Summery: A broken soul ends his existence only to end up in another world entirely, in the care of those who need him, and the key player to the fate of three races.
Rated: M, just in case.
Disclaimer: neither Harry Potter nor Earth Final conflict is mine, and are the sole property of their creators.
Authors Note: Happy holidays! I am glad to see some support for this fic, this is for those few diligent readers of this fic.
Key to Destiny
Chapter 2: Meeting.
Da'an had to admit, the new Companion public relations adviser that Zo'or had acquired, or spin doctor as Liam had so quaintly put it, certainly seemed to know what he was dong.
Already, the Companions for China and Russia had received positive feed back from the humans in their countries for taking up the public relations project.
Da'an was quite surprised, and pleased that Zo'or had approved of it, despite his reasons behind it being less then altruistic.
Da'an smiled as a group of children shrieked past, a ball being tossed between them.
"We are glad that you decided to choose from our facility today Da'an. We are sure that with your support, we will see an increase in the number of adoptions." The dean of Brightside Orphanage, Madeline Shirk spoke as she lead Da'an and his Protector, Major Liam Kincaid through the facilities.
"I am gratified to be of any assistance Ms. Shirk," the talon said amicably.
Out of the corner of his eye, Da'an noted Liam's watchful posture, but the hint of sympathy in his eyes.
The Major was an orphan as well after all. Loosing one parent before he was born and then having his own mother die in his arms, his other father unaware as well and the two always at odds as well Da'an made a mental note to try to engage the man in a conversation about it. Despite their differences of late, he did not like seeing his protector in these moments of loss.
Lately the two had been drifting further apart. It was the way of things for the young to drift from their mentors. Still, he worried about Liam, and the man's struggles to understand himself, and the barriers that stood between him and that need to belong caused by his heritage and his secrets.
He made a mental note to have a talk with Liam later today maybe, and to make more time for the major.
Liam met his eyes briefly, the look saying plainly that he appreciated the concern, but that he was all right.
Da'an sighed internally and returned his attention to the task at hand, after all, what he was about to do, was going to be yet another responsibility about to fall upon his shoulders.
As they continued to tour the facilities, passing child after child of many ages, and types, he felt a flare of sadness.
For a species that could no longer have children, to be confronted with another that had so many without parents was rather unsettling. But then again, there was much about humanity that unsettled or was not understood by the Taylons and vice versa.
There were so many, even for the criteria that he had made for himself when his turn to take up the mantel of the venture in human relations came.
The venture was quite simple really.
Further entrench Taylons in the hearts and minds of the humans by taking on the responsibility of there most innocent, their children. No one would ever believe that a species willing to become the parent of one of their children would have darker intensions towards the child's people. At, lest, that was the reasoning behind Zo'ors plan.
Zo'or, while not happy with the idea of Taylons becoming parents to an inferior species offspring, saw the benefits of what such a move would give the Taylons in furthering his own plans that required the humans cooperation.
After all, there were implants or Volunteers that could act as nannies in their care, and they would not necessarily be required to be present in the child's life beyond necessary public relations.
Da'an was also in the position of having his choice be the figurehead for the Star Child program as the humans have dubbed which wasn't surprising since Da'an had a number of ventures that involved the human's children.
Da'an finally managed to dismiss the dean so that he could contemplate his choice in peace. Liam seemed to understand his need for private contemplation and fell back a ways to give him what he needed without crowding him, but still close by incase of trouble.
The Taylon wandered, watching the children play.
Yes, a lot of choices indeed.
He was just about to head into the inner building when a slight movement in the concealing leaves of an oak tree beside him caught his attention.
He looked up and met two of the brightest green eyes he had ever seen.
They were a tone that he had never seen on a human before, and briefly wondered if they were natural.
The boy himself was rather skinny and small, looking no more then 8 years old with a fey like litheness and an almost fragile mien. He was also quite beautiful with wild black hair so dark it held a sheen of blue, and skin as pale as snow and looked unblemished but for a lightening bolt shaped scar above his right eye.
The boy held a large faded tan leather bound book that said the works of William Shakspere, and looked far to heavy for one so small.
Unlike the other children that seemed excited or weary in his presence, the boy did no more then blink calmly, looking curious.
"Greetings young one," Da'an greeted.
The boy cocked his head again, biting his lip and looking thoughtful, then shyly raised his hand and waved in hello.
"That is quite a impressive choice of reading or one so young." He said, trying to draw the child out more.
The child nodded his thanks.
For the next ten minutes or so, he engaged in a one sided banter with the child, receiving only nods or shakes of the head for answers. Eventually he had to leave the child to talk with Ms. Shirk and left the child to his reading.
When Da'an and the dean where seated in her office, they discussed the possible candidates, and other legal matters that were required for adoption, and what the candidate might expect.
Fortunately the women was quite competent in her field and had already been in contact with the heads of the other orphanages that had already handled the adoptions taken so far.
As they discussed the possibilities, Da'an found himself suddenly asking.
"Tell me Ms. Shirk, what can you tell me about the child with the unusual green eyes and dark hair?"
The women looked surprised.
"You must have met our centre's mystery child," her look turned somewhat sad, "he arrived a little over a month ago. He was found wandering in the fringes and brought to us when a police officer noticed him sleeping outside. He has no records and doesn't match any of the DNA files that his dna was run against, and we did a world wide search as well. It's as if he appeared out of no where."
She reached into her desk and pulled out a file.
"He hasn't said a word to anyone since he was found, and nobody stepped forward to claim him despite our efforts. We had a check up done on him, the full works. He is as healthy as can be expected, given what we theorized his circumstances that he must have come from. He shows signs of weakened skeletal structure and stunted growth from a background of extensive and long-term malnutrition and starvation. As such, it makes him look younger then he is, which is about 11 from what we can tell. He also seems to be weary and avoids being around either adults or other children, but will listen to an adult when told to do something. On the plus side, he is extremely intelligent, though his inability to talk as well as interact with others makes it difficult for him to do group activates and the like in classes."
Da'an weighed the information. The child was damaged and suffering from a sort of trauma that had stolen his ability to speak. Though from what he could tell, the child did interact, though on a limited level.
He described his experience with the nameless child. The Dean looked surprised, then pleased.
"That is very encouraging. He barely responds at all to his teachers and the on staff councilor. It would seem that our John Doe likes you, and from your interest can I assume that you have made a choice?"
"It would seem so," Da'an answered, the slight surprise in his tone. The dean chuckled and said "well, I was a bit worried at first about the Star Child Program, about how aliens and humans could get along in a family setting, but after meeting you, and seeing that surprised look that I see a lot on any other parents faces when they realize they have made their choice, it reassures me that we are all not as different as I had wondered."
An hour later, Da'an returned to the tree where he had spotted the green-eyed boy.
The pre-teen was still sitting where he had left him, despite the fact that his fellows had gone into the cafeteria for lunch. He held a half a ham sandwich in his hand that some one must have brought him and was nibbling on it while gazing upward at the clear blue sky.
Liam eyed the child curiously. He had to admit, the child was intriguing. He knew that ghosts such as this kid still existed in the system, the occasional blip that would pop up that had no dna records or matches in the system, but he had never met one so young.
The child's inability to talk and his shyness would not be conductive to public relations if the kid were going to spend time in the spotlight, which he undoubtedly would face. Still, it was this evidence of compassion that drew Liam to protect Da'an, and continue to keep his promise to protect him despite the distance the two had gone through lately.
The child looked down at them. His head cocked curiously.
The child then stilled, as he seemed to read their expectant postures.
He closed the book, putting it in a back pack that was hanging on a branch beside him and with a suddenness and a grace that startled both adults, he leapt from the branch and landed in a easy crouch on the ground, looking unruffled by the fact that he had startled both.
It seemed the bone enhancement treatments that the centre had made sure he under, courtesy of Taylon core energy, had indeed worked.
Standing in front of them, he stood at about 4"6 or 7, not even to Da'an's chest.
He met Liams eyes. The protector felt a strange sensation as he met those eyes, like he was looking at something more, the boys regard was almost like a weight, something that almost seemed older then it should be.
Da'an was right about the eyes to. They were an unusual green, and almost seemed to glow.
The child blinked, and suddenly Liam was released from the odd experience. From that point on he knew in that instant that this boy was something special, something that would play a role in things to come.
"I think that he should have a new name," Liam stated suddenly, "for some reason I don't think that John Doe really suits him".
Da'an cocked his head thoughtfully. Liam was right. They couldn't just call him child, and according to Ms. Shirk, he didn't seem to favor John Doe, as he had been called.
His gaze strayed to the heavy book bag. He had read a fair amount of Humanities great literary works to better understand their mentalities, and a name came to mind.
He gazed at the boy and said kindly, "If you so wish it, I could give you a name."
The boy shifted his stance nervously, and then nodded hesitantly.
Da'an smiled gently at the child. He knew that the child seemed to understand that Da'an would not be leaving the facility alone, his observing capabilities would do him well, and reassured the Taylon somewhat in his choice. "Then I shall call you Puck Goodfellow, for the character from a Midsummer's Night Dream".
The boy, Puck, blinked at the title, seeming to roll the name in his mind for a moment, then gave the both of them a sweet beaming smile.
Ooo ooo ooo
a/n: review and let me know what you think.