Adventures of John: Inner Demons
Chapter 3: Powerless
I woke up in my bed, my neck and back hurting from the uncomfortable position I had slept in. I jumped off the bed, slapping the off button on my alarm clock and cracking my neck forcefully. My bed was too small for me and I really needed to get a new bed, but I kept on forgetting to ask my dad to help me move my old bed out and bring in my older sister's old bed, which for some reason was much bigger than mine, and without me reminding him my dad kept on forgetting to do it. That day was the second-to-last day of school until spring break, and I was really looking forward to actually being able to get a full night's sleep.
Then I remembered what had just happened. Was it a dream? No, it couldn't have been a dream. I could always tell the difference between when I was dreaming and when I was traveling through the magical realms. But if that was true, then what was I doing waking up? What had the Trickster tried to do to me? I was still alive, which was always a good sign. Had he failed, or did he just do something with more subtle effects?
Unfortunately I didn't have the time to think about it, as I had woken up late and needed to be at school in less than ten minutes. I dressed in a rush and grabbed my backpack and car keys and hopped into my car. The rest of the day went by in a blur. I felt disconnected from reality, as if I had lost a part of myself. I went through my day, just trying to endure it long enough to make it home. When the day was finally over I got in my car and drove home, ready to investigate and determine exactly what it was the Trickster had done to me.
I settled down to send myself back into the magical realms, focusing my energies. I sat there for a full minute before I stopped, realizing something was horribly wrong. It usually took me only a few seconds to cross over, maybe thirty seconds if I was incredibly distracted. I should not have still been here on earth. I tried again, but with the same result. I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't travel to the magical realms. I tried to call out to Pixie, but I couldn't do that either. My magic was gone. I was powerless.
. . . . .
I spent the rest of the day working, trying to do everything I could to keep my mind off of my predicament. Luckily I had a lot of assignments I had to complete, and for a while I was able to distract myself. Despite all of my efforts however, the subject kept returning to me. I was powerless. I had stopped the destruction all of reality and saved countless lives, and now I was no one. Without my powers I was just another ordinary human being, living a boring ordinary life.
Then my thoughts went to Elsa. If I couldn't travel anymore, I wouldn't be able to return to Arendelle. Would I ever see her again? What about our child? Would I never get the chance to see them grow up? Would I never even see their face? What was I without my magic, without my new home?
Suddenly there was a sound of fluttering wings by my ear, and I turned to see Pixie hovering behind me worryingly. "I can still see you!" I exclaimed with joy. "Pixie, something is horribly wrong. My powers are gone, I can't travel to the magical realms, and I couldn't even call you. Wait, how did you know to come here?"
"I sensed something wrong with you," she answered. "Are you okay? You don't feel entirely whole."
"The Trickster did something to me," I told her. "I don't know what he did, but whatever it was took away my powers. We need to find a way to get them back, but to do that we are going to need help." I paced around the room, thinking over my various allies.
"I'm the only one who can travel to Arendelle, so we aren't going to get any help from there. Elphaba was barely willing to help when the entire multiverse almost ended, so I doubt she'd help with my personal problems. You can't travel into the Void, so we have no way of contacting the crew of my ship or our friends in other universes. I like Hermes as a person, but that doesn't mean I want to be in his debt anytime soon and goodness knows where the Hatter has gotten to." Then I came to the inevitable conclusion. "It looks like only one of my allies is available, my old friend Jack Frost. Pixie, I need you to find him as quickly as possible. We are going to need all the help we can get if we are going to fix this."
She saluted cheerfully and zipped off to find him. It was depressing to realize that without my powers I didn't even have a way to send a distress call to a large number of my friends and allies. I needed Pixie's help just to contact the ones in my own reality. If she hadn't shown up when she did… but I didn't want to think about that. I sat down and waited, as there was nothing else I could do.
. . . . .
It was nearly midnight when I felt a blast of frosty air and suddenly found myself on the ground, Jack's bare feet on my chest, crooked staff pointed at my face. "Who are you?!" he shouted, shoving the staff closer. "Answer me!"
"What's going on Jack?" I asked, thoroughly shocked. "It's me, John. You nearly got me killed when I was a kid, then you helped me get Elsa back, and then you nearly caused the end of the world. Who else knows all that?"
"You could be reading my mind," he answered. "Because I know you can't really be John, even if you were able to trick little Pixie here." He stepped off my chest and laughed, keeping the staff pointed in my direction. "Imagine my surprise to have the little girl flutter up to me and tell me that John had lost all his powers, when at the time I was standing right next to him, and he was completely fine."
"What?"
"You heard me," he responded. "I know that you are not John because I was with him five minutes ago all the way at the Pole."
