aterat | Return of the Queen

Entry tags:

Return of the Queen

Who;Illyana + You
What; Network + Log of her return
Where;
When;Night on May 2nd
Warnings; Talk of death

I. Network

I found Athony. Turns out he has his own pocket dimension. Aspect of death and all that. Looks like they've at least mastered using the portals to go from here to there. Good for them.

Anyone visited the Academy while I've been gone. Been told recently that we could all do with a few lessons.

II. Wandering the streets

After what had happened before Illyana probably should have learned her lesson. Too bad she'd never been that great of a student. Sure, she picked up on things unusually fast, but she'd always been too headstrong to make a perfect student. Besides, she'd just gotten back and she wasn't really sure if she actually wanted to see anyone. Her head was a jumbled mess of memories of death from her home.

Memories of a small child slowly wasting away from a virus her own brother gave her. The memory felt more like watching a movie, as though it weren't actually her own memory. I hope to act like it does, if nothing else.

Was that all she was doing here? Acting like a real girl? For the first time she felt the full pang of missing her brother. She wished he was here. Big simple Piotr who only ever saw his little sister as the Snowflake she once was. She missed him, just like she missed Kitty and every one of the New Mutants. Tears welled up in her eyes, tears that she'd insist mainly came from frustration.

A portal appeared around her feet and engulfed her body only for her to remain exactly where she was.

"How dare you," she muttered as she wiped the tears away from her face. A series of curses in Russian escaped her lips and she pulled the hood of her jacket up.

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Clearly she should have waited to send the text out until she was safely hidden away somewhere. If she'd had any choice in the matter she'd have just retreated to Limbo, but evidently that choice was taken away from her. Which was...worrisome to say the least. A lot of things were worrisome right now, but Illyana was doing her best to just pretend they weren't. How exactly did people manage to do this? It was so infuriating.

"Isn't there supposed to be some sort of welcome home balloons or flowers or something?" That's how these things went, wasn't it? How disappointing that she didn't even get that. Still...it was strangely nice to hear a familiar voice and see a familiar face. Though, it was probably obvious that she was doing her best to make sure the hood of her jacket hid her tear stained face. She had a reputation to maintain and she didn't want anyone to know she'd been crying. Even if the sound of her voice revealed a few cracks.

"It's not good to see you. Haven't you heard, it's dangerous at night now." That kind of dark humor was probably safe with Jacob. Others might have found it a bit twisted of her, but she hoped he'd get it.

If she had waited to send the text then Jacob would have likely gone through a more trying process to find her. As awkward as it was, he considered Illyana a friend and wanted to be there for her. Even if it pissed her off.

He was good at pissing people off.

"If they had latex here I think it'd be used for more exciting things than ballons... like condoms, but I could get you a card tomorrow." He hadn't really planned to get her anything but humor was a useful defense mechanism. Sometimes it was all someone had.

Jacob's mouth twisted into a dark smirk and he shook his head. "I'm not that weak." He gestured to the blades at his side. "I am also good at running away." It didn't make him feel weak since he was so used to being around people with superpowers. Running away was a very important skill and could be difficult at times.

"What about you?" He stepped forward and slowly closed the distance between them. "Mono found your sword. Didn't know if you had returned home or had..." Jake stopped and his face paled. "Well, last time I was here and I died. Disappeared for a week. Didn't know if that happened to you."

"How generous to offer after having it mentioned," she said with a strange attempt at a smile. It was the most forced thing on the planet, but at least she was trying. "Besides a balloon is more interesting than a card." She was just going to ignore his mention of other uses for latex, it was kind of awkward for her to discuss things like that. Growing up isolated from others her age will do that.

"At least you know your strengths." There was absolutely no denying that she was a bit annoyed that he was trying to claim he could defend himself out here. It was weird that she found herself caring so much about him, or anyone here for that matter. Was this what it was like to actually like to form friendships outside of the people you matched with just because of your common genetics?

"Congratulations, you solved the mystery," she said with a tone laced in sarcasm. "My sword is a part of my soul, it won't stay here if I've returned to my universe. If it went to someone here, then I'd have to be dead or captured."

Jake scratched the back of his head as a slightly awkward silence filled the space between them. He had expected that she had somehow died but he hadn't wanted to believe it. Illyana was someone who seemed to have more power than she knew what to do with and anything that could take her out was terrifying.

"Well shit." He spoke in a calm manner though it was fairly obvious that he was shaken. "Mono found your sword. If you didn't know yet. He and I and probably others were looking for you for a bit." He paused and then added awkwardly. "I'm glad your back." It was weird caring about people but Illyana was a constant and he liked it that way.

"This is probably a dumb question but you okay?" He had been blind for two weeks after he'd returned to life and that had sucked.

"Shit indeed," she replied. "He's informed me. Interesting it went to him. Perhaps I should have told you all about that." Really, it could end up going to any of them now that she thought about it. But did she really want to even go over that? No, not really. It was strange enough to talk about as is. If he asked she'd share, if not she'd escape it.

"Why did you all bother to look?" It seemed like a waste of their time to her. But maybe they liked wasting their time. "I'm glad he finally released me." It'd been more than a bit annoying being held to recover.

"I..." no, but she doesn't want to say that. "I can't get to Limbo."

Jacob was patient and while he had many questions, he was careful when deciding where to push. Illyana was strong but she wasn't impenetrable. She worried, or her concerns seemed to emulate worrying, and Jacob couldn't guess what was going on inside her head. It made her unique but also made it difficult to know how to assist her.

"It made us feel better." They looked because the effort made them feel less helpless. It was as much for Illyana as it was for the people missing her. "Think of it as a compliment."

Jacob took a step closer but didn't reach out to touch Illyana. He didn't think she was the touchy-feely type. "So you're sword choose who it went to and you can't open a way to limbo." He summed up what he had been told but quickly continued so as to not leave her hanging. "I remember I had lost my sight for a week when I came back. It might be temporary but if it's not. We need to find you a safe place here to escape too. Don't you think?" It wasn't a great solution but everyone needed a place to run to and Illyana lost hers.

"That's quite a strange compliment," she said with a tilt of her head. "Well, as long as your comforted by better by being stupid." Who is she to deny them of that? She gives him a weak smile that definitely was completely forced.

"No. My mutant powers allow me to enter Limbo, the sword..." she shook her head and looked off for a second. "It can grant rulership of Limbo if the one it went knowledgeable enough to use it." Luckily Mono hadn't been. It was probably even more lucky that he hadn't accidentally ended up there. "We should be grateful nobody opened a portal and ended up there. The last children to do that ended up dead." And she really didn't feel quite as horrible about that as she should. Despite how hard those kids tried to make her feel awful. It wasn't like she was the one that had brought them there, but somehow it was still her fault. Funny how that worked.

"It could have gone to you." Possibly. She wasn't entirely sure how it worked to be frank. It went to Kitty once back home and then Kurt but she wasn't quite certain what that had meant. After a second she looked up at him, still clearly trying to fight back a display of emotions.

"You lost your sight?" Then perhaps this was temporary. That was...comforting. For a moment she looked strangely hopeful. "What place could I find here?"

Jake rolled his shoulders in a shrug. He was usually called stupid, which was likely how he developed his twisted form of a compliments. It was rare that he was earnestly complimented.

"Yeeeah." He dragged out the word in an discomforted tone. "I will make sure that doesn't happen if you vanish again." He wasn't looking for anyone to take on that kind of responsibility, more so if it was done on accident. He imagined that Illyana would rather choose who the sword went to if it was truly to be passed on.

Another shrug and Jacob was shoving his hands into his pockets. "Let's take a look around. There are places near the docks that people tend to avoid. And if you leave your phone in your apartment you can't be contacted." He nodded his head in the direct of the dock in an offer to lead the way.

"I wonder if anyone could make sure of that." Could she even do that? Probably if she figured out how it worked precisely, but unfortunately she hadn't. It'd just gone to Kitty after her death for some reason or another. She didn't even think Kitty ever used it, though they'd never really talked too much about it. "I'm offended you think I'll let it happen again." Her own ego and stubbornness insisted that she had to say that.

"The dock... that sounds decent. Most people avoid places like that," or at least she thought they did. She started to follow him. "Though it seems people would still look." The fact that so many people had looked was very odd to her.

"Well," Jacob shrugs. "plan for the worst. Then it hopefully won't happen. Other than that..." His voice trailed off. "We both have to keep trying." He wasn't confident but he was stubborn, which often made up for any inconsistencies in his personality.

"I'd like it if you didn't die again." It sounded more awkward than he meant it. He wasn't really great at expressing how he felt without teasing someone in the process and this wasn't really a topic that should be teased about.

Jacob quickly moved on and focused on a solution to her problem. "Possibly but if you keep switching it up then they won't find you. You can also tell people when you'll be MIA and for how long. They'll be less likely to go look for you if they can expect you back." He glanced over at her and offered an awkward smile. "It's worked pretty well for me and I have very nosy friends." It was annoying but he also didn't want to lose those who cared about him. It made him feel more human when he was surrounded by that kind of love.

"I thought it was plan for the best but expect the worst?" She shook her head and offered him a wry smile. "What would you know, I'd prefer that as well." The smile on her face took on a slightly more genuine (if not still weak) look to it. In fact, it was almost a smirk. On a better day she'd have definitely have sounded a lot more sarcasm in her tone, but today wasn't that better day. At least she managed some semblance of teasing back. Better than none, right?

"Hm, are there even enough places here to switch it up with?" Places that nobody really knew about seemed like they'd be harder to find, but she'd never really tried to hide from people here. The choice she made had always been to go to Limbo. "If you tell them, won't they just come to look for you?"

Jake grinned. "I like mine better." He was a pessimist by nature but he was always prepared for whatever clusterfuck fate had in store for him. It was the only reason that he was still alive.

"If we get creative enough, sure." Jake shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants as they made their way toward the coast. The area changed rather dramatically once they fully entered the wharf. It was mostly empty with a handful of abandoned and broken down warehouses and boat yards. Some of the structures were open to the air or the water but Jacob figured that there were likely some rooms intact if they took a look around.

"Nah. If I let them know that I am okay and will come back, more importantly, tell them when they will at least give me until that date to return." He glanced over at Illyana. "That's just the people I know. They get that sometimes I need to be on my own and respect it."

"You would," she was certainly unsurprised he liked his better. "Yours is more accurate." She liked it better too. Piotr was the optimist, the one that always seemed to find light in the dark. Illyana on the other hand...well, in her view she was the dark.

"It's no castle," though she was reminded why she rarely came out here. "But I suppose that makes it a good place to escape to." If she rarely came out here then chances were high that others had the same opinion.

"Lucky that you know when you want to go and how long." When she ran it was because she didn't know how to feel and she never knew when she'd come back. It was never something she thought about or thought through, which was probably part of the problem. "The people you know here or back home?"

"Back home." He answered quickly and then decided that he should probably elaborate. "Running away here is much easier." It wasn't that people didn't look for him should he disappear but none of those in the city had the ridiculous ability to sniff him out. "It's what happens when your adopted family is supper human... I guess."

Jake shrugged and then stopped when they reached the dock. There were plenty of places for Illyana to hide here and she'd even have time to clean up the areas if she liked it enough.

"I'll try not to look for you." He looked back at Illyana with a grin. "If you want to be alone." He used the word try because more often than not Jacob didn't really care about another person's feelings or desires. He tried to be mindful but when he got a thought stuck in his head he often had a one track mind. "I bet you want to look around without me so I don't know where you'll be hiding."

"Sounds like you need a Limbo in your world," she said with a smirk. For the most part only she could enter there, which had it's advantages and disadvantages. She looked around and then looked back to him and offered him a more genuine smile than she usually gave.

"Thank you. Try not to get mugged on your way out of the place." It sounded like something that could happen to him.

Jake scoffed. "I really do."

He returned her smile and bowed his head slightly as if he was being ironically respectful. "It's happened once. I'm sure it'll happen again." Jake lifted his head with a confident smirk. "At least this time I can beat the crap out of them in return." He turned on his heel with his left arm lifted in something that resembled a wave. "Later."

With that, Jake jogged back towards the city center.

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Return of the Queen

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/end <3