WHO: John Smith and Paige Matthews WHAT: John’s arrival WHEN: Saturday, March 1 WHERE: In town WARNINGS: Talk of Death, low STATUS: Closed/Complete
John felt sick to his stomach. He still wasn’t sure what was going on in this place, how he’d arrived here. When he had one of his visions, he knew it wasn’t real, and this didn’t feel like that. It didn’t have that aura of strangeness that marked it as being inside his mind. It felt...well, it felt real. But how could that even be? Had he been teleported here? Eight was nowhere around, so unless he was developing another Legacy and had accidentally teleported himself to some strange town in Indiana that he’d never been before, he wasn’t sure how that was possible, either.
Or was it some weapon the Mogs had? Some way to separate them now that the curse was broken, so that they could take them out slowly, and in their own sweet time? That, unfortunately, was very possible, and it seemed to him somehow the likeliest possibility. Which didn’t ease his fears or anxiety in the least. It meant there could be Mogs anywhere and everywhere, ready to jump out of the shadows and leave another burn to go with the four already etched into his friends’ ankles.
He walked down the street of the town, trying to burn off some of the extra energy his nerves were giving him. He was having trouble keeping his lumen off - he needed to control the fear coursing through him - so he kept his hands shoved into his pockets. He didn’t need gloves, not when his hands were glowing a soft blue anyway. He had his hood pulled up around his face, hunched over a little, trying to look like a normal teenager walking down the street. A normal teenager! What a joke. He didn’t even know what a normal teenage life was like, although he’d seen a glimpse of it when he’d been dating Sarah back in Paradise, before the Mogs found them and Henri died. Since then his life had been battle after battle, and the idea of ever having a ‘normal’ life was retreating further and further into the back of his mind. That wasn’t his purpose. He wasn’t supposed to have a normal life. He was supposed to defeat the Mogs and help bring Lorien back - and he was determined to do just that.
He turned the corner down an alley, glad when the brick buildings on either side did a little bit to block the icy wind. The alley looked empty, so after giving it a second look, he took his hands out of his pockets, took a deep breath and focused on relaxing enough that his right, then his left hands went out, returning to normal. He smiled a little, glad to see that he hadn’t lost all control, before leaning against the building to try to get his bearings. The bracelet he wore on his right wrist wasn’t tingling, which was a good sign. It meant that if there were Mogs here, at least they weren’t in the immediate vicinity. So hopefully he at least had a few days to figure things out. He’d never been alone like this before. There’d always been Henri, then Six, then Nine...someone from home, someone who understood.
But here…
He sighed, letting himself slide down the wall until he was sitting on the cold pavement of the alley, resting his head against his knees for just a moment, trying to get hold of the fear that was growing inside of him before it overwhelmed him.
***
With all the unexpected free time Paige had, she decided to practice magic. She had gotten a lot more comfortable with her powers since she first got them, but she still didn't have perfect control and it seemed like a more productive way to spend her time than watching soap operas.
One of the things she was trying to improve was her accuracy with orbing. It was a tough one to practice, because she also needed to find places to orb to and from where she wouldn't freak out the anti-magic townspeople. Luckily, there were plenty of empty buildings and out of the way alleys she could use.
Unfortunately, her ability to sense if there were people in a location she was about to orb to was pretty much non-existent, so when she orbed into the alley, she was startled to realize she wasn't alone.
*** John was not entirely unaware of the idea of teleporting, since he'd seen Eight do it before he died, but he wasn’t exactly prepared for it at the moment. He jumped to his feet with unnatural speed, his hands out in front of him, his lumen powered up and in seconds, the fireball he built was hurled at the invader.
He shouldn’t have let himself get pinned in an alley, he should have been more careful, and if the mogs had somehow learned a way to teleport, they were all doomed.
It wasn’t until the fireball was already launched that he saw the person who appeared. He didn’t recognize her - but she certainly didn’t look like a mog, either.
***
Paige was definitely not expecting the person in the alley to throw a fireball at her. Before she even could really form the thought 'he must be a demon', her hands were up and she yelled, "Fireball!" The fireball disappeared in a shower of lights and reappeared in her hand. As soon as she had control over it, she aimed it back at the boy.
If there were demons in this town, other than her almost brother-in-law, she needed to warn her sisters immediately so they could protect themselves and their wards.
***
John could have deflected the fireball easily except for two things - he wasn’t expecting her to deflect it (or whatever she’d done), and honestly, it didn’t bother him that much. The fireball hit him in the stomach, catching his clothes on fire as it engulfed him. He took a deep breath before the smoke became too much, as he could still be burned on the inside. After all, it was cold in the alley, and while he couldn’t really feel the heat from the fire, it at least kept the bitter cold away. Well, that and it looked hella intimidating, so hopefully whatever this thing was he could put her just a little off guard?
***
Paige watched as he caught on fire. She was confused when he didn't immediately go poof like demons tended to when they had their fireballs turned back on them. Was it possible he wasn't a demon? But if not, how could he be throwing fireballs?
The longer he stood there burning and not screaming in pain or disappearing, the more confused she became.
"Okay, who or what the hell are you?" she demanded.
*** As it became too difficult to hold his breath, John fell down to the snow packed against the building, putting out the flame quickly. His clothing was completely charred away (well, most of it. He wasn’t indecent), but his skin wasn’t even red or hot to the touch. He shivered a little as the wind hit his bare skin, and he moved to the nearest door, putting his hand on the doorknob and concentrating a moment as the door seemed to unlock itself and he opened it, looking back at her.
She wasn’t a Mog, he was pretty sure of that. But she wasn’t Loric, either, or she’d recognize legacies when she saw them. Either way, he shouldn’t have been so blatant about using his legacies in front of her, so he was in a hole now where there was no way out but to tell her the truth - and hopefully get the truth out of her at the same time.
“I’ll tell you. But can we do it inside? I’m freezing.”
***
Paige shrugged off her trench coat when she saw the state of his clothes and approached carefully. "Here," she said, "you can wear this." It was plain and black so it wasn't too feminine for him to wear.
She wasn't quite sure what to think about what just happened, but she definitely wanted some answers under the circumstances. "There's a diner about a half a block down. We can grab some food and coffee."
Now that she was getting a good look at him, she realized he was probably a fairly new arrival and he also seemed awfully young.
***
The trench-coat was kind of Mog-like, but not enough that it disturbed him, especially in the bitter cold. Mogs had chosen them in the hope of fitting in, after all. He wrapped it around him tightly, the wind blowing his blonde curls a bit as he offered her a thankful smile. His eyes were dark, though, full of loss and sadness - more of both than any sixteen year old boy should feel.
His stomach growled as she mentioned food, and he blushed a little. How long had it been since he’d eaten, anyway? He couldn’t even recall the last time he’d had a good meal.
“Yeah, food...sounds great.” He looked around nervously, though, as if expecting mogs to jump out any moment. But if she were one, surely she would have killed him already?
***
Paige was starting to feel guilty about what happened in the alley. He seemed to be a scared kid and she was supposed to protect innocents, not attack them. Never mind that he had technically attacked first. She couldn't blame him for that when she had startled him by orbing in unexpectedly.
"I'm Paige," she said as they walked out of the alley and she turned towards the diner. "Did you just get here?"
*** “Yeah, I guess I did,” he said, his face taking on a serious look that was far too old for him, but was obviously a practiced expression. “And I really can’t be here. There’s so much going wrong with what Five's done and Ella and...and I really need to be back home. I mean, the fate of Earth and Lorien depends on it,” he said under his breath. He shouldn’t be talking about Lorien, not with her, not with anyone, but he was so tired and cold and hungry and confused that he didn’t know what else to do.
How had he gotten here? Had he randomly developed a legacy for cross-dimensional travel or something?
“I’m John...Smith.”
***
Paige had never heard of Lorien, but it was clear to her that John (and man, did that ever sound like a fake name) had a lot going on back at home. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure that no time will pass before you go back."
At least, her sisters and Cole had never mentioned being stuck in some weird town in Indiana and meeting her before they met at home. She knew it was possible for time to move differently in different dimensions so she assumed that was the case here.
***
“I don’t know if that’s a relief or not,” he sighed. Even if he could stay here, without time passing, his worry wasn’t going to ease until he got back home. He wasn’t the strongest of their little group, but he was the leader, although exactly how that happened, he wasn’t sure. He had to check on BK...and figure out who it was who had made that horrible new scar on his ankle...and figure out how in the world they were going to pick up the pieces from Five’s betrayal. If there was any way. No matter what, they were now two down, and they’d only been six to start with. Could he and whoever the other three were who were still alive, along with Sam, his Dad, and Sarah really save the world from the mogs? Was there any hope at all?
He sighed, these dark thoughts showing in his eyes, even though he tried to offer her a smile.
“What are you?”
***
"A witch," Paige said. "Well, half witch and half guardian angel."
No one ever knew what a white lighter was, so it was easier to explain it that way.
"Sorry about scaring you. I wasn't expecting anyone to be in that alley and then, well, when you threw the fireball," she shrugged. "I thought you were a demon."
*** “A witch?” He raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “You mean, like on Harry Potter or something?” He might have been on the run for the past ten years, but he hadn’t lived under a rock. She was claiming to have magic? He guessed in some ways it wasn’t any different than having legacies, but the whole idea of it made him skeptical. After all, she was from Earth, and Earth hadn’t gifted them with powers like Lorien had.
At least, a far as he knew.
Of course, what room did he have to talk about weird? He was an alien from another planet.
“Uh, okay, sure. And don’t be sorry. I’m fireproof.” He blinked. “A demon? Really? Why?” He really didn’t look very demonic.
***
Paige rolled her eyes at the Harry Potter comment. "Kind of but we don't use wands and our spells are a little more complex." And very badly rhymed. But that might be more of a family thing than a general witch thing.
Of course, now she was intensely curious about the fireproof thing. Especially since he wasn't a demon and seemed surprised to hear about magic. She also hadn't forgotten about the comment he made about Lorien. Was it possible he was from a different planet? Why should she find that hard to believe?
"Well, where I'm from, only demons have fire power," she explained. "So, it was an automatic reaction."
*** “Well, where I’m from, I’m the only one who does,” he said with a shrug. Everybody developed their own legacies, no two Garde’s where exactly the same. But his weren’t as strange (or as powerful) as some were. It didn’t bother him, though. He was able to fight, and be useful, and perhaps his biggest use wasn’t in fighting at all. He was starting to get that feeling, anyway.
“It’s okay, though, I thought you were a Mog at first.”
***
"A what?" Paige asked. She had never heard of whatever a Mog was, but it seemed to be another hint that he might not be from around here.
She glanced around to make sure no one was listening as they approached the diner. "Just a suggestion," she said, "but you might want to keep your abilities and wherever you're from kind of quiet. Some of the people in this town don't really like those of us who are different."
***
“A mog,” he repeated. “A Mogadorian. The race that destroyed my planet. And now they want to destroy Earth.” Why was he telling her this? He shouldn’t be telling her this. Henri would be pissed. But she wanted to know, and he needed to tell someone because he needed it off his chest more than anything in the world. Everything was hurting now, and his ankle was still smarting from the new scar he was afraid to look at. A tiny part of him just wanted out, just wanted to be human and forget about intergalactic wars and doomed planets and saving the world. Even though he knew that was absolutely impossible, and not something he really wanted anyway. Because what he wanted more than anything was to go home. With Sarah.
He cringed at her last words. “I know. I know I shouldn’t be talking about it. Henri would be pissed, and we’d probably have to move after all I’ve said.”
***
So he was from another planet. Paige was proud of herself for figuring that one out. Of course, his story was a lot sadder than she had expected, though it explained a lot about the weary vibe she was getting from him and his fear when she randomly appeared in the alley.
"You can talk to me," she said. "And most of the other refugees are understanding. There are a lot of people with special abilities. Someone from the town will show up soon and give you a packet of information, including a phone."
They would also try to make him live with a guardian in town and she suspected that wouldn't work out for him. "If you're under eighteen, you'll need a guardian. I can let you crash on my couch until you find someone more permanent though."
Without a job, she couldn't afford to move to a bigger place that had room for her, Logan, and John.
*** John looked at her gratefully, but there was wariness in his expression as well. Was she safe? Or would she kill him in his sleep? Unfortunately, being killed in his sleep was something he had to worry about. Or would he put her in danger, drawing Mogs to her because she dared to be nice to one of the Loric?
Still, it would be nice to have someone older around, someone who could watch out for him. She wasn’t anywhere near as old as Henri, and she wasn’t from Lorien, but she would be better than nothing. Of course, he would have to tell her the whole story, and make sure she knew what she was getting into, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to do that with someone he’d just met.
“That’s really nice of you,” he said in a soft voice. “But I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”
***
Paige could absolutely understand his hesitation. He was in a strange place and she had sort of attacked him when they met. "Well, the offer is definitely there. I haven't been here that long but I definitely remember how unsettling it is to arrive." The idea of him ending up staying with someone from town concerned her, but even though he was from a different planet, she also remembered what it was like to be a teenager who thought you knew better than the adults in your life. She didn't want to press too hard since she suspected he could use a friend and maybe some guidance.
*** “I’ve been through things far more unsettling,” he shrugged. All four of the scars on his leg. Watching the destruction of his home planet, even if it had been mainly in visions or nightmares, or through a child’s terrified and confused eyes. Running his whole life. Henri’s death. The list went on and on and on. It wasn’t as if he was new to strangeness and suffering.
“Thanks, though,” he shrugged. “I’ll watch out for myself.” He’d never done a real good job about it, but hopefully there weren’t any Mogs here. In that case, this would be easy.
***
"Well, if you change your mind," Paige said with a shrug as they arrived at the diner. "For now, let's get you fed and then we can stop at the store and get you some new clothes."
She felt guilty about ruining his and Skye had helpfully unlocked her debit card.