Dr Strange and Illyana, Saturday

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Strange goes to find 'Yana after discovering some disturbing things about Belasco, and they have a chat. It does not go well -- for Illyana, at least. The cat is leaving the bag, ladies and gentlemen. Set Saturday, mid-afternoon.


Russia is considered a European state, although a large section (Siberia) is in Asia... Illyana yawned, flipping the page in her book with a flick of her fingers; she was sitting comfortably in a quiet corner of the library, a habit she'd picked up during her often sleepless late nights. Although it was daytime, she'd discovered that the library was mostly deserted during the summer, and a lack of people (particularly, annoying people who didn't understand simple concepts) was exactly what she needed. She had her legs slung over the arms of her chair, and her hair was flung over one shoulder, out of the way; she was more at ease than she normally was, and certainly more relaxed than she had been since -- a long time, anyway.

Then her spell activated, and every hair on the back of her neck rose instinctively. She swung her feet onto the floor and looked back, expecting to see Amanda-bloody-Sefton wandering in, possibly ready for another conflict, which Illyana had been avoiding steadily for the past few weeks.

"It's unusual, to see a young person in a library in the middle of summer vacation. Especially on such a nice day," said the tall man in the light grey suit who had walked in. "But, forgive my rudeness, both in interrupting and in not introducing myself. I'm known as Doctor Strange. I had hope to be able to talk with you."

After months of researching Limbo, and Bellasco in particular, Strange almost felt he knew the young blonde girl looking at him with so much hostility. Finally cutting through the dead ends and red herrings and downright egotisitcal embellishments, he'd finally gathered enough information on Bellasco and his habits to want to meet Illyana, and determine for himself just how tainted she was by her time in the demon lord's realm. His student hadn't been able to break through the girl's cover, but he wasn't his student, and he had a good many years of training and experience to draw on.

She swallowed the urge to size him up magically, good sense overcoming instinct, and looked up at him, forcing herself to relax. "You're Amanda's -- tutor," she said, half a question, half a statement. She strove for politeness and hit something resembling it: "What would you like to talk about?"

"You, strangely enough. Do you mind?" he asked, indicating a seat at the other end of the table she was sitting at. When she nodded, unable to think of a polite way of saying "yes, I do mind", he sat, not once taking those dark, somehow piercing eyes off her. There was definitely something off about the girl, he could see that easily, but there was something in the way... The same thing that had stymied Amanda, he supposed. He'd get through it in time. "I've been doing some research, on the place you were taken to as a child, and on the... creature who took you there. I thought you might be interested in what I'd found."

Research? On Limbo -- the place -- there was something to research about it? She was sure her stomach flipped when he said it, but she took a slow breath and raised her eyebrows coolly. "Really?" she asked. "And what might that be?"

"You weren't the first to be taken by Bellasco," Strange said, keeping his tone deliberately casual, almost detached - the same tone he used for discussing various bloody Eastern mythologies with students. At the same time he was focusing harder on her aura, frustrated by the lack of clarity there. There was some kind of interference, almost certainly a spell... but who had cast it? The girl herself, or Bellasco?

She kept her expression mild, even as the knot in her stomach tightened. "Really?" she said, betraying nothing that might mean she knew already.. "That's interesting."

'She's a cool one, this girl,' Strange thought, even as he probed further at the spell - some kind of cloaking? It was hard to tell - surrounding her. It hadn't been cast against her will, that much he could tell; she held it closely to her, sustained it daily. "Yes, it is, isn't it? Apparently this Bellasco has had long connections with this dimension, and quite deliberately too. Something of an egotist, as well, but that goes for most of the more intelligent demon-types. I remember there was a particular demon lord who founded an entire cult worshipping him as a god, down in South America. Human sacrifice, the usual... But I digress. Yes, this Bellasco, he led me on quite the merry chase, academically speaking." Strange waffled on in his best academic fashion, watching Illyana carefully, but not too obviously.

That sounded like him, all right. "I'd imagine that's the kind of thing he would very much enjoy," Illyana said, treading the line between sarcastic and flippant carefully. She wanted him to get to the point; she could feel the spell buzzing in her ears, like it was conspicuous, straining the confines of her magic, and she knew she'd have a major headache after this little meeting was over with.

"Yes, I got that impression, that he likes to play games..." Strange leaned forward slightly, the better to poke at the spell and watch the girl's reaction. Yes, there was a slight tightening around her eyes, almost imperceptible - it was causing her pain, and effort to maintain. "But as I was saying, he has successfully abducted young girls from this dimension before. Both students of magic, one from fourteenth-century Italy called Beatrix, and another from seventeenth century called Maire. Apparently they had progressed quite significantly in the mystic arts, enough to have knowledge of certain blood rituals. Dangerous knowledge, in the wrong hands."

"Yes, I suppose it would be," Illyana said, pushed far enough that her tone was tense, even resentful. She resisted the temptation to bolster the shielding spell, something she was sure this Strange -- however good he was -- would pick up. Not to mention the migraine she was looking at when all this was done with would be bad enough without expending yet more energy. "He was certainly a hazard with it."

"Personal experience?" Strange asked quietly, continuing his probing. The spell was hers, he was reasonably sure of it, but its structure was unknown to him. Not surprising, if she learned the magic in Limbo.

"Not nearly enough, both to my great relief and everyone else's, I expect,"she snapped; regretted it immediately and more regretted telling Amanda whatever little she had on the topic. Had she been so desperate that she'd risked -this-? She took a slow breath to calm down, curbing her anxiety and anger until she could vent it safely.

'But some, and more than she's telling,' Strange told himself. He'd seen enough - not all, since the cloaking spell was resisting him, and to probe further would hurt Illyana - but enough to concern him. "It's a very well-woven spell, that cloak of yours," he said, deciding to change tacks and go in for the attack, to test her reaction. "Why are you hiding, I wonder?" He gave her a pointed look. "And don't insult my intelligence or yours by denying you know what I'm talking about."

I can think of much better ways to insult your intelligence, she thought furiously, schooling her face to bored indifference to the best of her ability nonetheless -- half-failing, as the spell's toll began to grow. "I would have to go with not wanting to be subject to numerous discussions on the topic of my traumatic childhood," she said, overly pleasant, sharp-edged and hard despite it. "Alternatively, not giving your -lovely- student yet more ammunition was a deciding factor."

"Amanda is no threat to you," Strange said mildly, noting her increasing agitation. Anger - and fear - had begun seeping through the confining spell. "If anything, she would better understand your situation than most."

Illyana rolled her eyes and flinched a bit as she accidentally looked up at the light. "And maybe we could share our feelings and hug and grow as people." Thinking as fast as her annoyingly muddled state allowed, she added, "I didn't say she was a -threat-. I just find it very -- annoying to deal with people who convince themselves of stupid things, and then manage to convince equally dimwitted others." She gave him a look that said she felt he was clearly in the latter category.

"And what kind of stupid things would these be?" Strange asked quietly.

"For example," she said flatly, unnerved by his calmness and the way her spell -- her carefully-designed spell, which was not supposed to be making her lightheaded, and had not been made to stand up to this pressure -- was falling apart, "that a perfectly explicable incident is somehow connected to dark magic. At a guess."

"The incident with your classmate's... dupes, I believe is the word?" Strange could see Illyana's discomfort, but pushed on regardless. He wanted to satisfy himself she was not a threat to the other students. "And what is your perfectly explicable explanation for how you managed to remove yourself and the boy from the warehouse?"

"That I went in, got Artie, and got him out without stopping to splatter dupes across the floor." Illyana lifted her chin. "And then the part where I don't particularly care for intrusive questions and become quite contrary toward them, although you're a doctor -- I assume you've guessed that by now."

"I don't believe whether or not you 'splattered dupes' was the contentious issue. You are, to all intents and purposes, an ordinary girl, if one with a somewhat unusual background. You have in fact made a point of assuring your classmates, your teachers, and myself, of your ordinariness. So, how does an ordinary girl get herself and a young boy out of a warehouse full of creatures intending you harm?" Strange asked. "And yes, it is an intrusive question, but you must understand, you sit there with a cloaking spell of what I can only assume is demonic origin; of course I am going to be concerned, for your welfare and for the welfare of the other students here. Magic is not easy, nor is it safe, particularly untrained. As Amanda found out."

Illyana stood, anger -- and adrenaline -- keeping her from swaying on her feet. "You'll notice, Doctor," she snapped, tone coming very close to imperious, "that the only magic I have used has been to cloak that I -can- use magic. I am fully aware of the difficulties present in the use of magic, which is why I do not use it, except in extraordinary situations." It was clear that she considered hiding her magic one of those extraordinary situations. "Much as I would love to continue our discussion, I'm afraid I really must be going now, though," she said, unapologetically and without excuse, and turned, walking out with as much dignity and strength as she could muster.

Strange watched her go, face outwardly calm, but a deep flicker in his eyes betraying his disquiet. "And why use magic to hide magic at all?" he asked himself, before getting up with a determined air. He needed to have a little chat with Charles.