taxonomites | XII: [ visual | location: Shelley ] Would you like me to lie to you now?

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XII: [ visual | location: Shelley ] Would you like me to lie to you now?

Her sarcophagus. Her resting place. She had gone to visit it mere moments ago, as a means of connecting with a past she can no longer return to.

Too many things to ponder on. Too long had she been held in this place, against her will, against her desire. And she can find no means to alleviate her increasing discomfort. Her recent bout with Spike, and even with the vampire leader, had helped little to comfort her. Her conversations with the younger Wesley only confirmed her thoughts.

She had no purpose here. She had no place here.

And yet this realization is not new.

Illyria reaches out to touch her sarcophagus - when the glitch hits.

She watches, disturbed, as her skin, her armor changes. How can this be? She had no desire to look like Winifred. Illyria had not willed it. She throws her head back, closes her eyes - nothing.

She grits her teeth as suspicion begins to gnaw at her. Lashing out, she pushes her sarcophagus away until it crashes and destroys one of the walls.

Amidst the dust and debris, Illyria stands panting. Her tablet, attached to her wrist now, records her movements as she begins to inspect her borrowed form.

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Lorne.

[ locked to cordelia and fred ]

As for Illyria, I don't think she's doing this on purpose.

[ she could have said something about lorne. would have said something about lorne. but something about angel's... overprotectiveness of that thing strikes her as a bit odd. ]

Oh my god, not you too.

Edited 2010-06-05 09:37 (UTC)

Not me too, what?

You and Spike are singing the same tune, Mr. Pavarotti. Good thing you're not making it into a duet.

[ ooc: sob, amy, jump in wherever/whenever? i can't resist :3 ]

I guess we just happen to see eye to eye on this. And if Spike's "singing the same tune," then I honestly feel more assured in mine. He knows Illyria a lot better than I do.

[ she locks the next message from fred, as well. cordelia may be tactless, but not heartless. ]

Uh, hello. Is it just me or do you find it odd that you're both championing... I don't know, the very thing that will kill Fred in the future?

Illyria didn't kill Fred. A man named Knox did. And she's on our side, a very valuable ally. Something like this used to happen in hell. I don't think she did this on purpose. I think she's involuntarily stuck. Suggesting that won't do any good, though. She doesn't exactly think the same way we do. I've learned that sometimes, you have to play things her way.

And yet I don't see this Knox person wearing Fred's body, I see her.

[ pause. ]

Oh. Kinda like... coddling a psychotic mental patient out from the mental ward for the forever insane?

Knox set Fred up. Illyria wasn't consciously aware of what had transpired until after Fred was gone. Wes killed him and if the aliens ever chose to bring him here, I'll do as much myself.

She's a primordial god-king, Cordelia. An old one, an ancient being. The way she views the world is very different from the way we see it. She used to be a great ruler of worlds and now she's not. Asking her to change her point of view overnight is like asking a cat to develop a sudden fondness for water. It's not going to happen. Upsetting her isn't a good idea. We may mean well, but she's not going to interpret our actions the same way we are presenting them. You have to let her think she's in control, that help was her idea and not yours, that you are servicing her and not doing her a favor. It's just the way things work with Illyria. I know better than to push my limits with her.

Wes--

[ cordelia bites her lip. oh, look. another piece of the frightening future she doesn't ever want to witness, thanks. unless she's dead by this time, which oh dear god please be the case. ]

...what do you mean you know better? How the hell would you have known better? Did you already try and push your limits with her?

Killed Knox. Because he killed Fred.

[ she's dead by then. though, angel has no doubts that her higher being self saw it all. ]

She's capable of things, Cordy. Things she doesn't necessarily mean in the way we'll interpret them, but back in hell, she got so confused, so lost that he way of coping with how overwhelmed and frustrated she was, was to collapse time. Her powers may not be as up to par here as they were there, but I'm not going to put her through that, again. I'm not proud of what I had to do to get her to stop or what happened afterward and while I'd find a way to do it again, I'd rather not.

[ she inhales sharply, at this point. ] Collapse time. God... she's that powerful? [ and now she gets why they seem to be walking on eggshells around the god-king. ]

Stop being Mr. Vague-Much, Angel. What did you do?

That's exactly it. God. It's what she is.

I had a powerful telepath show her memories of Fred from Wes and Spike's point of views. It stunned her long enough for Wolfram & Hart's armies to take her down.

So she... died too. In hell, you mean. And this... happened before you got yourself killed and the Senior Partners rewound time.

A lot of people died, but it was all fixed in the end. It was necessary.

Edited 2010-06-05 19:37 (UTC)

I really, really hate it when you say that. Necessary. Like... it was needed, or something.

[ because necessary and needed are synonyms, cordy. ]

...you know what I mean.

[ voice | locked to cordy ]

undoing.livejournal.com - 2010-06-06 09:24 (UTC) - Expand

So you think she's glitched.

That makes a lot more sense- even if she'd been exploring pretending to be me before I arrived, she stopped when I showed up. When she does it on tablet, where everyone can see- well, that's what wasn't adding up for me.

That's what we think's happening, but she's not about to admit it. Her pride can't handle it. She'd sooner have everyone believe she's doing this on purpose and play up to it than admit that something's wrong. Admitting weakness isn't in her nature.

Seems like you and Spike could write a whole book about her, with what you know. Like... Merriam and Webster's Illyria edition.

[ her tone is less accusing, more... flat. ]

Good for us, right? Gives us an idea about how to handle her. [yep, she sounds kind of flat, too- she'll bounce back, this whole thing just threw her for a loop]

And yeah, she'd rather have people hate her than admit she can't change it. Took me a bit to get there, but I'm not surprised.

I'm going to try and see if I can jolt her out of it. We used to be able to push her back into her correct form in hell when she'd get stuck.

[ translation: he's going to fight her. this will not end well. ]

If it really is a glitch, nothing's going to change it, right? So maybe you shouldn't go out of your way with this. I appreciate it lots, but I can live with this until it passes.

[this is mostly because she can guess what 'jolting her out of it' might mean.]

...jolt her out of it. Please say you intend to do this by... I don't know, electrocution from several miles away!

My glitch ended when Dawn performed the ritual and re-ensouled me. Maybe the aliens let that happen, but it still happened. If I try, maybe they'll let it happen for her - maybe she'll be able to change back. It can't hurt to try.

[ only, it can - hurt him, that is. but, since when did the threat of broken bones, blood and bruises stop him? sure hadn't even in hell when he'd been human and much more fragile. ]

She won't kill me. I'll be fine.

[ her voice is a bit small and all but pleading, when she speaks. ]

You don't know that. Angel... please. There must be some other way.

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XII: [ visual | location: Shelley ] Would you like me to lie to you now?

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