First let me say that I struggled with chapter. I have rewritten at least a half a dozen times and I am still not happy with it, but it could be Christmas before I get it where I want so here ya go. Sorry if it doesn't live up the hype.
Second, I wanted to thank everyone for your reviews, for adding this story to your alerts and favs list. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my little story.
Chapter 28
Brandon Seymour stared in disbelief at the glass of water, suspended in mid-air directly in front of him, as Anders froze and unfroze the water inside it. The mage then froze the entire glass and hit it with a rock; shattering the glass entirely. Immediately after the glass shattered, Alistair placed his hands together as if he were trying to focus all of his energy. He let out a loud cry and pushed his hands forward as a rush of energy burst forth, hitting everyone in the room and knocking them to the ground.
James was the first one to stagger to his feet. "Wow, that was incredible," he muttered as he rubbed his head.
Matt, Alex and Brandon were the next ones to ease their way back to their feet, but they swayed unsteadily as they tried to get their balance. Alex glanced down at Eva and Anders who were still crumpled on the floor. Alex stumbled over to them and helped them sit up. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Eva massaged her temples and mumbled "I don't think I like templars to much."
"I warned you," Anders grumbled as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. "See, they are nothing, but a bunch of lyrium addicted, virgin zealots."
"Speak for yourself, Anders," Alistair retorted.
Brandon had eased himself onto the sofa and Alex sat down beside her father. "So you traveled from your world here to heal my daughter and save her life. Is that what I am to believe?" Brandon questioned.
Alistair tried not to let the disappointment show on his face. He had hoped that their little demonstration, although not as dramatic as Alex's, would be enough to convince Brandon that they were telling the truth. "Yes, Sir," Alistair replied. "I know that it sounds crazy…"
"Oh it sounds crazy alright," Brandon interjected.
Alistair sighed. He sat down beside Brandon on the sofa. "Sir, I love your daughter and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Alex saved me in Ferelden. She saved me from a life of loneliness and solitude, and showed me the true joys of living. I had no understanding of the true meaning love until your daughter walked into my life. She believed in me like no one in my life ever has, and through her unshakable confidence in me, she taught me what I was capable of and who I could become. Being with her makes me want to reach for more and makes me want to be a better man. My life begins and ends with your daughter, Sir, and I would do anything within my power to save her the way she saved me." The entire room was in utter silence and Alistair noticed Eva quickly wipe a tear from her cheek.
Brandon bowed his head and was silent for a long moment. "I too understand the power that the love of a good woman can have on a man." Brandon's voice cracked and Alex grasped her Father's hand. "Alistair, your words have touched me deeply. Not just because you spoke them about my daughter, but it is as if you said out loud all the things that I have ever felt for my wife."
Brandon turned toward Alex and clasped both her hands in his. "Your mother rescued me too, and her love did make me better man. I can tell that Alistair is a good man, and that he loves you deeply and would do anything for you."
"So Dad, do you believe us?"
Brandon ran his fingers through his hair as he thought about it for a moment before he replied. "So, my future son-in-law is a King in a different world. I could do worse," Brandon said with a grin. He extended his hand toward Alistair, "Welcome to the family, Son."
Alistair grinned back and shook the man's hand. "Thank you, Sir."
Alex hugged her father, "Thanks Dad."
"I love you, Alexa. I just want you to be happy," Brandon replied.
"I love you too, Daddy! I have never been happier."
"Well, Alistair, there isn't a great deal of demand on the job market for a King, so I guess we are going to see about getting you and fancy fingers jobs so that you can support my daughter."
"Well the problem with that is that they don't have any of the proper documents," James said.
Brandon nodded, "Yes, well I may be able to help with that."
Alex raised an eye brow, "How can you help with obtaining illegal documents?"
"I know people that know people," Brandon said casually.
"You know people that know people?" Alex questioned.
Brandon laughed, "I grew up in Hell's Kitchen, remember Lex. And that was before it was some yuppie TV cooking show. Anyways, I will make a few calls and see what I can find out. It's going to cost a pretty penny to get good documents, but that shouldn't be a problem with all the money your mother left you from her trust fund."
Alex hugged her dad again. "Thanks Dad."
Brandon smiled, "Anything for my little girl. In the meantime, why don't you bring Alistair down to the gym. By the looks of him, with some proper training, he would be hell in the ring."
Alex grabbed Alistair's chin and shook it back in forth. "Dad, look at this gorgeous face. I like kissing it without bruises, split lips, or swelling. I don't want him to be your next champion fighter," Alex exclaimed.
"Okay, I see your point, but bring him down to the gym anyway. I know everyone would love to see you, and I'm sure you're jonesing for a bout in the ring," Brandon said. "I think I might have a perfect job for Alistair once his paper work comes through."
Alex narrowed her eyes as she stared at her father. "And what would that be?"
"Do you remember meeting Tanaoi Reed at the gym?" Brandon asked.
A smile spread across Alex's face. "Oh my God, Dad, that would be perfect. With Alistair's sword expertise, and the marial arts training I've been giving him that would be the ideal job."
"What would be the ideal job?" Alistair interjected.
James was nodding his head adamantly. "Yeah, with his build and good looks, he could double for some of the biggest names in Hollywood."
"Double as what? What the hell are you people talking about?" Alistair asked again.
"A stunt double for actors in movies and TV," James replied.
"What exactly does a stunt double do?" Alistair asked.
"A stunt double replaces the actor when a scene calls for dangerous film or video sequences. In movies and television, stunties perform sophisticated stunts, such as fight scenes with swords or martial arts," James said. "Remember the other night when we watched The Terminator?" Alistair nodded. "Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't do all of those action scenes. He had someone step in for him and do those stunts. You would need some training, but you would be good at."
Anders piped in. "Hey what about me? What am I supposed to do with the rest of my life?"
"Oh, I plan on making you the next David Blaine or David Copperfield," James said dryly.
Eva laughed. "Oh, I could totally see that!"
"Who are they?" Anders asked.
"They are illusionists," Eva said. "James, pull a couple of their videos up on you tube."
Anders watched as the Copperfield fellow made an entire statue disappear, and the Blaine gentleman held his breath underwater for seventeen minutes. He stared at James and Alex for a moment "So they didn't use any magic to make those things happen?"
"Nope, they use a very sophisticated version of slight-of-hand tricks," Alex said.
Anders looked at them, snickered and said, "And they get paid for this?"
"Yep, Copperfield has a six figure income," James replied with a grin.
A grin spread across Anders' face. "Wow, so I can be paid to do magic? Have I told you how much I love this world?"
xxXxx
Over the next several weeks, Brandon worked on getting the 'Ferelden Boys', as they had come to be known, their legal documentation. Meanwhile, James and Alex trained intensely with Alistair at the gym, focusing on martial arts. James, Eva, and Matt all took an active role in schooling the boys about life on Earth. Alex thought they did it more for the sheer entertainment of watching Alistair and Anders struggle with the endless wealth of knowledge available, then because they actually wanted to educate the two men. She didn't really care why they did it, just as long as they did it.
Alex also signed Alistair up for several stunt double classes at UCLA. Alistair had learned how to take public transportation to and from the campus. She rode with him the first few times to make sure that he didn't get lost, but now he insisted on going by himself. Alex noticed that the more Alistair became acclimated to her world, the more confident he was in general. After his classes, Alistair always came back with the best stories, which he would share with her over a bottle of wine. They would laugh endlessly about the mishaps and misunderstandings of the day.
Even though Alistair and Anders were beginning to settle in to their new lives, and both of them seemed to be adjusting and happy, Alex still wanted to give them the option of going back to Ferelden if they wanted to. Anders had given her the physical properties of lyrium, and while Alistair was at his stunt classes, Alex was in the hospital lab studying the chemical. She had narrowed it down to two compounds and was running several tests to see if they had the same chemical reactions as lyrium did. It was a slow process, but she was making progress. There were times when Anders would join her in the lab as she worked on the experiments. He found the place very interesting, and was mesmerized by how things looked under a microscope. She told him that in this world, he would have made a great research doctor. From that moment on, he insisted she call him 'Dr. Anders'.
On one such visit to the lab, Alex asked Anders for a sample of his blood. She wanted to study his tainted blood and Sienna's blood. She told him not to get his hopes up, but by studying their blood under a microscope, she might get a clear idea of how the taint was affecting their blood, and possibly how to stop the process. It was a fascinating process.. The taint acted similar to an autoimmune disease. If Alex could diagnose which one, she might be able to find a treatment plan. Even if it didn't completely cure them, it might slow down the damage the taint was inflicting. She was also running tests on Sienna's blood, mixing her blood with Anders, and was getting fascinating results from those experiments as well.
Matt visited her often, and she would bounce ideas off of him. It was his idea to test Ununseptium. This was a new element, its symbol being Uus, which was discovered earlier in the year, and just recently added to the periodic table. It was this element that held the most promise, and Alex felt that she was only days away from having a breakthrough. Uuc was a silver solid, but as she applied heat to it, the element melted into a green liquid. Under a microscope, it looked identical to lyrium. As she ran it through the gambit of experiments, the Uuc samples reacted exactly as lyrium had.
She was so excited, she ran all the way home. She raced in the door and yelled, "Anders, by George, I think I've done it. I am bloody brilliant! I'm going to need that recipe for lyrium potions. It won't be long before you and Alistair can turn this one way trip into a trip back home, if you want. Anders? Did you hear me?"
Alex saw Anders' frowning face as he walked out of his bedroom. At the same time, Alistair rounded the corner from the kitchen. "Alistar? I didn't realize you were home. Did class let out early?" Alex asked.
Alistair's brow was furrowed. "Yeah, something like that. What were you saying about lyrium and a trip back home?"
Alex looked at him nervously. "Well, before Anders left Ferelden, I asked him to get me the physical properties of lyrium so that I could see if it existed in my world. I have been testing every compound known to man, and I think I found lyrium in my world. It's called Ununseptium."
"I think I like the name lyrium better. It rolls off the tongue easier," Anders replied.
Alex barely even registered that Anders had said anything. She couldn't read Alistair's face. She didn't know if he was mad, happy, or sad.
"Why didn't you tell me you were working on this?" Alistair questioned.
Alex tried to reassure Alistair as she explained herself. "There was a very good chance that this element didn't exist here. I didn't want to get your hopes up, Alistair. I wanted to surprise you when I knew it would work."
"Surprise me? Well you've done that," Alistair said dryly.
Alex walked over and took his hand. "Alistair, I did this for you. I wanted you to have the choice of staying here or going back home."
Alistair pulled her into his arms, "Alex, don't you know that home for me is wherever you are? That could be in Ferelden, here, or on the moon, because you are my home."
Alex smiled as she leaned forward and kissed the man that she loved with all her heart. She pulled away and stroked the side of his face. "Alistair, that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, and I feel the exact same way about you, but I needed to give you the option. Alistair, you're a King and the leader of a country that needs a just and fair ruler, like you. You were born to be the Ruler of Ferelden, not a stunt double."
"I understand what you are saying, and I know that Ferelden needs me, but I can't go back. I need you more than Ferelden needs me," Alistair said earnestly.
"I need you too, Alistair, which is why, if you wanted to go back, I would go with you," Alex replied.
Alistair stared at her dumbfounded. "You would do that…you would leave your family and friends to come back to Ferelden with me? Alex, that's crazy. I can't ask you to leave your father and James. Your father needs you, he just lost his wife, and he can't lose you when he just got you back," Alistair pleaded.
Anders walked up behind the couple and placed a hand on Alex's shoulder. They both grinned at Alistair as he raised an eye brow. "Why are the two you smiling?"
Anders clasped Alistair by the shoulder and shook the other man in glee. "Alistair, this is no longer a one way trip. As long as we have a powerful mage, such as myself, and we have Ununseptium and lyrium, we can perform the ritual anytime we need too."
Alistair felt like a brick had just hit him in the head. He stumbled back a little and Alex grabbed his arm to steady him. "Are you okay, Love?" She asked.
"No, I don't think I am," Alistair said as Anders eased him back onto a chair. Alex went to get him a drink of water. "This is a lot of information to take in and process," Alistair mumbled.
Anders offered Alistair a knowing smirk. "Yessss, and wait until the endless possibilities begin to seep in. It's going to blow your mind, my friend.
Alex handed him the glass and sat down beside him. "Alistair, I know this is a lot of information to process, but we can make this work. Think of all the good we can do in Ferelden, with you as King, and the knowledge that I can bring." She slid off the chair and knelt in front of him. "Alistair, we could change people's lives. We could make their lives better! That is what your destiny is, Love."
Alistair looked into her eyes and he saw how much she believed in him. He could see all that he could accomplish with her by his side. He nodded, "Okay, let's start to make plans to return to Ferelden."
Alex squealed and leapt into his arms. "Oh, Alistair, this is wonderful."
He laughed as he held her tightly to him. "Is there anything else you haven't told me?"
"Oh nothing much, only that I think I found a cure for the taint," Alex replied nonchalantly.
Alistair felt the glass slip out of his hand, but he never heard it hit the floor.
Author's note – Ununseptium was actually discovered in January of this year. Little is known about it which is why I thought it would be a good element to use for this story.