Athena felt the blood drain from her face. The real Athena is still out there? The words echoed in her mind like a haunting refrain. How could that be possible? She was Athena, wasn't she? The memories she had lost, the instincts buried deep in her bones, the nightmares of battles she couldn't remember fighting—what did they mean if she wasn't even real?
Xavier didn't lower his gun. His expression was unreadable, but Athena could feel the tension radiating from him. "Explain," he demanded, his voice ice-cold.
The clone tilted her head, her expression both amused and pitying. "You were created to be the perfect assassin, but something went wrong. You remember, don't you? The whispers in your dreams, the sword that only you can summon, the feeling that no matter what you do, you don't belong here." Her golden eyes gleamed. "That's because you don't."
