Jack was continuing to think that this was a really bad idea in general. Being in Selene's home, especially since at the moment it didn't seem like she knew that he was there. There was a few different things that could happen, he could just go and talk to Selene directly, that was an option he's had since the beginning. Or he could go look at the weird bookcase that kind of is obvious in the fact that it probably has a secret or something tied to it. He was a bit curious as to what was going on with it, and he was the type to go investigate those sort of things.
So, naturally he went to the bookcase and pulled out the one book that wasn't covered in dust.
The shelf shifted almost instantly, and a moment later, a doorway opened up, revealing a secret passageway. "...Well isn't this a bit ominous?" he muttered under his breath, before stepping through the doorway, and following the passage downward. He ended up in what obviously was an evil lair of sorts. There were a lot of skulls and candles everywhere, and a weird book that was covered in shadows and shimmering in a sort of way. "...And I thought my father typically had the evil lairs thing down to a science, seriously?"
Location: Hellfire Bay Skills: N/A
She couldn't help but laugh a little bit about the whole one second it took Ellie to make up her mind to join her and take a break. Ellie always was like that in general, so that did make some sense. Her attention turned towards Mongoose, when she made her comment about what bitches were really, and she thought of how best to answer her question with regards to it. Eventually, she decided on a simple answer, "How about I tell you when you're older," she said to her.
"Let's get going then," she said with a smile, before leading the way away from Hellfire Bay. "How have you been lately Ellie? Figured you were probably getting a little bit bored or whatever with just helping them out all day, so that's why I headed over," she said to her, still keeping a bit of a hold on Mongoose to ensure that the little girl didn't wander off or something, which knowing her luck is what the girl likely would try and do.
Location: House of M Skills: N/A
"Well, I um..." Zari started to say, clearly trying to find the best words to explain how she was able to summon up a horse that she supposed to most normal people was a thing straight out of a legend. The one thing she remembered was how long it had more or less taken people to fully understand what she always said about being half-Asgardian. Actually to the rest of the Underground group, she had been very blunt, and told them straight off the bat and never fully hid it, or at least she told Veil straight away, and eventually told the others straight away. Wasn't exactly her fault no one really took her seriously about it.
"Well, you see, last time I tried to explain this to people most didn't believe me fully and didn't seem to think it believable. So how I summoned Mr. Sparkles was with this, my Horn of the Valkyrie, a magical item crafted on Asgard," she commented, holding up her horn now, before putting it back fully into her bag. "Now, as to how come I have the horn, that's a bit more complicated. See as I am a mutant and hold the x-gene... Well... Um... I'm not... Human... In the slightest. My dad's a light god from Asgard, my mom is a mutant. I'm half-alien I guess is how most normal people say it, though also I guess half-god depending on the people you are dealing with. Think the term is demigod really? Anyway that's how come I have Glowstick too! Glowstick is an Asgardian sword, and my skills with it well were because I actually trained with the Valkyrie, hence that's the name I chose here. Um... I don't really have any of the fancy armor myself or whatever that a lot of Asgardians have, at least not yet anyway. Nor the strength most people associate with them, I do still have the durability, so I'm not that easy to kill because of it. Sorry for not explaining this sort of thing sooner... Just... It's kind of a farfetched thing that not many people believe," she ended up explaining, having rambled a bit with her explanation, but got to the point eventually. Her attention turned towards what he had said with regards to the fight. "I was still in training when I left... I never made the calls or tried to determine what best course of action in a fight... I have the skills for fighting and was raised with that, but trying to lead or come up with the best course of action in a fight isn't exactly something I know how to do well..."
“I’ll keep you safe from the big bad doctors, don’t worry.” James teased, wrapping his arm around Casper as they made their way into the hospital. James could feel his mood drop a little. It hadn’t been that long ago he was walking through these doors just to look at the faces of his frozen friends. It was reflexive now, the tightening in his chest, the involuntary swallow, the first stutter in his stride as they crossed the threshold, a permanent reminder of how dire the circumstances were barely months early etched into the very walls of these halls.
But now James could clutch Casper a little tighter, soak in the warmth of his boyfriend standing next to him, and remind himself that they’d figured it out, that everyone was out and living their lives, building a better tomorrow for each other. His apprehension wasn’t a warning, it wasn’t ominous, it was just a habit and he forced himself to relax. He steered Casper to the receptionist, hoping the Doctor wasn’t busy. “Good morning. We adopted one of the children orphaned after the attack and we were told that Doctor Nemesis was the one who cared for them during their time in the hospital. Is he busy at the moment? I wanted to see if he did any check ups or had any documentation on them before I have him scheduled for a check up.”
David nodded, smiling at Harry. "Got it - well, whenever you want to tell her, I'd be happy to be that third person - unless, you wanted to have one of the clones be your third person," David teased. "We can stay here as long as you like. I wish I could say time moved differently, but I'm really bad at remembering things I've read, so I haven't really been able to compare the times... Also I have a terrible attention span," David laughed a bit, before ruffling up Harry's hair. He was so giddy. He'd never been this close to someone before - he had never imagined that someone like Harry would even be remotely interested in someone like him.
The Green Lagoon...
"What do you want?" Marrow asked instantly. She smirked ever so slightly and Sunshine rolled her eyes, shoving her wife playfully. "Be nice," Sunshine insisted. There was no denying that Sunshine was incredibly happy whenever Marrow was around. She had spent her life searching for a place to belong and for someone to belong to, and she finally had it, here on Genosha. She felt safe and loved. The only tragedy was that not everyone she loved was there to experience it - that brought a certain hollowness to Sunshine's smile, a terrible grief in her eyes, the weariness of her young soul.
"What do you want, though?" Sunshine then asked a bit bluntly. She didn't mean it in any sort of aggressive or anti-social way however. She just tended to be a bit blunt at times, for better or for worse. Here, she was pretty certain that Callie had come over to ask them something, especially as Sunshine could see Veil heading on over to where Echo and Legion were standing. "Did something happen? Does someone need their ass kicked?" Sunshine then asked, her eyes narrowing a bit.
Meanwhile, Blob had been pulled away due to the lunchtime rush - but had mentioned that he was, in fact, at least roughly familiar with graverobbing. Apparently Magneto had made him do it once before, back when he worked with the Brotherhood. There was a certain sadness in Blob's eyes as he talked about that time in his life - perhaps as he dwelled on the person he had once been, back when he hadn't had another choice, another option - back when society had pushed him onto that path of violence.
Veil had walked on over to Legion and Echo, raising an eyebrow at the two. "Hello? Harry? David?" Veil called out. She tilted her head as there was no response. Veil waved her hand in front of their faces - nothing. They were still breathing, so she was fairly sure that they weren't dead. She wasn't panicking - not yet, at least. This was probably some sort of weird psychic thing that was going on. If her brother was in trouble or getting hurt though...
No, Veil decided that couldn't have been the case. She took Harry's pulse. He was calm, relaxed. And breathing normally. "Are you two mind fucking? In the middle of the Green Lagoon?" Veil then asked, huffing slightly. "I don't know why I asked that. It's clear you can't hear me. And now I look like I'm insane... Great..."
Then suddenly, Legion began to move. "Oi, luv, get your bloody hand out of me face," Legion said in a thick Cockney accent, his posture changing entirely, his hands going onto his hips.
"What have you done with my brother?" Veil then asked pointedly. "Undo it, whatever it is, or I'll go get a telepath who can."
"I'm not the one doin' it, so I can't - sorry, luv," Legion said with a shrug. "Davie's the one in charge of the telepathy."
Outside the Hospital...
The receptionist looked almost sorry for James and Casper. "He's, uh... He's having a moment... But... He's in there," the receptionist then said, getting up and heading over to a door. She knocked on the door and opened it. "Doc Nemesis? You've got some people here to see you about--"
Nemesis then darted out of the room, wriggling vines attached to his head where his hair should have been. The top of his head was somehow see-through as well - to Casper, it looked like glass. Casper's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, as he realized they could see Nemesis' brain through the glass dome, and that the wriggling plants seemed to penetrate the dome, burrowing into the fleshy pink orb. "Uhh... Is that... I don't want to be rude and be like, why do you have a snake-weed-brain thing but.... why do you have a snake-weed-brain thing?" Casper asked, absolutely gobsmacked.
Casper then put his hand over baby Daniel's eyes. He was pretty sure the baby didn't need to see whatever was going on with Nemesis' head. Casper debated covering his own eyes as well, but decided against it. He'd seen a lot of weird shit in his life - at least half of it, he had to admit, likely something he had hallucinated but still, he'd seen some things.
"Science, my dear boy!" Nemesis exclaimed. "Now, what the devil do you two want? Does your baby need an X-gene grafted onto it?" he then asked. "I have a viable sample of gamma level telepath if you're interested - just strong enough to catch the vibes of what someone's thinking, excellent for learning social cues, but not enough that they can really get under the hood and tinker around with the brain."
"Uhh.... We're here for, like, uh... medical files?"
And as if on cue, poor baby Daniel started to cry! :(
The Rebuilt House of M...
Magneto nodded at Andy's question. "You may practice anywhere here in the House of M - if you wish to practice elsewhere, there are designated areas at the Akademos for young mutants learning about how to better utilize their powers... even those that are considered dangerous," Magneto explained. "I would recommend investing in a rubber suit - and perhaps avoiding sparring with Rain Boy for now," he then said, the smallest twinkle of a smile on his lips. He was amused with his own little blunt joke.
He then fell silent, listening to what Valkyrie had to say. Magneto had given up on religion a long time ago, so talk of Asgard and whatnot didn't bother him. "Hmm. Remarkable. It goes to show the power of mutant genes, that we can combine with the gods... Well, we are gods - the gods of the Earth. Humanity would do well to learn that." But he more or less took Zari's words at face value. After all, his daughter Wanda had a lot of nasty business with the god Chthon, it wasn't the first brush with the divine someone in his family tree had had.
Blackstone...
Oh, this little witch lair wasn't just ANY ordinary witch lair. It was Selene's lair, complete with her personal copy of the Darkhold. The book would have a draw to it almost, as if it were whispering into Jack's mind, tempting him to open it up and read. But if that wasn't interesting enough, Jack would see a photograph of him placed on the altar, along with what had been a lock of his hair. What the hell was Selene doing with that? The photograph was covered in dust, so it clearly hadn't been used in a while, but still... weird, right?
Hellfire Bay...
"I'm older noooooow! What's it mean?" Mongoose asked. She was mildly interested in learning about that word, as everything else was pretty boring so far. She didn't get why grownups insisted on talking about boring things all the time, instead of cool things, like sea witches or zombie dragon unicorn fairies. Mongoose looked around the scenery as they walked, dragging her feet ever so slightly. She was already bored out of her mind.
"Eh, been better - Flower Child's having a hard time sleeping since it all happened, so naturally, I haven't been getting much sleep at all," Renegade admitted. "She's playing with a friend right now, thank god, because I needed a break. Sooo naturally they put me to work, yay me... What about you? How's Erik?"
Wales...
Pixie's wings fluttered as she stepped lightly on through the portal. Once through, she spread her arms out and flew upwards in a spiral, greeting her homeland with an ecstatic squeal. "Ugh, I know I can go home whenever, but I still miss this place every time," she admitted, coming down to hover a bit above the ground. She wiped a few tears that had formed away. "Ooo, California rolls, my fav. How'd you know?" Pixie teased, before popping a piece into her mouth. "You're fucking talented, Max," she then said sincerely.
Pixie then paused, looking out at the landscape again. "I know I'm supposed to help you with something, but I gotta ask... Do you ever, like, feel like there's something else inside of you? Something scary?" Pixie asked, turning her pitch black eyes to look at him. "Like you're, like, cursed or something?"
You can use a magic ritual of three to attempt mutant resurrection, provided you can recover their body. You will only be able to bring back one mutant at this time. At the conclusion of the RP, you may attempt to resurrect other mutants. (I will say that not everyone will be resurrect-able, so you'll have about 2-3 resurrections allotted to you.)
Select who you would like to attempt resurrection on and let me know on the Discord - I think the easiest thing to do would be to collab the resurrection ritual and post it as the 'end' of this chapter.
Callie looked over at Marrow being a little bit blunt which she smiled slightly she did like that a little bit as she decided to sit down across from the two of them. Seeing Sunshine punching her wife's shoulder playfully was cute to see and she was glad that she had found someone to be with. Callie really hadn't found anyone to settle down with really and working with the Underground all the time she really didnt have the time to actually date anyone. But now that they had a place here like Genosha maybe she'd find someone at some point, before turning her attention back to Sunshine and Marrow. She took a moment and looked around the room seeing those around her were busy waiting for their food during the lunch rush.
"Well we are defintely going to need a little bit of muscle if the two of you want to come, have you two ever been to New Orleans?" Callie asked the two of them before leaning forward, so that way that no one else would really listen in on their conversation. "Max, Veil and I may have found a way to bring back those that we have lost. It may or may not work though, but we are going to try it out on Ben to see if it'll work." Callie said she wasn't going to hide that information from them, she wasn't sure if this was actually going to work or not, but she was willing to try it. They could bring back Cayden, Kristina even Waverly if they are able to get in contact with them from the other side. "If you don't want to come i'll understand as well to." Callie told both Marrow and Sunshine.
Location: House of M Skills: Enhanced Reflexes (passive)
Andy nodded, to what Magneto suggested. That would work. She considered how she would get a rubber suit. It wasn't a rush, but she would want one soon. She listened to Zari closely. She knew bits of Zari's past, but this time Zari gave more information in one go than she had so far. She chewed her lip thinking as she spoke.
What he said in response though made her uncomfortable. She didn't like the idea of thinking of herself as a god just because she had power beyond what non-mutants could do. Jamie came to mind reminding her to be humble. That even though she was skilled in the ring that didn't put her above the people she fought. She kept her thoughts to herself.
"Most of my fighting training was in the boxing ring. Like you, I don't have any training in how to lead." Andy smiled, trying to let Zari know she didn't think it was a fault for not knowing how. Andy had never had a group. She wanted to learn how to work in a group. That didn't mean she wanted to lead the group.
Location: Akademos > Wales Skills: Basic Spellcraft, ConjurationNew Outfit
As Pixie fluttered upwards towards the sky, Max sat down in the soft grass, looking up towards her as he felt the sea side breeze rushing past them. The weather here was vastly different from back in the states, or at the very least from the ones Max had been in. For once he'd finally understood what people meant when they said the weather greeted them. It wasn't a harsh hit in the face of heat nor did it have suffocating humidity. The sun seemed more gentle, the breeze just as so, giving a warm comfortable atmosphere to their surroundings. Daring Max to take a nap.
He closed his eyes for a moment, letting himself relax for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. Smiling as Pixie continued to flatter him with compliments. "Who doesn't love a good California Roll? So…a lucky guess really. Or maybe, I'm just that perceptive." He teased her. Her next question took him by surprise. He opened his eyes, sitting forward now with his elbows rested on his lap. Hands laced as he tried to figure out how to answer the question.
"Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not as talented as everyone says I am. Sometimes…sometimes I wonder if it's even me doing the magic. When I first began to use my powers, really use my powers, I heard a voice inside my head, telling me how. I'd lose control at times, lose my temper or even just panic and my powers would go haywire. Things manifesting beyond my control. Nowadays I just wing it, I try not to think about it as much, afraid of what the answer might be. Sometimes I wonder if I'm even a mutant at all. I heard tales of a powerful artifact capable of rewriting reality to its users' whim. I've often wondered if perhaps I was touched by it, infected, it would explain my powers and how wide they are."
Max took a breath, staring out over the Cliffside towards the sea as he thought about it all before going back in. "James likes to remind me of the fact that I essentially warp reality to my will. Saying how amazing it is, though I can't help but wonder if the two are connected. It's kind of one of the things I wanted to talk to you about today. In terms of my soul staff and how it came to be." The question lingered on his tongue, thoughts of those red gems Pixie had mentioned plaguing him. Why didn't he have those? And what did it mean not to?
Echo
Location: Green Lagoon / Astral Plane Skills:
Harry cracked a half cocked smile as David joked about using a clone as a third. He'd used his clones in a variety of ways, but never really saw one of them as a mediator for conversations. If anything Barry would be good at it, but it could seem biased if it involved well…himself? "Of Course you'd be the third person. After all, I think it'd be very important for the one I'm dating to be present when I announce it to my twin sister." He stuck his tongue out at David teasing him a bit as he rambled on about his inability to keep track of time or the things he's read. "Wait? Did you read about all this? The Astral Plane, projecting, and well…everything? Where do you even get that kind of material?" As soon as he asked he figured Xavier's most likely had something on it. And if they didn't, they'd find a way to develop it.
There was a shimmer in Harry's Astral self, as if he was being informed of something happening back in the Material Plane. The Blue aura had faded away from the spectrum of colors that shifted with his heartbeats. Back in the Green Lagoon Barry took a sharp breath, his eyes widened for a moment before taking in his surroundings. "Val? David? I. Ok this is new." He looked at both of them more than a bit confused about this new development. [b]I've never been without Harry around and I don't think he called me."[/color] It took Barry a moment but it clicked that David's new accent wasn't his typical one, meaning that it was one of the alters. [b]"Ooooooh. You must be one of the others, I'm sorry I don't know your current name. Mines Barry and uh…How did this happen?"[/color] He extended his hand out to Legion for an introductory shake while smiling at Veil.
Everything in this lair of sorts was beyond strange to him, of course, the altar drew his attention, and after a few moments, he headed over to it, in order to maybe determine what it was used for. That sort of thing, well, it wasn't plainly obvious since it dealt with magic and all. One thing was obvious, was that it was some sort of spell that involved him, that much was obvious, but he wasn't entirely sure what that spell was, at least right at the moment anyway. Who really knew what sort of thing this was for or something.
His mind started to wander, towards the book that was currently sitting there, and he swore he heard it talking to him, asking him to go and read it. Despite knowing this likely was a bad idea, Jack went over and opened up the book. It was the weirdest thing, but despite the book being written in some strange language, he could understand everything that was written in the book. It had flipped open to a spell that seemed to be about retrieving souls from the afterlife, and seeing that, everything clicked into place. His father had more or less created a body, while Selene used her magic to bring his soul from the afterlife, or something like that. It was insane to think about, and truthfully, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to think more about how he was still alive more then he already had.
Location: Hellfire Bay Skills: N/A
"Older as in after a few years," she responded to Mongoose, before listening to Ellie as she explained where Flower Child was. She contemplated for a moment, before looking at Mongoose, "If you're getting bored, you can go run around and play for a little while if you want to, or you can stay with me at the moment, it's up to you. You sound like you're getting a bit bored," she said, giving the girl a bit of a smile, before looking at Ellie, as she contemplated how best to answer her questions.
Miranda was a bit unsure how best to respond to the "How's Erik" question, considering how things were going. She couldn't exactly blame James or Max for the entire thing of what had happened, but the fact that neither of them seemed to have realized that, was not really helping with the entire thing. "Erik... He's been avoiding me lately, and has more or less not talked to me for a little while at this point," she admitted to her friend, truthfully, she wasn't sure what she could say or do to potentially fix that entire mess at this point. Of course, there was a lot to discuss about it, but there wasn't much she could do right now.
Location: House of M Skills: N/A
Zari wasn't too sure what to think with regards to Magneto's reaction to what she had said. Honestly, she was a bit surprised that he seemed to accept it without hesitation, whereas most people she told needed a bit more convincing with regards to everything. "Yeah, our home always was a bit strange compared to most other places too, cause my mama's an engineer, but because of where we lived, there also was a bunch of Asgardian things in our home, so it did seem a bit strange to many, when there was a mixture of Asgardian, or I guess some people would describe that as Norse sort of, belongings, with a bunch of robots and engine parts," she explained simply with a shrug.
"I never saw us as gods... Especially since I kind of was always the weaker one around where I grew up because I only seemed to inherit the durability and not the super strength that most Asgardians have... And I guess some people would say mutants were like the gods on Earth. But honestly, there is still a limit to that. Since most people would consider gods to be immortal, but Asgardians can die, people can die, so in my opinion there aren't really any gods... Just people." That sort of was her take on everything. She didn't see anyone as a god, just people with various forms of strength and abilities. "Don't discount people who seem like they might not be as strong or as powerful, they might surprise you."
James regretted this entire decision. The second he saw pity, he wanted to cut her off, apologize for the inconvenience, and forget about possible medical files. But no, he wasn’t fast enough. Nemesis came barreling out looking like a B grade horror monster which sent Damien, like any reasonable chid, into tears because what the fuck? If the doctor was busy, he could have just said so rather than barging out here like the science experiment he was. And now Damien was crying and Casper probably would get overwhelmed if how worried he was at just holding their son. This was a terrible idea.
“We’re absolutely not letting you fu- fudge with our son like that. We just wanted to know if you did any check ups or had any information on the children left behind after the attack so we didn’t accidently kill them or something.” James snapped in response to the Doctor’s offer. He turned to Casper who was at least shielding Daniel from seeing anymore of this disaster. “Why don’t you rock him while you walk around a little bit? I’ll deal with the Doctor for now if you want to try and calm him down.” James suggested, pressing a kiss to his boyfriend's cheek.
David looked uncomfortable as Harry asked him how he learned about all of these things. Much like his brother, Casper, David hadn't had the best of childhoods. But unlike Casper, David couldn't directly blame Professor X for forcing him to learn too much too fast - for David, the issue ultimately came down to Professor X's neglect and inaction. "Oh, um... I was possessed by the Shadow King," David mumbled. "Thrown into an asylum for over a decade... Then Da finally realized what was happening and him and his X-Men got rid of the Shadow King... but kept me in the asylum... So didn't really read about this stuff, more of... learned through what the Shadow King tried to make me do."
The Green Lagoon...
Marrow didn't know whether to laugh or yell when Spark Plug casually mentioned that they were going to raise the dead. "Isn't that sort of thing just for X-Men - y'know, the pretty, famous mutants?" Marrow scoffed, deciding on attitude as a response. Most mutants were at least somewhat aware of Jean Grey's death and resurrection. A few bone marrow growths appeared on Marrow's back, a sign of her agitation.
"How are you doing it? Are you sure it'll work? No offense, but Max's specialty is destruction, not exactly resurrection or creation..." Sunshine questioned. She did want to believe that it could work. And despite her misgivings, she could feel hope rising up in her chest. Maybe it would work. But the most pessimistic part of her was afraid it would just be another case of Max promising something huge and instead starting a huge fire.
"And no offense, but won't Ben's corpse be, like... gross as shit? Can you even put someone back inside that?" From what Sunshine recalled, Ben had been dead for a while - like years. That probably meant that his body had mostly decayed by this point (or at least, that was Sunshine's opinion, not that she was any sort of medical authority or whatnot). Even if it didn't work though... Sunshine did miss New Orleans. Not the New Orleans from this world, but from the other one - the one Wanda had made.
Meanwhile, Veil felt like she was in some sort of fever dream. She opened her mouth, about to ask her brother if he was high, before she closed it again. They were on an island filled of mutants and her brother seemed to be hanging out with one of the most unstable yet powerful ones. Anything was possible here. "Barry, what the fuck is going on?" Veil said, her voice as calm as she could make it - but still carrying an edge of tension to it.
"Ooo, my name's Barry too!" Legion exclaimed, giggling slightly. "I'm chuffed to officially meet ya," Legion said, shaking Barry's hand. Legion then held a hand out to Veil and Veil stared, before gingerly taking the hand and shaking it. She felt like she was losing her mind. "Like I been saying, I'm not the one wit' the telepathy - that's Davie."
Veil's left eye twitched slightly. "I see," she said, gritting her teeth a bit.
Outside the Hospital...
"Uhh... yeah, yeah I can do that!" Casper said, still a little bit stunned/overwhelmed at the sight of Doc Nemesis. He knew that people could become mad scientists, but even this seemed a little excessive. When he thought of mad scientists, Casper pictured people making explosive solutions from mixing chemicals together - or Reed Richards getting into a Twitter feud with Tony Stark. He didn't picture someone making their brain into a little Medusa of sorts, with wriggling green things coming out of it.
Casper had to shake his head slightly, in order to pull his thoughts mentally away from what was going on with Nemesis. "We'll be... well, here," he promised James, shifting his grip slightly on baby Daniel, before humming Smells Like Teen Spirit in an effort to try to calm the crying baby down as Casper walked down the hallway, away from Nemesis, James, and the receptionist.
"Hey, hey, no sweat off my back!" Nemesis said, holding his hands up. "I figured I would be nice and offer, but I'm not going to just go around modifying babies. I'm not a monster - and that's more Essex's style anyways. Records, hmm... Do we have records on the kids?" he asked, looking at the receptionist for a moment. She nodded her head.
"Great! Go ahead and take a look, I'm sure they're organized somewhat logically," Nemesis said with a shrug. "Bee, do you mind showing him?"
"Of course," Bee, the receptionist said, getting up from her seat and motioning for James to follow her, leading him to the records room nearby. It wasn't very far. Bee unlocked the door. "If we have anything, it'll be in here..." The room was poorly lit, with about four massive filing cabinets, with drawers labeled with the symbols for omega, alpha, beta, and gamma.
The Rebuilt House of M...
A shadow fell over Magneto's face, as Valkyrie reminded them that mutants were not immortal - that their people were destined to die, often in tragedy. "One day, mutants will conquer death," Magneto swore. He knew of several mutants who already had immortality as a functional part of their being - namely Externals like Selene. "There already exists a mutant Coven who can never truly die - who return to us each time. It is my wish that all mutants join a circle such as that one day - that our lives will no longer be something to be stolen from us."
He then fell silent for a moment. The topic had gotten heavy. And as dramatic as Magneto was, his heart was weary - he ached for the loss his people had experienced, of the genocide committed against Genosha. "On the matter of leadership, the best way to gain skills in leading is by doing. Perhaps as part of our new Brotherhood, you two might recruit others and lead them, learning to work as a team and how to command."
Blackstone...
"The Darkhold really is a page-turner, isn't it, Jacques?"
The door to the witch lair closed all of the sudden, and if he were to turn around, Jack would see Selene there. She was wearing an elegant black dress, with a scarlet choker with ruby gems decorating the front. The overall vibe was ~vampire chic~ which, for Selene, was pretty normal. The odd thing would be that in one hand, she was holding a skull - it was definitely a human skull, and it didn't seem to be 'fresh' or anything. But yup, she was holding an emotional support skull. "Nero and I had a passionate night together after I let him borrow my copy for a spell - that, and he brought me a praetor for a snack. Ambition is such a sweet seasoning in a man; but the bitter realization they have that they're going to die, never making consul? Now THAT is divine."
"Which does bring me to you... I could eat you - but I'm still a bit full from all the souls I devoured during the attack. I could let you go - you haven't learned anything that everyone doesn't already know. Or I could take you as my dark apprentice - the last girl I taught didn't work out."
Hellfire Bay...
Purple Mongoose didn't need to be told twice that she could go off and play. Hearing grownups talk was pretty boring and she had a very small attention span. Plus, she could defy gravity - so naturally, Mongoose started walking up the trees, looking a bit like Spider-Man, as her feet just seemed to stick to the trees perfectly. She didn't even need to bend her back or anything, her posture was perfect, as if the entire world was just slightly rotated.
"Ah hell, what's goin' on with you two?" Renegade asked Moneta. She didn't really know what might be going on there. If she had to guess, maybe Magneto was having some trauma response due to the attack Genosha had just suffered - after all, he had been a young boy during the Holocaust and had been forced to experience the genocide of his people. The attack on Genosha hadn't been easy on anyone - but Renegade could imagine it being especially difficult for Erik to process. "Do I need to parent-trap you two back together?"
Wales...
Pixie didn't seem too phased by Max's suggestion that he might not have been a mutant after all. "I'm only half-mutant myself," Pixie said with a shrug, popping another California roll into her mouth. She spoke while chewing her food, not exactly the picture of decorum or grave. "My mum's a fairy," she added in a very matter-of-fact tone. She did hesitate though as Max turned the conversation to his soul staff. Pixie didn't want to talk about this stuff. She didn't like thinking about what had happened to her in Limbo - how she had been hurt by someone she thought was her friend, tricked into defiling her soul.
"You need to pinky swear that this stuff stays between you and me, kay?" Pixie said, extending a pinky to Max. She then sighed slightly. "People like us, we can sometimes... manifest these weapons, the purest extensions of our souls. My sorta-friend-sorta-enemy Magik manifested a sword, I manifest a dagger," Pixie's souldagger then appeared in her hands, a small blade of shimmering light, "and you manifest a staff... It's a part of your soul broken off from the rest. But it's not the only part. Another part forms what's called a bloodstone - demons go crazy for them. But you don't have your bloodstone, Max..."
"...which means you don't have your entire soul."
You can use a magic ritual of three to attempt mutant resurrection, provided you can recover their body. You will only be able to bring back one mutant at this time. At the conclusion of the RP, you may attempt to resurrect other mutants. (I will say that not everyone will be resurrect-able, so you'll have about 2-3 resurrections allotted to you.)
Select who you would like to attempt resurrection on and let me know on the Discord - I think the easiest thing to do would be to collab the resurrection ritual and post it as the 'end' of this chapter.
Callie looked between the two of them for a moment seeing the small marrow spikes coming out of Marrow slightly, trying to think of a way to make sure that they won't blow up on her or anything in a public place. "Why should only the X-Men be able to bring back their dead?" Callie asked the two of them before adding. "I mean Professor X never provided much aide to us when we needed him the most especially when we were going up against X-Cutioner. We were using an old warehouse and an underground mansion place in DC with little to no supplies either. The most they did was just giving us the M-Pox cures that we needed and that was about all they did for us." Callie pointed out to Sunshine, as she started to think about the plan that Veil had suggested.
"The plan that Veil came up with was using James, Casper and Max to try this, James is able to heal anyone, Casper can control the souls around him, and Max can use whatever magic that he uses to bring them back to life." Callie told them, hoping that it was enough to be able to convince the two of them. "This is the chance to bring back our friends who died along the way just to get to here, Cayden, Kristina, Sapphire, even Waverly, they all deserve a second chance."
Location: House of M Skills: Enhanced Reflexes (passive)
Andy smiled at Zari's speech. She had used being underestimated to her advantage a lot in her life. It had saved her life. But that had been among humans. She didn't think she'd be around them a whole lot anymore. This place was (mostly) safe. She did raise her head surprised as Magento informed them some were beyond death. With Zari's interpretation did that mean they were gods?
She didn't know what to think about that and sank back a little on her feet. But Magento moved on from that subject to them learning leadership skills. He was right. Doing was the best way to learn. She didn't know who they would recruit. There were probably plenty who wanted to be part of such a thing. She chewed her lip.
"We could go to Akademos." She said, probably butchering the name of the school. "Find a room to practice the big things I want to try. And maybe draw some attention and talk about building the team to protect the island." She knew a show often brought crowds and crowds would sign up for things. Jamie had used the tactic.
He turned to look behind him as he heard Selene's words, and her comments about the book that was in front of him. This was an interesting thing to really deal with, and to think about. Of course, it was a bit strange that she was sitting there talking he guessed about the person whose skull she was holding. It was a bit confusing at that point really, though a few things about her words did stick out to him. Two main things, one being that she was essentially talking about potentially killing him, and the second part about him having found nothing out of something like that.
"I mean, that part you just said about me not having found out anything instantly points to you clearly hiding something that you don't want seen or have some sort of hidden agenda that you don't want anyone to know about. So that argument makes no sense, as for the whole killing me thing, well, let me be the first to tell you if I actually cared about not dying at this point I wouldn't be here now would I? I honestly don't care if someone murders me at this point, I've died once already, so what the hell with it at this point," he said with a bit of an eye roll. Then the third suggestion went through his mind, and he smirked slightly, "As for the last thing, what exactly a dark apprentice be? Though will say that does sound interesting, just want to know a little about what I'd be getting into first if you don't mind."
Location: Hellfire Bay Skills: N/A
She could understand how Ellie didn't seem to know what was going on. How could she really, Miranda typically pretended that the House of M reality never even existed after all. Then again, now it was coming back to haunt her, and she really wasn't too sure how to explain to Ellie what was going on. Truthfully, she and Magneto needed to have a conversation about that sort of thing, but since he was avoiding her, it was making it incredibly difficult to go and have that sort of conversation in general.
"It involves a decently big secret coming to light..." she said a bit slowly, "It's alright, don't worry about it... The secret well... It involved Wanda, she warped reality and basically made mutants the majority, and Erik was essentially the king and ruler over everything... A few people aside from just me remember it but... A group got together to basically get reality to shift back and fix everything... And I helped them do it... Though well, uh... In a part he doesn't know about still I might have... Um, well... Killed him... It was a really weird reality and honestly not that great... Oh yeah, your kids, Jack and Casper remember that reality too and were involved in getting everything righted back around... In case you were wondering..."
Location: House of M Skills: N/A
Zari just sort of listened to what was being said, "I mean, personally I think death isn't such a bad thing, it's just something that happens," she added, before deciding to stop talking about it in general, and turned her attention to where else the conversation was going. They were talking about leading people, and about potentially going about recruiting people to their group or something like that. It was a bit weird, thinking about how best to try and get people to join them and all.
"I mean, learning by doing is always the best thing. Though not sure if drawing people to join the group or whatever that way would work out really... It would depend really, not to mention just a few people fighting each other or training or whatever would draw a big crowd at all and might not exactly accomplish everything. Who knows really? Not to mention if you just figure out a list of people you might want to join the group or whatever, you probably could just ask or something like that."
Location: Akademos > Wales Skills: Basic Spellcraft, ConjurationNew Outfit
Max tried not to look too surprised when she'd declared her mother was a fairy. Mutants existed, so why couldn't fairies? But even then so much began to run through his mind. Until this moment Max had assumed fairy tales, myths, and legends all could be explained by ancient mutants that humanity simply couldn't understand. The gods, demigods, old and new, all mutants that were raised to a higher power by more simple civilizations. It was part of why Max studied old tales, why he learned Latin and became invested in archeology. It was a gateway to the past of his kind, but now an entirely new species was being brought to his attention and it felt as if he was a child first learning about the world.
As the subject changed and he noticed the tone in Pixie's voice, he extended out his pinky to complete the pinky promise. The whole point of this trip was so that only they would know what was spoken about here. No one to eavesdrop or butt in. Just two mages talking without boundaries. What he hadn't expected was for Magiks name to be brought up. His stomach twisted as he instinctively pulled back. His legs moving up near his chest slightly as he thought about what had happened when she died. He wanted to break the news to her about what happened, but all the wind got knocked out of his chest at Pixie's final comment.
Max stared blankly at the blades of grass before him. Trying to make sense of what she'd just said, searching for the words to say. Anything to say. "I…don't have my entire soul? What, like, I never did? Or I lost it? Or did I somehow have a demon steal my bloodstone? Is…" Max stared off, his eyes shaking as he thought back to the day Magik died. How the demon claimed her and no one was able to stop it. Was that what was going to happen to him when he died? Would a demon claim his soul too? "Am I going to be claimed by a demon when I die?"
Echo
Location: Green Lagoon / Astral Plane Skills:
Harry had no idea what or who this Shadow King was. But if he understood anything, possession was typically never a good thing. He hadn't recalled seeing David around back when he was at Xaviers, though with how many students there were that wasn't entirely surprising. But to learn not only of what happened to David, but also his father's clear neglect for him. It made Harry glad he hadn't decided to stick around the mansion to become an X-men. How anyone could wear that emblem proudly knowing how Charles treated his children. Harry took David's hands into his own. "I'm sorry that happened to you. Xavier really wins the worst father of the year from what I can gather."
Barry gritted his teeth a bit. Noting Veils edge in her tone and the agitation that was clearly growing more by the second. Harry was not going to like this when he came back. "Well. David and Harry wanted to have a bit of a private conversation. Sooo as Barry has said, David's in control of the telepathy and that apparently includes whisking them both off away to somewhere far enough that…well that I can someone come out and speak. I…don't really know how to bring him back unless either David does so or perhaps another Psychic tries it. But that sounds dangerous in my opinion "[/color] Barry tried to give her the most apologetic smile he could muster. But he truly had little to no insight on the matter and more so on how he even came to be.
Whatever regret squared equaled, that was what James experienced as he walked into a room with four filing cabinets marked by mutant power designations. Who in their right mind sorted medical files by power designation, specially babies who, to James' knowledge, hadn’t displayed any sort of mutant abilities? He paused as he approached the cabinets. He wasn’t sure how they’d organize them differently, especially since he wasn’t even sure if Daniel’s biological parents named him something else. Power designations were as good away as any apparently. The implications were… unsettling at best but he was just here for his son’s medical history. Since he had absolutely no idea where to start, James started with the Gamma cabinet. Babies shouldn’t be all that powerful, right?
Apparently not.
James wanted to cry when he finally stumbled on a file that matched his son. Apparently, they were filed in terms of potential rather than current ability which James had to give them credit for. The foresight was admirable but fucks on a spoon, did it absolutely suck in the moment. Next time Casper gets to do the searching; maybe his chaotic tendencies would have walked him into the records faster since James was completelyoffbase about their filing system. It was more than a little concerning that a baby was filed into the Omega level cabinet but James was ignoring that for now, taking a deep breath as he gave the medical file that he’d briefly skimmed his full attention.
Parents unknown, name unknown… James felt his heart sink. If they didn’t have this information, the parents probably had Daniel outside Genosia and then came here, only to die at the hands of a surprise attack. Blood type AB, weight, height… He didn’t note any major health concerns, a fact he heaved a sigh of relief at. The only major concerning issue was his projected mutation: Fire Generation.
“Well, fuck.” James muttered to himself, tearing out of the records room with Daniel’s information still in hand. He skidded to a halt at the reception desk and slammed the paper down. “Do I need to fill out a form or anything to get this updated? I have more information than is listed.” He asked Bee, searching for Casper. While he trusted (for now) Casper to keep himself out of trouble with their son in his arms, he wasn’t certain he trusted a crying two month old who was a potential omega level pyro. James may be near indestructible but he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he wasn’t there to save his soulmate if something terrible happened.
Then it dawned on him. It hadn’t said anything about the child being fire resistant. So Daniel could make fire but it would still burn him. Great. Awesome. Fantastic. James could see plenty of gray hairs and fire extinguishers in his future.
David nodded, his eyes tearing up a bit. He gave Harry's hands a grateful squeeze. "Sorry, talking about my da is bad vibes for me," he said, trying to make a slight joke out of it. "What about you? What were your parents like? Did you get your cuteness from them?" he asked, his eyes still watery, even here on the astral plane.
The Green Lagoon...
"I never said that only the X-Men should get to do it - but that's the way it's always been for people like us. We don't matter to them. We're just background characters in their operatic stories," Marrow complained. She sighed slightly though. "Why the fuck not, though? Guess it's time for us to change things."
"I still think that Ben is going to be in worse shape than Fred was," Sunshine said, referencing her deceased pet rat. She had lost Fred before they had made it to Genosha. Even though he had never been alive while she owned him, Sunshine did have a soft spot for that little dead rat. She hadn't had it in her to willingly leave him behind - to leave his dead body to decay without anyone to care. It was one of her regrets from everything that had gone down, that she hadn't been able to retrieve him.
"Guess that's why James' an omega," Marrow commented with a shrug. She didn't get too hung up on who was and was not omega level status - it seemed to her like a stupid new version of a class system, a social order she didn't care for.
"Fine. It'll be weird being in New Orleans, but whatever." Sunshine had told Marrow about what had happened - about the false reality, where she had grown up in the care of her father, rather than being abandoned as a little kid by her cruel mutant-hating mother. But even now, when Sunshine actually finally wanted something of a relationship with her father, where was he to be found? Nowhere. He had made it clear - he didn't want a relationship with her. He had been distant ever since they got to Genosha and Sunshine wasn't going to keep trying to make the impossible happen.
Meanwhile, Veil was doing her best not to grind her teeth too much. James might have been an omega level healer, but she didn't know how he did as a dentist. "I see," Veil muttered. She knew that she should have been doing a better job controlling her temper, but Veil tended to wear her emotions openly. She was extremely annoyed at the moment with her brother and Legion, and neither of the two Barry's was giving her any sort of indication as to when they would be back from wherever they were off to.
"Well, if he's not back in the next ten minutes, I'm going to go find the nearest telepath - there's dozens of them on the island - and I'm going to drag him back," Veil said bluntly. She didn't know why she was bothering though. Neither Barry seemed to be capable of passing on a message.
"Relax the face, luv - you're going to get mad worry lines," Barry aka Legion said, smiling unhelpfully.
Veil felt like screaming.
Outside the Hospital...
Bee jumped slightly, startled by James' slamming the papers down on her desk. She had been so deep in her own train of thought (really, she was just playing Candy Crush on her phone) that she hadn't noticed him come back. "Oh! You found it - nice!" Bee said. She grabbed a pen that had a frilly pink lace-y thing attached to the top. "If you can make the corrections in pen, I can get a fresh copy made for us," Bee offered.
From down the hallway, James would also be able to hear the distant sound of Casper singing a soft "lullaby" to baby Daniel, "Tardy for the Party" by the Real Housewives of Atlanta's Kim Zolciak:
🎵 "Hurry up baby, don't be late I'll meet you at the place I've been waitin' for this day This weekend, let's celebrate Lookin' like a cover girl (whoa-oh-oh) Covered in diamonds and pearls Take the Benz out for a swirl Drop that top, yeah, it's my world" 🎵
The Rebuilt House of M...
Magneto's carefully crafted persona and restraint shattered with Valkyrie's words - how carelessly she mentioned that death was just something that happened. Had they not just faced a gigantic island-wide tragedy, a genocide of their people, perhaps Magneto would have reacted differently. "Death. Is. Just. Something. That. Happens?" he repeated through gritted teeth. "Young lady, be you from the realm eternal or not, there is no cheerful afterlife waiting on the other side for us. Our bodies are destroyed, our minds obliterated, our future, our destiny, each little thing that makes you you is stolen from you. Death is not something to brush aside - until all mutants are eternal, then death remains the ultimate devastation, the ultimate terror that humanity can inflict upon us, the--"
Mercifully, Magneto was cut off by the arrival of his daughter, Polaris. She was wearing a purple tracksuit, her green hair wildly curly and spilling out in all directions. As much as she looked fashionable and comfy, there was a clear sadness to her, a weariness of her spirit. "Lay off of them, Dad," Polaris interjected. "They're just kids."
Blackstone...
Selene didn't really seem too bothered by Jack's first two points, about how suspicious it looked for her to talk about him not discovering anything, or about how death didn't phase him. She was an external after all, one of those special mutants whom death could not touch. Hers was life everlasting. "Mm, well you'll firstly be in charge of running my social medias, particularly my TikTok - I would like to be much more worshipped and adored than I currently am. Shockingly enough, politics is starting to get a bit dreary, this entire Genosha project is in a real flop era if you ask me."
Selene twirled a bit of her hair around her finger. "Oh, I would also teach you dark magics, as well as some spells that'll need to be running during the gala. It's going to be the perfect moment to ascend to godhood. Hence the social media presence will need to be sorted, a goddess needs her followers after all. And I'm a bit over my entire mystery-cult era, I want something more mainstream. Like Jesus of Nazareth, he had an excellent PR team. I want that."
Hellfire Bay...
Purple Mongoose was having fun playing in the trees!
Renegade was not having fun! She did a bit of a double take, uncertain what to make of what Moneta just told her. The Scarlet Witch had remade reality, ending prejudice against mutants? Magneto had been made king? Casper kept this a secret from her? Moneta killed Magneto? None of that made any sense to her. "Okay, I'm just thinking out loud here but... Why the hell would you want to change that back? Even now, chère, humans are still killing us. If Wanda had found a workaround, why didn't you keep things the same?"
"Also, what the fuck is even your life that this is just a normal thing for you to have experienced?" Renegade asked, laughing ever so lightly. They both moved in the same circles, but Renegade had never had anything like that happen to her before. Her life had always been pretty standard - protect mutants, attack humans.
Wales...
Pixie blinked a bit, when Max asked if a demon was going to come claim him when he died - that was incredibly specific and not what she expected. "What? No, you watch too many horror movies. No demon is going to come get you when you die, although... I don't know if you can, like, properly die. Like you can die, but I don't think your spirit will be able to move on... Like we wouldn't need Casper to pull your spirit from the afterlife into our plane of reality, you'd just be stuck there on your own..."
"But don't worry about that. That's not the bad part of some of your soul being missing. Whenever you formed that weapon, you must've also made a bloodstone. These bloodstones, demons use them to do the most wicked and horrible of magics... If they get five bloodstones, they can unleash the Elder Gods - think the actual Cthulu and stuff - on our world... And that would be bye-bye world... So that's why we need to find your bloodstone as soon as possible, because I like this world quite a bit, and it's not just our reality that would be threatened - all of them would be."
You can use a magic ritual of three to attempt mutant resurrection, provided you can recover their body. You will only be able to bring back one mutant at this time. At the conclusion of the RP, you may attempt to resurrect other mutants. (I will say that not everyone will be resurrect-able, so you'll have about 2-3 resurrections allotted to you.)
Select who you would like to attempt resurrection on and let me know on the Discord - I think the easiest thing to do would be to collab the resurrection ritual and post it as the 'end' of this chapter.
Callie was glad that both Marrow and Sunshine were on board for their little excursion out of Genosha as she looked at the two of them, she hoped that this plan would actually be able to work. "It's going to be a good thing for us to do this and bring back those that we lost back, i'll go and let Veil know that you guys are onboard with coming then. Once Max gets back here we'll head on out to New Orleans." Callie said as she got up and started to make her way over towards Veil, Legion and Harry.
Callie noticed that Veil was talking to one of Harry's clones as she made her way over towards them, Harry himself seemed to be daydreaming or something by the looks of it. "I told Sunshine and Marrow the plan and they are on board, once Blob is done and Max gets back we can head on out." Callie told her as she looked back at Harry, Legion and Harry's clone. "So whats up with Harry is he daydreaming or something?" Callie asked as she waved her hand in front of Harry's face to get his attention.
Location: House of M Skills: Enhanced Reflexes (passive)
The balloon popped in Andy's mind. She had been happy. She had been trying to carve a bit of life out for herself here. Trying to fit in. Trying to be normal on an island full of mutants like her. She had even tried to have something resembling a family. It had a dad. But he was suddenly like all the other attempts, except Jamie. What had started as an attempt to find common ground now was a vast canyon between them. Sure she'd love it if people she cared for didn't die.
She couldn't even respond to what Zari said, she wanted to say how could she know who to recruit when she barely knew anyone. Could Zari even list a dozen people she'd want on a team? It was gone now like water through a sieve. But Polaris had come in and was telling Magneto to lay off. And Andy could see this conversation playing out again and again and it'd never end well.
Andy glanced to Zari, hoping she'd be the brave one again. Be the one to say enough and leave. All Andy could do was fold into herself. If Zari left she would. She could be brave enough if Zari was. Part of Andy knew that way lay danger, that she needed to find the strength she had in the ring outside it. She just reached and grabbed Ash's discarded jacket and put it back on. It was armor in a way. A jacket belonging to the only parent figure that hadn't failed her, because she had died before she could.
Jack more or less listened sort of the Selene's rambling a bit about everything that would be required more or less if he accepted the offer. He couldn't help but be a bit amused by her comments about social media and wanting to gain as many followers as possible that way. Her wanting to ascend to being a god was also an interesting thing to have go on really. Then again, everything else she said was a bit tempting to him, and he had to think for a few moments on what to do with regards to it.
Then his mind wandered to how things had been for him on Genosha since he got there. Or well, woken up because after being brought back from the dead really. Things weren't exactly the best, Sunshine more or less had seemed like she wanted nothing to do with him, and he for the longest time, hadn't been too sure of why he was alive. When he did discover that reason, he figured out that a lot of people more or less lied to him about it to keep it hidden. "Alright, sounds like fun, I'm in."
Location: Hellfire Bay Skills: N/A
Miranda couldn't help but laugh a little bit at Ellie's comment at the end about how this was her life, and how that was something that just casually would happen. "Trust me, I wonder what my life has come to at more then a few points, and also how I can keep all the memories from both that reality and this one straight," she said to her with a laugh. Yeah, her life was insane, but she managed, for the most part anyway, and now she had to think a bit about that other question that Ellie had.
Why had she changed everything back? Or at least aided in it? That was a good question, but honestly, the reason why was a bit complicated just in general. "Well... The answer to why is... Complicated... Odds were that everything was going to get changed back no matter what, even if I hadn't done anything to aid them, and had hindered them instead. You had several SHIELD agents, a handful of Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and several members of the current X-Men team, and a few others, including your kids... And the reason why I helped fix things? That's a bit more complicated... And I don't know how to explain it..."
Location: House of M Skills: N/A
Zari just more or less listened to Magneto's sort of rant about death and everything, and she rolled her eyes a bit. People thought she was childish, when he clearly was acting like a kid throwing a temper tantrum! The thing about Zari though, was that she was blunt, and typically didn't show fear or anything like that, especially when people were sitting there yelling at her or ranting, or more or less thinking that they were being intimidating. That's not how things go, nope, she wasn't going to take anything he just said lying down at this point.
"For your information, death is something that is inevitable, and personally, I think people would get a little bit bored living forever, don't you think? And I at least have a belief, since it doesn't sound like you do, at least not anymore. Thinking that nothing is going to happen once you die, I actually pity you for that. Since at least for me, my belief that Valhalla is waiting for me is the driving force behind everything I do, the reason why I fight, and some others use their own beliefs to do similar things. And unlike most normal people, I know that Valhalla is real. I'm a Valkyrie in training, hence the name, and we do still do what the legends say, taking souls and such to Valhalla, I've never done it on my own, always had someone else there and I more or less was still just learning, still am. But I know that it's real, and for your info, my biological dad? God of Lies, he always could tell when I was lying no matter what, so growing up I just stopped trying, so guess what? I suck at lying, so everything I just told you is the honest truth. But if you don't believe me, that's fine, but don't go trying to argue that you are right and bringing down everyone else's beliefs, since that won't do you any favors," she said, clearly not backing down, and she was looking him straight in the eye as she spoke. It was a bit obvious that he might have struck a nerve with that. "I'm going to go wander around the island for a little bit, you can come too if you want to," she said towards Andy with a bit of a cheerful smile, going back more towards her usual self, as she more or less started heading off, She wasn't really afraid of anyone, and definitely not Magneto, and if you struck a nerve with her, you likely were going to make things worse.
James paused before he snatched the pen from her, listening to Casper calm their son with a unique lullaby and felt a rush of adoration for the man. Damn, what a horrible song choice but the softness with which he sang it was perfect and that was Casper all wrapped up in a nutshell. A little out of place in parenthood right now but he was exactly what he needed to be and James loved him for it. “He’s too perfect.” James sighed, the panic fueled terror draining out of him as he calmly took the pen, rather than snatching it out like he was going to before. He updated the information he had, namly parents and the baby’s name, before passing the pen back.
“Thank you. I’ll be back in a bit to pick up a copy if that’s okay.” James said as he slid the document over and made his way over to Casper. He slid up behind him and rested his chin on Casper’s shoulder, smiling fondly at the pair. “And you thought you’d be bad at this. Looks like you’ve got this on lock, babes.” James pressed a kiss to Casper’s cheek. “Found the file, thank God, and now we have to figure out all the ways to fireproof our apartment because little Daniel is on his way to be a little pyromaniac one day.”
Location: Akademos > Wales Skills: Basic Spellcraft, ConjurationNew Outfit
Max sat up, crossing his legs and finally turning to face Pixie. His eyes were intense and serious as he looked straight towards her dark voids of eyes. He hadn't wanted to break the news, but he needed to say this much at the very least. "I wish I could say it was from a movie...but the scene will stick with me forever it seems. Back when the Terrigen mist was infecting mutants with M-Pox, while we the Underground struggled just to survive as we searched for a cure, one of our people fell. But this was different than others lost to M-Pox. A Demon came and claimed them, dragged them to what I can only assume is a form of Hell. I tried to find a way to save them, get them back, but the literature I had was a mixed language. Greek and Latin, I only knew half of what was needed. Shortly after we were attacked, and I haven't had much of a chance to look at it but...the fallen mutant. They had a bloodstone. If a demon already has theirs and mines missing..." Max clutched the hem of his pants, knuckles turning white as he realized his powers once again may have messed things up in a horrid way.
Pixie’s eyebrows knitted in concern, before realization dawned on her face. “Are you talking about Magik? She’s alive. She’s with Excalibur.”
"Alive? Excalibur? Pixie I saw her leave before my very eyes. We mourned her! Sunshine was devastated, and I was the only one with magic and I was powerless to do anything. I. Please. I need you to explain." Max's eyes began to mist, if this was true, how could he ever tell Sunshine she was alive?
Pixie looked really uncomfortable - like she didn’t want to talk about this at all. “That demon you saw, his name is Belasco. He brought her back without her soul. And… to steal it back from him, she convinced me to make a bloodstone from part of mine. It all worked out fine. But I kinda hate her. A wee bit.”
Max ran a hand through his hair. Trying to grasp what it was that she was telling him. He made a point to remember the demon's name for later. "Belasco. Right. And this Excalibur? That's what? Her sword or something?" He didn't know how to feel. Torn between joyous, anger, and sadness. But he knew one thing, he needed to keep his emotions in check before he had another slip.
Pixie was trying her best not to get up and go ‘NOPE!’ to this entire conversation. She hadn’t realized that her new bestie Max had such a close connection to one of her least favorite people. “Excalibur’s a British superhero team - Captain Britain leads them.” That had been part of why Pixie had been the poor soul Magik tricked - she was a local, living in Wales, and attuned to magic already from her fae mother.
As soon as the words left her mouth, it began to piece together. If Magik had ties to a British superhero team (something Max hadn't even considered until this moment) then that may have been how the two met. Pixie's answer was short, clearly she didn't want to talk about this. After all, she did say she hated Magik. He let out a deep sigh, trying to get his head around everything. "I get it. And I don't blame you for hating her. Her and I weren't exactly close but...it's hard to forget the faces of those you've lost before you. Those you were helpless to defend. It leaves something in you. But she isn't why I asked you out here, and we don't have to talk about her if you don't want to."
“Nah, it’s fine - I didn’t realize you were… well, not close, but friends I’m guessing?” Pixie paused. “If you have other questions I can do my best… It’s just kinda some horrible memories. Limbo isn’t a nice and happy place… So what is it you wanted to talk about then?”
Max managed a smile. "We are friends. She was a co-worker and love interest of a then enemy now friend. It's...complicated." He took a sharp inhale before slowly letting it out along with his nerves. "I'm tired of losing people. I'm planning on bringing mutants back from the dead, and I need to know as much as I can about souls, soul transference, and binding."
Pixie blinked, doing a bit of a double take. She didn’t like necromancy - she had first hand experience with how bad it was when people were restored to life without their soul. “I…. Okay, wow. Um. Well you can bring someone back without a soul, but then they’re kinda without morality and you get what Magik did happening to someone else… I know that once she reclaimed the pieces of her soul she was fine - I mean she’s always been a little demonic apparently but….”
“I guess you could use your soulstaff to try to bind the soul to a body, but it would have to be whole. Any missing pieces and it gets really really complicated.”
"I don't trust anyone else with this information but you. So please keep this between us. So far we have a plan, three mutants, each playing their own role in this ritual. One to bring the bodies to a healthy state , another that finds and channels the soul into our world, and then me. Issue is...I don't know what exactly I need to do. I've never attempted something like this and previously when I'd brought the idea up everyone shot me down. Questioning morals and such. But...it doesn't matter. What does matter is what I can do now. How do we go about completing my staff? And if that's not possible...how complicated are we talking?" Max knew it was a big ask. It had been every time he'd ever broached the subject. But he was tired of letting the X-Men dance around death while they stood on the backs of mutants who died by their name.
“Oh! You don’t need to complete your soul - just make sure it’s an in tact soul you’re bringing back, or they might come back… well, evil.”
"Oh!" Max said blushing in embarrassment. "Well, that shouldn't be an issue. I somehow doubt that Casper could bring back partial souls so that's a relief. " A cool air breeze blew past them as Max seemed to calm down and relax once again. "Wanna teach the great hero Warlock how to use his soul staff? Or You could tell me embarrassing stories from home. Maybe a nerdy hero name you used to go by? "
Pixie snorted slightly. “It’s always been Pixie - though my actual name’s Meggan. Muh-gann, not Megan.” Her soul dagger then manifested in her hands. “Not sure what you want to learn?”
Max gave her a half-cocked smile as she told him her real name. "Muh-gann. Much cooler than Maximillian." he said as he blew a raspberry. "Preferably how to bind souls. Buuuut any other tips and tricks would do just as well. After all, James always yells at me about learning how to do things before I just...do them. I can be a little...chaotic."
“Well I’m a beginner at it but… I think once you have the soul in the body, just, like, stab in the middle… That’s what I saw Magik do to herself anyways.”
"That's...dark. Least Mines just a staff so...can't hurt. I hope." Max took in the scenery one last time, looking over the Cliffside out towards the sea past the field of flowers. "I should probably head back soon though. Kinda their ride to New Orleans. Gotta go find an old friend, dig up their body, and well...OK sounds a bit more grim when it's said aloud"
“…Nah, that sounds perfectly spooky,” Pixie said with a slight smile. “I’ll tag along.”
Max smiled back. "The more the merrier. Let's head back to the Green Lagoon. It's where the others should be waiting." Max stood up, dusting himself off before waving his hand in a flourish. The magic flowed out of him and opened a portal towards Hellfire Manor. There was a slight grimace to his face. "Ooook. Not the intended target, but not too far of a walk. Up to you Pix. I can try again but I've never tried casting in another country...are ley lines really a thing? Cuz if so, maybe that's why it's off a bit?" He said teasingly.
Pixie rolled her eyes. “They are, yes,” she said, sticking her tongue at him. “And you can walk, I’m going to fly.” Her wings fluttered and she glided on through the portal with a smirk.
Max scoffed in disbelief. "Hey no fair! Just you wait till I get my flight magic down!" he called out as he chased after her on foot.
“Don’t you have to, like, practice to do that?” Pixie teased with a giggle
Max couldn't believe he was being goaded into this. The last time he'd tried flying it didn't work, and before that was a life or death situation after being thrown out of the top floor of a building by one of the Three in One. But he couldn't just back down from a challenge like that. He closed his eyes concentrating on the spell, as magic began to pour out from his hands and feet. When he opened his eyes they were glowing the same nebulous glow of his magic as he lifted off into the air to match Pixie. "Race you there then."
Max shot forward in an arc of magic, flying towards the Green Lagoon, looking back every so often to see how close Pixie was to him. A few times she'd closed the gaps, but in the end Max had made it there before her, landing down by the nearest table before breaking into a light jog to slow himself down. "How's that for practicing?" he said smirking with a slight high from successfully pulling off a flight spell.
Echo
Location: Green Lagoon / Astral Plane Skills:
The colors of Harry's aura shimmered for a brief moment. A ripple starting from the center of his chest and going outwards as David asked about his parents. He hadn't thought about them in some time, and for a part that made him feel like a bad son. In general Harry hadn't kept much in touch with family after Xavier's, save for Veil whom he'd contacted on very few occasions. He looked at David a bit lost for words before finally smiling towards him. "Between you and me, I think Veil and I took all the cuteness when we were born. After all, it had to account for six children." he joked. "But you know us French Canadians, we're just so darn good looking. Hell I hear there's talk of another set of French Canadian Twins on here by the name of NorthStar or something? I don't know. But the ladies are going mad for him. It's in the genes."
Barry's apologetic smile seemed to melt as Veil's irritation grew more. Letting out a defeated sigh. "Listen, I may not be able to talk to him right now. And I'm not so certain I can relay messages to him. But, if this works anything like how our duplication works then perhaps when he does come back anything you tell me now will get transferred to him. So, why not tell me what you need? Or maybe I can help myself?" Barry always hated being the one who had to bear the bad news, but it seemed that enough years of him doing it had made him subconsciously assume the role without hesitation now that this split had happened. Barry looked towards Callie as she began to wave her hand before his face. "I'm very much here thank you. Though Harry's too busy making googly eyes in some headspace."
