They’d already gotten together a couple of times since Josie had arrived in Atlantis, but Liv was glad to spend any amount of time with her niece. She’d felt exactly the same about Katima when she’d been in Atlantis, but this felt a little different. This was one of Jo’s daughters that she thought she’d seen killed right in front of her. A piece of home that she never believed she’d ever see for herself. She was so happy to have her here, and she was even happier that Kai wasn’t here any longer.
Liv wasn’t sure what she would have done if he’d still been in Atlantis, and just like with Katima, there would have been no stopping her from killing him if he’d threatened her in any way. He might have popped right back up or she might have been sent home, but she felt so protective over any family members but especially those that might have been targeted.
Knowing that Josie was a siphon was something to get used to, but ultimately, that didn’t matter. She didn’t hate Kai because he was a siphon; she hated him because of who he was as a person and the fact he’d tried killing her and her family members multiple times.
It was exciting to show her the ins and outs of Atlantis, and tonight was no different. Taco Tuesday was always a good time, so taking Josie was going to be even better. They’d just sat down at their table and ordered, and Liv grinned after taking a sip of her drink. “How are you liking Atlantis so far?” she asked. “It’s a lot different from home, isn’t it?”
Josie had fortunately never met Kai, but she knew enough to be glad he wasn’t the family member she’d found in Atlantis. Her mom had told her about him being here until pretty recently and she knew certain mental instabilities seemed to run in the family; she’d grown up curious about them, the coven and family she’d never met and only heard about, but Kai was one family member she hoped she’d never have to meet face to face.
Getting to meet her aunt Liv and get to know her, though? That was pretty amazing. That side of the family had all been killed before she was born and it was only thanks to their magic that she and Lizzie had actually been born at all. Getting to meet any of them was nothing short of miraculous. It was one of the reasons Josie had decided to stay, for however long she could. She missed Lizzie and she missed her dad and her friends, but getting to know Liv and Stefan was something she’d never have a chance at again. It made the choice to stay pretty easy, especially when it also meant getting more time with her mom.
Nodding, Josie took a sip of her own drink. She wasn’t quite old enough to order real margarita, but she’d gotten them to make her a virgin one that tasted almost as good. “It’s different, but it’s not a bad different,” she admitted. “It’s actually kind of amazing!”
“It kind of is,” Liv had to admit. Maybe in a different way than most people thought. Atlantis had given Liv a second life and the chance to meet people and family members she never would have been able to otherwise. That was pretty amazing too.
She took a sip of her drink. It was a typical Tuesday night crowd but nothing too crazy. “As someone who has grown up around magic and the supernatural her entire life, this place still is a lot to take in sometimes. Especially when the really unusual things start to happen.”
Liv had somewhat lucked out on not being hit with some of the super weird moments, but there were plenty to go around for everyone. “You should check out the Three Broomsticks if you haven’t already.”
“That is definitely on my list,” Josie admitted. She hadn’t gotten the chance yet - there was so much to see in Atlantis on top of spending time with loved ones she hadn’t seen in so long - but she wanted to check it out. Maybe she’d see if Hope or Sabrina wanted to go for butterbeers sometime soon. That could be a lot of fun.
“You’d be amazed at some of the things we’ve seen at home lately,” Josie commented, shaking her head as she thought about it. “All these mythical creatures suddenly showing up. Gargoyles, dragons, all kinds of crazy stuff. I almost got eaten by a big spider.” She shuddered a little at the memory. Home had been weird lately, even by supernatural standards.
She paused briefly as their server stopped by with their food and eyed the plate hungrily. It looked so good. “What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to you here so far?” she asked before she picked up a taco to take a bite.
Liv’s eyebrow raised a bit when Josie started going on about the things that had been coming to life at home. Gargoyles and dragons? “That sounds like a mix of something out of the Hunchback of Notre Dame and...something with spiders in it,” she said while picking up one of her tacos. What happened to run of the mill vampires, werewolves, and psychotic family witches?
“Weirdest thing?” Liv tried to think about that. She’d had a few things happen to her, but not all of them were completely Atlantis-related. Then she remembered the little thing - hah, little - that had been more accident than anything else.
“Well,” she said and took a sip of her drink. “A few months back I was working on a spell. I was living with different people at the time, so it’s not anyone I’m still living with now, but I’d moved my meditation out to the living room and hadn’t realized when one of my roommates came home and decided to check on me.” Tommy would kill her if she revealed him by name, so she was at least smart enough to leave him out of it specifically.
“It was probably a mix of the magic flowing through me, Atlantis magic interfering, and the sudden interruption, but… okay, have you ever seen the movie, Honey, I Shrunk The Kids?” It might have been before Josie’s time. “That’s what happened. We were basically turned into itty bitty people until I was able to change us back.”
Josie covered her mouth to stifle a giggle as Liv told her the story of how she’d accidentally shrunk herself and one of her roommates. She knew weird things happened in Atlantis, like, daily, but she hadn’t done enough magic to experience the unpredictable effects of Atlantis’ magic mingling with whatever she was trying to do. Josie’s magic was different from Liv’s anyway, because she didn’t really have her own. She had to siphon it from something magical, but Atlantis had enough magic to practically be like a batter for her.
“That’s great,” she said laughing in between bites of her taco. “Was your roommate really mad?” It was definitely a different kind of weird than home had been lately, but she thought that was probably a really good thing. It was nice to have some weird stuff that was more lighthearted and less dangerous.
“Hah,” Liv let out a laugh and shook her head. “Yeah, you could say that.” She could practically hear Tommy’s grumbles all over again. “He wasn’t happy about it that’s for sure, but I think he got over it fairly quickly. At least outwardly. He probably kept some distance between us for a little while after that.” Though, not for too long since soon after they’d been transplanted into an alternate universe and when they popped back into Atlantis, they no longer roomed together. Liv kinda missed the grump. He’d been easy to get along with for the most part, and she wasn’t exactly all bright smiles and sunshine most of the time either.
“So what’s up with these dragons?” She asked after a bite. Sure, Atlantis had a couple of them roaming around, but she’d never run into one in Mystic Falls. “And what on earth did you get involved in so that you had to fight one of them? Or was it a more like Eliot the friendly dragon sent to help you find your way?” Ok, maybe that was a bad children’s movie joke.
Josie laughed at that, she couldn’t help it. She was glad Liv’s roommate hadn’t been super pissed, at least not long term. She could just about imagine the initial reaction. Once difference that she was getting used to about Atlantis was that everyone knew about magic here. She could imagine the humans were still pretty wary about having it used on them, though.
“Not me,” Josie corrected her quickly. “My dad had to fight the dragon and Hope, but Lizzie and I weren’t there for that. There was this gargoyle that attacked Lizzie, though and this giant spider thing that caught me and Raf in her web. “We don’t actually know where they’re all coming from,” she explained. “That spider was like something out of one of MG’s comic books and dragons and gargoyles... none of it’s supposed to exist in our world, right? But they keep showing up. I don’t think Dad’s figured it out, yet, but he will,” she said confidently.
As much as Liv was thankful that Josie hadn’t had to fight an actual dragon, she wasn’t exactly thrilled to find out what else she’d had to fight instead. A gargoyle and a giant spider? It sounded like a bad mash up of horror and Disney movies. Or like parts of Atlantis decided to take another trip to Mystic Falls. She shook her head and sipped at her drink again. “If one thing is for sure about Mystic Falls it’s that nothing is ever not possible. Even dragons and gargoyles, apparently.”
“Sometimes that type of thing happens here - the weird and unexplained - but it’s usually a lot less dark that home. There are are still moments of danger, even when people aren’t on missions, but it’s not too often,” Liv explained after another bite. “It’s usually just a lot more... wacky.”
Josie nodded as she picked up her drink to take another sip in between bites. “Mom told me a few stories,” she said. She’d gotten a pretty comprehensive tour, between the people she knew who had been here a while and the exploring she’d managed to do so far. She’d definitely also learned about Atlantis Mistletoe, bumping into a couple of people under it by this point already. So far, wacky seemed like a good description for the things that had happened since her arrival.
“You know,” she suggested with a grin. “These tacos might just be worth a little wacky.”