Two Worlds Collided- A collab with @books-of-lunacy
Did a writing exercise with @books-of-lunacy where we each wrote half a story, in our character’s points of view. After the war is over, Jack Montro and Jade Starr visit Aliee Horebath on their planet.
“I’ll be right there, Jade.” Jack eased onto a bench in the alien city on the strange planet. His years were starting to weigh on him.
A young girl ran out in front of him, and planted herself right in front of Jack, staring up at the strange man.
“Alice!” A woman called, presumably her mother. “Don’t bother him!"
“It’s all right,” Jack said. “Cute kid. How old are you?”
"She's just turning-"
"I'm six! It's my birthday today!"
“Well, happy birthday.”
"What do you say?" Aliee looked down at her bubbling daughter.
"Thanks! Happy birthday to you too!"
Jack laughed, harder than he had in a long while. “It’s not my birthday. But, thank you. Let me see…” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin, “You take this. Spend it on whatever your mom says you’re allowed to have.”
"Huh. I haven't heard of anyone using gold coins for… centuries. You're not from here either." Aliee sits on the bench next to Jack, telling Alice to go play with her friends. "Where are you from?"
“Through a portal. A magic world called Mahica. Fairies, Mermaids, Dragons- Those are recent.”
"Mermaids, huh? What I wouldn't give to be with them right now." Aliee laughed softly. "You seem tired."
Jack nodded, “I am tired. I’m going on a hundred and twenty years old. Can’t keep up with the Princess anymore. I may have told your kid a slight lie… Believe it or not, it’s my birthday too. But I don’t celebrate. Hard to, when you don’t have family left.”
"A hundred and twenty, and no kids, no wife? Well, you're welcome to come home with Alice and I, my husband is making dinner for us." Aliee smiled brightly, standing and offering her hand to Jack.
Jack looked back at Jade, who was on top of a building, investigating a strange light. He wasn’t even going to wonder how she got up there. Only hope the kid didn’t see. “I’ll take that meal. You can tell me your story, and I’ll tell you mine.”
"My story is hardly fun, but fair's fair. Let's get out of here before my daughter inevitably sees your friend climbing like a spider." Aliee glanced up pointedly.
Jack laughed, and with a flick of his wrist, Jade was slowly floating to the ground, with her good arm on her hip.
“Why’d you do that? I was safe!”
“A friend invited us to have dinner. You can play with the kid. You have a lot in common.”
"Hi. I'm Aliee, this is my daughter, Alice." Aliee smiled once again, holding her hand out to Jade.
"Hi! It's my birthday today!" Alice chimed in.
Jade frowned at Alice, “Hi… Jack, you know I don’t do well with kids.”
“You wrangled Luke and Cayden just fine,” Jack laughed, and the duo followed Aliee down the path and to her house.
*
Once inside the bright home, Alice ran up to Tel'iah, excitedly showing him the gold coin in her hands.
"Impressive. I'll bet it was those new friends of ours who gave it to you, huh? Did you thank them?" Tel'iah glanced up and nodded his head at Jack and Jade.
"Oh…" Alice turned around and sheepishly thanked the pair for the coin.
"Go clean up. You're a mess from playing all day." Aliee chuckled and lead her to the stairs. Returning to the table, she kissed Tel'iah's cheek and introduced the tall alien to their guests.
A pleasure to meet you,” Jade said. “I’m Princess Jade Starr, and this is Captain Jack Montro.”
"Oh! You're a Princess? Oh I wish I had known! I would have tried to clean up the house a little better." Aliee jumped from her chair to start clearing the table of papers and dishes.
“Don’t go to the trouble,” Jack laughed. “Jade is notorious for being messy. Her staff has to prepare two dresses for every event, because she destroys them. Whether it’s a bad spell, or a bad fight… Blood, climbing things she’s not supposed to.”
Jade narrowed her eyes at him, “I’m going to go annoy the kid, because obviously, I’m not welcome at the adult table.”
Aliee hesitantly sat back down, blinking rapidly. "Well… what just happened?"
“She’ll be fine,” Jack sat down across from Aliee. “So, what’s your story?”
"Where should I begin? There's not much to tell, honestly." Aliee shrugged modestly, trying to ignore the snort from Tel as he stirred a bubbling pot of food.
“You’re obviously not from this world. So, where’d you come from?”
"Actually that might be a long story in itself. We came from Earth, a long, long, long time ago. The people there built a massive spaceship. Called her the Exodus. So many people hoped for their lives to change on that ship, and it did. Since it was a colony ship, they had kids. Those kids had kids and a couple decades later, the last generation was born on that ship. My-" Aliee swallowed thickly and looked down at her hands. "My brother and I were part of that generation. We would be the ones to inhabit this planet and make it our own."
She glanced up at Tel, grinned and looked back down. "We didn't know there was someone here already. By the time we found out, it was too late. A virus in the computers destroyed the Exodus, and most of us… well only a few people made it this far. Alice was about four then."
“My family died too,” Jack said. “My mother died when I was a boy- Killed herself after my father, a man I am ashamed to call my father, broke her Genie Bottle. I found her body. I was thrown out of the tribe, joined the war- Met my wife. She was a nurse,” he smiled softly, “Used to yell at me all the time for getting myself hurt. At first, they were accidents, but I may have taken a punch or two I could have avoided, just to see her face. We had a kid, one I spent my entire life searching for. She’d been tossed in the dungeons because she wanted humans to be treated fairly. See, where I come from, humans are seen as weak, mindless creatures. I’ve never heard of humans going to war for a hundred years. She had our kid in the dungeons, and he was taken before I even knew he was a boy.” Jack took a deep breath, “I met Jade, and through her, the boy I found out was my son. We, um, we don’t really have a relationship now. I do have a grandson though. Just a baby, he is.”
"Well, one, humans are about as far from mindless as one can get." Tel said, setting plates of steaming meat, rice, tuber roots and fruit on the table. "And from what Aliee has told me, war is just another facet of life they dealt with on earth." Looking down at Aliee, he smiled and added: "And I certainly know how well this one fights. Since dinner is ready, I'll go get Alice and Mylo. And our princess."
"Well, he's not wrong, at least. I do hope those two haven’t entirely devoured her."
“Jade’s strong. She likes to pretend she doesn’t do so well with kids, but she’s got a little girl at home. Kaida’s her name. You and your husband are right- Humans are an amazing creature. They’re strong, powerful in more ways than one. In fact, one of the most respected queens I’ve ever seen was raised like a human. And she brought glory to our world. You know, Aliee—” Jack smiled softly, “You’re a smart girl. And you’ve got a story worth telling. At least, it was one this old soul was happy to hear.”
"Well, I'm glad I could give you some joy. I'm sorry you say you have no family today. I certainly think you do, in that princess. Speaking of, where are they? It shouldn't take so long to get a toddler and a princess down here, should it?" As Aliee started to stand, Alice ran down the stairs, soaking wet with Tel'iah equally wet and carrying Mylo.
Jade tried to slip into a seat beside Jack, but he shoved her back. “I know exactly what you and your magic did, Princess, so you’re going to use it to dry those folks off.”
With a grumble and a few curse words under her breath, Jade waved her hand and drew all of the water from Alice’s clothes and hair.
"Mama! She can do magic! She made a duck! Out of water! But dad opened the door… and he got wet!" Alice giggled, making wild hand movements.
"Well, I imagine that must have been a sight to behold." Aliee smiled at her daughter. "So I take it you must be one of those Mermaids Jack was talking about."
“I’m more than a Mermaid. I’m Princess of Mermaids. I rule all of the Mermaids, and the ocean, and to be fair, it wasn’t entirely my fault the water got everywhere. However, your bathroom is clean, so... We’re even?”
Aliee laughs, snorting. "Well if it means I don't have to give a bath to Alice, I'll take it. Princess of the entire ocean? That's… impressive. I can't say I'm jealous."
"That, my dear, is a lie." Tel muttered as he fed a spoonful of rice to Mylo.
"Well.. okay fine. I might be a little jealous that she can swim underwater. As much as she wants. I wish I could do that." Aliee started handing plates and bowls of food to Jack and Jade.
Jade pulled the remaining water from Tel’s clothes and pressed her hand into a fist. “Jack, if you will.”
He snapped his fingers and the water materialized into a silver necklace.
“Visit us anytime,” Jade held the necklace out to Aliee. “Press a hand to it, and you can visit Mahica whenever you’d like.” She smirked at Alice, “Kaida could use a bad- I mean good influence every once in a while.”
"I swear, if I find out my wife decides to move into your world, I might actually have a fit. Your offer may be too much temptation for her. She might never come back." Tel'iah groaned, but reached a hand to hold Aliee's.
"I would always come back. Not just for you but… for Avren as well." Aliee suddenly fell quiet. "Amazing how the dead can hold too much sway on the living, isn't it?"
Jack nodded, “But, they make us appreciate the living, all that much more.”
"That is true. Well, eat up. I'm sure you have a long night of climbing buildings, Princess." Aliee shook her head and smiled.
"Climbing what?" Tel'iah choked, staring at Jade.
Jack smirked knowingly at Aliee. “That’s a story for another day.”