Through the Diamonds Gleam

Ben Frost. Independent OC RP blog, most at home in the Marvel universe but willing to explore. Other accounts: archangelparade, opalglacier

[hellfireshand-blog]

In the Belly of the Beast

[shotgunserenity-blog]

  James was torn. This assignment was most definitely babysitting, and he should be offended that he was being drafted for babysitting. However, this asshole was in on an attempt to murder Liz. Liz had grown up with him. Liz was like another sister. He wanted to rearrange this guy’s face for threatening his sister.

But he was a good little agent, he he just watched until the guy came around. Medical had said it wouldn’t be more than an hour, by their best guess. At the thirty-five minute mark, the guy surfaced. James approached slowly. He’d been warned that the guy was dangerous. A mutant. Around here that word got bandied around a lot. James was a mutant, too, technically, though SHIELD always seemed to focus more on the Rogers side of his DNA when they were doing his evaluations.

He was a pretty chatty assassin, it seemed. James remembered the file they had hastily compiled on him. Ben Summers, son of high profile X-Men. According to people with higher security clearances than James had, Scott Summers and his wife, Emma Frost, had no idea their son was being held by SHIELD currently. He wondered how long that would last.

As to the questions. “You don’t get to ask the questions.” An attractive guy, James mused. Too bad he was a crazy off-the-grid mutant assassin.  “Who do you work for?”

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben's face suddenly went cold, as any disorientation he had felt suddenly snapped away and his eyes gained the ice his mother was known for. This guy was all up in his face, Ben was strapped down and he was wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. That last part alone was enough to get Ben on edge.

"I don't work for anyone." Ben put a psychic push behind his next words "these restraints are a bit tight. Why don't you loosen them?"

The agent moved for a second as if he was about to and then looked confused as to why he would consider that. More resilient than Ben expected from a S.H.I.E.L.D. drone but that could be prejudice speaking so he put some extra oomph behind his influence.

"Untie me, now."

The agents eyes glazed over in the usual fashion for someone who had fallen under psychic influence as the agent began undoing the restraints and Ben gleamed what information he could. He was implicated in the assassination of Liz Stark? Seriously? He'd taken a bullet for her and that implicated him? The word 'mutant' must be enough to make all sense fly out of anyone in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s head. As the man finished undoing the restraints an alarm sounded. Things never were simple? He couldn't port out of here either since he'd given his amulet to Sonya so she could get away.

The door opened and a lone woman walked in, either they really didn't think much of Ben or this woman was more than she appeared. Caution, and his ego told him it was probably the latter. Ben sent a nudge for the agent to place himself between them and he did so.

"All right no sudden moves, I'd hate to see something happen to Agent..." Ben scanned the guy's mind for his name and inwardly swore. This really wasn't his day "Rogers. So why don't you call Nick Fury or Maria Hill or whoever is in charge here and we can discuss how taking a bullet for Stark's kid gets me locked up."

[hellfireshand-blog]

In the Belly of the Beast

Ben walked alone on a dark path, how had he gotten here? Where had he been before he couldn't remember. Though something was driving him forwards so he continued onward. None of his senses even his psychic one giving him any kind of information, he pushed forward on feeling alone. Finally he saw someone in the distance, picked up the pace running towards it. Red hair, it was his sister grabbing her shoulder to get her attention suddenly everything was wrong. Her eyes were black and her skin seemed cracked as she floated above him the aura of a phoenix appearing around her. No, not Phoenix. Dark Phoenix. With a wave of her hand everything went black.

-------

Ben jerked forwards all of a sudden and sharp pain seared through his left shoulder and he cried out. White light was all he saw initially, until splotches started to appear and gradually normal vision returned to him. He felt, ill drained, nauseous. It was an unusual feeling and not one he thought he'd ever felt before.

Ben tried to get up and found he couldn't he was strapped to some kind of bed. What the fuck was going on? Where the fuck was he? What had happened? He remembered Liz, Sonya, the shot and that was it. Glancing he finally saw someone a guy about his age moved towards him. Even in his current state Ben's first thought was 'damn'. Snapping that out of his head his eyes met the man. 

"Where am I? Who are you? What's going on?"

[hellfireshand-blog]

Shades of Grey

[takemyheartwhileyoureatit-blog]

  Liz hated feeling vulnerable, and replaced that emotion with annoyance and pique. She shrugged at his question. “I was in a coma for most of it. According to Rachel, Sinister was trying to replace my soul with hers. I fought back.” She gave him a look that just dared him to object to her will to survive. “I dunno, when I woke up, Rachel was there. We fought for a long time to strike a balance.” she muttered. She shifted away from the guy and headed for the kitchen, making coffee just to have something to do with her hands while she talked.

"It’s like she’s asleep most of the time." she explained. "When she’s aware, I can hear her talking. She can take over sometimes, if she really wants to." she added. She glanced at the guy, eyes narrowed. "I’m not interested in getting your okay on all this, just so we’re clear." she added with a nasty tone. "If you’ve got a way to get her out of there, then go for it. I’ll be better off. Better make sure you can get all the rest out."

She looked him up and down. “She absorbs people sometimes. She takes over, just reaching for power or whatever, I guess, and she absorbs them. There’s four people up here.” She tapped her temple. “It’s crowded.”

[hellfireshand-blog]

All of this was wrong, none of this was going how he thought it would go. Even the things he was learning didn't seem to make sense to him. He thought he'd prepared himself for every possibility, but clearly he hadn't. This was so far out of what he expected.

One thing in particular was concerning him, Rachel was absorbing people and trapping them inside of Liz. That didn't sound like his sister at all, but she wasn't lying he would be able to tell if she was lying. Nothing psychically or in her body language suggested that. 'What the hell Rachel?' he thought to himself.

"Wait Rachel is trapping people inside of you?"

Liz didn't have a chance to answer because suddenly images flashed through his mind, a premonition. Right where he was, right where they were standing, but suddenly Liz hit the ground, a bullet. Ben snapped back to reality suddenly and realised he had only moments. Grabbing her and spinning himself in the way suddenly searing pain burst through his left shoulder as he was hit and went down.

Ben reached out to find the mind of the assailant ready to tear it to pieces, but the mind he found was a familiar one, Sonya. He thought a word to her "run", he didn't want to think of who would be sent to find her. Also sending her his intent and how to use his amulet. With his uninjured arm he ripped it off his neck and threw it out the window to street level. That was the last thing he remembered before he blacked out completely.

[eventhedeadcry-blog]

hymn of the missing

[eventhedeadcry-blog]

  Going out to dinner? Well wasn’t that novel. She didn’t do that very often when she wasn’t working, and it would be nice to not have to perform while she was at it. She looked down at herself and pinched her t-shirt between two fingers. “I’ll need to change.” she said decisively with a smirk. She unwound herself from her nest. “I won’t take long.” she promised.

She went into her room and peeled out of her relaxing clothes, and tossed them onto her bed. She’d wear them later to sleep, probably. Though if she played her cards right, maybe not. That was another thing she hadn’t done in awhile not on the job. Might be a full night, then. That thought had her smiling as she looked in her closet. She had wardrobes full of clothes scattered all over safe houses all over the world. Any one of them was equipped to seduce a mark from a hundred paces.

She didn’t need to be like that around Ben, though, and the dress she chose was tasteful and suited her personal taste more than her profession. She changed, stepped into the bathroom to do her hair (a messy looking style piled upon the back of her head, but actually artfully held together by bobby pins) and her makeup. A pair of heeled boots later, she was ready. When she emerged, it had been maybe twenty minutes.

"Ready?"

[hellfireshand-blog]

Oh, Hell no. If Sonya thought she was going to show him up she had another thing coming. Luckily though he also had some clothes stored here in case he needed them. Whether it was to hunt down a mark or for some kind of meeting. So either way he was well equipped. A pair of black cinos the showed off his best 'asset' with a pair of dress shoes. A white button down shirt with enough buttons exposed to show off some chest. He ran some wax through his hair to mess it up and finished it off with a pair of red lenses sunglasses mostly for the humour they allowed. He wouldn't be wearing them out bu they should get a laugh out of Sonya when she emerged.

The whole process only took Ben about ten minutes so he stood eyeing off the apartment and for fun finding the best places to hide. There weren't many if you didn't know what you were looking for. Sonya had made sure of that when she finally emerged he grinned at her as his eyes went up and down and for a moment he was distracted. 'Dinner first' he told himself 'other stuff later'.

"You look, just wow. Let's go get some Thai."

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben really wasn’t sure what had just happened, daemon had grabbed him by his coat and suddenly they were moving at an insane speed and he had no way of orienting him self or knowing what was happening. This was almost as bad as the vortex that had brought him here as Ben clutched his stomach with one arm and Daemon;s arm with the other. Suddenly they were on the ground and Ben immediately doubled over once again emptying the contents of his stomach. though since he hadn’t eaten since last time it was mostly just bile.

Ben’s mind buzzed and he was aware of some kind of telepathic conversation happening but he was far too focused on the vomiting to bother listening in. Forcing himself to stand he wiped his mouth and attempted to clear his head.

"What the fuck was that? We were, and then we were and now we are. You know what forget it. Explain later. What’s our next move?"

[sdsadi-blog]

*Not exactly, Prick.* Daemon replied, but distracted as the young man yet again lost his lunch. Riding the Winds for the first time could be disorienting, but he felt a small stab of pity for him. *We have to get out of here.* he added to Lucivar.

Ben came up sputtering, like a puppy gasping for air. But he collected himself quickly enough, and Daemon inclined his head. “We get Lucivar out.” he said. He still had the restraining ring on. He was still vulnerable. He had to get Lucivar free of it, first, though. He could hold on and fight Dorothea longer. He had to.

Zuultah would be aware they were here. “Incoming.” Daemon said stiffly. He hesitated before calling in his Red pendant and slipping it over his head. Dorothea would know. They had only minutes to act. Guards came pouring out of the home. Daemon swatted them away like flies.

*Can you get outside?* he said to Lucivar.

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben did not have long to feel sorry for himself it seemed, as soon as Daemon spoke it was as if his words had summoned the men and they were closing in fast. Ben was still slightly disorientated and probably wouldn't be great in a fist fight right now, he didn't need fists though.

"Go! Get to your brother!" Ben called over to Daemon "I've got this."

All right, Ben had, had about enough of pulling his psychic punches. Not really wanting to show what he was capable of for fear of what could happen. He'd thrown in with Daemon now and would have to trust him, so he would let it be seen what he was capable of to help them out of this situation.

This wasn't a technique taught to him by Rachel, she was too much of her mother and probably wouldn't have used her powers in this way. No this technique was taught to him by the Stepford Sisters who had learnt it from their mother, his mother. Ben reached inside the soldiers minds and pulled out their most horrific nightmare, made them experience it, reliving it over and over. What each soldier saw would be unique, stuck in their own personal nightmare. Ben wouldn't be able to keep this up for long, but Daemon shouldn't need long.

[eventhedeadcry-blog]

hymn of the missing

[eventhedeadcry-blog]

  Sonya smirked when Ben explained about a half-sibling that he hadn’t known about. “Well, to be fair, your mother was a little bit of a slut. I mean that with the utmost respect, of course.” she said lightly. It wasn’t the first time she’d said such things about Emma Frost. Ben knew she was-mostly-joking these days.

"A researcher? Not the kind of position I’d imagine any daughter of Emma Frost in." She smiled. "Do you like her?" Ben’s ultimate goal was to find his half-sister, Rachel. Anika could potentially be a connection to his family that he so desperately wanted. They were so diametrically opposed in that way.

"Nick Fury doesn’t like mutants, never has. They’re a branch of supers that he can’t control because they aren’t predictable. Like me… the serum treatments I took as a kid made me a little shinier than most, but that’s traceable. You’re traceable, because of who your parents are. But Joe-shmo mutant on the street who suddenly develops the same talents as an atom bomb? That’s scary. Even to me, that’s scary, and I don’t sleep with a SHIELD logo nightlight in my bedroom." she smirked.

Their plate was looking pretty bare, and that just wouldn’t do. “Want to order something in? Thai or Chinese?”

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben smirked at the comment about his mother, if anyone else had said that they would probably be doubled over and clutching at their temples right now but Sonya had earned that right.

"To be fair Dad was just as much of a slut, he was just a monogamy slut."

Ben thought again about this new sister, he really didn't know what to think of her, she wasn't at all what he expected. He also didn't love the fact that she worked for S.H.I.E.L.D. To say that Ben and S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't see eye to eye was probably putting it mildly.

"I don't know if I like her, it's kind of too soon to tell. She is just so different to what I expected. I mean I was brought up to take pride in my mutation to see a Frost that is ashamed of hers is off-putting. You know I kind of want to put her in the same room as the Stepfords and see what happens."

Ben smiled at that thought, The Stepford Sisters were genetic clones of his mother and the only three survivors of thousands. They'd helped Ben out somewhat with his telepathy but he'd sort of fallen out of touch after Rachel disappeared. The fact that they hated Rachel could have something to do with that. 

The thought of Nick Fury with a S.H.I.E.L.D. night light was an amusing one but Ben hated Fury so that could have something to do with it. He'd threatened Ben's parents far too many times for Ben to have anything but derision for him.

The thought of more food was a pleasant one though, he was still pretty hungry and it was getting towards dinner time.

"Why don't we go out? we're rarely together like this anymore."

[lucivarissexi]

  A Warlord Prince does not yield. A Warlord Prince does not give in, he does not allow himself to be conquered. He protects his Queen and her court, he serves and protects. He fiercely guards that which is his, and sacrifices himself to protect it.

Lucivar Yaslana wanted to believe in this ideal. He wanted to believe that somewhere, there was a place where witches and males lived and still danced the ancient dance of the Blood, with the Queen in the center and her court held together with love and trust, not with fear and suspicions.

But Lucivar had learned long ago that he would never be apart of that world. There was no place in Terreille left that followed the old ways, and if there were any Queens left that were strong enough to hold a court together, it would only be a matter of time before Dorothea found them and destroyed them. 

He was tired. Tired of waiting for the Queen that Sadi was so sure would come. He was tired of serving the bitches who called themselves Queens, tired of being used as a plaything. His last explosion of temper had landed him in Pruul, under the cruel hand of Lady Zuultah.

Lucivar glared at the walls of his cell, flaring his wings and not caring that he knocked the shelf askew. He threw himself onto the bed and rubbed his knuckles cross his face. He was so close to just giving up. Just letting the night take him where it would. He closed his eyes and prayed for dreams that would get him through one more day.

His rest was interrupted by a familiar touch. He jerked upright.

*Bastard? Your lady let you off your leash?*

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben really wasn't sure what had just happened, daemon had grabbed him by his coat and suddenly they were moving at an insane speed and he had no way of orienting him self or knowing what was happening. This was almost as bad as the vortex that had brought him here as Ben clutched his stomach with one arm and Daemon;s arm with the other. Suddenly they were on the ground and Ben immediately doubled over once again emptying the contents of his stomach. though since he hadn't eaten since last time it was mostly just bile.

Ben's mind buzzed and he was aware of some kind of telepathic conversation happening but he was far too focused on the vomiting to bother listening in. Forcing himself to stand he wiped his mouth and attempted to clear his head.

"What the fuck was that? We were, and then we were and now we are. You know what forget it. Explain later. What's our next move?"

[hellfireshand-blog]

Shades of Grey

[takemyheartwhileyoureatit-blog]

  Liz wanted very badly to turn around and leave this guy just hanging, but she couldn’t because she had a soul (she needed to work on that). Huffing a disgruntled sigh, she rubbed a hand over her face. “Fine. Whatever. But not here. This is weird enough.” They weren’t terribly far from Avengers Tower, but she didn’t want to bring him home when she wasn’t sure who would be there asking questions.

"I’ve got an apartment a few blocks north. We can do this there, or not at all." she assumed he’d follow, and she started off int hat direction. To be fair, it was Oli’s apartment. She kind of hoped he’d be home. She wanted backup.

*You’ve got us.* offered Minako. Liz grumbled under her breath.

*You’re going to give me a lecture about being nice or something, aren’t you?* she asked.

*Not exactly. But he can’t be too bad if he’s that worried about Rachel, ya know?*

*I didn’t ask for this!* Liz snapped back, feeling sorry for herself.

*No, but neither did I. Doesn’t make the situation go away.*

*Alright, fine, I get it. Bad circumstances, I get it. I’ll play nice.*

She stomped up the stairs to Oli’s apartment, used her key to enter, and then turned to face the guy who’d hunted her down.

"What do you want to know?"

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben breathed a sigh of relief, he had been ready for a much more negative response than that. He was glad it hadn't come to that though and was still completely unsure how all of this was going to play out. Rachel was all right, he hadn't expected that. He'd always imagined her enslaved not part of a whole, for the first time in a long time his resolve had wavered maybe Ben Summers was still in there somewhere.

Ben did as he was instructed and followed her, trying to find the words and the questions in his head as he walked through a familiar part of town and was lead to this apartment. Wait, he'd been here before this was Oli's apartment. That was a connection that could be dealt with at a later time though.

"I don't know, I found out from Sinister that Rachel was inside you when I tracked him down. It isn't how he made it seem though, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised." Mr. Sinister was many things but honestly wasn't high on that list, still Ben had prepared for that occurrence wanted to be prepared for any occurrence.

"I guess start at the beginning, what did he do?"

[hellfireshand-blog]

Shades of Grey

[takemyheartwhileyoureatit-blog]

  Liz’s temper piqued. She hadn’t had enough sleep, and she had her father’s ego dancing merrily in her mind. “I don’t owe you anything. And even if you ARE Rachel’s brother, that doesn’t mean anything to me.” She got a little distance on him, wishing that she were armed. Rachel wasn’t going to let her use HER abilities on him, but maybe someone else would.

"You’re forgetting one very important thing in all this. I’m the victim. So I don’t even owe you an explanation. Get out of my way, don’t try to stop me, and don’t look me up again." she didn’t want to turn her back on him to walk away. She didn’t trust him. She always had this surge of paranoia when Rachel took over without warning. Losing control of herself like that was terrible.

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben was trying very hard not to let his temper get the best of him here. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time and now she was doing everything she could to rob it from him. The word 'bitch' was flashing through his mind but he put a lid on it. He had sworn not to do anything drastic here.

"Are you really that selfish? You're the victim here? I have no doubt you didn't want this to happen to you, but it happened. you also weren't the only one hurt in all of this. I lost a sister, and I've spent a long time trying to find her."

Ben took a step closer, regaining the distance she had put between them. He didn't move otherwise though, didn't shift his posture into an aggressive one and didn't do anything telepathic either. he needed to remain measured, he needed to be the rational one here because she clearly wasn't going to be.

"I'm not asking you to let my sister out, or to do anything to you. I'm trying to get some closure here and leave knowing she's all right. All I want to do is talk, so please if you have any shred of sympathy for someone who has lost the only family they had left give me that."

Another tear threatened to make itself known and Ben did his best to blink it away. He was not at all acting like the trained assassin or the near omega telepath. He was acting like a mourning brother.

[hellfireshand-blog]

Shades of Grey

[takemyheartwhileyoureatit-blog]

  It was very good to hold her brother, but when he pulled back she realized that he knew. She frowned. How could he know? She was so sure that no one knew. She huffed a sigh. “I’m not trapped. Well… it’s not my body. Sometimes I have to fight for control… I have to have a reason to fight.” Ben was a good reason. She’d fight for him. Her mind felt all swirly and angry and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold onto control. It took so much energy to do this much, especially when the body was already weakened and Liz was fighting her from inside.

The physical form changed as Rachel receded, snarling and hissing, and Liz emerged dominant once again. She recoiled away from the man who’d been too close for comfort, and her eyes narrowed. She hissed in outrage internally, all the while her eyes raking the man up and down.

"Who’re you?" she demanded. Rachel whispered the answer to THAT question into her mind, and she glared all the harder. "Look, buzz off."

[hellfireshand-blog]

His sister was there with him, and then in an instant right before his eyes she was gone. Replaced by the very woman he had been tracking, standing in front of him for the first time was Elizabeth Stark. Ben took an instant dislike to the aggressive way she barked at him though much of that was probably due to the fact she'd ripped his sister away from him. He felt a flash of Rachel who must have filled Liz in on who he was.

"I'm sorry did you just tell me to buzz off?"

For a moment Ben really couldn't get past how incredulous that statement was, after all this time he'd finally found his sister and she expected him to get lost. This was potentially making his list of choices smaller.

"I've been looking for my sister for a very long time, across timelines even and you want me to 'buzz off'? I'm sorry but that is not happening, not until you and I have had a chance to talk."

Ben took a moment, no idea what to say or how to go about any of this. It was difficult to find the words, so much had been building towards this. He needed more information before he could make a decision.

"Start from the beginning, Sinister's Lab."

[eventhedeadcry-blog]

hymn of the missing

[eventhedeadcry-blog]

  Sonya considered for a moment. She rose, took her cup to the kitchen and fixed another cup and a plate of olives, cheese, and a few other little finger foods before she returned. “I got it!” She resettled herself in her nest. “Weirdest person you’ve run into since I’ve seen you last.” She stole an olive and a tiny bit of that lovely Brie she’d bought before she went on.

"I’ll start. Ben, I swear you won’t believe me, but I met this mutant… Olivier LeBeau. The name pops in our line of work, you know that, but there’s no connection I can find between Olivier and Remy LeBeau anywhere. Anyway, that’s not what’s weird. This kid is hardcore. Telepathy, cybernetic implants, telekinetic, probably a whole other laundry list of things. Just being in his presence," she shuddered, a little trill of excitement. "He has all that and he pulls a fucking gun on me, Ben. A gun. What the hell."

She was smiling. She wasn’t afraid of a gun. She wasn’t afraid of much, to be honest. This guy should have frightened her, but she was too busy being excited. “I offered him a job, but he turned me down. I think there’s more there, though. Lots more. I don’t think he’s from this world. Not like… alien… but dimension hopper? If that’s possible.” She chewed thoughtfully for a moment on another olive.

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben was halfway through a bite of cracker and brie when Sonya mentioned a guy that was claiming to be Gambit's son and he half choked. That didn't make any kind of sense, he'd know if gambit had a son he knew about. Ben didn't doubt the potential of an unknown son but that power set raised some red flags as well. That wasn't the strangest thing though, all that power and he pulled out a gun. 

"A gun? He pulled a gun on you? That doesn't make any sense. I mean if an assassin broke into my apartment I wouldn't be going for my kunai I'd be going straight for their mind."

Ben would need to investigate this further, but not right now. Ben would grab the guys location off her later and would work out what to do from there. This was have fun catching up with Sonya time, not worrying about random mutants time.

"Mine is actually on a similar tangent. Again a name you wouldn't probably know 'Anika Frost'. That's right another half-sibling but that's not the weirdest thing. she's a mutant obviously, telekinetic and organic diamond form but she doesn't embrace it she shies away from it. That's not the worst part though. She works for S.H.I.E.L.D., my half-sister works for S.H.I.E.L.D. I can't even imagine how mum would react if she knew that, she's not even an agent she's a researcher."

Ben still could not believe it, this woman was in no way what he thought a connection to his mother would be like. Though mum had destroyed pretty much the rest of her family so he was unlikely to get anyone else.

[hellfireshand-blog]

Shades of Grey

[takemyheartwhileyoureatit-blog]

  Liz had been at the SHIELD field office in Manhattan for hours working on in the R&D department. She hadn’t accomplished anything, and she was frustrated as she high tailed it out of the office, headed for a coffee and then immediately for Avengers tower where she would work in real labs funded by actual money to try and fix the same problem she’d just spent all night beating her head against.

Or that was her plan. She barely had her coffee in her hand when she felt every nerve ending in her body set on fire. A sound tore through her mind that she didn’t understand, but another entity within her did. Rachel. Rachel forced herself to the forefront with the kind of brutal efficiency that only she was capable of, and took control completely away from Liz.

Red hair flowing down her back, she made her way towards him. Rachel had sensed him awhile ago, but that cry drove her. He called to her, kin to kin, and she jogged, no she ran. When she stopped, she faced him across an open plaza and looked right at him. There was no mistaking him.

*Ben.* She acknowledged. She moved towards him, urgency forgotten.

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben was completely and utterly stunned, he couldn't move, he couldn't speak. In front of him stood his sister in a way he had not expected it looked like Rachel, was her exactly as he remembered her. Of everything he had prepared himself for this wasn't it. All pretense forgotten he ran to his sister and embraced her resting the bottom of his head on the top of hers as a single tear rolled across his cheek.

"It's you, it is really you."

Releasing her from the death grip of his hug he took a step backwards and looked at his sister, reaching out he brushed his mind against hers and was immediately made to feel slightly dizzy. It didn't feel at all familiar, there was turmoil so many people in that mind. One in particular trying to make it's way to the surface.

"Rachel, how is this possible. Sinister said you were trapped in Liz Stark's mind but here you are. Your mind though, it's in so much turmoil."

Ben didn't know what he was supposed to do, he thought he'd gone over every possibility in his head, but the reality was just so bizarre he didn't know how to deal with it. Overwhelmed was a massive understatement, he needed to hear his sister's story though, that would help him decide.  

[sdsadi-blog]

  Daemon felt his mind swimming in his own discomfort. “She’s not the one I’m worried about” he muttered. His hand rested across his eyes. He grabbed an image from his mind of Dorothea and threw it into Ben’s mind, rather less gently that he might have. “That is Dorothea SaDiablo. She is the dominant power in Terreille.” Daemon snarled. “She’s the one who holds my leash. She’s the one with all of the cards.”

He was bitter and angry and frustrated. Freedom was almost a tangible thing, but he wouldn’t have known what to do with it even if he had it. An image swam before his eyes, of Seren. What would she do with the freedom to be who and what she was meant to be? He couldn’t fathom. Where would they even go?

Kaeleer. The answer whispered to him as if from a distance. “There’s a Queen in Tacea… if… so many ifs. If we can break the ring of obediance. If you can get to her. If we can get my brother away from Prythian… we may stand a chance of getting away.” They had the dominant strength. Black, though he’d never used his full strength before. Ebon-gray. Sapphire. Who even know how strong Ben was based on their standards?

He looked at the young man and for the first time in a long time before to feel fear, because he also felt hope.

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben wasn't sure if it was something about the woman herself, or just Daemon's thoughts on her and so the emotion that came with the image that he had projected in Ben's mind but that woman felt vile. Dark to her very core, a part of Ben felt like he needed a shower just for being exposed to that.

There was some Queen he wanted to pick up as well. Sure, fine, whatever they could grab whoever he wanted to grab. Though Ben had no idea what Tacea was, he couldn't leave anyone to be tormented like this so if that's what it took to get daemon out here so be it. Kindness, to repay kindness after all. Though Ben had to admit this was beginning to feel more and more like the plot of a video game. Ben looked around trying to work out the best place to strike, it was a bedroom and didn't have many good hiding places so he supposed he should stick with what works.

"If I leave that wardrobe open and stay in it, can you cast something over it? Make it look like it's still closed?"

Daemon nodded and Ben took his position inside the wardrobe and instructed Daemon to just act as he normally would. The spell was cast over him and to anyone outside of it, the wardrobe would look closed. Sliding his kunai from out of his sleeve he prepared himself. Stretching out with his telepathy he sensed her approach before he saw it. She was flanked by two guards as she entered the room.

Not, yet find the right moment. A conversation happened that he wasn't paying attention to as he waited for a clear shot. As she raised the hand that wore that ring that had hurt Daemon before Ben found it and let his kunai fly through the air as it landed in her throat and she dropped to the floor choking on her own blood. Not wasting a moment Ben lashed out psionically disorienting her guards before knocking them out the old fashioned way. Retrieving his kunai from the Queen's throat he held up her hand, no time for subtlety he cut off her ring finger dropping it to the floor and crushing the ring under his foot.

"We need to move now."

[hellfireshand-blog]

Shades of Grey

So much had been leading up to this moment, Ben could scarcely believe it was here. He'd been searching for his sister for so long, after that searching for the body that held her within it Elizabeth Stark. He had been jumping throughout timelines tracking her just hoping he would find her and now he almost had her. Here in their native time, the irony of that wasn't lost on Ben. His precognition had told him she'd be here soon.

It was New York City, downtown Manhattan and it was the middle of a Saturday morning. The streets were as bust as you would expect as Ben sat in a cafe surveying the area. This was the right place he would meet her here. Every single part of him tingled in anticipation.

Ben didn't know how this was going to go, how he was going to act. No idea what the outcome of this would be but he'd been training for it and preparing for the worst. To take the most drastic actions, he didn't want to do that he wasn't vicious by nature but he was determined and he would do what was needed to give his sister peace. He had to know though, had to see for himself, meet Elizabeth Stark and see what had become of his sister or if she was still there at all.

"Rachel"

He projected his thought outwards and around him, the word reverberating for those sensitive enough to hear it. If his sister was nearby she would hear his call. 

[hellfireshand-blog]

Too much Frost to warm to Summer

It had taken Ben a full week of second guessing himself before he'd convinced himself that this was something he needed to do. Lebeau, Oliver Lebeau was the name of this guy. According to Sonya a powerful mutant with very Jean Grey like powers. So much of this didn't make sense.

He would know if Gambit had, had a son. More than that if Gambit had a son with Jean Grey Ben imagined his dad would not have been a friend of Gambit's and he grew up calling the man 'Uncle Remy' so everything about this seemed unlikely. Ben didn't doubt the chance that Gambit could have had kids out there he didn't know about. Ani was proof of how that could be, still he needed to follow up on this for Gambit's sake. Gambit may not approve of Ben's recent activities but he was still a connection to his parents.

Ben would get to the bottom of this, if he was some fanboy Ben didn't really care, if he was a more dangerous pretender some of those actions that Gambit disproved of may have to be taken and if he was the real thing, Ben had no idea how we was going to deal with that. Pushing that thought to the back of his mind as unlikely he took a deep breath and knocked on the apartment door that according to Sonya belonged to him.

[sdsadi-blog]

  "The pain will subside. It'll come back-she will punish me for hurting her men. She will draw out the pain until it makes me weak." Until he broke down and came to her begging for reprieve. They all thought he would eventually be cowed. He never had been.

Ben hadn't taken off though, and he wanted to help. He deserved answers. "They have my brother." Lucivar. His only weakness. "If I leave, she will know in minutes. They'll kill him." His own pain meant nothing. It never had.

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben frowned and folded his arms as he looked at Daemon before pursing his lips as he considered the situation. Family, it always came down to family Ben understood that. Family was the entire reason he was on this insane quest hunting down a woman whose only sin was being subjected to Mr. Sinister.

"All right then, no escaping, gotcha. You said she's going to come back though. That gives us the upper hand then, you can't hurt her but I can. One target I don't even need powers to take down one target. Once she's removed from the equation, we find your brother."

Not difficult at all, he'd fine a place to hide, they can't sense him and wouldn't be expecting him to be here. All it should take is one kunai and then Daemon should be able to help him with the fight.

[eventhedeadcry-blog]

hymn of the missing

[eventhedeadcry-blog]

  Hearing someone moving around in the kitchen, making themselves comfortable, was an odd and yet oddly comforting thing, and Sonya let her eyes drift closed to the sound of it. When he returned, a cookie dangling from his mouth and a cup in hand, she couldn’t help but laugh. "I’ve been here for a couple days. I only have a week before I have to check in with my handler, so you lucked out. Like you always do." He settled in and asked her a question that immediately made her cringe.

"There’s a reason we work solo, you know? I ended up partnered with a baby who was styling themselves something absurd. You know the type. Well, we’re supposed to be doing a smash and grab, not even killing anyone unless we have to, and this kid manages to blunder even the basics. He sets off the ALARM. The alarm, Ben. The alarm we knew about, that he was supposed to neutralize." She had leaned forward by this point, and set her cup aside.

"So we suddenly have a facility rapidly filling with highly militarized guards, and I decide ‘fuck this’ and take off. I’m not a babysitter, the kid can fend for himself. They catch him while I make it up to the vault and spring the artifact with relative ease. I drop it off, pick up instructions to extract the kid. Thinking he absolutely has to be someone’s nephew or something by this point, I head to the facility they had him held captive in, break in and find him, and has the audacity that this was all part of his plan from the beginning."

She was clearly fuming. “I am so tempted to just leave his ass there by this point, but I pick him up and haul him in. It’s how I earned a week off.” She picked her cup back up, drained it, and sat it aside again. “I cannot believe the stupidity of some people.” It would be funny one day. She still wanted to throttle the kid right now. She glanced at him. “How about you? Your stories have got to be better than mine.”

[hellfireshand-blog]

Ben listened intently to her story and there was laughter so much laughter. They existed in a world of death, if you ever stopped being able to laugh at it, it would consume you, all of you. Where nothing would be left of your humanity, if it wasn't for Sonya that would have probably already happened. Then it was his turn to share.

"Well I'm a ninja and a psychic so nothing ever goes not smoothly for me." Not being able to keep a straight face for more than about ten seconds he smirked.

"No I have a good one actually, which was mostly just a case of me rushing in and being an idiot. There was this group a mutant group and it wasn't even supposed to be anything big, get in lift some files get out. So I went in with my partner but as soon as we did my mind got cut off they had some kind of power inhibitor. I swear, Son you don't realise how much you use something until it's gone. I couldn't sense people or guards so I was relying purely on my training. After a few close calls I get to the office and my partner is there and it's his operation."

Ben paused for a moment remembering the next part of his story with some satisfaction.

"He was clearly surprised to see me get that far and started calling me everything under the son with 'mutie' being the nicest word that was used. He then went for his gun, I had a kunai in my wrist holster though, it hit his throat long before he got anywhere near his gun. I disable the generator and got the fuck out of there. No matter where I go being a mutant seems to get me in trouble. Ok your turn to choose."