Illyana and Billy Backdated

[ax_wiccan]

After their first meeting, Billy isn't too excited to seek out Yana's help, but they end up getting along better than he thought.



Dance class had long since ended, but Illyana was still in the studio. During the summer, she'd asked Stevie for something to help her get ready for class in fall - partially as a break from summer school, partially so she didn't make an idiot of herself in class, considering she'd never taken dance. Stevie'd given her a link to a YouTube site that showed and broke down dance routines.

She still wasn't sure how well she was doing it, but she had to admit, she really liked it. It was easy to lose herself in it, and just forget...everything.

She went over to the laptop she'd checked out from the library, set the video to restart, and began working her way through the routine to "Believer" one more time. Homework would wait.

Billy made his way towards the studio where he had been told Yana would most likely be. It took all his nerve to trudge down the hall towards where he could hear music coming from, not sure exactly what this girl really wanted from him, but he had to see her.

She was the only other one with magic and now he was sure that's what flowed through his veins.

He saw an open door on the far side where the music seemed to be coming from, loudly, and Billy took a deep breath and went for it. He stood in the entry way and gaped when he saw Yana pulling some complex dance moves.

"Whoa." His voice was lost in the volume of the music and he stood and watched.

The music ended, and for a moment, Illyana continued to stand with her hand on her chest, looking up the ceiling. Finally, she took a deep breath and bent over, stretching - and caught sight of someone behind her in the doorway. Billy. The magic kid, who insisted he wasn't.

"Hey," she said as she reluctantly stood back up, pushing sweaty hair back from her face with her hand. "If you're looking for Stevie, she's probably wherever the faculty hang out between classes. Or maybe the kitchen."

"Huh?" Billy quickly snapped out of his daze. "Oh. Uh, no. I'm actually looking for you?"

He took a cautious step inside and tried to offer her a smile that he hoped didn't come off as weird as it felt. "I wanted to talk and maybe ask a few questions ...about magic."

That...wasn't anything she'd expected to hear, and she gave him a skeptical look. "You heard Tommy. You're not worried about getting caught in an episode of American Horror Story?" Her tone was sarcastic, but there was, much to her annoyance, an audible measure of hurt in it as well. She was going to have to work on that.

Billy rubbed at his arm, his cheeks heating with a little bit of shame for what Tommy had said to her when it was obvious it has upset her. "Ah, well, from everything I've learned I think my life might already be that."

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry Tommy said that, he shouldn't have and I'm sorry for what went down on that room. I honestly at the time had no idea I actually could use magic...or that it even existed in the real world."

"Most people don't realize it does." Relenting, Illyana gestured for him to come in, and sat down on the floor. "Anyway, it's not your fault Tommy's an ass. What's your question?"

"Where do I even start?" Billy walked closer and stopped when he was about three feet away from her. "I'm not even really sure how to use my magic? I mean, I know it flares up when I really want or need something, but other than that I'm not clear on who it works or how I use it."

"So, it just happens?" Damn, this was serious. Illyana frowned and gestured for him to sit down, pulling in her legs to sit crossed-legged. "What sort of things have you done?"

Billy nodded and sat down as she requested, crossing his legs as he glanced around the room; the mirrors for some reason making him feel weird. "Well, small things. Like I hadn't studied at all for a test at my old school and I was kind of freaking out about it...next day it shows I got a hundred and ten percent on the test because I got the extra credit questions right."

He frowned and gripped at the loose laces on his shoes. "Thing is I turned in the test blank."

"That's...not a small thing," Illyana replied slowly as she let it sink in. "I'm not sure I could do that, here." Which was a little annoying, actually - she'd been learning magic for years, and he did that by accident?

She brushed that thought aside, though, considering, for once, the bigger picture. At least part of which involved Belasco zeroing in on magic use on Earth, so it wasn't as difficult as it might have been. "Have you ever done anything on purpose?" Maybe it was just some sort of rogue, uncontrollable talent. She wasn't sure if she was hoping it was or it wasn't.

"On purpose?" Billy frowned as he tried to remember the few instances, then thought of what had happened to Simon and he nodded slightly. "Maybe once? But when I think about it, it wasn't really on purpose cause I had no idea about the magic yet."

He tugged on his shoe laces and turned to look at Yana. "S-should I try?"

He was kind of scared about trying.

"Well, it's kind of a necessary first step," Illyana pointed out. "I mean, unless you want to be running around casting spells without realizing it." She paused, thinking, then pulled the elastic band out of her hair and set it between them. "Try something simple. Like lift it up, or unravel it or something."

Billy looked down at the hair tie like it was trigonometry homework, glancing back up at Yana uncertainly. "Umm...I don't really have telekinesis."

Even though he complained he focused back on the hair tie and tried his hardest to concentrate on it doing something. After about a minute, nothing had happened and Billy was feeling more and more like a failure with every passing second.

He sighed, turning his focus back on Yana. "I don't know what I'm doing...not that I'm really even doing anything."

Illyana chewed at her bottom lip, trying to remember how Ashake'd first taught her to access her magic. Minus all the philosophical stuff, that she hadn't understood then and really didn't understand now, either. "It's all about intent," she said slowly. "Which yeah, is probably why it's happening accidentally, because that's when you really want something."

She shrugged. "Sorry, I'm an apprentice - I've never actually taught anyone anything. But you need to focus, and you need to really want it to do what you want it to do. Just...reshape it to match what you want."

"Hey, at least you have better control on your magic, apprentice or not." Billy looked down at the small innocent hair tie again and tried to think about what he really wanted. He was kind of hungry, but not enough that he was going to use his magic for and when he tried to think of anything physical he was coming up with blanks.

He tried for a good seven minutes and nothing happened.

Maybe he could really want this stupid hair tie to catch fire so that it would stop mocking him. He stared at the small thing for another five minutes, feeling like he was about to pop a blood vessel from trying to concentrate so hard when he threw his hands up in the air with a frustrated groan.

"This is so stupid! I just wish this thing would do what I wanted it to!"

Just then Billy felt the same stomach swooping he had felt the other day and Yana's hair tie was suddenly engulfed in a tiny fire.

"Yes!" Illyana whooped. Grinning broadly, she got to her feet and hurried over to grab her water bottle, which she poured over the fire to put it out before any alarms could go off. "So, anger. Remember that. Ashake - she was my first teacher - she always said serenity was the way to go, but anger's always worked better for me, too."

Billy was still staring at the now soppy burnt piece of thread and rubber band that lay on the wood floor as Yana was talking about anger. He couldn't believe he had done that, granted it had taken awhile, but this was the first time it had worked when he wanted it to.

Kinda.

"You think it's anger? I don't really remember being angry the other times, just extremely panicked. But maybe that's something?" Ugh. The idea of having to be in a panic every time he needed magic made him think of several ulcers in his future.

"That's definitely something," Illyana confirmed. She sat back down and pushed her hand back through her hair. "You...well, mostly, you don't think when you panic, right? You just react." She paused and tilted her head, eyeing him curiously. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I guess." Billy sighed and leaned over to poke at the gross lump that used to be Yana's pretty hair tie. "I guess I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed? Not only am I shit at my electric powers, but now I have another power that I'm completely clueless at...with the electricity at least I know how to sort of summon it."

"You managed to summon your magic, though," Illyana pointed out, gesturing towards the remains of her hair tie. "That wasn't an accident, that was intent. Which means you can learn to control it, and at least you know that, now. It's something." She shrugged and offered a crooked smile. "Magic...it isn't much like mutant powers. Or it wasn't for me, anyway. Once I realized I could summon the stepping disks to teleport, it was just practice to get better at it. Magic you have to learn."

Billy knew that what she was saying made complete sense, nothing worthwhile came without work, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He nodded slowly and glanced over at Yana a little curiously. "So... what is a stepping disk?"

He had also heard the words Limbo and demons thrown around when it came to her, but stepping disks sounded much safer for now.

"Stepping disks are," Illyana's face screwed up, trying to decide how to best explain them. Given that Billy had magic, the simple explanation didn't seem right, but the truth was, she didn't really know the technical explanation for how they worked. She'd have to remember to ask Kitty sometime, she decided, but for now, just forged ahead with what she did know.

"Okay, to explain stepping disks, I have to explain Limbo a little, so bear with me?" she requested. "There's...well, another dimension, one that's mostly called Limbo. It's sort of...between things, without really being part of them. And in this dimension, the stepping disks exist. They connect here and there and now and then. If you step into one, you step out somewhere and someone else. Think Alice in Wonderland and the rabbit hole, it's close enough."

Illyana shrugged. It made sense to her; hopefully it'd make sense to him, too. "My mutant power is to control the disks, so I can call the ones I want to take me to other times or places. Except if I don't concentrate enough, or I don't really know where I want to go, or when, I can call the wrong disk and end up somewhere else altogether." She wrinkled her nose. "The thing that really sucks is that from Earth, I can only call ones that will take me to Limbo, so my teleports always have a stopover."

"Holy shit. Another dimension?" It had always sounded cool in the comic books and on TV, but when faced with the fact that there were in fact other dimensions made Billy feel very small. He took a deep breath to let all those thoughts settle before giving his attention back to Yana.

"So, this limbo...that's where you took Tommy?" Limbo in his mind has always been this vague-nothingness, a space where you waited for something to happen, but nothing did. "What's it like? Do you go often?"

Illyana opened her mouth to answer, then paused and eyed him curiously, tilting her head a little. "Tommy didn't tell you anything?" she asked. She didn't think he was messing with her, but...well, it was hard to believe Tommy wouldn't have.

"Oh. He told me some stuff, but I kind of want to hear it from you?" He took a deep breath, knowing that he was no macho brace man by any means, but he also was just too curious. "Or show me."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Illyana asked apprehensively as she got to her feet. "I showed your brother. He hasn't really talked to me since." Granted, there was maybe a little more to the story than that, but she was pretty sure that's what it came down to.
He could easily say no, say that he certainly did not what to go where demons were and would like to stay just right here where it was safe, but that was what old Billy would have done.

He clenched his hand and felt relief when the blue electricity sparked to life. "Yeah. I mean, why not? I'm not going to die, right?"

"I hope not. If you are, I am, too." Illyana quirked a very tight smile, and summoned a stepping disk around them. Light flashed, and they were no longer in the dance studio. Instead, when the light receded, they were in Ashake's garden. Illyana sighed as she looked around, noting that the few shrugs and plants that weren't already dead were wilted and dying, and that the massive oak Ashake'd conjured from an acorn was fading fast as well. She grimaced. "It was really pretty here, once. The only honestly pretty spot in all of Limbo. It's been fading fast since she died."

Billy looked around at all the dead or dying plants, the entire area looking like some sad forgotten place that no one ever visited anymore. He turned when he heard Yana speak, trying to crunch a what looked like an already dead fern. "Since who died?"

"Ashake. She was Belasco's former apprentice." Illyana toed one of the already dead plants and made a face. "She built this garden when she turned her back on him and decided to reclaim her soul. It was part of the process - I don't know how she did it. But she died a couple of months ago, our time." She took a breath, exhaled, and turned towards Billy. "Anyway, we don't have a lot of time - Inu-Yasha and I have run into demons here. But I want you to try to feel the magic. There's more of it here than there is on Earth. Just...darker."

Billy nodded at her request, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly as he tried to focus. There was something different about this place, Billy just couldn't put his finger on what it was, kind of like a phantom itch you had but could never scratch.

This time when he tried to tap into his magic, he felt the spark of electricity around his hands and opened his eyes to see that his entire left arm was sparking blue. "Wait..."

He turned to look at one particularly dead tree, raised his hand to aim and to his surprise, shot a bolt of blue lightening through it.

Just like he had wanted. "Holy shit! It worked!"

"Hold it, your electricity's magic?" Illyana gaped at him, surprised. "I thought that was your mutant ability?"

Billy made a face and shrugged. "I'm literally just as lost as you are here. When I got my powers, electricity is what came first, so I just assumed that's what it was? Can magic not be a mutant power?"

Well, probably not, cause then what about magicians and stuff or was their magic considered fake cause most of it had tricks to it?

Illyana frowned. "I don't know? I mean, I never thought of it as a mutant power, but I guess it could be?"

Billy frowned, now even more confused than before about what exactly his powers were, but at least here he could control them better. He bent down and touched his fingertip to one of the many brown leaves on one plant, sending a small current through the leaf, causing it to twitch slightly before becoming limp again.

"Did Ashake train you? You said she was the one that told you about serenity."

"Some, when I was really little." Illyana made a face as she looked around the garden. "It's a really long story. And not a very nice one."

Billy gave Yana a concerned look, wondering if being here maybe wasn't such a good thing for Yana. "Does it have to do with that guy you talked about? Basco? Or something?"

"Belasco," Illyana corrected. She sighed. "Everything has to do with Belasco. But if we're going to talk about him, we really shouldn't do it here. Names have power, and I'd really rather not draw his attention." Not to herself, and... okay, not to Billy either. He maybe looked a lot like Tommy, but he didn't deserve to have her take out her annoyance with his brother on him.

"Does he live...in here?" He asked, not exactly sure what Limbo was or if it was even a place one could live.

Illyana nodded. "Yeah." She sighed. "I did, too. Do you mind if we go back now? If you really want to know, I'll tell you. Just...not here."

"Yeah, sure." Billy would miss the sudden control over his powers, but if Yana felt better talking back on earth, and wow that was weird to think about, then they could go. "Lead the way."

"Sorry," Illyana replied, realizing there was some reason Billy actually liked it in Limbo. Maybe the magic - she had to admit, she always felt generally "better" here than she did on Earth. She moved in closer, though, and called up a stepping disk to take them back to the studio.

When they had both stepped through Yana's disk and Billy found himself back in the dance studio, he held up his hand and tried to summon the electricity like he had in Limbo.

All he got were a few large sparks.

"Ah, back to regular me then." He turned to Yana. "Are you okay, by the way? We don't have to talk about sad stuff if you don't want to."

"Nah, it's fine. And I'm okay, just...talking about Belasco for too long in Limbo makes me nervous." She shrugged and wandered over to pick up her water bottle. "I guess it's definite, though - your electrical stuff must be magic based." She turned back towards him and grinned crookedly. "At least it works here. None of my magic really does - or at least, none of it that doesn't involve full rituals. I haven't tried that."


Billy's eyes widened. "Full rituals? What the hell does that involve? Please don't tell me chickens get murdered."

Illyana gave him a look. "I've never murdered a chicken, thank you. Or any other poultry."

"Hey! I'm just checking. I mean chicken Marsala is delicious, but it doesn't mean I wanna see it become that." He settled back down on the floor and watched her. "So, it we aren't talking chalk and blood on the floor then what exactly do you mean by ritual?"

"Oh, chalk. Candles. A pentagram." Illyana shrugged. "It depends on the ritual. But anyway, I haven't been doing much magic here anyway. I don't want to draw the attention." She smiled faintly. "One more reason to get out of Limbo. I didn't really want Belasco to notice you."

"I'm guessing him noticing you is a bad thing? Who is he anyway? Now that we're out we can talk about him, right?" Billy asked rapid fire, leaning back on his hands ready for a story.

"Yeah, we can talk about him." Illyana sat down on the floor across from Billy. "Belasco - who he is actually kind of a hard question," Illyana admitted. "I'm not exactly sure, if you mean, where did he come from. He's a sorcerer who got stuck in Limbo a really long time ago. Long enough ago that he shaped it how he wanted it - Limbo reflects its ruler. He made it - well, basically, it's a Hell dimension. Not like, actual Hell, but close enough." She shrugged. "He can't leave there until the Old Ones he worships let him, and he figures the best way to get them to agree to him leaving is to give them what they want. A way back to Earth." She smiled faintly. "According to him, that would be me. So, he brought me there when I was six in order to get me ready. They apparently like corrupted innocence."

She pulled her hair back into a pony tail and held it off to one side. "If he comes and makes you any offers, be smart and turn him down."

"Six?!" What he had seen of Limbo hadn't been bad, but from the stories of demons and other evil things Billy was suddenly seeing a small Yana there with a big bad guy and he felt sadness rise up. "What about your parents? How did he even get you when he's stuck there?"

"Called my name." Illyana smiled faintly and shrugged. "I was a trusting little rug rat. Or maybe a curious one. I went to see who was calling, and fell through a stepping disk." Her smile faded. "My parents - we're not in touch. I tried, once, but - I'm a few years older than they'd expect me to be. They thought it was some kind of sick joke."

"Oh my god, Yana." He didn't even think about it as he leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. He hugged her for about a minute before he realized that maybe being hugged by someone she barely knew wouldn't be something Yana really appreciated.

Billy pulled away, hoping she would sock him in the face. "Sorry...I come from a hug family..."

Illyana, meanwhile, had spent the intervening time trying to figure out just what she'd said that had caused Billy to hug her (he was, apparently, just as confusing as Kitty, if not more so) and then just enjoying the hug. Because whatever his reasons, it was just...nice. She smiled a little once he'd pulled back, and shook her head. "It's cool. Are you related to Kitty instead of Tommy? Because I'm pretty sure she figures hugs are the answer to everything, too." Whereas Tommy...well, he'd stared and turned pale. She still hadn't figured that out, either, but of the two, she definitely preferred the hugs.

Billy relaxed when she didn't seem upset by his hug and huffed a small laugh with a shake of his head. "Ah, I think it might be the whole nurture vs nature thing there. My family are kind of big huggers, well my parents are to us...try to get my brothers and I to hug each other and it's like trying to force two southern magnets together."

He sat back down on his butt and looked at Yana with a little concern. "I'm sorry that happened. The parents thing and following some weird demon when you were little. That's what the hug was for by the way."

Illyana''s smile tilted and she looked awkward. "That obvious, huh?" She shook her head. "I don't always get why Kitty does things, either. Or, well, much of anyone?" She made a face. "Tommy got all pale when I said Belasco lured me to Limbo. I still don't know why. He didn't really seem to be listening before that."

Billy cringed a little, probably knowing exactly why his brother had reacted the way he had to Yana's story and he took a deep breath as he shifted to get a little more comfortable. "Um, well, cause usually when people lure small children to places it's for really bad reasons...which...I'm a hundred percent guessing it was."

"Oh." Illyana mulled that over for a moment - what Belasco'd done to her wasn't good by any stretch, but she was fairly certain it wasn't commonplace - then realized what he'd meant. "Oh! No. I mean, nothing like that." Or...well, maybe it was kinda like that, in a way, but definitely not what either of them had been thinking. "He just...he told me I had an amazing future ahead of me." She smiled faintly, remembering.

"I was special, and I would be able to do wonderful things. I was so excited." She shrugged and chewed at her bottom lip. "The reality of it wasn't quite so awesome. He took part of my soul, and...well, twisted it." She forced a faint smile. "That's where Kitty started hugging."

"Oh my god!" That was it! Billy scooted closer to her and just wrapped his arms around her again, squeezing her tightly because dear God! He didn't even want to know how someone even survived without part of their soul and hoped this Belasco guy stayed trapped forever.

And...there it was again. Illyana hugged Billy back, more just because it seemed like the thing to do than because she really got it. "Are you okay?" she asked after some time had passed, though she didn't pull away. "Because, y'know, I'm okay. It's just...it happened. The second time, I even gave permission, so...I guess it was basically my choice."

Billy cringed at her words and held her tightly for a little bit longer, pulling back only after he was sure he had squeezed her for a good five minutes. "Yeah, I'm okay. I mean, I'm fucking pissed that there is some nasty ass guy out there who did that to you, and I wanna shove hot coals up his butt, but I can't and even if I did it would change the past."

He let out a small groan and sat back, but this time to her side instead of in front of her. "Man, having magic is looking to be pretty fucked up so far."

"Pretty much," Illyana acknowledged. "That's kind of why I'm telling you - not that I don't appreciate all the hugs." She smiled a little and shifted in to lean against him, just in case he was in the mood to give more. "You should probably keep a low profile, magic-wise. I think Belasco'd probably have a field day if he got hold of you. And, well, I'd just as soon he not be able to use you to track me," she admitted.

Billy let her lean against him, her hair smelling faintly of something flowery and it was surprisingly calming as he picked at the hem of his sweatshirt. "So, should I just not even try practicing magic, just in case?"

He worried that since he had been doing magic without even knowing it, that he would continue to do so and that would land Yana in trouble.

Illyana frowned. "No. I mean, you need to practice, especially if your electric shock things are magic." She sighed. "Just be careful. And let me know if anything weird happens, I guess?" She forced a faint smile. "Pretty sure I've got you beat when it comes to dealing with weird."

"Weeeeeell, where does having a speedster double from a different family land me in the weirdness rating?" He had to keep the fact that they were actual twins reincarnated from the future secret, but it was pretty freaking weird. "I mean, that's gotta be at least an eight, right?"

"Eh." Illyana waggled her hand and smiled. "I'd say a 6.5, tops. Though I suppose you get an extra half point for it being Tommy." She eyed him curiously. "Did you guys figure out anything about that, yet? I mean, I can pop into Limbo and do some scrying if you want."

"I should get two extra points cause of Tommy." He grinned, but then froze a little at her next question. He didn't want to lie to her, not after they were getting along so well, but he couldn't talk about Simon so he was kind of at a loss on how to explain how he knew. "Uhh, well. Simon did a few tests and it turns out we are related...like twin related."

There. Simon running a test wasn't too crazy, right?

"Wait...what exactly could you find from scrying? Wouldn't that attract attention to you in Limbo?"

Illyana shrugged. "Worth it, for a good cause. I don't know what I'd find, but it might be worth a shot." She made a face. "I'm guessing Simon blew off any possibility it might be magic, huh? He seems convinced it's all some kind of science he can't explain."

"Ha. Yeah." Billy gave her a smile he hoped looked genuine, knowing Simon's ideas on magic might be a bit more skewed now than they were before. "But, really if scrying might get you in trouble don't do it. I'd rather figure things out the slow way than have you get in trouble for easy answers."

He also knew a lot more than he was letting on, so Yana risking herself for something he already knew was a big no thank you.

"I could probably do it without getting in trouble," Illyana offered, then shrugged. If Billy didn't want to know - well, she wasn't going to make him find out. Who knew, maybe it was better that way. "Anyway, that aside, I should teach you scrying one of these days. It's really useful." She considered that for a moment, then got up and went over to grab her bag.

"Right now?" Billy squeaked watching her move. "But, I don't even have the right shoes!"

Illyana turned to him, her forehead furrowing. "Why would you need special shoes for scrying?" She shook her head, clearly bewildered, then pull pulled a notebook out of her bag and held it up. "But no, not right now. I just want to make a note so I don't forget."

Billy flushed. "Sorry I was just being erm...dumb. I know you don't need special shoes for scrying."

He poked at the toe of his converse before glancing back up at her. "Hey, Yana? Umm...thanks for helping me."

Illyana shrugged and smiled crookedly. He was thanking her, not even realizing (or maybe he did realize, given everything that had happened the last week or so) that magic was likely to turn his entire life upside down. "Just remember that you asked."