and into her chest, clutching her heart and filling her with an affection she often felt unsure her physical body could contain.
Only until becoming a mother did Valerie understand how love could be felt with such duality of warmth and chilling fear. Watching her son sleep, she thought of his future and of the endless evils lurking in the world they lived in. The idea that any corruption could bring harm to the baby boy that had become the singular point from which her universe was now centered around was a concept as intangible and unsettling as infinity itself. From the moment her son had left her womb and entered this world Valerie had felt possessed by a will beyond her own. This foreign spirit whispered to her soul endlessly, telling her without words but impulses that, should she ever have to, she would watch the entire world burn two times over at her own hands to protect her son. And she would willingly burn with it.
@mercy_ said:
@valerie_huntington: It's so beautiful.
@mercy_ said:
LMAO one of my all-time favorite GIFs
New name
Same sauce
Come all the way through!
Shoot me a PM on my Valerie account.
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