aterat | When the wolves wear the wool

Entry tags:

When the wolves wear the wool

Who; Illyana + Mono
What; A friendly display of demonic limbo.
Where; Grey building then perhaps elsewhere
When; Backdated to end of August
Warnings;None so far, will update if any are needed

There was no denying the fact that Illyana rarely thought things through. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Recent history had proven that she was more than capable of methodically planning out every detail that could bring about the end of personal tormenters. Perhaps it was more accurate to say she didn't always think through the consequences of the things she said. Or did. One could assume it was just because she didn't care about said consequences and they wouldn't be entirely wrong. One could also just assume that she said and did things for the amusement in the moment and didn't think beyond that. Those people wouldn't be wrong either.

Either or, it all lead to the same result: moments like these. Moments where she'd said something and now found herself feeling strange about it. Like, perhaps, she was questioning whether or not it was entirely appropriate to suggest she could show someone as young as Mono a hell dimension. He couldn't be much older than she had been when Belasco had taken her away to Limbo. Was it really right to expose him to the place? Then again it had seemed like he had seen more than his share of scary places. Plus Limbo was hers now. It was still a hell dimension filled with imps and other demons but they followed her and some places...some places were not as bad as others. It would never be as amazing as Storm's garden but it was something that had life in it. That was more than she had ever accomplished before.

Perhaps it was best to leave it as his choice. If he wished to see then she could show him. Choice was something she had never been given after all. It only seemed right to give a choice to another. She teleported to the common room of his build, the disc appearing first with the slight scent of brimstone before the rest of her body appeared starting with her black combat boots, moving up to her black and red dress, to the large silver ankh around her neck, and ending with her awkward smiling face. In her hand she had two cinnamon pretzels still in their wraps.

"I stopped for snacks." IT was an apology for being late. At least as much of an apology as she ever gave.

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Mono was waiting in the common room, sitting on a chair and fidgeting with the hat he'd chosen to wear that day. He'd almost put the paper bag on, unsure of what to expect from a place like Limbo. The place sounded, at times, a lot like where he was from. So... It seemed perhaps smart to be prepared.

But Illyana had told him she was in control and that she wouldn't let anything happen there. Since she'd always seemed to tell things to him like it was, to be honest about things that most adults would gloss over or sugar coat, he trusted her word.

Yes, the paper bag was folded up neatly in his trench coat pocket... But he was still trying something new, and so far it hadn't gone wrong yet.

Maybe agreeing to see a place like Limbo was a touch ill-advised, and perhaps he wasn't entirely different from Illyana in that he didn't always think about the consequences of a choice. He was, after all, prone to acting on his first instinct. A hatchet and door came to mind on that subject, but if something worked out in the end, then it couldn't be too bad... right?

Mono jumped up off his seat when the woman teleported into the common room, perking up a little as he noted the snacks. "Hi, Illyana!" He commented, with one of his shy little grins that usually was hidden behind a bag. "I've never had one of those before." The child peered at the cinnamon pretzels curiously. Clearly, if any apology had been necessary, the snacks would more than make up for it.

Though Mono really didn't have a concept of time, given it seemed to be somewhat broken where he was from. He probably hadn't realized she'd been late at all.

"You don't have your bag on." The voice she used was considerably more gentle than the tone she used with anyone else in this place. Or any place at all really. "You should keep it off more often." Though she could understand the desire to hide, in a way she'd used Limbo to do just that when she felt too overwhelmed by the things going on around her. More often than not it involved her trying to avoid her feelings that bubbled to the surface when her brother or some of the others she was closest too saw her in her demonic form. It just seemed easier to hide sometimes.

Though...it was kind of...strangely nice to see the kid trying to put himself out there a bit more. And he had a rather cute smile. Not that she was actually thinking of that (she definitely was). Rather than spending too much time on thoughts like this though she instead thrust the pretzel forward offering one to him.

"Then you have to try one. Sweets are one of the best parts of this dreadful place."

Mono nodded a little, “Yeah, I’m… trying to see what it’s like, I guess.” Her encouragement was nice, and it definitely made him relax a little. “No one’s gotten mad or upset yet, so it’s going okay so far.” And he was very glad that Illyana hadn’t reacted in a way that might suggest he was wrong, it would be kind of awkward and sad if one of his favourite people here decided they didn’t like his face or him not having the bag on.

“Food’s really good here! At least the stuff I’ve had so far is. It’s really fresh and stuff.” Reaching out to take the offered Pretzel, the kid was pretty face to take a bite to see if it was as good as she said it was. Which it certainly was if the way he licked the cinnamon sugar off his lips and fingers was anything to go by, eyes lighting up in delight. “Oh, wow! You were right! This is really good!” Mono’s voice was rather excited, though he clumsily backtracked a moment later. “Not that I thought you might be wrong! I just wasn’t sure if I liked it or not, since I didn’t have one before.”

"It sounds like it's been a productive experiment," she said with a little smile. It was curious to think that this quiet little kid had somehow done something to incite anger at just the sight of his face. What sort of terrible thing had he done? Or what terrible thing had the people of his world decided to blame him for? Considering how often humans blamed mutants for accidents their powers caused she was more inclined to lead towards that last one. He didn't seem to be the supervillain type.

"I'm never wrong." It was a true enough statement for Illyana to say it with confidence. After all she'd been right about everything back home. Just ignore the fact that she'd been to several futures and held the knowledge of how events went there. That's unimportant information right there. The important information was that she was definitely never wrong.

She took a bite of her own pretzel then brushed off some of the cinnamon from the corners of her mouth before she spoke again. "I'm wounded that you wouldn't trust my judgement in good sweets."

“It has been so far!” Sometimes he still felt a little anxious and overwhelmed, and a wrong look might make him put it back on for a time… But Mono liked to think it was going well for him, and it was nice to not need to hide all the time.

Illyana’s hypothesis on why the residents of the pale city were so upset with Mono might not be entirely off the mark… There was a lot that the child didn’t understand himself. Not about his powers, and not about what was going on in his world beyond the fact that bad things were happening and the signal was warping everything and everyone.

The kid tilted his head at her rather confident statement. “Not ever? Even a little?” How did adults get to be so smart? Mono asked as he proceeded to gobble up the pretzel. He couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever get to a point in his life where he knew things well enough to not be wrong. He was quick to respond, though with a little apology for having doubted her. “I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, you clearly know where to find really good sweets if you’re never wrong!”

"Good. And fun I hope?" she gave him a little head tilt accompanied by a smirk. "We all need a little fun. All work and no fun or however that goes." She waved her hand about dismissively and took another few bites of her pretzel. Evidently she'd never been taught to try to savor things she really enjoyed. Though it could be argued that she dove right into things because she never had a way of knowing how long she had t enjoy them before the next disaster struck. That train of thought would be a bit too self-pitying for her liking, even if there was truth to be found.

"Not even a tiny bit," she said smugly. It might be a bit amoral, but if she could convince someone she was never wrong, she was going to do it. Everyone had to find ways to entertain themselves, right? She smiled gently though. "No need to apologize. Now you'll know when I bring something different next time."

“Yeah, a lot of stuff is more fun when it’s easier to see and you don’t gotta try to stop the bag from flying off.” He responded with a grin. The bag made him feel a little more secure, but it certainly had its drawbacks compared to his hats. Mono had to pause, though, tilting his head slightly. “I don’t know how that goes, but all work doesn’t sound great, anyway.”

He wasn’t really much better than Illyana when it came to savouring the pretzel. It was sweet and covered in sugar… Hard for him to not gobble up. Stuff like this was still something of a novelty for him.

Still, Mono looked pretty impressed as she confirmed she’d never been wrong before. “Wow… So you’re really smart then, I’ll definitely remember that next time you bring something!” And honestly? He hoped she would. The snacks were great… And it definitely boosted his confidence on this whole limbo thing. “So is there anything I gotta know before we go?” he asked, picking a large piece of his snack off and popping it in his mouth while he listened.

"You know, I hadn't considered that as a potential problem," she let out a tiny chuckle and shook her head. "Did that happen often?" She gave a thoughtful pause and tapped her chin. "But you could have decorated the bag. That would have been more interesting." There was just a hint of judgement in her voice, though she meant it more as teasing than anything.

"I've been to many futures, you learn a lot traveling." It was said in a casual tone, as if anyone at all could do that. Of course she knew not everyone could, but it made it sound more impressive to downplay it. That way she could act like it took no effort at all, which both had truth and lies in it. A lot of the New Mutants would probably say that's how everything she said went.

"Rule number 1: do not wander off away from me. Rule number 2: do not talk to anyone. Especially the imps. They may try to make friends, they need no friends."

“If I was jumping off stuff or falling it could, which was kinda bad if I was running from someone.” He responded with a little nod. He’d had to get pretty good at not losing it… But he had lots of experience at this point. Of course, Mono wasn’t sure about decorating the bag. Tilting his head, he hummed a little. “I guess I could have if I found a pen or something? But it’s not like I could have made it look nice or anything. Everything is all kinda dull looking and dark, not much in colours like here.” And who would appreciate the attempt? No one aside from Six, perhaps, but he’d lost her…

“Aren’t futures like… Stuff that hasn’t happened yet? How do you go in the future? I guess that you’d learn a lot though if you saw stuff that was going to happen.” He responded, rambling a little with curiosity. Time was a weird thing, especially in his world. There was something very wrong with it, with Mono’s… But the kid really didn’t know or understand. So he was simply impressed with Illyana.

But he listened very closely to the rules, not wanting to accidentally do something he shouldn’t. He certainly wasn’t interested in trying to talk to anyone who might be dangerous or something. Although… He had to blink curiously at the rule about the imps. “Why don’t they need friends? What if they get lonely?”

"I see. And you were running from someone often?" She knew how exhausting that could be from her own experiences. "It sounds like you come from a boring looking place. Though I suppose many would say the same about Limbo." And they would not be entirely wrong if they were to say that to most parts of Limbo.

"My stepping discs." Usually she would leave it at that, let the mystery fuel someone's curiosity and see if they asked more. Or perhaps even just leave them hanging with no explanation. But for him she decided to offer more. "I'm a mutant. We all have different abilities, mine is stepping discs that allow teleportation. They let me travel well..." she smirked and a disc formed around her feet then up around the rest of the body until she was completely gone. Less than a second later she appeared behind him with a slight smell of sulfur in the air. "Anywhere I want to. Including to different times if I put in enough energy. Time travel is more....exhausting though." It had been necessary for her goals at the time though and so she had forced herself to travel through different timelines.

"They are terrible friends. Horribly annoying. You could do much better."

“Yeah, there’s kinda a lot to run from.” It was safe to say most of what Mono did in his world was run, and when it wasn’t running, it was sneaking in hopes of avoiding the need to run… Just to get a little break. It had always been one thing after another there. Here? Sure, bad stuff happened, but people warned you and there was a lot less running, so it really was kind of nice…

“Yeah, I guess it sorta is boring looking. Is Limbo all faded looking too, then?” He tilted his head, still so very curious about the place. Knowing there were other places like his world was both… kind of a weirdly curious comfort, but also kind of frightening. It probably wasn’t a good thing that there were other similar worlds, even if it made him feel a little less like the odd one here where most people seemed to come from very different places.

Now the kid definitely looked impressed to see what Illyana could do with her stepping discs. There was always something slightly exciting about seeing someone do something even somewhat similar to what he could do, after all. Jumpin a little when she appeared behind him and whirling around. “Oh wow! So you can just use your disc things to travel. That’s a lot more convenient than TVs .”

Illyana might find him more than a little curious about befriending the imps, “I dunno, I don’t got a lot of friends to be that picky if they want to be friends?” Seriously, anyone who didn’t want to murder him had the possibility of friendship.

… He’d even played a game of catch with killer mannequins in a hospital, and they definitely were not seeking friendship.

"I am sorry for that. When I was first taken to Limbo there was much for me to run from too. And..." she put a hand to her chest and frowned for just a second. "I doubt we were much different in age." Which was...somewhat upsetting for her to think about. It always stirred something dark inside of her to see a child going through a similar situation to herself. It was confusing how it seemed to just take ahold of her and pull her towards them.

"I imagine so. To travel through a TV you would require the TV to be there. My discs only require me. I can also take people along with me. Though being a taxi gets old real fast." For some reason that was how she got used way too much of the time and sometimes she thought about just leaving them all behind.

"No," she put a hand up. "Imps are...if you give them a little they take it all. They are horridly clingy. Needy."

Mono was quieter at that, solemn almost as he thought back on before. “I’m sorry you had to run a lot too, there…” He responded to the apology, maybe thinking that sounded a bit odd as he continued. “It’s scary at first… Then…” He fussed with the brim of his hat a little, “It’s still scary, but you get used to it. And… kinda angry, like you aren’t gonna let them get you after all the running.” He thinks he’d been getting angry, anyway, since that last chase before he was here. He’d wanted his friend back, and he’d been so frustrated that the man in the hat always seemed to be there… He wondered if it had been like that for Illyana too…

He nodded quickly, “Yeah and I couldn’t control it very good, always fell out of a tv that was nearer to the first one… And sometimes they broke.” He pulled out the universal remote control from his pocket, “But if I didn’t break them, I could always turn them on if I could see them.” He tilted his head curiously, “I dunno if I could take someone with me, I think maybe… Almost got my friend out of one… but I’m not sure.” He supposed always being used to take people places or get them away from places would get tiring after a while.. So he quickly added, “I won’t ask you to take me places unless you wanna go somewhere I can’t get.”

Clingy and needy? Hmmm… “I guess if you say so…” Mono wouldn’t go against her word, but he was a lonely kid and would be tempted if they were nice to him.

"I have had to run for most of my return to life," she tried to just shrug as if it didn't bother her in anyway. The truth was a mix of many things, but in some ways it did bother her that she had spent so much time running. How was it so easy for a child to admit these things and yet she struggled with it so much? She fell silent for a second and then looked over at him. "Eventually, I grew so angry that I chose to stop running. I brought the fight to my tormentors rather than waiting for them to catch me while I ran." Was that a story she really wanted to tell him though? Perhaps. Perhaps not. For now she left it at that.

"You could learn to control it with practice." Anyone could learn to control their powers with practice, at least in her own world. As long as they weren't too hampered by their own mental blocks. "Almost got them out?" She tilted her head with a slight hint of curiosity in her voice.

"And I do say so." Unfortunately they were quite good at being nice and trying to get friends. Or at the very least people they could use to get other things. "Are we ready to go?"

“I don’t think I was always running… But mostly I remember running. Didn’t have to till the orphanage was gone… I think… And sometimes I think I remember sitting for a long time… But it’s all fuzzy.” He fussed with his hat, shrugging a little. “Did… Did getting angry work? Did fighting help?” There was a slightly hopeful note in the kid’s tone, if only because he’d been pretty close to feeling that back in the Pale City. Angry that Six was gone and tired of being chased, he wasn’t sure what would have happened next, fleeing on a train from the man in the hat.

“Yeah… Someone told me I should practice here too, but there aren’t any TVs I don’t think.” He shook his head a little, “I guess I was kinda learning as I went before, not much time to practice stuff when I was being chased around.” Almost… Almost, but not quite. “Almost. She was trapped and banging on the glass… So I reached in to pull her out, but I think it was actually a trap. The man in the hat was behind her and he pulled her back in then started chasing me again.”

Finishing off the last of the crumbs of his snack, he nodded quickly. “Yeah, I’m all ready if you are!”

"Yes." There was a coldness to her voice that had been absent in her prior conversation. "Others have a different opinion, but it worked. My tormentors are gone and I am finally free." Or as free as she could be given the new circumstances she'd found herself in back home. Being locked in mutant jail wasn't exactly free, but at least her soul wasn't at risk anymore. It brought an entirely new set of problems that she was mostly attempting to just ignore.

"Are you certain it can only be used on TVs?" That in itself seemed quite strange. She tilted her head at his explanation and gave a frown. "Unfortunate. One must always be cautious to not let emotions interfere too much in a situation. Least you fall into traps." Though it sounded like that was not something she had to tell him. There was sympathy in her voice though, more so than she might have offered to anyone else.

"Then stay close." The portal started around their feet and moved up slowly around them, wrapping them up in a shimmering white and blue light. There was no feeling the accompanied their teleportation but the smell of sulfur hung heavy around them once they came out on the other side. Limbo itself was what one would expect from a pocket hell dimension. A vast desert filled with large red mounts, fire pits that spewed brimstone and smoke, and a countless ruins of buildings that might have once held occupants. In the distance a large castle with a jagged spire could be seen. Green creatures with bat-like wing and tentacles for faces flew above them in a circle while other creatures retreated to the shadows. A small group of imps were making their way right to their location though, bouncing with a strange excitement. Or terror. Maybe both.

"Welcome to Limbo."

“I’m glad it worked, then. I kinda think that might happen when I go home… I’m not sure but..” He shrugged, Mono wasn’t sure what to expect, but he only knew how he’d felt the last time he was there and it seemed like something big was building. Something that he didn’t understand, but knowing he had to do something. That was for when he went home though, and people had said he wouldn’t remember this place, so he was smart enough to realize that meant he’d probably feel the same as when he left.

Hearing what Illayana had to say did at least help in its own way.

“I dunno, maybe? I never found anything else that it worked with.” Televisions seemed to be the only thing that broadcasted signals in his world, aside from perhaps radios… But they were different, and the viewers had cast those aside pretty quickly when the signal got a hold of the television broadcasts. “I kinda think sometimes if the tell-phones were bigger, it might work with them now that they’ve got a screen. I think that my powers are what make the broadcasts all weird when I try to do them.”

Mono knew Illayana was right, the trick had been an easy one to fall for at the time. He’d been upset, guilty for being too afraid to move and help Six in the first place, and the child was so very afraid of being alone again after finding someone who didn’t seem to hate him. His emotions had absolutely stopped him from seeing things as they were. “Yeah… I fell into it real easy. I dunno how to stop emotions, though. They’re weird and confusing and they just kinda happen, right?”

At her comment to stay close, Mono moved just a little closer while the portal opened and tried to brace himself for whatever they were going to see once they arrived… But nothing really could prepare him for the sight of Limbo. Eyes wide as they swept the area, it definitely was different from what he expected. So strange… A little scary with all the odd creatures around… But also a lot more colourful, in an odd way. More fiery and vibrant than the mostly soft, dull and washed out monochromes of the Pale City. “Wow…” he mumbled, still sticking rather close as he looked at the scenery cautiously. “Never seen anything like this before.” Well… Maybe not ‘anything’… “Except the buildings, they kinda remind me of where I’m from.”

"Some would say hope for the best and expect the worst," she said with a shrug and a dismissive roll of her hand. It seemed like the appropriate thing to say, but she really wasn't particularly good at saying the right thing. She did give a little curious tilt of her head at his description of his powers. "And you have no idea where you got these powers from?" What a curious little puzzle that could be. Though, it would probably be easier for her to help if she were a telepath or something of that nature. How strange it was for her to want to help at all.

"Emotions are...easier avoided than dealt with. Sometimes I come here to stop them." Perhaps it was more than just sometimes, though she would not be quick to admit that. There were few vulnerable things about herself that she would readily admit. Limbo taught her many things, highest among that you never show weakness. Demons could smell weakness.

"Does it? That is my castle," she said simply. "It has changed hands many times, but I have always gotten it back." There was a little smirk that tugged at the corners of her lips at that. In a way she was proud that she had taken this castle as her own, especially after all that had happened to her throughout her initial stay in Limbo. The imps began to dance around Mono and she tried to swat them away. "Shoo you little monsters." They stop their dancing but just stare up at Mono, chattering away asking questions about who the little boy was, where he came from, if he had anything for them.

"Ignore them. Maybe they'll get bored and go away." She could dream. There were screeches from something that was probably much larger than anything else they had seen. Not that Illyana seemed to care. "Do you want to see inside the castle?"

Hope for the best and expect the worst… That sounded about right to the kid. At least it was better than being disappointed when things didn’t go the way you wanted all the time.

Mono shrugged a little at her question, shaking his head. “No, I dunno where I got them…” He squinted a little, trying to even remember if he always had them or if he just had gotten them one day. Some things were so fuzzy… But he was pretty sure it just happened, “I think I kinda just got them one day… Bad stuff happened at the orphanage I was in, and I ran… and I think I kinda fell into the TV and fell out somewhere else.” Then he just kept running, he supposed. Feeling a constant, strange draw to the televisions… Different from the one the viewers felt… And a strange need to get to the signal tower.

“Coming here helps stop the emotions?” That was an odd idea, but sounded like a convenient sort of thing for a place to do… It made him wonder if he’d ever figure how to stop them if he needed to. Probably not the healthiest idea for a kid to have, just… not dealing with emotions… But it was a strange world and sometimes grasping onto something easier was appealing.

Mono looked at the buildings again, eyes drifting to the castle that was Illyana’s… He’d definitely never seen a castle outside of books before. “Yeah, all the buildings are kinda… broken and droopy in the Pale City.” They were almost… leaning towards the signal tower, the one building that stood tall. “You have a whole castle? That’s neat. I only ever seen them in books before.” He added quickly, so she would know that he was impressed by the castle.

It was very hard to not be distracted by the imps, and hard to not answer them when they started to question each other or him… He didn’t have anything, at least not that he could give… “Sorry, I don’t got anything interesting.” He mumbled to the group before Illayana told him to try ignoring them. Right, not supposed to talk to them… So the little creatures would have to do without conversation or gifts if they expected them. “Um… Okay, I’d like to see the castle if you wanna go there?” Obviously never having seen a real castle, he also had never been in one before.

"Interesting," she said with a little quirk of her head. "Where I am from our powers usually manifest around puberty. Some happen before, though that is more rare. Perhaps yours triggered early due to your circumstances. Though, we do not come from the same world so rules are different." Not that rules seemed consistent most of the time in her own world. Things happened and for the most part mutants just attempted to deal with it the best they could. Which was often far from ideal ways.

"Limbo is...complicated. But yes. It helps to stop emotions and confusion that comes from them. It is where I escaped to when my brother would not stop looking for me." She looked down at him and gave a weird lopsided smile. "Limbo is a demon dimension. The longer one spends here the more attune to it's demonic influences they become." Which just meant the more corrupted and demonic they became. It was difficult to have good emotions when one was slowly becoming completely demonic. "Though...I had a teacher once who told me there was balance to be found here. She was able to make parts of this place into a paradise. I have had...limited success." But limited meant she had some! Only recently though and only a tiny area that she was able to keep hidden from the imps and other demons here.

"I suppose your Pale City lives up to it's name then," she said with a smirk. "Wars are often waged here and buildings do not last long. None save the castle. It belongs to the ruler of Limbo. Several others have owned it before me, but I have always managed to take it back."

The shoulders of all the imps slumped in unison and they finally quieted down, though they stayed close to Mono, watching him with big black eyes filled with curiosity and perhaps even a bit of fear. It wasn't often that their master brought others to their home and they couldn't help but wonder what this would mean.

"Try not to be too disappointed." The disc started at their feet again and with the smell of sulfur they teleported to the castle. The room they appeared in was vast with high ceilings with grey stone pillars and ornate bookshelves that seemed to go on forever. It was impossible to tell how many books there were, perhaps thousands or hundreds of thousands even. Somehow it seemed like they just kept going. In the center there was an altar with a large pentagram below it. Ritual daggers adorned the walls, candles floated around everywhere, and in some corners a few books lay out having been left out away from their shelf homes. Runes from various cultures were scratched into the bookshelves and the walls themselves seemed to shimmer from time to time. If he got close enough to some of the pillars he may notice that carved deep into them were tentacles and twisted faces with far too many eyes to be normal. On either side of the altar were large plush couches that were the color of fresh blood. Despite the color they looked surprisingly comfortable for the rest of the room.

"Welcome to my library."

“Yeah?” He tilted his head curiously at that, even if their worlds were very different… “I mostly just keep trying to guess stuff… I keep asking when things sound similar, but it is all so different that I dunno if I’ll ever figure it out.” But it was interesting to think that maybe there were rules at all, like some things were bound to happen according to conditions and such. It made Mono wish there were people in his world he could ask, but unfortunately, there weren’t.

Listening to the explanation about how Limbo worked and how it influenced a person he could sort of understand, or at least a simplified idea of what it did. “I guess people being changed by a world or the things in it makes sense, especially the longer you’re there.” He said thoughtfully, thinking of how the signal had corrupted the pale city and its people over who knew how much time… But the kid was definitely curious about this teacher of Illayana’s. “But you still made some things better? So even if you haven’t done as much as her, you just gotta practice more, right?” At least that’s how it sounded.

He nodded quickly. The pale city definitely was aptly named… “I dunno if that was always the place’s name, but it’s what we all called it. But it is really dull looking. I don’t think it’s even really trying to be a city anymore.” He added with a small shrug of his shoulders, eyes still straying to the imps as they followed quietly. They seemed kind of disappointed, and maybe afraid… Mono was used to seeing fear, and it wasn’t terribly hard to spot. Were they afraid of him?

… Sometimes he was a little afraid of himself and what he could do, so maybe they were right.

But the castle was an interesting subject to focus on, the boy looking at it in the distance. “So you gotta fight to keep it? You must be really strong to always get it back.” He added, sounding more than a little impressed… The boy might be easily impressed though, so it was hard to not shake his head at the idea he might be disappointed. “I’m sure real castles are different from pictures, right? I bet it’s really neat in its own way because it’s a real one.” He babbled a little as the disc started around their feet.

And really, he was right. His eyes darting around the room that they’d appeared in, full of so many books and strange things that he never saw before. “Wow…” He said quietly, still sticking close to the woman. “I think you might have more books than the teacher did at the school…” He commented, head turning this way and that as he tried to look at everything. “But it’s much nicer than that library!” His eyes drifted to the chairs, though, lingering uncertainly for a moment before they returned to the shelves and other things. The chairs were such a bright crimson shade… He wasn’t a fan of the colour red for reasons he wasn’t sure he could explain properly, but it seemed to be very popular with everyone else he met.

"I suppose that is all you can do," she said with a casual shrug. "Guessing took up much of my initial time in this place. Guessing and experimentation." She had found teachers here once upon a time, but good things in Limbo never lasted long. Eventually, like always, she had found herself alone again and had to teach herself the skills she would need to rule.

The chuckle that Illyana let out at his question had a sort of bittersweet quality to it. "Practice makes perfect?" her voice held an odd quality, that still held a hint of bitterness. If only it had been that simple. "Between you and me, I have been trying. Perhaps I could show you." Though she wasn't entirely sure if she actually wanted to show anyone just yet. What if they thought it wasn't that impressive? Compared to what her teacher made it was nothing. Which, in her mind, came from the fact that she was too corrupted to do white magic. That was not something she was ready to admit, though it felt strange to feel so...what was this? Self conscious? Was that what this was? How strange.

"What is it trying to be if not a city?" She tilted her head and gave him a smile and shrug. "There have been several unfortunate attempts at takeovers. Some from it's previous ruler, but those were easy enough to deal with. He is much less impressive than he thinks." That wasn't entirely true, but she hated him enough to take any chance to belittle him. "And some from unintelligent demons who have ambitions higher than their skill. The natives of Limbo are tied to the ruler, but the longer the ruler spends away from Limbo, the less strong that tie becomes. Some gain a bit too much boldness with their new found free will." It was definitely a frustrating aspect to the place.

"The previous ruler of Limbo collected most of these. He was a powerful sorcerer on Earth who gathered many of these during is extremely long life. I suppose his lust for power did provide me with something useful eventually."

“Kinda, yeah… I wish I could go home knowing more stuff, but I don’t know if I will about most things.” He responded with a little shrug, but Illyana seemed to have done all right with guessing and experimenting… So maybe when he went back it would be the same, right?

Mono listened quietly as she shared that she’d really been trying to make a nicer space in this place. Which admittedly left the child feeling more than a little curious. After all, seeing what Illyana had improved upon, seeing what she had changed as she wanted to, was definitely a little more interesting than seeing what the previous ruler of this place had collected and done. Yes, the castle was impressive, but this sounded more so for other reasons. “Yeah…? If you could, I think it’d be neat to see. I bet it’s nice!” Nicer than a room furnished in red by far, in Mono’s opinion.

“I don’t think it knows… Cities are supposed to be busy, right? When I got here, I saw people going places here! They work at the stores, buy food or go to the park and have fun! No one does that anymore in the pale city. It’s just a lot of empty, falling down places and faceless people or things that look like people but don’t really act like people.” He responded after taking a minute to consider what made a city, a city in his opinion. The Pale City was only a city in name in comparison to Aterat.

It sounded kind of difficult to rule a whole world like Limbo, though. “So you gotta go back and forth a lot to make sure this place doesn’t get taken over, huh? You must be really busy.” He commented as she explained how the world worked. Illyana must’ve been pretty strong though, to hang on to this castle or to win it back every time it got taken over… Even if the last ruler wasn’t as strong as he thought he was.

Looking around at the books again, Mono hummed a little. “Yeah, saves you a lot of time looking for things if he already collected them all. I bet you could learn a lot in a place like this if you know where to start.” He added curiously, wondering what kind of stuff was in the books. His reading skills were… Better than one would expect for a kid from a place like he was, but it was definitely not enough when it came to more complex things.

"It would seem we forget most of what we learn here. Pocket dimensions often have strange rules like that," she said with her own shrug to match his. Time seemed to move differently where they were, much like it did in Limbo itself. There was no real way of telling what they would or wouldn't retain though.

"Nice but not quite what it once was," she said with a hint of disappointment in her tone. "We can go if you would like."

"Most cities are busy and loud. It sounds as though something bad happened to your Pale City." And she couldn't help but be at least slightly curious as to what that might have been. It was like this place, mysterious and without the answers they probably needed.

"It's...busy, yes. It would be easier to manage if Limbo wasn't so different from everywhere else." Honestly, the differences made it hard for her to adjust sometimes. She'd spent so much time in Limbo that it was difficult for her to understand how to just be a normal girl. Often she found herself wondering if that were even possible, especially lately. Not that she particularly wanted to admit that. After all she'd told someone back home that she was at least going to try to pretend to be a real girl. The last thing she wanted to do was admit she couldn't even pretend.

At least the last topic was something she could talk about with more confidence. "I spent years here learning all that I could. I needed to learn magic to defeat the former ruler and after..." she shrugged. "Well, knowledge is power. I have to live up to the title of Sorceress Supreme."

Mono looked up at Illyana quickly at that, a look of surprise and… disappointment in his eyes. “We won't… remember all this stuff?” Everything he was learning, and the things he got to experience… It was all going to just… go away? What was the point, then? The child couldn’t help but wonder and be a little… angry. Not at Illyana, no, but at whoever made up such a stupid rule. That wasn’t fair!

The child did try to push the disappointment aside, Illayana was still showing him things… And he really did want to see this other part of Limbo that she’d been working on. Even if it wasn’t as nice as it once was… That just meant she could keep working on it, right? “Yeah? I think I’d still like to see it.”

Something bad had happened in the Pale City, even if he didn’t quite understand the full story behind what that something was. “I think it was the signal that did it… There’s a tower at the center of the city, and it broadcasts to all the tvs. I think people… They watched it too much.” He scrunched his nose a little, trying to think of how to explain what he did know. “There’s a thing that’s behind the tv screens, I saw it when I went in. It’s got a lot of eyes, they followed me… and it’s all… Red and gross? And I think it works with the man in the hat. Because he lives in the tower too, and travels through tvs too.”

An ability too close to Mono’s for his own comfort, if he was being honest. He travelled through tvs too, and it made the child wonder if that meant he could do the other stuff… “But I think that they know what happened to the city, because I think they did it.” He ended with a little shrug, scuffing his foot a little as he glanced around the room again. He needed to get to the tower when he went back. He’d been drawn to it before… But now he needed to get there to save his friend.

“Do you got to do it all alone? What if you had…” He tried to think of the right word. He wanted ‘Assistant’ but instead… “a helper?” He asked, tilting his head a little. Things had been a lot easier in the Pale City once he teamed up with Six. She was better at some things than he was, so they helped each other out. Maybe that’s what the imps were, but they didn’t sound like they were very good at it from what she’d said about them.

He nodded a little, knowledge was power. He just wished he could learn and hang onto it… “Sorceress Supreme sounds really important, but if you already learned all the stuff and you rule this place, then you must already kinda live up to it… Right?” She was very impressive, in the child’s opinion… Though he was also easily impressed by people with abilities who knew how to use them so well.

She gave a nonchalant shrug. "There's no way to be certain I suppose. But, some have said they don't remember when they return." Her eyes took on a hint of sympathy as she looked down at him. "There's no reason to concern yourself with what we don't know." Was that a decent attempt at comfort? She wasn't entirely certain, but perhaps there's something to be said for trying?

"I see. Something with many eyes that's kind of gross? Perhaps your world has things like mine after all." It sounded a lot like what some of the elder gods she'd been tormented by looked like. With each thing he said she grew more curious about what precisely had happened in his world. "Interesting that your abilities appear to be connected to the TV as well." Curious indeed. "And the creature and the man in the hat are after you specifically?"

She tilted her head and then chuckled. "A helper in hell? I have plenty of demonic underlings." Now whether or not they were actually helpful, that was the question there. "Indeed I do already live up to it. There are none that can challenge me in my own domain. There are few that can really challenge me outside of it either anymore." She used to have harder set limitations when she wasn't in Limbo, but things had changed considerably with her deaths and resurrections. Perhaps there was a positive to all of those after all.

"Let's go then if you want to see it. But keep in mind I did warn you it's not much." The portals once again appeared around their feet and when they arrived in a new location this time it was a small garden. The sky was dark with swirls of red, but the garden was lit by some sort of unnatural white light. Illyana hadn't been kidding when she said it was small, the garden itself was no bigger than a living room in a house on the larger side. There were a few large oak trees that looked far more ancient than they probably should that created a canopy over the garden, blocking the view of Limbos more hell-like landscape. A pathway spiraled around them lined with bushes that held flowers that were bright red and yellow, though a few far off on the edges of the garden seem to be withering and touched with a strange blackness.

Mono at least could see the sense in what she said, and maybe understood it was meant to make him feel a little less bad about it all… He still did, of course, because the kid wanted to be ready for when he went back. He nodded a little, frown a little less severe as he finally responded a long moment later. “Yeah… I guess so…” And maybe he could figure out a way to remember things? Just because other people hadn’t, didn’t mean he couldn’t… Right?

“Yeah, I think… It wouldn’t look too weird in Limbo. But maybe not in the castle…” It was big, really big. All the books would end up covered in the thing if it ended up in the library, he was sure. That’d be a shame, losing all the books and stuff to that thing. Her next question gets a little hum and a nod. “It seems like it? Um… Before he grabbed my friend, I kept thinking something was calling me on the TV? She kept trying to stop me, but I still fell for their trap I guess.” It hadn’t been something he could easily ignore, of course. It was almost like a painful, sharp signal reacting to his head. It drew him in… But he still felt responsible, because he still lost his friend. Now the man in the hat was still after him, and he needed to figure out how to get her back.

“But are they good at helping you with the stuff you need help with?” He asked, thinking about the little imps again… They seemed to be pretty bad at doing stuff Illyana asked them to do from what he’d seen… He’d never had an underling before, so he guessed he didn’t know the first thing about that. Maybe they were good at some stuff, just not stuff outside limbo?

At the warning, he offered one of his tilted little attempts at a smile. “Of course! I promise to remember that, but I still think it’ll be nice.” He responded with a little nod, before he waited as the portals opened under his feet to whisk them away to this location she’d been working on making nicer. The child still gaped a little at the sight that met them. Sure, it was small! But… Small wasn’t bad. Small was cozy, and less daunting… Big places were usually full of scary things, after all. “Wow… You made it all pretty like this?” He edged closer to the yellow flowers curiously. Yellow was his favourite colour… He hadn’t noticed the withering edge in the distance to the garden. Everything was quite pretty here immediately in front of him, after all.

"Anything that wouldn't look too weird in Limbo is probably something one should stay far away from," she said with a quirk of her lips that almost resembled a smile. It was a joke but at the same time there was a disturbing amount of truth to it. Nothing in Limbo was kind or gentle, almost everything was out for power or death. Most often a mix of both. Except perhaps the imps...they were a confusing little group.

"You should be more careful for traps," she shook her head, both at him and at her own comment. He was a child and there was no reason for him to not fall for those at times. How often had she fallen for things when she had first arrived in Limbo? Too often. Far too often. "You will learn. The more difficult the lesson, the more strength you can take from it." That would be the only inspirational speech anyone would ever get from her and it wasn't even that good, was it?

"Who? The imps?" She shrugged. "Certain tasks are well suited for them. Verbal torture of uninvited guests is their specialty. Though I suspect sometimes they use those skills on me." Having to listen to them ask to help with things was pretty much verbal torture. "I have plenty of other underlings that do their jobs without mistakes." Mostly because they were intelligent enough to know she'd just kill them if they failed, but she didn't need to tell Mono that particular tidbit.

"I..." she trailed off as a wave of sadness hit her thinking about the person who had originally made the garden. It'd been so large then, so much more than this shade of a thing she'd managed to create. "I did. Though it was more difficult than I would like to discuss. White magic is...not my specialty. I have ben struggling to recreate the garden of a dear..." friend, the word she was looking for was friend, but she chose something else. "mentor for a very long time. Do you like those flowers?" She almost sounded a bit...hopeful that perhaps she'd done well despite the taint on her soul.

“Yeah, I think that makes sense.” He responded with a little nod. Stuff like that thing was really creepy… Especially since the eyes had always been fixed on him, following his movements from one point to the next as he used the televisions to travel. Though, Mono was pretty sure most stuff in his world wouldn’t look very out of place in Limbo. He wasn’t really sure what to do with that thought… So he tucked it aside for later.

“Yeah, I know… It was really stupid.” He responded with a little shake of his head, though he did tilt his head back up at her… Almost inspiring speech? “I guess you’re right. I let it happen twice, but I know better now!” Which meant he could be more prepared if there was an attempt to lure him in again… Right? “I’m gonna try to get better at stuff, and I’m gonna try to fix my mistake when I go back. I gotta make it up to my friend, and get her back.” added with a serious conviction in his smaller tone.

“Oh, so you got more helpers than the imps?” Well, that made sense considering how confused they seemed to be about doing stuff she asked them. It would be pretty hard to keep a place like this going with help like that… “That’s good, I wouldn’t wanna have to watch over a whole place like this alone if I were you.” There was a weird nagging at the back of his mind when he commented, and he shook his head a little.

Mono glanced up from the flowers at her tone. She sounded so sad… Maybe feelings were weird, but he could at least understand that one. It was hard to think of people who were important to you that were gone. “It’s really amazing that you made it all so nice if white magic isn’t your specialty. Doing something you aren’t good at and having it turn out good is impressive!” The kid added, giving her one of his slightly tilted little attempts at a proper smile. “I bet your mentor would think so too.” Because that’s what mentors were supposed to do… Right? Be proud of you for accomplishing something that was hard.

Looking back at the yellow blooms, his smile was a little more fixed. “Do I? Yeah! They’re really pretty, and bright, and kinda sunny…” Sunny was a happy shade, in his opinion, because… “They make you feel kinda happy to look at, right?”

"Perhaps not stupid..." she put a hand on his shoulder and looked down. "Just the actions of someone young." Young and naïve. There was almost a pat of her that could actually remember how that must have been for herself. But that was another life and perhaps even another her. "With determination like that I believe in you." And that was no lie.

"I rule this entire place," she said with a little quirk of her head. "They all answer to me." As long as she was here that is. The longer she spent away...well, things got a bit more problematic then. Though his comment did manage to stir something inside of her. "They don't help me watch over Limbo. They answer to me." There was a difference. It ultimately meant that she ruled alone. It wasn't as though she had a council to discuss the matters of Limbo with.

"Limbo is shaped by the emotions and desires of it's ruler and yet at the same time it can warp people." The sadness in her tone lingered as she explained. "Creating things like this requires...positivity." Something she wasn't exactly great at. It also required a source of said positivity and she wasn't quite sure where those feelings were even coming from. Her eyes widened at his comment about her mentor though and she looked almost...eager. "Do you think so? Ororo was a difficult teacher. After what I did..." she shook her head and chose to not continue that sentiment.

"Sometimes they do. That was the intention behind them. Happiness is not found in Limbo." Nor did she often experience it.

Mono glanced up at her when she put a hand on his shoulder, maybe a little surprised by it. But… Well, her honestly kind words did make him feel a little better. Because with Illyana… Well, she had always told him things with a particular honesty. Even the less nice stuff, so it made it feel far more genuine than the kind words of some other adults here. “Thanks, Illayana…”

Her explanation of how things worked in Limbo did make him realize he had imagined the whole thing a little differently than it was. “Oh… So they don’t help, but they gotta do what you say?” That was kind of sad, and again the idea of ruling a whole… strange place like this? It was a bit scary, and perhaps made him feel a little sad. Even if he couldn’t really explain why.

“So it’s kinda like a struggle to change it before it changes you?” He asked at the idea that the place was shaped by its ruler. It sounded very complicated… It was hard to linger on that though, as she turned her attention to him with a more eager tone and expression than he’d expected. Had he really said something unexpected? “Yeah? Even if you didn’t do it perfect, or if something happens… Managing to do something you aren’t good at seems better than nothing at all, right? I never really had a real teacher before I got here, because my world is all weird… But since I got here, I guess I learned it’s more normal for them to try to encourage you than to be upset if it’s not perfect.”

Looking back at the flowers again, he carefully reached out to touch the petals. “Well, even if it’s not found here… These definitely make me feel happy to look at. So that’s kinda like a good start, right?”

For some reason him saying thank you just made her feel increasingly awkward and so she decided to just say nothing at all. Why was she so utterly terrible at things like this?

"They help by doing what I say." But did they do it of their own free will? "Some choose to out of respect." Many out of fear and others just because they had no other choice at all. She paused for a moment at his question and looked out at the garden with a strangely sad expression on her fast.

"Yes, exactly like that," she responded with an emotionless tone. It was exactly like that and the struggle got so very tiresome after so many years of doing it. "That's a very...optimistic view of things." As he seemed to usually have. Though, she couldn't really blame him for trying to see things in a brighter way. "Every teacher has their own way of teaching. There were times where my teachers were discouraging and upset," particularly when she had first touched a flower and her corruption had spread to it. "But they meant to make me strong to survive this place."

She looked down at him and gave him a sad little smile. "I suppose it is a good start."

“That must be really hard…” He responded with a small frown and a quieter tone. Mono did not like the sound of that in the least, and it just… hit a certain note that he couldn’t place. He wished he could offer some kind of advice… but what did a kid know, really? Not much, he was sure. He barely understood how the tower’s signal changed and corrupted his world, let alone how Limbo worked. It was… a lot to figure out.

He had to shrug a little, glancing up at Illyana again at her comment. “I dunno if it’s optimistic. It’s just what I noticed since I left my world and people offered to teach me stuff. They all seem pretty nice about things by comparison, and I’m still trying to figure out what’s… normal?” So it was hard to not start to feel a little optimistic about things since leaving his world.

Everyone had made it seem abnormal and strange, so it was a little sad to think maybe it was just… This world and it’s people that were nice teachers, instead of all world’s aside from his. “Guess I still got a lot to learn about how teachers are too.” He added as Illyana explained how some could be discouraging or get upset… She was really strong though, or seemed like it. Meaning for a student to survive was perhaps a big difference from those who might want the opposite.

At her sad smile, Mono nodded quickly. “Yeah, and starts mean more stuff will happen eventually. Do you know what you want to do next?”

"Life is hard." It was a cold statement, much colder than anything else she had said to him recently. Yet it was the truth, at least it was her truth. Life was hard and it required sacrifice and struggle. Those were the two biggest things she never seemed to be able to escape from in her life and it left her so terribly tired. Not that she would outwardly admit to that overall feeling of exhaustion. To admit that would be to admit weakness and Limbo had taught her to never show weakness.

"Ah...that..." she trailed off and shifted from one foot to another in an almost awkward way. "That is something I understand. I am still trying to figure out what is normal myself. How to be a real girl I suppose you could say." That was what Pixie had called it and it was fitting enough. After all prior to regaining the pieces of her soul she wasn't really the real version of herself. Sometimes she still wondered if she was or if she had any right to even think about that after all she'd done. How strange it was to find a common ground like this with such a young boy. "It can be difficult, can't it? Especially when everyone around seems to make it look so easy." As if normal just came naturally to them. It could almost make someone feel a bit resentful.

She took a pause to look out at the small garden and then shook her head. "No. I wanted to recreate what it looked like so long ago but...I can't quite remember anymore." Which was quite the sad thought to have for her. "What would you do?"

“Yeah…” A cold statement… But Mono knew it was true, even if things were a lot easier since leaving his world. One day he’d go back and it certainly would be as it was when he left it… So it was… Sad to know someone else saw things like that, and that Illyana had been there… But part of why he felt comfortable around her was that she understood things and did not sugar coat them just because he was a child. Enough adults told him how things should be. They never liked to consider how it actually was.

Listening to her continue, he nodded along. If she was still having trouble figuring it out now… Well, he wondered how long it would take him? He tried to listen, to adapt to those around them… But it always felt a little off, and perhaps a bit fake… He didn’t want to be fake… It reminded him of the porcelain bullies. Always trying to mimic the behavior of real children (albeit misbehaving ones), but always… seeming not quite right. Not that they had anyone ‘normal’ to interact with, either. “It can be! And… It kinda makes you feel weird when they make it seem easy, but you can’t figure it out? At least… I can’t. I just try to not say weird stuff. If I see them react to something I say or do like it’s weird or sad, I just try not to again?”

Mono tapped his little chin thoughtfully to the question, “Maybe that’s ‘cause you gotta make it your own? Even if you recreate it, you should make it full of stuff that’s nice that you like. Otherwise it’s just a copy.” He wasn’t sure what he’d do though… Was there a wrong answer? “I dunno though, I guess I’d make more flowers in happy colours…? Oh! And maybe some more nice trees, they’re good for climbing or sitting under… Places to sit and relax to admire what pretty stuff there is seems kinda important in gardens I saw when I got here.” He looked up at Ilyana expectantly, possibly wondering if he’d answered well.

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When the wolves wear the wool

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