Hello! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first two chapters of Parallels! Here is the next chapter. It's a little longer than the others because we had to combine two chapters since one was way too short.
When she came back around, just minutes later, she was treated to the sight of the dragon peeling metal stripes of the ship from its frame as explosions rocked off its thick hind, bouncing off harmlessly.
Lucy's mouth went dry at the sight, a scream dying in her throat. It was choked down by instinctual terror, something in her hind-brain telling her this was a true apex predator. Compared to this creature, she was nothing.
Its large, powerful body tore into the ship, claws puncturing hard lines through it. A mighty sweep from its tail sent the crew of the ship flying into the burning woods. The dragon let out a huffing noise that sounded more like a monstrous laugh than a roar.
Was it… playing with them?
A hand was steady on her shoulder, startling her from her terrified thoughts. She looked at the owner, a golden armored man with the strange cat-ears. He stood in front of her like a guardian.
His face was drawn tight, feline eyes sharp on the action unfolding in front of him and worry causing his shoulders to tense. Sweat trickled down his neck, matting his bangs down to his forehead and Lucy had a wild thought. He must be baking in that armor.
"You're awake," He said after a moment, throwing an armored hand forward, a burning gust of light crashing into the ground in front of the strange people who were trying to get to her. Those who weren't busy fighting the dragon were coming after her, and that made Lucy anxious.
For whatever reason, this strange man seemed intent on protecting her, which she was grateful, if confused over.
"What's going on?" She squeaked, her voice gaining pitch in terror over the chaos unfolding around her. Reading about adventure was one thing, finding herself trapped in the middle of this out of body experience was another.
Watching a dragon, a real life dragon, crunching down on the metal rigging of a ship as if it were a snack, sent a fresh shudder of dread tearing through her.
The feline man dragged his attention from the fight and put all of it on Lucy. Her mouth went dry at the dire expression on his face, "You managed to stumble on an ongoing war between a wing of the Baram Alliance and the Fire Dragon King."
An odd tickle in Lucy's brain made her spine stiffen at his words, a frown creasing between her brows.
Where had she heard those terms before...?
She was prevented from asking any more questions for the time being when the man scooped her up and jumped out of the way of a tree suddenly gaining a life of its own and making a wild grasp for her.
Her arms banged against the Cat's armor as he jumped out of the way, skidding back just in time to avoid most of the plants. They seemed to have gained a life of their own.
Fire burned at the earth, belching out from the dragon's roaring mouth. It was being devoured by the blond man from before, but at a rate faster than he could consume. Which was strange enough on its own, Lucy's eyes nearly bugged from her head. What was happening to her?
People were conjuring plants, throwing fire, eating fire, creating illusions, there was a cat man and a dragon…
She wanted to scream in frustration, terror making her want to rip out chunks of hair until she woke up.
When the man stopped running, with Lucy bouncing around in his heavy arms, he dropped her gently to the ground and looked into her eyes, "My name is Leo. I know this doesn't make sense but you have to trust me. Those people belong to a dark guild, and they'll do everything in their power to get their hands on you."
"Leo?" She replied, somewhat breathless after their exciting, and bumpy, trip, "As in the Zodiac constellation?"
It was a completely random thing for her to latch onto, and she was aware of that, but with all the other insanity going on she couldn't help latching onto the one thing that was familiar since she'd begun her trip down the rabbit hole.
Seriously, was this how Alice felt? If so, she would never, ever, look at her trip to Wonderland the same again. She may not anyway.
She glanced over at the battling dragon, still easily visible even if the people weren't, and shivered. She'd caught a glimpse of the rage and hate in its eyes while they were escaping and she had no desire to get any closer.
She looked back at Leo, who was staring at her with a bemusement she didn't understand, "Alright Leo." She agreed, deciding that between her current choices he was definitely the best. At least he didn't look like he wanted to eat her or something. That was a definite bonus.
"So now what?" She asked, jumping a little when the dragon belched another blast of fire at his opponents.
"Now we get you home." Leo replied firmly, catching her attention, and was it her imagination or did his expression seem gentler than before? Almost sympathetic?
She wasn't sure, and in the face of going home she didn't really care. Instead she focused her complete attention on what he was saying, excited eagerness coursing through her. Home? Really? It was the best thing she'd heard all day.
"How?" She asked eagerly.
Leo smiled a little at her, his heart going out to her despite himself, "You have to open a gate." He replied gently, figuring that soothing talk would help her frazzled nerves better than anything else at the moment.
"A gate?" Lucy asked, in confusion, and he nodded.
"Yes. You formed one when you came here. You need to create another to get back home."
Lucy shook her head, "But I didn't do anything." She protested, "I was being chased by a bunch of creepy guys by an old church. The gate fell open and the next thing I know I'm in this insane place!"
Leo's eyes widened a little at that. An accidental gate? Surely not. But he could sense no deception about her. Was she truly so powerful that she'd unlocked the seals by mistake?
That was...extraordinary. And frightening.
It was clear that she would need to be watched. No matter what world she was in. And it made him wonder how they had missed the signs of her awakening before now.
No matter. What was important was getting her out of this war zone. As quickly as possible.
"It's alright." He soothed, "You did it by accident, but you did open a gate. Now, let's get a new one open for you. Close your eyes and concentrate..."
Lucy's heart jumped in her chest but she found herself nodding along with the charming lion. She closed her eyes as instructed. She felt the light hands of Leo land on her shoulders. The tops of his gauntlets scratched into her skin a little, but she breathed out a sigh as he guided her.
"Just imagine a door that makes you feel safe. It doesn't matter what it looks like, just envision something in your head that reminds you of home," He continued, his voice a soothing commentary that put her at ease. For that, she was grateful, because he seemed to be the only one willing to try and help her.
She didn't know how it was possible for her to do the things he said, but there was fire all around her and a dragon trying to tapdance all over a battleship just a few feet away from her, so she was willing to suspend her disbelief long enough to wake up.
"Pull the energy from your chest and draw it out towards your limbs," Leo purred, clearly pleased she was able to concentrate in a battlefield.
In actuality, it was her terror which made a rather solid grounding agent. But Lucy wasn't keen on sharing that detail with the lion.
She felt a strange tingle, like a little warm glow ooze through her fingertips and extend out towards her palms.
She... She was doing it?
A door appeared in her mind, but it was hazy and... it didn't look right. No matter what she did, she couldn't think of any door that brought that feeling Leo spoke of. Something that made her feel safe. Something that reminded her of home.
There were no doors in her life that even resembled a feeling like that.
An agonized roar shattered her concentration, and Lucy's eyes snapped open, the spell vibrating through her, unfinished and partially cast. She caught Leo's shocked gaze dragging towards the fight between Master Hades and the dragon. She looked as well.
And what she saw nearly made her jaw drop.
The dragon had been an inch from slicing Hades in half, wicked claws crushing the lower half of the magician's body, the other claw raised to slash down across his throat. But that wasn't the surprising thing.
What was shocking, was that the dragon was backing off.
And getting smaller.
The dragon let loose another roar as its form rippled and shifted down, backing up and growing smaller and smaller until there was nothing but a man standing in front of her, his back turned towards Lucy. A tattered vest and scarf hung around his shoulders, baggy pants hanging low around his hips. His feet were bare as they scurried back.
A shock of pink hair, curled in spiked, unruly locks, slashed at the air and he roared, his hands covering his eyes. Scales were receding into skin, but even from where Lucy stood, she could make out his sharp teeth.
Hades was struggling to sit up, his single eye shining with excitement over how he had managed to dominate the dragon. The air was thick with smoke, burning trees stretching as far as the eye could see. It was a dangerous forest fire, spreading out of control. But no one seemed to care.
"Wait!" Lucy shouted, seeing how Hades had been raising a hand to throw another spell at the prone dragon. She didn't know what caused her to speak out, but she instinctively reached out towards the mythical creature.
The unfinished spell vibrated at her fingers and the dragon-turned-man roared again, his hands dropping from his face. That pink head, topped with curled horns whipped around towards her and she was locked under his dark, narrowed eyed gaze.
She gasped under the intensity of that stare, and before she could stop it, the spell released.
It was almost comical.
The expression on the dragon's face as he looked at her and saw the jet of golden light crash over him was utterly hilarious. But Leo's expression of slack-jawed horror, and Hades' indignant roar both registered in Lucy's mind at once.
And then she was falling once more, dropping back into the ether where a new gate burst open and she toppled through.
But this time she had a companion.
Lucy yelped as she was abruptly dropped out onto the ground again.
"Ow." She whimpered as she impacted, but the crash wasn't as hard as it could've been. In fact, it was rather soft. And sandy.
Confused she blinked her eyes open and found herself, and the pink haired dragon turned man, sprawled out on a gorgeous beach.
"Well, at least it's not a baking forest," Lucy groaned as she sat up and looked around. She didn't know where this was either, but it didn't appear to be close to the previous war zone, so she wasn't going to complain.
She pulled out her phone hopefully, but it still read no reception. She sighed a little at that, and put it back up. Either she was still in Wonderland, or she was out of range. Given the presence of her new companion she was going to guess she was still stuck in Wonderland. Joy.
At least it was somewhere somewhat more hospitable. Though she had no idea what she was going to do about food, water, or shelter at this point. She'd never exactly needed to learn survival skills like these.
Her companion groaned softly, pulling her attention, and she realized with a start that whatever she did she would need to do it fast and soon.
He was hurt. Badly. She hadn't noticed before in all the confusion, but he'd been punched in the abdomen in a place that looked pretty vital to her, and was bleeding badly from the wound.
She scrambled to his side, taking note of the way he looked at her dazedly for a moment and then slumped into unconsciousness, "Right." She breathed, "Let's get you fixed up if we can. And I hope you don't eat me later."
She pulled off her purse and began going through it for anything that might help in this situation only to blink when Leo appeared in front of her again.
"Leo?" She exclaimed, "How did you follow me?"
The feline gave her a faintly amused smile, "It seems you have a knack for opening gates by accident, but not closing them completely afterwards."
Lucy didn't know what to make of that, but accepted the god given help when it was in front of her, "Maybe we can work on that later. Can you help me with him?"
Leo blinked in surprise, "You want to help him?"
Lucy just shot him a confused look, "Well of course. I mean, he's hurt pretty badly, and I don't have any part of his war. So why shouldn't I?"
Leo opened his mouth to reply, and then sighed. A strange expression crossed his face, a distant sort of wistful recognition in his eyes, Lucy knew she recognized. Leo's hands were curling into fists, hesitation bunching up in his frame, causing him to grow tense. But slowly, he seemed to relax, his thoughts seeming to carry him away.
"There are many reasons." He murmured, "But you don't know them, and it would take too long to explain." He stared at the unconscious dragon and sighed again as he knelt beside him, "I just hope we don't regret this."
Lucy didn't quite know what to make of that reaction. Did Leo personally know the dragon? This response made her uneasy as she recalled the genuine fear from Hades and his people just before the dragon had shown up. Was there a reason she needed to fear the dragon herself? And not just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?
She didn't know, and the uncertainty made her nervous.
However, she couldn't just leave him as he was. It wasn't right.
So she would help him as much as she could and try to sort things out once he woke up. If he woke up.
Who was this dragon that inspired fear from everyone around him? Sure, he had been terrifying in his giant lizard form, but like this... Well, ignoring the gaping wound in his side, he seemed almost peaceful. His eyes were closed, his face relaxed, and those sharp teeth were hidden from view.
The horns that curled through his hair disappeared somewhere along the way through their travel, so there was nothing to give away even a hint of something unusual.
The dragon looked like normal man. A normal man with pink hair, but that wasn't all that unusual even in her land.
She listened intently as Leo instructed her on how to clean and disinfect the wound. Apparently for a dragon, healing wasn't always an issue. Lucy found that hard to believe, because it looked like the dragon had suffered through a heart-sacrifice with the hole in his chest, but apparently he would be fine.
Leo disappeared through a gate for a minute, but popped back into existence not a second later, his arms gathered with bandages from wherever he was from.
Lucy sagged in relief as he helped lift the heavy shoulders of the dragon so they could patch him up. She didn't know how she would have managed to stitch him up or maneuver his cumbersome form all by herself without his help.
Once they were all settled, Lucy smoothed a hand against the dragon's cheek, surprised to feel how hot he was. Immediately that drew her concern, afraid an infection had set into the wound and he was feverish, until Leo assured her it was fine. For a fire dragon at least..
When Leo suggested trying the gate again, Lucy found she was too exhausted to try. And she had a sinking suspicion she was not going to be able to get home.
That safe door he told her to imagine... She hadn't had that feeling since her mother died. And before she could get that back with her father, he was gone too.
As far as she knew, doors were the entrances to homes. And Lucy hadn't had a home in a long time.
So they lapsed into silence despite the questions boiling within her and threatening to burst free.
She had so many things to ask him, but she couldn't bring herself to voice a single one. What could she say? The sand shifted under her legs, warming her despite the natural cool air that came from sitting next to a giant body of water.
"Where are we?" She asked quietly, her eyes drifting up towards the sky and fixating on the clouds overhead. Her stomach whined in hunger as she imagined the clouds drifting around in the shape of a hamburger. Panera seemed like so long ago.
Leo settled himself down in the sand, his eyes casting towards the sea. His expression looked troubled and he shook his head, "We're not that far from where we were. We're at Akane Beach."
"The port town Hargeon is just a couple hours west from here," Leo answered and Lucy just nodded, not knowing what any of that meant. Akane Beach? Hargeon? These were all words she didn't understand.
A bubble of distress worked its way in her chest. She felt like crying out of the absurdity she had to endure during this day. There was a bleeding dragon next to her and a celestial... whatever in front of her. She was exhausted from all her hiking, hungry, and thirsty.
She stared sullenly at the ocean in front of her.
Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.
"In case you were wondering, you are in Earthland," Leo answered, "It's a realm parallel to the land you come from, and parallel to many other worlds the stars watch over as well."
He sighed and slid a knee up, propping a hand onto it to relax just a little, "Once in a great while, a human has the power to open the celestial gates and travel to the worlds. I had thought there would never be another to hold such a gift."
As odd as it sounded, Lucy's natural interest and flare for knowledge perked at the story she was being told. Leo didn't know it, but Lucy loved tales. They were exciting, and would distract her from the harsh reality she was currently living.
"Why not?" She asked, eager to get him to continue.
Leo gave her an amused look, but Lucy noted a tinge of sadness seemed to touch his eyes. It was an expression she knew well, a shadow that carved its way into the hearts of those who had seen terrible things. For her, it had been the passing of her parents... For him, she could only guess.
Whatever the reason, spirits could suffer. That much was clear.
She suddenly regretted asking her impulsive question.
"Humans abused their power," Leo said after a long moment, "They ripped the gates open to travel freely between worlds, then they sought to chain the spirits themselves."
"Spirits cannot exist outside of the celestial realm for long, so by keeping the gates open there were many spirits that lost balance and died," Leo confessed, "If you notice there are less stars in the sky, it's because there are less spirits."
He shrugged and his fingers curled together, armor scratching together, "It is odd you bare the gift. I came investigating when the gate opened..."
His darkening gaze fell towards the dragon. Again, that pensive expression took hold of the spirit, "It seemed I was not the only one who sensed it."
Lucy glanced between Leo and the unconscious dragon for a moment, and decided maybe a change in subject was in order, "Why is everyone so afraid of him anyway? I mean, I get he's a dragon, and that's automatically terrifying, but it seems like more than that."
Hopefully that would be a somewhat safer topic than poking at Leo's pain about gates and the stars. Even if it had been unintentional she felt a bit bad about that.
Thankfully, Leo seemed to understand as he smiled a little and the shadows in his eyes eased away a little. Though now that she knew it was there she could tell it hadn't gone away completely. Nor would it ever. She knew that from personal experience.
"The answer to that is complicated." He replied, "And it goes back centuries, but for now let's just say that he now lives up to every stereotype you've ever heard about dragons. Gluttonous, greedy, has a vast hoard...the works."
Great. She'd landed Smaug as her traveling buddy.
And given her luck today he would probably just as soon eat her as look at her. That was something dragons did after all. Eat people. Especially beautiful virgins.
Truly she was in trouble, especially the beautiful part.
"Great." She groaned, "And how likely is he to just transform and sit on me or something?"
Leo actually let out an involuntary chuckle at that, "Not very." He assured her, "The spell that forced him into his current form was a subjugation spell." He frowned a little, "Admittedly, it was incomplete, and I'm still not sure what your magic did when it interacted, but he has to stay in that form unless his master permits him to change."
He shrugged, "Since Hades hasn't made him change back yet I think we can safely assume he either can't or he's out of range. Which means you're safe for now."
Lucy nodded, relieve that at least something was going right.
However, her relief turned to dismay a moment later when Leo stood up, "I'm sorry Lucy, but I have to go now. I have to report what I've found out to the king about you and the gates."
Was it bad that she panicked a little at the thought of him leaving? Under the circumstances she didn't think so. She definitely didn't want to see the one person in this crazy world who had been helpful to her leave.
Something of her feelings must've shown on her face because he gave her a reassuring look, "Don't worry. I'll be back to help you get home. Just try to hang on a little longer okay?"
Lucy swallowed and nodded. She didn't want to be left alone, but she could hardly keep him here. And weird or not she had to make the best of her situation. Which meant she had to try and keep it together long enough to get home.
Maybe she could start with scrounging up some food and water. That would surely make this whole mess more bearable. And she still had her book to occupy her time. That wouldn't be so bad.
So she gave him as brave a smile as she could manage and nodded again, "Alright. Thanks for everything Leo." She replied.
The celestial spirit crouched down in front of her, neither people noticing a slanted eye from the supposedly unconscious dragon cracking open.
Leo gave her a crooked grin, one that was both friendly and disarming. Lucy was charmed by it, and the anxiety in her chest unknotted.
That was clearly what the lion wanted, his hand dropping on her shoulder before pulling away. He stood up, the sun flashing off his armor as if he were wrapped in holy flames. Some sort of divine cat-paladin, sent here to guide Lucy. She didn't really understand it.
"You're unusual for a human, but I like you," Leo's hands flexed into a steady fists. He gave her a careless salute and pulled away, moving further down the beach.
For the first time Lucy actually saw a gate open up before her eyes. Behind Leo it stood like a halo surrounding him. It was a pulsing yellow light, white orbs flaring off and floating like bubbles in the swirling magic. Was that what opened at Lucy's command every time she accidentally fell through a gate?
It was surprisingly beautiful.
"Take care Lucy," His eyes flashed towards the dragon, who was still and unmoving. Leo stared at him skeptically and nodded, "I'll return soon."
And right before her eyes, Lucy watched Leo take a breath and sink a foot into the light, disappearing into the seemingly two dimensional circle of magic. He was gone in a second, body disappearing through the portal as if swallowed whole. If she hadn't known that would happen, Lucy would have been alarmed.
But the portal disappeared right on the heels of Leo's guards fading from sight. There were no signs he had even been there just moments prior. All that was left were his footprints in the sand, which were quickly being dissolved by the rolling ebb and pull of the tide.
The cawing of birds, the beat of the sun, and the soft wind of the salty sea calmed her. For a second Lucy just let herself enjoy the serenity of the moment, soaking in the ocean. Contemplating sinking her toes into the water, a tired smile fell over her face as she tried to hold onto that feeling of relaxation.
A fruitless effort because the dragon took the moment he deemed it safe from celestial spirits, sat upright with such speed, Lucy wouldn't have guessed he had a hole in his side. A startled scream burst from her throat and she fell sideways, scrambling away from him as she startled. Kicking sand everywhere, she must have showered the dragon with a ton of it by her flailing legs. That much was evident by his fervent swearing and batting arms.
Not that Lucy wasn't eating plenty of sand herself. She nearly fell into the ocean itself trying to scoot away from him, a hand on her chest and her shirt sticking to her body in uncomfortable, sandy clumps.
A sharp smile decorated his face, a wide grin that contained a dancing flame and mischievous spirit. He dragged a hand across his face, fathomless eyes peering at her with curious intent. It was like she was staring into the gaze of a snake charmer, and she was the serpent.
Fangs gleamed in the sunny light, brightened by the force of his smirk. Her discomfort seemed to amuse her, and he raised a hand in greeting.
"Yo."
Special thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I'm going to use this space to answer questions and comments, sorry if I don't call you all out by name.
Yep you caught us! We have a book theme goin' on for this fic! -
I think you just found out who the dragon was! -
Oh you know what, we originally did have an Alice in Wonderland theme for it going, but I promptly threw that idea out the window when Kytrin wasn't looking, she hasn't killed me yet so I think she's okay with it... -
The Never Ending Story similarities have been brought up more than once. I'll admit I only have a passing knowledge of that. I remember seeing it, I remember the characters, I remember there is a book, but... I don't quite remember the rest. That, and that HORSE. GUHHHH -
I'm so glad every one of you decided to read this fic! It means the world to both Kytrin and I that you dove into this!
Please drop us a line and tell us what you thought!