A S'ymple Solution

Summary:
October 14 2014: S'ym doesn't like the fact that Illyana's planning to face Belasco alone. Fortunately, he has a solution.

Unit 24F/Limbo

A Hells Kitchen Apartment / The Hell Realm ruled by Illyana Rasputina


Characters

NPCs

  • S'ym
  • K'nert

Mood Music:
[* None]


Jericho didn't sleep much last night though that's expected. Come the day though he managed to knock himself into presentable shape and go about his work. Today's a work from home kind of day and the hacker is out on the terrace, going over information on Hydra's latest activities (hunting down cursed magical artifacts is a biiiit worrisome) and comparing it to past patterns. This is the kind of tedious part of what he does, the gathering of information and trying to make sense of it all. It does leave him plenty of time to multitask though, so he's also considering brunch (since it's too late for a proper breakfast). He's held off on any more blade work since Illyana was insistent that it was important for his weapon to have 'soul'. Just thinking of her sets his mind spinning in a few other direction including 'options' he hopes he doesn't have to use.

-

K'nert was a round earlier, but since Jericho's at home he ducked out. He seems to have a knack for finding the soldier wherever he goes so it's not like Jericho needs to worry about leaving him behind if decides to go somewhere. Illyana's at class and so Jericho isn't really expecting company. When the stepping disk opens, it likely doesn't surprise Jericho. The large, purple-skinned figure that steps through with K'nert on his shoulder? Might.

S'ym's big enough that his steps makes the floor shiver under his weight, and the cloying scent of cigar touches Jericho's nose.

-

This is… new. And different. Jericho blinks as the stepping disk opens since he knows where Illyana is and folds his arms trying to conceal his shock that the enormous demon even fits in his living room, let alone wanted to make a journey out to see him. Which, the back of his mind tells him, probably doesn't bode well. The last conversation he had with Sym that was longer than a couple of sentences was really rather disturbing.

"What? Get bored with the red sky? Come to see if the blue one's really that different?"

-

"Big talk. S'ym c'n smell fear on ya, boytoy." S'ym says in that odd, almost sing-song English around large fangs on both top and bottom. "Imp says Boss babe's gonna go after Belasco." Obviously something she wasn't telling her demons.

-

"Lots of people have smelled fear on me." Jericho shrugs with a gleam in his eye. "Most of them aren't alive anymore. And yeah, that's what I hear. He pissed her off."

The hacker's tone is cautious. If Illyana didn't tell her demons she probably had a reason for it and he can think of a few, one of them being perhaps she's a bit unsure of their loyalties. Hey, they're demons. If they think they'll get a better shake under some other tyrant, they might go for it. While he's fairly certain that Illyana's rule is secure close to her citidel, he's got no idea how many demons that actually covers or what the internal politics are like save that S'ym figures in them to a great degree.

-

"And that y'r not goin' with her." S'ym adds, cluing Jericho in that while K'nert might have been quiet, he certainly wasn't gone. He may be cat-sized, but the imp pays keen attention to every damned thing. The large purple demon gnaws on the edge of his cigar, watching Jericho with those glowing yellow eyes that lack pupil or iris or anything that humans are used to eyes having.

-

Jericho's gaze flickers and flits first to K'nert then back to S'ym. "Yeah. Her call." He doesn't have to like it. In fact he doesn't like it. But he's sure as hell not going to undermine her in front of her 'heavy'. In fact he's not entirely sure what K'nerts play is here, if indeed it was K'nert's idea to tell S'ym and not something S'ym threatened out of him. Given what he already knows about the big purple demon there's a good chance this could already be dangerous for Illyana… not to mention him.

On the other hand, S'ym hasn't attacked yet and probably knows better than to do it in Illyana's own home.

-

S'ym chuckles, a low sound that makes the glass in the apartment shiver. "S'ym would commend ya for playin' th' game so good 'cept S'ym don't think y'r playin." He takes several slow steps closer to Jericho, looking him over with a tilt of his head.

-

Jericho isn't playing. It was her call not to bring him and frankly, she had good reasons for doing so. The hacker isn't convinced those reasons necessarily outweigh the drawbacks of going after an ancient demon sorcerer in his own territory alone, but that wasn't his call either. Not that this is a good conversation to have with S'ym. The chainsmoking heavy is already dangerously independant and he's got a long game he's playing though Jericho couldn't say exactly what it is yet. So rather than answer directly he just meets S'yms gaze with his own, watching the big demon carefully and looking askance at the smaller one on his shoulder.

"Mmmm. And what's it to you?"

-

"Careful. S'ym likes that. Well, actually would prefer you were dumb and easily manipulated but falin' that…" S'ym lets his words trail off. "Boss babe goes up against Belasco alone, she's gonna loose. Last time she had surprise. Her mutant power an' her sword. She chose th' time an' place." Not that S'yms telling him anything he doesn't already know…

-

"Mmmhmmm?" The implicit question is 'Yes, and?' though Jericho doesn't actually say that. He's not familiar with the details of how Illyana bested her mentor/captor and took over, only that it involved not killing him and it was very, very difficult. What he does know, as S'ym has pointed out, is that this time the deck is stacked against her. Belasco has maneuvered her into leaving her allies behind, seeking him out at his own place of power where his allies and minions will be waiting, and has forced her to spend energy - both magical and emotional - taking care of Jericho. It's possible, sure, that Illyana could still somehow pull a win out, but he would't particularly think much of their chances if they both were going, let alone just her.

-

S'ym leans down and blows a cloud of smoke in Jericho's face. "Imp seems t' think you could make a difference." It's like they're playing a game of who can say the least, S'ym short sentances going up against Jericho's even shorter answers. The demon leans back, perhaps to discourage Jericho from pushing things and retaliating against the smoke thing.

"S'ym's got a good thing with th' boss in charge. Belasco might not be so willing to let S'ym keep his spot. S'ym's heard he's got a new favorite goes by N'astirh. So it's in S'ym's best interest for boss babe to win." Well, now that he's explained why his information should be believed, if not trusted…

-

Jericho might have a thing or two to say about N'astirh if he could remember meeting him. As it stands the name is just vaguely familiar in a way that he might otherwise shrug off as 'all demonic names kind of blend together eventually.' It's true enough, especially since he's been studying the language. "So we both want her to win." Jericho says, eyes narrowing. Starting an actual fight with S'ym wouldn't be a good move here, but there are ways to answer those kinds of subtle dominance plays. Glancing at K'nert he tilts his head to one side, indicating that the imp should get off the big guy.

"She still won't take me." Unless S'ym's got a way to make it safe (he's betting not) or otherwise convince her of what K'nert failed to: that she should lock his magic away, or make him her Familiar. Certainly he's willing to risk what it might do to him because A) She's worth that risk and B) If this kind of thing does affect him, he'd much rather be damned by her than by someone like Belasco.

-

"Boss won't take you cuz you're a liability since y'r not hers." S'ym says, continuing in that low rumble of his. "But you are? Aren't you boy?"

K'nert tilts his head to the side a bit at Jericho's gesture, but he's already hopping over to the couch. Jericho's won the dominance game with him enough that K'nert will usually listen. Also, if the pair are going to throw down? K'nert might want a good seat, but doesn't want to be in the fight.

-

Jericho cants his head. He knows that Illyana has told her demons that he is, in fact hers, and that at some point it stopped being a pretense to her. She's confided in him before that she doesn't think she could stand to let him go. Which suits him just fine because he doesn't want to go anywhere. There's an odd subtext in interacting with demons as smart as S'ym. On the one hand he has to uphold Illyana's image of being absolutely and utterly in charge. Since his ego - what if it he affords himself - doesn't extend to the demonic, that's usually not too hard. On the other hand, he has to avoid giving away anything that might be used against her at some point which is a lot harder, since demons like S'ym can be damn devious. Still, this one seems safe to answer honestly.

"I am, yes."

-

It's a question that most people couldn't answer honestly. They could say the words that the demon wants to hear but really mean it? Modern Western mentality shies away from such things.

S'ym gives a grin that puts those big fangs on display and sends shivers down the spine of most men. "Time she took the plunge then." He brings one of those huge hands up between them, fingers opening like some kind of deadly flower as though to show Jericho something within his palm.

-

Jericho glances up at the big demon's face for just a moment - well, more like the underside of his cigar - just to make sure he doesn't look about to deck him with the other hand. That might hurt. A lot. Frowning he concentrates at what's there. Demons have magic, he knows, so he's not going to be horribly surprised if there's nothing there at first. Hopefulyl S'ym doesn't mean the gesture for Jericho to take his hand because he's gonna want to know what's going on before he potentially loses a limb.

-

There's something a little smaller in diameter than Jericho's palm and maybe a half-inch thick. It's like some perfect skipping stone on a large scale that has some odd markings and grooves to it. The demon doesn't do anything more, just holds his hand out with the disk-like-thing on it.

-

Jericho reaches his hand out and picks up the 'coin' or 'stone' or whatever you want to call it. He has a brief memory of K'nert trying to figure out exactly why the hell he was skipping stones on the Hudson a month or so back. It was amusing as hell. This… is odd. Pulling it closer he examines the markings and grooves? Is it demonic? Perhaps, though he's not so confident in his growing skill that he think's he'd necessarily be able to read it even if it was.

-

Jericho can tell that it's definitely not demonic script. Or any that he's familiar with. It's lighter than stone as he picks it up and… fuzzy. Turning it over to look more closely he starts to see what all those grooves are as the limbs that had been pulled in close and tight flex open and a spider-like thing twists in his grasp to attach itself to his flesh. Much like a leech, in the center of that underbelly is a mouth with small, razor sharp teeth.

-

"Ack!" Jericho can't suppress the exclamation of surprise as the 'rock' turns out to be a living (probably demonic) being. From limbo if he had to guess. Yay introduction to Limbo wildlife. The grimace of pain on his face says that unlike a leech this maw of razor sharp fangs doesn't secrete a chemical to numb the bite. The hacker's eyes flash has he glares up at S'ym. "What. Have. You. Done." He grits as the thing clamps down and he tries unsuccessfully to pry it off.

-

That ring of teeth bites in, the array of spindly legs curling around his arm and piercing his flesh as well to hold on. Blood wells up from the legs but not from that mouth and Jericho can feel the moment it starts to 'feed'. Because it's not sucking his blood. Not really. Maybe those teeth didn't even really puncture his skin since he's not bleeding. He's only got one sensation to compare it to, and that's from Greenland. It isn't on that crippling rush of having the power in him yanked out, but it's definitely like someone decided to tap him like a keg. There's also the sense that it's feeding on more than the stored magic. It's slurping down the metaphysical parts of him that the magic is woven into.

"Manaspider." S'ym says helpfully. "While it's eatin' ya, no one else can draw on that magic in ya." The gleam in his eyes says that's far from the whole of it though.

-

Indeed, it can't be all of it because if keeping someone from tapping him was as simple as attaching a fuzzy growth to him, Illyana'd probably have done that. Which means, Jericho knows, that there must be some other side effects. And he thinks he can take a fair guess as to what they are.

"How helpful…" He says dryly as he can manage through the sensation of slowly being hollowed out. At least if Belasco comes right now he's not going to be able to rip the magic out of him. "Why do I get the feeling she'll be upset when she sees this?" Even if he doesn't say anything.

-

"Because she'll need t' do something she don't want to." S'ym answers, starting to turn away. He looks over at K'nert and jerks his head. Clearly his work here is done and he's ready to leave.

-

Jericho glances over to K'nert and then moves out the way. He can't get this thing off and S'ym won't take it off. There's no point in getting into a confrontation with him about it and he'd rather not trash the apartment anyway. Whatever S'ym is about he's sure that like Belasco this is part of a longer game. But in this at least their goals coincide: Neither want to lose Illyana. Jericho never wants to lose her and S'ym at least not yet.

-

K'nert hops over, padding around S'ym's feet and a stepping disk opens. While K'nert can't control them like Illyana, Illyana's in and out of the apartment often enough that the imp can usually 'coax' one open that's just sort of lingering around, closed. He doesn't follow S'ym through though, turning to look back towards Jericho as that burning draw continues as the portal winks shut.

-

Jericho doesn't look at him at first. He closes his eyes, concentrating on controlling the pain. His eyes flicker and flash dangerously. On top of his mental exhaustion this is almost enough to send him over the edge. He yanks himself back, barely, looks up at K'nert and nods. "Answer me one question: Was it for her?" He knows K'nert doesn't especially like or care about him. It'd be silly in any case to expect a demon to do either. K'nert, he's fairly certain, would just as soon eat his liver in his sleep but for the fact that the two have had their share of dominance clashes and generally he wins. But Illyana… if demons could love, Jericho is fairly sure K'nert would love Illyana. He may have a twisted, demonic view of what's best for her and be about as trustworthy as he looks but in this Jericho can ascribe perhaps less dangerous motives than S'ym.

-

Of course K'nert can't explain the subtleties of it. He can only really give Jericho a yes/no sort of answer and so finally the imp gives a sharp nod, accompanied by hissing that means… something. He slinks up clsoer to Jericho, ears laid back and head and belly down low.

-

"You realize she's going to be upset." Jericho shakes the rather light headed feeling being fed upon gives him. The good news is there seems to be plenty of magic in there for the manaspider to feed on. So it won't start eating his arm any time soon. The bad news? It's clearly eating things that aren't magic and while Jericho can't say for sure, he's relatively certain he doesn't want to lose much of whatever it is. Hopefully it's taking it's time.

Honestly, Jericho didn't want to trick or maneuver Illyana into this. Of course, having her die or get captured by the likes of Belasco isn't really any more acceptable to him, but for all his extreme tendencies, he does have limits. That was one of them. Which is maybe why K'nert went to S'ym. In any case Jericho doesn't assault or even threaten K'nert. He just slumps down on the couch.

-

Instead of disappearing, the imp slides behind Jericho's feet, between them and the couch. And waits.

It isn't terribly long to wait until Illyana comes home. Not having to commute is certainly a perk. The blonde is dressed in university casual as she steps through the the stepping disk and into the apartment.

-

Jericho looks up slowly from where he's hasn't moved since he slumped down. The growth on his arm sort of needs no introduction. There's also no hiding it, not that he's trying. K'nert's there too, still, it seems. "Hey…" His greeting lacks the usual pep. He's happy to see her, and it shows on his face, but he's exhausted and on top of that, he's being drained. Oddly, the process of being drained seems somehow more tiring than it should, as if he were helping somehow.

-

Any greeting from Illyana dies on her lips as she sees, and senses, the spider. Her eyes widen a bit in surprise. "What happened?" She demands, backpack hitting the floor with a *bang* and then hurrying over to the couch. She takes his arm by fingertips and elbow, but is careful not to touch the thing which has started to swell in size a bit and glow.

-

One thing Jericho doesn't do is lie to Illyana. He considers it, this time if only briefly. "S'ym." Is all he says. Which should be enough. There are only so many ways a Limbo creature (he's still assuming that's what this is) could get into his apartment. He's generally smarter than to go poking at things when he's actually in Limbo. He simply - to be honest - didn't see this one coming from the big chain smoker.

"I'm going to guess this thing isn't just draining me of magic."

-

Illyana shoots Jericho a sharp look, and then shakes her head, mouth set into a hard line. "No." She agrees. "They call them magebane. Where the hell did he get one of them… It actually won't kill you, but that's not entirely a good thing." She says grimly. "It'll start pumping the magic back into you, but… attuned. And that attuned magic starts to turn you into a manaspider."

-

Jericho coughs and looks up… it would be a sharp look of his own but he's too tired to really do it. "Uh huh." That's what S'ym meant by making her do something she didn't want to do. He doesn't particularly relish the idea of becoming a mindless mage eating demon-beast. Ordinarily this probably wouldn't do a damn thing to him bu he's full of magic despite not being a mage so… Anyway, he does now see the genius of S'ym's plan. At least on his own end. Either Illyana does something to get it off him or… he's no longer a factor.

"What do we do about it?"

-

Illyana's mouth is still set in that hard line. She doesn't look at him for a long time, just staring at that spider like she could make it drop off just by doing that. "I can't just pull it out. It's already linked itself to your magic and your essence." There's another long pause and her jaw works. "I need to reattune you."

-

"Reattune me?" Jericho shakes himself and focuses, glancing down briefly to K'nert before looking back up at Illyana. This thing is devious. Already magic-related things are hard to think of. Probably some kind of mechanism to prevent victims from defending themselves before it took over their magic and subverted. "RIght, sorry. What do you need me to do?"

It probably says something about him even now and under these conditions that he asks what she needs from him and not what reattunement will do to him. Somewhere the still with it portion of him understands on some level. Not the specifics of course but he's never needed those when it came to Illyana, has he?

-

Illyana stands up, keeping hold of his fingers as she does so. "What you always do." She says with a wan smile. "Let me do terrible things to you." A stepping disk appears at their feet and then they're in her room in Limbo. "Take off your shirt and lie down on the bed." She says, moving over to a small wash basin to wash her hands.

-

Jericho takes his shirt off, though it takes a little effort to get it over the increasingly engorged manapsider. He lays back with a wry smile. It's a bad time to argue but he's never seen it quite that way. He's changed in many ways since he met her, but terrible things to him? The terrible things that have hapened to him have never been her fault. Well, not the way he sees it at any rate.

This requires a great deal of trust. Fortunately trusting her is easy. It's only gotten easier as time has gone on too. Some of that's him, certainly. Is any of it something else?

Maybe. But would he care?

Probably not.

-

Illyana opens several tins on her bureau there, dipping her fingers in. Jericho can smell the scent of dark spices, the tang of salt and coppery hints of blood. There is the tinkle of metal as she slides on some odd sort of glove that looks like jewelry linked together giving her fingers long, silver talons.

Illyana comes over towards Jericho then, climbing onto the bed. "Keep it to the side." She says, nodding at the spider while resting that now-clawed hands over the center of his chest.

-

Jericho nods and moves his arm out to the side keeping one eye on the furry spider-thing while the other watches Illyana. There's a small part of his mind that's kind of interested in what on earth the glove is for. "It's not going to go for you, is it?" He murmurs quietly. If it does he's going to kill it with his bare hands. And then think about whether or not he needs to do anything about S'ym.

-

Illyana shakes her head. "No." She says softly. "Once it's latched on it won't let go until there's nothing left for it to feed on or it's dead. And this is going to kill it." Seems like something didn't come to be by Darwin's laws. More likely it was a magical construct, so it's not exactly finely tuned for survival.

Illyana leans down to kiss Jericho lightly, as though she were apologizing for something. What it might be becomes clear a moment later as the hand against his chest starts to push downwards. His ribcage gives a bit, and then her hand pushes past flesh and bone as though she were Kitty and able to phase through things. He can feel a sense of her hand in his chest. Feel it moving around within him.

-

This hurts. It looks like it's at least partly intended to but Illyana can see Jericho tense, his expression go tight with pain. He doesn't move though, doesn't make a sound. He just watches, keeping an eye on the spider for a moment longer before he looks back up to Illyana and keeps her eyes there. He gets the feeling that she wasn't precisely apologising for the pain. What exactly might be linked in his body to what the Spider's drawing he's not sure. Well, unless she's touching more than just that.

-

Illyana's eyes go white first, and then her form shifts to take on her Darkchilde form. "Relax." She says, the words oddly calm given the passions that run so strongly in her while wearing the demonic form.

He can feel her fingers stretch outward and then they seem to hook inward, and catch. He feels the taloned tips more solidly now, cold and metallic before they merge into whatever it is that can feel her moving. Now, every movement tugs him one way or another like millions of gossamyr strings attached to her hand.

She speaks three words. Slowly. Precisely. And then it's like someone poured energy into him in a bright and burning intoxicating rush. When Illyana fed him energy before, it was warm and soothing. This is like mainlining heroin as she binds him to the darkness that is her soul.

-

Jericho nods, watching as she transforms. He reaches up with his free hand to touch her arm. He'd leave his hand there but doesn't want to get in her way. Instead he simply brushes his fingers over her skin and then lets his hand drop back down. The tugs throw rushes of sensation through him that get startled small gasps, though not of pain now. Whatever it is she's doing isn't unpleasant it's just… odd. Like being touched somewhere he didn't know existed, didn't know was a part of him.

And then she speaks and that energy flows into him. His eyes widen and blaze with light as power pours into him. This time he gasps in earnest, the rush leaving him breathless.

-

Illyana makes soft, soothing sounds which are so at odds with the heady rush that creeps from the center of his chest outwards.

I only truly feel alive when I use my magic.

It's something Illyana doesn't admit to most. The year without it was one of the hardest of her life. Knowing she could take back that intoxicating, addicting rush. It creeps through Jericho, and leaving a shadow on his soul.

The thing on his arm starts to twitch. And then shrivel up like something left too long in the sun. Illyana pulls her hand free of his chest, but there's no sign of the silvery metal that was there when she pushed it inside of him.

The magespider's legs pull free, and it drops to the bed in a dried up husk.

-

Jericho takes her hand as she pulls it free and squeezes it in gratitude before letting it go. He eyes the desiccated corpse of the magespider for a moment and then bats it off Illyana's bed with snort. S'ym… he's going to need to remember that. The fact that he has a vested interest in Illyana notwithstanding, Jericho is positive that he's got longer goals in mind. Most demons do, it seems.

As the slow, delicious rush creeps out from his core Jericho shudders abit, getting used to the sensation. The memory of Illyana's words ring in his ears as though she'd just said them anew. Only truly alive when she uses her magic. He levers himself up on into a sitting position and looks at her with a soft smile. Perhaps she only feels it then, but the times she's seemed it to him had nothing to do with magic.

-

Jericho can feel her presence with something more than just sight to see her, or the warmth of her body or the way sound displaces off of her. He can close his eyes, and knows he could point to where she was standing in a room. And when he touches her, there's that rush again, the sense of something more than skin touching skin. Her bleeding into him bleeding into her.

-

"Woah…" Jericho murmurs softly as he feels that rush. When his hand comes to rest on her again - her shoulder this time as he scoots closer to the Darkchilde, not minding her altered form in the least - it doesn't leave her. He thinks he has a fairly good idea what 'reattuning' him meant now. The spider was changing him and had… admin permissions. She revoked those, but in so doing she had to take them for herself.

-

Illyana shifts up onto her knees and reaches for him. She's stronger in this form, making it so easy to catch him by the nape of the neck and pull him against her. Her mouth takes his in a kiss that steals his breath and seems to sip at the well of power within him even as there's the rush of that physical link to her that lets him touch her dark magic.

-

Jericho's eyes widen and his arms snake around her, kissing her back till he's quite literally breathless. She's stronger than he in this form (unless he traces out and then… she might still be stronger than he) but since she's pulling him exactly where he wants to be it's no problem. Indeed he presses himself right up against her and nuzzles into that kiss, held there by Illyana's arms and the rush of magic that seems to jolt him every time his skin finds hers. His traces light up much faster than they usually do and when his eyes open again, they're slowly smoldering.

-

Illyana's clawed fingertips caress his cheek as her white, glowing eyes watch his. "You glow." She murmurs softly and seems to be searching him for other signs that she's tainted him. Even if there's nothing now, she knows in her gut eventually the price will start to become known.

-

"You do have that effect on me." Jericho murmurs with a soft, small smile. He runs a hand up her back, toying with the back of her neck for a moment before running a finger along her jaw. He seems unaltered… for the present. He's always been a bit slow to manifest though doubtless she's right and there will be a sign of her binding him somewhere probably soon. Doubtless also, he'll fail to see it as a drawback.

-

Illyana's lips twist into a familiar smirk. "Now. I should go see about S'ym." She says, letting him go with some obvious reluctance so she can stand up. "He backed me into a corner."

-

"Of course…" Jericho murmurs. He only lets go of her though when distance forces him to. If she wants him to accompany her, he figures she'll tell him to come along but it's entirely possible that she wants to handle this in private. S'ym after all is one of her most important servants and it's probably not good for them to be seen openly arguing. He's spent enough time in this room that he's comfortable waiting. Or being disked back, whichever Illyana thinks is more appropriate.


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