It wasn't wise to travel Inter-dimensionally if one had had a hearty lunch prior to embarking. He'd only officially been a warlock (Nº1 felt that his years spent getting picked on by the older demons didn't constitute as very warlock-y) for an hour, and it was shaping up to be rather unpleasant. Even worse, he'd lost the human that he'd brought with him into the aether. His first potential friend, and Nº1 had lost him. No wonder he'd been supernaturally booted off Hybras. He was a mess.

Sighing, Nº1 crossed his grey arms. Things had started off so well, too, he reasoned as he stared out into the void.

It stared back, judgmentally.

… Maybe things hadn't gotten off on the best foot.

When he'd first stepped off the edge of Hybras' mountain and into the infinite expanse of space and time, Nº1 hadn't felt scared. He'd been a bit upset, sure, but that had more to do with the fact that no one was giving him the time of day. They never did, but he was feeling more sensitive than usual today. He was demon enough to admit that.

Honestly, the black landscape streaked by sparkling lines of light had seemed exciting in comparison to plunging into the basin of lava that had laid below him seconds earlier. The transition from his planet to wherever he was now had happened painlessly, too, which was a bonus. However, once he had blinked out of existence on Hybras, he found he wasn't sure about anything regarding the passage of time. He could have been drifting about for half an hour or half a century, it was all the same to him. The feeling wasn't altogether pleasant, but it wasn't unpleasant, either. It was like going to sleep and not dreaming; it just was something that happened, and that's that.

He'd resurfaced into existence when the chatter around him started to crystalize into voices instead of white noise. Nº1 was surprised when he realized that the sounds around him were people speaking; adult demons had a certain raspiness about their voices, and the people he heard chattering on had a softness in how they spoke with which he was unfamiliar. Back home, even imps like him who hadn't yet warped made their voices harsh and gravelly. It was quite strange, but Nº1 decided it sounded pleasant. These people sounded like he'd always imagined the proper lords and ladies of Lady Heatherington Smythe's Hedgerow to sound like.

Nº1 had been so engrossed in his thoughts about the novel that he almost didn't notice the very strange world he had been dumped out into. The star in the sky was farther away here, and it was much younger, too. The flora surrounding the stone-covered ground was verdant and (hopefully) non-hostile. The air was smoky, but with sweet tones. It was beautiful here.

He was over the moon.

It was right out of the pages of his favorite book. Maybe he had died falling off that cliff, and he was reborn into his next life. He could immediately tell he was much better suited to this world. It looked like it had room for people like him.

Glancing around, he saw that he stood before three strangers. Two of the strangers seemed to be adults, and there was a boy seated next to the older man. The older man had ghosts of lines starting to appear on his face, and the first thing Nº1 thought about him was that he was strong. There was a silent kind of power that emanated from this man, and even General Abbott would have hesitated before confronting him. His eyes followed Nº1, unblinking. A slightly younger man stood beside his table, and this man was lankier. He seemed to be about to faint.

Then there was the third stranger.

The other individual did not appear to be related to the man by whom he was seated, although their postures indicated they were close. The boy was pale, almost sickly looking, and his eyes were piercing and ice-blue. He couldn't have been any older than Nº1, yet they were about the same height. Nº1 might have actually been a centimeter or two taller. However, despite this person's slight build, he matched the broad-shouldered man by whom he sat in intensity.

Nº1 hoped a bit nervously that they took kindly to new people around these parts.

He didn't have to wait long to find out, as the boy held out his hand. Nº1 studied the outstretched appendage appraisingly. Why was he…

Oh.

OH.

These were humans.

The person in front of him was a human.

Nº1 forced himself to breathe. Be cool, Nº1, be cool, he repeated internally. You've read Lady Heatherington at least ten times. You've got this.

"Hello," the boy said, tone even and his hand still outstretched. Nº1's nerves heightened. Oh right, his role in this greeting was to respond in kind.

Mustering up all his courage, Nº1 had quickly grabbed onto the other boy's hand with both of his, desperate not to make a faux-pas so early on in his arrival to Earth. He winced internally. He'd fumbled it. Damn.

Needless to say, the rest was history. Nº1 was floating through space again, and the human boy he had met was nowhere to be found.

"I'll do better next time," he decided aloud to no one in particular. His voiced echoed slightly, although he wasn't sure how that was possible. The stars around him winked in response.

End Notes:

I reread part of TLC in order to find the name of Nº1's book for this and?

'Calm yourself, friend,' he said. 'Our fate is sealed. Enjoy these
wondrous sights.'
The demon's howl ceased abruptly, and he dropped Artemis's hand.
'Speak you fairy tongue?'
'Gnommish,' corrected Artemis. 'And better than you, I might add.'

WHY is he like this. I'm about to call 911. Also — feel free to hit me up via pms or tumblr (my handle is the same there as it is here) if you ever want to discuss the series with me!