I am participating in a contest over at S.J. Aisling's Blog to win a free commission. The artist's work is incredible and I am really hoping to win! :D This is my submission, a scene between one of S.J.'s characters (Nissa) and my own characters. Enjoy!
The
Visitor – Character Merge, featuring S.J. Aisling’s Nissa and Brian McBride’s
characters.
David
walked in and sat down on the chair. He wasn’t thrilled about being forced into
this luncheon with the new visitor from Earth. He did not want to be reminded
of his past… Yet, Alicia, Jake, and Hannah, had all voted that they would meet
this mysterious stranger.
The door
opened with a creak and in walked his three co-rulers; Jake, Hannah, and
Alicia.
“I really
wish that we didn’t have to do this…” David said with a scowl.
Alicia
rolled her eyes. “Come on, Davi. This is someone from Earth. She could know things about our parents. Don’t tell me
you don’t care about our past.” Alicia stared at David as she sat done, waited
for an answer.
“It is not
that I don’t care… It’s just… I don’t
want to get my hopes up, only to have them shattered. It isn’t fair to me, and
it isn’t fair to you. We need to move on.”
No one
spoke for a second that seemed to span minutes.
“I know…
but… I can’t…” Alicia furrowed her eyebrows. “Let’s just, talk to this strange
woman and find out what we can.”
David
sighed, defeated. The door opened and a strange woman, her fiery red hair
flowing in curls down her shoulders, stepped inside the room. She wore strange
clothing that reminded him of the garments that the Marvel comic book
characters wore. Who was this woman?
“Hello,
I’m Nissa, now tell me… how did I get here?” The strangely dressed woman
attempted to hide the fear lacing her words. She held a white piece of clothing
in her hand. For a moment, David thought that it might have been a mask, but he
shrugged and left it alone.
“Hello,
Nissa, I am Alicia, queen of Talora, capital of Aellya, of the planet Paragon–”
“Please,”
Nissa held up a hand, “enough of the formalities. Just answer my questions.”
The four
rulers exchanged glances, Alicia momentarily stunned by Nissa’s interruption.
“We were…
hoping you could tell us. We don’t know why you’re here,” Jake said, resting an
arm on the table.
“Please,
have a seat.” Hannah gestured to the last remaining chair that was set up
around the conference table.
“Where am
I?” Nissa asked.
“You are
in the city of Talora, on the planet Paragon.”
“Look,
Nissa,” David said, leaning forward. “We know what you’re going through, and we
believe we can help. We have been in the same situation as you… in the past.”
David winced slightly, but recovered quickly.
“You were
in the middle of some important business when you were suddenly yanked from
your world through cascading darkness, where you then woke up in a strange
forest, and were then promptly surrounded by barbaric Neanderthals who tried to
turn you into a steak?” Nissa’s words came out in rapid succession.
None spoke
for a moment. “Yes,” Jake finally said, breaking the silence, and turning
Nissa’s burning glare toward him.
She cocked
an eyebrow at him. “Look, I just want to get home. Will you help me?”
“There is
something that we could do, but it requires intense heat.”
“Well,”
Nissa said, her lips pursed, “it’s a good thing I’m Conductive.”
The five
surrounded the object, mounted on a pedestal. The stone’s smooth surface
shimmered and glowed. The pedestal was set up in front of an archway, baroque
figures adorning its bronze surface.
“Tell us,”
David turned to face Nissa, skepticism clear on his face. “What is a Conductive?”
“Every
person is a conductor of static electricity. Have you ever slid your feet
across a carpet, only to shock yourself on the doorknob? Well, it’s like that,
only… enhanced.” She chose her words carefully.
“Ah,” Jake
said. “Well, I can’t really produce heat, so I’ll have to sit this one out. Can
you, Nissa?” Jake asked.
The
foreign girl nodded, her hair bouncing, a strand falling front of her face. She
blew it away. With a snap of her fingers, her hand sparked orange-blue flame.
She smiled at them.
“Okay,”
Hannah and David said in unison. They glanced at each other, then Hannah
continued, “Let’s give it a go. She lifted her hands and faced her palms toward
the smooth, white, brilliant stone. She closed her eyes, her hands began to
glow whitefire. The same radiant white light spilled from under her eyelids,
like tears formed from energy. Her entire body began to glow brilliantly with
the whitefire.
David
closed his eyes, his hands burst to flame.
When they
were all glowing brilliantly, emanating their own individual flame, the stone
began to glow brighter and brighter.
Finally,
with a pop, a beam of light burst
from the stone and shot toward the archway. The beam hit the face carved at the
top of the archway. The small, bronze face’s eyes began to glow with the light.
Like blood flowing through veins, the light began to trace the indents of the
archway.
Soon, a
shimmering pool formed in the center of the archway. The three’s light faded
and they turned to face the portal.
“Well, I
guess this is it,” Nissa said with a satisfied sigh.
David
nodded and Alicia stepped in front of Nissa just as she began to make her way
toward the portal. “Please, could you… could you do me a favor?”
David
groaned. “Alicia, please… don’t.”
Alicia
ignored him.
“Why don’t
you come back with me?” Nissa asked, ready to get back to her own world.
The girl
shook her head. “I cannot. It takes three to power the portal, and only one
person may go through at any given time. Besides, this is my home now.”
Nissa
frowned. “Very well. What is it you need me to do?”
“Could you
get a message to my parents? Just… just tell them that we’re okay, that we’re
happy.”
“I will,
don’t worry.”
Alicia
told Nissa her parents’ last known address.
Nissa
nodded and turned to the portal. With a wave, she stepped through. The portal
crackled and faded.
Alicia
sighed, turned to David.
David
nodded. “Home,” he said.
With a
smile, she returned, “Home.”
