Story Title: Across the Void and Stars
Crossover: Worm/Familiar of Zero/Phantom Brave
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or references in this fanfiction crossovers. This is a work by a fan of the fandoms, to fans of the fandoms.
Summary: A rogue summoning spell create a void familiar unlike any others. A Ghost Summoner with her own league of Phantom army.
Author’s Note: For those with rough memory of Worm verse’s timeline, the story started roughly three weeks before Emma’s traumatic incident with ABB, roughly three months before The Simurgh’s attack on Madison, Wisconsin, which created The Travellers.
As for the Familiar of Zero verse’s timeline, this was months before Zero’s summoning attempt. The story will NOT be crossing into the Familiar of Zero verse, but it will tap on its methodology for Void magic.
OoooO
1.0 The Murderer in the Void
Her lifeless body in his arms, he pulled the enormous source of power she contained out of her body, into himself, forming the Ultimate Explosion to consume the Elven city before him. “You will all burn! Burn and Die!” One life for the destruction of thousands of the abominations was a price well paid.
He exists in the darkness of the Void. A black so dark that it did not exist in the living world. Yet ever so frequent, eddies and sparkles of lights would form briefly around him. As life out in the multiverse ended, the energies of entropy returned to its final resting place. With its return, the multitude of entropic energies brought with them the knowledge and experience of those they once were, once had been.
“You killed everyone, my families, my friends. You even killed Lillith who had trusted you so. And then had the gall to bind me in her place.” Her tear stricken eyes stared at him, hatred and rage blooming in her luminous blue orbs. “You are a monster and the Void take you!”
He who was the chosen of the Void, meant to be its mortal vessel, its eyes in the realms of the living. He had never truly known the vast magnitude of the abilities he was granted, of the many worlds and multiverses out there. And that he was but one of the many chosen of the Void, scattered across the multiverse.
In more ways than one he was glad that his once closest friend and familiar had killed him, cremated his body and sealed his soul into the darkness beyond. Never to be brought back to life by anyone else.
His mortal self had been tainted with rage, power and in his later living life the mass genocide he had caused had corrupted his soul into a living monster.
“… Sasha, I am not sure it will work. You may be the Lífþrasir now, but the power contained within you is of the Void.” The young mage’s voice said in trepidation, looking at his comrades beside him. “We might be Square class mages. But I am not sure even we could tap into the reserves of Void magic within you. We might kill you for nothing!”
She looked at the mages before her. “I am willing to give my life for this. We must never let him walk the lands again. And Treimus the Necromancer is part of his followers. I have the binding spells he once created. We have to try.”
But now freed from all mortal emotions, he was able to reflect and understand the bigger picture. He could never atone for the lives he had taken, so he had instead adjusted to being trapped forever in the Void, studying the Cosmic Force which had chosen him in life. His past still haunts him with the memories it brought. It had taken centuries, but he had at last accepted the monster he had been and now was not.
He had seen realities whirl into existence, when parts of the Void became too heavy with entropy, forming new worlds and new lives. He had seen beings, Outsiders, striding through the darkness, unknowing of his existence and always in a hurry, for those that dwell in the dark for too long would be consumed.
He had seen the memories, and experienced the lives of numerous souls that died. He had understood so much in his now un-life. Of how to use the powers of the Void in ways that was more than just a weapon of mass destruction.
A whisper, a Voice sounded in the Void. He turned his attention to it. It seemed that one of his mortal descendant, who bears the touch of the Void, was attempting to summon a familiar. It had happened a few times throughout the centuries he was stuck here. Though his mortal scions were now numerous, few were ever chosen by the Void to be new vessels.
The trapped soul frowned as the words of power from the summoning ritual reached him.
“… name is Prince Joseph de Gallia.” The arrogant voice of the youth rang out in the darkness. “I, descendant of the Great Founder Brimir Ru Rumiru Yuru Viri Vee Varutori, commands the Pentagon of the five elemental power. I am the rightful heir of the Void, the rightful ruler of the people of Halkeginia. I am the bane of all Elves! With the life blood of a hundred elves as this sacrifice, you will heed my summoning… and bring forth…my most powerful familiar!!”
Shock tingled through the ancient soul as the magic boiled and formed within the Void, bending to his descendant’s command. He could sense the energies of vile blood ritual tied into the entropic energies of the Void, used to further empower the summoning spell that was forming.
If he had been able to, he would have strangled that misguided descendant of his, for nothing good would come of this. He might just be a soul now, bond to the Void, unable to interfere with the living. But once he was the Chosen of the Void, and he still maintained some command over the powers of entropy.
Brimir Ru Rumiru Yuru Viri Vee Varutori, named the Great Founder by his people with his death, the Murderer of the Elven race, and now a redeemed soul residing in the Void reached forth into the bubbling spell and … Pushed.
The blood magic of the hundred dead elves were enhancing the familiar summoning spell to levels never before seen. With the amount of time he had before the spell concluded, Brimir had no time to unravel it, instead he tried to push the focus of the spell out of alignment.
He never expected the spell to latch onto his soul, as the spell tore out of the grasp of his inexperienced young descendant and used his soul as the binding point.
Neither was he prepared as the rogue Void magic tore through the multiverse, destablising and mutating into something different from the original intention of the summoning spell.
Brimir felt the vast energies of the spell grabbed onto vast chunks of the void energies, forming a complex weave of energies that he had never seen before. As the unstable energies transverse the multiverse pulling Brimir’s spirit along, he began to fear for the soul that would be bind by the spell. For what would happen to the one summoned by the rogue energies would be anyone’s guess.
OoooO
1.1 Familiar Summoning Part 1
Earth Bet: – August 9th (Sunday) – Summer Camp
Taylor grimaced as the camp nurse helped her into the coach.
“First week of summer camp and we already have our first injury.” The nurse said giving Taylor a friendly grin and a pat on the shoulder. “Give your ankle a rest for the next two days and you should be well enough to join the rest for the trip to the sheep farm and lake rowing next week.”
“It was fun though.” Taylor said remembering the horse back ride, the feeling of freedom as wind ran across her hair. “I should have been more careful getting off the horse.”
“I am glad you enjoyed yourself.” The camp nurse said giving her a wink as she began to pack up a bag of medicines. “Now you rest for a while, I need to rescue some of the boys from sun burns and poison ivy. Apparently, a group of them fell into a patch while the counselors were transporting you back. You can do some reading if you want, or play the game consoles, from what the camp leaders were telling me, we are quite well stocked with the latest game titles.”
“I will do that Nurse Amber, don’t worry about me.” Taylor said giving the nurse a wave as she stepped out, a smile on her face.
Summer camp had not been what she had expected. Taylor had come unwillingly, only because dad had already paid for it and it was apparently quite costly. After mom passed away, it felt like joy had left the house. Dad had pretty much left her alone for the past year and she had sort of drifted through life with Emma being her only constant support. But now… now Taylor was beginning to understand, maybe it was time to heal and move on.
The first week of camp had been filled with places to go, things to do, and people to meet. Her camp mates were all very nice people and after they were divided into groups, Taylor had gotten well with her teammates. Rose was from L.A. and she was only in the summer camp because her parents had a work project in Brockton Bay, Johnny was going to Arcadia High when school open and Nelson was going to Immaculata High.
Moving towards the shelves, Taylor decided she might as well try out the consoles, she had already read most of the literature titles on the shelves and she never did get a chance to use the consoles. The guys in camp tend to swarm it during the evenings.
Switching on a game console, Taylor read through the shelf of game titles and paused at one titled “Phantom Brave”, apparently it was a game about a girl that can summon a ghost army. It was a single player game which was good enough for her, Taylor was not sure if she had the dexterity for playing those fighting games Nelson was so fond of.
Loading the game, Taylor realised that it has been played before by several others in the game, there were numerous game saves. Starting the new game, Taylor began to feel herself enjoying the slow but wistful atmosphere of the story. It took a while before she completed the first chapter of the storyline, but Taylor begin to find herself getting used to and enjoying the game mechanics.
Saving her game as she concluded the first chapter, Taylor looked at the time and realised that it was almost time for the others to return from their activities. Dinner was probably already prepared in the kitchen. Looking at the game console, Taylor realised she might not be able to spend much time on the game once the boys occupy the consoles for the evening.
With some time to spare, she loaded one of the game saves that stated as “Final Episode save”, she was always the type to skip to the ending just to see if the story is worth continuing. It did not take her long to realise that whoever saved the game had levelled the playable characters to high levels. She was able to finish the final battle against the story’s final boss with ease.
As the game credits scrolled past the screen and a small cutscene appeared with two of the game’s main characters in a small cottage, Taylor heard the sound of the front door opening and a horde of noises from the front hall. The others must have returned, she would continue her game tomorrow afternoon.
She got up to switch off the console next to the TV when what seemed to be a swirling green portal of energy appeared in the cutscene, swallowing up the two characters.
“…commands the Pentagon of the five elemental power…” a far sounding but commanding voice called in the distance.
“What?” Taylor said as she looked around the room. There was sound of footsteps and someone stepped into the living room, it was Rose her group mate.
“Taylor! We are going to dinner…” Rose paused at the threshold of the living room, her eyes wide as she stared at something behind Taylor. “Taylor! Behind you!”
Taylor turned around to see that the swirling green portal which had appeared had now covered the entire flat TV screen… and tendrils of energies were extending out of the screen.
“Ah!!!” Taylor cried out in shock as she tried to stumble away on her bad leg. She did not manage more than a few steps before the strange tendrils of energies gripped hold of her neck and arms dragging her backwards.
As she fell into the swirling green portal, that was already extending out of the TV, Taylor saw the frozen terrified face of Rose, a scream of terror sounding in the living room.
…
She fell into a tunnel of terrifying green energies, swirling and burning all around her…
Her head…
Throbbing…
Pain…
…
The universe burst into being before her.
Two large whale-like beings flying through the darkness of space and stars…
Taylor thought she saw them breaking into…
The shimmering green fires, the strange energies that had taken her shattered the universe that hovered in front of her vision.
The fires burned all around her and far away Taylor thought she heard an inhuman scream…
WRONG…
ERROR…
ABNORMA…
The inhuman screech died off and Taylor’s vision splintered again.
She saw a world filled with deserts, with a protruding crystalline structure burning with green fires.
She saw a world filled with large oceans, a similar crystalline structure deep in the sea bed, also burning with green fires.
There was another world, filled with trees that were dying, and in the center of the decay was another crystalline structure burning with emerald flames.
There was one last world where…
…
The visions disappeared. A tremendous wave of energy carried her, and suddenly she was out of the tunnel, floating in clear blue skies… drifting down…
She saw an island close to a glowing green crystalline structure protruding out of the sea. The island seemed familiar, like the one from the game she was playing previously, the base of operations and home of the main character of the game.
Phantom Isle… The memory appeared in her head. It was Marona’s home… her home that she managed to acquire from Sienna…
She lived there from young with her phantoms and Ash…
Taylor landed softly on the island, the stumble breaking her out of the memories that was crowding in her head. She looked at her hands that was now lean and muscled, a lock of her hair fell across her eyes and she gasped as she saw that while it was still dark, there were light green highlights streaking through her black hair.
Above her, up in the clear blue sky, she could see a rapidly closing green portal. A surge of fear within her brought forth the memories of battle and… Taylor sensed the powers within her now that she remembered how to reach out to them.
The light airy sensation of Chartreuse Gale, the ability to summon Phantoms and bond them to her.
The deep and cold sensation of her Elemental Magics, the spells Marona had focused on after fusing those abilities into her body came to her. The poison of Acid Rain, the heat of a Fire spell, the power to create a magical Force, the spell to create a massive ball of fire, Giga Fire and the electrifying Mega Thunder.
Then there was the beating embodiment of her Healing Skills, the abilities Marona fused into her to heal and disrupt one’s physical body. The drifting power of the Flower Fairies that heal wounds and cure sickness, the rotting power of Moldy Bread that cause one to lose physical grip and become poisoned, the power of Nourishment that heals and may increase the attack powers and speed of those targeted, the power of Revive… that literally brings back the dead…
Taylor froze, feeling the sensation of the many abilities lurking within her grasp, one of which could literally bring back the recently dead if what she felt from the source of power was true. Tears brimmed at the edge of her eyes. If only she had this power before her mom had died…
There was a sound from the cottage, Marona’s cottage, a shimmer of air and a familiar looking teenager literally stepped through the cottage walls, causing Taylor to give a startled gasp, breaking out of her emotional spiral.
“Ash?” Taylor said, the memories of Marona’s ghost/ phantom caretaker came to her mind. She paused as she realised that the young man looked a bit different from Marona’s memories. Not to mention how absurd the current situation was. She was pulled into a green portal, have memories and powers of the game character she was just playing as, was now on an island based after the game and meeting another character in the game? What was happening?
“Ash… yes perhaps I am in a way. Just as you may be part of Marona if my suspicions are true.” The teenager said slowly, a pondering look in his eyes. “You may call me Brimir … and we have a lot to talk about.”
OoooO
1.2 Familiar Summoning Part 2
He saw the moment the rogue void magic stablised, having found its target. Even with his long years studying void energies, or perhaps because of the centuries of knowledge he possessed of the void, both in life and in death… that allowed him to even get a glimpse of what the rogue magic would do.
It is targeting someone with Great Power, Great Darkness, across the Temporal time streams. But Brimir’s involvement also added in several parameters, there must be Sorrow, Repentance, Death and Peace…
The rogue magic burst through the veils of a far-flung reality and for a brief moment Brimir saw the target of the spell. He could sense the fierce resolve and gained a fragment of memory from the target as the spell read her intent. He saw a young woman with an army of humans with great powers, all directly under her control, fighting off a great evil… an alien that can travel multiple realities. She had sacrificed her humanity in order to save the greater humanity, committed evil to do a greater good, she had Great Power, Great Darkness, Sorrow had been with her loyal companion, and in the end, she took down her great enemy and reached Repentance, willingly facing Death.
Yet Peace must be required, and thus the Void magic having found a target it deemed to be perfect, travelled through the Temporal time streams to find another intersection where the void spell’s target could meet the requirement. They found it in her thirteen-year-old self, had found Peace from her Sorrow, due to a Death. The target had through a proxy mastered Great Power to defeat Great Darkness and allow another proxy to gain Repentance.
The requirements were met, and the magic went to work, condensing the proxies used by the target and then summoning the target with it…
Only for the target to alter the void spell further when an alien burst of energy connected with her. Caught up in the swirl of the spell alteration, Brimir saw the alien memories as the entity tried to impose itself onto the girl. He saw its memories, of two alien entities that first arrived and targeted the girl’s world and many other similar worlds across the multiverse for harvest. He saw that it had too selected the girl for its own empowerment and evolution. And Brimir now understood the actions of the girl in the original timeline. Why a young girl of only eighteen years of age, would sacrifice all to face down a great evil that threatened to destroy humanity throughout the multiverse.
But the small piece of alien entity within the girl was no match for the rogue magic of the void. Though it is powerful in its own right, with parts of itself occupying and consuming four alternate worlds for power, it was soon consumed by the void magic and remade.
The proxies consumed by the void magic provided a structure for the magic to settle in. With the added dimensions and power brought in by the subsume of the alien entity, Brimir felt the void magic integrating him with one of the proxies that was used by the void magic as a structure. He saw the magic targeting one of the worlds the alien entity had dominated, literally creating an island out of pure void energies.
He lost all ties to the spell as his spirit form was fully integrated with the proxy and…. He appeared in what looked like a small cottage, memories of the proxy named Ash, who was apparently a Phantom, a ghost of some sort, bubbling at the back of his mind. His body seemed to be in a state of half-life, half-death, and from Ash’s memories, normal people would not be able to see him, though they could hear him, and he could affect the living world in some ways.
Centuries of imprisonment in the void had allowed him to master his mind and Brimir was able to quickly master the proxy’s memories, not allowing them to overwhelm him. He then took stock of the strange skills and abilities the Phantom Ash seems to possess. While Ash seems to have a great number of weapon type skills and abilities, his magical skills were non-existence though he did have a great number of nature type abilities.
On a haunch, Brimir tried to reach out to the void as he had done in life, to manipulate its powers. What came to him was a weak trickle of void energies, barely enough for him to form a small fire ball or a weak breeze. It appeared that the rogue familiar summoning spell had brought him back into the real world and out of the void with a cost, he had lost much of his connection to the void.
Looking out of the cottage windows, he saw that the target of the familiar summoning spell was on the beach, looking around her in confusion. The poor child probably had no idea what had happened to her. Not to mention the fact that the interruption of the void magic had disrupted her would be destiny. Something would need to be done about the enemy of Humanity, but that was a problem for another day.
Now he had to calm the girl down, and find out what are the alterations the void had done to her, and see if they could find a way off this world.
He walked through the walls of the cottage. He could probably open the door of the cottage if he exerts enough force into it, but why do that when he could just pass through walls?
“Ash!” The girl said, eyes wide in shock as she turned to face Brimir. The green highlights in her hair and her shimmering green eyes brought to mind Ash’s memories of another young girl, one named Marona, who had the ability to grant physical forms to Phantoms.
It became apparent what the void had done to the girl once Brimir reached that conclusion.
“Ash… yes perhaps I am in a way. Just as you may be part of Marona if my suspicions are true.” Brimir answered the girl. “You may call me Brimir … and we have a lot to talk about.”
“I… I am Taylor.” The girl said, reaching out a hand towards him, seemingly in a hand shake.
With an inner shrug, Brimir took it just to set the girl at ease. He was startled when a burning sensation crawled up his right arm. The girl gave a cry, wrenching back her right hand as golden light etched a smooth line of symbols across her right arm, as well as his right arm.
“This isn’t supposed to happen.” Brimir said in shock, looking at the familiar runes on his right arm. To cement a master-familiar summoning requires an exchange of bodily fluids, not to mention he was neither familiar or master to the original summoning spell.
“What did you do? I have tattoos on my right arm!” The girl, Taylor, asked, cradling her right arm in shock. Her eyes then widened, and she took a step back. “Are you… are you a parahuman? Did you… are you the one that took me to this place?”
“No, I am not the one that brought you here, nor am I the one that made those tattoos as you call them.” Brimir said moving forward to look at the runes on the girl’s arm, causing the girl to take another step back. “Stop moving, I need to see the words on your arm, and I have no idea what a parahuman is.”
The girl paused an incredulous look on her face. “You don’t know what is a parahuman? You know people with superpowers, that can fly, build incredible machines, create forcefields and energy blasts, heal wounds… you know superpowers? Parahumans have been appearing around the world since 1983… where are you from that you don’t know all these.”
“Where I am from, we call the people you described as mages.” Brimir said, a frown on his forehead as he compared the runes on his hand to the ones on Taylor. “And I am… I was from another world.”
“What?!” Taylor asked in astonishment. “You mean like Earth from another reality?”
“I guess you can say that.” Brimir said as he looked up, gesturing to the runes on both of their arms. “It appears as the two sets of runes on our arms are an amalgamation of some type of Master-Familiar runes. We are tied to each other apparently. Based on the runic formulation, yours bears the runes of Living, Dead, Master and Void. Mine bears the runes of Dead, Sacrifice, Master and Void. We are tied via the Master and Void runes with numerous differing sub-runes. From what I can tell, both our runes bear the sub-runes of Ghost, linking all four greater runes, meaning only those marked with similar runes, am able to see spirits, or am a ghost can see the runes on our arms. You can summon me or those under your command, instantly through the Void should you have a need. As for me, I will be able to sense if you are in danger and travel through the void to reach you or any of those under your command. And should you face death, I will be sacrificed to grant you another chance at life.”
“That’s terrible.” Taylor said, her face paling as she looked around them, at the seemingly deserted island. “Who would do this to us? Who brought us here? And… and I have powers… I can feel them, somebody did something to me!”
“Ah yes that.” Brimir said, wondering how he should go about explaining all that had happened. “Perhaps you can come sit down in the cottage first. What I need to tell you will take a while. It all began with the familiar summoning…”
OoooO
1.3 PRT Investigation
“To think I thought today was a slow day and that I can finally have one Sunday when I got to go back home on time to make dinner for the children.” Sally said grimly as the PRT van speed down the highway leading out of Brockton Bay, towards Redwoods Camp which was situated a mile out of town.
“Last Sunday was Squealer testing her monster truck through Central, the Sunday before that was Oni Lee bombing half of downtown when the local police stumbled upon one of ABB’s drug outpost… god that was a mess.” Kelly said. “What is the emergency this time round? We weren’t even briefed before HQ packed us up in the van and sent us off.”
“Missing kid. I am reading the report now, PRT hotline received a call from Redwoods Camps, one of their kids was pulled into a TV by a green energy portal. It was witnessed by another kid, and the camp counselor on the phone stated the security cameras that was setup around the camp house captured the entire incident. PRT stated it as possible parahuman kidnapping. Armsmaster is fronting this, he has already reached the camping grounds with Miss Militia. They have called in the father of the kidnapped girl, he will be meeting us at Redwoods Camps.” Peterson said from the front of the van.
“Damn.” Sally cursed. “They are certain it’s not a Trigger Event? When some of the parahumans first get their powers, they don’t have much control over it.”
“HQ is pretty sure it’s a kidnapping. They got a copy of the security tape from the room where the incident happened. The girl was terrified and screaming when she was pulled into the portal. They did note that she twisted her ankle earlier in the day, but nothing happened in the afternoon while she was resting.” Peterson stated. “And you know Trigger Events tend to follow a similar formula, traumatic incident leads to traumatic individual with great powers. The cases where parahumans get powers from normal everyday incidents are usually second generation parahumans, whose parents have powers as well. In this type of case, the powers manifest immediately during the incident.”
“God, the poor kid.” Kelly said solemnly. “The last time I heard of a parahuman kidnapping was that incident a month ago in New York. There was this Bio-Tinker that went nuts, kidnap the homeless and did experiments on them, turn them into some kind of cat people.”
“That’s Catnip, I read the PRT case file on her, vet that triggered with a bio-tinker focus on cats. They caught her last week and sent her to the Birdcage. The New York PRT pulled in some favors from New Wave and Panacea went over to fix those people.” Sally said as she did a quick check of her equipment. “I hope Armsmaster and Miss Militia can figure out where the girl’s taken.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that.” Peterson said grimly as his mobile device beeped and he peered at the message. “HQ just said that Armsmaster completed a scan of the room. Apparently, he detected dimensional energies from the incident site. An order has been bumped up for the PRT to contact Toybox for assistance. They are suspecting the kidnapper is a parahuman that can either manipulate dimensional space for travel, or can create dimensional manipulation technologies.”
“There isn’t a lot of parahumans with powers like that.” Kelly said with a frown. “The only cape I can recall with dimensional specialisation was Professor Haywire, and we all know what he did.”
“Blasted a hole through realities and opened a way into Earth Aleph.” Sally said with a grimace. “I still remember my parents were terrified he was going to end the world. Of course, that was before the Endbringers appeared. If we have another tinker with that kind of specialisation, I am not sure if our Brockton Bay have the right Heroes to counter them. The group of Heroes who tried to put down Professor Haywire suffered a lot of casualties. Almost half of that group was lost in the initial fight, the theory was that Haywire shunted them into another reality, and nobody could figure out Haywire’s technologies to find a way to get them back.”
“Either way we have to do our job.” Peterson said grimly. “We will reach the camp in ten minutes. Once there, the first thing is to setup a secure perimeter. PRT-11 is right behind us, they will be taking care of the civilians. I don’t envy them to be honest, there’s around thirty teenagers, and PRT has gotten a court order to close the camp for investigation. They are going to have a rough evening taking care of the children and getting them to their parents who are informed to retrieve them.”
“Understood sir.” Sally acknowledged.
“Miss Militia will be assisting us while Armsmaster is returning to the PHQ to gather more equipment.” Peterson continued. “I will need to accompany Miss Militia to speak with Mr. Hebert, the victim’s father, once he reached the camping ground. Once both of you are done, it’s guard duty to prevent anyone that’s not PRT members from entering the site. PRT-19 will come relief us at 9 p.m. hopefully we will have some good news by then.”
OoooO
1.4 Phantom Isle – The Beginning
Earth ?: – August 9th (Sunday) – Phantom Isle
Taylor listened initially with a bit of skepticism as Brimir talked about his world, about magic, about the Void, and about the Familiar Summoning ritual common in his world. The only thing stopping her from proclaiming bullshit, was the fact that her world was a world where people have superpowers.
As her mother used to tell her, Taylor was born into the era of superheroes… and super villains, where ordinary people could one day wake up with great powers, to break or to heal was up to them.
Taylor knew that there was a time when people were just… ordinary people, but that was the history, way back before 1983, when the first parahuman was officially sighted, recorded and acknowledged. Taylor also knew of alternate realities, or alternate Earths to be precise.
The first thing Parahumans Studies had taught her in school were the list of Heroes and Supervillains, their powers, their strengths, their weaknesses. One of the first and most notorious Supervillain was Professor Haywire, a Tinker specializing in “interdimensional tech”. He was the reason why the people of her world had connection with an alternate Earth.
According to Parahuman History, the two Earths nearly went to war when The Hole Professor Haywire tore through reality was first formed. Only vigorous attempts at peace and diplomacy stemmed the tide of war. Agreements and concessions were made between both Earths, and The Hole was officially filled with concrete with guarded facilities situated on each Earth, at the ends of The Hole. One of the concession was that her Earth was therefore classified as Earth Bet, while the other Earth was Earth Aleph, and only limited communications, such as the trade of research and media were allowed across The Hole.
Taylor was not doubting Brimir’s words that he was from another world, what she doubted was his insistence that the “mages” of his world use magic. After finding out that the “mages” of his world actually had a science and language used in manipulating the elemental and void magic of his world, Taylor was sitting on the fence of whether to dispute his claim or not.
Apparently, somebody tried to cast an evil familiar summoning spell that Brimir disrupted and he was taken along for the ride.
“So, in a nutshell, you are originally a ghost in this Void energy you use as magic. Someone in your world summon a familiar to erm… do their bidding or something. Apparently, he killed a lot of people, used blood magic for it to make sure whatever he summoned will be super powerful. You interrupted the spell, got taken along for the ride, and saw the spell targeting me because the fact that I completed a game and filled other prerequisite requirements of the spell was enough to make the spell go ah ha! This is the one I choose!” Taylor said, summarising what Brimir had told her, disbelief on her face.
“I ended up in this magical tunnel of Void energies and apparently some alien entity which had been residing within me choose that moment to emerge, and the Void energies attacked it. This alien object was apparently some sort of inter-dimension entity existing on four different worlds. When the Void energies took over it and whatever it uses for its body, it chooses one of the world the entity’s body was in and created an island based on the game I played, and blended both of our bodies with the concept of game characters and we ended up with their memories and abilities?” Taylor found her voice rising and tried to keep calm.
“It does sounds a bit incredulous…” Brimir began only for Taylor to cut him off.
“A bit incredulous?! Try very incredulous.” Taylor said, before opening her right palm which was glowing with red energy as a ball of fire formed above her palm. “I don’t doubt the part where we got the memories and abilities of a game character, I am living with it right now. I am also okay with your explanation of your Void magic to a certain extent. But this alien thing that is in me, which also just happen to further alter this Void magic of yours… it is unbelievable that so many impossible and random circumstances would happen at the same time!”
“That is because it is not random. The Summon Familiar spell found you because of your potential in your original future. I did not want to mention it previously because I fear it will confuse you.” Brimir said. “The truth is, with or without the Void summoning spell, that alien fragment exists within you. You remembered the image of the two giant crystalline entities moving in the darkness of space?”
“Yes…” Taylor said as she recalled what she saw in the tunnel.
“Those are the two alien entites, one of which left a piece of itself in you. What you saw was a memory stored in the alien fragment.” Brimir revealed. “I saw the Void magic consuming it when it awakened within you. I have a rough idea of what it would have done to you. Given time, it would have awakened in you, during the worst day of your life. The conflict and trauma you suffered, whether physical or mental, would cause the entity to adapt and become empowered, granting you access to a portion of its power.”
Taylor paled, clenching her trembling hands as the ball of fire went out. “What you described… that sounds like a Trigger Event. We covered that during Parahuman Studies in school, but the scientists of the world could never figure out why only a small portion of the human population would trigger with superpowers under stress.”
“Yes, you would have gotten power from it. Great power that you used to defeat the alien entity out to consume your world and that of other similar worlds in the multiverse.” Brimir noted.
“Defeat the alien entity?” Taylor asked, eyes widening in shock. “What… what do you mean.”
“Your original future self was the one the spell first orientated itself on. At that moment in time, you were controlling an army of humans who wield all sorts of powers against one of the alien entity who had taken the form of a golden man. Your sacrifice of your own humanity, committing great acts of darkness, in order to save the entire human race, that portion of your soul resonated with the summoning spell and as the spell saw your intent, so did I. But at the moment in time, you met all the criteria but one.” Brimir said. “The summoning spell is not limited by temporal currents. Having found what it determined to be its chosen target, the spell shift through your temporal timeline to find an event where you will fit all the criteria of the spell, whether by your own merits or by proxy. It then summoned you as a whole and rebrand you into the image that best fit its criteria.”
“I… I was controlling an army of superheroes against a golden man?” Taylor felt faint. Her world had a lot of superpowers, but one of the most feared type of powers was the ability to control others. One of the most notorious Villain in the states was Heartbreaker, a man who had the ability to control and manipulate the emotions of people. He had made numerous beautiful women fall in love with him and force them to become his faithful servants. The thought that she would have triggered with similar powers sickened her. “I know only one parahuman that’s golden… it’s Scion, the most powerful Superhero in the world! My world! Why would I go after him?”
“Because he is one of the alien entity. From the dying memories of your alien fragment, the goal of the two entities was to seed fragments of their selves into humans. They will use humans as vehicles to hasten their own evolution. All of their fragments are primed for conflict with each other, so that they in turn could learn and grow more and more powerful. Once a fragment reached maturity, a child fragment would be born from it to infect another human. The cycle will continue until there’s a large number of new alien fragments that all reached critical mass. These fragments would then be harvested back into the two entities, and all life on your world would be consumed as energy sources to facilitate their reformation.” Brimir said as horror crossed Taylor’s face. “You must have discovered the truth in your original future and determined who the alien entities were. Otherwise you would not have gone after one of them.”
“I…” Taylor trembled from what Brimir had said. If what Brimir said was true, it would be devastating for her world, but she would need to validate what he said. She wanted to cry out that she was only thirteen, she should not have to deal with this future knowledge of horror and responsibility her older self apparently went through. But the truth was, she felt older than thirteen, especially after her memories were blended with those of Marona.
Marona might have been a game character, but the Void magic which summoned her had given Marona’s memories life. Her parents died when she was five, she survived under the care of Ash, who was a Phantom, a ghost stuck between life and death. She faced ostracisation from a large population of her world due to her ability to see and summon the dead.
Marona never had an easy life, and she had matured rapidly for her age, yet after all her sufferings, she still remained undaunted by the shit life had thrown at her, still seeing the good in the world.
It was that inner strength Taylor was drawing on now, that things would work themselves out… one day.
“I think I need to go back to my world now.” Taylor said with a deep breath. “Go back and think about it. Rose saw me when the Void magic grabbed me and dumped me here, they must be frantic by now, if they called my dad… I need to find a way back and tell everyone I am alright.”
Brimir looked at her for a moment, before giving a nod. “Yes, you are right. You will need to return to your world. I do know a spell to open dimensional doorways, but unfortunately, the change that was wrought onto me damaged my capacity for Void magic. It will take me days to craft out the spell work for a dimensional doorway.”
“Maybe there’s something else we can try.” Taylor said getting off her seat in the small kitchen of the cottage. She walked out of the cottage with Brimir following, towards what looked to be a mailbox near the cottage, next to the beach. “When I was playing the game, Marona used the mailbox as a game mechanic to travel to different parts of her world… I am hoping whatever magic that gave us memories and powers of game characters, would have done something similar to the mailbox.”
Brimir drifted up beside the mailbox, peering at it with a critical eye. “It is underlined with a Void enchantment sequence I have never seen before. Let me see… lines for the Master/Familiar… residents… phantom… island… mind… emotion… eye… dimension… an anchor… transport… and retrieval. My… this is a work of art…”
“So, does it take me back to my world?” Taylor asked impatiently.
“It will do more than that. This mailbox will work for the two of us, our Master/Familiar runes are literally keyed into it. Other would be users are those considered residents of this island which can be declared by those with our runes. This island is apparently keyed to the runic structure and is known as Phantom Island. As for how to use mailbox, you need to picture the location and whoever you are bringing along with you while touching the mailbox, calling up an emotional response of the place and willing yourself to travel there. The spellwork literally allows the user to travel through dimensions, through realities, and as an added bonus, it anchors the user and whoever was brought along the ride… back to this place. Meaning that whoever use the mailbox for travel can return to it by picturing the mailbox in their minds.” Brimir said, a tone of admiration in his voice.
“Alright, then I am going back to the camp.” Taylor said, a resolute look on her face as she rested a hand on the mailbox. “Dad will probably be called there if he heard I was gone.”
“What are you going to tell the people of your world?” Brimir asked curiously.
“I…” Taylor paused looking around the island. It was beautiful, tranquil, and if Brimir’s words were true, was created for her by the Void magic. It could be her refugee, her hideaway. “I will tell them… if anyone ask, that I was taken by someone and I escaped when I triggered with the power to erm… teleport back. That will explain what happened to my hair at the very least.”
“And your eyes, they are sort of a glowing green.” Brimir pointed out. “It’s actually quite soothing to look at.”
“What? My eyes are green?” Taylor asked in shock. “THEY ARE GLOWING?”
“Just slightly, I am sure there’s no need to worry about them.” Brimir said as Taylor’s voice tapered off in a scream.
Taylor just gaped at him and did a quick check of the rest of her body parts, before giving a sigh of relief at not finding anything unusual. “Well at least I have superpowers now, and this island… and you… Green eyes is just another thing to deal with when I get back.”
Brimir smiled. “Yes, there is that I suppose.”
“I never did ask… what do you plan to do?” Taylor asked as she realised that all this while she was asking Brimir for answers, never considering the fact that he was also unwillingly brought into this.
“Me?” Brimir pondered with amusement on his face. “I am still a spirit, but I am in the living world now, I am sure there will be lots for me to explore and learn. Don’t worry about me, I will see you later.”
“Alright then.” Taylor took a deep breath as she laid a hand on the mailbox. “Here goes nothing.”
She pictured the image of the living room of the camp house, the feeling of warmth and sense of adventure she felt while she was there. She wanted to be there, she wanted to GO BACK!
A sensation of tightness spread around her. One moment she was standing next to the mailbox, her right hand touching it, the next moment she was back in the living room, face to face with a man in a suit of armor, her hand touching his chest plate.
The man stabbed out with a device in his hand, causing her to give a shrill scream as pain spread though her body and she collapsed onto the floor, her body locked rigidly in pain. Her last conscious thought was that the man had seemed familiar and that she thought she heard the cries of her father in the distance.
OoooO
1.5 New Resident of Phantom Isle
As Director of the Parahuman Response Team of the East-North-East Division, Emily Piggot had thought she had seen and heard everything there was to see when dealing with cape related conflicts. With the variety of superpowers in the world these days, abnormal was the new normal.
Having the leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate team taser a suspected kidnap victim was not one of those new normal she was expecting.
Colin Wallis, cape name Armsmaster, was a powerful tinker who can create incredible technologies that specialize in miniaturization and efficiency. He also has the manners of a robot. This was not the first time Emily had to deal with a public relation disaster Armsmaster had unwittingly created and the weary woman suspected that it would not be the last.
“You tasered the girl, a new parahuman that in her own words, was taken to a dark cell where she triggered with the power to teleport back to safety.” Emily said, a hand massaging her forehead at the dull pain that was beginning to build up.
“She appeared right in front of me, and her eyes were glowing. My threat assessment program pegged her as an 75.13% possible threat and I reacted accordingly.” Colin stated, his words clipped, short and to the point.
“I realised the situation, but the entire incident happened right in front of the girl’s father who was being interviewed by Miss Militia.” Emily said rising a hand to stop Colin from speaking. “The man is understandably out for blood, but at the same time our people and you were doing the best to bring the girl back. So, this is what I will do. I will wait until this Danny Hebert has a day or two to calm down. Then we will invite him and his daughter back to our Protectorate Headquarters and I will explain to him that all of this was an accident and we are just doing our job in an unknown and possibly dangerous situation. How long was the girl out?”
“Miss Militia told me she recovered in fifteen minutes, I calibrated it precisely for that, it was a low voltage taser.” Colin stated. “I was unfortunately not allowed near the girl due to the demands of the father and could not give a more detailed observation.”
“I think Miss Militia did well enough with the report.” Emily said dryly. “I see that the identity of the kidnapper is still unknown?”
“Miss Hebert was apparently locked up in a dark cell for most of her capture up until her escape. She was unfortunately not able to provide us with any description of the place she was held up in, or of the person that took her. She also passed the level 0 Master/Stranger verbal test but more observation should be prudent.” Colin said grimly. “And based on what we know of Miss Hebert’s power, it appears she can at least travel back to a location she is familiar with, which means her ability is not limited by line of sight. With the dimensional energies readings we detected after her capture, our working theory is that the parahuman who took her most probably specialise in dimension travel or dimension creation of sorts. It is possible when Miss Hebert triggered, her power pinged off the ability of captor and take on overtones of dimension teleportation.”
“Ah the group cape trigger theory.” Emily said with a grimace. “I am familiar with that research. If a parahuman trigger next to another parahuman, their manifested powers will be influenced.”
“Yes, if our hypothesis is correct, Miss Hebert might be one of the first cape that the PRT is aware of, who can teleport across dimensions, it might be possible for her to travel across realities.” Colin concluded.
“If that is true, what Miss Hebert has is a powerful Mover ability especially since she is not limited by line of sight. She might be able to get pass any barriers or containment. At the very least, she should have a threat rating of Mover 4 and above.” Emily said as she opened the file on the Hebert girl and wrote down her assessment. “We need her in the Wards and we need her tested. I want Miss Militia and Battery to handle the meet and greet session with the Heberts.”
“Battery has requested for leave for next week. I can step in for…” Colin began but Emily quickly cut in.
“No, no, I am sure you will need time working on better understanding those dimensional energies you detected, and we will need equipment that can better pick up how Miss Hebert does her teleportation.” Emily said smoothly. “Get Velocity to team up with Miss Militia, let them know that I want that girl in the Wards and that they should pull out all the stops.”
“Very well.” Colin said with a nod. “If that’s all, I am going back to my workshop.”
Emily watched as Colin just stood and left after the conversation. Shaking her head, Emily dialed the number for Hannah, while she did not doubt Colin’s ability to pass on her message, sometimes it is best to be sure.
There was a dial tone before it was picked up. “Miss Militia here.” Hannah’s crisp voice said over the line.
“Yes Miss Militia, this is Director Piggot, I have an important task for you and Velocity.” Emily said as she closed the Hebert file and opened a report on ABB movements in the docks. “It is regarding the Heberts…”
OoooO
“Emma! Hurry up! I need to use the bathroom!” Anne called out, knocking on the bathroom door with an irritating whine.
“Just give me five minutes!” Emma said loudly as she cut off the shower and stepped out of the tub. The dancing class this afternoon had really stretched her muscles and her legs were tingling with soreness. Quickly towering herself and changing into fresh clothes, she had stepped out into the hallway, grumbling a little as Anne just pushed passed her and slammed the door to the bathroom.
“Brat.” Emma said pulling a face at the door. Of all the bathrooms in the house her sister just had to holler outside the one she was using. Putting the irritation behind her, Emma stepped downstairs into the dining room where mom and the maid was setting up dinner. Dad was reading some reports at the dining table while listening to the evening news and Emma walked up next to him, looking over his shoulders.
“Who is getting divorce this week?” Emma asked, causing her father to frown at her disapprovingly as he quickly tidied up the files.
“You shouldn’t be so flippant Emma.” Her father said with a sigh. “Sometimes I wonder if I should have just specialised in criminal law, doing something useful, instead of profiting off other’s misery.”
“If you have specialised in criminal law in this city, you will be dead within the year.” Her mom said with a frown as she appeared from the kitchen, setting down a plate of steaming fish with olives. “I prefer my husband alive, thank you very much. And you are not profiting off people’s misery. How many times do I have to tell you that? You are providing a service and helping couples who are unhappy with each other anyway, move on with their lives.”
“Oh my Zoe, always the wordsmith.” Her father said as her mother lean towards him for a kiss.
“Ah gross.” Emma said moving away from her parents. “I…”
“Breaking news tonight!” The evening news suddenly played a blaring opening music, causing the three of them to look at the TV.
“Brockton Bay PRT has just confirmed that a parahuman kidnapping has taken place at Redwoods Camp a mile just out of the city.” The news announcer said as snapshots of the camp in question was flashed on screen, showing groups of teenagers huddled together at a camping ground. “Brockton Bay PRT is reaching out to all parents who had sent their children to Redwoods Camp’s Summer camp to retrieve their children. The PRT are relocating the children and staff back to PRT headquarters. The PRT have issued a statement that they will provide accommodation at the PRT headquarters for teenagers whose guardians are not able to retrieve them for Summer.”
“That’s Taylor’s camp!” Emma said in shock. “We were talking the entire week about what she was doing there.”
“… so what is happening on the ground Steve?” The news announcer continued, the scene on TV switching to a live report showing a man standing in front of a large house with the sign Redwoods Camp. The entire house looked to be taped off by PRT keep out signs and there was a PRT officer standing guard at the front of the house, all armored up.
“Ah things are pretty tense here.” A man said holding a mic as he faced the camera. “Some of the parents are already on their way here to pick up their kids when PRT made the decision to transport the civilians back to PRT headquarters. There was a bit of delay as some of the kids have to get off the buses. Other than that, I managed to catch a glimpse of Miss Militia within the house talking to an older man. Based on what I managed to get from the PRT officials on sight, a young girl was kidnapped after being dragged into a portal that had opened up in front of a TV. The PRT isn’t ready to issue a statement if this is an isolated case or if we all need to be careful of our TVs, but from what I heard, the PRT will be sending out an amber alert for the girl soon.”
“Yes, thank you Steve! And we have just received the amber alert signed by the PRT director because of its likelihood of a being parahuman crime.” The news announcer said as the screen switched to a picture of a familiar face.
Emma’s heart clenched as her legs gave out on her. She kneeled on the floor in horror as she stared at Taylor’s face shown on the screen. Emma recognized the picture as one of the few she took during Taylor’s twelfth birthday. Beside her she could hear her father giving a soft groan as her mom let out a sob.
“Taylor Hebert age thirteen has been taken from Redwood Camp after a parahuman incident. If any viewers sighted her, the PRT advise discretion and to call them immediately. Do not approach her with offers of help. It is advisable to wait for the professionals and our Heroes to handle this incident.”
“Shit! That’s Taylor.” Anne said as she stepped into the living room.
The sight of Anne broke Emma out of her stupor and she surged up on her feet in a rush.
“We need to get to that camp at once.” Emma said facing her parents who looked pale with shock. “Taylor… we need to get there!”
“I am sure Danny, I mean Taylor’s father is already there. It may be dangerous if too many of us are there.” Her father said as he stood up only to lean back as her mom glared at him.
“Annette’s daughter was taken!” Her mother said, her face fierce with a rare emotion. “I am not sitting around here praying and hoping for news, I am going over there now.”
“Zoe!” Her father said helplessly as her mom grabbed the car keys. Emma quickly followed after her, with Anne stepping into pace beside her. Dad trailed behind them helplessly, a look of dismay on his face.
“Annette, that’s Taylor’s mom right, the one I am named after?” Anne asked. Emma nodded distractedly as they got out of the house, with dad trying to calm mom down.
“… at least let me drive! You are in no condition to do it!” Dad said, managing to get back the car keys.
The four of them got into the car and mom immediately switch on the news channel for news. The drive to the camp took fifty minutes and night had fallen by the time they reached the camp.
Pulling in from of the entrance to Redwood Camp, they were stopped by a group of PRT officers.
“Sir, if you are here for your child, we have already sent them to the PRT Headquarters.” One of the officer said as the car windows were rolled down.
“I am Zoe Barnes, this is my family. We are family friends of the Hebert.” Emma’s mom said. “We are here to find out the situation and to be with Danny if he is here.”
“Ah the Heberts…” The officers looked at each other before one of them walked away, seeming to speak into his comms. “Let us check-in with Mr. Hebert first… Ah we have confirmation please park your car at the side of the road and follow us in.”
The car was parked quickly and the four of them followed the officers, until they reached the front of the camp house that Emma had previously seen on TV. The only difference was the ambulance parked outside the house. The backdoor of the ambulance was opened, and Emma saw Miss Militia, one of Brockton Bay’s superhero, talking with someone inside the ambulance.
As they walked closer to the van, a cry escaped from her lips as she sighted her best friend sitting at the edge of the ambulance wrapped in blankets, and Mr. Hebert beside her.
“Taylor!” Emma cried out, barely aware that she nearly pushed passed Mr. Hebert and the local superhero, as she wrapped her friend in a hug. “I saw the news of the kidnapping and I… Did you do something to your hair? And what happened to your eyes?”
“Miss Hebert’s time with her captor has unfortunately led to some side effects. But other than that, she is in good health.” Miss Militia interrupted from the side. Emma quickly moved back as she realised how close she was actually standing to a superhero. “As this is an active PRT investigation, Miss Hebert wouldn’t be able to discuss the events of this evening with you.”
“Ah… of course no problem. I am just glad Taylor’s safe.” Emma said as she felt Taylor lean into her.
“Miss Militia, if there are no more questions, I will like to return home with my father, I can still feel some painful twitches around my body.” Taylor said as Miss Militia gave a nod.
“Of course Taylor, you and your father are free to go. The PRT will follow-up with you in a few days. And I must apologize for the incident just now.” Miss Militia said. “The PRT will deliver a set of custom contact lens for you to your house by tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I will advice you to stay at home and avoid outdoor movements.”
“Thank you, Miss Militia, and don’t worry about the… er incident, no harm done.” Taylor said as Miss Militia gave them a friendly wave before walking off.
“What was that about?” Emma asked with a frown.
“Tell you later.” Taylor said in a whisper. The two of them walked to the side of the ambulance where Mr. Hebert was talking with her parents, Anne standing behind them as she looked at the house guarded by PRT officers with interest.
“Dad, we can go back now.” Taylor said as Mr. Hebert quickly walked up to her, an arm wrapped around her shoulders protectively.
“Good.” Mr. Hebert said grimly. “It’s about time they stopped with the questions. Thanks Zoe and Alan for coming here, Taylor and I appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it Danny, Annette and I were midwives for each other. I was the first to greet Taylor into the world just as she did for my Emma, of course I will be here.” Emma blinked as her mom said that fiercely.
“Actually Mrs. Barnes, do you mind if Emma stayed over tonight?” Taylor spoke up. As her mother gave a nod.
“Of course dear.” Emma’s mom said with a nod. “Actually Danny, if you don’t mind how about you and Taylor camp at our house tonight. It has been… a while since we catch up.”
“I… Yes of course Zoe, I will like that.” Mr. Hebert said, a brief look of sadness crossing his face.
The journey back home was faster now that the road was less crowded. Emma had opted for sitting next to Taylor in Mr. Hebert’s car, and they had tailed after her parents’ car. They reached her house within half an hour, and her parents drove their car a bit further into the garage just so that the Hebert’s car could keep off the sidewalks.
It had been so long since they had done something like that, the last time was when Taylor’s mom had still been alive, and Taylor had done a Hamlet recital for their school’s Literature festival.
“I have called ahead to get our maid to heat up dinner.” Emma’s mom said as they entered the house. “Emma, you and Taylor can grab a plate and eat in your room for tonight.”
“What about me mom?” Anne asked petulantly.
“Alright, you can eat in your room too.” Emma’s father said. “But only for tonight.”
“There’s no TV in their rooms, right?” Mr. Hebert asked hesitantly.
“No, the only ones are in the dining room and living room. We can take them down and store them in the garage for tonight.” Emma’s dad said before muttering. “Fucking parahumans and their powers, as if they didn’t cause enough chaos in the world already.”
“Alan! Language!” Emma’s mom hissed as she dragged her dad into the dining room. The adults quickly dismantle the TV in the dining room before Emma, Anne and Taylor were allowed in. The three girls took a plate of food each and waited until the adults deposited the TVs in the garage before leaving the dining area.
“Night mom, night dad, night Mr. Hebert.” Emma called out as Mr. Hebert and her parents gave a nod in their direction.
“Good night girls, if you need anything, we will be downstairs.” Mr. Hebert said.
Anne led the way upstairs, waving cheekily at the two of them before disappearing into her room.
“Brat.” Emma said good naturedly as she opened the door of her room. It has been a while since Taylor and her had a sleepover at her place.
Taylor flopped onto one of the beanie bag at the corner of the room and Emma quickly shifted a small table and another beanie bag over.
“Spill it Taylor, I know you have something to tell me, what happened?” Emma said as both of them set their food down on the table.
Taylor opened her right palm and Emma gasped as a ball of fire appeared over it.
“You triggered! You have superpowers!” Emma said her eyes wide.
“Yeah, the PRT warned me not to tell anyone because they are afraid the gangs will come and force me to work for them. That’s why Miss Militia told you the cover story… and it’s more than that, more than what I told the PRT.” Taylor said biting her lips. “Someone explained what he thought actually happened to me, but it is so incredible that I have trouble believing it myself. I have no idea what I should do… that’s why I need your help.”
“Someone explained… are you talking about your kidnapper?” Emma asked with a frown.
“No… not really. He was in the same situation as me.” Taylor said with hesitation. “It is not exactly a kidnapping… but to be honest I have no idea how to explain it properly, not without proof…”
Emma blinked when Taylor suddenly straightened and pointed a finger at her. “Emma Barnes is a resident of Phantom Island.”
“What… are you doing Taylor?” Emma asked, lifting an eyebrow at the sheepish look on her friend’s face. The glowing green eyes did look strange on Taylor’s face, strange but cute in a way, at least now Emma knew the changes with Taylor’s hair and eyes were most likely because of her trigger instead of some mad scientist’s experiment.
“Just trying something out, hopefully this works.” Taylor said reaching over the table to hold Emma’s hands. “I am going to…”
“Ah!” Emma cried out as golden light began to etch what seemed like symbols onto her right arm.
“Oh crap!” Taylor said in horror. “I have no idea it will do that!”
“Is there something about your power you will like to tell me? Like five minutes ago?” Emma said glaring at Taylor, touching the symbols etched onto her right arm gingerly. “They don’t hurt now that the light is gone… hey, you have a same set on your arm too!”
“I am so sorry.” Taylor said again, bowing her head. “I didn’t mean to… cause that.”
“Ah forget it Taylor, I can’t stay angry at you when you are making that face.” Emma said with a snort as she compared both their arms. “Hmm… now that I look more carefully, some of the squiggles are different. So, what were you planning to do or say before we were interrupted.”
“Erm…” Taylor reached out again to hold Emma’s hands gingerly. When nothing outwardly happened, Taylor relaxed and clenched her hands tighter. “Alright, I am not sure if this will work, but here goes.”
There was a sensation of tightness around her. As Emma blinked, she gave a cry of alarm as she was suddenly faced with bright sunlight and the smell of the ocean. As her eyes got used to her environment, she realised she was on some sort of island with a quaint little cottage, and in the distance protruding out of the ocean was a glowing green crystal structure.
“Huh… I didn’t mean to bring along your beanie bags and table.” Taylor was muttering to her self.
“You are a teleporter!” Emma said jumping up at the revelation. “This is so cool! Remember that grade school project and everyone wrote down the superpowers we wished we have? Mine was to teleport anywhere, oh my god! Taylor, you are so going to be my best friend, we can go shopping all over the world for the weekends and be back home before dinner!”
“I thought I am already your best friend…” Taylor began but Emma cut her off excitedly.
“Best bestest, and way best times three.” Emma said as she took a deep breath of the sweet sea breeze. “You wanted to be a flying brick and instead you ended up with what I wanted as a superpower and you can create fireballs!”
“Alexandria isn’t a flying brick.” Taylor said as she pouted. “And we should really move your beanie bags and table into the cottage, we don’t want them to be damaged by the sand.”
“Oh… doesn’t the house belongs to someone?” Emma asked as she gathered up her beanie bag and help Taylor carry the table with their plates into the cottage, the door of which Taylor kicked open.
“That… is sort of part of the thing I wanted to tell you about.” Taylor said evasively as she looked around the cottage. “Seems like he’s not here…”
“He? The one that you said wasn’t your kidnapper but was in a similar situation as you?” Emma asked crossing her arm. “Spill it Taylor, what is going on?”
“I can do more than create fire balls, and that teleportation I just did? Isn’t really part of my powerset.” Taylor said as Emma felt her eyes widened at what her best friend implied. “It seems that my powers come about due to interference from something called Void magic, from another world…”
Wraithrune's Den of Words 