Disclaimer: All characters belong to Marvel Comics, not me. They are being used for entertainment only. No money is being made from their use. The story is mine.

    There was a time when I was child. Back then everything was simple, perfect. The way a child's life should be, all beautiful and glowing, filled with promise and the dreams of tomorrow.

    We do not stay children forever and I grew up.

    There were splinters in the roads that I took, but I walked them anyway. And there were mountains situated in the path to destiny that I walked, but I just climbed over them. I was going somewhere then. I knew my destination and nothing could, nothing would stop me.

    Nevertheless, at the top of every mountain, and at the end of every road, I paused and looked forward, then looked back, trying to decide if I had gone the wrong way or made the wrong choices. It was a question I could never figure out so I paused at each journey's end and waited for a little while, for a sign.

    The signs came in the most unusual ways. Being blinded was the first sign in my life that spoke of something else for me to do, somewhere else to go. However it also crushed me and sent me reeling into one of the dark valleys I had promised myself I would never enter. So much for being the butterfly with metal wings.

    I wandered in darkness through my valley, stretching my power out, searching, and always wanting more, more, more, until it hurt in my head, until it hurt in my stomach. Something kept tugging on my hand, leading me, pulling me into the next twist of the road, the next dip in the mountain. And I, being blind and unable to lead myself, followed.

    My eyes were not real as I stepped away from Doug Ramsey. He had held me so tight, cared for me so much, but I was lost and trapped inside. I did not need someone holding me back.

    My eyes were not real.

    There was a time when I saw for Mojo and Spiral. There was a time when I did not care about the devil seeing what I saw as long as I could see.

    Once again, a splintery road stood before me, littered with canyons and mountains. I had to make my choice.

    Brian called for me on one side saying, "Come help me, Betsy. I need your help."

    On the other side, the rocky side, the voices of my teammates and my friends in the X-Men beckoned, called, "Psylocke, we need your help, the world needs your help."

    I was a butterfly still, but my wings were of metal so I flew away with my friends.

    My life becomes a blur after that. This fight there, that fight here. The Adversary. Australia. Marauders. Inferno. Siege Perilous.

    Siege Perilous. The mighty Siege Perilous reshaped my dreams, my life, and made the butterfly a bird of prey.

    I awoke with real eyes and dark purple hair. My mind had little memory and my power a decrease but I lived with it. I continued down the road, taking whatever life would give me, accepting the signs and the difficulties.

    She awoke with pale purple hair. Her eyes were not real. Yet, she knew everything I was unsure of, everything that kept my wings tethered in the dark.

    "You are not Elizabeth Braddock," she told me, standing there in my body, her appearance enough to sway the thoughts of my friends.

    And I knew that I was not.

    There was a time when I was lost in my own mind, unsure of whether or not I would ever be whole.

    In the end, it was she who gave it all back. For it was she who died.

    I felt her die. I felt a pale purple butterfly of emotions and thoughts assault my mind and then fade off into the mist. Moreover, it was a butterfly without metal wings.

    Once, a long time ago, I had been in love but he had died in my arms. My heart had encased itself in stone, rocky and lost. Not wanting anyone near it, daring anyone to try.

    Metal wings can break stone.

    Warren became my angel, my chance to live again. The stone began to crumble, to fall away, and I was close, I was so close to becoming whole, to knowing everything.

    The road took another turn.

    When I woke up, I was different, I was changed, and I could not pretend to be as I had. Such is the curse and the gift of the Crimson Dawn.

    There was a time when I was lulled into the shadow realm, when I fought my only love because of the power wrapped around me. I was no longer a butterfly then, I was a tiger.

    And although our love seemed to be dying, fading into the night like the pale purple butterfly I had once been, Warren still saved me. Then I knew, I knew with all my heart that, one day, we were going to make it. We had to.

    Now I awake every morning to an empty mind. My powers are gone, washed away my self-sacrifice. I no longer "hear" thoughts, no longer "see" fears. Once again, I have been blinded. But this is not as dark a canyon and I have a guiding light.

    I am Elizabeth Braddock but there was a time when I was simply Psylocke with the pale purple hair.