11875/Pieces of Mind: Obstacles have Names Too

Pieces of Mind: Obstacles have Names Too
Date of Scene:	04 July 2022
Location:	Ice Palace
Synopsis:	Jane and Loki talk over the Shadow King's goals and powers.
Cast of Characters:	Loki, Jane Foster

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Loki has posed:
The Ice Palace of the Bronx generally is not a dangerous place, these days. There were years ago where skeletons marched around the location, assaulting anyone that got close, but that sort of thing has been forgotten in the wave of tourist interest that enjoys getting out of the hot summer sun at the magical frozen castle, throwing a snowball or two around.

Today, though, it's empty - a ward has subtly told tourists to GTFO and go to the mall to get air conditioning! The whole place has been 'cleansed' of the intrusive humans, and starts bright and glittering in the city - though not empty, not at this time.

Jane Foster has posed:
The Bronx contains far greater dangers than an ice palace. Skating rinks provide more hazards, especially for opposing teams. Jane usually passes through the borough rather than stopping for long, ever caught in transit between Westchester County and Manhattan. Having the chance to negotiate her way through the transit system is a bit of a trip, though Grani has extracted a promise about stopping at a good bookstore specialized in philosophy and post-modern thought. Lucky horse.

A drink carrier hosts two lattes, and yes it's that hot, but a good latte is a good latte. With her bag slung over her back, she's just a normal person about town and not that famous astronomer-podcast person. No one else there to see, of course, which gives her pause a few blocks in. Her certain footsteps approach the Ice Palace, where the proper act is lifting her chin -- and knocking, of course.

Loki has posed:
There are sweeping, latticed ice sculptures on the front stairway. It's a miracle (well, technically it's deliberate) that the steps aren't extremely slippery or icy. They cause no unfortunate Home-Alone like tumbles: they have a good grit to them despite being made of ice.

The sculptures, roses spiralling up the handrail, move a little bit as the drink bearer approach, and open out of buds as she passes. In this interesting, graceful manner, they agree that yes, the door is the appropriate path, and it falls away smoothly open when touched, though any knock is muted.

The interior is artfully done, though there are some changes today. Little ice critters flit in and about the ceiling, which is alive with soft little magical activity. It reads a great deal like a young person that, instead of doodling in a notebook, was throwing ideas at the ceiling and letting them stick - and thrive.

To pass the time.

There isn't a 'throne' in this entry area, but Loki's up on the landing to the second floor, forearms crossed and draped over the rail. "Ah! You've found me after all," Loki observes, with his usual semi-dismissive tone. He's always a bit obnoxious to read, but he doesn't have any hostile tells. He's dressed in an Asgardian casual - black tunic, some minor leathers. Were he on Asgard it would be appropriate for a walk in the gardens. "Busy busy lately?" Loki wonders. It isn't jabbing, but fairly conversational.

Jane Foster has posed:
The door should be the appropriate path in most cases, but with sorts like this, you never know. Far more important that Jane acknowledge the correct customs as a guest. Not spilling piping hot liquid in her own defense only adds another layer of benefits. Her fingertips avoid straying over the blossoming roses, though they come close enough to invest a greeting of sorts. Enough for the cold to pass through her skin but not to threaten a form of heat-wilt.

Her footing is solid enough, which helps for someone who doesn't intrinsically float. But still caution is called for, the sort one gives when visiting a place full of fragile antiques or egos. His presence on high has a way of pulling her gaze up to find Loki with much less hesitation than usual, but then, astrophysicists usually /do/ look up as a habit. They'd be poor at their jobs otherwise.

"Indeed, your brother held a gathering and we did not see you there. I thought you might enjoy a brief meeting and the opportunity to tell me to leave," she quips. A nod goes to the recyclable drink carrier. "Thus, making good upon it. You have been enjoying your afternoon?"

Loki has posed:
"Yes, I've found the mantle of hero to be /demanding/ as of late, it causes me to miss brief meetings," Loki responds in amusement, with a great deal of obvious self-sacrifice in the tone. It's not exactly a brag, though: it's some weird combination because it's Loki, and he's able to both present the fact that he's helping others in a good way but backhand it at the same time.

"Gifts for /me/?" Loki questions. He expects gifts, of course, but not necessarily from her. So her awareness did get noted, even if Loki's being irritating. He comes down the stairs, but doesn't make a big presentation of it: there's no massive show of magic in the castle or stairway in some attempt to impress. He's being his version of low-key. (ha, ha).

"I wouldn't say I had an enjoyable afternoon, no. I'm preparing to be generous. Which does take a little soul-searching, but I've managed," Loki says. The biggest hint to him being reasonable today is there - he was willing to make a little fun of himself. Small, but a big signal of now being a good time to talk to him.

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane doesn't roll her eyes, otherwise she would be showing the whites of them permanently. The long chestnut braid twitching between her shoulder blades shifts, slewed to the side by its heavy weight. "Do the clothes fit as well as expected?" Dark brows draw a delineated arch, her expression otherwise mild; unperturbed, though he might have expected far more ripples.

The latte is offered up as Loki descends still, though not permanently. Putting that down on an ice structure might not turn out well, thus the safer route is awaiting for him to take what he wants or not. Her own choice will be picking whichever drink he doesn't.

"Preparing to be generous, are we? I dare ask what beckons this occasion. Surely it will make for an exciting diversion, seeing as enjoyment has already evaded you?" She can play the game in part, acting the audience and mildly dubious participant, with all the dry fanfare deserved.

Loki has posed:
"Yes, turns out I am versatile enough to wear whatever I please," Loki answers her clothing question with a regal, deliberate 'generosity' that well befits a prince. And may well send Jane's eyes rolling into orbit if she allows him to get to her.

Loki accepts his latte, without any apparent fear or expectation that she'd poison him. He crosses the main foyer, leading towards one of the other areas further into the castle. There is a meeting area back there, including seating where Loki can drape himself like a spoiled cat.

"None of us are just ONE thing, least of all me. Perhaps sometime I'll be able to do positive things without being labeled as exclusively evil. Baby steps, maybe." Loki's chatty. Which is normal, he's big on talking.

"I've primarily been working to stop the Astral monster from eroding the plane and murdering large numbers via soul torture," Loki explains, then. "Most heroic step being taking away his host body, limiting his ability to rip up victims. He's -- unhappy about it." Loki smiles mildly over his latte.

Jane Foster has posed:
Alas, proximity and possibly protection from Odin against most of the world also extends to his adopted son. Jane has a larger measure of tolerance than some, but she hasn't put up with Loki since the dawn of time. Or at least 1085.

She lifts the other cup and sips it, rather content to indulge in the whipped foam and warmth seeping into the bones. Summer may live outside, but the crisp bite of ice to the air makes the latte all that much better. She mellows into a content silence, her cheek dimpled surreptitiously behind the rim of cup. Better yet, she can glance around the palace such as it is, gauging something of its maker's moods and the information retained. "A clock is right twice a day -- a terrible philosophical view of the world, probably spoken by someone locked up in rigid absolutes. You are a person, therefore complex, and the boundless outcomes for any actions coloured by far more than a simple perspective on the sidelines." Tacitly, this includes not actually setting the city on fire or mowing it over in an attempt at conquest.

Her expression turns a minute degree colder, the weight of her mantle grinding firmly against her psyche. "Has anything halted you from terminating the monster? A most lively quest by your standards, wouldn't it be?"

Loki has posed:
Loki narrows his eyes a little bit as she seems to agree with allowing him to be more than a villain. If he has some snarky response just because he /can/ snark, he keeps it to himself for the moment. Perhaps mainly due to a greater focus on the next piece of the conversation that he opened up: that of the monster.

"To be clear, if I see an opportunity to terminate, I will," Loki comments. Which fits - ever the opportunist, and hardly one to hold his blade.

"At /this/ moment, my acting against him would be lethal to all his hostages, and potentially backfire: I'm not a fool. Too risky. And if you're going to push on me to go ahead and kill lots of little humans, we need to question your morals more than mine." Loki gives a sideways smile. "... besides, I am trying to repair my reputation, not flush it down the toilet. A little chaos is needed, but... no, I think my role is best /advisory/, not leading an onslaught." It's as if Loki learned. Or at least is self-aware enough about it. "Or did you feel otherwise?"

Jane Foster has posed:
Snark away. He's all but hitting an adamantium wall, glittering clear and magically infused. Jane allows the moment to close without a barbed challenge back to Loki. She merely sips her latte, and it's water under a bridge.

"No doubt. Something like that is probably wily and exceptionally cunning. I speak of termination as such an easy thing, but understand it isn't." The smile briefly skimming her lips has its wry, almost sad quality. "I don't imply to kill him this moment, but when the situation presents itself. Tactically sound approaches rather than suicidal ones."

A touch of the plastic proves too sharp for her liking, so she sets the cup down on the least ice-bound surface. "Certainly I'm not going up against anyone. Do I look like a soldier? The captive souls must be freed, but it will have to be some other way than a single glorious duel on the field. Life doesn't work that way. More likely than not the solution will be a number of them, using practical approaches to free those who we can until there's a sufficiently reduced buffer that makes any attack palatable. Casualties aren't something we have a stomach for, is it?"

Loki has posed:
"You know full well I can sleep well despite casualties, so long as I'm not one," Loki teases in reply. "My main point is -- if I quest alone, I'll make a bigger mess than what's already facing us." A slip there, Loki rarely uses 'us' language, usually it's 'you' or 'me'. A slip in that he's not thinking of this as THEIR problem or HIS problem.

"Anyway," Loki sighs, with a grumpy sound in his throat, "I did peel off the Shadow's host from him, and set up defenses to keep that broken, without betraying my presence. Doing that made the identity of the 'monster' clear: it's an ancient entity -- Embodiment of human sins or something like that; The 'Shadow King'. That was a lot of boring research." Loki's scornful, and seems pleased to chatter about it. Loki may have been feeling bottled up - and is being extra monologuey. "Uses hosts, limited to their powers maybe... seeks out powerful psions to inhabit. Used his host's ability to rip minds out of bodies with a lot more skill than the host had. And made the host 'watch'. The ex-host's here; I've gotten what information I can from him, and he's headed to the psychic hero troupe to see if they can repair what's left of him."

Jane Foster has posed:
Us business. That is indeed noteworthy. It's almost enough to bring a question out of Jane, but she bites that off and sets the matter to the side for a moment. "Something trying to make a casualty out of you will probably invite far more trouble on their head than they expected. I thought it was a widely known fact. Possibly not in the far reaches of Nidavellir or Shi'ar space, but the Shi'ar don't precisely count. Bit behind the times?" Modelling calm is a key part of her role, even when in the midst of banter that moves faster than Nadal on a clay court.

Not like she right off knows who the Shadow King is, though the very modest gold chain on her wrist -- less interesting than her earrings, even! -- probably has a lot of opinions otherwise, if it were asked. It is not, as yet. "An entity fed or composed of humanity's flaws might not be killed. Eight billion of us contributing to some degree would call for significant methods to have an impact, by sheer speculation." Oh, Loki can be scornful about the Shadow King's nature but she has to take the shorter road to perdition. "That poor host. Even isolating potential psions as hosts doesn't leave us with much certainty where he might next go."

Loki has posed:
"How fortunate that this monster goes for longwinded, extensive torture instead of outright death," Loki deadpans. Loki doesn't seem to have fear of being captured, or is keeping it to himself. But there's arrogance there, that Loki's staying steps ahead. Maybe that's true, maybe not.

"Shadow King has the leader of the psychic group under his power right now, to some extent. He's threatening his death if this host isn't returned. I didn't pry about the threatened leader deeply, it's a touchy subject with them, but it's evident to me that the person that set up the sanctuary is under direct assault." Loki can see certain things, and make very educated guesses, but there's always limits.

"I wanted to trick him into moving to a copy host we could control, but I don't know exactly what motivates his moving. I could make a good enough fake, I can fool /anyone/, but... I don't want to assume he wants his host back to inhabit it again. Feels too... simple. Why didn't he cut his losses with it? I would have, unless there was some other angle."

Jane Foster has posed:
"The host has a talent for shredding and dispersing souls," Jane begins slowly. "Is there something in that ability that the Shadow King doesn't already have? A particular lever it needs to pull that its current host cannot provide and it cannot do on itself." She draws a slow circle on that front. "An entity like that wouldn't have motivations driven by something many of us would. Pride, honour, family, wealth. We can probably discount the host formed any kind of rapport, that seems a stretch. Does the host give the Shadow King access to a place that it otherwise couldn't get to?"

She doesn't want to walk that path, she really doesn't. "How old is that person? Is there any chance it manipulated events to make that particular person ideal for itself? The dark elves call it a meat-puppet in some of their literature, as utterly abominable as it is."

Loki has posed:
Loki sits back more, turning more inward to think about it. It gives Loki a specifically scheming look -- but it's just similar to when he turns on his own big brain and evaluates, that comes with narrowed green eyes.

"Looks like he has no impact on the physical without a host. So the library of abilities IS important, for impact here," Loki begins, walking through these facts with patience.

"The most unusual part we've seen that isn't in ANY of my research is he manipulated and controlled mages. He made them do some rituals to breach the Astral. So that's what is most different. And obviously when we add in magic, and rituals..."

Loki looks offended, suddenly, though not by Jane. "All the memories seemed intact, all the torture that the host witnessed. And there's a LOT of it. But maybe that's where I need to look, if there's some sacrifical ritual magic, I might be able to catch preparations made for it in that mess of months of torture memories. A good place to hide it, it's quite disgusting. .... It would explain needing that host back. To set off something he'd prepared. Like you said - meat puppet."

Jane Foster has posed:
"I despise describing a living person in that way. I would prefer to have a name or at least something else. A man, a boy, a woman, an elder." Jane's vague ire in that statement is not aimed at Loki, not truly aimed at anything. Her posture stiffens as she rocks forward a fraction, distributing her weight as though prepared for a fight over political and philosophical norms in the context of an astral entity. The Asgardian's energy is undimmed to deal with that problem, her own thrumming along until it hits walls and courses away.

"We suspected a mage's involvement at the start. The signatures around New York University were clear. Then we discovered that group operating under control. His involvement with a mage makes me wonder where that path started -- because we have /other/ mages who tried to guard the civilians around them, or weren't doing it freely." She taps her finger on her hip, a metronome to guide the evolving concepts. "Is it possible that the host doesn't understand the magic when he saw it? That's perfectly plausible, without any way to contextualize it. Or, and admittedly this is a stretch, someone willingly went along with it. So far we're not seeing any proof of that. However, unless you have a psion also trained in magic -- surpassingly rare from my limited lore -- then we could be lacking the first link with a manipulated mage, and found someone who was twisted enough to be convinced to go along with him, doing part of this willingly. Maybe not. That connection could explain a good deal. Even if it's merely a case of a timebomb created by mystics by force -- as he did in the theatre -- it may need the host to be performed or completed. Lock and key?"

Loki has posed:
"His name is Earl Paulson, if you'd rather use that. He's upstairs, in stasis. Visit if you want to, but he's not in great shape mentally," Loki clarifies, a bit indifferently. He isn't attached to Earl but isn't directly trying to torture the host either.

"It's possible for mortals to do magic, particularly ritual, even if they have no perosnal aptitude for it. We see it all the time -- foolish cultists of some death beast or another trying to gain power, and they open hellgates and things eat them," Loki scoffs.

"But that means an old, ancient awareness that studied things like rituals... he doesn't really need a mage, does he. Helps to have a circle of them to power up, though. Such as MY sorceresses." Loki's complaining, he took it personally that his personal cultivated sorceresses were taken and murdered.

"If we pretend that the rituals we've seen were practice, or small ones... then the graduation would be a huge siphon to create a massive abomindation in the Astral. Something like that could rend the boundaries of that place," Loki looks impressed by the volume of the idea.

Jane Foster has posed:
"I'm not sure how much help there I could be." Earl Paulson, a name ferreted away, leaves Jane with yet more to look up. She captures the latte again and drinks a mouthful, the milk mostly reduced to a pleasant temperature instead of scalding hot.

Her eyes narrow slightly. "Ritual magic -- proper rituals -- requires a fairly big source of energy to pull off. The souls can provide that. The entity has to be able to use those. However, is it going to translate entirely into this spell? Is the entity responsible for charging it from its own reserves, or is that all moot if it's already been set up and merely awaits the trigger? Also begs the question, /where/ is this trigger located? If he has a circle of mages who cast the spells, there might be someone that knows its location and therefore something to target. Either by waiting to deal or by destroying it in advance. He can't defend that if he is already in another host, can he?"

Loki has posed:
"I'll reach out through the mage network that still exists. I have one contact that witnessed the other ritual. He doesn't like me, but I'll be charming," Loki deadpans. He's finished with his own latte and makes it disappear, container and all. No trash cans in the Ice palace.

"Could be he just REALLY hates this psychic group, too. Could all be organized around torturing them. It seems to be pretty effective at that. Targeting their guilt, to make them give up this boy -- Earl. Maybe it's just that, and not all the rest of it," Loki supposes, in devil's advocate.

"A lot of effort. That's a lot of hate."

Jane Foster has posed:
"That kind of hate doesn't just crop up even in an amalgamation of humanity's sins. I imagine a floating self-directed hate spirit could have done that." Jane sharply draws her bangs back from her face, hopefully keeping them out of her way, the cup still held in her hand because not everyone can teleport things away. Even if she can, that would be telling.

She shrugs at Loki. "Don't you think that is too simple? I am all in favour of Occam's Razor, but why all the elaborate measures when there are much simpler ways to do it? There's something missing in this from my side, though I'll be the first to say that I have a limited perspective." Her smile is bland, black as night. "As you said. Effort and hate. What am I missing? The boy doesn't have anything else other than this unique talent for shredding souls?"

Loki has posed:
"Something the psychic team mentioned did stick with me. One of their youngest... Tabitha, I think her name is," Loki comments. He knows Tabitha's name, Loki is VERY good with remembering names, he's just being condescending to poor Tabitha.

"She brought up that mutants -- of which Earl is one -- often have multiple abilities, often untapped. Maybe what you're saying /is/ the key. There's something the entity sees in this boy that we're blind to." A concept that annoys the hell out of Loki. "Magic, or something else. Some other psychic tool. Maybe he does a lot more with the Astral than just punt minds there, and this 'hand' hasn't been shown yet to us. I agree Occam's Razor makes sense ... when we're not dealing with a Shadow King well known for entangled, deep manipulations. In this case -- a plot that is convoluted lurking in the shadow that will come to bite us IS the most logical thing to look at. You're right."

Loki doesn't like admitting people are right, but it's obvious.

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane's brow wrinkles, the implicit sign of a headache. "The young woman I met dealing with Ulik and his attendees." Memory pings and she follows that track back to looking pointedly past Loki's shoulder for a moment, another piece dropping into place. "You rescued this young man, may I ask if I can have a few minutes to check him over? I doubt anything is going to bite me. If it does, you can tell Thor it was purely my own fault, because humans and such."

She pats her bag and pulls it around, dragging out her phone of all things. A single black device at the back probably more resembles a popsocket of some kind, nothing to be overly worried about. "Have you checked him for any similar abilities? Or have Phoenix or the White Queen, because between the two of them, I imagine they know how to look up their own kind of abilities. Either way, if he is stable enough... the risk to check shortly is worth it."

It's not as if he can dislocate her. She already is. Shred her? That's another story.

Loki has posed:
"I looked through his past and some Shadow King oriented memories to see what his powers have been used to do. Mostly, he projects these psychic whips or nooses, that grab on and pull or shred. I saw some telepathy use. Discovered his powers by accidentally pulling a friend's mind out of their body. Mmmm.... So, other than those -- can't tell what else he might be capable of. I don't innately recognize all abilities in pubescent mutant human potentials," Loki says, a little grumpy that Jane expects him to be able to immediately detect such things! Or grumpy that he can't.

"I'd say he's non-magical. If he were magical, I'd have all sorts of things to say about his potential," Loki says, a little defensively.

"Sure, head up and do what you like. I'm giving him to the White Queen's group to see if they have some special methods with mutants. Don't kill him, please, I'd like to keep that promise," Loki smiles slyly. "Doing this thing where I'm going to follow through with what I say. Don't make me out to be a liar. That'd be so horrible."

There's obvious stairs that can lead Jane up, but Loki doesn't seem motivated to go along or supervise. "Although they don't know I'm Loki. It will only cloud the teamwork here for them to know that. If you mention it to them, it'd be a setback for progress on this."

Jane Foster has posed:
"After exposure to the Shadow King, things might evolve. Catalysts are strange things. Sometimes you all but run into them." Jane thumbs through her phone, not even worried, apparently, about a signal. The sleek movements convey a rapid oscillation of gestures that speak to doing whatever sequence as many times as a caster learns how to manage a basic spell, save with a technological platform. Asimov's law doesn't apply, though.

"Loki," his name holds a bubble of authoritativeness on her tongue, used sparingly to snatch the Asgardian sorcerer's attention and hold it rooted thus with an expertise frightening for one so young. Usually they need to be parents of teenagers to get that going, and it helps to have CEO experience. Some high leadership role. Presumably neither case applies. "I do not kill people. You, of all, should know that. Or was my relative ineffectiveness in the desert -- or, for that matter, when you saw me trapped in the Underworld -- insufficient to indicate the absence of metahuman abilities found in a rare few humans?" She shoulders her bag again, leaving him to dwell on the obvious. Or the far from obvious. Mincing words isn't her style, but occasionally getting the temporary last world is. Said stairs are her destination, though no doubt the palace has no secrets from its maker.

Except the bigger secret that a Sky-father locks down from meddling wizards. Especially meddling wizards. /Precisely/ because of meddling wizards, sorcerers, and people who go well with ketchup.

"All right, Earl, I'm not here to disturb your sleep, friend. I want to check that you are okay, medically-speaking." Being a soul-physician has its benefits. The divine stirs, but she pushes it to the wayside for the start, leaving thoughts of Asgardian princes and their devious ways for another time. One that doesn't involve mutant teenagers either. The disk is in hand as she goes searching for their captive psion. Preferably it won't be a chimera or a draugr.

Had it up to here with bloody draugr.

Loki has posed:
While Loki doesn't fight for the last word, he does give a look that reads 'Uh uh, absense of metahuman abilities, MY ASS!' ...but he doesn't posture this time. He can, on occasion, be a gracious prince. When there's nobody around that he feels a need to posture for.

So Loki's response is only physical, not verbal.

Upstairs, there is... sort of a horrifying containment, in that the person is held erect in a tight, crystal-like prison formation. They don't seem to be in pain, but they are held motionless in it, and the spellcraft around the cystral is QUITE elaborate. But it's necessary against something like Shadow King.

Spared no Expense.

Earl is a little banged up, but seems to register her being there. He's perhaps low twenties or late teens, and is rather heavily overweight.

Jane Foster has posed:
Note the precise statements are entirely true. She doesn't possess any such abilities -- as of the time spoken, the place or ability. A psychopomp trapped in the Underworld during the harrowing period where the gods of death almost overthrew everyone and everything else to their reign doesn't count.

That look her ass indeed. It's not America's ass, therefore...

Good, he knows she is there. That will be convenient for the moment, because one person is going in and another is coming out. At least, at the start of things. She takes what biometric readings she can at a distance, crystal notwithstanding, to gauge the obvious life signs. "This won't take long. I am seeing how your heartbeat is, your rate of breathing, oxygenation levels. Making certain you are comfortable, and if any immediate medical attention is needed, that can be provided without discomfort." Her tone is level and calm, the byproduct of years in the field and teaching others. A reason they like her so much in the field, a showcase of STEM science, comes right out of that. "I'm not going to touch you, Earl, and I'm not going to hurt you, okay? Making sure that it's safe to help is the most important thing."

That she's a completely manifested soul presumably may or may not be dead obvious given the nature of his gift. All to be said, Jean and Emma certainly noticed it. Nothing to be done there.

She does a circle of the structure, supposing that even can be done, quiet. At the end, where the readings presumably are trustworthy, she sets the phone down. Only a moment is needed, her hand over her closed eyes. Spiralling, folded reality ends the mortal and rouses the Asgardian, duality locked into place. A comparatively quiet thing, all said and done, as the difference in height, build, and basically all else leaves her trembling on her toes. She blinks her eyes open, peering through her fingers -- hell, who wouldn't, when she Sees with far greater acuity than most? Being assured she's not staring at a bloated astral spider or something worse would be rather /nice/.

Loki has posed:
There are very great injuries within the essence of Earl. He's extremely disoriented: in fact, he is a strong echo of what his powers did to others flung into the Astral and adrift. In that sense....

Earl's another victim. Something used, shackled and manipulated both. He isn't sure he can trust where he is, trust his own perceptions, or anything else. Earl's experiencing some strange playback of his own memories and situations: perhaps set up to force him to view a loop of disturbing things, to keep him weak and easy to possess. It's coated in a very deep, strong layer of shadowy presence; Earl's psyche is loaded with it.

It isn't that Earl necessarily is threatened at all by Jane or anything else: just that he's been so manipulated that he's agreeable to just anything, so long as the pain stops - and that there's something to look at other than his most horrible memory on constant mental repeat.

Jane Foster has posed:
In the most unexciting research ever -- for a being near immortal, anyway, as Loki can attest, the Valkyrie simply remains there piecing through the broken threads and sifting past the symbols of knotwork cut to pieces.

Another victim, a host deprived of hope and light. Playback has to start somewhere, a weakness in the loop that /someone/ might exploit. She might not have the psychic butterfly signature or sword of a Braddock or a Phoenix bolt to do it, but at least finding that could prove useful for them. Helps to point out the target.

<<This child deserves better than what he's facing. Why him?>> The silent conversation runs with the bracelet turned now closer to its real form, a sinuous twist of gold evoking the celestial storm it was. Her finger traces the warm contours, almost grateful for the initial shock of contact. <<What talent is in there past a psychic gift?>> Her head tilts and she edges sideways, shifting her gaze to invoke that peripheral view in case something wobbles from the shadows. Looking for the gloss of potential, and overall, the death's head that marks someone's ultimate doom. Death knows, and all ends lead there, but teasing out the confluence of the Shadow King's interest requires a bit more. <<The creature wants the greatest hurt he can inflict. Show me why. Old One, your children deserve to live up to their duty protecting Midgard as well they can. This at least lets them do it.>>

She smirks, drowning in the flow of magic, the seethe of life. <<I'm getting sentimental in my afterlife.>>

Loki has posed:
Is Loki able to observe what she's doing with the 'prisoner'? To some extent /of course/. Because curiosity and mage, among other talents. But that doesn't mean he's privy to internal conversation. And without seeing THAT, Jane is very boring, just staring and thinking. Loki has better things to do than to watch someone think. Let alone a human!

Loki's attention moves elsewhere, back to his own quests.

--

There is something there as Jane searches, but it's vague, more a concept than an actual way of how to USE what it is. It's connected, deeply entwined, with the ability to cast minds to the Astral: more to keep them safe, keep them sane, draw them home. There are hundreds of small fragments that Earl's power has touched, and he can /FEEL/ them all. This deepest, small thing: easy to overlook, but he just knows, on some far level, where all the lost are. There's just nothing pulling them home: no tension on those threads to the lost.

And there are SO MANY. So many chess pieces, all set up.

Earl's power may not be something Shadow King wants to use... it may be he wants to prevent anyone /else/ from finding and using it.

Jane Foster has posed:
Memories of an EDM-driven tune drive through Valkyrie's thoughts, held at bay no matter how tempting to knock out a high-tempo beat against anything. Music runs the spheres of the heavens and it underpins math, why not this mysterious intrigue when peering through the branches and leaves of Yggdrasil watered in her own life's blood?

Earl is the lynchpin, the central melody that she sifts through. Acceleration and crescendos leave her travelling through a kind of subspace point until she follows all the threads to the crux.

Her smile rises. With great reluctance, she relinquishes the power over her, the gloss of life diminished to whatever this in-between state.

"Oh, you clever, wonderful man." The offering is in Jane's voice. "You put everything together we need. Have faith. They'll see it, soon, and then we can set this right."

Diminished, but not without faith in that.