When ur luck stat is in the negative somehow

[ask_whydunit]

Who; Lord El-Melloi II and anyone around
What; Dark Hour Event
Where; Aterat on the other side of the mirror
When; Backdated to the 10th because I am slow
Warnings; None yet, but I will update!



The arrival - OTA:

A certain magus had not trusted the standing mirrors that appeared in everyone’s lodgings from the moment he saw them. Even before he’d heard the whole ‘other world’ thing, he’d seen his reflection, and it had been irritating to see to put it lightly. So rather than interacting with it, or continuing to put up with it. He’d covered the mirror with a sheet and simply ignored it for the last few weeks since his arrival.

Then the bloody thing had started shaking one night, and the sheet fell off… On the one hand, the annoying sight of his other self had not been present. On the other hand, the sight of the room on the other side of the glass had still set off warning signals. So scooping up the sheet, he moved forward to cover it again and go back to relaxing and playing a round of a tactical game on his Gameboy. Only… Well, the sheet was dragging on the floor at his feet and he’d stepped on it and pitched forward clumsily.

And through the mirror, one Lord El-melloi II had gone.

With no mirror present on the other side, the man had done the only thing he could do: Utter some frustrated curses at his bad luck and leave the building behind in search of answers and hopefully some portal back.

What he found outside the building wasn’t much better, of course. Not the worst sight he’d seen in his life… But damn disturbing, accompanied by a tug of unpleasant nostalgia nonetheless, as he looked down at the blood covered streets before his eyes came to rest on the countless coffins stood in rows. What kind of messed up reality had he inadvertently slipped into?

At least this was… manageable outside the obvious disturbing sight. He ended up in weird situations all the time, after all. This was just another day at the office for the professor back in his world… Sure, usually Gray or one of his students was around, but he could manage a small investigation to getting himself out of here easily enough, right? Right. Wrong.

On the run - OTA:

If one skipped forward about two hours, ignoring the standard investigation sequence that inevitably leads to someone finding something they shouldn’t in a horror movie and ending up on the bad side of the thing that’s been lurking in the shadows for most of the movie.

Instead of wandering from one building to the next in a thorough search for a mirror that might be the way out, the mage was currently running (not an activity he enjoyed) between buildings and down side-streets in an attempt to lose more of the damned dark shadowy creatures that kept finding him. Getting too close seemed to cause them to shift into something else though, strange or frightfully beautiful at times, making him wonder if they were some kind of security system for this place, familiars created by something else… But it wasn’t as though he were stupid enough to stick around and ask, they seemed prone to attacking and Waver wasn’t really suited for confrontations of this nature.

At first, running into one here and there had been troublesome, but… not entirely impossible to slow down with a few low-grade gandr shots and flee. Running into several at once was another matter entirely, especially if you say… Were being chased by two and then found yourself cut off by another group ahead that soon morphed to look something like a giant starfish with an eye in the center. “Shit…!” He muttered, skidding to a halt and backing up slightly. Waver’s hair was in total disarray at this point, one hand reaching up to brace his arm as he let another couple cursed shots fly from his fingertips, grimacing as they did little more than slow the things down slightly as they seemed annoyed by the attack more than anything.

Comments

The arrival

[soulsword]

Should Illyana have known better than to go over? Yes. Would she insist she actually had known better? Also a yes. This hadn't been her fault and she was going to maintain that no matter what. It wasn't her fault that it'd started vibrating and she'd decided to just knock it over to make it stop. That had been a sound plan! What she hadn't counted on was that touching it for even a second would end in a ticket to whatever this place was.

Somehow this place managed to actually almost look worse than Limob. It was darker than Limbo. Maybe that was a positive, it meant it wasn't quite as hot. A voice in the back of her mind (that sounded a lot like a friend of hers form home) told her to look at the bright side. She'd never been good at that. The first thing she did was try to teleport out. She didn't think it would work but it'd be stupid to not at least try. To the surprise of nobody at all, it didn't work. She frowned as she looked around at the coffins and the blood on the streets. The decorating here seemed even more over the top than Belasco's dungeons, which was really saying something. She heaved an overly exaggerated sigh and slumped her shoulders as she looked around. It looked like she'd have to find another way out.

First things first though: she pulled the soulsword out of her chest both for a bit of extra light and a bit of protection. One could never be too prepared. Just as she began to walk forward out of the building she spotted someone familiar.

"Maybe you should open it and see what's inside."

[ask_whydunit]

Waver turned on his heel, a look of surprise and something close to relive crossing his face at the sound of a familiar voice and the sight of Illyana there (with a sword, no less) just coming out of a building. That relief instantly giving away to a slight bristle and a deepening of the wrinkles between his brow at the suggestion. One that he couldn’t tell if she was serious about or not. “Why not just start at one and work our way down the line, huh?” He muttered with some prickly sarcasm. See which one hides a surprise to kill us. He thought to himself, it was like something out of a horror movie that he really wanted no part in. Either they contained harmless corpses… Or maybe movie-style vampires or zombies with his absurd luck.

Still, his shoulders sagged slightly, eyes turning away from the coffins again to focus on the woman’s approach. “So I’m not the only one who ended up going through the fucked up looking glass, huh?” Though to be fair, most people who ended up here probably came by choice and not stupid clumsiness like him… He found himself wondering if it was curiosity that brought her here, or boredom. She had a weapon, so at least one of them was prepared for the potential for danger.

Unknown to him that there was a door number three for the woman, like himself, that was accidental.

[soulsword]

"Oh, good idea!" She moved continued to move forward and then slowly, and rather dramatically, reached a hand out towards a coffin back near her. All the while she watched him with only a hint of a smile on her face. It'd probably be obvious to anyone that she was just doing this to get a rise out of him. Even in the face of some screwed up bloody coffin dark world she still couldn't help but tease people. Maybe it was the way she showed she cared. Or maybe she just actually enjoyed it.

"I wanted to investigate. I didn't bother with the mirrors but this was different." He didn't need to know it was a tiny lie. Nobody ever needed to know she made mistakes. She was above mistakes. "How'd you end up over on the other side? Did you want to run experiments on it?" That seemed like something he'd want to do. He seemed like the type to think it'd be a good idea to go into a mirror to run experiments on what was going on.

[ask_whydunit]

It was hard, sometimes, to not wonder how he kept ending up becoming acquainted with people who went out of their way to try to ruffle his feathers. It almost seemed like every time he found himself in a situation (or fell into one), that there was someone who was bound to act a certain way or say something with the intent to get a rise out of him. Illyana was no exception, and he ground his teeth slightly at the sight of her dramatically making a show of reaching towards one of the coffins.

“Ha bloody ha!” He snapped back with a severe frown, hands on his hips before one moved to gesture at the surrounding coffins. “Between the fact that this place seems to closely mirror Aterat, and the disturbing lack of anyone beyond us? I expect the correlation between that and the sheer volume of coffins at least gives a vague idea… And one that gives a distinct feeling that opening them would be ill-advised.” It could be some kind of system, and until he had some kind of information to analyze it… he wasn’t sure that opening them would be the best move. Hell, there could be security measures they weren’t aware of yet, and tripping them could spell disaster if they didn’t dismantle them carefully.

And while she had a sword? He wasn’t skilled enough to hold his own, nor did he have more than a large pocket knife on him as far as weapons went. Somehow he doubted she would be keen to baby-sit and defend a mage with little magic at his disposal… Which, depending on what went on here, she probably would realize about him sooner or later.

“No? I would have thought you’d be curious about them before, especially with the odd reflections they displayed.” He mused, wondering what her reflection had been like. Still, considering the way she spoke of boredom? Perhaps investigating this time seemed like a good way to her to occupy her time and avoid further boredom. The pause that followed her question was brief enough that it could be overlooked. He also was not about to admit to her that he’d literally tripped and fallen headfirst into the bloody thing. Somehow, he expected he’d never hear the end of such an event. “The same as you, more or less. Seemed like it needed investigation, especially given it differed from what the mirror displayed before.” He frowned, though, as one point of concern was at least apparent enough now. “Probably should have known the damn way out was going to be different from the entry point, though.”

[soulsword]

"So no to opening it? A shame." She put her hand down and then folded them over her chest while a smirk toyed with the edges of her lips. She really shouldn't be teasing someone in a time like this but she'd been a part of the New Mutants. A part of the X-Men. The Sorceress Supreme of Limbo. You do all those things and you kind of learn to go with the flow and make the best of things. Besides, the New Mutants liked to be quippy when they fought. Sometimes she liked to remember that even if it brought a strange pang of sadness. "Do you think opening it would cause the fifth remake of Night of the Living Dead?" Maybe sometime she'd have to figure out how many sequels and remakes there were to that franchise now.

He might be surprised about how willing she was to babysit. But it would ruin her hard image to just tell him that up front that she sometimes did the whole heroic thing.

"It didn't show me anything I hadn't seen before." In fact it had shown her something she distinctly didn't want to see again. "Darkchilde." And she was willing to offer up just a bit of that. It was generous of her, at least she thought so. She gave a nod at his response. "I guess we both made a mistake." It seemed easier to just admit that than admit they made a mistake. This was a good story to stick to for them both. "My stepping discs aren't working."

[ask_whydunit]

His expression relaxed as much as one could expect it to as she withdrew her hand, letting the earlier relief ease some of the annoyance that had flared up. It was good to have company, after all, even if said company seemed more prone to teasing or making light of a situation. Waver had never been particularly good at that, in all honesty. The few times he did tended to worry people more often than not, because it usually was something he said at his own expense.

The question gets an arch of one brow. “Fifth? I thought there were only two of those movies.” He murmured before shaking his head a little. This was probably not a subject to focus on right now. “But to answer your question, it’s anyone’s guess what would happen… But I wouldn’t be surprised considering how luck tends to go with things like this. The decor is somewhat macabre after all.” He added with a glance around at the state of everything, the bloody streets getting a light frown. There’s literally a mage with a zombie hunting cooking show in his world, so… it’s fairly easy to imagine the living dead roaming around in a setting like this.

“Would be the same for myself, at least in a way…” He shrugged. The mirror had displayed himself looking as he had at 19. A tiny brat that grated on his nerves to remember. Only there was something decidedly off about it, making it that much more frustrating to see. “Darkchilde?” He parroted the small, offered information with a light curiosity. More looking for something to distract from the abysmal situation in hopes that an idea would come to him while he ran things through the back of his mind.

It was definitely easier to admit to the mistake of not considering the way out might be different from the way in, than it was to admit the actual proper mistakes made… So he focused on her comment. “They’re not?” That was… actually useful to know. “So we’re that contained that teleportation abilities won’t work. Are they just flat out dead or do you get any kind of sense of resistance or feeling from it?”

[soulsword]

She rolled her shoulders in a shrug and threw one hand up and waved it dismissively. "I just picked a number. It feels like there's been a lot." But what would she know? Between Limbo and death she'd missed out on a lot. At least she managed to not sound a bit bitter about it all, despite occasionally feeling bitter about it. She turned her head to look at around more closely at the new other-other world they'd ended up in macabre was a decent way to describe it. "Gives Limbo a run for it's money in hell-dimension looking places. Maybe that's what this is." Could be another hell dimension. There were tons of little splinters after all. Blood on the streets and coffins littering the walkways seemed pretty hell-dimension like. "If it is, the demon who runs it definitely has a flair for dramatics. They should try focusing more on actually being dangerous and less on looks."

She probably shouldn't test this place by hinting that she didn't think it was that dangerous. After all they'd only been here a short while and the most they'd seen was this little area. But Illyana liked to test places as much as she liked to test people. Maybe she just liked to push her luck in general. She'd already died and lost her soul and then died again. There wasn't too much more someone could go through.

"Not a pleasant version of yourself?" Now it was her turn to be curious. What sort of version of himself had he seen that could have possibly caused discomfort? He seemed so...unthreatening that it was hard to imagine what the mirrorverse might have dredged up for him. "Darkchilde." She parroted right back at him with a tug of a smile on the corner of her lips. She knew exactly what she was doing there. "The demon version of me without a soul. She'd like you." She'd probably think he'd be easy to entice. Or at the very least she'd think he might be easy to find a use for. That was all that mattered to Darkchilde: who could be useful. "If you ever meet her, never accept a deal no matter what she offers. Even if the lives of others are in the balance, don't accept it." The tone in her voice actually switched there to be something much more serious with a lot more weight behind it. That statement was genuine advice and not just cryptic teasing.

"They're not." She scrunched her mouth up into a twisted almost pout. "It's annoying when they don't work. I hate being trapped." She'd been trapped in Limbo until she'd learned how to work around that. To answer his question she formed a disc around herself and teleported directly behind him. "They work to travel here. But not out of here," she answered in an overdramatic whisper at the back of his neck. "Trying to go out just sends me somewhere here."

[ask_whydunit]

Waver offered a small shrug, he wasn’t quite sure himself… But he only remembered two, but that was only because the third wouldn’t happen until about a year after he came from and he only looked into movies if he was hosting a movie night for his students again. And this particular genre was only an occasional inclusion when it came to their gatherings.

The mage tsk’ed though, a frown deepening as Illyana suggested whoever was in charge should focus on making the place more dangerous than making it look that way. “That just seems like an invitation for the universe to make a joke out of that comment.” He muttered, shaking his head slightly. “I only just arrived a few minutes ago, so I can’t say I know much yet… But just because we haven’t seen anything dangerous, doesn’t mean we won’t, huh?” The way the place looked could very well be a hint of worse to come… And while he was a nosy, curious man by nature? There were some things he was pretty sure he’d be happy not learning about first hand.

Glancing at Illyana as she voiced her curiosity, he let out a small huff. “Something like that… We all have parts of ourselves that we’d rather stay in the past, I’m sure.” And that much was confirmed as Ilyana explained the Darkchilde to him. For a moment, as she parroted back the word again he thought she might not… But then she started explaining it and the man’s expression shifted to one of surprise. That was… Alarming to say the least. Waver had at least a vague idea that Illyana had some power of a magical nature. She must, to have decided to work on getting the Academy cleaned up… But this was news, and it made him wonder… If the Darkchilde was that much to worry about, what could Illyana do as she was now? Not having a soul, though, he could at least understand the dangers that would run if someone was that powerful. “I see… Would this be an alternate timeline version of yourself, or something that you’ve since changed by regaining your soul?” Waver couldn’t help but ask, of course, whether he would like what he heard or not. Knowing how this other version of Illyana existed might help in understanding the mirrors in general, if it was possible for versions of themselves from different points in their lives or a version from another world… or both…

The warning gets a shake of his head and a shift in his expression. There was something distinctly unsettling about the idea of a soulless demon liking you. It was pretty easy to see he didn’t like the idea. “I’ll keep that in mind if I run into her. Can’t say I’m fond of the idea of putting myself in debt with a demon, anyway.” He was in enough debt in life already, he wasn’t about to dig himself in deeper if he could help it. At least he liked to think he wouldn’t, but there were always complicated situations that could change things.

The mage would argue that it would be strange if she didn’t hate being trapped here, but that seemed obvious enough… And it seemed a little more personal if her expression were anything to go by. Plus, getting an explanation for how her ability was being affected by this world was important. More information to compile to figure this whole place out… But Waver hadn’t expected her to demonstrate, and expected even less for her to appear behind him and whisper at the back of his neck.

Which was why he actually jumped visibly, losing his balance with a gasp and having to flail a bit to regain his balance instead of falling face first into the blood covered street. You couldn’t just do that to him, Illyana! He startles easily! “The hell!?” He grit his teeth and muttered to himself, rounding on his heel to face her again, fixing her with a look that was usually reserved for when his students had done something ridiculous… Clearing his throat, he tried to sound and look less ruffled than he felt… This was all starting to give him an inkling of an idea that she was more powerful than he’d first thought. “Alright, so you can teleport, just not outside this place. There must be some kind of ward against teleporting outside the bounds of this version of the city.”

[soulsword]

"The universe makes a joke out of everything." This place would make itself more dangerous no matter what they had to say about it. "I don't think they listen to us for ideas." What did they do when they weren't around though? She actually had no idea now that she considering it. "I'm sure we will see something dangerous. There's blood on the streets." What kind of place like this wasn't dangerous? It'd be foolish for either of them to suspect it'd be a peaceful walk in the streets with the coffins. It was a nice thought though. For things to just go nicely and calmly for once.

"Oh we do. It's always good to know about those parts though." In the past she'd have said that because that sort of knowledge held power. More than anything it made it easier to know how to manipulate someone. Learn their sore spots, offer them a way to compensate from those, it had been Belasco's bread and butter. She wasn't going to be Belasco though. Not again. "Both. There are other me's that have fully become her." In other realties she'd heard of. Her universe held a lot of knowledge about the multiverse and she knew well enough to know that anything was possible. "Bits of my soul were taken from me as a child. She came from the black magic left behind. Then I died and with me so did she. Until an idiot decided to resurrect me."

She tilted her head and the grinned wickedly at him. "See, he wasn't nearly as smart or powerful of a sorcerer as he thought. He seemed to have forgotten to account for where my soul was. He wanted Illyana, but all he got was Darkchilde." Where her soul had been was an entirely complicated situation in itself but that was too long of a story to just bore someone with on the spot. "That's who I saw."

Despite the darkness in her smile there was also something strangely sad about her eyes. Just the faintest hint that maybe the story held it's own degree of pain for her that she liked to hide behind an overly exaggerated ominous mask. "You're smarter than most mages then. At least in my world. Magic users always want to find more power and the best way to do that is to find a demon." There were also plenty of magic users that just weren't capable of thinking things through and so in the moment they were easy prey. She'd found one like that. Guilt still kept her up some nights over that.

She put her hands behind her head and laughed at his reaction. It was exactly what she'd wanted and more! How wonderful. At least that lightened her mood up a little. "Limbo." There was a grin on her face at that, as if she were inordinately proud of the joke she'd made at his exclamation. Limbo was a hell dimension. Kind of! "I was thinking ward too. Couldn't decide if it'd be easier to try to track it down and destroy it or just find an exit. Maybe a mirror?"

[ask_whydunit]

“Yeah… It seems to consider itself a damn comedian.” He muttered in annoyance, though he would argue that sometimes it felt like it listened to them for ideas, at least when it came to the timing of whatever it threw at him. Glancing at the blood underfoot, he huffed. “Exactly. There’s got to be something that caused all that. Even if we haven’t seen it yet…” The professor would be happier if they could avoid running into it, of course. But he doubted they would escape a glimpse of whatever dangerous entities prowled this place.

“Fair point…” Waver muttered, still not liking the idea of talking about it or even acknowledging his reflection. With any luck, this change in the mirrors meant they wouldn’t be seeing it again. Not that he had that kind of luck. Sighing, he raised his shoulder’s in a shrug. “It looks like my younger self. You probably would find him annoying. I had a hell of an attitude and was pretty whiny and prone to making stupid decisions.” He could stand there all day listing off the bad traits he possessed back then. Sure, he still possessed some of them now, but he was far better at conducting himself and not letting some things rise to the surface. Instead, he grimaced and added. “Problem is, it seems like a version of myself that has more skill with magic than it should.” Sometimes, before he covered the mirror, he’d caught glimpses of himself doing things that Waver knew he damn well never could. Not back then, and certainly not now.

Hearing the rest of Illyana’s story, though? That made the wrinkles between his brow deepened rather severely. Not only was that damn complicated as magic went, but it also was a hell of a thing to go through… Mages pushing too far while thinking they were greater than they were, though? Tale as old as time, as they said. “So mages are about the same in your world as they are in mind. Damned overconfident and pushing into territory they can’t possibly fathom because they think that much of themselves.” He muttered, shaking his head. That said, the magus glanced at Illyana with some curiosity. “That said, you have your soul back now. Or at least I presume so, based on the way you describe the Darkchilde. So while she still exists in other realities and through the mirror, you overcame that problem yourself?”

Which definitely meant she was more powerful than he might have first considered. Good thing they weren’t enemies, he supposed. Not that it didn’t leave him feeling a slight prickle of thought that keeping on her good side would be smarter. Not that he could avoid grumping at her based on how she very clearly was the kind of person skilled at pushing his buttons.

The compliment gets a dry tone and a small shrug. “I’ve just made peace with my own inadequacies and have other goals than focusing on gaining more power.” He’d worked hard to make up for what he lacked, even if he did feel the inferiority based on his skills as strongly now as he did back then. It didn’t control him, it only drove him to try to learn as much as he could to make up for what he lacked, all so he could do better next time he had the chance to stand by a certain King’s side. That wasn’t to say, though, that he couldn’t be pushed to some desperation, especially if it involved that goal. He was only human, after all. Just a slightly more cautious human that would take the risks into consideration first.

And there she went again, pushing his buttons. It was hard to not frown so deeply that it seemed a risk for his face to freeze that way as she laughed at his happless state and over the top reaction. “We back to using me as a one-man show again, huh?” He bit out in annoyance, calling back to their meeting with a frustrated huff as he tried to regain his composure. Pushing some of his hair back, he tried to focus on her next words. “If this place works at least somewhat like the other place that people going through the mirrors ended up in, there should be mirrors to exit… If not, then breaking whatever ward is in place would be the next best thing to get out.” Both were time-consuming, both required a search… But at least the mirrors seemed like a slightly more sure thing. “Looking for a mirror out might be a good place to start, while keeping an eye out for anything that might be related to the ward in case we’re unsuccessful.”

[soulsword]

"Oh, you'd love Mojo. He's not the universe but he runs a world where everything is TV. Kidnaps people all over the universe just to make different TV shows using them. Comedies included." She cupped her hands to her mouth and whispered: "He's never actually funny." That wasn't even taking into account the numerous actual universe creating or destroying beings that definitely thought the world was a comedy for them to play with. Mojo was just the first thing that came to mind because he lightened the mood and it seemed like a good time for that.

"Doesn't sound that different," she said with a little self-satisfied smirk. Okay, time to be a bit more serious now. She tilted her head. "Hm, you weren't curious how he got more power than you?" Interesting. Smart of him though and spoke to the fact that he might have been telling the truth when he'd spoken about not being interested in making deals for power. "Smart of you." It was an actual honest to gosh compliment this time, without any hint of sarcasm at all. Even if she was kind of curious about his mirror self now.

"Definitely. Belasco was a sorcerer before he became the demon king of Limbo. He sought power in different universes and that power eventually corrupted him. Funniest part is he never actually got that. Thought he was in control the entire time." Which spoke of the arrogance that Waver also mentioned. "Of course I did. I had to sacrifice a lot to do it but it was worth it." She would do it over and over again if she had the chance. "Not everyone thought so though." Oh well. She could live with the consequences. The second she'd come up with her twisted plan she'd accepted there would be repercussions. Really, they were a small price to pay to get her soul back, rid of the world of some of the Old Ones, and save her friends from certain doom and death and all that. Sometimes you had to pay big prices to solve big problems. "Not everyone believes in sacrifice for the greater good." Idiots.

"Maybe I'm trying to be the next Mojo." Wait that left an awful taste in her mouth to even suggest and she stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Never mind." Can't even tease someone with that. She tapped her chin thoughtfully while she considered what he said about this place. He was probably right that mirrors would be the key. "Maybe I could make a tracking spell based on the residual energy where we came in..." That might lead them back to a mirror that could take them back. One thing occured to her though. "We might not have much time. The mirrors started vibrating at a specific time. Before that they were just mirrors. That might imply they're only active at certain times."

[ask_whydunit]

Waver could at least read sarcasm better than other people could. It was pretty obvious what he thought about the statement alone, by the frown fixed in place and the roll of his eyes. Mojo was definitely someone that Waver would find annoying as all hell, and the idea of that kind of power was unsettling. Not a good time, in his opinion, not a good time at all. “Most people who consider themselves to be funny aren’t, in my experience.” Although that never stopped them from trying and grating on everyone’s nerves. “Remind me to make myself scarce if we ever hear that name come up on the network if we get out of here.” He added, shaking his head with a huff.

His eye twitched at the comment. Illayana was going to add to the stress lines between his eyes at this rate. One could almost name them after certain individuals at this rate. “Ha-ha… Honestly, if you ever run into him, I’d almost encourage you to mess with him freely. Might teach him a lesson he needed to learn sooner than I did.” He muttered, shrugging slightly. “5’1”, both hair and temper far shorter than my own…” Was the guy really giving her permission to piss off his younger self? Yes. He was a complicated guy, okay? He’d probably admonish himself if he had the chance to. Her question wasn’t a bad one though, and he ground his teeth. However he had gotten that much power was a point of concern. What kind of dumb-ass decision had he made in some other reality? “Considering my track-record, it can’t have been anything that was born of a good idea.” There was one other detail that stuck out to him as weird, but he wasn’t about to bring it up because that would result in a very personal conversation that he wasn’t ready to have.

The genuine compliment does get a slight glance, as if he was trying to read her for any hints of sarcasm. When he found none, he awkwardly brushed it off by focusing on the topic of this Belasco. Sure, compliments were nice, and hers was appreciated. His younger self would have preened under it, but he could only shove it down in an attempt to not get caught up in it and lose sight of what mattered at the moment. “Definitely sounds like the standard mage in my own world, then.” He huffed, shaking his head. They were a foolish lot, not that he couldn’t say he wasn’t foolish either, being one of them. “There are always people who would disagree, especially depending on the path to achieving the goal and the sacrifices in question.” Sacrifices could be quite necessary, although those made in the name of ‘the greater good’ could be a slippery slope… Another member of the grail war learned that the hard way, not that Waver had known about it at the time.

Waver’s annoyance eased slightly at the comment, if only because of the expression on Illyana’s face five seconds after she said it. The tease had backfired, and he’d take that for now. Face masked with indifference, there was at least a hint of amusement hidden behind a cough as he graciously turned his attention to the suggestion. “That could prove pretty convenient, actually. I’ve tried a few things with compounds I keep on me, but there’s too much muddying the readings in general.” There were traces of magic everywhere, so finding the right traces for a potential path were unlikely. “And if we’re on that kind of time limit, we should work quickly… I’m not keen to be here longer than we have to be.”

[soulsword]

"That's true. Bobby thinks he's funny all the time but he's really not that clever." Never tell him that though. She grinned. "If you ever saw Mojo you'd make yourself scarce even without my story about him. He's pretty gross." That's an understatement. A giant green spineless blob was probably more than just pretty gross. She scrunched her nose up briefly in disgust and then shook her own head as if she had to get the very image of him out of it. The X-Men had some really weird enemies. Really weird.

"Nah. It's never as much fun to mess with someone with permission." If he hadn't given her permission though? She might have. She was also probably just kidding there. "Though...the more you describe the more fun it sounds..." She wasn't kidding there. Everyone needed a hobby and hers seemed to be teasing people. It was weird, when she'd first gotten here a long time ago she hadn't really known how to act. Getting her soul back hadn't been some magical cure all that had gifted her with humanity and all the answers. Slowly though she felt more and more like what Illyana was supposed to feel like. She felt more like a teen super hero that fought in a costume by day and played truth or dare at night and less like a demon sorceress of Limbo. Sometimes

and he ground his teeth. However he had gotten that much power was a point of concern. What kind of dumb-ass decision had he made in some other reality? “Considering my track-record, it can’t have been anything that was born of a good idea.” There was one other detail that stuck out to him as weird, but he wasn’t about to bring it up because that would result in a very personal conversation that he wasn’t ready to have. "If I run into him, I'll let him know his other self gave me permission to do whatever I wanted. Then I'll ask him about the power. Maybe I'll tell you after I get an answer. If you're nice." Or maybe not.

In a way she'd almost have preferred him to ask about the compliment then to have focused on Belasco. There were few people she hated as much as that idiot. "He'd probably like your world then." Which meant she'd hate it. On principle. "The sacrifices were worth it. Besides, keeping Legion locked up wasn't really fair either. Really, what I did was heroic on two fronts!" Just ignore the part where freeing Legion meant lying to everyone, manipulating her own friends, and freeing Legion. Legion. The god-mutant able to re-write reality with a single thought. Seemed like a pretty great power until you factored in the other personalities inside of Legion, the ones that were definitely more than a tiny bit evil themselves. The last time he'd been free he'd nearly destroyed the universe. She'd been pretty sure that her plan to kill his bad personalities would work out for the best though. So far so good!

"I see that look." She narrowed her eyes at him briefly and then just sighed. Oh well, she'd done it to herself. He could be smug about it or whatever he wanted. Didn't bother her if her own joke had backfired on her. Nope. Not at all. "Guess I can give it a go. I don't have any of my supplies on me so I'll just have to tap into me. Tracking is white magic, it shouldn't be a big deal." She turned back to the door she'd just come through and plunged her sword through her own chest. The energy went back inside of her which freed up both her hands for use in a spell. She closed her eyes and muttered a few words, causing an iridescent white light with a blue hue to sparkle around the door. Wisps of light swirled around and then formed a faded line that just seemed to go in a circle for a few seconds.

"Oh...come on. You can't be that confused." Sure there was a lot of magic and energy around but...hmm. She concentrated a bit more and the energy split off into three different lines that seemed to lead in different directions deep into the fog. "I think that's the best I'm going to get. Either there's interference and all three will lead us nowhere or there's multiple exits or its a trap." All three were valid options but at least it gave them an idea of three different directions they could head in.

[ask_whydunit]

The more she hinted at about this Mojo person, the more Waver was quite sure he’d be happy to never meet them. They sounded utterly terrible, frustrating in ways he would rather do without. Even more than the people who tended to get under his skin, and that was saying something.

“Somehow, I feel as though I should have expected you to say that.” He responded, shaking his head at the notion. She would do what she wanted regardless of permission, though it was funny to think that she was happy to tease him without permission, but getting the go-ahead on the other him was more boring. Her follow up comment gets a shrug. He knew damn well that if she liked the reactions she got from him? The ones she got from his younger self would be hilarious for the woman. “Then do as you like if you do happen to meet him. If you tell him what I said, it’s not like he could do anything to me about it given we don’t seem capable of existing in the same place at the same time by the rules of the mirror.” So his younger self could bitch about it all he liked. It wouldn’t bother the man... Though knowing Waver’s luck, it would somehow backfire on him. “But if you do find out about how he managed that… Well, I’ll be interested in hearing.” If he could stay in her good graces and be ‘nice’ to earn it, at least.

The expression on Waver’s face was one of contemplation as she explained how heroic her decision had been. It was one side of the story, of course, and the name ‘Legion’ didn’t exactly inspire the best mental image. “A difficult decision by the sounds of it, if your friends didn’t agree… Was there a reason he was locked up in the first place?” The mage had the distinct feeling the answer was yes, and that it was probably not a bad reason… Then again, the mage association would happily put a sealing designation on someone with a valuable talent and secret them away the depths of the clock tower for ‘preserving’ them and their magic. A glorified way of putting the end of a mage’s career and becoming a part of a collection for study, more or less.

Waver nearly responded with ‘what look?’ but it was pretty obvious she was about as observant as he was. Some part of his mask had been imperfect and given away his amusement. “My apologies, then, for finding amusement when you hadn’t intended it.” He responded with a flat tone and a rise in his shoulders. But it was proof that the man could be amused, so that was something, right? Rare as it seemed to be, anyway. Waver fell silent though, as she agreed to at least try a tracking spell. Though the slight widening of his eyes as she plunged the sword through her chest and the energy returned to her. What. The. Hell? It had been obvious the sword was not a normal weapon by any means… But that was a particular talent that one didn’t see often. A spiritual weapon, perhaps? Phantasmal items were rare... It was just another thing to add to the pile that was ‘There is more to this woman than first expected.’

Clearing his throat a little, he tried to focus on the important details. The tracking spell, and the fact that it sounded like it wasn’t going nearly as well as she’d hoped. Another complication, it seemed… Like with his compounds, perhaps there was too much magic and energy to get an accurate read from even a spell. His eyes looked from one line to the next, frown more concerned than annoyed at the moment. “Three options, huh… Not ideal, but better than walking around blind. There being potentially three exits seems a bit lucky, but given how the mirrors work? We do have multiple entrances, so it might be similar for finding the exit.” They could hope, though, he would take even a dead end over a trap.

If they had a bigger group he’d consider breaking off into pairs to check each and save time… But there were only two of them, and he wasn’t fond of the idea of wandering around in this place alone if they didn’t have to. “Well, let’s pick one and if we hit a dead end, we can try another…” He’s not putting the ‘if it’s a trap we’re just screwed’ notion out into the universe. Whether it listened or not, it seemed a stupid thing to risk.

[soulsword]

"I like to think I'm unpredictable." Sometimes she was too. In fact, there were occasions she'd even surprised herself a few times. Then there were times that she seemed completely predictable. "Maybe he'll hold a grudge and figure out a way. You'll become his arch nemesis!" That sounded like something that would happen in her own world. Actually, she was pretty sure at some point an alternate version of someone had become the arch nemesis of another version. What a weird life she lived. "I knew you would be."

She shrugged and looked at him like it should be obvious. "Legion can rewrite reality on a cosmic scale. As a kid his psyche splintered into multiple personalities, each with their own powers and motives. Eventually he caused a lot of problems," that was the cliff-notes version. She put a palm up and shrugged her shoulder again. "He ended up traveling to the past and killing his own father on accident which led to a chain reaction that ended with a really bad alternate universe being made. It was called the Age Of Apocalypse." She paused for dramatic effect. "That should say how bad it was. It got fixed but they were still worried he'd do something like that again." She'd made sure that wouldn't be a thing though. It wasn't like she'd gone in blind. "I checked timelines." That was one of the only ways she could think of to solve her problem. And theirs. "I think they were more mad that I didn't tell them my plan than over me freeing him." But they'd have never gone along with it.

"Hmph," she said folding her hands over her chest. That was the only response he got there. Though she did see the widening of his eyes and seemed just a tiny bit pleased with herself. The sword was something special to her, something she took some degree of pride in. Not only was it rather unique even in her own universe, but it was a literal part of her, something she'd created despite the suffering she'd endured.

"If they are just three different exits then here's hoping they're not being guarded by some sort of mirror guardian. Or whatever this place calls things." Mirror guardian seemed kind of stupid, but so did this place. "You pick." That way, if it ended up being a trap, he could take the blame. Kind of her.

[ask_whydunit]

Waver would say he doubted his younger self had the capabilities for that, but the increase in magic did suggest there was a lot he didn’t know about this version of himself. “That sounds terribly melodramatic… So, knowing myself back then, I suppose that’s not outside the realm of possibilities.” He’d certainly been dramatic and foolish concerning Kayneth’s condescension and admonishments of his hard work, so why wouldn’t his younger self take offence to something his older self might have said or done? “If he figures out a way, though, perhaps something useful could come of it at least.” Then he might be impressed, at least a little.

“I can see how people would be worried in that case…” There were mages who could partition their minds and develop more than one personality for various benefits, or even cut away the ones getting in the way, but it was a rare thing. Adding in the rest of it? That made Legion incredibly dangerous, and he would have probably been sealed by the association if this were Waver’s world. At least if they had been able to catch him, a few mages were able to stay on the run for a while… Touko Aozaki had eluded a sealing designation long enough that it was rescinded and she was left to wander and pursue her craft freely. “Lucky for him that you were able to secure his freedom and the stability of the timelines, that sounds like you’re quite accomplished.” Translation: Powerful as hell. He’s glad they’re on the same side at the moment. “Some say it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission… I presume you didn’t share because you thought they’d stop you?” Still, it was a sticky situation. Sometimes a lack of communication could lead to more disaster, in the end. He would get pissed off with someone keeping a plan from him, after all. Though he could just as easily keep the specifics of one to himself and perhaps a small circle at most, if it were important enough.

Waver huffed at that, she just had to say that, didn’t she!? “While I can’t deny that is a possibility, at least our entry wasn’t followed by something jumping us…” And he really doesn’t want to deal with a fight, he’s not suited for it. A brow rose though, “If we do come up against something, I hope you’re prepared for a fight with very little assistance beyond an easy target.” She should at least already have gotten the notion that he didn’t have much power, if his younger self’s increased magic was that much of a surprise as Waver had suggested.

The offer gets a frown, and he felt his stomach starting to ache. This was going to be a nightmare, wasn’t it? “So kind of you to let me pick first.” He knew exactly why she would have suggested that, too. Sighing with a slightly tired, defeated tone, he pointed to the right. “Let’s go right first, and then we’ll backtrack if it’s unsuccessful.”

[soulsword]

"I can see you being melodramatic." She said it with a smile as she tilted her head back and forth in her own overdramatic way. A way that looked like she was studying him and then satisfied that she could in fact imagine it. "Guess we'll see if he's smart." Though Illyana hardly thought it h ad anything to do with being smart or not.

"Oh, I didn't secure the stability of the timelines. I just made sure mine didn't become the one I saw. In that one the Elder Ones were released and they destroyed our world. Everyone died. My brother and friends included." Adding that bit probably was pretty close to admitting that her big concern had been them more so than the world at large. "My teleportation doesn't just work between places. It also works through time." But not through alternate dimensions. "The timeline will probably still exist. That's how our universe works. But it'll be it's own thing now." It made more sense if you lived it. Even then it didn't always make too much sense. Time travel seemed to result in entirely new universes being created and left as they were whether or not you 'fixed' things or not. "Yes and now. I saw how that timeline unfolded. I knew they never would have trusted my plan, it had too many risks they couldn't see. If any part of the plan had gone wrong it could have resulted in a lot of deaths." Or even worse than just deaths. She shook her head though. "It wasn't just that though. I knew there were players involved on many sides. Our government had taken an interest in Limbo. Project Purgatory. A bunch of idiots that got stuck in Limbo where they didn't belong. They were after the amulet and they decided they would release the Elder Gods. There were demons involved, working with and against them. Too many variables." For her to have risked telling everyone her plan. There were too many people that could have found out and then all her work would have been ruined once again.

"Yet!" It could still happen. Surprisingly, her expression softened at that. "It wouldn't be fun if you died." Besides, she kinda...liked him in her own weird way. "I survived in Limbo alone. I can keep you alive and survive in this place. If worse comes to worse I can teleport you somewhere safer while I distract them." At least her teleporting seemed to work decently in this place. The only problem was she didn't know the place too well, so knowing where to send him would be a problem.

"Right can't be wrong, right?" She started to the right with a quick smirk back at him.

[ask_whydunit]

The lord huffed a little at that, folding his arms. “I was.” Was! Not still!… Even if he was still quite dramatic when pushed to his breaking point, or was tired, or ill, or… Well, he tried to be better than that, but some things never changed… He was just more reserved about when and where he showed it, mostly. The man wasn’t sure what to expect should his other self end up switching places, but he shrugged. “I suppose we will, if he ever ends up on the other side of the mirror.” Which was not something Waver planned to let happen. At least… not without an accident, or a very specific reason that forced his hand. Logically, if they needed extra firepower? It would make sense for him to bite the bullet and switch for a time. It would be foolish to put his own pride before other people’s lives, after all.

Waver was more interested, though, in Illyana’s continued explanation. It was a lot to take in, after all. The more she spoke, the more he realized there was so very much he hadn’t considered about the woman before now. He was at least familiar with the concept of branching timelines, of course. How they could run alongside one another or slip off with varied decisions and situations that happened in one but not the other? Before arriving here, though, and meeting the people or seeing the alternate version of himself in a mirror? He’d never really encountered a real example of it before. It was all theories and idle discussions about ‘what ifs.’ Funny, though, that one of his current cases also involved someone time travelling to alter and influence the world… But he didn’t know it as yet.

Finally he nodded, though, following along. “I see… Not everyone can appreciate being kept in the dark for their own sake, but sometimes it’s necessary to see a plan through.” It was a logical way to proceed. Sometimes the tactical advantage of a plan meant keeping certain people in the dark lest they jeopardize everything. The problem was when someone was smart enough to see the deceit going on and if they would point it out to everyone, or if they would rationally go with it and be mad later. Waver had been on both ends, and it was a pain no matter what. Huffing a little, he shook his head to hear the folly of the government in her world.

“People in power often make such ridiculous decisions, in my experience.” The association did that often enough. The spiritual tombs beneath London, the magecraft they had sealing designations placed on… The lords all sat on their little metaphorical thrones as though they were guiding the magical world where it needed to be. “Still, it’s quite a feat for you to have carried out an elaborate plan like that on your own.” He mused, clearly sounding a bit thoughtful and even a hint of being impressed in his tone. And… under that, a little jealousy and anxiety, having accepted his lot in life or not, it was still always a bit of a sting to be around people that much more powerful and capable than him.

“I wasn’t going to say it, but yeah…” He sighed, did she have to sound so chipper about that? Yet… He’d rather not think about the potential surprises around the corner, thanks ever so… But her comment that followed got small huff again and a slightly sarcastic tone at the mention of fun. “Of course it’s not. You can’t tease a corpse, for one.” Unless she was well-skilled in necromancy, perhaps.

Rubbing the back of his neck lightly, and sweeping his hair out of his face, he seemed at least a little relaxed (if not surprised) by the offer. “Oh yeah…?” He glanced at her curiously. “Well, thanks… I’ll count on you, then. Though I can at least promise to not walk headlong into the jaws of something without a damn good reason, I don’t intend to die easily either way.” So if she could handle surprises, he could try to stay out of the thick of it… Not that he wasn’t also prone to stepping between people if he saw Illyana at risk of dying herself. There were some odd conditions to his ‘I can’t die yet’ rule. He’s sure he could be forgiven if it was for someone else’s sake.

Frowning at the joke, he sighed. “Now you sound like one of my students… But something like that, at least until proven otherwise at the end of it.” He responded, starting to walk and keeping an eye on side streets as they passed them.

[soulsword]

"Seeming a bit melodramatic there." Did she have to say that? Nope. Was she going to let the opportunity to say it pass her by? Also a nope. Opportunities like this were fleeting, had to hit them while they were hot! "I hope he does. Then I'll get to meet him." Because she wasn't going to go over there unless something happened. Like her being pushed. Something like that. There was no way she was releasing the Darkchilde into this place. Not when she had people here she actually liked that would get completely screwed over. At least they had that in common, neither wanted to swap with their other self.

At least he seemed to be following a lot better than she expected normal people to. Maybe it helped that he didn't seem normal in any way at all. Or maybe it helped that he seemed like he was kind of a nerd that liked theorizing about things. "So you understand." She liked that. It was rare for people to understand and in all honesty, she actually found herself appreciative of that. There was even a hint of a smile on her face, a more genuine one rather than one that held a hint of malice or mischief. "They really do make dumb choices." She shrugged though. "I could have stopped them from the summoning but in order to stop the Elder Gods I needed them to complete it."

Which had also contributed to everyone being mad at her. People hadn't been happy that she'd let them continue with Project Purgatory and eventually summon them. There were some that realized that and held it against her. Understandably. From the start she'd been prepared to accept consequences. Revenge was what had mattered. Revenge and a side of knowing that if she didn't do it the people she'd once considered friends would all die.

"Is it? It took me a long time to figure it out." And a lot of animosity. "Impressive what revenge can fuel you towards. You'd think people would be happy we're rid of creatures like that. They'd have all died to them in the future." But nobody was ever satisfied.

"Exactly. You get it. I mean I probably could somehow...but that'd be dark." Too dark. At least he understood that it all came down to entertainment. Necromancy was possible, but not entertaining. "Good. I'll count on you to not get yourself into a bigger mess and also to not sacrifice yourself to try to help. Even if you think you have a reason. Piotr does that enough for everyone I've ever known." And it was way too annoying.

"Do I, well--" she stopped as a sound came from down a particularly dark alley they passed through. The sound of something squishy and large cluttering around. "Did you hear that?

[ask_whydunit]

Waver’s brow twitched, and it was clear he wanted to snap back at that… But to his credit, he bit the inside of his cheek instead and folded his arms to instead focus her follow up comment. “Short of me tripping through it, that’d be the only way he might make it over.” And he did not intend to let that happen again. He’d find some other way to cover the damn thing to avoid a repeat of tonight’s adventure. The only satisfying aspect of this was knowing that there had been no switch between himself and the other version of him.

“I can… Calculated risks are necessary at times, especially if there’s no other choice.” He shrugged. There were plenty of those made over the years. Although the stakes weren’t nearly as high, of course, and he hated being the one left in the dark… So it might be different if they were in a situation where it was better to keep things from him… But the point stood. “I’d say if our worlds have anything in common, it’s that and the fact that sometimes the things have a way of getting complicated.” Letting things get to a certain point in order to prevent something worse… Though that particular plan was very high risk… Definitely something he was glad for not having had to deal with himself. Handling Aozaki’s… thing… that she hadn’t made them entirely aware of until it was too late was bad enough.

Revenge and spite were particularly strong motivators, even if they were equally dangerous. That said, he frowns a little at the decision she’d clearly had to come to terms with. “It’s perhaps harder to appreciate what didn’t happen than be mad over what it took to get here.” The future that didn’t happen was easy to ignore in favour of the truth of the present, or something like that…

Somehow he believed she probably could find a way to tease him even in death, but there was some relief in the idea that she had a line concerning that… He wasn’t fond of the idea of being messed around with after death. He’d… seen quite enough of that in the Grail War and beyond, really. He opened his mouth to continue when she paused, cutting off his thoughts on the subject of self-sacrifice and apparently someone named Piotr in favour of her question. “Hm?” His brow narrowed, and he glanced in the direction she was looking.

Rather than answer immediately, the magus was silent and listened before finally nodding, his voice lowering some. “I did… I think we have company… It might not know we’re here yet-” No, it was aware of them, and the misshapen form dragged itself further into view before it seemed to pick up the pace once they were in its sights.

[soulsword]

"And that definitely never happened, right?" She gave him an innocent little smile, though even Illyana's best attempt at innocent came off a little...not. More than a little.

"Spoken from experience." It wasn't a question, but rather a firm assumption that she was correct there. Few people actually understood that and sometimes it was nice to think someone might. Even now she knew most of her fellow teammates would never fully get why she'd felt she needed to take the risks she had. Desperation could cause a lot of unpleasant things for people and more often than not it brought out the worst in them. "Everything always gets complicated for us." For just a moment she sounded as young as she actually was. There was a mixture of both tiredness and bitterness in the statement that betrayed someone that was far too used to thinks getting messy and complicated. Nothing ever seemed to just be simple.

"It shouldn't be for us. We all know about alternate universes and timelines." So logically it should be easy to appreciate someone trying to change it. But she supposed it came down to them being angry she left them in the dark.

Her eyes narrowed and a slow wide smirk began to tug at her the edges of her lips as the thing came moving faster in their direction. "Oh, it knows," she said as she pulled the sword out of her chest. With one fluid motion she raised it into the air as a makeshift light source, which only seemed to make the shadow rush at them faster. Rather than letting it finish closing the distance she made a leap towards it, slashing the sword down through a part of it and chunking off a piece of black gelatinous...something. Whatever it was disappeared once it was separated from it's main body and then it lunged at her only for her to teleport above it. She came down from above slamming the sword straight through it.

"That was no challenge." At least as long as there was only one.

[ask_whydunit]

“... Right. Of course not.” He lied, like a great big liar, as he pointedly looked away from that too innocent expression of hers that definitely suggested something other than innocence.

“Indeed, though I would say the stakes were hardly the same compared to your own situation.” He responded with a shrug to confirm her assumption. Risking one’s own skin to get out of a bad situation is different from saving an entire timeline, certainly. The shift in her tone actually gets a slightly surprised glance from the professor, brows furrowing lightly at the obvious shift in her voice and the weight there. It gave a small glimpse of something under the usual demeanor she wore… “By your descriptions of your world and what happens there since we’ve met, I can see that… It’s no wonder you’re not accustomed to boredom.”

Waver backed up a few more steps as Illyana launched an attack on the creature. Clearly, she moved with all the grace of someone who was used to combat. His eyes following the arc of her sword as it slashed at the creature once and then again as she teleported and descended upon it from above. The skills of those around him never failed to impress him, really, and it was hard sometimes to not wonder how these things worked in other worlds. But for the moment, his attention was on the shadow as it succumbed to the attack and disappeared.

He sighed lightly, shaking his head at her comment. “No offense, but I’d rather no challenge than a challenge in this situation.” The mage said, speaking too soon as usual as something dark slammed into him and sent him tumbling to the ground of the alleyway. A couple more shadows seemed to have been attracted to the mouth of the side street with all the commotion from Illyana’s fight.

[soulsword]

"Ohh, now that's more like it," she said with a large grin as she held her sword up to judge the situation. A few more shadows had joined the fight, one even sending Waver on a tumble that caused Illyana to just shake her head.

"Hey, shadows, pick on someone your own size," she said as loudly as she could to the creatures. At least it seemed to get their attention away from her companion for the time being. A few more had come out now, moving to cut off all forms of escape for the two of them. Fighting directly would only result in harm potentially coming to Waver while she couldn't look so magic it would have to be. She began to chant a few words under her breath and a strange sort of heat began to swirl around her. Two serpents rose from the heat, each made of hellfire and each slithering out in an opposite direction towards the groups of shadows. Hellfire wasn't like normal fire, it held no elemental power and instead damaged directly with the dark energy of Limbo itself. Illyana directed the snakes out with her hands sending them to wrap around the shadows, engulfing them in tornado of flames.

The expended dark energy resulted in horns appearing on her head as she tried to pull the fire back after it had done it's job of ridding them of their Shadowy enemies. More would come with the show she was putting on but she wasn't entirely certain if the correct move would be to stand their ground here.

"Come. We need to leave before more arrive."

[ask_whydunit]

For once, Waver wasn’t particularly focused on the details around him. Normally he’d be watching intently, impressed by another’s magical abilities and trying to work out just how they worked in his head. Instead, the mage remained where he’d been knocked down by the shadows attacked, head down as some unspeakable weight settled on his shoulders and clouded his usual quick thoughts and attempt at coming up with a tactical plan of attack to assist or guide from the sidelines.

Where the man was usually known for being stubborn in the face of what seemed like hopeless struggles and not letting his many insecurities and inferiority complex keep him down, he couldn’t quite push them from his mind and pick himself up off the ground. Clenching a fist, he tried though, frowning severely at himself even as he felt the rather impressive hellfire snakes attack wrapping around the shadows.

It wasn’t until their attackers were engulfed in flame and reduced to nothing but dissipating puddles of shadow that he managed to raise his head as the weight finally lifted from his mind. Blinking slightly, he shook his head before his eyes fell on Illyana and a brow raised. “You’ve got horns…?” Stumbled out a bit awkwardly first, before what she said connected a moment later and he forced himself back to his feet with a small groan. “Right… We should, would rather, not tempt fate further if we can.” He muttered and did his best to ignore the blood stains soaked into his clothes from falling into the street. Great… Now he looked like he’d murdered someone.

Once he had his bearings enough to start walking again, he offered an awkward glance to his companion again. “And thanks, by the way.” He does know how to thank people for saving his ass, after all.

[soulsword]

"Oh? You don't say, what a new development," she narrowed her eyes at him at the comment about her horns. One comment was all it took to ruin the good mood she'd been in from the fight. If asked she'd insist that she didn't care if he saw her horns, but that wouldn't be the truth. There was always a part of her that hated when people she might actually sort of potentially care about saw that part of her.

"And you have blood stains all over you. From falling." So which was really worse? Probably horns but hey, she felt the need to say something back. She began to walk at his side, keeping a tight grip on her sword just in case more appeared.

"I'll keep a note on you owing me."