215 [Single? No More!] - Where Is Starlance?

"A good day it is, indeed.", Storm murmured when she came out of the classroom. She walked across the corridor with the students, who greeted her with cheerful greetings.

While walking, she found Hank.

"Hello, Miss Monroe!"

"Oh, hello, Hank!"

They walked along briefly until Hank asked, "Classes okay?"

"Yeah, They went off good.", Storm replied while pondering about something.

"They're good children, and they'll try their best to make you feel better if something, in particular, occurs to you due to your trauma.", Hank said while smiling.

"Really?" Storm asked, "You sure they aren't just pretending?"

"They had doubts about joining the school because of their similar past."

"They had doubts?" Storm was genuinely surprised.

"Indeed!" Hank nodded and replied, "Most people in this school have some kind of past or trauma they want to get rid of and move on."

"Is... Is that true?" Storm asked, "Even Professor X?"

Hank kept looking ahead and stayed silent for a few seconds until he answered, "Everybody has their own demons."

He glanced at his watch before looking up. He walked away into a hallway not before saying, "Take care, Miss Monroe!"

"Y-You too!" Storm replied and watched him enter a classroom with a smile. She sighed and continued walking toward the teacher's lounge.

When Storm entered the teachers' lounge, Mystique greeted her, "Hello, Monroe!"

"Hey, Raven!" She nodded her head in the way of greeting before placing her bag and papers on the table. Then, she went to prepare coffee for herself.

Mystique and Storm's relationship grew somewhat warmer with every passing day. They would sometimes talk about their pasts, and each would comfort the other, depending on the circumstances.

"My class was good today!" Storm said happily while carrying her coffee cup back to the table.

"Really? That's good to hear.", Mystique replied and flipped the newspaper page she was reading.

Storm's eyes fell on the bottom of the newspaper's front page, reading 'Apocalypse's Rise and Fall - Starlance ends the evil Pharaoh with the help of X-Men.'

Her face twisted when she thought about Apocalypse's face, and she wanted to tear the paper but decided to leave it at the end. However, her mood instantly changed when she read the title at the top of the page.

WHERE IS STARLANCE? - Starlance hasn't appeared since the War between him and Apocalypse ended! People have been left wondering if the battle took a toll on him!

Seeing the question on the topmost position of the New York Times, she looked at the rest of the page and was stunned to see it with articles revolving around Starlance and the X-Men. She didn't have the habit nor an interest in reading newspapers before.

She instantly became engrossed in reading the article written right below the one on the top. Then, the next one, and the one after that. She was so engrossed in reading those articles that she couldn't help but click her tongue after Mystique closed the paper and placed it on the table.

Seeing her like that, Mystique was confused and asked, "What happened? Did anything you see in the newspaper, or otherwise, disappoint you?"

"No, no, it's just that..." Storm said, pointed at the top article, and continued, "I was reading the article about Starlance. It says that he hasn't appeared since the fight."

"Oh!" Mystique nodded and got up as she replied, "It doesn't mean anything. They're trying to stir up something, which is their job."

She patted Storm on the shoulder and walked away, thinking, 'I hope Val appears and shuts this shit off! It's annoying!'

Storm looked at Mystique walking away and turned back to the newspaper. She narrowed her eyes and murmured, "Why? Why would he not appear? Why would the man who defeated the strongest mutant suddenly disappear? Where is he? Where could he be?"

She sighed and murmured, "Where is Starlance?"