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The group had first had to take a brief detour to Asgard, namely so that the Shi'ar could be told that they were coming. Since dropping in uninvited to a race that was known to fight first and ask questions later in the past sometimes was probably not the smartest idea. Lance had decided to tag along with the group, figuring it better to not crowd what the other group was going to attempt to do.

The Bifrost landed them directly onto the Shi'ar Throneworld of Chandelar. The main seat of power for the entire empire, yet not the actual planet that was apparently dubbed the Shi'ar homeworld. That was another planet entirely. In the brief bit of info he had managed to figure out before they ended up going straight there was that there were hundreds of worlds that were technically all a part of the empire, even if the Shi'ar themselves weren't as massive of a force.

"...So are we supposed to just wait around for someone to get us or are we supposed to just walk in sort of?"

"Fairly certain we're supposed to wait here a moment. Probably best not to wander off."

"Considering what this place looks like, wandering away would definitely be a bad idea right now..."

"Ironically this isn't even the Shi'ar homeworld. It's just where they rule from, their official homeworld is a planet called their Aerie, though not sure if it is still around somewhere. With so many planets under their control it is possible it is still out there somewhere. Though that's mostly been speculation in general."

"Got it, so angering them might be a bad idea... Honestly though, we're kind of a bit desperate here right now so we've got nothing really to lose than to ask them for help then right?"

A few more moments passed, before there was the sound of footsteps heading there way, and what looked like a group of people heading over to them. "We've been expecting you. The Majestrix is waiting, as well as a few members of the council," one of them said, looking at the group, "To say many are curious as to the purpose of this visit, however we must be going. Follow us, and do not stray." With that, they headed back the way they came, a few of them seemingly were waiting for the group to pass by so that they'd follow after the group.


The gardens was a fairly beautiful area that the group would eventually be able to reach. It was fairly quiet, not a whole lot of people around at the moment. Which truthfully could be a bit of a blessing in disguise in the event that things went poorly.

Guin's phone buzzed with a response from her father, but whether or not she chose to look or not, it was fairly long, but in essence it was essentially just a what are you talking about and what's going on??? sort of response from him. Pietro wasn't entirely sure where in the gardens Mary was, she could be just about anywhere. Though the idea of being here actually was not a super comforting thought.

If things went sideways they literally were in probably the worst possible place to fight her in. Both if she used her plant based powers, or potentially choosing the gardens as fuel for a very large bonfire.

"So... What should we do? I mean I could race around to find where she is in here, but well, that might just alert her to the fact that we're here before we actually want her to know. The wind kind of is a dead giveaway. Then again there is a chance she already knows that we're here cause the entity sees all practically... So who knows?"

"There is a chance that she already does know, a decent one at that, which also gives some slight hope. Since she hasn't attacked us or anything yet."

"I mean, I guess so? Any ideas again how to find her in this place from anyone or anything like that?"

"Well looks like we're about to have more help with looking around here," Cyclops said, before pointing slightly up at the sky.

A few moments later, two figures landed on the ground, one having flown carrying the other. And the pair seemed to be nonother than Rogue and Gambit. They looked over at the group now, "Well, what's everyone waitin' around here for? This is the most likely place in New Orleans she'd be."

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Prior to heading to New Orleans Ed made sure his items were in order. He gathered his cloak, he didn't often wear it in the mansion. Something he was thinking might be important to keep on him after their forced space adventure. He also put on the amulet from Klara. Its power would be useful in this fight and he was thankful for the kind gift.

Ed holds up the spell components for his tracking spell. This close to her would lead him in a straight line to her so it wouldn't take long to find her. "We don't have to be too obvious. I can start tracking her." He nods at the two new to join them in the garden.

Mary likely knew they were there, especially considering how Rogue and Gambit had just arrived. He sets to his spell, taking his time to make sure he did it right. Ed held a chain with a crystal at the end, the crystal was wrapped in the strand of hair he had from Mary. It snapped to attention. "She should be that way.

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Carolina was pretty happy that Avery decided to go out into space with her as well Klara and Runa seemed to know the Shi'ar a lot better so she would follow their lead. This was really her first time being out in space, her sister Cassandra had been to space once from what she remembered as well to. "This is pretty neat." Carolina said to Avery as she waited where they had been dropped off by the Bifrost thanks to Heimdall.

She knew that she probably didnt have time to really explore the Throneworld they did have to go back home to try and save Mary from the Pheonix. When a group of Shi'ar started to approach them and that they were expecting them Carolina looked at the group and gave them a friendly smile. "Thank you for seeing us." She said as she looked at the others before following the group as they were leading them towards the throne room.

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Bethany followed everyone towards the botanical gardens where Mary was she stood outside looking around as people went on about their day going in and out of the gardens. She had a feeling that Mary was already expecting them to be here as Bethany leaned herself up against a nearby wall. She was really hopeful that they would be able to calmly talk with Mary and nothing bad really happened, as she looked up to the sky as Rogue and Gambit came down to join them.

"I guess we should just go and look for her then since everyone else is here and all." Bethany said as she looked over at Ed as he pulled out his pendant thing and started to use a spell to track Mary down. She started to follow shortly behind Ed and into the Botanical Gardens, she looked around seeing the various plants and whatnot around she could understand why Mary chose this place over anything else.

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Perry had always wanted to travel. Granted, it was never to space and to a space station meant to be destroyed, but travel was a goal she always had. And now she was here in New Orleans. It wasn't a vacation, she needed to remind herself. They were here to help Mary and save the world and yadda yadda.

That means a new look. Before they left she had changed up her hair and put on a cute outfit. Because, after all, you can't fight crime if you ain't cute.

With the others in tow, they explored the Gardens. Thankfully there were not many people around. That didn't mean much though. "Never been to New Orleans. New York was weird enough," Detective Edward spoke up. "I rarely left the mall most days. Farthest I've been is to Ikea," Barry quickly followed after. Mary Ellen looked around a lot. Ever since they came back she spent a lot of time just....looking at things. It had been a long time since she had been back home to Earth.

Perry remembered Max's words. New Orleans would be a hotbed of spiritual activity. So she closed her eyes and opened her senses. She felt a presence quickly and opened her eyes and saw a woman in front of her. She was dressed in all black but mixed with floral accents and a headdress. "You can see me child?" Perry nodded quickly. The woman smiled warmly and danced around. "Oh blessings to Mawu. I have walked the paths of my home for many years, changes coming and going. But you are not here for me, you are here for the trouble brewing. Oh even in death I can sense the changes in the air. It crackles and sparks with energy."

It had to be Perry. If what the others said was true, Mary would be feeling a strong mixture of emotions. Perry used her other power, Enhanced Empathy, to get a reading. She soon felt a force on her that nearly knocked her down. It was strong and powerful. It was almost like there were two forces at work, one fighting the other. It was hard to tell who was who but she, at least, got a sense of direction.

"I can't fully read her emotions, but they are strong. The direction of Ed's spell is where she is." Perry held her head as she felt a headache coming on. The voodoo priestess still remained nearby. "I'd like to help you child, if you will allow it. I can be of assistance with my gifts. I would like to protect my home if I am capable. My name is Adonatille. Perry could hardly blame her and welcomed her into the fold. It paid to have spirit help, especially in New Orleans.

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Antoinette shifted the straps of her backpack on her shoulders. She had Arnold sitting on her shoulder, and the two of them looked this way and that at all the flowers in the garden. Antoinette wanted to sketch and paint all the different blooms, but that’s not what they were here for. She couldn’t help but stop and smell the flowers, though. She bent over, finding a particularly bright bloom for her and Arnold to sniff.

The wind shifted, and Antoinette looked up to see two more superpowered humans land in the gardens. She hooked her thumbs under the straps of her backpack and bounced over to Edus’s side. Even though they were here for a serious situation, Antoinette was quite happy to be outside, around such colourful things.

”Mary called for help. She might be overwhelmed to see all of us, but I think she will be pleased to see us here for her,” Antoinette said confidently.

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Max swung his arm around Avery's shoulders as they mentioned they would be joining the group heading towards the Shi'ar. ”Yes! I was worried I'd be the only one of the three casters heading into the final frontier that is space. Well, there's the ocean but honestly I'd sooner take my chances in space than whatever lies beneath the murky depths of the Ocean.” He said before snapping his fingers into a finger gun towards Ed. ”Stay safe out there, all of you. We are but a Bi-Frost away should anything go pear shaped ok?” Suddenly there was a burst of tendrils coming out from his husband, who proclaimed he was coming with. Shock ran through Max and without any ability to protest quickly, they were transported.

Surrounded by an array of flashing lights and colors that would make even one of Harry's shows seem mundane, they now stood on the crystalline bridge that led to Asgard. A man he could only assume was The Heimdal, awaiting them before they entered the City of Asgard proper. The place looked like something out of a fairytale, not just the bridge itself but the golden buildings that stood stories tall, the decorations, fabrics, halls. Max could spend days here and never tire of the mysteries that lay beneath the surface, yet they didn't have days. Merely a handful of time to request an audience to speak to the Shi'ar before they were whisked away once more to another foreign planet. Max made sure to take in as much of the location as possible so as to attempt his own portal back to Asgard should the need ever arise.

Of the X-Men, only four had actually joined them on the mission to go offworld. Avery, Carolina, Lance, and Mira; with Klara and Runa as their Asgardian diplomats and intermediaries as well as his husband Ben. He hoped someone was good at talking, because if he was being honest, while he was quite the yapper, Max wasn't exactly the best at diplomacy. He held Ben's hand as they walked a few steps before coming to a halt. In stark contrast to the world of Asgard, this place was more Silver than anything. Metallic structures as far as the eye could see, almost artistically so. If he had to place the styles under earthly terms, Asgard felt more Art Deco while Chandelar felt more Nouveau. At the very least at first glance.

While a few of them discussed their next moves, Max stood in place trying not to stray far from where they had landed. It was believed some guards or envoys would be meeting them here and leading them to where they needed to be, but even that wasn't certain. Max knew nothing about this race of people, not one that he had bothered to study up on while away, but the idea of an entire lineage being erased by a weapon of theirs was enough of a deterrent to be on his best behavior. He didn't know if that extended to Ben or Dorian, and if he was being honest, he had begun to wonder about his lineage in general for some time now. There was a book back at Strange's Max never bothered to open, let alone touch. Mostly because he feared the answers within.

Max pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the here and now. On Ben, this world, and his mission. ”We're a long ways away from New Orleans now. And hopefully so are the Kingstons and kids. You know…you didn't have to come, but I'm so glad that you did.” He said as he smiled warmly towards Ben.

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OfAll had done her emotional assessment while she was getting her bag and packing a few extra things.
She identified she felt nervous, heavy insofar as this situation was a weighty one -someone's personal, emotional matter was always a different kind than say, facing off against a group of bad guys. A different kind of responsibility- yet, filling the remaining % of the ratio was a calm confidence. She'd been out of her depth on their space mission. This felt more in her neighborhood.

Though she also had realistic expectations -just because she felt she knew better how to do this, didn't mean she'd be successful; the smoothest way this could go was highly unlikely to be the way it would.

Arriving at the gardens, OfAll was reminded of Allen Gardens back in Toronto. The building was designed similarly if her memory served, though gold instead of silver, and the front would've been as well if not for these gardens spilling out to the surrounding area; lush inside and out.

She looked up at the words above the doors and smiled a little, thinking of herself and her own sister. Holo would love to see this place.
I'll bring her here, she thought decidedly. No matter how intense this could go, that was her determination that they would, in the end, conquer what they needed to; they would get to go home. Hopefully all of them.

She looked around at the others. Everyone -which now included two more prior members of the X-Men- seemed pretty set on approaching Mary already, altogether. That hadn't been how OfAll had this plan in her head. She thought back to times she'd seen Mary in the Mansion gardens. If she was seeking some solace and privacy among the plants, showing up en masse would likely be quite disturbing to that. Her knowing they were around was one thing, but actually crowding around. . .

OfAll's attention was taken by Perry, who seemed to have perceived Mary's emotions like a hit.
This supported OfAll's hesitance, although there was the other hand to consider: this space might not be doing it for Mary. They may have all arrived at just the right moment.

Annie's confidence supported that. Though now more than ever, it was good to be as sure as possible.

"Annie, do you think you could try your enhanced intuition to gauge if its the right time to approach Mary? Or who would have the best outcome if not all of us? Gambit alone or with Rogue, for instance," she made eye contact with the two X-Men in question, "since Marygold contacted you. Or Guin," she turned her eyes now to their acting leader. Why Guin could be among those who may have better success approaching Mary went without saying.

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Guin tugged her phone out of her pocket, seeing that her father had sent her a novel, and she quickly put the phone back away. She'd done what she had to do - she'd informed him about the danger, so that way the world could hopefully be saved if they failed, and that was it. She didn't have time to give him a lengthy play by play of everything going on, and she didn't want to talk to him in general. He'd lied to her for her entire life about who her mother was. He'd told her that Maddie Cromwell, one of the most toxic people Guin had ever met, was her mother. And her biological mother was Magneto's ex-girlfriend, something that felt uncomfortably close to incest. So no, Guin was not going to talk to Tony unless it was absolutely necessary.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the garden's security camera swivel to focus on the group.

She flipped it off discretely.

"Nice work, Ed," Guin said, almost somewhat absentmindedly, as he prepared a magic compass to lead them right to Mary. Her anxiety skyrocketed, hitting a peak that it hadn't before. They were so close to finding Mary. So close to what easily could be a fight to the death against the Phoenix. She dug her nails into the back of her thumb as she started following Ed's directions, trying to keep the panic from bursting up against her chest - or from letting anyone see how afraid she was.

Considering Jaclyn's suggestion, Guin tilted her head to the side for a moment. "If you think you can brush really gently, Annie, go for it - if not, then I wouldn't. Mary's telepathic - anything that isn't a soft touch might be enough to startle her, or get rid of what control she has left."

Unfortunately though, she didn't think they'd have a choice on whether now was the right time or not.

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Avery turned bright red as Max slunk an arm around their shoulders, treating them as if they were an equal when it came to magic. They weren't magic - not in the way that Max and Ed were. Whatever innate ability existed within those two to cast spells and perform enchantments, it had always eluded Avery. They used to think it was because of their mutant power, that their X-gene somehow canceled it out - but with more and more spell slinging mutants turning up, Avery wasn't so sure. They could perform actions that didn't need innate magic - they could trace wards, shielding places and people from devils and whatnot. But for the moment, that was where their talents ended.

And yet, no matter how many times they tried to explain that to Max, they found themself tongue tied, stammering and nodding along. So as Max said that he was happy to see he wouldn't be the only caster going to space, Avery could only nod.

The next little while was a blur to Avery - a literal blur for parts of it, the colors of the BiFrost dancing around them as they were transported to Asgard, the home of the gods. It was easy sometimes to forget that Runa was a goddess, with how often she was around with Lance, dressed like any other goth teen. But on Asgard, it was undeniable - the air felt a little hard to breathe, and Avery still hadn't relaxed when they made their way to the Shi'ar homeworld.

"I know," Ben said to Max, his tentacles away now that they were about to see the Shi'ar. It wasn't his first time in space. And not his first time dealing with aliens. "You're stuck with me," he added with a bit of a smirk, crossing his arms.

Runa glanced at the rest of the group, as they were summoned to go see the Majestrix. "Remember, you are a representative not just of Midgard, but a friend of Asgard - your actions here reflect on two peoples. If you take any action that would threaten the Shi'ar's relationship with Asgard or with Midgard, I will not be able to help you. You will stand alone." She hoped that warning sunk in, but there was little time to prep. The Majestrix awaited them.

Avery swallowed nervously, deciding in that moment to just not talk.

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The group headed towards the larger building nearby, following along after the guards. Lance wasn't too surprised by Runa's warning, about how they were representing two different worlds. The last thing they wanted or needed was to accidentally cause the Shi'ar to come after either Earth or Asgard. They had enough problems to deal with than causing a potential inter-galactic war.

Eventually, they'd enter a rather large chamber, and there seemed to be several other people around, likely members of the council for the Shi'ar. And up front sitting there was someone who probably was the ruler, or in this case the Majestrix, for the empire. One thing stuck out to Lance. She looked really young. Sure with alien races they could just look that way and appear younger than they are (like Runa and Klara) but considering that she looked to be the youngest person of the people in the room when they walked in, it was still a bit surprising considering she looked maybe around their age.

"Hello," she said, greeting them as she stood up from where she was. "It isn't every day that we get visitors from Asgard, or should I also say, from Earth. Welcome to Chandilar. My name is Xandra. I will say, I was a bit surprised by the requesting of this meeting. And I am a bit curious as to what brings you here. I will say depending on what is the problem we'll try to help in anyway possible."

Though Xandra said those words, the people around them not all seemed to agree with her thoughts on the matter. Several of the people were just looking at the group, some clearly were more or less looking down on them. Despite being the ruler, she seemed to have almost a slightly different demeanor with regards to those outside of the Shi'ar.

This definitely seemed like a great group of people to be asking for help from.

Mira figured that someone, anyone, really needed to get this ask for help underway. So why not have it be her at this point. "Thank you for seeing us Majestix. We're here because we heard that you might have access to a device of some sort that could help us out with a bit of an issue that we currently have..."

"Oh? What sort of issue is it?" she asked, walking over towards the group.

"That's a bit complicated to explain..."


"Not sure if it's a good idea to try that, unless like what Guin said, you can do it without being noticed. Probing or poking really might not be the best..." Though Guin would start to feel a slight calming effect going through her head, only a slight one. As it was obvious Pietro was trying to help Guin to stay calm at least a little bit.

The spell that Ed used seemed to lead a little farther along away from them. The possible ideas that were being thrown around weren't exactly coming up with any actual solutions. They didn't have to go super far from where they were. However as they got closer towards where the spell pointed towards, the emotions that Perry would be getting through her empathy would be a lot stronger, and start to become almost overwhelming.

Eventually they'd spot Mary, she was by a tree, lying in the shade on a bench with her eyes closed, though she didn't seem to move or pay attention to them. If she knew that they were there, she wasn't giving them any sort of indication to it.

"...So this just leaves the question of who goes over first. Because we are talking about a literal ticking timebomb here..."

“That’ll be moi,” Gambit said, before strolling over confidently to his sister. “Hey chère.”

"Here's hopin' this works out..." Rogue commented, looking at the rest of the group. There was a decent amount of people there, so at least they were prepared for things going south if it led to that.

She didn't open her eyes at all, but did at least respond. "...Go away Remy, I've got a horrible headache and it is not going away at all no matter what I try."

“That’s what ole Gambit’s here for,” he said, holding out a hand to her.

"Don't touch me, the voice in my head is really making that seem like a really, really, really bad choice right now. Just don't."

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She looked over her shoulder at Max and Avery for a moment feeling slightly jealous when Max wrapped an arm over Avery's shoulder, but she didn't do much as she walked alongside Avery looking at them for a moment and smiled again. "So don't do anything that will piss them off gotcha." Carolina said. As they entered the massive council chamber she looked at the group of Shi'ar and the one that was sitting on the throne looked to be someone around their age Carolina took a few steps forward next to Mira as she spoke up.

"Thank you for agreeing to see us Majestix, it's an honor, I am Carolina Reed of the X-Men." Carolina said bowing her head slightly trying to be as diplomatic as possible as she looked at Xandra. "We know that you have dealt with the Pheonix in the past, and it has taken a new host in one of our friends. If you would allow it we simply wish to borrow the device or if you have any advice so that we could convince it to leave our friend peacefully." Carolina said as she looked around the room.

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Bethany didn't really have much else to say as she followed everyone else through the botanical gardens as they entered a room she looked around before seeing Mary laying on a bench under a tree. For a moment she looked like she was sleeping when Gambit tried to approach her as Mary spoke, she was relived that they were talking to Mary and not Chrysi or the Pheonix.

She didn't approach Mary following her friend's request. "Hey Mary, been awhile since we saw you how have you been?" Bethany asked her while looking at her hoping that Mary wouldn't lash out or anything at all. "We can help you out if you want I know headaches really do suck." Bethany said giving her a friendly smile.

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Perry followed with the others in the direction Mary was surely in. As they got closer, Perry felt an intense push inside her head. As if something in her mind wanted to break free. She could only reason that it was due to Mary's emotions and the inner turmoil and battle her two sides were having.

It was so intense Perry fell to her knees. She took some deep breaths but that didn't calm it down any. "She's battling the Phoenix force in her own mind. There's too many intense emotions going at each other. You all need to stay away from her right now. There's no chance of convincing her in this state!"

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Antoinette nodded in understanding. She took everyone’s advice to heart, but Antoinette felt confident in her ability. She had a natural curiosity and compassion that she was sure would aid in her ability to not push Mary over the edge. That being said, as the group moved forward, Gambit decided to approach his sister first. Initially, Antoinette didn’t think that was a bad idea. She figured he or Guin would be the best option in trying to talk to Mary and help her stay in control.

Antoinette stopped several feet away from Mary, almost next to Perry when Perry collapsed. Antoinette knelt down beside Perry, her hands hovering around the woman in a way that said she wanted to help but didn’t want to overwhelm Perry. Antoinette glanced back at Mary, debating on what the best course of action would be.

”Guin…Mary’s already got another voice in her head. I think any more would overwhelm her, but we need to keep her mind stable enough while we work on the Phoenix. She knows your mind best aside from her own, but I might be able to create the illusion of calm in her head with your help.”

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What Guin didn't appear to realize is that her attempt to stop anyone from seeing her fear was exactly what tipped off an observant eye like OfAll's, who caught the self-harm action. Immediately OfAll regretted suggesting Guin as a possible best choice to approach Mary first. OfAll knew Guin had been off since their last mission, but who of them hadn't been affected? OfAll had a sudden sense she was missing some bigger picture here.

As Guin and Pietro exchanged about Annie using her powers gently, OfAll second guessed having brought the idea up at all. She hadn't realized Annie's powers fell into the category of what Mary would be able to feel --not that it would happen to matter one way or the other, what with Gambit deciding to go forward just then, without waiting for Annie's Intuition.

While he did that, OfAll spoke in a low tone to Pietro -a gentle reprimand: "Pietro, what did we agree on -that's not how we should be approaching this situation." She was referring to his "ticking time bomb" mentality.

"Maybe you should take something of a second line position further back, since you can get here in an instant anyway. Guin," she had just turned her eyes towards Guin, thinking to tactfully suggest she go with him, when OfAll heard Bethany's voice.

What had their team agreed on?

Next came Perry's collapse and firm confirmation they shouldn't be collectively approaching her right now --OfAll didn't know if that meant even Gambit should move back. She only addressed the others: "Let's all move ourselves back," still speaking in a low tone. Mild, yet no-nonsense.

As Perry was currently grounded, OfAll didn't step much more away than where she and Annie were, though suited her actions to her own words that far.

Antoinette's thought seemed sound -if only OfAll wasn't now having a sense of reservation towards Guin's own emotional state. Though surely Annie or Perry could perceive that, too, yet perhaps not without expressly focusing on Guin, and/or not with what must've felt like the noise of Mary's emotions around them. "If that seems best. . ." OfAll started, briefly meeting Guin's eyes in a gentle "cue" of assessment, certain the last thing Guin would want is to be counterintuitive to her best friend's safety --and everyone else's through extension, "try and have her focus on that space with all her senses," OfAll was back to addressing both Guin and Annie, "the feel of it, the sound. That can help ground someone out of their head sometimes."

For her own part, OfAll started to glance around, taking in the flowers and foliage around them. Not to remember the scenery while she still could, but out of a potential plan to manifest Mary's botanical powers again to possibly cancel hers out if she tried to attack them. OfAll had been most comfortable with those of all powers manifested over the course of their last mission. She just needed to get familiar with what specific plants were nearby so she could best utilize them. No doubt Mary already that advantage over her -at least.

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The panic she was feeling was smothered out only ever so slightly through Pietro's use of their psychic link, but there was no way for it to be gone completely. Not with the stakes that were at hand. Gambit approached Mary, and Guin's stomach twinged with unease - they'd rushed into this situation with only half of a plan, gambling that they'd be able to make a positive impact here. And it wasn't like the usual stuff that the X-Men did, fighting some megalomaniacal villain - this was Mary. This was one of their own.

It was like they were approaching the edge of a cliff, about to fall off and dive into the unknown.

"Everyone - everyone just take a breath, and give her some space, okay?" Guin said, her heart beating quickly. She didn't want to startle Mary, and wanted to try to lower the amount of stimulus around her, so Guin tried a trick that had been used to help her when she'd first started being able to hear thoughts. It took her a few attempts, partially from her own nerves, but Guin constructed a telepathic bubble around Mary - preventing the thoughts from the outside world from drifting into Mary's mind.

It should help, at least keeping her from having to have to actively filter out others. As for whether Annie's plan was a good idea... Guin wasn't sure. She didn't know what to do in this situation, and it was killing her. She wanted to be assertive, to have a fully formed plan and execute it. But Perry was already overwhelmed, Jaclyn was saying things that Guin wasn't processing, and Mary seemed to be holding on by a thread.

"....Mary. Can Annie and I help you?" Guin asked softly.

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Avery held themself very still, their eyes trained on the Shi'ar ruler. They suddenly felt woefully ill prepared for this sort of situation - there weren't exactly classes at the school on intergalactic politics, or maybe there were and Avery just didn't know about them. So instead, their naturally quiet personality took over, and they were practically frozen in place, allowing others to talk while they were somewhat tongue tied. If they said the wrong thing and it doomed the galaxy, they'd never be able to forgive themself -

... especially not in front of Max and Carolina.

They couldn't help but notice that the ancient mage was quiet as well - perhaps best considering what tact to take with the Majestrix? Or maybe he was quietly whispering with the man he had brought along, using some sort of spell to conceal it from their sight.

"I understand that this is a great ask, and that your people have no love for the Phoenix," Runa cautioned. "But if you would do this for us, you will have both Midgard and Asgard within your debts, and I will grant you a boon."

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Max ran his hands down the sides of Ben's shirt, straightening out the fabric as spoke in a soft voice. ”You're acting pretty cool for your first space mission. I barely was able to contain myself back in Asgard.” Runa cut into the moment like a dull knife, painful and abrupt. Reminding them all that they now represented two worlds, that they needed to watch their words and ensure that they didn't step out of line. Any selfish act would be treated as such and thus leave the person to fend for themselves. Max wasn't sure how much he agreed with that idea, deciding that should the time come and the situation become incapable of diffusion, then he would decide in the moment if to help or not whomever it was that messed up. He never was one to stand idly by when others needed help however.

A young, and fairly beautiful, person had approached them all once they entered the Audience Hall. Max didn't dare to assume a gender, age, or anything really. It was hard enough with long living races to tell their age, even harder if they were alien in nature. Who was to say that they even had the same concepts as humans did? Or the same customs. All of this kept Max from speaking out loud when the Majestrix addressed them. Mira was the first to speak, tiptoeing around the massive issue they faced, asking for a device when the race was known for wanting to kill the creature rather than separate it. Lance followed behind, though not adding much context. Max wasn't sure what to do, what to say. If they mentioned the problem outright then perhaps they may not help at all, both wishing for Mary to die and end it all or simply deciding this was an earthly matter and had nothing to do with them.

Carolina spoke and now everything was out in the open. They had a pheonix problem and needed help to fix it. Runa seemed to sweep in an attempt to smooth out the problem. Adding debts and boons alongside their plea to make it seem more amenable, she was of the same mind as him then. Max's biggest issue was he had no boons to give, no silver tongue to aid in these persuasions. Unless he was spoken to, he would remain silent and analyze the proceedings. His hand outstretched slightly from his side, interlocking his fingers with Ben's in a bid for comfort.

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Xandra paused for a moment, as Carolina introduced herself more directly, and mentioned where they were from. She looked at Carolina, thinking for a moment, "So I take it you know my father then?" she asked, the council members in the room were muttering to themselves and not speaking aloud yet.

"...Sorry your father?" Lance couldn't help but ask, a bit confused to the matter.

"Yes.... My mother is Lilandra Neramani, the former Majestrix of the Shi'ar. My father however, is from Earth, and his name is Charles Xavier."

That was an interesting development, one that would hopefully work in their favor. However that didn't necessarily mean anything, considering while that might help out with Xandra herself, the councilmembers and everyone else, that was a completely different story.

"Now, as to the issues with regards to the Phoenix, it is true that most members of the Shi'ar hold no are for the entity. Especially after the... Incident that happened last time. An entire planet was wiped out. We did start development on something to potentially separate the entity from the host. That was in part, because some of our laws with regards to the Phoenix aren't very well written. Actually part of the conflict between the Shi'ar and Earth had to do with those laws."

"What sort of laws if you don't mind us asking?"

"They don't recognize the host and the entity as two separate things. You mention that you need to remove it, I suggest you deal with it rather quickly because if a catastrophic event occurs that is caused by the entity that is of a large scale enough to get our attention, that likely won't end well."

"...You mentioned having something in development that could separate the Phoenix from its host?"

"Yes, we do. However it hasn't been tested and the potential side effects with regards to it aren't exactly something you can easily predict. That is if the device even works. Its design and function are entirely based on hypothetical situations and theories. So there isn't any sort of tell that it would work fully as intended."

"Excuse me Majestrix," one of the councilmembers spoke up, clearly one of the older members, rising from where they were sitting. "Do you believe it wise to trust the humans. The last group with regards to the problem of the Phoenix were willing to fight and possibly die in order to defend it. Even after the planetary destruction."

"From my understanding they were more of defending the host more than the entity itself."

"There is no difference between the two intertwined! The previous Majestrix started that research into the device only because she befriended the humans from Earth."

"And I chose to continue," Xandra responded, before looking towards the group, "As you can see, this is part of the problem of our laws and such."


"Please, everyone else was thinking it and I didn't say it loud enough for her to physically be able to hear, and she could hear everyone's thoughts so how about you stop talking considering you clearly don't know much about what you're talking about it seems, as we went into this without much of a plan," Pietro was a bit short with his response to Jaclyn, but he didn't care. He was only half focused since he was still partially paying more attention to trying to keep Guin calm to the best of his ability. Which to him was definitely not super easy at all.

"You all are a bit loud..." she muttered under her breath, only seemingly half paying attention to what everyone else was saying. From the voices drifting through her head it was getting difficult to pay much attention. She opened up her eyes and sat up, looking at everyone who was nearby.

As if to show what was going through her head, one of her eyes was red, and one was green.

I'm shocked you managed to wrestle control back from me, you know that you're weaker than I am. the little voice in her head started saying, before Gambit's words broke through talking to her.

“Chère, ah’m here ta help. What’s goin’ on?” Gambit asked, kneeling down next to her.

It took a moment for her brain to register what he had asked, and another few moments to respond. "There is a little voice in my head that is psychotic, and not a good thing. Said little voice had been quiet and seemingly went away a few months back. And then last month it's like something ripped poked a hole in the dam in my head that had been keeping said not so great voice out and quiet, so it hit me hard. And pretty sure it was a month ago, I don't really remember much from the last few weeks. Actually really only remember waking up this morning..." she ended up rambling a bit, however it did shed some light on a few things that had been going through her head more recently. Though something else struck Pietro a bit. Namely the fact that it was apparent that something had to have happened on the asteroid to have escalated things. Given when she said things happened and Jaclyn thinking she might have talked to Chrysi while on the asteroid and none of them had encountered her for a while before then.

Mary then took a moment to breathe a bit, before she answered Guin's question. "You can definitely try, not entirely sure what all might help with that but if you've got an idea I say just try it at this point." Guin also would feel someone else boosting the little telepathic cone of silence that she had created around Mary. It wouldn't take her much to tell that it was Jean adding a little help to reduce any potential strain on her.

"Ed," Jean said, keeping her voice down so that he could only really hear her. "I know that we're all hoping for the best, but it might be best to prepare for the worst, I'd recommend potentially being ready to throw up a shield or something if needed, considering either she could use the greenery around us either as a fuel source for a fire, or as a way to attack us if things go south... Though things seem to be maybe going in a more positive direction..."

Mary seemed to notice Perry now though on the ground, and that drew her attention a little bit now. "...Is she okay or what's going on?" she asked. The bubble that Guin had put up did seem to be helping, at least a little, to filter out the voices around her that were in her head. No matter how small it was at least something. The turmoil that Perry was feeling would go down a small amount from just the bubble being put up, and a little more when she ended up rambling, so at least the moment seems to be heading in the right direction.

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Ed was keeping back from Mary. He wished he could be there at her side, but understood that Guin was a closer friend to her. He nodded at Jean's suggestion. Then He started focusing on how best to set up a shield. Setting it around just Mary wouldn't be the best approach.

The team would need individual protection, or he would have to smother fire or plants. The latter would likely be harder. It would be much easier to keep track of the members of the group over all the potential hazards in the Garden.

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Carolina looked up at Xandra as she revealed that she was the daughter of Charles Xavier himself which was surprising to her as Carolina nodded. "We know your father pretty well Majestrix." Carolina said to Xandra giving her a smile as she listened to her as she explained that the device that they had been working on has never been tested or even used before. Which was slightly concerning since they wouldn't have a clue if it would even work on Mary and the Pheonix or not. She turned to Runa as she tried to sweeten the deal and would help the her and the Shi-ar whenever they needed it.

"It would be a good chance to try and test the device and a chance to tweak it for any future encounters with the Pheonix." Carolina said looking up at Xandra. "And like my friend Runa here said, if you lend us the device just this once the X-Men will be in your debt whatever you need we'll help you." Carolina said hoping to convince the Majestrix.

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Bethany still remained where she was more in the back behind everyone as Mary started to sit up and noticed the two separate eye colors, Mary was still fighting for control. She looked over at Perry seeing her dropping down to her knees didn't look good, and she wasn't sure what was actually going on with her. "How about everyone tries to calm down." Bethany said looking at Pietro, it wasn't helping at all really in front of Mary who could snap at any moment.

Bethany turned her attention back to Mary and started to think of an idea they had two telepaths here with them right now, Guin and Jean herself. "We have Guin and Jean here, if you allow it Mary maybe they can try and help seal Chrysi away again, or get rid of her all together." Bethany suggested, hoping that it'll help if Mary allowed it anyway.

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Perry took some deep breaths, feeling the pain subside a bit and then a bit more. Mary seemed to be back though it was hard to say if and when Chrysi would make an appearance. Perry slowly stood up, thankful Annie was nearby and that the others were concerned for her, but it was Mary who needed their help.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." She still felt the emotions, but it was a bit easier to see. "I can help with whatever the plan is." She hoped this would go easily, but the fact she could still feel the emotions battling it out with each other led her to believe Chrysi and the Phoenix would make an appearance, and soon. She didn't want to tip her hand, but if they came out everyone needed to be ready.

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Antoinette looked back up when Mary sounded calmer and more like herself. Antoinette smiled lightly at Mary before glancing at Guin. Hearing there was another voice or entity in Mary’s head drawing on the Phoenix wasn’t a comforting thought. If Antoinette told Mary what she wanted to do for her, would that signal the other entity to build up their guards and block Antoinette out?

Antoinette wiggled her nose while she tried to think it out, deciding what options would be the best here. Arnold made little comforting noises in her ear while she thought it over. Mary seemed ready to try whatever, which was all the encouragement Antoinette needed. She stood up once Perry seemed better, and stood with Guin.

”I think we need to create some sort of mental wall, with Mary having access to the Phoenix on one side and the other entity on the other. That should give Mary more control, and then we can expel the Phoenix,” Antoinette explained to Guin. ”Our combined ability should make that a reality.” Antoinette’s purple eye glowed briefly while she waited for Guin’s answer.