A Stranger of Paradise fanfic draft
I wrote this like two years ago and never managed to finish it, but having reread it recently, I figured I might share it if there's any SoP fans starving for fanfics.
It's written from Jed's point of view.
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The steady hum of complex machinery and the subtle vibrating in the sterile air were both welcome and distressing sensations. They meant everything was working as it should, but at the same time they were constant reminders of what was powering the great underwater structure.
While most Lufenians paid little mind to electricity as long as its supply did not run out, Jed had always been more aware of its presence than most. Due to retaining little more than a handful of vague and fragmented memories from his youth, Jed couldn’t tell where his fear originated from. He had long speculated between a past trauma, a learned response or an experience of long-term stress involving electricity. His imagination would attempt to fill in the blanks while dreaming. Sometimes he would have nightmares of being strapped to a chair and struggling against tight bonds in vain. Electric shocks would cause his muscles to seize up and nerves to explode in pain. And always, just outside of his peripheral vision, there would be the shadow of a Lufenian scientist that he knew was silently monitoring him. And when Jed woke up from such nightmares in the gloaming hours, it was often accompanied by a throbbing migraine and an ache in his jaws from imagined rattling of teeth.
Other times the dreams were less intense, but no less upsetting. Such as being left unsupervised as a toddler and chewing on a live wire. Whatever the origin of his fear might have been, one theme seemed to prevail in his dreams; he was always on his own—abandoned.
When agent Jack Garland invited him to be part of the Stranger program, and to become a Warrior of Light, Jed had jumped at the opportunity. A world in need of heroes, where technology was at its infancy, and machines and electricity practically nonexistent. A paradise, by Jed’s standards.
There was a certain irony in the fact that the man with electrophobia had become as intimate with every nook and cranny of the Sunken Shrine as he was with the back of his hand. Despite not remembering, Jed knew he had spent countless lifetimes and just as many cycles guarding the crystal within as the Fiend of Water.
Breathing in the artificial air, Jed squared his shoulders and took a determined step forward. His footsteps were echoed by clicking of heels a mere step behind him. Having always been led by others—Jack and Ash, mostly—and staying out of the spotlight, Jed felt out of place taking point for a change. He glanced over his shoulder, instinctively expecting Ash to be herding him forward as the Fiend of Earth was wont to do when they moved as a group. Jack at the lead, Neon impatiently pressing on, Sophia following closely and providing sage commentary, himself further back and less eager to throw himself at the unknown while Ash ensured no-one caught them off-guard from behind.
But instead of the tall man’s reassuring frame, he was met with Sophia’s inquisitive grey eyes. Realising he was staring, Jed flashed her a quick, uneasy grin before turning his focus on the glass panels separating them from a shoal of fish passing by overhead. He could tell by the hue of blue that the sun had reached its zenith. While some might have felt uneasy at the thought of being surrounded by tonnes of seawater, Jed found it comforting. He likened it to being wrapped in a warm blanket—or being a chambered nautilus safe inside its shell. It was enough to help him ignore the otherworldly technology and give him a false sense of calm in a certain Stranger’s presence whose mere proximity never failed to make Jed jittery and cause his palms to sweat.
The Fiend of Wind had caught his attention the moment she had introduced herself at the top of the Flying Fortress. Jed couldn’t say for certainty what initially sparked the attraction. It could have been the way she carried herself, not quite like the royalty of Cornelia, yet with a certain grace she must have spent at least a decade perfecting. Unlike Neon who was full of fire and brimstone and moved with the unexpected suddenness of a striking serpent, Sophia was like an albatross gliding elegantly in a fair summer breeze, yet as deadly and terrible as the fiercest cyclone on the field of battle. She fit in easily with the rest of them with her charming wit and insightful wisdom. Even their brusque leader respected her highly, never cutting her off in spite of his notorious impatience and single-mindedness.
It wasn’t until Jed caught himself thinking how lovely Sophia looked with laugh lines that he realised just how bad he had it for the woman. He would crack as many lame jokes as he could just to see her painted lips curve in an amused smile. At first Jed figured his feelings would go away once he came to terms with just how far below her notice and status in terms of age and maturity he truly was. But when the persistent butterflies refused to leave his belly like the Lufenians-turned-bats refused to leave Astos in peace, Jed conceded and opted to brush the matter beneath a figurative rug and hope the others would pay it as little mind as they usually did when his thoughts and feelings were concerned.
He would silently admire the older woman from afar—or specifically, ten steps or so from behind—and long for things he knew would never be. Was Sophia’s hair as silky to the touch as it appeared? Would her painted lips leave a mark if Jed dared to press his own against hers? It was a good thing Jed was light on his feet and had quick reflexes; he had lost count of how many times he had nearly walked into Sophia’s back while zoned out in fantasyland. And if she turned around to give him a curious glance, Jed would suddenly find the sky or the tips of his boots fascinating and demanding his full attention.
In spite of vowing not to let his foolishness distract him from the mission, Jed would always make himself available to Sophia and find excuses to get physically close to her—a small, insignificant stolen touch here and there.
An obstacle on the path? Jed would suddenly become the epitome of a gentleman and help Sophia over it. (If Neon raised a brow and jabbed a finger in his side, demanding to know where her princess treatment was, Jed would lightly jest that he was merely respecting his elders.)
A malboro seedling found in the girls’ tent? Jed would take care of it. (It wasn’t the putrid breath of the adorable bundle of vines that caused him to flush deep red from the neck up, but the sight of Sophia in her smallclothes clinging to Neon at the furthest corner of the tent from where the seedling had made its bed.)
Neon snatching the last fruit from their rations? Jed would take a seat beside Sophia and give his portion to her. It was purely accidental if his thigh happened to press against hers and the tips of his fingers brushed the naked skin of her palm during the exchange. (If Ash found it odd that Jed, who used to shamelessly take the last piece of fruit cake—on the King’s table, no less—suddenly lost his sweet tooth, Jed would shrug and mumble something about losing his appetite after watching Jack soulburst a wolf.)
Sophia receiving a shallow wound during a fight while Jed was practically holding his guts from spilling out? He would still insist Sophia take the last potion. (If Jack called him an idiot, Jed would point out that Sophia was their most talented healer and could patch him up easily enough once her own wounds had been tended to.)
It was all harmless, really, and so routine by now, that none of them questioned it when Jed would go out of his way to please Sophia.
Jack had no time for such nonsense—Princess Sarah could attest as much—and kept his focus solely on the mission. Neon didn’t seem to have much experience or interest in entertaining such thoughts. Ash might have noticed the change in him since their group’s expansion, but most likely mistook Jed’s attentiveness as nothing more than admiration and hero-worship, similar to what he held for Jack.
Whether Sophia ever took notice of the way Jed behaved around her, he couldn’t tell. She was far too smart and far too perceptive not to, yet at the same time too kind and compassionate to put Jed on the spot. While Jack, Ash and even Neon would often make light of his skittishness—especially when his phobia was brought up—Sophia never joined in. She would politely ignore the matter and change the topic to something else. Perhaps Sophia pitied Jed and saw him for what he was; a foolish young man out of his debt.
“A beautiful yet unsettling view.”
Jed winced and stared dumbly at Sophia who had appeared beside him. Painfully long seconds ticked by as Jed internally panicked over the possibility that Sophia could read his face as easily as if it were an open tome.
“The sea”, she clarified.
“Oh.” Jed cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. “What’s unsettling about it? It’s really nice with the sunlight glimmering on the surface.”
“Indeed, yet you cannot admire it from elsewhere. Were it not for this facility, it would be the last thing I see before suffocating.” Even if Jed hadn’t seen the quirky smile dancing on the edges of her lips, he would have recognised the glum words for Sophia’s characteristic dark humour. “It is the danger that adds to the beauty.”
“I guess.”
Smooth, Jed. You have such a way with words.
He was rewarded with a faint chuckle for his half-arsed effort. Emboldened by the positive reaction, Jed hurried to add: “The real danger is above the waves.”
Water on its own did not do much. But with the aid of winds, even the mightiest kingdom would fall under the force of a typhoon. Jed rather liked to think he and Sophia fit together nicely when it came to being Fiends and causing elemental havoc. His water and Neon’s fire would only snuff out and evaporate the other. He had more compatibility with Ash’s earth when it came to rotting the soils, but Ash preferred the company of his undead followers during Fiendish duties.
The redhead’s stomach did a somersault when Sophia’s smile widened. “A matter of perspective, then.”
They continued deeper into the Sunken Shrine. The surface of the water crystal had shown strange cracks which Jed didn’t know what to make of. Its light was dim, and given a century or two, it would darken entirely as per Jack’s plan to summon the real Warriors of Light. Jed worried he had done something wrong and brought the matter to his fellow Strangers’ attention. Sophia, being the most knowledgeable in such matters, had agreed to offer her help. On her own. No need to drag the others from their duties until Sophia had given her initial verdict.
It was a rare opportunity. Just the two of them in his domain. And yet Jed couldn’t even think of how to make the most out of it. He was so used to being able to admire the object of his fancy while she was unaware and trudging along in front of him.
“Putting the matter of the crystal’s condition aside, how have you been, Jed?”
Jed nearly lost his grip as they descended the ladder. He paused to glance up at Sophia in surprise and swallowed a curse when her heel crushed his fingers. The pain was enough to erase the upskirt view of the woman’s shapely bottom and legs clad in grey tights from his mind’s eye. “Err… Fine! You know, still coming to grips with the whole ‘ruler of the seas’-part. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.” What hadn’t taken any time getting used to was suddenly having the ability to breathe and see clearly underwater, which was hardly surprising considering one of the memories he retained was his love for swimming and diving. Jed sped up his descent to avoid having more fingers stepped on.
They reached the bottom of the ladders. There were no glass panels here, only concrete walls and metal platforms, dim green and red lighting and giant fans to cool down the machinery running the facility. The fine hair on his arms and neck stood up from the static electricity. Jed resisted the urge to fix his hair, knowing the result would make it look like a red-spined hedgehog. Even Sophia’s heavy locks with curled ends were reacting to it, but she seemed to be entirely unaware of the fact.
“I hear you have numerous followers among the aquatic monsters. I trust they keep you company?”
“Sure.”
The truth was that Jed was starved for human company. The monsters were intelligent enough to hold a conversation, but Jed never felt he could bare his soul to one or expect them to truly understand him. The sahagin went as far as worshipping him as their deity—a fact that caused Jed much unease. It was the Lufenians who wished to play God. He had no interest in such a title or role and was content to let the sea creatures continue on as they always had without his intervention. Sure, if he saw a creature in need, the Kraken would tend to his own and keep his subjects safe from any who dared to threaten them too close to his domain. Most territorial disputes came from between the sahagin and the merfolk who had attempted to reclaim the water crystal.
Sometimes, when the loneliness got unbearable, Jed would swim to the shore as Kraken and take on his human form to walk to a dingy pub in Onrac. He kept a low profile, dressed up as a local fisher and took decade-long pauses between each visit so as not to attract attention. The last thing he wanted was to become a local legend. ‘The man who drank from the fountain of youth’, or better yet, ‘the immortal merman’.
“I guess you’ve got plenty of company, too?”
“Indeed. To the point I sometimes have to shut myself in the Flying Fortress to be able to hear my own thoughts. Sirena has made it her mission to report to me the movements of every human civilisation under the sun down to the most mundane detail. I have been keeping watch on the development of mankind and for signs of Lufenian activity, you see, but Sirena has yet to grasp the concept of priorities.”
Figures Sophia would find a way to make the most out of their new life. Jed admired her for that—among other unnumbered qualities.
“I consider this a welcome holiday to get away from the creatures and reunite with a friend.”
A friend. Warmth settled in the pit of his belly. Jed considered the other Strangers his friends and family, yet it had never been stated so matter-of-factly, let alone out loud. It was one of the many taboos among them. No talking about the past (it was too painful), no heart-to-heart unless it was to motivate each other to press on (they had to stay strong), no talking about Jack’s relationship with Princess Sarah (they couldn’t afford to be selfish), no talking about what will happen to them after the world is saved from Lufenians (they were willing sacrifices for the future of all humanity) and so on and so forth.
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like! Plenty of room even for six-headed dragonesses.” Jed grimaced internally at just how pathetic he sounded. He was making a right fool out of himself. Not that that was anything new.
“Gladly, considering the issue with the crystal is unlikely to be solved in a day.” The corners of Sophia’s eyes crinkled and her mouth twisted in a teasing manner. “And I would not object either way. I have missed exchanging thoughts with a fellow human. It is not easy to keep distance, yet had I not, I would not be able to deal with my guilty conscience.”
Jed knew exactly what Sophia meant by it. They all had blood on their hands. The dimming of the crystals had not been achieved without sacrifices. But as Jack kept reminding them, the end justifies the means. Jed was perfectly aware the merfolk were not merely upset over the loss of the water crystal. They needed it. Without its light, they would all eventually turn into seafoam and die. Jed never attempted to get to know the people he mingled amongst in Onrac for the simple reason he might someday kill them, whether directly or indirectly. A fishing boat torn apart when the Kraken emerged, the village attacked by a shoal of angry sahagin who had been driven out of their spawning grounds, a trading ship caught in a storm of his and Sophia’s making. Other villages built on less sturdy foundations had long since fallen beneath the tidal waves Jed raised with the help of Ash’s earthquakes in their early days as Fiends. All in the name of spreading darkness across the lands, to hasten the coming of the true Warriors of Light, and to beat the Lufenians at their own game.
