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When Fox arrives, the roof of the abandoned factory is empty. No signs of the Bright One. Well, unless she uses her Life sight--then it's easy enough to sense that someone is up here.
She comes clambering up onto the roof, backpack strapped firmly to her back, bare feet scrambling up the stairs. And then she plants her hands on her hips and squints mightily. It might not look like powerful magic, but that squint is awfully powerful, okay? "Someone's up here," Fox offers calmly, "and someone ought to come out now. I will absolutely kill a bitch for Lux, and tonight is not the night to test that."
Lux appears out of thin air a few feet before her, letting out a light tired laugh. "Nice to know. Sorry. Just being careful."
The Thyrsus' fingers flex until Lux appears, as if Fox is about ready to sprout claws and rip a bitch apart. "Don't be sorry about being careful," Fox sighs, and skitters across the space between them, (gently) flinging her arms around them unless stopped or dodged.
She isn't stopped--but Lux winces a bit. It doesn't stop them from returning the hug though, patting her back gently. "I'm okay..."
Her arms are little, but the muscles are strong, and she turns her face, resting her cheek against Lux's shoulder. Warmth floods through their body, from the soles of their feet to their scalp, infusing every cell and nerve with the sort of ineffable sense of well-being that comes from having your body knit back together by a Life Master. "There shouldn't be scars," Fox sighs, gently rocking the Bright One. "Why is there trace iron in your wounds? That's a very inefficient material for a knife." Right. A Life Master and a Matter Adept.
Lux's eyes go wide. Not that she can see it, but their lights shine brightly, pulsing intensely. Then they exhale a long breath of relief, eyes closing a moment as their head rests against her's. "She used an iron knife. It's like... kryptonite for fae. Unravels us."
The little Orphan lets out the saddest of sighs, and she hugs tighter for a moment, then relaxes her arms, though not actually letting go. That was not a small amount of damage that Fox just healed out of their self-declared best friend. "Fuck," Fox answers quietly. "What can I do to help?"
"I... don't know," Lux admits. They pull off their shirt, peeling off the bandages that had been slapped on across their chest and shoulder, peering at the now smooth skin. They look very relieved to see that it in fact did not scar. Vain thing. Though it does give her a flash of the large, deep burn scar in the center of their chest. "The Freehold has declared war against her and whoever she's working with." A beat pause. "Do you know how to destroy iron? Or turn iron into something else?"
"Yes, I can do that. I could turn an iron knife into a fucking frog if I wanted to," Fox scowls, though not at Lux, just at the idea that it's necessary. She steps back just a little bit -- but not too far, in case knife-wielding women jump out of the shadows and she has to throw herself in front of Lux -- and looks closely at her work, nodding her head once. "You look good. All healed."
Lux's brain is now churning, brows creasing. "I don't need the knife changed. I need... okay, so." Their hands wave, suddenly more animated. "So she's devised this huge plan to literally burn away the ability for people to dream, in almost the whole fucking city if we don't stop it. She's set up these shitty gentrified housing projects all over the city. There's seven total, four of which are already completed. If you map them out? They form a dreamcatcher." Lux makes a circular gesture in the air. "Each of these building projects? Have bars on the balconies and shit--and they're all made of iron. So--they've basically made this city-sized iron dreamcatcher. There's already a lot of people effected, people who can't dream--and when they can't dream they can't sleep well, so they're all just... sleep-deprived hopeless drones. A lot of the workers that are building the places are effected, and people are getting hurt. It's bad on a lot of different levels."
Their brows crease tightly. "If I give you the locations... Could you--or some of the others... change the iron bars into some other metal? Especially if it's metal that looks like iron, so they don't catch on too quickly. I'm sure they'd replace them eventually, but it might buy us some time."
A very calm look comes over Fox as Lux explains, and Naika's green-gold eyes catch the light strangely as she stands there, listening. "Wow. What the fuck." That's said in the calmest voice that Fox can manage. "What the whole fuck. What the whole entire fuck." That's a lot less calm. "Okay, yes, I can -- we can do that. For a little bit. It would honestly be easier to just rust them out, but I know that would -- probably not be ideal for any number of reasons." Fox rubs her hands over her face.
"So." Fox looks for a way to explain this. "For something like that which ... changes something. I can't do it... permanently. That kind of magic is always a loan. You have to pay it back eventually. And while I have that loan out, it limits what else can go on my credit, if that makes sense? It would be a lot -- easier -- to, say, rust out the bars. I know that wouldn't stall for as long."
"I mean--destroying them is fine too. I'd take whatever we can get. It's just dangerous for us to get too close and we can't even touch the iron--and our magic just flat out doesn't work against it." They listen, nodding a bit as they chew at their lip. "I guess that makes sense, yeah."
"Okay, so." Fox starts pacing now, folding her hands over the straps of her backpack, bare feet going pap pap pap against the concrete. "I'm going to have to go talk to the Claviger." That's also a Spring job, because there are only so many words in the language, apparently. "Or one of the Emissaries to the Fae. Get permission. Because that sort of thing is... uh... I mean bars just suddenly disappearing. I guess we could pass it off as theft." She pauses and turns back. "Stopping people from dreaming is really fucked up. Hurting the tribe like that. That's horrible."
Lux watches her pace, eyes following her. They nod slowly. "Okay. I don't want you to get into trouble or anything. Whatever you need to do--and if they need to talk to me or whatever--I can do that too. Give my number to whoever needs it." They puff out a breath. "Our people are working on tracking them down and getting things shut down--but saving people from suffering in the meantime... would be good."
She rocks back and forth on her feet. "Do you have a weapon? For you? Your personal weapon? To defend yourself with?" Fox's expression is a focused one, now. "I'll talk to who needs talking to," she agrees. "We'll figure something out. Hurting people's heads like that. It's. God, it's so left-handed." A little nod. "Your matters are your matters, your internal shit is your internal shit but... fuck."
"Yeah, this is our war. We're going to be the ones that fight it. But..." They wave a hand. "Gotta know your weaknesses, and how to make up for them. This would help."
"You know what the most fucked up thing is?" Lux shakes their head. "They think they're doing this for the greater good. They think they can destroy the Gentry by starving them out--making it so they can't take anymore people. Dreams are how humanity links to the Hedge--to the fae realms. If they're cut off, just dry husks... they're not... ripe to be picked off. But all they're doing is destroying everything for everyone..."
Lux puffs out a breath. "I have some throwing knives. Which I'm not too bad at chucking around, but... I'm not a fighter. I'm a run-awayer. But I want to be there, when they take this bitch down, if I can. I have a couple tricks up my sleeves that can... hopefully help." Their arms cross over their chest, looking thoughtful. "Any of your people have like... ghosty magic?"
"Yes. That's the whole point of having alliances. We make up for where your weak spots are, and you make up for where our weak spots are." Fox stops pacing, and drops into a crouch. Or a Slav squat. Vasha has his effects on her body language, and she's thinking.
Squinting up at Lux from the rooftop, Fox actually bares her teeth at the suggestion that this is for the greater good. "So they burn the field, that the enemy not eat the grain, but the grain isn't just grain, it's the lives and souls of people." A low rattling snarl in the back of her throat, animal and angry. "I have been a field of grain, and it screams when it burns." Her little fingers flex, looking, perhaps, for a throat to strangle. Nature, red in tooth and claw, is the other side of the sweet, enthusiastic Thyrsus. Perhaps not even the other side. Another angle on the same side.
"Yes, plenty of our people have ghosty magic," Fox offers, somewhat distractedly, as if thinking something through in her head. "Give me your knives. I want to see them for a minute."
Lux reaches to draw several knives from a holder on their belt, offering them out. They're shimmery and rainbow. They probably bought them online more because they're pretty than because they're perfectly balanced or well made.
"The bitch that tried to kill me, she has the ability to like... turn herself into a ghost whenever she wants." They wave a hand. "And to be--there, but not there. Like in ghost space. Invisible to normal eyes. It makes her really hard to track."
She takes the knives from Lux, and unloops a necklace from around her neck, one that's normally hidden underneath her clothing -- it's kept on a leather thong, and is a delicately-carved piece of wood with sapphires set in it. Look at it one way, it's a fox. Another way, it's a wolf. Another way, it's the craggy face of the moon. Fox sits down on the roof fully, wrapping the leather thong around the handles of the knives. Next she pulls out her phone, flipping open the cover and holding it in her right hand. A tap-tap-tap of her thumb on the screen, pulling open -- what, is there an app for that or something?
I mean, for a technoshaman, the answer is yes: the screen flickers and flutters as Fox begins speaking ... something. It's no language Lux has ever heard before, that ridiculous and strange speech, something that scratches at the back of the mind. The whole thing takes a bare three seconds, Fox's eyes going unfocused as she fully concentrates on the working, and then she clears her throat as a bruise spreads across the back of her right forearm, and she pulls in a long, slow breath.
The knives, when she hands them back, look just like they did before. No change at all. But when Lux holds them, their balance is so perfect that they could give Johnnie a run for her money in the balance department. They're the best knives Lux has ever seen. "That should help."
Lux stays back and out of the way, just watching with a curious expression. "...Huh... Thanks?" Lux accepts the knives carefully, blinking a few times as they hold one and text out the balance, giving it a little flip up into the air, then catches it without missing a beat. "Holy shit."
"It's got a limited number of uses, and it will only last for the next month, or until you use up the charges," Fox offers, looking -- actually not at all winded, just slightly bruised. She's rejuvenated by the process, as if putting herself at risk for the people she cares about restores her somehow. "Be careful with them. They're as deadly used against you as they are by you. I made them better, and that's ... the object themself."
"Ah... right." Lux stares for a moment longer, then tucks them away again. "Thanks. That will be useful, assuming they actually let me go kill her. Least I can defend myself if she shows up."
"Don't do anything stupid. Don't make a martyr out of you, or I will find a Moros and track you to the Underworld and drag your sorry ass back." Fox shoves her phone back into the pocket of her jeans (they're boys' jeans, there's enough space for a whole-ass phone in there) and starts tying her necklace back in place, fixing the leather thong at the right length and all that. "When this is -- more settled. I want you to meet Vasha." Her green-gold eyes glitter. "He is the love of my life." And to be honest, when Lux meets the surly, drunken Ukrainian, they may wonder why.
"Why does everyone keep accusing me of being a fucking martyr?" Lux mutters, scowling briefly. They face softens quickly though. "I'm happy to meet him. What's he like?"
"Telling people not to die is my love language," huffs Fox, and she scoots over for a small another hug. As a treat. "On account of I am extremely alive." She bites her lower lip. "Right now? He's -- hurt, actually." The Thyrsus scratches at her cheek, taking in a long breath and letting it out as a huff. "He's Ukrainian, and... "
"There's a group of us that ... work on keeping us safe. Hiding us from the eyes of the world. And it was -- useful -- for him -- to be in the FSB. And then ... Putin. And ... war. And ... " She looks off across the roof. "He was undercover for years, working on ... a big problem, for us. That's why I didn't know even if he was alive."
"Oh." Lux frowns, brows creasing. "That... fucking sucks. I'm glad he was able to get out of that. That he's here, with you. I'd... ask if there was anything I could do, but I imagine that's a pretty personal issue. I wouldn't want a stranger butting into it."
"He's a good man." That seems like an important thing for Fox to say. "He -- kept me from losing myself, when I was learning to be what I am. He's home. And so is Zoya, who you'll -- hopefully -- meet. She's trying to get here." A vague half-smile. "Your job is to stay alive until you meet them, so they can love you, too." A huff of breath. "He's a surly drunken Ukrainian, is what he is. Far too aware of the eddies of Fate and the way that Time pulls on all of us. But if he decides you're one of his people, you couldn't want someone more on your side." Beat. "I think the phrase is 'ride or die.'"
Lux listens with a soft smile. "He sounds awesome. I can't wait to meet him. I'll have to steal a fancy bottle of--what would he like, vodka? To help bribe him to love me. But I'll... make sure to stay alive, until then. I've no plans of going anywhere."
"And if you have the number of someone really good at ghost magic, feel free to send mine to them. Might find something useful for catching this bitch."
A little laugh. "Honestly? The Gopnik act is just that. He really likes wine. But it suits him to put on a particular face. If you brought him a decent red wine, he might give me a look, but he'd know that I trusted you enough to tell you that." She hooks her thumbs on the pockets of her pants. "I will see who I can find. I might be able to see her, maybe, but I'm no good with that side of things beyond that."
"If you guys could do something to let us see her, that'd be awesome. But if nothing else, I get to meet more mage folx, which I'm excited about. You all are awesome." They stuff their hands into their pockets, rocking on their feet. "Red wine. Got it. I'll get a really good bottle. Who is Zoya? Another lover?"
"Or best friend? Should I be jealous?"
A little frown, and she offers, "I could make it possible for you to see spirits, I think. But I don't know if that would ... cover her." Fox thinks about that for a moment. "Well. We are amazing. And I can't think of anyone off the top of my head who isn't like super busy at the moment?" Because their characters are already involved with the plot through Changeling. "But I'm sure I will think of something." Then Fox laughs at the last bit. "Zoya? Oh goodness. I don't -- Zoya is a member of my cadre. My family."
"I mean if you want to be, you can."
"I dunno how her shit works, exactly. I think she becomes more... ghost-like than spirit-like? Not that I know shit about spirits. If not--then it's cool. We'll figure something out." Their lips quirk. "I am the jealous type, but I rarely want to be. I'm sure they're awesome too, though."
"I don't know shit about ghosts." That, at least, Fox is clear about. "The dead are not my specialty, to put it fucking mildly. I know what's alive, and I can handle that shit." The jealousy comment makes the little Orphan actually blush, the corners of her mouth turning up a little bit. "Well, that's fair. It's nice, a little, to have someone be jealous, a little. It's a sort of statement of your worth to that person. Zoya is awesome. She's uh -- well, you'll recognize her, I guess, when you meet her. She's on Instagram."
"Is she?" Their head tilts. "I do, like, half live on Instagram. And yeah, jealousy can be hot... sometimes."
Their phone pings, and they pull it out to poke at, a brow arching at the screen before looking back at her. "I'm sorry to bail, but I should probably get back. Trying not to stick on this side for very long, just in case."
"Yeah, if you search her, you'll find her. Just -- you know. Be cool," One green-gold eye winks. "Exactly. Sometimes."
Fox flings her arms around Lux again, more tightly this time because there's no more wounds for Fox to be avoiding, and a big noisy smooch to the cheek. "You are my best friend. I decided. I know I keep saying it, but please be careful. I only just found you, and I only just got my Vasha back." And then, with an extra squeeze, she steps back. "I'll see if I can find any Death mages for you."
Lux grins as they're hugged and smooched, arms wrapping around her tightly in return. Even a soft peck to her cheek too. "Yeah. Best friends." Their head bobs, stepping back. "I'll be careful. As careful as I possibly can be. I'm not going to be on the front lines for this thing. I know my strengths. I'll see you soon?" They smile warmly. "Thanks again, Fox."
Then they head over to a shadow, lingering inside it a moment before disappearing.
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