I worked diligently with Bobby, Jo, Ellen, and Bill. The goal was to test my memories and my abilities, and get me adapted as quickly as possible now to the new world around me. Words came back quicker than anything else, which was a nice surprise.
In the testing phase that lasted a grand total of two days, I learned a lot about myself. I learned I could definitely throw angel blades, without really any difficulties. I learned that I didn't know Japanese (but Bobby did, and that was cool) or sign language. I learned that I was a pretty fast runner, but not the absolute fastest (which made Jo a mix of happy and sad. Apparently she could never beat the other me in a footrace). I learned that what I lacked in speed I made up for in dexterity, though. I was definitely a person that knew how to dodge, and I felt comfortable in the treetops. In a fistfight, I was good. I wasn't perfect, but I didn't stop.
They had me sparring up against Bill last, to see how I would do with the height and weight difference. I knew it was just to see where I was at. I knew none of it was real. But in the back of my mind… I knew there had been times when it hadn't just been practice. I knew that there had been times I'd needed to keep going and going and going and not stop until I knew I was safe.
Bill had me in the end, but it was a close one. He was breathing hard. "Where did you learn to fight like that?" He asked.
"I…" I could hear fighting in the back of my mind, and smell something metallic. "I don't know."
"Fair enough." He conceded.
Then came the test of magic. Could I cast it? How effective was it? What was I better at than other things? Could I do this or that?
The answer to all of them boiled down to a simple phrase: I couldn't do it.
I tried. I really did. But I had no idea what it would feel like TO do. Bobby had a couple books on the subject but the idea of it just… It just didn't seem to click. "Like a secondary external force you can call upon at whim." That was what the book said.
That just made it sound like I had magic daggers that could reappear in my hands. That was, however, unfortunately incorrect. They had a rope trick, though. Rope around the handles so that I could throw them and pull back.
It felt weird, doing that. Granted, it was definitely smart. But I just felt as though the rope forced me to get in much too close.
"That was always how she did things." Bobby commented one day. "It was either quiet from the corners, or up close and personal. The longer I knew her…" he sighed. "The more she moved towards confrontation."
He'd come to accept that I probably wasn't the Kylie from this world. It hurt him, I could see that plainly. But he also was taking it extremely well. I wasn't his Kylie, but he didn't care. As far as it mattered to him, I was still another kid.
Once we knew what I could and couldn't do, they got to work adjusting me to the world as quickly as possible.
"Not a lot of people knew you here, so you should be fine to just walk around like you." Jo had assured me. "Hell, you can even use your own name. She never did unless it was around us. If we still had her cloak, I'd give it to you."
"Cloak?"
"Long story. It's probably best we don't have it anyways." She commented. "Too many people would recognize you with it."
They gave me other clothes instead. Dark clothes and military fatigues, to blend in with my surroundings. They didn't have a lot to offer, but it was enough. The clothes I'd come in weren't useful in this world, anyways.
They were used to make new clothes for some of the children in the camp instead.
From there, I got to work. Supplies needed to be gathered. Missions needed to be run. I wasn't going to be useful staying cooped up with Bobby in Treetops, and like Jo said: not a lot of people knew the other me. She wasn't a big fan of being known.
Angels knew her, though. That made me surprisingly useful. They took one look at me and it was like seeing a ghost. I did my best to play the part as well, keeping sentences short actions loud.
Word spread from that. Angels were dying, just a little more now. Dying at the hands of a woman with angelic blades. People had their theories. Angels had their concerns. Nobody really knew the truth.
It was better that way. Safer for all of us. If Michael knew I was from the other universe…
From what Jo had told me, it was best to accept who I was, but play the part I needed to blend in. Just another girl fighting in the rebellion while I was at Treetops. Exactly who angels feared when I fought them.
We were at war, and this was the best we had. Things were working well like that.
Until a few months later, when Bobby came back from patrol.
I was out by the campfire with a few of the kids, telling them whatever stories I could think of. As I spoke, I could almost imagine the flames coming to life with my words. "And then they boys were sent away, put into a magical land where hundreds of stories all came to life all at once. These stories had a catch, though. To make it through each story and out to the end, you had to act as though you belonged. Or else they'd get you!" I lunged towards one of the younger girls, and she squealed with laughter. I smiled at all of them, raising an eyebrow. "And they'd make you follow the story somehow."
"Kylie," Bobby's voice came from behind me. I turned around automatically, and saw he'd brought some new people into the camp. A young man and a middle-aged woman. The woman had shoulder-length blonde hair, just a few inches longer than mine, and sharp blue eyes. The younger man had shorter brown hair and blue eyes too. His eyes were kinder, though. Softer. More hopeful.
Bobby moved before they could see me, blocking my view of them. "I need you to head back to the house." He said quietly.
"Why?"
"It's important." He promised. "I'll tell you more later. I just want to make sure it's safe first."
"OK." I tried to look around him again, but he blocked my view. "Does it have something to do with them?" I asked. Bobby too a breath, thinking.
"I'll tell you more later." He repeated. "I promise. You just have to trust me, OK? Michael is after these guys." I understood immediately. If Michael was looking for them, and he found me…
I needed to keep my distance.
"Got it." I said. "I'll be quiet heading back."
"Thank you." He offered me a small smile before returning to the other two. I got up quickly, much to the children's disappointment.
"Sorry, guys." I shrugged. "Duty calls."
"Are you going on a mission again?" One of them asked. I glanced back quietly, and saw Bobby talking to the other two. He was keeping them facing away from me.
"Kind of." I said. As I looked more at the two new figures, I… I don't know. Something about them seemed odd. The male one with the shorter brown hair started to look back at us, and I looked away quickly. "I promise I'll keep up the story tomorrow, OK?"
"OK." They agreed. I smiled at them all warmly one last time before I got up to leave. I heard a male voice speak not long after I left the campfire.
"Hello!" He sounded kind. I offered one last glance back and saw it was the same guy I'd seen. A kind voice to match the kind eyes. It was almost reassuring.
I made it back to Bobby's quietly, but I couldn't get settled in. I was on edge, so much that my head was starting to hurt. Who were those new people? Why had Bobby kept them out of my sight (or kept me out of there vision)? Why was Michael after them, specifically? Michael wanted everybody dead, true, but it took a certain kind of importance to put your name on his hit list.
I knew Bobby's was on it. I knew there was a good chance mine was on it, or at least had been at one point.
I paced about impatiently until Bobby got back. "Who are those people?" I started immediately. "Why does Michael want them? How did you find them? Where are they from?"
"Slow your roll, kiddo." Bobby said, raising his hands in the air. "Look, it doesn't matter now. They'll be gone by morning."
"Gone by morning?" I asked. "What do you mean gone by morning? Michael is after them."
"They're a target."
"So are you. So am I."
"They're a worse target." He sounded exasperated. "Look, don't worry too much on it, alright? They'll be gone, we'll be safe and fighting."
"You've never sent people away before." I pointed out.
"What makes you think I'm sending them away?" To respond I just offered the man a pointed look. He let out a sigh. "They're too big of a target to have around."
"Why?"
"The kid, the boy, you saw him, right?" He asked. I nodded. "That's a Nephilim."
I just stared blankly at Bobby. The word meant nothing to me. He scrubbed his face, letting out an angry sigh. "Right. You don't know. A Nephilim is the kid of an angel and a human."
"That's a thing?"
"It's a very powerful being." Bobby stated. "It's like a damn beacon of power to bring Michael over here."
"Could it be used to help us?" I asked. Bobby stared at me as if I'd just told him we should cooperate with the angels.
"It's the kid of an angel!" Bobby exclaimed. "It's going to turn on us, just like how the angels did in the beginning."
"But it's also part human, right?"
"When push comes to shove, which genetics do you think are going to override? Angel or human?" He had a point there. Angels were much more powerful than humans, and depending on how the thing was raised, who knew where its loyalties lied?
"Fine. You're probably right." I agreed. "So, they're gone by morning. Then what? There's still a super-powered half-angel thing and a perfectly normal human woman," I paused, thinking. "She's normal and human, right?"
"She's human alright." Bobby promised.
"OK. If they're gone by morning than there's a normal human woman out there with a super-powered half-angel thing." I said. "And we won't know where it is. We only know that Michael is after it."
"It could turn on us to work for Michael!"
"EXACTLY!" I argued. "But it's not working for Michael right now, right?" Bobby stopped there. I had a point this time, and he knew it. The Nephilim was here, with us, not with Michael. They were running FROM Michael. Yes, the thing might just lead the archangel here, but he could also be a viable weapon against him." I was about to say more – as was Bobby – but we were both cut off by the clearest sound we'd ever heard.
The angel siren.
They were coming.
"Balls!" Bobby muttered. He swung his gun, Rufus, off of his back and into his hands.
"I've got the kids." I stated, flicking my wrists. The angelic blades I'd been given fell from their spots up my sleeves and neatly into my hands.
"Don't be stupid."
"You too." I smiled ruefully at him, but he didn't return it. Angels hadn't attacked us directly here before. It was fortified. It was supposed to be safe.
But if they were coming, then it would be bad.
The two of us didn't say anything else to each other. We didn't really need to.
So we left in separate directions, him darting off towards the adults to fight and me darting towards the children. I could get them out. I could get them safe. I had to get them out and safe.
I rounded up as many of the children as I could. They all already knew where to go – there was a grain cellar they were supposed to run towards. Each child had their own path to get to it, one that would keep them out of the way and look misdirecting. Some were in the trees. Some were underground.
But some would be trapped, or too scared. They were children, after all. They were brave children that had seen much more than they should've, but they were still children.
I started by running from hovel to hovel, closing up escape hatches where I saw them left open and checking on who was left. No weapons were left behind, and as I went I didn't find many people or children. It looked like we were doing good.
As I rounded a corner I saw a child hiding behind a log. Angels weren't too far from her. They didn't see her yet, though. They didn't see me either. I was about to run to the girl when someone else beat me to it.
It was the woman from last night.
And an angel saw her too. The woman turned to see the angel, and I watched her posture stiffen. She pushed the child to run, and the little girl locked eyes with me. I motioned for her to run towards me. She did, leaving the woman to deal with the angel. Neither of them had spotted me yet.
I watched the angel knock the woman to the ground as the child reached me. I moved her behind me, whispering quick words for her to run.
"The half-breed," I heard the angel demand. "Where is he?"
"Go to hell." The woman spat back. I smiled a little.
"Witty." I saw Zachariah move to raise his blade, and I started to move myself. I couldn't let him kill this woman. I had to stop him.
I was beat by someone else though.
"Stop." I looked behind Zachariah and saw the boy from last night. The Nephilim child. He stood weaponless. Zachariah wasn't looking at me, though. He was looking at the boy. I still had a chance. As Zachariah spoke, I crept quickly towards the angel. The boy may be unarmed, but I still had my blades. I reached the woman just as the Nephilim spoke again. "I said, stop."
In an instant I felt my head explode with pain. I fell to the ground, clutching my head. I couldn't see. I could barely hear. All I felt was agony in my mind. Someone else was speaking, I was certain of it, but I couldn't hear them clearly.
I stayed on the ground like that for what felt like hours. I couldn't move. I couldn't even scream. I just stayed curled up, grasping at the sides of my head. When it finally started to recede, though, that was when I heard voices again.
"Kylie! Kylie, what's wrong? Kylie, get up. I need you to get up now, so I can see what they did and try to fix you up." Bobby's voice. It came in muffled, with a high-pitched whine behind it. I opened my eyes slowly to look up at him. Once he saw me responding, he let out a sigh of relief. "Good. You gotta get up now, alright?"
"Kylie?" Another person appeared next to Bobby. The woman. She looked at me with shock. Bobby helped me up slowly as my head began to clear.
"What in the hell happened to you?" He asked. I looked back over at him. "One minute you were about to make an angel kebab, the next you were on the ground."
"I don't know." I muttered, rubbing my head. I still had my angel blades in my hands. I stowed them away quickly, looking around. There were no more angels. It was… oddly silent here. I looked up and saw faint flecks of what looked like ash start to fall. "It was like… I don't even know." I looked over at the woman. She was still staring at me in disbelief. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah." She said absently. "Yeah, I'm fine. Bobby, is this," she looked from me to him, trying to put the sentence together correctly. "Is she," before Bobby could answer, the Nephilim spoke from behind me.
"You're alive!" He cheered. I turned to look at him and was immediately caught in a hug. "You're alive! I can't believe you're here, but you are! I have so many things to tell you, Kylie! So many things to ask you about!" I looked back at Bobby and the woman, feeling dread. The last time someone had hugged me like this… They'd thought they knew me. They'd hoped I would know them.
"Jack," the woman said softly. He pulled away from me, looking over at the woman proudly.
"Mary, look!" Jack exclaimed, turning me around to see her. "It's Kylie! I know you knew her, and she's here! I thought that…" He paused for a moment, then shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We can discuss it later." He looked at me with those words, this time really looking at me. He took in the bewilderment on my face, the stiffness of my body, and the lack of recognition in my eyes. "Kylie… What's wrong?"
"Jack, this might not be the Kylie we knew." Mary told him cautiously. "This might be the Kylie from this world, not from ours."
"No, I know she's from our world." Jack said assuredly. "I can feel it. She feels like us. Kylie, you understand, right?" I pursed my lips. "Besides, I… I know that using my powers hurts you. I'm sorry that it did that, I didn't know you were here." He brightened up again a little. "But this is good! We can talk! We can learn what's been happening and work together!"
"Jack," Mary said again, but this time Bobby held up a hand. He shook his head at her, offering me the chance to speak.
"I…" I took a deep breath. I looked over at Jack, and saw him look so hopeful. The hope was quickly fading, though, being replaced by worry and fear. "Jack, I'm sorry, but I don't remember you." I said softly. I looked back over at Mary. "I don't remember you either."
"What?" Mary asked. I nodded, looking over at Bobby again. He nodded for me to continue.
"You're right, I'm from your universe. Jack's confirmation is the best proof we'll get of that. But I don't remember how I got here. I… I don't remember anything."