Who: Ty and Karolina What: red portal adventure Where: New Orleans from The Originals When: early April Warnings: Low Status: g-doc
Ty overslept. He’d found it hard to sleep the night before and made his way to the kitchen for coffee later than usual. At least he didn’t have work today, having gotten a job at one of the bookstores in town.
He made coffee while pouring himself some cereal with fruit and a side of peanut butter toast. Halfway done his breakfast and with coffee finally in his mug, Ty took a few sips as he finished breakfast.
The only thing Karolina had planned today was hitting up one of the nearby thrift shops to see what kind of pieces she could pick up to repurpose. It was something she enjoyed doing and she’d managed to make a little money off of it by selling her creations online. She got back from taking Chase for a walk and headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee before heading out for the day.
“Hey, Ty,” she said, greeting him with an easy smile. “Thank you for making coffee.” She went to grab a mug from the cabinet and poured herself a cup, joining him at the table. “What are you up to today?”
He grinned at his friend. “We all need coffee.” At the question, Ty opened his mouth just in time to see a red portal in their kitchen. The teen tried to teleport him and Karolina out of the kitchen.
All he managed to do? Land right in front of a sax player, while holding his friend’s wrist.
“Well. Fuck. Guess I won’t be shooting hoops today.” Ty winced and helped Karolina up to her feet. “Wait. We’re on Bourbon Street?”
Karolina hadn’t even gotten one mouthful of coffee before the portal snatched her and Ty. This was bad. Last time she disappeared, Nico had gone full dark side. “Uh… what? We are?” She looked around and didn’t recognize anything. “So we’re in New Orleans?” That’s where Ty and Tandy were from so maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing.
“Do you think the portal was trying to grab you and Tandy and got the wrong blonde?” She knew that probably didn’t make a lot of sense.
Ty felt really badly that his friend didn’t get a chance to drink any of her coffee. “I can take us to get coffee.” At least he had his wallet on him. “I don’t know? Maybe? It’s odd, though, to be brought home.” From what Ty read on the network, it seemed to not do that sort of thing.
He looked around and blinked. Rousseaus? Ty didn’t remember that bar in existence before, but he and Tandy had left New Orleans.
The black teen looked around to get his bearings. Something felt…off
“Coffee would be amazing,” Karolina said as she looked around them. Having never been to New Orleans, she had no idea what to expect, especially since most of what she did know was related to Mardi Gras and that didn’t seem to be happening right now.
She was glad that she was with someone who knew the area. Now she just had to hope that they weren’t gone as long as Tim and Poe had been because who knew what Nico might do. “Where should we go?” she asked, happy to defer to his expertise.
Ty opened his mouth to speak and then noticed a brunette. Who seemed to be…involved in Voodoo? The words didn’t sound like Evita’s Voodoo practice, though, and then a second later the girl’s words caused a guy’s eyes to start bleeding.
“Uh. That’s. New?” Where the fuck were they? “Come on. Let’s at least get you coffee.” A coffee shop he didn’t recognize appeared to be across the street, so at least they could be well caffeinated. “Assuming we don’t meet a similar fate to that guy?”
The chanting caught Karolina’s attention and her eyes went wide when she saw the results of the spell, or what she assumed was a spell. “Uh, yeah, let’s get out of the way,” she agreed. They would have to avoid people who could do that kind of magic. “I didn’t realize there was so much magic in New Orleans.”
She was happy to follow Ty across the street and threw a few wary glances over her shoulder to make sure no one was paying attention to them. “Do you think we’ll be safe here?” At least they both had abilities that could be used to protect themselves if it came down to it.
“I have no idea. But this no longer feels like my New Orleans.” At least nobody stood in line in the coffee place. Ty ordered a dark roast for himself and stood aside so his friend could order her drink. He overheard a voice speaking about a daylight ring and now Ty felt way too much confusion.
At least the pair could protect themselves if possible. A friendly looking brunette guy looked at the pair. “You two look lost.”
Karolina ordered herself a latte, glancing in Ty’s direction when she heard the comment about a daylight ring, wondering what it meant. When the man spoke to them, she plastered on her biggest smile. “You could say that,” she said. “It’s kind of a long story though and you might think we’re crazy.” They didn’t need anyone locking them in some asylum for talking about alternate universes and portals.
The guy chuckled, his gaze sliding sideways at the young brunette woman next to him. Karolina thought they could possibly be brother and sister. “We know a little about crazy,” he said.
Ty paid for their two drinks and then turned his attention back to the pair and Karolina. “I’m Ty. This is my friend, Karolina.” He figured first names didn’t give out too much information, all things considered.
The guy grinned and the girl standing next to him added, “I’m Davina and this is my best friend, Josh. We definitely know crazy.” She offered a smile too, but a bit more reserved. Ty had the impression that she might be a bit of an introvert like him.
At this, Ty, without thinking, asked, “What’s a daylight ring? It’s the first we’ve heard of it.” Definitely meant they weren’t in his New Orleans.
The two shared a quick look that seemed to communicate a lot with no words. Karolina could tell that they’d been through some things because it was the same way with her, Nico, and the rest of their friends back home.
“Let’s get a table,” Davina suggested, leaning over to ask the barista to deliver their drinks when they were ready.
Karolina glanced at Ty and shrugged. They were in public and she figured there wasn’t much anyone could do to hurt them. Worst case, she could throw up a shield and Ty could teleport them out of there, though she hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
Once all four were settled at a table in the back corner, Davina muttered a few words that sounded almost like a spell and nodded at Josh. “All right, so, the brand of crazy we have here is supernatural,” he explained, watching Karolina and Ty carefully for their reactions. “Vampires, werewolves, and witches. There are a lot of hostilities between the groups.
Aside from witches, Karolina wasn’t super familiar with the creatures he named, though she had heard mention of them in New York. She nodded and looked at Ty again, her expression questioning if they should tell these two about the portal that brought them here.
Ty returned his friend’s shrug. The two of them could handle themselves if shit went badly, which, given their track records, seemed like a 50/50 chance. Not that he wanted anything to happen.
He watched as the brunette muttered something, which he assumed to be a spell, because what else could it be? Really? As Josh started speaking, Ty just stared. Most definitely not his New Orleans. “Hostilities between different groups of supernaturals sounds like the least surprising part.” Josh added, “D and I put our differences aside, though,” he teased. Davina sighed. “Yes, well, I can overlook the vampire thing, considering Kol,” she responded dryly, but with a grin.
A glance at Karolina and Ty gave a slight nod, indicating he didn’t mind if they told the pair about themselves. “This definitely differs from my home.” Obviously, he meant New Orleans.
“Mine too,” Karolina said. “Of course, I have a friend with a pet dinosaur, so it’s not like home is what anyone would call normal.” She missed Gert and Old Lace. “But we weren’t at home before here. We were both in an alternate universe of our home world, transported there through a portal with people from all kinds of other places.” Including places with vampires and werewolves from what she could remember seeing on the network.
The server brought over their drinks and Karolina gratefully took a long sip of hers, needing the caffeine to clear the cobwebs. “There have been these other portals with like… red energy,” she explained. “And they’ve been sending people to different places. Ty and I were in our kitchen this morning and then we were here.”
Josh listened with interest and looked between them. “So you two are…”
“Not a couple,” Karolina clarified quickly. “Just friends. I have a girlfriend. She’s a witch.” She paused and then added, “I’m half alien.”
Ty liked Old Lace and Gert, from the short period of time he’d spent with them. He didn’t interrupt Karolina and took a sip of his coffee, rather happy for the additional caffeine fix. “I’m single. And…I don’t know how to explain what I am. Born human, but I can teleport.” And see peoples’ fears, plus access the Dark Dimension, but Ty didn’t feel like getting into all of that shit.
“I call New Orleans home, but it’s obviously different.” After Davina took a sip of her drink, she said, “And to your earlier question, daylight rings allow vampires to walk outside during the day, otherwise the sun causes…serious damage.”
Josh blinked a few times at Karolina’s response. “So, a portal took you somewhere and then sent you here. And you can’t teleport home?” he asked Ty, who shook his head.
Karolina nodded. “Pretty much. There are some really smart people trying to figure out the whole thing, but they haven’t had any luck yet.” It really was bizarre, how arbitrarily people and things showed up without explanation. Like entire buildings. She didn’t mention that because she figured she already overwhelmed Josh and Davina enough.
“Ty and I met before we ended up there,” she said. “We both had… stuff… we were dealing with.” Part of her wondered if Pride existed in this universe and, if they did, were they evil. “So, any advice for us on where to go and what to avoid while we’re stuck here?” She knew that they would eventually be returned to New York, it was a question of when.
Josh considered the question. “Rousseau’s? It’s the bar across the street. You’ll be fairly safe there.” Davina nodded at the suggestion. “Between Josh, myself, and Vincent, you’ll be safe.” Ty stopped for a moment. Hadn’t a Vincent briefly been in New York?
“Yeah, we keep hoping they figure things out so we can go home, but it’s not the worst place.” At least they had things like food and places to sleep. Ty took a swig of coffee. “I’m glad to have Karolina,” he stated. Even if he really wished for Tandy at the moment. He knew how to be on the run with Tandy and they were two sides of the same coin, after all. Literally at times.
As Ty was talking, Karolina’s brows furrowed in thought as she recalled having a conversation with someone on the network who was a New Orleans witch named Vincent. What were the odds that Davina was talking about the same guy?
“Uh, is Vincent a witch?” she asked. “Because he might have been in New York for a while.” What did that mean? Did it mean anything? If she and Ty went to talk to him, would he remember meeting her and her friends? It couldn’t just be a coincidence.
Davina nodded. “Current regent of the witches, in fact.” She and Josh looked at each other in confusion. “Vincent was in New York?” Josh finally asked.
“Yes, briefly. He showed up for only a few weeks. I think he knew someone named Klaus from here?” Ty knew nothing about Klaus, except he seemed a bit…intense. He excused himself long enough to order an espresso beverage. God, he needed one. How did they know someone from New York who also lived here? Would Vince know them? Or, at least, Karolina, because Ty probably only said hi to the guy once.
Whatever a regent was sounded important, but Karolina didn’t have much time to wonder or ask about it because of the startled looks on their new friends’ faces when Ty mentioned Klaus. She didn’t think she’d ever spoken with him and couldn’t remember much.
“Klaus,” Josh repeated when Ty returned to the table. “Trapped in some kind of alternate dimension? And everyone hasn’t died violent, bloody deaths?”
Karolina’s eyes went wide. “Um, no? Is that something we should be concerned about?”
“He seems okay with that blonde around, if nothing else?” Ty had seen Klaus and the nice blonde whom he thought might be a bartender? “Is this something we should worry about?” God, Ty wished for a notebook so he could jot down everything said.
Davina looked confused. “Cami? And with Klaus he might decide to murder someone because the day ends in a Y or you accidentally bumped into him in the streets.” Ty noticed no love loss in the brunette’s voice.
He looked at Karolina in confusion. “Um, yes, I think her name is Cami?” Maybe.
Karolina shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. I haven’t talked to her, but I think she got a job at Threshold as a bartender.” It wasn’t like she was a regular at the night club to have met the woman. Not to mention all of those people were older than she was and most of the people she hung out with were closer to her own age.
This was definitely something she’d have to remember when she and Ty eventually returned to New York. Hopefully nothing bad would happen before that.
When the barista delivered Ty’s latte to him, Josh asked, “Why don’t we get out of here? We can talk more at Rousseau’s and more freely.” Right as Davina said, “Cami as a bartender would make sense.” They looked at each other and laughed.
“Yeah, I’m good with that.” Ty looked at his friend, so see if she had a preference. He didn’t see a reason to not go, but if she did, then obviously he’d back Karolina.
“Sure,” Karolina said. If they thought that the place would allow a couple of teenagers in, she was fine going wherever they thought would be safest. Maybe it was a mistake to trust a couple of strangers, but she didn’t pick up anything sketchy from Josh or Davina. “Thank you. We really appreciate the help. There’s no telling how long we might be stuck here.” And there was no telling if the time they were stuck here would match the time passing in New York. With any luck, they wouldn’t be gone as long as Poe and Tim were and Nico wouldn’t burn down the entire city.