When You're Home

Participants:

vf_isa2_icon2.gif ff_magnes_icon.gif magnes_icon3.gif

Scene Title When You're Home
Synopsis Isabelle and Magnes go out on a limb to learn more about Isabelle's origins.
Date December 19, 2018

The Pelago


A chill wind has replaced the milder temperatures over the last few days. It's been cloudy nearly every day for the last two weeks, but now the threat of winter weather finally feels real.

At the shores of the Empire State, it doesn't feel like Christmas is approaching, but the people of the Manhattan Pelago still work their wonders at bringing the city into a small measure of Christmas presence. The buildings that have power from generators or wind turbines take to winding Christmas lights around the dock scaffolding crawling up each structure. They flicker and wink in the evening hours, and make a long boat ride from Cat’s apartment to the north side of the Pelago scenic.

The aurora threatens to peek through the clouds overhead, too. Shimmering curtains of green and blue tinged with pink slip between intermittent gaps in the cloud-cover. Up ahead, the squat top of a skyscraper capped with a salvaged wood cabin is silhouette against those ethereal lights. It's here that Magnes J. Varlane — the one born of this timeline — calls home.

And today, he had guests.


Magnes’ Cabin

The Pelago

December 19th

7:17 pm


Coming up the switchback wooden ramps built into the external scaffolding around the skyscraper’s base, the younger Magnes Varlane leaves a rowboat at his back. Beside him, Isabelle has come along to meet a man that may yet have some measure of answers as to her family. From everything she's learned, Elisabeth originally came from this timeline. So did the man she's traveling all these words to reunite with. Who’s to say that if she came from another world…

…maybe it was this one?

"Did you build this cabin?" is the first thing Magnes decides to ask when he enters, something he hadn't really thought about until now. "I can sew, I learned for cosplay. I can do a little bit with electronics, which I had to learn for a big project." 'Big project' is a bit of an understatement, but…

He decides to hold Isabelle's hand, nodding back at her. "This is my cousin Isabelle, she wanted to meet you."

"Cosplay, did you have tentacles?" Isabelle can't help but make the joke as the enter the cabin, the home of the man who was so different than her cousin who stood next to her but not at the same time.

"Hey.. nice to meet you." Isabelle says softly extending her free hand slowly to the older man, "I know we aren't cousins in this timeline you and I.. but I feel like I'm meeting family." It's said almost in relief, as she enters the place a comfortable warmth arrives with her. The brunette tries not to look how she really feels inside, desperate, grief stricken, it's been a hard year aside from Shahid's proposal.

The slap-chop of fist striking punching bag greets Magnes and Isabelle when they enter through the cabin’s sliding barn-like door. The elder Magnes, dressed in loose handspun wool clothes and barefoot on the hardwood floor stops after one more jab, looking back with raised brows. He steadies the punching bag with one hand, wiping sweat from his brow with the other. For Isabelle, this is like looking in a funhouse mirror. He is older by decades, graying, wrinkled, but jacked. This is a Magnes Varlane who lived a physical life, and lived it well.

Cousin?” The Prime asks of his younger self, seeming surprised by that revelation. He seems to have forgotten the question about the cabin entirely. “Ah, sorry. I wasn’t expecting…” he wipes his sweaty palms off on his pants and approaches with a brisk pace, firmly offering his hand out to Isabelle.

“Magnes J. Varlane,” the Prime Magnes says with a warm smile. Donna Varlane’s imprinted lessons in manners transcend time and space. “Though, I… guess you know that, huh?”

"Yeah, uh, the story is a bit complicated, but we're cousins." Magnes looks to Isabelle, smiling. "She's also one of my very best friends. In my world, well, she was killed. And then we reunited in another world where I wasn't so great and the me there ultimately died too. So… now I guess we're both filling a bit of a void for each other."

"I miss the Isabelle from my world all the time, I miss her because it makes me appreciate the Isabelle that I have, makes me realize that every moment is precious, and I would never replace the memory of any Isabelle with another." He reaches out and just suddenly hugs her from the side. "Every Isabelle means the world to me."

Izzy looks between the two as she shakes the Prime Magnes' hand and listens to her Magnes spill about how he feels and she grips him from the other side in a tight one armed embrace. "I miss my Magnes too. But I.. Every Magnes means the world to me too." Hazel eyes close and she holds this moment in her mind, it's surreal. This whole journey has been.

But she still needs answers. "My parents.. died when I was young." There's a dark look that she tries to filter with a light shrug, it's anything but light. "I was placed in the care of the Ashfords, you know them right? Aunt Donna.. my adoptive mom's sister? And Thalia.. Mike and Bella's other kid.. I.." rubbing the space between her brows, "It doesn't totally make sense maybe because your world is so so.. fucking different. Umm, a lot of my friends aren't from where they think they are from.. they are from here." Izzy looks nervous, "I'm wondering if I'm from here too, I think my mom— my birth mom was pregnant with me when they left. I.."

Confusion shows on her face and it almost gives way to frustration and anger but she instead clenches fists, "I don't really fucking know how to find the answers."

The senior Magnes rests his hands on his hips and regards Isabelle with a thoughtful, sidelong look. Clearing his throat awkwardly, he starts to pace the floor of the cabin. “I didn't know my extended family too much, but I knew Michael and Bella and… I don't think they had any kids. I mean,” Magnes throws his hands into the air and makes a noise, “alternate universes,” He grouses.

“But, I mean— ” the older Magnes falters, scrubbing a hand at his beard, “and I normally wouldn't say anything but this has been one weird thing on top of another, but…” There's a pause between thoughts, a time where Magnes paces away and circles back, looking squarely at Isabelle. “I knew this girl growing up, Leanna. Uh, Leanna Wesley.” He snaps his fingers as he recalls her name. “I mean, you're her spitting image. Dark hair, dark eyes, round face. But she up and vanished right around 82. Folks put up missing persons posters… it was a heck of a thing. She was a few years older than me though, used to babysit me.”

The elder Magnes furrows his brows and regards Isabelle again, slowly shaking his head. “Uncanny, though.”

Magnes crosses his arms as he starts doing various complicated logic connections in his head, because alternate universes are complicated. "Wait, so Leana… she was one of the people who disappeared in the 80s, during the first experiment. So, if I'm calculating this right…" Magnes starts to count his fingers, wrinkling his brow. "Okay I have no idea what that means. Elisabeth probably knows."

Isabelle blinks and leans back as the elder Magnes delivers a name. "Wesley.." What she wouldn't give to have Kaylee's ability to show memories and see if the woman was indeed the same as he mentions but something.. don't call it fate because that's silly. Something is telling her that this could be true.

"Babysit you?" The multiverses were small. "Did any of her family survive the Flood you think?" It's the only question she can ask. "My mother.. she came from a long ways away someone said.. I have these memories.." a grimace but she doesn't go further into that. "I think they experimented on me when we got to where.. I was raised, she might have.. allowed that? It gave me this." Raising her hand she opens her palm as orange flames spring to life, dancing and glowing brightly in her hands. The heat in the air rising just a little. The bitter memories make her flinch and a dark look grows on her face.

“Woah, woah, woah,” the older Magnes says with a raise of his hands. “Easy there. Look, I haven't seen Leana since I was little. I don't know if she had any family, really. Even if she did,”he moves his hands to motion around himself. “There's a lot of people that aren't here anymore.”

Apologetic, the elder Magnes approaches Isabelle and gingerly places a hand on each of her shoulders, as if unsure if she'd be scalding hot to the touch. “I wish I could help you more. I do. But… I just don't have the answers you're looking for. I'm sorry, though, for everything you've gone through.”

Letting his hands fall away from Isabelle’s shoulders, Magnes turns to his younger self with one brow raised. “You kids leaving with the others, or are you staying here to fight?”

"We're leaving, we have to leave. I have to get my daughter back, and I promised Elaine more than an apocalyptic water world." Magnes frowns, staring at his older counterpart with a very stern look. "Chances are, Kazimir will be coming. I've fought him before, and another version of him kidnapped Addie, not to mention yet -another- version of Kazimir, from my world, taught me a lot about using my ability. We have a history, and I think that beating him is going to be very tricky."

"Chances are, I'd guess he's in Gabriel or Peter's body. If you end up fighting him, remember that you can't do crap against cold abilities. And you should try to incapacitate rather than kill him, though I don't know how you'd do that." He shrugs, looking to Isabelle, as she's the one with a lot of family questions.

Isabelle hangs her head that last bit of hope dashed, she had a name at least though. That was something. "Isabelle.. Wesley.." she tries it out and smiles a faint smile, it's a start.

Nodding her head, fighting Kazimir. She'll fight anyone alongside Magnes. She's proven that, "We'll handle him if he surfaces." Looking to the older Magnes. "I wish we could stay to really fight. Everyone knows I love a good fight but he's right we have to get back to his home. We have to save my niece." A pause, "I suppose in some weird way she's family to you as well. Her name is Addie." Memories of the little redhead and the days she spent watching over her.

"We smash those fuckers for as long as we're here though."

The senior Magnes stares at his younger self for a moment, then scrubs a hand through his graying hair. “I'm gonna hazard a guess you didn't mean Peter Gabriel, because otherwise I've got no idea who you're talking about…” exhaling a steady sigh, he smiles in spite of himself.

“I can take care of me.” The elder Magnes affirms. “I'll stay here and fight, help the others best I can. Last thing I'm going to do is run off half-cocked, otherwise I might leave with you all.” He flashes a weary smile. “But I know my place in the world, and it's here. You all? Well, you'll know home when you find it I wager.”

Taking a step over to Isabelle, the older Magnes places a hand on each of her shoulders. “You worry about family,” he says softly, “you go get my— daughter— niece— uh— ” he just shakes his head. “You go get Addie.” A quick look to Magnes. “And when you find her you hold her tight.”

"I guess I'd say I hope you don't make the same mistakes I did, but you're double the amount of time I've been alive, so I'm sure you did already, but with a cool Thriller jacket or something." Magnes smiles, then nods in agreement. "I'll get Addie back. I won't let anything stop me."

Being surrounded by family is a new feeling for Isabelle, one she's still not use too eight years later. The pyro looks over at the older Magnes and studies his face, she never wants to forget it. Nodding her head she agrees with them both. "We're get her back. We have to. Family sticks together." Isabelle honestly believed that statement in that moment.

"I guess… it's good to be home."


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License