7396/Zen Garden

Zen Garden
Date of Scene:	04 May 2019
Location:	Gardens - Xavier's Mansion
Synopsis:	Rogue and Kitty update Jean on the situation around Rogue's father
Cast of Characters:	Phoenix, Rogue, Shadowcat

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Phoenix has posed:
With all the stress about horrible futures, what with Rachel's story, coupled with the current Sentinel development, further complicated by the Sentinel from the Future on the Avengers' hands, Jean has decided to take a break for quiet reflection. Sitting on a bench in the gardens, she's taking in the fresh air, and admiring the flowers, the scent, and nature itself.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's father had been staying in the Boathouse in one of the guest rooms, she'd avoided him for the past day or so since he'd gotten here and gotten confirmed to be a genetic match for her, as well as the scar on his back... everything in his story checked out as far as it could be confirmed at least.

Today, the two of the met near the docks and had spent the better part of the past two hours walking the lake's pathways together, talking and catching up. What those near the garden would see now is the two strolling by on their way back toward the boathouse, they stop and talk for a moment longer before they share an embrace and the part. Her father heads back inside while Rogue turns and makes her way down the pathway that leads her past the gardens, not far from where Jean is currently relaxing.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde wasn't spying. But she was keeping an eye on her friend as best as she could from the window of her room as it looked out in the direction of the lake. When Kitty sees that familiar shock of white hair heading towards the gardens, she hops up and pulls on a light jacket. She reaches a hand to Lockheed who flaps over to land on her arm and scamper up to Kitty's shoulder.

Young woman and dragon pass through the wall and drop down to ground level before slowing, sinking a foot or so into the ground then coming back up. Kitty heads for the gardens with a determined stride, likely arriving shortly after Rogue does.

Phoenix has posed:
Not surprising when Jean is involved that she might greet someone before they even entered her line of sight, as she does with Rogue, "come join me," she says as soon as Rogue is with in hearing range.

A moment later, and Jean adds, "Mother of Dragons is with us too, wonderful, been a while...join me as well, Kitty."

Turning her head towards the two Jean smiles, before asking Rogue, "heard about your father, and the whole affair with the mind tricks, care to clue me in on what it was like? I'm so happy I wasn't involved..." she admits openly, though perhaps not why.

Rogue has posed:
Since Kitty is coming from the direction that Rogue is headed, she notices her first, she starts to smile at the sight of her friend but when she hears the voice off to her side it distracts her and she looks over then to spot Jean. "Oh. Hey." She says to the most famous of redheads around here. So with hands stuffed into the pockets of her dark green hoodie, Rogue walks up into the gardens to sit down on the bench with Jean, she grins lightly over to her. "Yeah, it wasn't very cool..." She starts then, talking about the vision they all shared of being in a mental hospital. "Admittedly, part'a me wondered if it was all true too." She holds her grin then as she watches Kitty approach. A heavy sigh pops out of her mouth then, her shoulders drop a bit inside her hoodie. "I guess my mother is being held in a... pocket reality? And I guess she's the captured Queen to an evil Mutant cult leading despot?" She shakes her head lightly side to side and looks back to Jean.

"I don't know, its all a giant whack job." Her hands come out of her pockets and she picks at her black gloved fingers.

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty moves over to join the two women. "AM," she says with a smile for her former roommate, though Kitty is also checking the woman's face for evidence of Rogue's state of mind after the lengthy period with her father. Lockheed gives a little flap of his wings though stays perched on Kitty's shoulder. As always his mind seems impervious to telepathic scans, but he looks over to Jean and gives another little buffet of his wings as if noting her.

Kitty gives Rogue's arm a little squeeze as she moves over to take a seat with the other two X-men. "I'm never losing my teeth. Never," Kitty says, moving her jaw slightly as she feels her teeth with her tongue. Part of the story would involve Kitty, in the body of an old, horribly wrinkled woman, using her dentures on an orderly's fingers.

"I couldn't figure out if it was a psychic mindscape, or something else," Kitty says. Her eyes go over to Rogue. "One question I hadn't thought to ask your father, is whether time there is passing at the same rate as here."

Phoenix has posed:
"I would imagine that kind of experience could make you question your entire life, it is an awfully elaborate and clever use of telepathy, or magic, however the illusion was constructed," Jean offers quietly, the somber expression on her visage suggesting she contemplated the entire affair after first learning about it, likely in depth.

"Quite an unreal situation with your mother...do you want the X-Men to try and go after her, to release her?" Jean offers, even in a time where the Sentinels are likely the prime threat the X-Men should be considering. Then again, what are the X-Men if not about family first.

Jean smiles at the little dragon and gives him a wave of her hand, "you look so epic with Lockheed perched on you, even if he's the most adorable dragon ever." Jean looks concerned with Kitty's comment about teeth, "I take it you didn't have your teeth in that illusion? What happened to each of you? I'd like to learn more, and was it the doing of Rogue's father or an enemy of his? I get the gist of it is there was an attempt to abduct you for that cult, correct?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue looks up to Kitty and Lockheed and she smiles at the both of them as well, but the question makes her smile fade and she shakes her head right to left a little. "Not sure." She says about the passage of time. "His beard looks like how I... remember it, but not with that kinda gray hair in it. I remember... tugging on it and making him shout with pain." She says with a slight grin. "It used t'make me laugh until I heard tears in my eyes."

Rogue then looks back up to Kitty and just grins lightly at her. "You were so old in that strange place... you looked more frail than a graham cracker." She then looks over to Jean. "I caught a glimpse'a myself... I looked like that woman from that Stephen King movie where she's kidnappin' that author and smashin' his feet with a hammer? I mean, it was freakin' unsettlin'."

She then grins lightly. "In retrospect though, Logan was kinda funny. He was like a 12 year old girl..."

Sitting up higher then, she laughs a little at that last thought then shakes her head at Jean's words. "We can't do nothin' about it now anyhow. He said... my dad that is... said that they're not gonna open another portal until June. Thats their next supply run. We only have a limited window'a opportunities to do anythin' at all. But, apparently yeah... this 'guy' the cult leader, wants me cause I look like my mother. I guess he's obsessed with her."

Shadowcat has posed:
Lockheed does the dragon equivalent of preening under the praise. Kitty glances over at him with a softly given, "Flirt!" She turns back to the other women, her expression growing more serious as well as the topic goes to the vision. "Started inside an asylum. Yes, I felt like I was an old lady. With kittens chasing butterflies on my sweatshirt. Tried to phase and just walked into the wall. The doctor looked like the Professor. And one of the orderlies sounded like Juggernaut," Kitty remembers.

She crosses her legs at the ankles, one foot waving back and forth as she speaks. "They got us outside and asked us our names. Then told us our crimes that had us in there. Even those of us who gave smart mouth answers, they worked with what we said. I told them I was Colonel Flagg from MASH, and they told me I was the widow of his actor, having poisoned him. Or, was it drowning? Anyway, eventually they brought in these three vans to 'transfer us'. THat's when ROgue's father, one of the orderlies, stabbed the PRofessor-Doctor in the neck with a syringe, and the whole thing came apart. The vans were portals of some sort, back to this pocket reality I guess."

Phoenix has posed:
Jean shudders at Rogue's description, there's legitimate fear in her eyes as she concerns that sort of altered perception of oneself, "I don't know if I had been able to help break the illusion in that scenario or not," she honestly shares with the two fellow X-Men, "I'm almost ashamed to admit I am quite happy I wasn't there to find out." She then chokes a bit of a giggle at the mention of Logan's fate, "really? A 12 year old girl? Now that's something I would have liked to see..." that mischevious grin still on her face shows she's not lying about that one. She'd have enjoyed it.

"That means one thing, we talk to Magik, and we take advantage of them to teach them real terror..." Jean has no doubt Illyana will spare nothing to teach that cult a lesson.

"So either the cult has knowledge of the X-Men, or they were able to glean knowledge from your minds while entrapping you," Jean muses, trying to consider the capabilities of this foe. "They definitely want X-Men...potentially it's because you guys were near Rogue, but I think they want to increase their powers with mutants...capable ones."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's hands go palm to palm and she places them between her denim covered knees. She smiles up at the flirty dragon and his whimsical mannerisms but then listens to the rest of this rather disturbing situation of her family's past.

Rogue looks over to Jean then and shakes her head. "My father says that he, the guy pretending to be Xavier, was the Lieutenant of this cult leader. Apparently only the two of them can control the portals between our reality and their little... niche reality. I asked him about what it was like there..." She glances over to Kitty. "He described it as, like... a Mad Max movie meets a cold nightmare. I'm not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound that appealing."

Her gaze shoots back to Jean then. "There's apparently thousands of people there too, a whole city around this crazy fuck's citadel in the middle. The rebels, as my dad said he was one of, are based outside of the city in caves and canyons. They try to get people out of the city and are tryin' hard t'find a way t'get people back to... well, here."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty listens to some parts of what Rogue says, looking like she's hearing them for the first time. "So we're outnumbered pretty badly. Which we're used to," she says, giving a shrug as if that's acceptable. Since it normally is the case after all. "We really could use Yana on this though, yes. I don't know if she can get us in or not on her own. We might have to wait for that supply run. I'd hope she could get us back out again if need be, though," Kitty says softly.

She glances over at Rogue, checking how the other woman is doing. "We'll get your mom, Anna-Marie. You know we will," she tells her, reaching over to give Rogue's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Phoenix has posed:
"I wonder how much they actually know about the Professor, and how well I would contend with their fake," Jean muses, apparently considering such a match up to be something she wouldn't take lightly, but would like to think she could contest. "I would say it's a derivative pocket dimension not entire unlike Limbo, Illyana mentioned there are several hellish pocket dimensions, Limbo just happening to be hers...that's why I think it's imperative we have her on hand if we do attack them at the source."

She then looks at Kitty, one of the few people she's shared her biggest secret with, as she notes, "I wonder if my special friend might have any say in such a place...that would be a great boon."

"Her powers, and more so, magical mastery from her home realm, would suggest it is not beyond her capabilities...," Jean offers thoughtfully, "I trust if we're willing to brave Limbo as a starting point, we can breach them without their portals, I'm sure Magik can create some of her own, powered by her magic in Limbo. We need to consult her on this." She smiles at Kitty's assuring words to Rogue, and reaches to squeeze Rogue on her other shoulders, "nothing is going to stand in our way."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue's eyes look back up to Kitty and she flashes her friend a quick smile. "If she's even still alive..." Which is a morbid thing to say. "He said he hasn't seen her in years. Last time he saw her was some grand ceremony where he appointed this Lieutenant after the last one got killed by the rebels... Said she was, like a ghost, standing beside the cult leader. Like she wasn't... 'there' anymore." Rogue shakes her head again and then rubs her hands together, slipping her gloved fingers between each other. "I don't know."

Her green eyed gaze slides over to Jean then and she offers her a soft smile. "Illyana is probably best for that, yeah. I don't understand a damn thing about portals. But if... if like anyone sees her? I'd love to have her filled in on all'a this, so she can, I don't know, give her thoughts or whatever."

A look is given between the two of them then. "I appreciate you both even talkin' about this. I mean, this is all... like, kinda outta our field, yeah? It sounds. In. Sane."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty's expression shows a great faith in Illyana's abilities. "She might need a way to locate this other dimension to be able to get there. I think. Maybe. I really don't know magic like her. But I would guess that is the case. I don't know if something or someone who has been there for a long time would work?" Kitty says thoughtfully.

Her eyes go back to Rogue and she says in a confident tone, "She is, Rogue. We'll rescue her." Kitty gently pats her friend's arm again. "Illyana's the best at figuring this stuff out. Plus, yes, there's other resources," Kitty says, looking over to Jean and nodding. "Next time Illyana is back we definitely need to fill her in."

Phoenix has posed:
"Illyana would know best about these things, Rogue, but even if she's nothing but a husk, we still have to take a stand and give her the chance to rest, and end whatever torment is inflicted on her," Jean offers quietly, quite somber for the topic at hand. It's good to know the X-Men can always be depressed by more than just one affliction at a time. That's how you know things are normal.

"What happened to you guys is not a happenstance, this thing is a serious threat, Rogue," Jean seems quite adamant in her view of the whole thing.

"It's settled then, we need to get Illyana clued on, maybe even openly seek her out. I don't know, maybe even try and contact her via ouija board if all else fails," Jean apparently still manages some humor despite the whole somber mood.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue looks to both of them then and she sits up a little higher as she sucks in a breath and nods her head. "It is a serious threat. There's a lotta missin' people that are in this pocket thing... they got families who're waitin' for'em to come home, just like I have been. Children who've grown up in this damn place... who've never even gotten t'experience the real world..."

For a second, Rogue bites down on her bottom lip before she releases it again. "So if we can do something, I... want to, ya know?"

Her eyes glance back to the lake and the house across from it. "Anyway. Dad... said he wanted t'make me a big breakfast tomorrow mornin', so he wondered if he could gt a ride to town get stuff. I told him I'd just go pick stuff up and bring it back though and help him make it." She pauses, staring off at the lake from far off here in the gardens. "Its weird, havin' a 'dad' here..." She looks back to Jean and Kitty and grins at them. "Like I gotta start really behavin' or some such."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde grins back over to Rogue. "You? Behave? If Jean, Scott, and the Professor couldn't get you to behave, I don't know what luck he's likely to have," Kitty teases the Southern belle. She gives a little more serious look then and nods her head to say, "The other people being held, we need to get them free too. The ones that are under his spell... might be tough. But we'll figure out a way. We always do," she says quietly.

A faint gust of wind starts, picking up a little more after the first blow, stirring the women's hair. Lockheed spreads his wings, getting a little lift and takes off then with a couple of small flaps, to circle about the gardens overhead. "So... ah... is he a good cook?" Kitty inquires about ROgue's father. She flashes a grin over to Jean. Jean knows what a horrific cook Kitty is, but she's fast to glom on to those who aren't.

Phoenix has posed:
"Of course..." Jean immediately agrees with Rogue, smiling at her, even if a bit bitterly. "This too shall pass," she adds, something that Kurt would normally be much more likely to say. Can't say the affable elf didn't have his share of influence on Jean over the years. "He can take Scott's car if needs a ride, if Scott complains, tell him to take it up with me," Jean beams at Rogue, clearly offering the one type of help she readily could offer.

"Point Pryde," Jean notes at Kitty's very astute observation, there was little chance of Rogue behaving, no matter who was involved. Jean grins impishly at Kitty's question of Rogue's dad cooking abilitiy, after all, Kitty's reliance on cereal didn't come from nowhere. "We might have to give you remedial Home Ec classes, even though you graduated, Kitty," Jean teases with a wink.

Rogue has posed:
"Ha ha..." Rogue says to Kitty, grinning at her and then glancing to Jean. "I behave a lot better than I used to. I mean, I don't even go out on weekends lookin' for criminals t'steal from anymore like I used t'do." She considers that for a second. "Might start again, I'd love t'make that money and just give it to a charity now that I don't really need it myself..." She files that thought away for later though when she has more free time to chew on it!

Rogue's eyes lift up to watch Lockheed take off and she smiles up at him. "I'm gonna give him a race for all he's worth if he keeps act like he's the king'a the skies." She teases the dragon even while he's up in the air and enjoying flight like she herself does.

Rogue looks back over to Jean then and her smile fades. "Yeah... I don't know if he knows how t'drive. My dad is... well was, has been his whole life, kind've of a... boat of his own build. So t'speak. He definitely doesn't have a valid driver's license." She says that with a grin.

Rogue moves to stand up then and she slaps the front of her thighs with her coverd palms. "Anyway, guess I better run t'the store. Hopefully I don't get Sentinel'd on the way. Should be back before the curfew hits."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde gives a humorous, dismissive wave of her hand at the mention of home ec classes. "I'm supporting the economy of Grand Rapids, Michigan by eating cereal," she proclaims. "Also, the occasional take out. I have to say it is nice having so much within such a close distance of Narnia," she says, using her nickname for her room at Doctor Strange's. Because she reaches it by going through the closet. Ok, a closet is close enough to a wardrobe, right?

"Be safe there, Rogue," Kitty says, sounding a little more serious at the mention of Sentinels. "Speaking of, going to be organizing some people to look into the attack on Trask, his location, and this master factory of theirs," Kitty says. "I'd like to include Jason in some of that. His detective skills are top notch and we don't have a Logan or Laura for every team," Kitty says.