Liliana's Office, Saturday

[deathsmajesty]

So. Jace and his little...Jacevengers (thank you Tony, Steve)...were here. That was fine. She had absolutely no problems with them knowing where she lives. Hearing about her life. Learning things about her. Gideon had actually looked at her yesterday with confusion (unsurprising, the man was a walking anotomical diagram, that didn't mean smart) and an almost glimmering of...respect?

Ugh, she hated that. Hated the idea that they'd see her as some kind of...poorly socialized do-gooder who secretly wanted to be good, just didn't know how. Or something. What was worse was that she had started that very idea herself by joining up with the Do-gooder Brigade to manipulate them into helping her finish off Raziketh and Belzenlok! But this was different. Somehow.

Double ugh.

So now she was pacing a furrow in her rug, trying to figure out how to get the other Gatewatch members off her godsdamned island and to never return. She could probably use lethemancy on Gideon and Chandra, but Nissa was more of a question and Jace...

Fucking telepaths.

Vessel of corruption... the Chain Veil whispered in her mind.

"Oh shut up," she snapped. "I have enough to deal with already today, I don't need a bunch of ghosts jabbering in my head as well."

Comments

[necromanticparents]

Speaking of the Chain Veil...

"Liliana," Nikodemus greeted her from her doorway, where he was standing carrying a black leather bag not unlike what an old-fashioned doctor might have. "Good afternoon." They were in agreement that mornings were for other people, right? "I would like to conduct a small experiment, with your permission. Erasmus is in the hall."

"Hi," Erasmus called from the hall.

"He will be staying there."

He would like to be somewhere far away from where his father was probably going to nerdflirt with Mistress Vess, but fate had given him no choice in the matter.

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana hadn't stepped foot in her office until afternoon anyway. She'd required extra amounts of indulgence today considering her guests.

"Why hello darling," she said, giving him a smile that was definitely nerdflirty. "Welcome to my office." Because obviously she'd had her steward decorated her office to bring it up to her standards. Particle board furnishings? Was she a peasant?

"And hello, Erasmus," she called. "Are you comfortable, darling? A chair can be brought out for you. None of the chairs in my office are secretly ambush predators."

[necromanticparents]

"I'm fine," Erasmus called back. Just because he wanted to be anywhere but here didn't mean he needed a chair.

"I love what you've done with the place," Nikodemus, who was at least vaguely familiar with what standard-issue office furnishings looked like (couldn't be him), said as he looked about for an appropriate surface to set his bag down on. He then asked Liliana with an eyebrow if the chosen surface was acceptable, in case it turned out to be an ambush predator or something she didn't want scratched by one of the brass feet.

[deathsmajesty]

Don't be silly, Nikodemus! She kept her ambush predator furnishings in her store, not her office! But her desk was a fine place for it, and she replied to his unspoken query with a nod, even as she pulled out a silver tea service and a French press - as well as a bottle of orange juice for Erasmus. There was already an electric kettle with hot water going, a cup of tea on her desk already.

"Thank you, darling," she said, settling down in her chair and gesturing to welcome him to take a seat of his own. "I refuse to skimp on my own creature comforts and..." The corner of her mouth crooked up a bit. "Personal pleasures. Now, tell me about this experiment." So saying, reached down to her hip and unclasped the Chain Veil, spreading it onto her desk for Nikodemus to examine, one hand remaining in contact with the Veil at all times, however.

[necromanticparents]

That was unnecessary, Liliana, Nikodemus would have been quite happy to examine the Veil in close proximity to your hip.

"It's worthy of note that Erasmus did not sense the spirits within the Chain Veil until he was right on top of it, as it were," he explained. "If there were a similarly sized mass grave, I expect he would be aware of it from several miles away, his usual radius be damned. Likewise, if this were a similarly sized mass grave we would be, to use the technical term, shit out of luck." And Erasmus would have withdrawn from this school less than five minutes after arrival. "You have made it quite clear that addressing the Chain Veil directly would be a bad idea, but I wondered if one could use the ambient threads of magic around it to provide a sort of...muffling effect."

[deathsmajesty]

Yes, but they did actually want to get to the part where they helped Erasmus, didn't they? Just how long was Erasmus willing to stand out there, anyway?

"Yes," Liliana said, thinking that if there had been a similarly sized mass grave, it wouldn't have been here by the time Erasmus showed up. Not out of kindness or sentimental reasons, but she could not have passed up that opportunity. "Forgive my caution, darling, but even if you're powerful enough to survive the Veil's curse, you're far too attractive to watch transform into a demon." She wrinkled her nose. "I am no stranger to the dead and decayed, but a living man rotting from the inside out is a special kind of disgusting. As a warning, though; I don't think the Onakke can fight you if you're not interfacing with the Veil directly, but I'm not certain."

[necromanticparents]

"Hmm," Nikodemus said, like he hadn't been spoiling for a good fight for about eighteen years and five months now. Alas, the Onakke were not the opponents he would like to choose. "Let's try this," he said, and did...something. From the outside it probably seemed to involve delicately pushing air around with his fingertips several inches above the Chain Veil.

"That's louder!" Erasmus called from the hall. And for the record, he would absolutely have left if other things had gotten loud in there.

Nikodemus flicked his fingers like he was scattering something. "Interesting." Obviously not the desired effect, but it was something.

[deathsmajesty]

At the same time that Erasmus yelled, Liliana's free hand flew to her temple and she made a small sound of...well, either pain or startlement. Possibly both.

Almost immediately, though, her hand dropped and she sat up straighter, as if she were trying to deny such a moment of weakness had actually happened. Be visibly discomfited? Her? Surely you're joking.

"He is correct," she said, sounding unperturbed. "They are also quite insistent that they don't approve of whatever you're doing and insist you stop." Her very real and nonchalant smirk crooked a little higher. "Don't."

Not that she thought for a moment that he'd listen to a mob of undead assholes who were hurting his son, but a little encouragement never hurt.

[necromanticparents]

"They're not very nice!" Erasmus called from the hallway.

"No, I imagine they're not," Nikodemus muttered as he tried what he had just done, but--reversed, more or less. "How about now?" he asked, wondering if this was how optometrists felt when they were asking their clientele if one or two was fuzzier.

"Maybe...fuzzier?" Erasmus asked, and Nikodemus ducked his head to hide his amusement.

[deathsmajesty]

Sadly, Liliana didn't have that point of reference, or she would have laughed, too.

"No change for me," she said, "but then, I'm more surprised that there was than there was not. Erasmus is overhearing them. They have more of a direct connection with me."

You know, same old story. Woman has a million dead souls camping out in her brain. We've all been there, amirite?

[necromanticparents]

Nikodemus wasn't asking. He was too busy tweaking very delicate magic threads without disturbing the almost-intertwined threads associated with the Chain Veil at all. It took a lot of concentration.

After a few minutes of this, Erasmus called from the hallway, "That's--better."

"Come closer," Nikodemus requested, and Erasmus shuffled into the doorway. "Still better?"

"Yes, sir."

"How much better?"

"I can still hear it," Erasmus admitted, and Nikodemus made a humming noise that suggested he'd expected as much. "But I can hear myself think."

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana adored a man who knew how to mind his own business.

She picked up the bottle of orange juice and held it out to Erasmus. He'd have to come over to it, since she couldn't leave her desk without interrupting what Nikodemus was doing. "Will it still give you a headache?" she asked. "Or has it settled to the extent of merely being a distraction?"

[stringstothesoul]

"I think it would give me a headache after a while...like if I went to a noisy cemetery," he said to his father, who made an understanding noise. "But it's not bad."

"Erasmus, could you open my bag?" Nikodemus asked him without looking away from whatever he was seeing. "Liliana, you will not want to touch it while it is open."

[deathsmajesty]

"Look but I can't touch?" she asked. "Well there's a disappointing turn of events."

Listen. It had been right there. Sometimes you went for the low hanging fruit.

[necromanticparents]

Erasmus was standing right there, looking pained by something other than the Chain Veil for once.

Nikodemus, still holding the threads in place with one hand, told him which pockets and boxes to look in for the stones he wanted, and Erasmus duly dug them out and passed them over for inspection, one by one. As Nikodemus discarded them they ended up in a pile on the desk. "In that blue pouch, there should be--yes, thank you," he said when Erasmus just went ahead and assumed he wanted the diamond (Asscher cut, about five carats). "The loupe, please." Erasmus grabbed the calipers so he could hold the diamond while Nikodemus used his free hand to hold the loupe. They had definitely done this before.

"Are you gonna--"

"It's easier than doing it over again thread by thread."

"For you, maybe," Erasmus muttered, and Nikodemus looked just a little smug.

Erasmus started packing the reject stones back away while Nikodemus did whatever he was doing, and was almost finished when Nikodemus straightened up, charm in hand. "You should probably have this set," he said as he handed the diamond to his son. "I'll speak to Vander Kines. I don't know if he does his own metalwork or sends it out, but he's the only local I know to be moderately decent." Both in skill and possible willingness to help a necromancer out.

"I can't wear a ring that big," Erasmus protested.

"It doesn't have to be a ring. Just something that will keep it on your person, and not another thing to remember to shove in your pockets every morning." Especially since it was a large diamond.

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana had watched the entire process with avid curiosity, though she didn't speak until it was obvious that Nikodemus was done. You didn't interrupt someone in their work, and even if she didn't know what was going on, it was still always a joy to watch a master work their craft. "A pendant, perhaps?" she suggested. "Does the setting have to be magic? Or simply the stone?"

Because she could absolutely arrange for something more than merely 'moderately decent.'

"You know I want every detail of what you've just done, don't you?" She laughed, soft and low. "After all, I have my necromancy tomes I promised you. Only fair that if I'm showing mine, you show me yours, darling."

[stringstothesoul]

"Gaia," Erasmus said under his breath, and then, as he finished shoving things in the bag and closed it, "I'm leaving," perhaps a little louder than was absolutely necessary.

"Drink your orange juice," Nikodemus told him, and then watched him flee the scene. "He's young. Where were we?"

[deathsmajesty]

"You were about to tell me what you were doing," Liliana said, dimpling at him. "And possibly whether you'd rather have tea or coffee? Or juice, I suppose, but those bottles are there for your son."

[necromanticparents]

"Coffee, please," Nikodemus said. "I take it black. I believe I told you something of the importance of matching the weaving to the crystalline structure of the stone one means to use to fix it? So, of course, one must select the correct stone. And then the easiest way is to fix the threads into the crystal as you go, but when one is doing something by trial and error that is rather more difficult to undo when you have to go back and start again. So I more--brute forced the almost-completed weaving into the stone. It's not something you could do with a more fragile stone."

[deathsmajesty]

Of course he did. Liliana really needed to introduce him to Ignis...for multiple reasons. The proffered coffee was as high-quality as he no doubt expected.

"Because the magic would outweigh the crystalline structure and the stone would shatter," Liliana said with a nod. "I'm assuming the purity and size of the diamond--" because yes, she had an eye for gemstones, what did you take her for "--correspond to the power and the complexity of the working? A larger stone to contain it all, and the purer the stone, the easier it is to match the magic to it, since you needn't worry about inclusions and occlusions affecting the..." She searched for a useful descriptor. "The warp and weft of the spell?"

[necromanticparents]

"Just so," he agreed. "Effectively, I have tried to--bend is the best word, I think, the ambient magic that was closest to the Veil, to create a sort of shield. It's nice to finally have it work for once. All of my previous attempts involved trying to shield him against remains, and that never went anywhere. His magic really does cut through most things." He finally took a sip of his coffee and made an appreciative face.

[deathsmajesty]

"But since Erasmus already couldn't sense the spirits in the Chain Veil until he was in the same room with him, there was already something interfering with the...signal he was picking up," Liliana said, following his rationale immediately. "And so you provided further signal interference. Which now makes me wonder if Erasmus would still be able to hear them in the Veil if there were fewer of them. Does the magic that makes an artifact an artifact act as a muffling agent, or is it simply that the soul is in such an artificial environment, that there's less for his powers to interface with?" She looked thoughtful. "Or perhaps it's something about the Chain Veil's construction specifically, or even the curse is a muting factor..."

She swung her gaze back to his. "How would you examine the Chain Veil, if you could?" she asked. "And were you able to...see?...the curse, for a lack of a better term?"

[necromanticparents]

"Yes, I would like to--" Nikodemus cut himself off. "Well. Further experimentation in that lane would be impossible, as I've no idea where to locate an artifact with fewer souls in it." Since he didn't know where to find a djinn, apparently, thank you very much, Johannes, now Nikodemus had to know this.

"I didn't look very closely," he told her. "When someone gives me a serious magical warning, I take it seriously. But just on the surface, from looking at it, I can see some of the magic that makes it up, certainly. Curses all have a certain shape to them. To examine it fully I would have to...really get in there, as it were. Pull the layers apart. It is not something I would undertake lightly with any artifact, let alone one already known to be dangerous."

[deathsmajesty]

"Oh, I could locate some," Liliana said, waving that concern away with a languid gesture. "If the three of you thought this was a worthwhile avenue to explore, obtaining something like that would be the work of a day or two at most. Necro-alchemists and geistmages are thick as fleas on Innistrad. I could bring back both an ensouled artifact and a device that run on geist energy. Or I could just go to Ravnica and talk to members of the Izzet League and the Orzhov Syndicate. More expensive, certainly, but I'd have what I was looking for within the afternoon."

What she was saying, Nikodemus, was that there were options.

"But that is also good to know; I wasn't sure how much you could see via your passive magic sight. It would be nice to have gotten a few more answers, but I'm sure we could find you something to take a closer look at that isn't the Chain Veil. Though, I will warn you now, it'll very likely also already be known to be dangerous."

Look. Flirty innuendo aside, there was very little that Liliana trafficked in that wasn't dangerous. Though the two textbook-sized tomes of beginning necromantic theory were probably safe enough.

Probably.

[necromanticparents]

"I--hm." How much could he say? Johannes had extracted from him a promise, not a legally binding oath (bit shortsighted, if you asked Nikodemus, but he was hardly going to argue with anything that left him with more flexibility of movement), but even given that, how much did he want to say to a near stranger who trafficked in dangerous magics? Then again, all magics were dangerous if applied properly; that was hardly her fault.

"To the best of my knowledge," he said slowly, making it quite obvious that he was picking his way through is words, "there is only one type of artifact in my world that could contain a soul, and it is my great hope that Erasmus shall never encounter one. So I am not sure how much utility there would be in the exercise, other than perhaps stretching his academic horizons."

[deathsmajesty]

"Which is of no small small importance in and of itself," Liliana pointed out. "Even ignoring the fragility of hope against the nature of reality, there's no saying who or what he will come across here."

She couldn't even say what she would receive as a shipment to the Infinite Consortium, not that she thought Erasmus would be taking any trips to visit her store.

For all that Liliana did have a strong desire to know things (especially when they came at little or no cost to herself), it wasn't so strong that she was willing to fight over it. She was too much an academic to not point out weak points in an argument, sure, but she carried no emotional stake in this.

If Nikodemus and Lydia had been opposed to Erasmus being trained at all, then she would be moved to actually fight about it (or, more likely, just ignore the restriction entirely), but fortunately, they were all united on that front.

[so_strange]

Before going to Illyana's residence, Clea had other people she wished to speak with.

"I seek an audience with Mistress Vess," she announced, sweeping into the office with a grumbling Bats in her wake. "I presume you are she?"

Look, if Stephen had wanted someone with 'soft skills' to deal with evaluating Illyana's mental state, he would have sent Wong with Bats.

[deathsmajesty]

"I am," Liliana said, with an incline of her head. "You may come in, if you wish. I assure you, my office is much more comfortable than the hall." Unless you couldn't not hear the voices of the dead. Then proximity to the Chain Veil was probably bad.

She made no bones (heh, bones) about studying the stranger in front of her, though Bats was definitely noted with a slight eyebrow raise. Ghost dog. Interesting.

"And you are...?"

[so_strange]

"Clea, Clea Strange," she replied, coming in and taking a seat. "--and this is Bats."

"Hi," Bats said, coming in and flopping down in a comfy spot. "We're here about Our Illyana."

[deathsmajesty]

So long as it wasn't the divan, Liliana was fine with that. Fortunately, her office had been decorated with comfort in mind.

"Oooh, aren't you even more interesting now," Liliana said to Bats, as she pulled out a silver tea service and a French press, in case Clea wished for refreshments. "But yes, Illyana. I take it that you're worried about her?" It wasn't actually a question. "In light of her brother's death."

[so_strange]

Please, Bats had manners. Even if he was a ghost who didn't shed, he knew better than to jump on furniture.

"Doc, Wong, and me are worried about Illyana," he rumbled. "Pretty sure Clea is here to give her a kick in her behind."

"If I have to drag her out from under her bed by her hair, I will," Clea agreed. "I am hoping she will remember who she is, and get the rest of the way up by herself."

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana raised an eyebrow at that. "Do you think that will help?" She knew what her reaction would have been if someone had done that after Josu had died...but then, her first instinct had been to throw herself into learning necromancy inside and out to try to reverse what she'd done in the first place. "I can tell you, she seems much more, mmm...volatile that I am used to. That was what made me ask about what happened in the first place. And more perfunctory. She does what she must, going through the motions, but it is very clearly just the motions. Like she has a mental checklist she's going down just to get through it. Does that line up with some of what you have observed?"

[so_strange]

"She won't come home and take me on walkies," Bats said mournfully. "She always takes me on really long walkies. But she won't come home at all, or if she does, she locks herself into the library and doesn't come out."

So that was a 'yes.'

"Illyana's despair is dangerous, both to herself and others," Clea said crisply. "Anger can be directed, but despair can literally consume her and doom the rest of us."

"She has too much power," Bats added. "'S what Wong says. Doc told me that once, before she ever came to this school, she got so wound-up in her grief that she turned her power inward and almost killed herself. He had to take her to a blighted plane to unleash it, or she would have destroyed herself and everything around her."

"You can see why we are...concerned," Clea finished. "Illyana needs connection. She needs to be present. When she checks-out...it can go very bad, very quickly."

[deathsmajesty]

"Mmmm," Liliana said thoughtfully, leaning back to consider possible options. "Vengeance is the most obvious choice."

You know. To a certain mindset. Like the kind that was still murdering every angel she got her hands on, well over a century later.

"But she's also clever enough and ruthless enough that she's already considered it. Is she the type to negotiate with demons or the like to bargain for his return?"

Also an obvious choice. To a certain mindset.

[so_strange]

Bats and Clea looked at each other.

"How much do you know about Our Girl?" Bats asked Liliana. "Really-really know?"

[deathsmajesty]

"Some," Liliana said. "I know that she's brilliant, and powerful. I know she is a Sorcerer Supreme...of Limbo?" She obviously had no idea what that meant, and was assuming it was the name of the plane Illyana was from. "I know that she is adept at chaos magic, eldritch, demonic, and dark magic, having studied those until she was fifteen, and has spent the last few years trying to catch up on my enchantment, divine, elemental, and creation magic, of which creation is the weakest. Though I have only the most cursory idea what kinds of magic those are, since that's not how we categorize things in my world. I am fairly certain that she is relentless and ruthless and is attempting to learn how not to be. I believe she has been through some number of very horrible things, as I have seen the way she watches, the way she holds herself apart. She does not trust easily or well, and I think she would make a very terrible enemy. She will not stop when she puts her mind to something, she over-relies on her magic, and I do not want to be in the shoes of the demon that killed her brother when she catches up to him. She does not suffer fools gladly, she has a firm sense of justice, and she bears a large responsibility of some kind that I do not envy."

Did that sound roughly correct?

"But as for specifics and details..." She shook her head. "I do not know much."

NFB from here!

[so_strange]

"What we say here does not leave this room," Bats warned, getting up to patrol the space. "Ever."

"Illyana was kidnapped by a demon when she was six," Clea said, watching Bats prowl. "He saw her great magical potential, and sought to turn her to his own ends. He turned her into a vessel for his masters -- she was forged into the key to unlock the prison that holds back the Elder Gods, but instead she chooses to be the shield wall against hell on Earth."

"That is why her magic leans the way it does. He had her for seven years, and in that time, he killed and twisted her family -- versions of them he had stolen from other realities, in an attempt to break her to his will. Some of them, we believe that she killed them herself, but she has never spoken much on the topic."

"Meaning this is the second time she has seen her brother and his friends die," Bats interjected, even as he followed his nose. "Although last time she had their corpses for company."

Wasn't THAT a cheerful thought!

Clea nodded. "Illyana over-relies on her magic, because it kept her alive when she had nothing else. She never learned how to solve a problem without it." She spread her hands expressively. "Everything she has learned about how to function as a person and not a weapon, is due to Stephen, Wong, and this island."

"Living with two or three sorcerers at a time hasn't exactly encouraged her to find non-magical solutions to problems," Bats said dryly. "All four of you rely too much on your magic."

"Fair," Clea acknowledged. "--even coming from our ghost dog."

"But the important thing to understand is that those ancient gods still whisper to her, tempt her, constantly. What her former master did to her cannot be undone, even with all our good intentions. Her mind is a warren of horrors that she guards against at all times, least she unleash a violent end upon us all. Anger, anger we can focus. But if Illyana becomes desperate enough and falls to despair..." Clea shook her head. "Our bright and beautiful girl won't need to make a deal with a demon. She is the deal and the demon."

Re: NFB from here!

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana listened to everything that they said, and if she twitched slightly random times, like at the word 'vessel,' at the idea of killing one's own family members, and having old gods whispering in her mind, well, likely that was for no reason.

"I see," she said, sitting back in her chair and contemplating all of that. That recontextualized a few things, like some of her answers from self-indulgence class. "I understand the overreliance," she said, and the way she rubbed her thigh at that moment was probably for no reason, too. "I have fallen prey to it numerous times myself-- which is why I'm attempting to encourage her to find other methods."

So many of her classes was attempting to guide her students away from the many, many mistakes that she had made.

"How would she feel about blood sport?" Liliana asked, a totally normal question from a teacher. "Either in gladiatorial combat, where the death of your opponents is not the goal, but defeating them with style and flair? Or, to go the other direction, fighting creatures that have no humanity remaining within them, possibly even to protect the few humans that remain?"

Re: NFB from here!

[so_strange]

Look, there was probably a reason that Illyana had, to some extent imprinted on both Clea and Liliana. On some subconscious level, like called to like.

"Probably a bad idea with other sentient creatures," Bats sighed. "Illyana is good with weapons, but she was taught to kill, not to spar."

"She's a predator... it's like a wolf trying to convince itself it's a guard dog. Best of intentions, but one slip is going to end with a lot of blood."

"She once told Wong that the idea of 'fun' growing up around demons was cutting each other, and when Stephen originally found her, she was road-tripping across the country by murdering child predators," Clea added, although personally she did not seem to find that upsetting.

"Wong and my husband are very keen to keep her on the 'no murder diet,' as they put it." Notably, Clea did not list herself as a member of that particular club. "However, there is a concern that she may have...slipped, recently."

"But letting her loose on creatures with zero humanity? Might at least release some of the pressure that's building." Clea tapped her fingers against her leg. "I'm worried about the fact she seems to just be 'checking things off,' that's not our girl. Illyana feels. Deeply. If she appears outwardly apathetic at times, something is brewing."

Re: NFB from here!

[deathsmajesty]

Honestly, hunting child predators seemed like an excellent use of time, power, and bloodlust.

"That is certainly something I can arrange," Liliana said, drumming her nails on her chair as she considered a few logistics. "I know a number of planes where some of the monsters could use a good culling." Field trip! "Fighting for not only her life but the lives of others might also not only connect her back to her anger, but also reinforce those softer emotions that she's managed to cultivate over time. As you said, release that pressure in a way that is familiar and satisfying, but also bent to a...kinder purpose. One less likely to trip her into her more...wolfish sensibilities, let's say. Did you have other suggestions about what to look for and how to counter or offset it?"

[mtggarystu]

Liliana. Jace's voice rang loudly in her mind. We are going to brunch. Would you like to join us?

[deathsmajesty]

Get out of my head! was Liliana's immediate reply.

Look, Jace, she still hadn't entirely forgiven you for trying to crack her head open like a walnut when you were, like, extra crazy.

And no. I'm having office hours.

[mtggarystu]

For your students? Jace sounded surprised. Instead of brunch?

[deathsmajesty]

Perhaps you missed the part where this is referred to as Parents' Weekend? she asked icily. Not 'Anyone who feels like wandering through?' So yes, my students, instead of brunch.

It helped that Ignis had prepared a lavish breakfast for her in an attempt to make up for Jace's presence on the island.

Jace was a lot to make up for.