I wish I remembered who gave me this prompt, but here it is:
Just want to say I love what you've done with the Trancendance AU, hope you keep adding onto this collection for a long time
Prompt Idea: A young girl (think 13) is badly assaulted by a presumed stranger/possible family member. They have a suspect locked up but no solid proof. The only way to find the real criminal is for her to give a statement but she's so traumatized that she can't talk.
In a desperate move her psychologist summons Dreambender, remembering he is friendly towards children, in hopes he can help her overcome the trauma and finally find peace.
No one was quite sure what had happened to Naomi Caligor.
There was a pretty good idea – she'd only stopped talking, not communicating altogether, though she had shut down pretty hard – but without their key witness, it was going to be a lot harder to put the person responsible away for it, despite the fact that Naomi had pointed him out very emphatically. They needed her testimony, or it was all going to fall apart.
Dr. Aisha Yesson knew that was the reason everyone was putting pressure on her to get Naomi talking again, but she didn't agree with it.
Her job was to help Naomi heal. And pressuring her to talk, to identify who hurt her before she was ready, wasn't going to help.
Under normal circumstances, she would have taken Naomi out for rides. The usual centaur rules against being ridden had exceptions for loved ones and children, and it almost always helped to get Aisha's clients, all of whom were children, more comfortable with her after a trot through the wooded trails that backed her office, trails kept safe with wards and spellguards so the children could talk as freely there as they did in her office.
But the fact of the matter was, that the child didn't feel safe anywhere anymore. It didn't matter how many wards, how many spells, walls, locks, there were between Naomi and the rest of the world; she was still convinced her tormentors could find their way in through anything.
Given all that had happened, Aisha couldn't blame her.
It wasn't easy to understand Naomi when she tried to communicate – Naomi had been, before all of this, a sparkling, active child, or so Aisha was told, but now she was quiet, and she jumped at too-quick movements, and Aisha knew she hadn't found all Naomi's new triggers yet – and her communication was slow, when she could be persuaded to try.
At least Naomi finally trusted Aisha. It hadn't been an easy road, and Aisha had bent quite a few rules – she really shouldn't have let Naomi comb and braid her tail, or lean up against her horse half while they both sat on the floor, but it had been worth it to see how Naomi's face had lit up, no matter how briefly. It had helped that Naomi was (or would be, if all this weren't happening) deep into a horse crazy phase, and despite knowing she shouldn't take too much pride in her physical appearance, Aisha knew that her horse half, that of a sleek and dark brown Arabian, was almost irresistible to a little girl who took so much joy in horses and fussing over hair and coats and combs.
It was one of the few times Naomi seemed to resemble the child she was, so Aisha was willing to allow it.
If only there was a way to help Naomi feel safe again...but so long as her tormenter still walked free (on bail, and watched, but it was still far too free) and had supporters, that didn't seem likely. Sessions with Aisha were only going to do so much while that fact remained, and all the therapy she provided, both orthodox and not, weren't going to help Naomi recover while the child knew damn well it wasn't over yet.
After the third time Naomi and her family had been kept up all night by people driving by their home, yelling threats and keeping all of them awake and in fear but with the police unable to do anything, too slow to respond to do any good even if they had, Aisha knew she had to do something drastic, even if she was 'just' the therapist.
But what?
Legal means weren't working, and the waste of carbon that had assaulted a thirteen year old didn't respect any authority, only power and things bigger and badder than he was, and there weren't many things he'd admit fell into that category if Aisha's estimation of him was right, but they had to make Naomi feel safe.
Aisha couldn't say anything about her job or Naomi to anyone, of course, but she could vent a little to a trusted friend.
"I just wish I could find her a bodyguard," she said, gazing into her coffee as if it held all the answers. "I can't say more than that, but I just...like...do you remember there were bikers who protected kids? Something like that. I wish there was someone I could call on to help this child. Someone bigger and badder than the people she's afraid of."
Her friend looked on the edge of speaking, stirring their tea, glancing around nervously, even through they were in Aisha's kitchen, away from any eavesdroppers.
Rose hesitated a few more times before she finally sighed, reaching for her purse. "Look, I could get in a lot of trouble if anybody finds out about this, so keep it quiet, okay?" she said.
Aisha snorted, toying with the edge of her headscarf. "I just came perilously close to revealing more than I should about a patient, I think we're even."
"No, seriously," Rose said, digging into her purse for a pencil and paper. "You know I have...odd taste in religion, right?"
"Yeah, but I never asked questions," Aisha answered, confused. "It's your business, not mine."
Rose snorted. "Wish more people thought that way...well...I'm part of the Circle of the Dreamer's Star. Ever hear of them?"
Aisha's eyes went wide for a moment before she recovered. "I...yeah, but why...?"
Rose sighed. "Well, our Lord is...he's fond of children. Not like that! Like, actually cares about them. The rumors about how he takes care of children are all true. It's possible...I haven't made any deals with Him, but you could, to help your patient. He's broken up human trafficking rings before, and saved kids from all kinds of bad situations. Watches over them and...well, protects them. I...could help you figure out a proper deal to make. And if you use our circle, then He should be calmer when He comes. He's having a good period right now, where He listens and isn't...well, isn't as demonic as one would expect."
"I'll...I'll have to think about it," Aisha said frankly. "But...thank you. Offering that must have been difficult. Just...let me think about it."
Two days later, and Aisha was borrowing Rose's computer to actually look deeper into it.
She didn't quite dare look up the demon on her own internet or computer, for fear of someone tracking down people who looked up information on the Dreambender and coming after her license.
Aisha recognized that she was being a tad paranoid, but when you dealt with children who'd been abused and whose abusers would do anything, felt entitled to do whatever it took to get them back, then you did end up paranoid and it usually paid off.
There was a reason her house and office both had so much security, both mundane and magic, after all.
Still...Aisha was glad she hadn't eaten before starting her research, as quite a bit of it was putting her off the idea of food.
Mostly, she was thankful she'd gone full vegetarian a few years ago, as just the thought of meat was sickening right now.
But Rose had been right...there was that one thread throughout all the articles that mentioned children, all the eyewitness accounts, all the stories. Sometimes incredulous, sometimes victorious, sometimes matter of fact, they all repeated the same thing: Alcor refused to harm the children. Alcor protected the children. Alcor has never willingly harmed a child or seen one come to harm if he could prevent it.
It was...well, it was reassuring, a possibility that Rose could be right, that this might work, if they could find something to offer the demon in exchange for his protection.
And, of course, if they could get Naomi and her family to agree. That part might be more difficult than getting the demon to agree to this plan, if Rose was to be believed.
First things first. Aisha looked up at her friend, taking a deep breath. "You're sure you can summon Alcor and he won't be furious right away? He'll hear us out?" she asked
Rose nodded, the tired nod of someone who has explained something five times already but expects to explain it five times more. "He'll recognize the circle," she said. "And the chant. Do you have any ideas for what to offer Him?"
"Well...I'd hoped maybe weekly offerings of food might work?" Aisha said dubiously. "For now, at least."
"I have heard our Lord is fond of ice cream," Rose said, adjusting the felt rose headband she always wore that held back her curls. "We usually sacrifice candy and snacks to Him. It's considered polite to share your favorites. Regular food might work as well, though."
"The demon likes ice cream," Aisha repeated blankly. "Right. Why not. I guess I'm going to go buy some ice cream. Can you set up while I do? Because I guess we're doing this."
"Get some Fruit Drops while you're at it," Rose replied. "The blackberry vanilla ones. They're my favorite, so I usually sacrifice them. I hope you realize I'm breaking all kinds of rules here. We're not supposed to bother our Lord without good reason, or summon him by ourselves."
"Well, this is a damn good reason," Aisha muttered, trotting out of the house quickly.
It took Aisha three trips to bring all the ice cream into the house, even with the insulated bags Rose teasingly referred to as her 'saddlebags'.
"You do realize one carton probably would have been enough for negotiations, right?" Rose asked, torn between amusement and disbelief.
Aisha shrugged, stretching out her human back as she sat down the last of the ice cream. Her car may have been modified for her to drive, but it still wasn't the most comfortable thing to use. "Look, I get you know more about Alcor than I do, but I'm not risking him saying no just because I got the wrong flavor of ice cream," she said tartly. "Or because he was insulted I didn't get enough. This is tricky enough as it is."
"Plus, it was on sale," she added after a moment.
Rose stared at her blankly for a few moments as Aisha fussed with the ice cream, getting it all lined up neatly.
"I'm on a budget, okay?" Aisha snapped. "They don't exactly pay me the big bucks."
"...demonology on a dime," Rose giggled, and Aisha glanced up. They were only able to hold eye contact for a second before they both began giggling hysterically.
"Okay, yeah. Nerves. Think we can still do this?" Aisha asked after she'd recovered, rubbing at her forehead, her back hoof pawing gently at the ground.
"I'm sure of it," Rose said. "Let's do this. Come on, there's a big freezer in the basement we can put all this ice cream in, by where we'll do the summoning – I'll help you carry it."
Aisha stood back as Rose laid out a circle in the basement – a fully finished basement, well lit and with a pretty alter in the center of one wall – and lit the candles.
She waited quietly as Rose chanted, huddling against herself when the temperature of the room suddenly dropped.
When the swirl of black smoke appeared in the center of the circle, it took thinking hard about Naomi, the black circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, the haunted, frightened look that always seemed to hover in her eyes whenever they spoke, to keep Aisha there and not galloping from the basement.
Aisha did her best to ride out the wave of terror that rushed over her as the demon appeared, to set it aside and think rationally.
To distract herself, she took stock of the demon her friend worshiped. Surprisingly human-like, and a young one at that, though she hoped Naomi wouldn't be put off by the fact that he presented as male. The eyes, wings, and pointed ears might help with that, even as Aisha was vaguely surprised at herself for the worry. This was a demon, how he presented didn't matter unless he frightened Naomi.
Aisha waited as Alcor heard her friend out, surprisingly patient and attentive. He glanced over at Aisha a few times during the quick explanation, sitting back in midair as Aisha stepped forward at her cue.
"So, you've something to ask of me regarding a child?" Alcor asked after a few moments of staring at each other in silence.
Aisha took a deep breath and nodded. "Her name is Naomi," she said, "And I want to make a deal with you to watch over her."
Alcor smirked, and though it was not completely unkind, it still held a hard edge of mockery. "Do you have any idea how many people have tried to get me to do just that? Well, admittedly, most of them were powerful and they tried to enslave me into doing it, but still."
"I want to make a deal for it," Aisha said. "I didn't come unprepared. It's just...she's afraid. All the time. The people who hurt her aren't behind bars yet, and she has to testify to put them away, but she's too traumatized to speak. And they won't leave her alone. She needs someone more powerful on her side that she can trust."
"And you called on a demon," Alcor mocked, but his eyes weren't focused on her, looking out into the distance instead.
"You're supposed to protect children," Aisha snapped, something about the demon's flippant attitude getting under her skin, hoof clicking sharply against the floor. "She needs protection and I can't find anyone who will! They keep brushing us both off and she hasn't slept in a week and no one will help us!"
"I didn't say I wouldn't help," Alcor said mildly.
Aisha sputtered to a stop, looking up at Alcor in shock. For his part, the demon was examining his claws, seemingly indifferent, but there was a tenseness to his posture that belied that facade, his wings twitching even as the rest of him remained still.
"First rule of dealing with demons," the demon said shortly. "Assume nothing. Now then. Let's make a proper deal, and you can tell me the rest."
Aisha blinked a few times, having not really expected the demon to go along with this and still expecting some kind of trick.
But...Rose worshiped this demon. Literally. If for that alone, Aisha was going to trust it...for the moment.
The deal for right now was simple – Alcor got to pick a carton of ice cream from the supply Aisha had bought, and he'd stay and hear them out in return, to negotiate the whys and hows and boundaries and payments.
Negotiating and talking this out was going to take longer than the summons gave him, apparently.
Alcor summoned up a golden spoon and sat back in mid air, munching his ice cream directly from the carton as Aisha laid out what she wanted and why Naomi needed this.
She had notes and charts. If she was going to do something, then Aisha was going to do it right, thank you.
"And you've cleared this with her parents?" Alcor asked after Aisha had finished, gesturing with his spoon. "I mean, I'm willing, but I'd rather not have to deal with terrifying the kid and her parents more, know what I mean?"
Aisha paused before speaking. "You're...nothing like what I expected," she said. "But not yet, I didn't want to tell them I was getting Naomi a protector unless I was for certain. And, of course, there was the chance of this going horribly wrong, as there always is with demons."
Alcor hummed noncommittally as he sat back in the air, tapping the spoon against his almost empty ice cream. "So why do you want me to protect her? Why not just let me go after him and cut out the middle man?"
"He deserves to have to live with what he's done and rot in jail," Aisha said firmly. "Or at least have everyone know what a repulsive piece of slime he is."
Alcor paused, looking her over before a grin began to stretch his mouth.
Aisha continued to rant, unnoticing the demon's sudden interest, her tail lashing her flanks as she ranted. "Naomi is going to need to know she's safe even after that bastard is put away or dead! This kind of thing takes years to recover from, but they'll pull funding for her therapy quick as they can once the trial's over or she starts speaking on a regular basis again, she needs someone she can trust! And even if..."
"I'll do it," Alcor said suddenly, making Aisha stammer to a halt for a second time. His spoon and the nearly empty carton disappeared as Alcor leaned forward until he was eye level with Aisha, his grin softening. "You've convinced me. I'll do it. Let's talk the rest of the terms and details."
To say Naomi's parents, Blythe and Maurice, were skeptical when Aisha brought the whole thing up was an understatement. But at the same time, they were desperate.
There had been more people during the night, they told her. People driving up and down the street, blatantly watching the house and yelling abuse out of their windows.
A few of them even came up to the door and banged on it, refusing to leave for hours, demanding Blythe and Maurice hand Naomi over to them.
They had called the police, of course, but by the time the cops got there, everyone had fled...and apart from the ones who'd come up to the door, the attackers been on public property, so there wasn't much the police could do.
A few meals a week and letting a demon into their home – one that was giving his word, for what that was worth (Alcor twisted deals with the best of them, but he was recorded as doing what he said he would, for keeping his word, and he had been very specific in his promise) to protect Naomi, to behave, to help and not to harm – seemed a fair price for relief from the nightmare they were trapped in.
Upstairs, Dipper materialized in the hallway outside Naomi's room without fanfare. He paused, a pointed ear twitching as he listened for her parent's consent – he planned on watching over this child, permission or not, but it would make things easier – before he knocked on her door.
From inside, he heard a soft sniffle, followed by the door opening a crack.
Dipper didn't bother with the door, which was only going to last another hundred years or so anyway, instead shimmering into existence in the room beyond.
The girl who had returned to the bed inside hadn't noticed him yet, still focused on settling back into her former position, curled up against the wall, so he took the moment to glance around the room. Soft lavender paint on the walls with sparkling white trim, white painted bed, dresser, nightstand, and desk, the tops of which were cluttered with the detritus of a cheerful, happy child, though most of it was dusty and neglected at this point.
There were fairy lights strung around and through the headboard and a few mobiles hanging from the ceiling, and dark pink curtains framed the window, while posters of various movies dotted the walls.
It was a bright, cheerfully happy room, clouded with oppressive sadness evident only to someone like Dipper, who could see the fear tainting everything within.
It was difficult not to react to that in some way.
The girl, Naomi, hadn't noticed Dipper yet, but she was starting to look up, surprise coloring her aura when the door remained closed.
Then she caught sight of Dipper out of the corner of her eye and jumped, scooting back in a panic to press against the corner of the room, watching him with wide eyes, pale and trembling.
Dipper bowed and smiled, careful to keep his mouth closed over his fangs. He was also careful to stay on the other side of the room, leaving Naomi lots of space.
"Hello, Naomi," he said softly. "My name is Alcor. Dr. Yesson brought me here, to help keep you safe."
Naomi didn't speak, her eyes flickering between Dipper and the door, and he remembered abruptly that Aisha had mentioned that Naomi rarely spoke now.
"She's downstairs," he continued after a pause. "Talking to your parents. They should be calling for you soon. I wanted to introduce myself a little early. Is this form okay? I can be another shape if it bothers you. Like a cat, maybe?"
Naomi shook her head, and Dipper watched her colors, reading her emotions the best he could. "This form is okay, for now?" he asked to clarify. "Okay. But if it starts to bother you, let me know. Changing shape is easy. And don't worry, you don't have to speak if you're not ready."
His eyes darted around the room, calculating, before he pointed at the small music box on Naomi's nightstand. "Make you a deal – I'll make it so you can think at me rather than talking and I'll hear what you want to tell me, in exchange for that music box. What do you think?"
Naomi considered it for a moment before she nodded.
"Okay. I'm going to reach for it now, okay? Usually I'd need a handshake or something similar to seal the deal, but..."
Naomi held up a hand, shakily, and Dipper smiled. He raised a loose fist and offered it. "Fistbump?"
Naomi had the faintest hint of a smile as she lightly tapped her fist against Dipper's, eyes going wide at the flash of blue fire the touch produced.
Dipper left a necklace with a star pendant in the music box's place. "If you decide you want to have me protect you, then you can contact me whenever you want with this necklace. And I'll always be able to watch over you while you're wearing it, even if I'm not there physically."
Naomi reached out hesitantly to pick up the necklace, fingering the star gently.
"You don't have to put it on yet," Dipper said softly. "I think your parents are ready to meet me. Ready to go downstairs?"
Naomi continued to stare at the star necklace, tracing over the pendant, for an uncomfortable stretch of time before she made up her mind.
She fastened the necklace around her throat quickly before sliding off the bed, reaching shyly for Dipper's hand and dragging him after her down the stairs like an overlarge and surprised balloon.
It seemed Naomi was more ready for a protector – any protector – than they'd thought.