- how to start...
- I know I said that I wanted to do a "wake up" opening scene but I know that's not very popular and somewhat cliched... But I defiantly want to start with Elizabeth's POV first.
Elizabeth let out a heavy sigh as she looked around at the strange new terrain, which could easily have been described as a Paradise, and her even stranger companions. There was nothing wrong with any of them, that she could tell, but there was something about them that just seemed off.
Two of them (Meg and Marcus) seemed almost as tense as she was... There was also a rather terrified-looking boy (Pip) who reminded her of a skittish rabbit ready to run for cover. Two young women (Lori and Ash) seemed more interested than scared... Though one of them seemed older and a little sad. But the other three (Lars, Emmy, and Maddalena) seemed far too at ease or even disinterested in the entire situation.
"So... Let me see if I understand all... of this.” Marcus sighed, rubbing his temples. “We were all brought to this... new planet/world/dimension whatever, by a white-robed Nazgul-looking being and told that we're now the Guardians/Protectors of this place with powers of a mythical level?”
“Yep.” Lars nodded, popping the “p”.
“And we all saw the same thing, right?” Marcus asked again.
“Apparently.” Liz sighed.
“Great.” Marcus groaned sarcastically. Though the obvious question of why was still hanging over their heads.
“My big question is what kind of magic/power do we have? I mean, is it different for each of us or do we all have the same?” Liz said, looking at her hands.
Madalena raised a brow slightly and looked over at Liz. “You are already familiar with magic?” she asked knowingly.
“Sort of.” Liz admitted. “Back home, I was a Marine and we were fighting an enemy called the Swarm. The ship I was on was ambushed, my X.O. had to make an uncalculated jump to try to save us...” she hesitated for a moment before shaking her head, getting away from the tangent.
“Uncalculated jump?” Lars echoed with a small chuckle. “Was Captain Kirk in command of your ship?”
“Of course not.” Liz scoffed, rolling her eyes at the joke. “Besides the only aliens that we encountered so far were the Swarm and the inhabitants of the previously undiscovered planet we crash-landed on.”
Lars laughed again before seeing the expression on Elizabeth's face. “Wait. You're serious?”
Liz nodded.
“So you're a Space Marine? Like in Halo?”
“Sort of. I guess.” Liz shrugged.
“Regardless of the specifics of your prior occupation, I would still like to know how this relates to you being familiar with magic.” Madalena reminded.
“Right. Sorry.” Liz nodded. “Well, within roughly 24 hours of the crash a majority of the crew fell into a coma. Myself included. When everyone woke up... they had magic.” she explained with a shrug. “And to make it even more... interesting; the longer a person was unconscious, the stronger their magic. My personal commander and I were in the coma for six months.”
Emmeline raised a brow, actually sounding intrigued. “Was there anyone unconscious for longer than that?”
Elizabeth shook her head almost sadly. “We were the last to wake up and our new native allies considered our magic to be of a legendary level. My magic was called Mimic and I could copy anyone’s magic for up to an hour after watching them use it even briefly. And my commander’s magic was... basically manipulation of space.” she added, anticipating the next question but hoping she wouldn't have to get more personal with the details of their abilities.
“Impressive.” the younger blonde nodded thoughtfully. “Though... I am somewhat surprised that the rest of you seem to believe that magic is so...”
“Fictional?”
“All right. Let's give a show of hands.” Lars smiled, rubbing his hands together excitedly. “Everyone whose... home had magic?” Madalena, Elizabeth, Ash, and Emmeline all raised their hands. “Interesting... Alright, everyone who didn't?” Marcus quickly raised his hand at that followed by a much more hesitate Pip. Lars nodded and gave a bit of a hum before looking at Lori and Meg. “Let me guess. You two don't know either.”
“I mean, I’ve seen things that could be considered “magic” by people who don't know any better... and, honestly, I could probably be considered as a witch myself, even though I don't believe I am.” Meghan admitted with a shrug.
“That’s fair.” Lori nodded. “It’s weird but my memory is a little blurry. But I remember having a pet snake, then the snake disappeared and I was... somewhere else and I had abilities. I don't know if that counts as magic or more of a superhero kinda thing...”
“Oh, please.” Marc scoffed. “Superheroes don't exist outside of comic books.” he said, sounding more cynical than he usually is.
“Depends on your definition of the term.” Lars defended.
“What about you?” Maddalena asked, looking at Lars. “Does your world have magic?”
He shrugged with a coy grin. “I’m in the same camp as these two.” he answered with a brief gesture towards Meg and Lori. “Though... Again, I suppose it could depend on your definition.” he smiled again.