[h1][b][i][color=aba400][center]Maximillian Gray[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h1][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/rmBRrwyf/image.png[/img][/center][center][/center][hr][center][color=aba400][b]Location[/b][/color]:  Akademos > Wales
[color=aba400][b]Skills[/b][/color]: Basic Spellcraft, Conjuration[url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/596347699486261272/675191496856567839/tumblr_p9emi78Pdn1u8r3nho4_500.png]New Outfit[/url][/center]
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Max sat up, crossing his legs and finally turning to face Pixie. His eyes were intense and serious as he looked straight towards her dark voids of eyes. He hadn't wanted to break the news, but he needed to say this much at the very least. [Color=aba400]"I wish I could say it was from a movie...but the scene will stick with me forever it seems. Back when the Terrigen mist was infecting mutants with M-Pox, while we the Underground struggled just to survive as we searched for a cure, one of our people fell. But this was different than others lost to M-Pox. A Demon came and claimed them, dragged them to what I can only assume is a form of Hell. I tried to find a way to save them, get them back, but the literature I had was a mixed language. Greek and Latin, I only knew half of what was needed. Shortly after we were attacked, and I haven't had much of a chance to look at it but...the fallen mutant. They had a bloodstone. If a demon already has theirs and mines missing..."[/color] Max clutched the hem of his pants, knuckles turning white as he realized his powers once again may have messed things up in a horrid way.

Pixie’s eyebrows knitted in concern, before realization dawned on her face. “Are you talking about Magik? She’s alive. She’s with Excalibur.”

[Color=aba400]"Alive? Excalibur? Pixie I saw her leave before my very eyes. [i]We mourned her![/i] Sunshine was devastated, and I was the only one with magic and I was powerless to do anything. I. Please. I need you to explain."[/color] Max's eyes began to mist, if this was true, how could he ever tell Sunshine she was alive?

Pixie looked really uncomfortable - like she didn’t want to talk about this at all. “That demon you saw, his name is Belasco. He brought her back without her soul. And… to steal it back from him, she convinced me to make a bloodstone from part of mine. It all worked out fine. But I kinda hate her. A wee bit.”

Max ran a hand through his hair. Trying to grasp what it was that she was telling him. He made a point to remember the demon's name for later. [Color=aba400]"Belasco. Right. And this Excalibur? That's what? Her sword or something?"[/color] He didn't know how to feel. Torn between joyous, anger, and sadness. But he knew one thing, he needed to keep his emotions in check before he had another slip.

Pixie was trying her best not to get up and go ‘NOPE!’ to this entire conversation. She hadn’t realized that her new bestie Max had such a close connection to one of her least favorite people. “Excalibur’s a British superhero team - Captain Britain leads them.” That had been part of why Pixie had been the poor soul Magik tricked - she was a local, living in Wales, and attuned to magic already from her fae mother.

As soon as the words left her mouth, it began to piece together. If Magik had ties to a British superhero team (something Max hadn't even considered until this moment) then that may have been how the two met. Pixie's answer was short, clearly she didn't want to talk about this. After all, she did say she hated Magik. He let out a deep sigh, trying to get his head around everything. [Color=aba400]"I get it. And I don't blame you for hating her. Her and I weren't exactly close but...it's hard to forget the faces of those you've lost before you. Those you were helpless to defend. It leaves something in you. But she isn't why I asked you out here, and we don't have to talk about her if you don't want to."[/color]

“Nah, it’s fine - I didn’t realize you were… well, not close, but friends I’m guessing?” Pixie paused. “If you have other questions I can do my best… It’s just kinda some horrible memories. Limbo isn’t a nice and happy place… So what is it you wanted to talk about then?”

Max managed a smile. [Color=aba400]"[i]We[/i] are friends. She was a co-worker and love interest of a then enemy now friend. It's...complicated."[/color] He took a sharp inhale before slowly letting it out along with his nerves. [Color=aba400]"I'm tired of losing people. I'm planning on bringing mutants back from the dead, and I need to know as much as I can about souls, soul transference, and binding."[/color]

Pixie blinked, doing a bit of a double take. She didn’t like necromancy - she had first hand experience with how bad it was when people were restored to life without their soul. “I…. Okay, wow. Um. Well you can bring someone back without a soul, but then they’re kinda without morality and you get what Magik did happening to someone else… I know that once she reclaimed the pieces of her soul she was fine - I mean she’s always been a little demonic apparently but….”

“I guess you could use your soulstaff to try to bind the soul to a body, but it would have to be whole. Any missing pieces and it gets really really complicated.”

[Color=aba400]"I don't trust anyone else with this information but you. So please keep this between us. So far we have a plan, three mutants, each playing their own role in this ritual. One to bring the bodies to a healthy state , another that finds and channels the soul into our world, and then me. Issue is...I don't know what exactly I need to do. I've never attempted something like this and previously when I'd brought the idea up everyone shot me down. Questioning morals and such. But...it doesn't matter. What does matter is what I can do now. How do we go about completing my staff? And if that's not possible...how complicated are we talking?"[/color] Max knew it was a big ask. It had been every time he'd ever broached the subject. But he was tired of letting the X-Men dance around death while they stood on the backs of mutants who died by their name.

“Oh! You don’t need to complete your soul - just make sure it’s an in tact soul you’re bringing back, or they might come back… well, evil.”

[Color=aba400]"Oh!"[/color] Max said blushing in embarrassment. [Color=aba400]"Well, that shouldn't be an issue. I somehow doubt that Casper could bring back partial souls so that's a relief. "[/color] A cool air breeze blew past them as Max seemed to calm down and relax once again. [Color=aba400]"Wanna teach the great hero Warlock how to use his soul staff? [i]Or[/i] You could tell me embarrassing stories from home. Maybe a nerdy hero name you used to go by? "[/color]

Pixie snorted slightly. “It’s always been Pixie - though my actual name’s Meggan. Muh-gann, not Megan.” Her soul dagger then manifested in her hands. “Not sure what you want to learn?”

Max gave her a half-cocked smile as she told him her real name. [Color=aba400]"Muh-gann. Much cooler than Maximillian."[/color] he said as he blew a raspberry. [Color=aba400]"Preferably how to bind souls. [i]Buuuut[/i] any other tips and tricks would do just as well. After all, James always yells at me about learning how to do things before I just...do them. I can be a little...chaotic."[/color]

“Well I’m a beginner at it but… I think once you have the soul in the body, just, like, stab in the middle… That’s what I saw Magik do to herself anyways.”

[Color=aba400]"That's...dark. Least Mines just a staff so...can't hurt. I hope."[/color] Max took in the scenery one last time, looking over the Cliffside out towards the sea past the field of flowers. [Color=aba400]"I should probably head back soon though. Kinda their ride to New Orleans. Gotta go find an old friend, dig up their body, and well...OK sounds a bit more grim when it's said aloud"[/color]

“…Nah, that sounds perfectly spooky,” Pixie said with a slight smile. “I’ll tag along.”

Max smiled back. [Color=aba400]"The more the merrier. Let's head back to the Green Lagoon. It's where the others should be waiting."[/color] Max stood up, dusting himself off before waving his hand in a flourish. The magic flowed out of him and opened a portal towards Hellfire Manor. There was a slight grimace to his face. [Color=aba400]"Ooook. Not the intended target, but not too far of a walk. Up to you Pix. I can try again but I've never tried casting in another country...are ley lines really a thing? Cuz if so, maybe that's why it's off a bit?"[/color] He said teasingly.

Pixie rolled her eyes. “They are, yes,” she said, sticking her tongue at him. “And you can walk, I’m going to fly.” Her wings fluttered and she glided on through the portal with a smirk.

Max scoffed in disbelief. [Color=aba400]"Hey no fair! Just you wait till I get my flight magic down!"[/color] he called out as he chased after her on foot.

“Don’t you have to, like, practice to do that?” Pixie teased with a giggle

Max couldn't believe he was being goaded into this. The last time he'd tried flying it didn't work, and before that was a life or death situation after being thrown out of the top floor of a building by one of the Three in One. But he couldn't just back down from a challenge like that. He closed his eyes concentrating on the spell, as magic began to pour out from his hands and feet. When he opened his eyes they were glowing the same nebulous glow of his magic as he lifted off into the air to match Pixie. [Color=aba400]"Race you there then."[/color] 

Max shot forward in an arc of magic, flying towards the Green Lagoon, looking back every so often to see how close Pixie was to him. A few times she'd closed the gaps, but in the end Max had made it there before her, landing down by the nearest table before breaking into a light jog to slow himself down. [Color=aba400]"How's that for practicing?"[/color] he said smirking with a slight high from successfully pulling off a flight spell.

[h1][b][i][color=E610B8][center]Echo[/center][/color][/i][/b][/h1][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/9FWbx1tc/image.png[/img][/center][hr][center][color=E610B8][b]Location[/b][/color]: Green Lagoon / Astral Plane
[color=E610B8][b]Skills[/b][/color]:[/center][hr][hr]

The colors of Harry's aura shimmered for a brief moment. A ripple starting from the center of his chest and going outwards as David asked about his parents. He hadn't thought about them in some time, and for a part that made him feel like a bad son. In general Harry hadn't kept much in touch with family after Xavier's, save for Veil whom he'd contacted on very few occasions. He looked at David a bit lost for words before finally smiling towards him. [Color=E610B8]"Between you and me, I think Veil and I took all the cuteness when we were born. After all, it had to account for six children."[/color] he joked. [Color=E610B8]"But you know us French Canadians, we're just so darn good looking. Hell I hear there's talk of another set of French Canadian Twins on here by the name of NorthStar or something? I don't know. But the ladies are going mad for him. It's in the genes."[/color]

Barry's apologetic smile seemed to melt as Veil's irritation grew more. Letting out a defeated sigh. "Listen, I may not be able to talk to him right now. And I'm not so certain I can relay messages to him. But, if this works anything like how our duplication works then perhaps when he does come back anything you tell me now will get transferred to him. So, why not tell me what you need? Or maybe I can help myself?" Barry always hated being the one who had to bear the bad news, but it seemed that enough years of him doing it had made him subconsciously assume the role without hesitation now that this split had happened. Barry looked towards Callie as she began to wave her hand before his face. "I'm very much here thank you. Though Harry's too busy making googly eyes in some headspace."