Sound of Silence

PHASE 1

Sound of Silence
Dates run:	June 22 - August 5, 2007
Run By:	Cassidy
Read the logs:	Sound of Silence

And in a bright flash, everything changed. Outlines of buildings and landscape could be seen brightly, silhouetted in stark contrast as the island of Attilan was engulfed in a globe of energy. It passed as quickly as it had came, but as the brightness subsided - the island was simply gone.

After the engagement party of Blackagar Boltagon and Medusa Amaquelin, a freak accident causes the entire island of Attilan to vanish from space - and time.

Cast

Crystal Amaquelin, Medusa Amaquelin, Forge, Illyana Rasputin

Fabian Cortez - Phase 1, Maximus Boltagon, Blackagar Boltagon

Timing

June 22 - August 5, 2007

Plot Summary

Foreboding and Betrayal

The first inklings of what would happen to Attilan went unnoticed, a brief precognitive flash from Marie-Ange Colbert when returning a shirt to Forge, concerning rushing water. The vision was ignored in the bustling preparations for a field trip to Attilan to celebrate the engagement of Blackagar and Medusa.

In Attilan, Crystal's cousin Maximus revealed that his mutant power had finally emerged, an allegedly-weak telepathic manifestation. Overjoyed, Crystal offered to help him test his power, and dropped her mental shields - a decision that would have disastrous consequences.

During the days of the engagement celebration, various staff and students of Xavier's enjoyed the festivities, including a slumber party in the palace. However, the next morning, when Yvette Petrovic came to Crystal to say goodbye, she found the royal to be uncharacteristically rude and dismissive. Later, upon receiving an email from Yvette, Medusa went to check on her sister to find her absent. Concerned, Blackagar and Medusa began a search.

It would be Blackagar who discovered Crystal under the telepathic thrall of Maximus, with her powers boosted by Fabian Cortez. Too late, Blackagar realized Maximus' plan was to kill the rest of the royal family, using Crystal as a tool and leaving himself as the heir. Faced with no other choice, Blackagar used the destructive power of his voice to subdue Crystal, who instinctively redirected part of the blast away from her - directly at the plane that held the royal family.

At the same time, a young child on Attilan witnessed the plane crash, and in that moment of fear his nascent mutant power emerged, vanishing the island completely.

On departing airplanes and on televisions back at home, Crystal and Medusa's friends saw the explosion, and then the island's disappearance. Once the travelers regrouped back at home, however, they discovered their numbers were one less than expected.

Isolation

In the days following the island's vanishing, the nation of Attilan was in chaos. Reeling from the sudden death of their reigning King and Queen, as well as many other royals and government personnel, the discovery that they were now cut off from the outside world forced Attilan into a temporary state of martial law, particularly when dealing with foreign tourists and nationals now stranded on the island.

Forge happened to be one of those foreign nationals, having been booked on a later flight than his friends. Attempting to arrange a meeting with Crystal and Medusa, Forge found himself rebuffed by an authoritative bureacracy. After a week, the Attilan government began proceedings to house the refugees with local families, and Forge found himself 'adopted' by the Castellanos, a family of fishermen living on the Attilan coast.

Months passed, with those stranded on Attilan attempting to reach anyone off the island, but to no avail. While Forge tried desperately to not lose hope, others found their own ways to stay hopeful - with Medusa and Blackagar having a public wedding to raise the nation's spirits and taking the throne as King and Queen.

Crystal, for her part, pushed to establish a school on Attilan for mutants, using her experiences at Xavier's to help teach young mutants to control their powers. It would prove fortuitous when Forge applied for a position at the school, resulting in Crystal discovering another one of her peers on Attilan with her. After assuring herself that Forge was the genuine article, Crystal was surprised to find him asking for a job.

As further time passed on Attilan, Forge and Crystal found a strange sort of camaraderie - Crystal assisted Forge with gaining Attilan citizenship, and Forge returned the favor by creating a series of solar and tidal generators to remove Attilan's dependence on fossil fuels that it could no longer renew.

Unexpected Visitation

Meanwhile, back in New York, barely three weeks had passed, and slowly people were coming to terms with the idea that their friends and everyone on Attilan had perished. Forge's father visited the school to take care of paperwork for his son's effects, and asked Angelo Espinosa to watch over Forge's things and keep up hope. However, during a training exercise at the brownstone, Illyana Rasputin vanished into one of her portals - and emerged on the lost island of Attilan.

Illyana's brief presence on Attilan proved a number of things - that not only were the residents of the island not dead, but that time was passing for them at a rapidly accelerated pace. Crystal and Medusa only had a short time to deal with Illyana's appearance before the young Russian vanished back to New York only moments after she had left.

Now, however, those who had mourned their friends' loss now had their hopes validated, and those lost on Attilan could begin dreaming of a return.

Endgame and Return

Two years after the death of her parents, however, Crystal had made a decision to secretly track down her cousin Maximus and bring him to justice for his crimes. Forge caught her sneaking out, and agreed to cover for her absence for a month. However, when Crystal's search took longer, he found his excuses breaking down under the King's scrutiny. Meanwhile, Crystal was mingling with various sections of the Attilani population that she had been acclimating herself to over the last two years. Finding bits and pieces of information, she finally located her cousin in an abandoned hospital - watching over the very boy whose power had isolated the island. When Maximus attempted to attack Crystal telepathically again, he found a much stronger woman in the place of the trusting girl of two years prior.

Instead of turning Maximus over to the authorities, Crystal decided to question him herself, using first a telepath and then leading towards more physical means until an irregular team of Royal Guards and Attilani fishermen arrived - a rescue squad led by Forge himself under the orders of King Blackagar. Surprised to find Crystal not in need of rescue, the Royal Guard took Maximus into custody, and the Princess returned home.

After Maximus was safely in custody, a few weeks passed until the young teleporter who had caused the island to vanish awoke from his coma. The event shocked his powers into being once more, causing a reversal of the original effect and returning Attilan to its prior location.

However, while only six weeks had passed for the rest of the world, two and a half years had passed on Attilan. Forge returned home to find some difficulties adjusting to the fact that he was now older than many of his friends, and feeling disoriented at the lack of change he found. Weeks later, Crystal would also choose to return to the school, this time as a teacher, continuing the work she had begun in Attilan.

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Plotrunner: Cassidy