3175/Ice Palace: The Fox

Ice Palace: The Fox
Date of Scene:	31 August 2020
Location:	Nessa's Apartment
Synopsis:	The 'fox' speaks, and adds more confusing information to the pile, on what is happening with the Ice Palace.
Cast of Characters:	Loki, Nessa Donovan

---

Loki has posed:
Nessa's phone chimes. It's not entirely unfamiliar, this number: it's related to Tristan, the boy mage. His face appears next to the text message, with a squirrel nosing it's face into the frame. Tristan's picture.

The text reads: 'Nessa! My fox is talking to me! It's so cool, you are missing it!'

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa looks at her phone.

It only takes her a few seconds for it to register what he said before's rapidly responding. 'Tristan, are you at the apartment? Don't go anywhere and don't promise your fox anything.' Regardless of the answer she gets, she's already on her way to head back to her apartment unless further texts tell her otherwise. "Oh hell..."

Loki has posed:
There is a reply! It is a picture of said fox, curled up on Nessa's couch. That clarifies where exactly they are, it seems. There is also a little ice squirrel nearby in the back of the frame, sitting on top of a chair.

Tristan was probably taking the picture while Nessa was responding. A text follows, 'Sure, Nessa' is the response.

In fact, when Nessa gets back to the apartment, Tristan will turn around and wave at her, from his spot at the other end of the couch, waving her in, to share the experience with her.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa has her phone in one hand, keys in the other as she opens the door. There's a brief second where she doesn't expect Tristan to actually be there, but she does look relieved when she opens the door. Tristan's there, but there's also a talking fox... and the last time this happened it involved Loki. She gathers her wits, shutting the door behind her, as she moves to set her bag and keys on the table near the door before moving back towards Tristan, shoving her cell phone in her pocket.

"So your fox started talking?" There's some concern--she thought they had established that the animals weren't so great to have around, so seeing him there with a /talking/ one raises all kinds of red flags.

Loki has posed:
Tristan gives a nod, but then looks over towards the fox, which is sitting on the couch. He is regal, on a cushion, like a pure white, snowy prince. His tail is perfect white, magically. To magical senses, it's just a construct, but it has a few little signs of being manipulated from afar: a mouthpiece.

"Hello again. We've spoken before," the fox greets Nessa with a sly arrogance. It's Loki, absolutely, all of it: the fox itself, the voice, the TONE, the stare. All of it. Tristan just doesn't know who he's talking to.

"Checking in," the fox says serenely, lofty.

"We have a lot of questions," Tristan says hurriedly, looking to Nessa for help. Tristan had been making small talk. Stalling. He's not a stupid kid, at all. His slightly widened eyes prove it. No fool, this boy!

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa takes a breath before she moves to sit next to Tristan, putting herself pointedly between him and the fox. He can see around her, certainly, but she's being a physical barrier not because she thinks it's needed--but to make a point. Her gaze levels on the fox, but she offers a smile. "Yes, we've spoken before, you're right," she peeks at Tristan for a moment before back at the fox.

"Checking in? What, in particular, might you be wanting to check?" A lot of this is her not knowing where to go with this. There was plenty Tristan didn't know that she'd rather not let him in on yet, and there was plenty she didn't want Loki in on either. Caution, perhaps, would be best.

Loki has posed:
"Your well-being, of course," says the fox-Loki, as if that were apparent, and always within his nature to do. He seems indifferent to Tristan now being beyond Nessa positionally on the couch. "But we were talking about magic, creation of animals such as a squirrel, or a fox. And how they interact with the Ice Palace," explains the fox. Tristan nods a little bit.

"Yeah, I asked how he's connected to the um, the place, and the skeletons," Tristan supplies.

"Quite," agrees the fox, irritated with being interrupted, but showing regal patience. "There's worry over that. But the spells are there to instruct how to repair the structure. Not only make animals. A structure left to your /care/."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
It does take a moment for Nessa to keep a straight face at the mention of the fox-Loki actually checking on either of their well-beings. She overcomes, however, and remains pleasant. "Well, it sounds like a fascinating conversation. What'd he tell you was the relationship between the animals and palace?" There is a bit more to what's being said, though, and her brow furrows.

"What do you mean by 'left to our care'?" She's trying to sort through what's being lied about now... or what half-truth might be directed towards them. It was getting more and more complicated.

Loki has posed:
"The place you're calling the ice Palace," Loki answers, a little miffed they're not quicker on the uptake. Humans never cease to disappoint, so ridiculous. Sometimes it's like talking to children! Particularly when one of them IS a child.

"I saw your... 'creative' communication on the floor there. So I know you know what lurks there. Not the sorceror you met anymore, sadly. A horrible, twisted piece of humanity. You met a reflection of what he was, before he chose his path," the fox says thoughtfully. "A deception, perhaps, but important as a lesson. Of what could happen to any of you, and what he /was/."

The fox curls his tail over his feet, blue eyes sparkling. "It's still up to you, and always /has/ been, to maintain that prison using the spells GIVEN to you, or make a new one. Or some other answer, but those sprang to mind. While I'm checking in, yes, I'm not holding your hands on this. He's YOUR responsibility, as a fellow human magi."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
So he was spying? Nessa was certainly not surprised in that department. The fact that he knew what information they likely had now? Also not great. "Oh, so is that what it was?" She says, casually. "A deception to serve as a lesson." The fact that Tristan's there does make her hesitate a bit from straying into too harsh of a response. "You already gave us information on how best to contain him and this situation. This is the first I heard of maintaining the 'prison' being part of our responsibility." She tilts her head.

"You seem awfully invested in all of this."

Loki has posed:
"The others knew these buildings were their responsibility, yes?" the fox asks, looking towards Tristan.

"Well, we were keeping the places safe. Keeping the items in them there, safe, together," Tristan says, disliking that he's being put on trial now. "Sorceror Vega said I'd... um. I mean." He fumbles this, guilty, and looks downwards, quieting.

"So maybe not /yours/," the fox says more pointedly at Nessa. "Invested? Hm. My assistance is being seen negatively? Fine. You're on your own," the fox says, insulted, and starts to get up, with a slight magical shake of snowy ears.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I don't think you would have come all this way to chat if you didn't have a reason for it. We all know you're better than that," Nessa points out, moving to rest a hand on Tristan's knee with a small squeeze of reassurance. "So, let me ask just what you're suggesting. We either find a new prison, or we secure the one that currently exists. Or, perhaps, is there another layer to this that you'd like to shed some light on?" She neither confirms nor denies that Loki is any help. Because honestly... it could go either way.

Loki has posed:
"Perhaps ... I liked having students. I do not normally /have/ students," the fox admits, as if the fact of it bothered him. "I do want you to succeed." Tristan mostly looks confused now, by all of this.

"It's you that taught me?" Tristan asks, finally trying to get on board with what is going on. He's been in the dark for much of this, there's layers.

The fox remains focused on Nessa, though. "/I/ see this as a brilliant test. Take up this responsibility, deal with your own evil monster... be better than that disgusting human dreg of your kind," suggests the fox. "Is there a third option than those two? Of /course/ there is. Bonus points for creativity. But am I going to help you? No, you have all the tools you need."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
There's a wince. Nessa's a student who wants a teacher, and apparently the trickster god actually liked having students? It's an odd situation to be in either way, probably for both of them... and for poor Tristan to be tangled up in the mix. She can explain to him in the future, but it's Loki she's talking to. "When we first met, I asked if you were showing off when you created the ice palace," she, of course, is referring to Vega who she is assuming was Loki. "You said no. You said it was to catch my attention."

The statements are twofold: first to prove Loki's been trying to pretend to be Vega, and the second to try and get down the motivation behind /all/ of this. Loki, the trickster god, could easily be doing this for fun as much as to have an actual goal. "I assumed you meant the palace was to get my attention. To show the possibility of what could happen with stronger magic. You didn't mean the palace when you said that, did you?" He just said it was a test.

Loki has posed:
"That final piece could have looked like an igloo," Loki snickers a little. "What mattered is what is under it." A little shrug is there. "But no, here was this ice mage, creating skating rinks in warehouses." The fox is sitting up, now, still on his cushion.

"Did the palace attract the ice mage most able to physically work with all of the structure of the prison? Hm. Was it you? Hm. Interesting questions, those." His eyes move to Tristan. "He's the one with the heart of the operation, though. /He/ could teach you a lot, about manipulating life force. If you care. I think you're more interested in palaces, though? Grand statements of power are attractive?" The fox has admitted little, other than knowledge of general happenings.

"This challenge is a gift. You're learning, all of you. Apply what you learned, we'll keep going. Too much for you? Walk away."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa's not ignoring Tristan--her hand stays on his leg, a firm reminder that he's important in all this and she's trying to keep him safe. Her gaze, though, stays on the fox. There are things she needs to focus on. "Power is attractive, certainly. Control, though." Control lies at the heart of what she's always wanted. It's what she needs to keep from freezing people. To keep herself from unintentionally harming others, and to get to the heart of why all of it resonates with her. "To be able to create such an intricate thing shows what kind of control you can have over magic. What details. It's art as much as it is power. I appreciate the art, I don't appreciate the situation."

Her attention goes to Tristan for a brief moment to check on him before she turns back to the fox. "You already know I don't have a choice. You know I won't just sit there and watch Vega get out and do whatever it is he'd like. There's no walking away from that, at least." Perhaps it's another lesson, perhaps he's teaching in the midst of it all. An unintentional student by going to stop what danger was put in front of her.

Loki has posed:
"Tristan," The fox addresses the boy, "You were learning to make little animals. Why?"

Called out again, Tristan looks down at Nessa's hand, then his own in his lap. "I wanted friends," Tristan gives. Tristan's core, that lonliness, that separate-ness.

The fox nods a little bit, taking that answer. "He wanted to /create/. Pure, I think," Loki-fox chuckles. "Human, really. Creating, no matter the COST. And all magic costs. I think that will be the biggest lesson, by the end. What it cost that trapped soul. What it will take. The more you're willing to pay... the better your control. Magic isn't free. Well. Not for /you/." They're not gods.

"If you don't understand that basic part of magic... well. Nothing more to teach you, until you get that." Loki stands again, this time starting to fade out, like a cheshire cat, leaving just the glowing blue eyes...

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa's eyes move to her gloved hands as the cheshire fox starts to fade. "I paid a cost in advance. I'm not sure if it was worth it." That, as it turns out, isn't really directed towards the disappearing fox though. It's mostly commentary to herself. It was certainly a price that's had a dramatic effect on her life. "I'm not sure what I gained." That would be something she's still trying to figure out. She looks away from the fox, unsure of if he's still watching or not, and looks to Tristan.

"Look, I know a lot of this is complicated and you probably have questions that I'll try to answer, but I want you to know this. I'm going to make sure you're safe, and I'm going to make sure you're not alone. Okay? No one deserves to feel either of those things."

Loki has posed:
The eyes disappear.

Tristan nods a little bit. "I forgot, I meant to ask him about Kaylee," Tristan says, guilty. He releases a breath, and looks around. The squirrel comes bouncing over to comfort Tristan, too: as it is a part of him, and knows his heart well.

"That wasn't the person who taught me. He wasn't like that fox," Tristan says. "I miss him. The sorceror."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Me too, in a way. The sorcerer represented something I've wanted and never really had the chance to have. It was exciting to learn something new." Nessa looks to Tristan. "I know it's not as simple as this, but maybe you should keep those feelings safe and the moments you had that were happy... but you're going to have to accept that the sorcerer who taught you isn't coming back. He wasn't really real, even if it felt like it." She frowns. It's hard to say just as much as she's sure it's hard to hear.

"We'll find Kaylee. We'll make sure she's safe too. I've been coordinating with some really talented people to try and take care of this." She lets out a slow breath. "We're going to go to Zelda's. I'm not going to be home for a little while and I don't want you to be alone, especially if something bad happens again, okay?" She grins, trying to lighten the mood. "Make her teach you something, and if she doesn't... I bet you can think of a creative way to convince her." She winks.

Loki has posed:
"Zelda only likes potions," Tristan laments, with a 'blehhh boring' tone to that. "She just knows mixtures and scrying and...."

oh.

"Maybe she'll show me how to look for Kaylee," Tristan says, agreeable suddenly, and getting to his feet. He's ready now! The squirrel eagerly climbs his pants and shirt, to his shoulder. Squirrel ALSO ready!