[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019ed371-f791-7759-ad6d-ed74aa805bc5.webp[/img][/center] Andy and Glimpse went separate ways. Andy didn't know what all they need for this trip. However they did know that Gideon would need her primary sword back. She went looking for her girlfriend. Gideon was in her second favorite place in the world - her first favorite place, of course, being where her sword currently was. She had had the Thirsting Blade for as long as she could remember and being parted from it was agony. So to take her mind off of things, she had gone to her next love - pumping iron. Her body was wet and glistening with sweat in the gym, as she exercised her straining muscles with the bench press, using three hundred pounds of weight. Her headphones were in, blasting music and her sunglasses were still on. The rapier was down at the ground within reach. Andy had guessed right. Several of the times they had run into before dating had been here. So she wasn't surprised to see Gideon lifting. Andy slid into the spotter position and waited for Gideon to finish her reps. With each rep, Gideon grunted - and she caught a glance of Andy, smirking up at her girlfriend. “Sup, my Princess of Darkness?” Andy smiled at the nickname. [color=b71d5d] “We have some free time. We should be getting ready to head out though. I can’t be sure but I’m gonna bet the others aren’t going to want to wait longer than a night. If we don’t leave tonight I’ll be honestly surprised. We need to get your sword back.”[/color] Andy wasn’t sure [i]how[/i] they were supposed to do that but there was no way Gideon was going to go anywhere without it. Gideon [i]immediately[/i] dropped the weight and scooted back up to a seated position. She grabbed a nearby towel and wiped the sweat off her face. “What’s the play then to get Thirsty back?” Andy kept her face surprisingly neutral at the sword’s name. It wasn’t the first time she heard it, she was getting better at it. [color=b71d5d] “Well it is probably in Scarlet Witch’s office.”[/color] She remembered where Lady Nimue’s office had been, that was probably the best place to start. [color=b71d5d] “It is probably locked down with a bunch of magic.”[/color] Andy’s magical skills did not extend into breaking and entering. Not many in the group had that sort of magic. Leah had her runes... but Andy doubted that would help. Magic didn’t phase Gideon. She hadn’t met an enchantment yet that she couldn’t just punch her way through. It was just bullshit with extra steps. “Okay, so we smash in and grab it, easy,” Gideon stood up and shook her arms out, and took a swig of water from her water bottle. “Just need someone to keep the witch at bay.” [color=b71d5d] “Grab the first person we know?”[/color] Andy suggested. She had a feeling everyone was going to be running around like chickens. “100%, we grab the first person we know and tell them they [i]have[/i] to help us,” Gideon agreed. They just needed a warm body to distract Wanda. Someone who hadn’t been involved with them in the fight earlier, so that way the witch wouldn’t suspect anything was off. “But not Arthur or his bodyguard.” [color=b71d5d] “Sounds good.”[/color] There probably were people who would be better at distracting her adoptive sister over others. Ideally it would be someone with an interest in magic but not enough of an interest that Wanda needed to be in her office to talk with them. She led the way back out of the gym. Wondering who out of the group they’d run into, anyone that at least knew they were going to the Otherworld, the less the better. “HEY, YOU!” Gideon pointed across the quad, catching one of the girls from before dead in her sights. She’d been in that entire ominous montage, too. “GET OVER HERE!” That girl just happened to be one Marlena Evans, who was carrying three books under one arm. She blinked. [color=b940da]”...Me?”[/color] [color=b71d5d] “Yeah... you’re friends with some of our friends right? Going with us and all,”[/color] Andy confirmed. [color=b71d5d] “We’ve got to get something but we need help. You chill giving us a hand?”[/color] [color=b940da]”Hm… Why not?”[/color] Marlena stuffed the books into a messenger bag slung around her shoulders and walked towards them. [color=b940da]”What’s going on? I think some of the others are packing, a whole wing of the school smelled like fish for a while.”[/color] “A witch stole my sword and I need it back, otherwise the world will end tomorrow,” Gideon said seriously. “How good are you at chattering away about nothing?” Andy glanced at Gideon, trying to gauge how real the assertion that the world will end if she doesn’t have her sword. [color=b71d5d] “It is the new magic teacher, Scarlet Witch, that we need you to distract. Just keep her out of her office for a bit.”[/color] Scarlet Witch? [i]The[/i] Scarlet Witch? Marlena’s eyebrows shot up. She didn’t know a lot about her, but the woman had a reputation for a reason. [color=b940da]”Not to brag, but I’d say I’m pretty good at chattering about nothing. I’ll talk her up, if you think you can slip in and out of a witch’s office before she catches you.”[/color] Gideon didn’t joke when it came to her sword. The world would end if she didn’t get it back. She knew that innately, a truth carved into her bones. “Hell yeah!” She pumped her fist in the air. “Andy and I can be in and out super fast. You just need to buy us like five minutes tops.” [color=b940da]”Sounds good. Gonna have to show me where we’re going though, don’t know where her office is.”[/color] [color=b71d5d] “No problem.”[/color] Andy led the way to Wanda's office. She indicated which one for Marlena and then pulled Gideon with her to hide around the corner to give Marlena a chance to get Wanda out of the room and to some other place. Marlena strode right up to the door and thought for just a moment. Legendary witch, a master of Chaos Magic… Oh, yeah. She reached into her bag and withdrew one of the books she swiped from the library, one she’d gotten almost three chapters into. It had a bookmark in it and everything. She tucked it under one arm, and locked the fuck in. [i]Knock, knock.[/i] “Enter, Marlena.” The door swung open of its own accord, a bit of enchanting pink mist swirling on out invitingly. That was… Ominous. She felt a chill go down her spine. But she was already roped into this, so Marlena took a step forward, and then another, until she was surrounded by all the bits and bobs, all the whatnots of a witch’s office. Marlena looked around and took everything in, careful not to knock anything over. [color=b940da]”I’ve never been in the lair of witch before. Spooky,”[/color] She observed. While not too long ago Leah had entered a herbalistic paradise, the counters crowded with plants spilling out of jars, strange potions and concoctions bottled and ready for use, today the aesthetic of Wanda Maximoff’s office was far cozier. Lush red carpets were laid out on the floor, overlapping rugs with arcane sigils woven into each thread with care, gleaming, polished oak furniture and chairs with high quilted backs. A large picture window looked out onto a snowy mountain peak, and music played softly from a record player. On the circular table, books and scrolls were laid about, with the Scarlet Witch sipping her coffee as she perused through them. To her back was a glass cabinet, a padlock holding it shut - and visible within were a gigantic two-handed sword, a sword crafted from darkness, and a sentient shadow, straining against its bonds. “A lair?” Wanda laughed. “I should hope it is more inviting than that.” [color=b940da]”I like it, it's very homey. Makes me think of a magician’s fortress against evil… Word around the campus is you’re the most qualified person available for supernatural situations. I’m new, and I only moved in around the time of the Contest of Champions, so I thought an expert would know more about a few things than me.”[/color] Her fingers drummed the book under her arm. [color=b940da]”If you can spare the time?”[/color] The Scarlet Witch tilted her head. She caught the flattery, but she didn’t know why Marlena was laying it on so thick. “You know how to compliment a tired old witch. What ails you, child?” [color=b940da]”A friend and I have noticed a pattern that keeps cropping up. We met this guy who sees the future. He saw visions of me and the team Excelsior, all caught up in images of tarot cards.”[/color] It was easier to just be straight with someone than flat out lie, and she could always omit a few details... [color=b940da]”We got Amnesia to help convey that vision more clearly, and a place called Otherworld came up in conversation a few times. Do you think it’s a coincidence for that many people to come up in visions that alike each other?”[/color] Wanda opened her lips to speak, but suddenly faltered. A [url=https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019ed354-887a-758f-8cfa-3d85b4528a2a.webp]strange symbol[/url] flashed inside her eyes, pulsing pure white - nothing like any sigil Marlena might have ever seen before, but immediately memorable, burned into her memory. “I am afraid I must be going - there is a faculty meeting that I have forgotten about that I must be present for,” she commiserated, frowning sympathetically. “If you recall your question, I would be happy to answer it another time - but if not, then I must bid you farewell for now, Marlena.” Marlena blinked. [color=b940da]”Oh- Are… Are you alright? That looked like it hurt,”[/color] She commented, stepping out of the way of the doorstep. What [i]was[/i] that? “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Wanda asked, genuinely confused. But each time she glanced at Marlena, her eyes seemed to slide right past her, never properly focusing on her student as she walked down the hallway from her office and towards the faculty lounge. [color=b940da]”...Huh.”[/color] Marlena saw herself out of the room, equally perplexed. She watched the Scarlet Witch walk away, then looked back at the girls in the corner. [color=b940da]”Well.”[/color] She stuffed the book into her messenger bag and reached for a notepad. [color=b940da]”You needed her gone, there you go. Make it fast, ladies.”[/color] [color=b71d5d] “Damn, you are good,”[/color] Andy said. [color=b71d5d] “What did you say to her?”[/color] Andy quickly went over to the office, slipping in the open door. [color=b940da]”I was gonna ask her about Otherworld. But I guess she had places to be.”[/color] Gideon whistled approvingly. She’d stolen a fair number of things from professors in her day, but never had she seen someone be chased away so thoroughly. She leaned in and sniffed. “It’s not BO, at least,” she offered with a shrug. “Well, I’m not going to look a toy horse in the mouth, so let’s get Thirsty and get the fuck out of here - aaaand if we see anything shiny that we happen to also want, I think that’s for our pain and suffering.” She barged into the office and went straight for the cabinet at the back of the room, her eyes narrowing as she saw their next obstacle. It was locked. “I’m going to punch this and break the glass, unless either of you have a better idea?” [color=b940da]”Something less noisy, maybe something that doesn’t make it so obvious she was robbed?”[/color] Marlena suggested from the doorway. [color=b940da]”She’ll know anyway, but maybe you don’t want to rub salt in the wound, you know?”[/color] Andy frowned, and then shrugged. That was weird, but alright. It worked in their favor. She looked at the cabinet. [color=b71d5d] “Maybe the key is in the desk?”[/color] Andy turned and started to open drawers and search the desk for the key. She was careful to make sure anything she touched was moved back into the place she had found it in. Marlena was right. It would be so obvious that they had come in and grabbed the sword. Among the stuff Andy dug through to find the key she found a letter from her dad to Wanda, which made sense. She put it away, not opening. That wasn’t hers to read. No key though. [color=b71d5d] “You wouldn’t happen to know how to pick locks? I only ever did pick pocketing, never learned how to pick a lock.”[/color] Gideon looked at Marlena with confusion. “Why would you ever put salt in a wound? Do they do that in Missouri or wherever you’re from???” She didn’t know how to pick locks. Every lock before this she had broken with her sword. If Marlena didn’t know, she was going to just punch the glass. Wanda could know she was robbed. Gideon wasn’t scared of the witch. Marlena put one hand up in fake surrender. [color=b940da]”That’s what we in the business call a metaphor, Shades. I got nothing. Unless your girlfriend over there can use lightning to melt a lock.”[/color] Andy considered the lock. She’d have to hyperfocus the lightning. Andy concentrated what would normally come out of her whole fist to one finger, brushing slightly against the lock. The lock melted and deformed. Andy smiled and opened the cabinet, careful to avoid burning herself. She stepped aside once the weapon was free to grab so that Gideon could get it. “Alright, Blinds,” Gideon snorted. But the minute Andy blasted the cabinet open, she jumped for joy, picked up her girlfriend, kissed her furiously, spun her around, set her down, and made a beeline for her sword. She tugged it free immediately, ignoring her shadow - she didn’t seem to really need one of those, anyway - and the tension relieved in her body was immediately visible, her shoulders relaxing and her muscles loosening up. “Oh Thirsty, I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” she murmured, before giving a sweet kiss to the hilt of the sword. Marlena elected not to ask how such a huge and wicked-looking sword justified being named something as off as [i]Thirsty.[/i] She chuckled and withdrew a pen from her bag, thinking about something. That symbol in the Scarlet Witch’s eyes. It was simple, albeit a little elegant. It was easy to remember. She drew it on a page of her notepad. [color=b71d5d] “Let’s bounce,”[/color] Andy said. She did not want to be found here. She was in enough trouble. Getting caught red handed was not something she wished to experience. Though, she did glance at the shadows and wondered if she could touch them. She reached out, and pulled the person shaped shadow. As soon as it was free it started dancing and flying around the room. Andy watched it for a moment and said, [color=b71d5d] “Yeah, not dealing with that.”[/color] She grabbed the shadow sword. She’d find Chase and hand it over to him. As Marlena inscribed the symbol into her notebook, something deep pulsed within her, as if a gate had swung wide open… There was the faintest sensation of breath on her neck, of spiders crawling up her arms… And then, the feeling that she had forgotten something very important. “Who needs a shadow, anyway?” Gideon shrugged. She had the Thirsting Blade back and that’s all that mattered. She then eyed the other sword. “Can I have that one too? She needs a good home.” [color=b940da]”Woah, woah- Hey-”[/color] Marlena scrabbled around, clearly caught off guard. Her hands roamed all over her upper body for a brief moment as she made sure the feeling of bugs all over her wasn’t actually real. That spooked her. [color=b940da]”Ooookay.”[/color] She scribbled all over the symbol and mucked it up. [color=b94d0a]”Not doing that again… You two wanna get out of here soon?”[/color] [color=b71d5d] “Uh, I think it is Chase’s. I was going to give it back to him.”[/color] She nodded at the next question, and went for the door immediately. Time to scoot. She cracked the door and looked to see if the coast was clear. She spotted an older man, and closed the door back. [color=b71d5d] “Well we have to wait Mr. Pym is heading this way.”[/color] [color=b940da]”Mr. Pym?”[/color] She asked, keeping her voice down. [color=b940da]”As in [i]Hank Pym?[/i] the Antman guy?”[/color] “Yeah, like I said, she needs a [i]good[/i] home.” Gideon frowned. Ant Man. Hank Pym. He was someone who… she had no idea at all. “If he’s ant sized, can’t we just squish him?” [color=b71d5d] “He is currently human sized. Now shhh.”[/color] Andy pressed her ear against the door. Trying to listen. If Mr. Pym's footsteps were fading. She didn't hear him, so again slowly opened the door to see if the coast was clear. [color=b940da]”If he is still out there… Let me do the talking,”[/color] Marlena suggested with a whisper. Hank Pym was standing right outside the office, with a giant caterpillar on a leash. “You… are not Wanda Maximoff.” Gideon raised her sword. “Nope.” Marlena’s eyes widened. [color=b940da]”Uhh. What is- Is that real, or am I hallucinating things still?”[/color] She’d never seen a giant bug before. [color=b940da]”You’re Antman, right? Is that a bug from the Quantum Realm?”[/color] Andy nodded at Pym. She hoped since he was new he wouldn't recognize her. She had left her Excelsior jacket in her room so that helped. Maybe. She didn't say anything letting Marlena who was apparently a wizard at getting adults to leave do the talking. Hank Pym stared at Marlena for a moment. Then Andy. Then Gideon. His eyes lingered on her sword and slowly, slowly Gideon lowered it. His eyes flickered back to Marlena. “Believe it or not, you aren’t hallucinating. I [i]am[/i] Ant-Man,” Pym grinned, looking down at his giant bug with pride. “This is Arthur. You can say hi, if you want. He’s a little shy, but let him smell you for a moment - he’s a monarch larva, so you can give him a pet, there’s no danger of stinging. I was hoping Wanda was in, I’m low on milkweed and that’s what he eats exclusively. And to answer your earlier question - he’s not from the quantum realm. He’s from somewhere almost as exotic - Alberta.” Marlena chuckled and held a hand out, as if she were greeting a stray dog. [color=b940da]”Hi, Arthur. She [i]was[/i] here, just a minute ago. I came to ask her something, she stormed off suddenly before we could talk.”[/color] Andy stayed quiet. She did not want to draw attention to herself. She let Marlena do the talking. She took Gideon’s free hand and slowly started to try to pull away from Pym, Malrena and... Arthur. Gideon held her breath, slowly backing away along with Andy. Pym and Marlena were standing in the hallway, and with the angle just right… Her and Andy managed to sidestep around Pym, before slowly continuing to creep backward, giant buster swords in hand. If Pym noticed, he didn’t bat an eye. Arthur sniffed at Marlena’s hand for a moment, before butting his head up against it happily. He didn’t make any audible noises, no squeaks or whimpers or whines, but even then it was clear that he immediately was taken with her. Pym beamed down at him with pride. “I think he likes you. You said she stormed off - did you happen to catch which way?” He then looked at Arthur again for a moment, an idea occurring to him. “How would you like to help me out some this semester as my TA? I need someone who’s good with Arthur and the others - help me clean them, feed them, care for them - you’d get credit for it.” That sounded like fun. Would she have to occasionally teach someone how to shrink down? Did that mean being more [i]A[/i] than [i]T?[/i] Marlena didn’t think of herself as much of a bug person. But then again, giant bugs [i]were[/i] pretty damn cool. She nuzzled Arthur’s buggy little head… Maybe she’d get out of some other classes by saying she was too busy herding giant caterpillars to fight people. [color=b940da]”She went that way-”[/color] Marlena pointed down the hall. [color=b940da]”And… Sure, why not? Not much of an entomologist, but he seems nice.”[/color] With Pym distracted by Marlena, Andy gently pulled Gideon with her out of the hall and out of sight of the teacher. She sighed relieved once they were around the corner. She'd need to find Chase, or text him since he was in a group chat now, and let him know she had his shadow sword. [color=b71d5d] “We'll call it a success. Smart grab getting Marlena. She is great at this.”[/color] “Everything is proceeding according to plan,” Gideon agreed, pushing her shades back up. She hadn’t had a plan at all. Meanwhile, Pym glanced back in the direction Marlena pointed, before nodding. “Excellent. Send an email to my faculty address and I’ll get it all set up - thank you, Ms…?” [color=b940da]”Marlena Evans. I’ll get on that as soon as I have a spare moment.”[/color] She flashed the old guy a smile and then looked behind her. [color=b940da]”...Did they just teleport away or something?”[/color] Pym chuckled. “You can’t throw a rock without hitting a kid who can teleport these days. I’ll be seeing you around, Ms. Evans. Come along, Arthur.” He tugged slightly on the leash before going off in the direction Marlena had indicated, hoping that the Scarlet Witch would be able to help him out with the food sourcing issue. She waved him off, then shut the door to Wanda’s office. She had places to be herself. Marlena looked down at the strange symbol she wrote. Something seemed different after she scribbled it out. Not about the symbol itself, but about her. What was she supposed to do again, after reading about Otherworld?