Fantasy Worlds Collide [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

The Lady Damia Velimir had finally ventured out of the inn room that passed for her living quarters for the past week. It had been hell to be back within the kingdom of Aveline, and to see how much had changed since she had left her home behind. The Velimir name elicited almost no response, not that she truly had the kind of funds or home that went along with such a name, any longer. Damia had instead become something of a petty thief, but she was back here on a rumor.

For the past century, the black-haired vampire had been seeking a cure for her vampirism. So far she’d found little more than charlatans and snake doctors selling lies. Most were surprised she actually wanted a cure. Who wouldn’t want to live forever?

Only now had she touched upon something that sounded genuine: phoenix – a potion of sorts that could supposedly bring back the dead, involving phoenix tears and some other ingredients she needed to inquire about, but everything she read up in the library in Boreas suggested that with vampires being undead, a resurrection was necessary.

Naturally, this was exceedingly rare – and not everyone was convinced it was even possible, but what did Damia have to lose? Her life?

‘I’ve already lost that.’

And if it worked, it would be the perfect revenge, as well.

That led her to walking the cobblestone path through the outdoor market that evening, cringing against any bit of sun that snuck between her cloak and the layers she wore. She even had a veil over her face to attempt to avoid it, and a cloth covering all the way up her neck, but still, any bit of flesh that the sun touched was agony.

An agony she could endure, to take a look at the market before it closed, and find the source of the rumor in a wooden stall decorated with plenty of falsities where it came to magical artifacts. And yet, in spite of the lies of a unicorn horn or a dragon scale that were in the apothecary’s stall, there still shimmered a golden potion that seemed more fire than liquid, and even looking at it made Damia ache.

She made a split second decision to grab it, just out from under another hand reaching for it. When she cast her gaze up to see who it was, she decided it was better to flee than attempt to barter for it – something about that fiery gaze told her she’d never win in bartering for this, so it was better to get far, far away.



The man she’d stolen from was – well, nearly stolen from – was Malachi iben Trist, who had gone out to the market mostly to look for food to eat, and stumbled upon the stall, and what he definitely recognized to be a potion that used a phoenix as one of its ingredients. Everything about that had upset him, because he imagined harm had befallen the phoenix to keep it from rising, so that any part of it could be used in a potion. He didn’t think it could be just tears.

He had approached in that fury, and started to reach for the potion to demand answers about it – when it was taken right from beneath his hand.

His shock and his rage found them focused on some small woman, who immediately darted away, tucking the potion into her cloak.

“THIEF!” The merchant suddenly called, moving to the side of his stall, “GET BACK HERE! I’ll—” but Malachi moved near him and set a hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll get her,” that he would, though he wasn’t going to promise to bring the potion back. It was enough to relax the merchant, a bit. No doubt he thought that was implied, and he let Malachi go without any further shouting about the thief.

He thought he was following the thief for a while, through the maze of people in the market, all the way down into an alley – where they suddenly disappeared. ‘What?’ Malachi looked around in confusion, casting his golden gaze in every direction, but he caught no sight of the cloaked woman. Irritated, he balled his fists together and shut his eyes. He shrugged off the black vest he was wearing. Fire wrapped around his body a moment, leaving his attire smoking, but not catching flame, thankfully.

Wings tore out from his shoulder blades. It hurt, as it always did, but he was able to get through that pain much easier now as the set of golden-red feathers extended outwards, and then with a few flaps, were able to lift him up into the sky so he could get a better look around to try and find the thief. Not that it was easy – they weren’t the only cloaked figure in the city.

It was the potion itself that made it easier to identify, glowing through the cloak. The individual with it also seemed to be stumbling, not quite managing well. ‘That’s what you get.’ But he didn’t fly down immediately. The individual seemed to be heading out of the city, and so he followed, curious, and admittedly not wanting to start a scene in the city.

They didn’t go too far, seeming to collapse on the outskirts of the town, beneath several trees.

That was when he flew down.

“Hey!”

His baritone voice boomed as the woman seemed to have found her feet again. She looked up, startled, and then backed up a few steps. “Do you have any idea what that is?” It was held in one gloved hand, out in front, now.

“Of course I do!” She snapped right back, but he saw the way her eyes moved over his wings. “You’re…a shifter.”

“Phoenix shifter,” he added, stepping forward, “I want that back. If there’s any way to bring the phoenix that was used for that potion back to life, I need to make it happen.”

He could see a bit of agony in her gaze. Red, he noticed, and wondered at what she was, even as that agony hardened against his request. “I’m sorry, I need this.”

“The only possible reason—” but she had uncorked the vial, and was clearly going to drink it. In some effort to stop it, he lunged forward, wings giving him the added speed, and he tackled her to the ground.

The vial left her hands. It contents spilled into the soil, wasted, although they never saw that.

All they saw was suddenly falling between where two trees bent into what could have been a doorway – and then suddenly, they were in an entirely new world, and Malachi iben Trist was pinning Damia Velimir to the ground by her arms, though that almost immediately shifted to her throat when he saw the flash of fangs and realized what he had beneath him.

 

[BELIAL.]

Portsend, British Columbia was particularly beautiful in the autumn. The maple and elm trees that shaded the town from the rocky slopes above always managed to settle on complementary honey yellow and deep red for their leaves. The piles that pooled around the edges of streets, homes, and lots gave it the look of a picturesque, sleepy town-- and well, that's mostly what it was. The fishermen at the wharf would sit by the their boats and share a thermos of mulled wine, or pumpkin soup, given that the wives were feeling particularly benevolent. Fireplaces were already kicked on, mostly for the warmth and security it gave. Despite that, there was nothing scary, or remotely criminal, that happened here. Their most dangerous offender was a sixty year old man that had managed to trash an entire pumpkin field in a drunken rage ten years ago. Other than that, nothing happened in Portsend. A chill descended on the town at night, but the days still remained crisp and people remained indoors till six am. The town was spirited in their autumn excitements, with pumpkins and yard decorations set out in anticipation for Halloween being only three weeks away.

The town read like the vacant setting of a blank novel, and Lucas Morgan was aware of that. Even with all the memories, and all the family, he was tired of living in a world...stagnant. It was part of the reason he'd happily applied for a university out of state, a days drive away from home. His father and sister had been sad to see him go, and Lucas faked it well, but he had been beyond relieved to feel the sense of redundancy shake off his shoulders. Returning home, just for the long weekend, he had his nerves built up. He was going to tell them that he was moving, really moving, out of the house. No more weird purgatory, coming home for holidays and summer vacation. He was going to stay full time. Lucas had two friends that were willing to share a rental with him, and he was going to take the step forward. He wasn't going to look back.

Turning onto the long driveway up to the property, his knuckles were white against the steering wheel. The place looked the same, it always did. The horses were out grazing, flicking their tails and the mothers nickering their foals, basking in the setting sun. The forest behind their property loomed like a mountain itself, stretching out far into the distance and up into the actual mountain above the town. Lucas tapped the wheel, trying to steady his breath as the house got closer and closer. He wasn't sure how he'd bring up the whole moving out thing. Now? Later? Over Thanksgiving dinner? The softer the blow, the better the response-- or so he hoped. Piper was protective, and their father was dependent on both of them sticking around. It made any kind of personal developments hard to approach to the man; it was hard enough when Lucas said he wanted to go to a university as far away as possible.

Of course, he didn't phrase it like that. Piper knew exactly, and she'd been upset at that.

Almost as if she heard his thoughts, which she probably did-- a twin thing-- she saw her bright hair emerge from the front door and sprint out to the front yard. She waved a wild arm up, and he could see her bright smile from here. Hard as he tried to remain neutral, he couldn't help but grin in response. Rolling the window down, he extended his own arm out. She jumped up, a laugh echoing across the property.

She engulfed him in a hug the second he got out of his car, and pulled back to look up at him. He noticed that she'd cut her hair, and had a cut running alongside her left cheek, couple with a few bruises under her eye. Rolling his eyes he stuck a thumb on it, grazing the bandage.

"So what, I leave for school for a couple months and you join Fight Club?" He asked with a grin. Piper guffawed, smacking his hand away.

"As if! Work accident. Got too excited to pop a sticky radiator off, and it got me right in the face. S'all good though, makes me look badass right?" She pulled back to stick a couple of fists at him, striking his arm. Lucas shook his head, wrapping his larger hand around her fist and pushing it back toward her face.

"Careful clumsy, you'll end up hitting yourself again."

The front door opened again and their father hobbled out. He had a brass topped cane in one hand, and one of his favourite sweaters that their mother had made him years and years ago on. Joseph Morgan's hair had managed to grey even more in those couple months since Lucas had been home. Stressed, probably, with the new book he was working on. Joseph engulfed his son in a hug as well, the man still several inches taller than his son despite the cane and the limp.

"Good to see you boy," Joseph said and Lucas shrugged.

"I was just here, anyway. You guys are acting like it's been a whole spring semester," Lucas said. Piper reached out and squeezed his arm.

"Hey! I need to get some firewood from the woods. Come with me!" Piper trilled, though she had a glimmer in her eye that said otherwise. She needed to tell him something. Away from their father, as it were. Lucas raised his eyes, gesturing to his car and the bags in the backseat. Piper shook her head. "They don't have legs, they won't walk away. You can leave your shit for twenty minutes. Come on!"

He nodded to his father, who limped away to grab the axe for Piper. He disappeared back into the house, and the twins began their short trek to the forest. Piper had the axe over her shoulder, like some kind of She-Ra Horror movie Final Girl. She tilted her head back, loving the bit of sun on her face, and was thankful she had her sweater on to combat the oncoming evening breeze.

Looking back at her brother, she couldn't help but smile. She'd needed someone to talk to, as recent things had changed recent circumstances. Sure, there was their father, but he was so often shut in his study working on his book. They didn't even go shooting like they used to. She missed her twin for this purpose exactly. Understanding each other.

Shade overtook them as they weaved between the onslaught of maple trees around them.

"Soooo... what did you want to talk to me about?" Lucas asked. Piper whipped her head around, mouth open in surprise.

"Huh! How did you--"

"Piper, it's not rocket science. It's the twin thing," Lucas said, tapping his temple. She nodded, looking down and away as they continued to walk. Biting her lip, she wondered on how to say what she wanted to.

Before she could try to speak, however, a bright light engulfed the clearing ahead of them. It felt like standing in front of a fire, and both twins recoiled with their hands over their faces. The heat from the light was almost discomforting, in a numbing warmth kind of way. Just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. They looked at each other incredulously, then both glancing up at the sky. A helicopter maybe? Search lights?

Once her eyes adjusted, Piper saw two figures struggling in the dirt and discarded leaf piles. It was so much more than that, though, and a loud and audible gasp crawled out of her throat. The person on top-- a man, maybe-- had wings. WINGS. Was this some fucked up, kinky LARP session they'd run into? No one in Portsend did that. There was the Founder's Fair, maybe, but nothing remotely like this. She reached out and grabbed Lucas's sleeve, squeezing tightly.

It sounded like a scuffle of the sorts. Piper thought she saw a face, and long hair, on the person below. A woman?

Piper's eyes narrowed, already assuming the worst in the situation, and grabbed the axe with both hands. Lucas, seeing her beginning to surge forward, reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders. Piper whirled around to look at him, a fire in her eyes.

"Hold up just hold up," he hissed. "What are you going to do?"

Piper jutted the axe in the direction of the two on the ground. "He's attacking her, Lucas. What the fuck do you expect me to do?"

"Well just, uh, THINK, for a second! What if you're assuming the worst!" He shrieked in a half-whisper. Piper huffed, once again upset at the whole thing that Lucas always knew what she was doubting. She jerked her arm free and stalked off anyway. Maybe she wouldn't cleave this axe in the weird guy's back, but she sure would threaten him with it.

"HEY!" Piper shouted. Lucas slapped his forehead, and then began to pull at the skin by his nails as he trailed quite far behind her.

She stuck out a kick, aiming for the guy on top. Brandishing the axe like a mighty sword over her shoulder, she glared down with the intensity of a confident woman. Hell hath no fury quite like that.

"Hey ASSHOLE!"

Lucas could only bite his nails, eyes wide and a small moan slipping from his mouth. "Oh shit."

 

[Lucyfer]

Of course, Malachi heard other voices, though he couldn’t quite make out what was being said, given he was trying to make sure he didn’t get bit. He had no plans of becoming a vampire, or being food for one, although the sudden change in location, and sunlight, did cause a panic to flutter up in him. Not enough to let go, but enough that he tried to look around and figure what happened.

The leaves beneath him had turned shades of orange. The grass even looked a touch wilted. It was still evening, but earlier, or it seemed that way, and—

His head whipped towards the sound of someone approaching, and shouting at him. He saw the kick, and opted to roll, releasing the vampire in the process as he found a position on his knees. At least he avoided the kick that way. He didn’t stay there long, rising to his full height. He cut an intimidating picture, and he knew it, wings in full view, and broad as he was. He wasn’t terribly intimidated by the woman with the axe.

He wished right then he had his sword, all the same. Of course he'd left it in his room at the inn.

Especially as the vampiress scrambled to her feet, no doubt aware they seemed to be on her side. She was quick to throw her hood back up, given it had fallen off in the scuffle, and then look wildly around for what was lost. “She stole from me,” Malachi stated, pointing at the woman with one finger, talon very obvious in the fading sun. It was far from being human by any stretch of the imagination, as if the wings weren’t enough.

“I didn’t steal from you!” She stole from a merchant, and dropped to her hands and knees to move aside the grass and leaves, as if it would reveal the bottle that she’d opened, as if one single drop might remain within it, even if she located it. “It’s gone,” it was said first with anxiety, “It’s gone,” defeat, as she rocked back to sit on her legs, the reality setting in that she’d lost something as rare as that, that her chances were lost.

She didn’t even truly realize that she was in a different world, in a different season, for that matter. The crackling of the leaves beneath her didn’t tip her off.

She was too busy focusing on that rage that was building, and debating if it was worth it to tear through the shifter’s throat or not. It probably wasn’t, but it would certainly feel good.

Rather than act on that immediately, though, she just flexed her fingers over her legs, dug her nails into her gloved hands, and shut her eyes against the furious tears that wanted to fall. It wouldn’t be water. That wasn’t a good thing. Crying would just make her entire situation worse.

‘And all because of this fucking bastard!’

She barely acknowledged his gruff, “Good,” so smug that she had failed, that he had led to the failure. He did not sound concerned in the least, though he did speak on about their situation, “We don’t seem to be in Aveline anymore – whatever that potion was, I don’t think it was what you wanted, unless you were trying to teleport to another location. Given your thievery, I can see why.”

‘Keep talking, I swear I will rip out your throat.’ She just felt her own throat get tight.

“I know we’re not off to the best start,” that was likely directed at the humans, but Damia did not open her eyes to check that, “But can you tell us where we are, and I’ll get out of your hair,” and probably get the vampire out of their hair, before she ate the humans, or something. It wasn’t their fault they were in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and misread the situation so terribly. He was sure he could find a boat, or a carriage, or something, that would at least get them into a town and then they could go their separate ways.

Malachi was hardly aware of how bad the situation actually looked to the two strangers.

 

[BELIAL.]

Piper held her breath, examining the man in his full form. Jesus Fucking Christ. Either it was a dedication to his craft or... no, she didn't want to think of any kind of alternative. There wasn't any kind of alternative. Piper had heard of furries or cosplayers on the internet, but she hadn't expected to run into the assault-y type. She glared at the man, even if her skin crawled looking at the talon-like nail on his finger.

Lucas lingered from behind a tree, holding his own breath and trying to take in all that he was seeing. Piper was a good distraction, as long as she didn't end up getting hurt in the process. He was just fine hanging out behind the scenes, and scrambling to have his brain process all that was happening. Unlike his sister, Lucas was quick to believe that all of this wasn't some kind of act. He wasn't quite sure what he was seeing, but he wasn't keen on dismissing it immediately. Something tickled inside of him, something that said this isn't right.

The man pointed a finger to the woman, accusing her of stealing. The woman fired back, and Piper let a growl of anger burst through. "Quite honestly, I don't care who stole from who. Whatever you were planning, it's not going to happen. Men like you clearly think you can do whatever you want, and I'm not going to let it slide!" Piper shouted, flexing her hands around the handle of the axe. She gave a couple glances to the woman on the ground, and a frown took Piper's face. She was clearly upset, and Piper was inclined to be on the woman's side. Like she was going to just let an attempted assault slide. Not on her property!

Lucas crept forward, digging his hands into his pockets as he gazed at the woman. She looked extremely upset, and he looked to the man as he spoke. Aveline? There were no towns in the nearest vicinity named that. Was it a hotel he didn't know about? That was impossible, Portsend was incredibly small. What was this guy talking about?

"Fat chance asshole, I'm not letting you leave with this poor woman. You walk away now, and maybe I won't decorate your face with my axe," Piper hissed, taking a step toward the woman and closer to the man. Her heart was beating, probably about an inch away from bursting through the surface, but she only gripped the handle tighter to mask her fear. Sweat dripped down her neck.

Lucas strolled from behind, raising a small hand.

"Er... sorry to interrupt, but... uh... Aveline? I'm sorry but, uh... sir--" Lucas gave a wide-eyed glance to the wings, "-- but there isn't any town nearby called Aveline. This is Portsend. Did you come by boat?" Maybe it was some ship, and one or both of them fell off and knocked their heads, going rabid in the woods. The docks were a quick car ride away, so it could be plausible. But they didn't look terribly wet...

"It's a ruse, Lucas, clearly just some excuse to high-tail it out of here and beat this poor woman. Can you make sure she's okay?" Piper snapped to her brother, still keeping eye contact with the man. Lucas gulped, looking down to the hooded woman. Not moving, Piper looked quickly over to him, flicking her head to move a few strands of her red hair out of her eyes. "Lucas!"

Lucas bit his nail, sighing and creeping over to the woman. He broke down to a crouch, coughing awkwardly. "Hey... are you... okay?" 'Smooth, collected... that's not you.'

Piper continued to glare at the man. "What is she, your wife? Your girlfriend? Some poor girl you met at the bar and thought you'd work your anger out on?" She was seeing red, a mixture of adrenaline and rage to be caught in this kind of situation. At least, she prided herself silently, she had had the guts to do something. She didn't want to imagine what the alternative might have been. "Probably think you're hot shit, huh?" Her chest was rising and falling fast.

 

[Lucyfer]

At the words ‘men like you’, and Piper’s continuing indignation, a terribly baffled look stole over Malachi’s features as he tried to process what he was being accused of here, and why he was being accused of it. The anger left him as he attempted to understand, but it started to dawn on him. The heat of Piper’s words started to make sense, and he wanted to cover his face with his hand and drag his fingers across it.

He was being accused of assault.

Which, he supposed, wasn’t wrong, but he actually did have a reason and he didn’t really plan to brutalize the vampire.

The male interjected, calling Aveline a town but also claiming he’d never heard of such a place. Was there anywhere in the world that hadn’t heard of Aveline? That seemed impossible, but he knew what isolation could do….

Though his gaze had shifted to Lucas, it was drawn back to the woman who’s name he still didn’t have. She was determined to remain in his way, and accuse him of wanting further harm to befall the thief. Which, he supposed, he did, but mostly for karmic effect. “I don’t know who she is, I only know that she stole from me, so I pursued her. That’s it, that’s our entire relationship.” He managed to keep his voice level in the face of this stranger’s outrage. “I don’t want any harm to actually befall her. I wanted what she stole, but not to the point of detrimentally harming her. If she doesn’t want to leave with me, I won’t force her to, but I don’t think it’s safe for either of you to remain with her,” and he held up his hands in a quick, instinctive, surrender gesture.

He was expecting an outcry from the woman about that. She’d clearly picked sides. “She’s a vampire, and one that hasn’t fed in a while.” There were warnings about red eyes, and he’d seen that when he had her pinned, when he realized what she was. “Aveline itself is…is a kingdom. If neither of you have heard of it, then we must be fairly far from it. Maybe that was her plan, I don’t know – I don’t know much about her at all.”



As the Shifter had begun his attempt to explain, Damia was still trying to get a grip on her own emotions. That, and the truth of his later words. The way that Piper’s heart was beating did not go unnoticed by the vampiress, and she wouldn’t deny that was enticing in its way. She didn’t want to drink her, not really – the woman came to her defense, after all.

Nor did she want to drink the man who knelt at her side and tried to ask if she was okay. ‘NO!’ How could she be okay when she’d lost what might have been a cure, and now had terrible thoughts running through her head – when this man didn’t know about Aveline, and it was setting in for Damia that she, also, didn’t know where they were or what they’d done.

Had that potion actually been some fancy teleportation potion?

Damia shook her head from side to side as an answer, but opened her eyes and looked up towards the shifter and Piper.

Maybe now was a good time to actually speak up, “I did steal. Not from him. From a merchant. In the city of Grigoire, in Aveline. It’s a port city…but I haven’t been on a boat in weeks.” So no, she hadn’t gotten here by boat. “He doesn’t understand I needed that, and now it’s all gone.” Her tone remained morose, downcast.

She might at least give him his due for honesty, but she was still upset with him, and upset with the place she found herself. She dug her nails in further to her gloved hands, keeping a focus on that, to keep herself locked into any other thought that wasn’t rage or hunger.

Or worse – confusion.

Where were they, if not Aveline?

 

[BELIAL.]

The only thing that Piper really processed was the word vampire. Was this guy nuts? Or just absolutely, completely, out of his fucking mind? She shook her head, raising one eyebrow quizzically. Then he followed up with more bullshit. They must, the both of them, be on some kind of drugs. That, or totally encapsulated in whatever delusion. Piper wasn't one to repeatedly invalidate someone, or to be so close-minded, but all of this sounded so out of the ordinary that her mind had no choice but to reject it entirely.

"Vampire? Really? And then what are you? Do you expect me to believe you're some kind of fire angel then? Oh, and I'm Harry Potter." She rolled her eyes. "I honestly don't know what you smoked, but you're clearly not from here. If you're going to cause trouble, get out. This is my family's property you're on," Piper seethed. She took a step forward, keeping the axe tight in her hands.

Lucas remained crouched next to the woman, his left leg shaking a bit. She definitely didn't seem to be okay, and in shaking her head, he confirmed his suspicions. Rather than elaborate, she seemed to want to clear the air. So she had been a thief, of sorts. Lucas had a bit of an issue trying to comprehend the idea of another port city being named Grigoire. Aveline was, supposedly, a kingdom. He didn't recall reading any kind of history on the place, even if it might have been where Portsend was grown on top of. Could that be the case? Could they be die-hard historians? Or something else entirely.

When the man had mentioned the woman being a vampire, Lucas only blinked and frowned in thought. He'd read that some people did believe themselves vampires, but there had no been no recorded or confirmed actual vampires of legend in any decade recent. The woman looked young enough that she could have jumped on the fad. Maybe a bit of mental stress here, some cultural pressure there... it made some sort of sense.

"What happened? Can you stand?" Lucas asked, his voice soft. Piper made a face, clearly in thought, before lowering her axe a bit.

"Listen. If you guys are lost or whatever, we can take you to a train or the bus station. This is Portsend. We're a port town as well but definitely not in... any kingdom. Well, I guess British Columbia is as close as Canada gets to the monarchy, right?" She looked back to Lucas, who shrugged and nodded.

He extended a hand to the woman, standing up straight. "Here, take my hand."

Looking at his right hand, he was suddenly perplexed to see a bloody symbol etched in it. Not written, but gauged and... imprinted. Almost like a birthmark, or as if it had been there the whole time. He didn't remember having this on his hand. Audibly he made a noise, looking at the skin. With his other hand, he rubbed at it. It cleared some of the blood, but the symbol remained. It didn't budge.

"Hey, uh... Piper?" Lucas said, a bit of worry elevating his voice. She looked over her shoulder, and he held out his hand. Piper blinked, noticing the smeared blood, instantly dropping the axe and running to her brother's side. She grabbed his hand and gazed at it, twisting his fingers and palm around.

"What happened? What did you do?" Piper asked, looking at Lucas with a motherly glare. He guffawed, shaking his head.

"I-I don't know! I didn't do anything this just... showed up!" He explained.

"Like just now?"

"Yes, like just now!" He explained, and Piper clicked her tongue. Moving his hand around, she spotted a bit of blood in her own palm. Extending her hand, her left one, she saw a similar etching to Lucas's. Some sort of... mark?

"It's warm," Piper whispered, thinking back to the flash of hot light that had engulfed the clearing prior to them stumbling on the group. Lucas recalled it too, looking between the woman and the man. "What the hell is going on?"

She closed her hand into a fist and stalked back toward the guy. "Let's say I believe you, because a lot of weird shit has happened in the last two minutes, and let's say she really is a vampire... and a hungry one. Can I trust you to not be a killer as well?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Blood.

It hit her nose as Lucas was offering to help her stand, far more potent than it should have been in that moment. Fresh blood, and from the one right besides her. Not merely a heartbeat. She swallowed down that desire. She’d held on this long, and for many years besides. She was no longer the monster who tore her own father’s throat out.

But she was terribly thirsty, and the blood was also coming from the woman. What Piper said about taking them somewhere meant nothing, and she shook her head at Lucas’s question. It was a lie, but she wanted him to get up, and get away.

He got up.

But he offered his hand.

There was the blood, and Damia’s gaze settled on it. The urge to extend her fangs and bite was strong. It was like he was offering it to her, but thankfully, he got himself together before she did anything stupid and drew it back, calling for his sister.

Damia shifted backwards, and then rose, keeping the cloak tight around her as she did so. ‘Have you seen that symbol before?’ She tried to wrack her brain for information on it, but nothing came forward. She’d looked at a lot of books in Boreas. A lot of scrolls. It was possible, but she couldn’t connect it.

The shifter moved, and had intended to approach her to get them out of there, but stopped short when Piper came stalking back towards him.

The vampiress flitted back, closer to trees, and further from the bleeding people. It seemed they were starting to believe them – but why doubt them? Were they so isolated here that they only had other humans around?

“My name is Malachi iben Trist,” the shifter finally introduced, “It’s not my nature to kill, I’m a Phoenix Shifter. We care more about life,” he was a vegetarian! Given, he had killed to survive when out in the wilds, and he knew how to fight. The world was cruel – and people liked to use phoenixes, and phoenix shifters, for recipes and magic. He had to defend himself. He preferred intimidation, but he could fight well. “I’m not…whatever a fire angel is, I have not heard of that, please forgive me for my ignorance.”

At least they seemed to know what vampire was. And that it was a killer. By nature, really.

“Damia. Damia Velimir.” The vampiress spoke up. “I don’t want to harm any of you.” Added, but it wasn’t a denial that she could. Or would. “I don’t know the symbol that appeared on your hands. I’m sorry.” She didn’t want to examine them any closer, either. “All I know is that he tackled me, I dropped what I was holding, and then we were here…this Portsend.”

She didn’t know Portsend.

Or British Colombia, or Canada.

 

[BELIAL.]

Piper's bout of rage had simmered down to a frustrated confusion. All of this was happening so quickly, her brain was barely computing it fast enough to process what was happening. Disbelief had just about gone out the window at this point, given the insistence from the both of them. They had a narrative, you were going by it... didn't that mean it was real?

'But how can it be? None of this makes sense, none of what they're saying is real-- at all! How can any of this be happening!?' Piper's bright eyes flickered between the two. Malachi. Damia. One hundred and ten percent not typical names.

She looked at her brother, then her bleeding hand, and sighed. Rubbing the blood on her jeans, she bent down to pick up the axe.

"Fine. Shifter-whatever, vampire... sure. If the sky starts falling, I'm blaming one of you. Or BOTH of you!" Piper said, shaking her head and walking back toward her brother. Lucas blinked, gesturing to the strangers.

"What about them? Are you heading home?" He asked, and she shrugged. Lucas gave an exasperated sigh, running his clean hand through his hair. "It doesn't feel right Pipes."

"Why?" She whispered, leaning toward him. "We don't know them, we don't owe them anything... they can find their own way back. I'm done with this," Piper insisted, heading toward a clump of broken trees she'd already sawed the day before. She began to hack away, more as a coping mechanism as she tried to figure out what to do. She always knew what to do. There wasn't a time when she didn't! She owed Lucas to be a big sister, in any way possible, and that meant making sense of any problem in front of them.

Lucas, on the other hand, was putting pieces together. Beginning to pace, he looked between the two people. He pointed to Damia with his not bloody hand-- if she was a vampire, he wasn't going to take any risks with flashing a bleeding hand around. "You said you dropped what you stole. Can we find it here? Is it on the ground anywhere?"

He scratched his chin, tapping his lip in thought. "What I'm thinking here is if, say this object was the teleportation device... it wouldn't just disappear or explode, right? Unless it's a one-way trip type of thing, which would be the worst case scenario for you guys. I believe that you don't belong... here, wherever here is to you... and I'd like to help you get back. More than my sister, for now. She just needs some time to work out her anger, then she'll probably be a little more useful," Lucas said, chuckling a bit. He resumed his pacing, a technique to help his brain start chugging away like a train.

"You mentioned that Grigoire was a port city, not unlike Portsend. I mean, not within a kingdom but... technically within a kingdom, in a way. Perhaps there's a link between the two. I haven't read any history accounts of this city or kingdom of yours, but on the odd chance that you're from another world entirely, it could explain the transfer of location. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred. Energy is a constant, and the backbone of any kind of event. The big bang created the universe, all within the same amount of energy it put out.
Port city to port city... two for two," Lucas trailed off, suddenly looking down at himself and padding his clothes, praying he wouldn't start to disappear any second.

Relieved, he wasn't. At least, not now. But if the symbols on their hands were connected...

"Malachi, right? What do you remember last? Er, I guess, between the two of you. What was the last thing you recall? We saw a bright light on our end, and then you two were suddenly there."

 

[Lucyfer]

Malachi would not have blamed them if they just walked off, as it seemed to be Piper’s goal. Sure, they were confused, and lost, but that wasn’t the problem of these two humans. They seemed to want to wash their hands of them immediately. Yet, it seemed Lucas did not want to do so, though Malachi did not quite hear what was being said, he was quick to understand that this wasn’t over with.

He and Damia weren’t yet being left on their own to try and figure things out.

Lucas was trying to put it together.

Damia was the one to shake her head to the question posed, quietly thankful he wasn’t using the bloody hand. “It was a potion that was meant to bring back the dead, using the phoenix. I don’t know how it would have teleported us, but it’s not here any longer. Not the bottle, nor any trace of the potion.”

“You were going to drink it.” Malachi pointed out, as Lucas began his pacing again.

“I’m dead.” Damia said flatly.

Malachi stared at her a few moments, before understanding started to dawn, but before he could say anything to that, Lucas was speaking again, about the connection of port cities and where they were, that there had to be a connection that wasn’t tied to the potion that Damia lost. Some of his thoughts were lost on Malachi. He knew nothing of this ‘Big Bang’ theory, or much about this energy theory. At least, not in the way that Lucas put it, and he canted his head as he folded his arms over his chest, trying to follow.

With the question sent his way, he offered his side of it, “I remember lunging for her as she was about to drink the potion, and knocking her to the ground. I remember the ground changing as we fell. It wasn’t lush and green, but…this,” he gestured around at the colorful leaves. There had been no flash of light on his side, just a change.

“Not that I had much time to focus on it.”

“I just noted the sky change. It was nearly dark where we were,” Damia answered, “Now the sun is still out here,” fading, but still present.

Malachi continued, “Do you…honestly think this is a different world from where we come from, Lucas?” He did not like that thought, although to him it was not as impossible as it seemed to Piper and Lucas. He came from a place of magic, where teleportation was not impossible. The thought of other worlds was also not an impossible thought, though he could feel himself losing color with the thought.

How was he supposed to go home?

“You knew vampires,” Damia noted, “this can’t be a different world. You know of vampires – and shifters are notoriously isolationist, so maybe they just don’t know what you are. We’re somewhere far from Aveline, a new continent….” Suddenly, Piper's idea of working off the confusion through action didn't seem like such a bad idea.

 

[BELIAL.]

Lucas could only shrug, now tugging on the front of his hair. "I don't not think you guys are from another world. It's just that none of this adds up as something logical. So, sometimes, the answer is the simplest and most illogical."

He took in the information they had provided. The item was a potion, made with phoenix tears to raise the dead... yeah, he was glad that Piper was too busy working out her fumes and out of earshot. She would have tried to make some joke about it. Clearly things were past being a practical joke, or some prank. This only furthered Lucas's true belief that this was definitely something out of a kid's fantasy novel, and these supernatural denizens were otherworldly indeed. The fact that they'd simply crashed to the ground and arrived here made things even more incredulous. Either they themselves could travel, these woods were special... or a third party had intervened.

Damia perked up that they knew what vampires were, trying to piece her own puzzle together. Lucas clutched his hand within his pocket, trying to find the words to explain that people like Damia and Malachi truly didn't exist in their world.

"Well, you know, that's not a bad... idea," he said, but his face fell with a somber look toward her. "But I'm sorry, there are no vampires. No real ones that are fully dead. People call themselves vampires and delude themselves into drinking blood... don't ask. Also, there are no shifters here as well. What we know, what anyone knows, is from horror movies and old literature. Legends, maybe, but nothing concrete. There is no Aveline. There is no magic. Werewolves, Faeries, Sea Monsters... all fiction," Lucas finished with a deep breath, offering a sympathetic head bow.

"I'm sorry, it's probably not... easy to hear that you technically don't exist somewhere. There's no easy way to say it though... and it only means we have to get you two back faster. However that may be..." Lucas trailed off, kicking the ground with his shoe.

Suddenly Piper screamed, causing Lucas's head to snap in her direction. She was on the ground, with the axe several feet from her and a crack in the wood in front of her. Breathing heavily, and looking incredulous, she scrambled to her feet. Lucas ran to her.

"What! Did you see an animal? Did you hack yourself-- you're so clumsy Pipes--"

"It MOVED!" She shrieked, a sob trying to burst from her throat. Lucas blinked. "T-T-The axe! It... moved!"

Lucas shook his head, grabbing the axe from the ground. "It moved? Did you... touch it?" He asked, and she glared up at him. Smacking him hard in the shoulder she snatched the axe back.

"No, actually, I wasn't touching it. It was lodged in the wood, and it was stuck, and I was so mad, and then it just... flew out!" She gasped out the words, looking to Damia and Malachi for some kind of evidence that maybe they'd seen it too. Lucas's brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, but Piper just groaned and stuck out her hand to shush him. Throwing the axe on the ground, about a foot in front of her, she waited. Lucas looked to his sister, blinking, waiting for something to happen. She was focusing quite intensely, and her left hand suddenly struck out like a bolt of lightning.

Nothing happened.

Just as quickly as nothing had happened, the twins began to bicker. Ignoring their new companions, they divulged into a feat of commandeering tones and low-level insults. Lucas tried to persuade Piper to head home, to let him handle it, and she began to grow upset again. Their voices overlapped, hardly coherent except to each other. Piper pointed to the two, making a point that she deserved to be there in case they tried anything. Lucas tried to calm her, to convince her that they weren't going to try anything on him. Fully upset, Piper let out a yell of anger, turning to face the axe again.

This time, the thing flung itself into the air, latching itself into her right hand.

Lucas's mouth flung open, hanging in mid air.

Piper could only pant, while grinning wickedly at her brother.

 

[Lucyfer]

Vampires didn’t exist. There were stories of them, as there were stories of Shifters. Malachi did not know what to think of this, in truth, though the shadow of anger he saw under Damia’s hood showed her thoughts on people pretending to be vampires. Curious. He only knew of vampires who reveled in their immortality.

A problem for later.

“How is there a world without—” before Malachi could finish his question, however, Piper let out a shout, and all eyes turned to her, while Lucas ran over to where she was and tried to figure out what startled her. Malachi started to approach, but was held back, oddly enough, by the vampiress. He looked down at her, quizzically, but she just shook her head, so he relaxed his posture and stayed back.

It became apparent why, as things devolved into sibling arguments, something Malachi was at least familiar with. Apparently, Piper was experiencing immense stress over this situation, which was no surprise given how she’d stormed off to chop wood. Apparently, she thought the axe moved on its own, and the duo watched as she tried to make it happen again.

Nothing did.

And that was when the bickering began.

Damia touched his shoulder. It was a hesitant gesture, but Malachi turned to look down at her, tuning out the sibling bickering for a moment, “I know we’re not on…good footing here.”

“No kidding.”

“But if we’re in a new world, an actual different world, we need to stick together.”

Malachi could have denied her, but he sighed and brought a hand up to his temple. He agreed with her, of course. “You can do illusions, can’t you?” She nodded, “That might be useful here,” he spoke softly, “if what they say is true and people aren’t familiar with things like us…all right. We’ll help each other find a way back, but we’re going to have a talk about this phoenix thing.”

Damia rolled her eyes, but made a consenting noise. “If you can think of another way to remove this curse, be my guest. I don’t care how.” She’d probably kill a phoenix with her bare hands if it got the job done, but she’d humor other methods.

She had eternity, right?

“You can’t teleport, right?”

“No,” he said. “And this isn’t an illusion of yours?”

“No! Why?”

He just shrugged as he shook his head, before another shout drew their attention and the pair watched the axe fly into Piper’s hand.

Malachi was startled.

“Didn’t…didn’t you just say magic doesn’t exist in this place?” Damia couldn’t help but ask, seeing Piper had pulled the axe into her hand. She was pretty sure that was magic, though by the looks on Piper and Lucas’s face both, she realized this was abnormal.

“I think we broke something.” Malachi said, and though he didn’t know how he got here, he did feel guilt for whatever they had done in appearing here, that seemed to be altering the rules these two humans lived by.

 

[BELIAL.]

The first thing Piper did was laugh. She'd done it. Just as she said she could, as much as her brother wanted to believe he was Mister Right and she was Miss Wrong-- like usual-- she'd gone ahead and pulled an uno reverse on him. Her grin widened as she laughed, but the laughs began to turn to hysterics. She doubled over, a few loose tears spilling from her eyes. Lucas could only stand by, his mouth still open, before looking to Malachi. The man's deep voice startled him, and he somehow managed to make his brain work again.

"We... there is no magic! Especially nothing like that!" Lucas gasped, incredulous. Piper built her resolve again, breathing shakily, and then promptly dropped the axe to her feet. She ran her hands through her hair, not even caring about the drying blood that smeared on her forehead.

Looking to the three people watching her, she could only nod. "Okay, I believe you both. Entirely. After that, which I'm now one hundred percent sure everyone saw, I believe you. That was... okay, believe us, there is no magic. I've never, ever, been able to do that before," she said and looked down at the marked hand. Lucas saw too, and filled in the gap.

"You think it's--?"

"I mean, what else, right? After what we've just--"

"It only makes sense. Maybe it's from--"

"--Light!"

On cue the twins looked at Damia and Malachi. Lucas attempted to fill in the gaps, a brilliant smile on his face. "Sorry, but major twin brain wave there. So, we saw a light when you two came in. Other than that, nothing. You guys didn't do anything, you just... showed up. I had an idea that it was someone else who interfered, maybe someone who's capable of this kind of ability... You guys got any enemies? Or someone with a whole lot of magic up their sleeve? Merlin the Wizard?" Lucas half-asked, but shook his head and waved his hands. "Nevermind, you wouldn't get it. Anyhow, imagine magic strong enough to transport you to an entirely different world. Wouldn't they need some sort of foot in this world, or in all of the possible worlds, in order to do it? Can't unlock a door without a key, right?" Lucas snatched Piper's hand and held both his and his sister's hand to the two.

"I'm not saying that these are the key, but maybe they are. Maybe whatever these symbols are, they're related to what brought you guys here. It's the only thing that makes sense." Lucas was smiling wide, like a mad scientist discovering that energy does equal mass times acceleration. He wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead, getting worked up.

"Does that makes sense?" He said, following up to gaze intently at the two.

 

[Lucyfer]

Yes, the world here was definitely breaking – as if Piper’s manic laughter wasn’t a sign of that, Lucas further confirming that this was terribly abnormal and nothing Piper had done before aided that. Piper also confirmed – after a confusing back and forth with Lucas, that they explained away as some sort of twin connection.

“Uh huh,” Malachi would just have to accept it. He didn’t know any twins, so he didn’t really know how they operated. Damia, at least, didn’t seem to want to discard that theory immediately, though then again, they were in a strange place. Anything could have been real here – even if, apparently, Shifters and Vampires were not.

He and Damia exchanged a look at the mention of enemies. So far as Malachi knew, he didn’t have any. The look on Damia’s face said enough – she definitely did, and she was quick to look down. Well, that was potentially problematic. Malachi looked back at Lucas.

“I’m not sure I follow all of it,” he said, “but I understand there may be a connection between our arrival and what has happened to the pair of you. I do not know of any enemies I have,” he wouldn’t speak what he suspected of Damia from their look, “but nothing is impossible, given the situation we find ourselves in.”

“My enemies shouldn’t have magic like that,” Damia noted. “Least not that I know of.” Of course, vampire powers followed different trajectories based on bloodlines. She didn’t know all the bloodlines or all the possibilities. Plus, there was always the possibility they learned other magics, or had skills innate from what they were before being turned into a vampire.

“Perhaps we should go away from this area?” Malachi suggested. Damia looked up, startled, not at all approving. He spoke before she could interject a denial, “If something, or someone, sent us here purposefully, we may not want to hang around. In any case, I think there is a bit to figure out through understanding this world, and trying to…explain our own, so that we can find a way to restore balance and return to our world, and hopefully correct any damage we’ve done to your world.”

“You really think this is a new world?” Damia asked.

“I don’t know what to think, but I think it’s better if we remain open-minded about the possibility, don’t you?”

She huffed, but didn’t protest further.

“Do you know of some place that might be safe to go?” Malachi inquired.

 

[BELIAL.]

The twins nodded, and Piper turned her head to look at some of the chopped wood. She seemed to linger on the thought of using her newfound abilities to make it move toward her, or maybe yank it all the way home... but she decided against it, upon absent-mindedly rubbing her sore eye and cheek from work. Lucas jerked a thumb back the way they came.

"Our dad's house is just back down out of the woods. Though, I think we'll have to sneak you two through the back... he's not exactly the most into the idea of strangers coming into his home, from the woods, looking like..." Lucas trailed off, gesturing to the outdated clothing on Malachi and Damia. "Sorry."

"They can probably stay in the guest house. Dad never goes out there anyway," Piper noted, now with an armful of loose wood in her arms. She made her way, hardly stopping to ask the others anything else. Lucas scrambled, once again waving for the two to follow.

Though only a brief time had passed from the twins original entrance into the woods, followed by the whole excitement, the evening had drawn on. Where the forest held shade, now the property stretched toward the pink and yellow horizon. A breeze had grown, now sufficiently whipping a couple of chill whisps of wind into any available skin. The house was expansive in size, as one would expect from a moderately wealthy farmhouse to be. Updated with several extended sections, there was still a touch of tradition to the place. Maybe it was the rustic wood that sat on the outside of the walls, or maybe it was the abundance of farmy decorations. A couple of ceramic chickens, with the occasional carved bit of wood and rock. The walkway had no gravel, but there were loose pebbles from the animals that roam between their barn and the wide yard. By the house, it was completed with cement ground.

"This way," Piper jerked her head. "I'm going to drop off the wood. Lucas, show 'em the rooms."

He nodded, smiling to the two. Once Piper was out of earshot, he turned to them and extended his hands in remorse. "I want to apologize, again, for my sister earlier. She gets in over her head fast, and is quick to... do what she did. She's calmed down a bit, and definitely more tolerable but just... I get that this is hard for you guys, I don't want to contribute to any of the stress. If you need anything, don't worry. I'll make sure of it, and I'm sure Piper will too." Lucas gave a cheerful, genuine smile as he shoved the door with his body to open it.

The guest house, though smaller than the main house, was definitely a home within itself. Outfitted with an open kitchen and living room, a spare bedroom stood off by the bathroom in the corner. A large loft extended over the living room, dipping below the slanted roof. Up above was a bunch of miscellaneous house objects, and a few reno tools. Spare blankets, board games, and old boxes of memories. There was a warmth to the guest house, probably due to the marble fireplace nestled below the hanging TV. As well, it was cozy from being lived in.

"It's a lot, I'm sure. I think Piper helped decorate this one, and she's always had her eye for the fancy places. She's been staying here, I think, since she got her job out of town. There's only one room so... uh, one of you can take the couch. It's comfy, I promise."

Almost on cue, Piper came through the back door. She waved sheepishly, holding Lucas' few things from his car. "Told Dad we were reliving the past for the night in the guest house, not to worry if he doesn't see us for another twelve hours or so. I grabbed your things, too." She tossed the few bags at her brother's feet, then pointed to Malachi and Damia.

"Phoenix guy, you eat bird food? Vampire do you... uh... need... uh...." Piper turned red in the face, waving her hand. "You know what... the b word."

Lucas gestured to the couch. "Feel free to let them relax for a second, Pipes."

She rolled her eyes.

 

[Lucyfer]

The pair apparently lived with their father, or such was what the outlandish duo believed as they followed them back. There was a guest house they would be staying it. Based on that, they both expected something like a manor when they approached, and were a touch let down when they did arrive to see the building. Not that it wasn’t majestic in its own, rustic, right – but it wasn’t at all the kind of place they were expecting.

And the guest house was also much smaller than they anticipated.

When Piper split from the group, they did follow Lucas wordlessly. “It’s okay,” Malachi was the one to speak as Lucas apologized for his sister, “I do not blame her, this situation is…terribly unusual,” he agreed on that front. Responding in any fashion that was sensible or reasonable would certainly be a struggle for most. Particularly given how he was found.

He could make sense of Piper’s agitation.

Although he wasn’t sure how much Lucas or Piper could do, it was clear they were now all four involved in this mess and would have to figure it out together in order for things to go back to normal. To remove the magic from this world, and remove themselves, as well.

What was within the guest house may as well have been magic, though.

Some of it was familiar, the sinks, the couches, the beds, the fireplace, but plenty of other items were unfamiliar. The refrigerator, for one, was a curious box to both Damia and Malachi, as was the hanging television. They both did look around as they stepped in, silent about their bafflement and doing their best to take stock of what they did, and didn’t know. Malachi kept his wings folded in close, acknowledging that there wasn’t much room to spread them here.

He’d likely want to withdraw them soon, anyways, but shifting always took energy and he wasn’t too sure how much he honestly had to spare.

“I don’t sleep,” Damia noted as the mention of rooms and beds were brought up. Malachi nodded.

“I do.” He supposed it was no surprise that something dead didn’t sleep, though he wondered if the vampiress still did, and just didn’t need to.

He wouldn’t be asking that right now. Keeping the bed was a significant benefit.

He was quick to make space when Piper returned with bags for Lucas, and information about how they were free of their father looking in on them.

He did cant his head quizzically at the question, and would speak before anyone else could about the way Piper stumbled over the vampire’s diet. “Bird…food?”

“Nuts and seeds, I would think.”

“Oh. I’d…prefer more substance. Fruits and vegetables.” He supposed he could eat nuts and seeds, but he’d need to eat a whole lot of them. “No meat,” he added. “Uh, and you, I suppose….”

“I can make it another day or two,” barely. And not really. But Damia didn’t want to drain the humans who were helping them. Never mind the risk of acting out. She could always sneak out and find someone else, right? “The word is blood, though.” She couldn’t help but say. Were she in a better mood, she might have teased with the wink of a fang, but, thankfully for Piper, she was not in a better mood. Or a good mood.

"Well at least we won't be competing for food," Malachi rolled his eyes, but made for the couch, given Lucas's earlier gesture.