ixis | No Way Home

He seeps in through the imperceptible seams around the crystal window. The oily purple smoke he currently inhabits the form of swirling in agitation around the second floor of his tower, unable to bring himself into cohesive physical form from sheer anger.

That anger manifests outwards when the form of air changes to that of fire. Ixis Naugus screams his fury and frustration, flames flowing over his room in waves, consuming everything in the room that isn't stone. Books, parchment, blankets all catch fire, collateral damage in the mage's supreme outrage.

But the flames soon weaken, gutter, die. Everything is scorched black all around him but he couldn't care less. He is left defeated, falling to his knees, his staff slipping from his hand and clattering to the ground.

There is no way home. His Mobius is gone. He doesn't know how, but the doctor's done it. Reality is rewritten and he is locked out of it. Trapped. Exiled.

His anger has dissipated with the flames and Ixis Naugus just slumps further to the floor in despair.

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He stares at that neglected muffin while she's away, his mind back to racing. Opening portals in time...He could find Uma. Get rid of Warlord Kodos while he's at it, for all the good he did the two of them. He could break the Arachne free, he could leave Mogul in their place to rot. That would also require waylaying that Finitivus fellow while he was at it, but he'd be a pushover, wouldn't he? All he has going for him is portal magic and Naugus has so much more! He would have time to plan, time to map it all out, all the intricacies, the dominoes.

He could stop Eggman before he ruined it all.

"...How could I do this? And wouldn't I meet with myself? Paradoxes and the like."

Edited 2015-10-03 05:16 (UTC)

His thinking quietly and not attacking the furniture is a decided improvement in her opinion. Time travel opens up so many options. It needs careful consideration.

The questions make her smile, but she puts on a more serious expression before she turns to face him. "It would be tricky. I don't know magic, you know that, but there might be someone or something around here that could help with that part. As for the planning... that'll take a lot of time. The more things you try to change, the less likely you are to be successful. There's no way to predict how a single change will affect other events you want to influence. I have some books about time travel and alternate dimensions if you'd like to borrow them. They're mostly theoretical, but the principles are generally sound."

"Well, the thing about time magicks is you always have time, isn't it? Books on the matter would be good. I would need the perspective on how to harness it and utilize it at all first to see if this is even viable." What a thrill it'd be if it was, really.

"I feel this is also something prudent to keep under your hat, Verity. I don't need people knowing a personal undertaking like this. Or like your Loki, assume the worst that I would ever consider chronomancy combined with Nexus and portal magicks."

"I think having all the time in the world is half the reason people invented time travel," she agrees with a little smile to go with the little joke.

"Of course I won't tell anyone. Why would I?"

"I just have to be careful. I trust you, I do, but i just wanted to ensure this wasn't some new hobby I would be taking up that you could inform the likes of, ugh, that man in blue. Vale's bones, but he did have a problem with me, didn't he? I thought I was being helpful and he simply looked to take a bite out of me at every turn!" He's referring to Hughes, if it isn't obvious.

"No, I won't be telling Hughes, or Schon, or anyone else. Not unless you're in danger or I am. Okay?" Consider the friends she keeps, Naugus, and then consider how unlikely it is she'll think you're in over your head. It's a pretty good promise, as these things go: discretion tempered with affection. "I do work for Hughes, but I don't spy for him. There's a difference and I won't let him forget it."

"Wait, you work for him? That paranoid, rude man?"

"Just paperwork. Nothing that'll affect you, I promise. I'll not be inviting him back here." She won't address the rest of the statement, but c'mon. She can't help giving him a look.

"Don't give me that look! You saw how he behaved! Certainly, I wasn't on my best behaviour," he admits, coughing into a fist, thinking to that bump he'd given Hughes' chair, "but he acted like I was the one who orchestrated the demon invasion. Or that I was badgering you and the Katsuya boy because I delighted in seeing you squirm under the memories of it. He's no better than those that spurned Loki for assuming the worst of him at all turns, isn't he?"

That's a low blow, Naugus. She's blessedly quiet while she deals with that, but the pain is clear in her expression.

"Neither of you behaved entirely well, and you clearly got on each other's nerves. Like I said. I won't be inviting him back here. And since he has nothing to offer that could possibly interest you, wouldn't it be better to put him out of your mind?"

He huffs a sigh through his nose. Okay, he'll drop it. And he's well aware he took an emotional pot shot and the outcome wasn't what he'd hoped.

"I'm sorry. You're being kind and patient and I'm being petulant in return. I'm just...very bad about letting go of a slight or a grudge." Very, very, very bad. The absolute worst. He will fume on things for years. It's what keeps him so spry in his advanced age.

The apology gets a flicker of a smile. She accepts it, and that's really all she needs. She's very forgiving with her friends. (How else could she put up with Loki for so long?) "You've had a rotten day. You're allowed to be petulant. How about we go visit the chao now? I'll keep the energetic ones off of you."

he sighs again, though clearly for dramatics. "If we must," he says in equally pretend-annoyance, getting up from his seat. He also plucks up the picked-at muffin to take with him. They're good and he's not going to let it go to waste.

"How you suffer for me," she teases right now. "I'm terrible, I know." She takes a moment to brush the crumbs off the table before they head out.

No Way Home

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