7 Limits

As Ms. Rogue smiled at me from inside a trunk, I took a deep calming breath.

Then slammed the trunk closed.

This is Logans' problem.

-Dusk same day-

As we took a table at Genoa Bar, Rogue busied herself playing slots on a pair of the old machines.

The last few days, Logan mainly focused on the past, asking in detail about missions, people, and places. Today, however, he demanded an answer on the creature we were hunting.

So finding an old bar with too many pictures on the walls and slight concern for the kid gambling, we ended up at the oldest bar in Nevada. It was mostly empty but for the few more aged men and women eating and playing pool. The fading wood walls reminded me of the leaky cauldron.

Taking a moment to order some food, I got ready for a complicated conversation.

"I need you to answer me a question before I go into detail."

Logan orders something for the girl and beers as he nodes, "Shoot."

As I asked my question, a cry draws my sights to the little miss.

"What are the limits of belief?"

Not sure if she was winning or losing, but her disguise was holding up adequately.

"How would I know?" Was Logan's lukewarm response.

"I am not religious."

I flagged a waiter and signaled for two more beers, pulling my eyes away from the platinum blonde child. I was going to need them.

"I am, but I doubt it is any religion you have heard of, but I asked about belief, not faith."

His confusion was evident in his next question. "There's a difference?"

A nightmare of memories threatens to pull me under.

"Oh yes."

I took a deep breath, "Belief is the intellectual endorsement of facts."

Our drinks, an ice-cold local brew, hit the table. The next few minutes, we drank in silence as I needed to make sure Logan understood the gravity of the problem.

"On the other hand, faith has reached a point in the subject's mind that facts are no longer relevant unless they support their views."

I could see Logan disagreed as he questioned me," I thought you said you were religious?"

The humor in his voice was discourteous and could lead to our deaths. Deciding to address this now before it became a problem, I finished my drinks.

"I am, but it does not take a genius to look at religion as a whole and see the suffering. "

At some point, the girl's food had become Logans, so I requested more for the table.

"Suffering?" Was his food stuffed inquiry.

"From a case of humanity or too many good-intentioned people, meeting too many ill-intended monsters in human skin."

His laugh was sharp. "That sounds about right."

At this point, Ms. Rogue joined us. A bit of spellwork had me looking into her painfully blue eyes, just the right shade to look unnatural. Combine with a minor enchanted necklace that let her summon flames, all I could do was hope. The food came as the girl just would not shut up; it was almost like she dreaded silence.

As she ate, Logan continued," Mind, don't think that gives you the right to cast judgment on others, bud."

I considered his words, "My faith is vital, so vital that the idea that faith gives some moral authority to cause pain is repugnant."

Seeing as I had their attention, I continued," I can see my faith, examine it, separate the good and the evil and face it." Magic was not some pure element.

Magic had brought many evils to bear in its name.

"I can bear my soul to the hate, evil, pain, and suffering caused by the actions of those who walk with me." I lamented the experience, but the more illusions in your heart and mind, the weaker the magic.

"I can look at each of my victims in the heart and embrace them, to feel what they felt, hurt the way they were hurt, suffer as they suffered, learn what they know and then move on to the next victim and start again."

Logan's expression became hidden, looking through me to something beyond the horizon.

"Then I can look to the good, the hungry bellies filled, the children cared for, the education and moral values taught." I let my vision drift to a magic castle in the middle of dark woods that stood the test of time.

"Then not give in to the temptation to weigh and measure the good against the evil, but accept both as distinguished and indispensable." Two lifetimes of bad choices weighed on my soul, but in the end, " My faith is strong."

We finished our meal, each in our own imaginations.

The girl made her way to the pool table as I got back on course.

"However, unlike faith, belief has hard lines."

Logan reentered the conversation with his total concentration.

"If I went up to that group of older gentlemen at the bar and described to them your heroics as a veteran, they would most likely believe me."

Logan looked over his shoulder to the five older gentlemen exchanging stories over drinks, all wearing military apparel.

" Unless I told them how old you are."

A drink and a shake of his head implied his answer.

"Now tell me what would happen if I told them you were hurting the girl." Logan stopped moving at that.

"That is the limit of belief; you don't need knowledge, just understanding."

Logan seemed to reflect on my words as he pointed to the pool table. We stood as we made our way to the table and joined the fake Vela in a game.

As I racked up, I continued.

"The details are not important; you would be amazed what people will intellectual endorsement."

Then, taking my pool cue, I line my shot with a bit of magic.

"Now tell me what would happen if a mutant was born with the power to tap into belief."

The break was precise, and each ball flew into a pocket.

The game was over.

"The capability to channel belief into power."

Looking over to Logan, his confusion had turned to fear.

I ignored the child's accusation of cheating as I spoke to Logan.

A pointed look at Ms. Rogue had her simmer down.

"Thankfully, he did not know he possessed such abilities until his adulthood; he would have never even known except for an experimental drug."

As Logan reracked, I wave for another round of drinks.

"Not that it mattered; all that mattered was his belief in the science of a medicine that would make him powerful and good."

As Ms. Rogue tried to imitate my last shot, I couldn't help the feeling of seeing someone too powerful for their own good again.

"The Sentry was the first hero."

Her shot was excellent.

"He also became a creature that could have ended everything."

I almost laughed watching Ms. Rogue swell up with pride with each successful shot.

"Because his powers were a curse, no matter how much virtue there were always those in disbelief."

Taking the drinks, my eyes lingered on Ms. Rogue, hoping I was wrong.

"That anyone could be that good, that pure of heart."

Kindness, love, and hope are ideals that counter our weak natures but are manifested with belief.

"In the end, He empowered their belief, and they produced the Void."

We are all evil, born from madness, and prefer to do good.

"The masses got what they wanted, a monster, and we sealed him away."

We had no alternative because our faith in others limits our belief.

"He became both warden and prisoner, and we left him with a powerful artifact to keep safe as it protected him from his darker half."

Something I was against but respected as the last wish of Dumbledore. In the end, the man was too cruel.

"Then, to stop his powers, we erased him from history. "

Logan stopped me here. I gave him time to process my words.

After he beat the child in a few games, we made our way back to the car. A hollowed-out neon sign that read hotel with half of the light missing was our destination. We drove in silence other than Rogue snoring in the back; I gave him the time he needed. Once we pulled in, I carried the sleeping girl to her smutty 80's room next to ours. Placing her in bed, a ripple of gloom submerged me.

I had always wanted children, but half-giants were unable to breed with humans. Over the years, in the hopes of preventing another Voldemort, I took in many children. If only things were different.

Logan's goofy smile was just uncalled for, but a few alarm charms and a lullaby spell ended my night.

The following daybreak, after my morning absolutions, I took the time to groom my hair. Seeing as it had crossed the line into wool again.

Breakfast was a cup of revolting coffee, but watching Ms. Rogue try to turn pancakes into maple syrup soup was amusing.

As we turned on to Route 375, Logan asked, "So how exactly did we remove his guy from history?" Meticulously emptying my intentions as not to supply strength to the Void, I replied,

"By removing him from every mind, destroying every picture and idol, hunting down every hope until we left nothing to believe in."

The radio cut on as Ms. Rogue put on a dreadful song. Thankfully Logan fought her off and put on something with a beat.

"What does any of this have to do with me?"

From his grimace, I could tell this was a mystery that haunted him.

"Your blood is one of the keys to opening his cell."

The stuff was almost as good as phoenix tears and a lot rarer.

"In fact, your the only one that can survive releasing him without drowning in their own lungs."