I don't know what it is about the Earth that enamors me so. Is it the people? I don't think so. They're basically lame Edenics. Is it the natural landscape? No. It's basically Eden but with a green and sandy colour scheme instead of the bright reds and exquisite blues. Is it the mountains? No. Every rocky planet has mountains. Heck. even some gaseous ones if you look hard enough. The universe is funny that way.
So what is it about the Earth? I honestly think that it's because the Earth is alive. A bit like my homeworld. Like my mother. My home planet is a living planet. Earth is living. Not in the same way but definitely in a similar way. But the human race seem to forget that despite being obviously very clever and the rest of life on Earth just don't seem to notice. And I think that's a crying shame.
Still. It could always be worse I suppose.
You don't know who I am yet. But you soon will. My new name is Jessica Wade. But I believe I was originally named 'Flux'.
*****
"My daughter. It is no longer safe for you on our homeworld. The peace you were born to create has now passed the deadline and the forces loyal to Ark have taken the Presidency. A new President, Artim Kanzakian, has been sworn in and his first act as ruler is to have you killed or, at best, captured. I cannot allow them to take you, my love. If they killed you, it would rip what's left of my heart right out. You are the person I love above all else and I cannot bear to think of what they'd do to you if they captured you. So, it appears I would rather send you away, hopefully never to return, than to have you where I can see you and know I can do nothing at all. I can imagine you'll feel angry when you read this and you'll resent me like every pre-teen does with their parents. But I promise you, my love, that the Earth will be kinder to you. Your immortality will not shock the humans if you keep moving and as long as you keep your abilities a secret until the late nineteenth century then you should be safe enough. I will help you from afar as best I can but please believe me when I say that I am doing this for your own good. It may not seem like it now but I hope that one day you'll understand why I did what I did. Until then, my love, stay safe. I love you very much. Yours, always, Mother".
*****
Nuremberg. 1561.
The man burst into the church. He looked frantically around until he found a priest. The priest was kneeling at the altar when the man runs up to him.
"VICAR! VICAR! YOU HAVE TO COME QUICK!"
The vicar turned around from his prayer.
"What is the matter, my child?"
"It's the orphan, sir! She's a witch!"
The vicar stood up and ushered the man to lead on. When they went outside, there was a group of 5 men holding a 12 year old girl with some force. The girl is struggling to get free but she cannot overpower her captors. The vicar goes up to them. A crowd had gathered around them.
"What is the meaning of this!?"
"THE ORPHAN, VICAR, SHE'S DOING THE WITCHCRAFT!"
The vicar looked down at the Orphan.
"Is this true?"
The Orphan looked up and shook her head violently.
"NO! IT'S NOT! PLEASE, VICAR, THEY CAME AND ATTACKED ME!"
"I remind you, my child, you are in the eyes of God now. He will reveal the truth one way or another!"
One of the men holding her urges forward.
"She revealed her tricks when she was trying to seduce young Thomas Robinson!"
"I DIDN'T, I SWEAR!"
"What kind of tricks did she perform?"
A man pushes a young boy, 15, in front of the vicar. When the Orphan sees him, she cries. Almost out of a sense of guilt.
"Well? Young Thomas? What tricks?"
Thomas looks at the Orphan who, almost without speaking, looks to him not to say anything. But Thomas has other pressures.
"Well...she kissed me...we were kissing...and a portal opened!"
The Orphan's head sank towards the ground. The vicar looks shocked.
"A PORTAL!?"
Thomas nods.
"It came from her hand. In the panic that ensued, I picked up a knife and cut her hand off..."
Gasps come from the crowd. The vicar looks down and notices that the Orphan still had two hands.
"But she has two hands..."
Thomas sighs.
"...It reattached..."
More gasps appear from the crowd. One of the men holding her lets go and unsheathes his knife. Shortly afterwards, he cuts her hand off once more. The Orphan lets out an agonising scream as he does and as the hand drops to the floor, blood spurting from the hand and the newly formed wound on her wrist. The Vicar looks shocked for a moment. But looks even more shocked when a blue light forms at the wrist end of the hand. It rises from the ground and, almost flawlessly, reattaches itself to the Orphan. The Orphan cries as she realises she's been rumbled but everyone around her is speechless. The vicar steps back in shock.
"You're not a witch...you're beyond a witch, child..."
The Orphan looks up, her eyes stinging from tears.
"...You're a child of Satan...you're a demon..."
"No! I swear I'm not! I promise I can explain!"
Another man with a scythe steps forward.
"EXPLAIN NO MORE, DEMON!"
The man swung his scythe and caught the Orphan's head in the process. The head separates from the shoulders and goes some way away from the body. The head looked peaceful as the body fell into a heap on the ground. The man with the scythe smiles with joy as he realises he's succeeded. The vicar still looked shocked at the whole situation and young Thomas started to throw up. The vicar stepped forward.
"We...we cannot let...what happened here today shake our faith in our lord, Jesus Christ..."
As he continues his sermon, the head starts to levitate and gravitate back towards the Orphan's body. The head reattaches and the Orphan opens her eyes. People start to notice and start to shriek and scream as a result. The Orphan looks angry. The vicar stops and looks at her. She raises her hands towards the sky.
"YOU BELIEVE ME TO BE A DEMON!? A CHILD OF YOUR IMAGINARY DEVIL!? I AM SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT, REVEREND. I AM SO MUCH MORE THAN ANY OF YOU CAN IMAGINE. YOU TALK ABOUT THE MIRACLES OF JESUS CHRIST YET WHEN SOMEONE ELSE LIKE HIM COMES, YOU TREAT THEM AS INVALIDS! AS DEMONS! AS LUNATICS! WELL...PRAY TO YOUR GOD TO SAVE YOU FROM THIS..."
The Orphan moves her hands as if to stop an orchestra and the sky starts to crack into two. The sky bursts into red before objects start to come out of the crack. They're spaceships. Spaceships from the future. The townspeople look terrified as they start to come closer to the ground. Explosions occur in the sky. The townspeople run as they see the ships getting nearer to them. The vicar looks at the Orphan who is still smiling, almost like she's enjoying it.
"I'M NOT A DEMON, REVEREND, I'M THE CHILD OF A GODDESS!"
The vicar, upon hearing this, runs back into the church and starts to pray frantically. The Orphan looks up at what she's done and smiles. She smiles as the Apocalypse she's brought down on the city she lives in terrifies the people who live within it.
A few moments later, a glowing green light can be seen. It's so bright, it grabs the Orphan's whole attention. A woman stands in it.
"JESSICA! JESSICA! CAN YOU HEAR ME!? I NEED YOU TO LISTEN TO ME!"
The Orphan looks confused.
"YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS! IF YOU CONTINUE TO LET THEM THROUGH, THEY'LL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE RIP AND THE ARMIES OF EDEN AND OF EARTH WILL TEAR THIS WORLD APART. AND TIME WILL SELF-DESTRUCT! YOU'RE THE CHILD OF TIME...YOU SHOULD KNOW THE DANGERS OF THAT..."
The Orphan looks confused still.
"WHO ARE YOU!?"
The figure smiles.
"CONSIDER ME YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL..."
Another voice comes from the green light.
"STARCASTER! SHE CAN'T HOLD ON MUCH LONGER!"
The figure looks away for a moment and then back at the Orphan.
"I KNOW YOU FEEL ANGRY, I KNOW THEY TRIED TO KILL YOU. I KNOW THEY SEE YOU AS SOMETHING THAT'S DEFECTIVE AND SOMETHING THAT NEEDS ERADICATING. TRUST ME, I KNOW THAT FEELING. BUT THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU. BUT YOU KNOW THIS IS WRONG AND YOU KNOW KILLING THEM IS WRONG TOO. SO SEND THEM BACK. YOU KNOW YOU CAN...JUST SEND THEM BACK...
The Orphan looks angry.
"THEY BEHEADED ME!"
"MARION! SHE CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE. END IT NOW!"
"THEN FOR GOD'S SAKE SEND ME THROUGH AND I'LL END IT!"
Starcaster reaches out and starts to enter the Orphan's time. After a bit of screaming, Starcaster makes the transition. She runs over to the Orphan.
"End this now!"
"I can't! I only know how to bring things over, I don't know how to send them back!"
Starcaster smiles.
"That'll come with time..."
"I CAN'T SEND THEM BACK!"
"You don't have to. I know what happens to these ships. Avert your eyes..."
A bright light starts to form around Starcaster and the Orphan looks confused. After a few moments, Starcaster winks and starts to fly into the sky. Almost at superhuman speed, she forms a protective circle around the ships so a wall is created. The townspeople looks up in horror as this occurs. Starcaster continues to fly around until she eventually outruns herself. She goes into the middle of the ships and lets out a massive explosion. A bright light comes from the inside the wall as each ship within the confines of the light wall is vaporised. The wall vanishes and so do any trace of the ship. Not only that, the sky has returned to normal. The Orphan looks up and notices everything's fine. She looks confused.
"One day, you'll work out how that happened..."
The Orphan turns around to see Starcaster behind her.
"You...you can fly!"
"Yes. Yes I can".
"But...how!?"
"One day you'll find out. Just know for now everyone's safe".
"But...but..."
As the Orphan tries to ask another question, Starcaster raises her hand and a bright flash of light comes from it. Almost a moment after, the Orphan drops to the floor. Starcaster picks her up and looks at her.
"I'm so sorry, Jessica..."
Starcaster carries her over to a hole in the ground and places the Orphan in it. She covers it and pats the ground.
"One day, you'll forgive me..."
The green light starts to become unstable. Starcaster looks at it and flies straight back into it before it all disappears. Everything appears to go back to normal. The vicar comes out of the church and looks around, seeing everything's fine. He smiles and thanks God. The townspeople all cheer that the danger is over, unaware that the person who perpetrated it is still underneath them, merely asleep.
*****
Jessica's eyes open as the sunlight hits them.
"You just found her here?"
"Yup. And alive too! I can't explain it. I thought I should get one of the Freaks out here to try and explain it!"
"Good call..."
A figure comes into focus. She looks familiar.
"I don't know if you can hear me. But my name is Starcaster. You've been in here for a very long time...and I promise I'm going to help you find out what's going on...
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