The Damage Done
When the wax does not resolve itself into shapes, when the clouds refuse to form patterns, when there is no answer in the faces of cards or the insides of sparrows, there is only one other way to see the future.
Illyana has spent days trying to get there. The near assassination of the Senator proved to her that there was a very real danger for her brother in the form of his lover... but not the way she had assumed. Jean-Paul truly was not working towards Registration, which meant the horrors that awaited were not his fault in THAT way. Her next thought had been that the skinny little bitch was going to get himself killed, devastating Piotr and quite possibly destroying the best parts of him. But then the assassination attempt had failed, and she had thought (hah!) that things were getting better. But Magneto had been released, and she became worried once more. She began to slip away when she could, searching for clues as to what this was going to mean for everyone.
Then the news about John hit the internet.
And that news was... unacceptable. Because if John were dead, if one of the men she KNEW was destined to be a hero was dead...
What was going to happen to Piotr?
When warnings fall on deaf ears, when Cassandra is ignored, there is only one other way to force people to see the future.
Illyana is wearing new boots when she steps onto one of her disks. Doc Martens. She insisted on them after what happened to her last pair. She steps, and she falls, and all is darkness. The things that live in the gloom are active today, and she wonders if they can sense her unrest. One of them skitters too close and she bares her teeth at it before searching (does she do so with her mind? her soul? she doesn't know) for the proper place. It is much easier to find a place than a time, and in the next instant she is standing in an unfamiliar kitchen.
Her sudden appearance startles a boy of about her own age who is just opening one of the cupboards. He jumps a bit, but not as much as one would expect and that is proof enough to Illyana that she has reached the Xavier Institute.
"Piotr Rasputin," she says to the boy. "Find him. NOW."
The boy responds to the threat in her voice and hurries off. Illyana pokes around the kitchen, marveling a little at how modern everything looks, how new and clean. Large, too. It is a far cry from her modest hearth back in Siberia.
"Snowflake?"
Illyana turns, her face breaking into a joyful smile, because in spite of her errand she is glad to see her brother. "Piotr!" She runs to him and embraces him, as she has done since she was able to toddle.
"Illyana, what are you doing here?" His arms are tight around her, his voice laden with concern. It's really the former that's important.
"Proving something," Illyana says, and a disk appears underneath their feet.
Oh, the things in the dark are excited by Piotr's presence. She can almost hear them (sweet flesh new flesh shhh just a bite sweet flesh new flesh) and Illyana flexes the power she can feel pulsing in her solar plexus, keeping them in the shadows. "This is the Otherplace," she says to her brother, because he looks very confused indeed. Scared, maybe... except her brother NEVER gets scared. Piotr is the bravest hero in the entire world.
"We're not staying," she says, and grins. In the dark, her teeth look very sharp. "This place changes people."
She reaches out, hushing her brother's questions impatiently, and looks until... there.
Daylight. Or at least a semblance of it - the sky is overcast with sickly yellow clouds, and the light shines through the tatters in gentle flickers. The earth is scorched.
"Illyana, where have you taken us?" Piotr asks quietly.
Illyana moves away from him and gestures with her arms, her eyes wide and restless. "The future!" she shouts at him. "THIS is what I see! Everyone says it is lies, possibilities, but this is what is GOING TO HAPPEN! Piotr, do you not see?"
A wind blows, and the scent upon it is carrion-sweet. Illyana begins to laugh, high-pitched and desperate. "You would not listen and you would not listen so I brought you here, so you cannot ignore it any longer." She has started to cry, although her mouth is a grinning goblin mask. "This is YOUR FAULT, Piotr."
She turns away and begins to walk, trying to calm the storm of emotions that obscure her thoughts as the sickly clouds above obscure the sky. "I am sorry you had to see this," she says, "but I have decided it is the only way to stop it from happening. If you see, it will change..." She pauses as a thought occurs to her:
If seeing it changes everything, why is it still the same? Does it work like that? Or by showing him has she doomed them all?
Illyana turns, pale hair floating around her face. "Piotr," she croaks, and takes a step towards him. Her boot, clad in sturdy leather, connects not with the ground but with a sudden, shining disk of light.
Illyana screams, because she is alone in the dark.
OOC: Plotted with tm_colossus.
Illyana has spent days trying to get there. The near assassination of the Senator proved to her that there was a very real danger for her brother in the form of his lover... but not the way she had assumed. Jean-Paul truly was not working towards Registration, which meant the horrors that awaited were not his fault in THAT way. Her next thought had been that the skinny little bitch was going to get himself killed, devastating Piotr and quite possibly destroying the best parts of him. But then the assassination attempt had failed, and she had thought (hah!) that things were getting better. But Magneto had been released, and she became worried once more. She began to slip away when she could, searching for clues as to what this was going to mean for everyone.
Then the news about John hit the internet.
And that news was... unacceptable. Because if John were dead, if one of the men she KNEW was destined to be a hero was dead...
What was going to happen to Piotr?
When warnings fall on deaf ears, when Cassandra is ignored, there is only one other way to force people to see the future.
Illyana is wearing new boots when she steps onto one of her disks. Doc Martens. She insisted on them after what happened to her last pair. She steps, and she falls, and all is darkness. The things that live in the gloom are active today, and she wonders if they can sense her unrest. One of them skitters too close and she bares her teeth at it before searching (does she do so with her mind? her soul? she doesn't know) for the proper place. It is much easier to find a place than a time, and in the next instant she is standing in an unfamiliar kitchen.
Her sudden appearance startles a boy of about her own age who is just opening one of the cupboards. He jumps a bit, but not as much as one would expect and that is proof enough to Illyana that she has reached the Xavier Institute.
"Piotr Rasputin," she says to the boy. "Find him. NOW."
The boy responds to the threat in her voice and hurries off. Illyana pokes around the kitchen, marveling a little at how modern everything looks, how new and clean. Large, too. It is a far cry from her modest hearth back in Siberia.
"Snowflake?"
Illyana turns, her face breaking into a joyful smile, because in spite of her errand she is glad to see her brother. "Piotr!" She runs to him and embraces him, as she has done since she was able to toddle.
"Illyana, what are you doing here?" His arms are tight around her, his voice laden with concern. It's really the former that's important.
"Proving something," Illyana says, and a disk appears underneath their feet.
Oh, the things in the dark are excited by Piotr's presence. She can almost hear them (sweet flesh new flesh shhh just a bite sweet flesh new flesh) and Illyana flexes the power she can feel pulsing in her solar plexus, keeping them in the shadows. "This is the Otherplace," she says to her brother, because he looks very confused indeed. Scared, maybe... except her brother NEVER gets scared. Piotr is the bravest hero in the entire world.
"We're not staying," she says, and grins. In the dark, her teeth look very sharp. "This place changes people."
She reaches out, hushing her brother's questions impatiently, and looks until... there.
Daylight. Or at least a semblance of it - the sky is overcast with sickly yellow clouds, and the light shines through the tatters in gentle flickers. The earth is scorched.
"Illyana, where have you taken us?" Piotr asks quietly.
Illyana moves away from him and gestures with her arms, her eyes wide and restless. "The future!" she shouts at him. "THIS is what I see! Everyone says it is lies, possibilities, but this is what is GOING TO HAPPEN! Piotr, do you not see?"
A wind blows, and the scent upon it is carrion-sweet. Illyana begins to laugh, high-pitched and desperate. "You would not listen and you would not listen so I brought you here, so you cannot ignore it any longer." She has started to cry, although her mouth is a grinning goblin mask. "This is YOUR FAULT, Piotr."
She turns away and begins to walk, trying to calm the storm of emotions that obscure her thoughts as the sickly clouds above obscure the sky. "I am sorry you had to see this," she says, "but I have decided it is the only way to stop it from happening. If you see, it will change..." She pauses as a thought occurs to her:
If seeing it changes everything, why is it still the same? Does it work like that? Or by showing him has she doomed them all?
Illyana turns, pale hair floating around her face. "Piotr," she croaks, and takes a step towards him. Her boot, clad in sturdy leather, connects not with the ground but with a sudden, shining disk of light.
Illyana screams, because she is alone in the dark.
OOC: Plotted with tm_colossus.