The Slum city of Demissus

“Why are you staring at the castle like that? You’re not a Gaian, are you?” questioned Kron,

I snapped out of the fantastical view before me. I was confused more than anything else. I was shoving down all the feelings of despair and self-hate because I wasn't completely sure what was happening. I was hoping that the others survived as I had and that the wormhole did work, but the fact that no one else was here was making my hope turn to despair.

“What are Gaians?” I asked out of curiosity,

“The rich folk that live in Neo Gaia, you don’t know who the Gaians are? Where are you from anyway?” replied Kron,

“New York.”

“New York? Hey Nova, which sector is that?”

“There is no place called New York in the Dome,” replied Nova.

Everyone suddenly became cautious as if they were suspicious of me for something, and I was still confused as to what the Dome was or where in the hell I was. I wanted answers.

“Okay, kiddos, I have a lot of questions, but can we talk on land rather than be in the air on a junk ship? Please”

“We’ll land, but don’t ever call us kiddos mister, as I remember we weren't the ones screaming like kids when the ship dropped a little,” replied Kron.

“What do I call you all then?”

“S.C.I-F.I”

“No, we are not called S.C.I-F.I”, grumbled, Nova

“Sci-fi? As in science fiction?”

“No, the Scientific Creations Inventors of Fascinating Inventions, S.C.I-F.I for short.”, responded Kron with great enthusiasm, almost prideful. I laughed for the first time since I woke up today,

“That’s the first thing you said that was even remotely childish, Kron of the S.C.I-F.I”

“It’s not childish,” grumbled Kron as we landed.

As the ship's hatch opened, I stood up. I didn't know what I was expecting; to be honest, I had forgotten the impossible situation that I was in. As soon as I turned to walk out of the ship, my mind snapped me back into a world of confusion and fantasy. In front of me was an expanse of grey, a city made of buildings and streets of metallic scraps like something out of a steampunk comic, except instead of bronze, there was only steel, at least I thought it was steel. But the thing that stood out the most was the large, almost celestial-sized building that had the words NEO GAIA shining along its massive exterior.

I couldn't breathe for a moment, all the kids walked out of the ship and surrounded me, they looked concerned or scared, I couldn't tell. There was no one else in the surroundings. The view in front of me overwhelmed me and brought back everything that had happened previously. My chest felt heavy as if it was being imploded, the same feeling I had when I fell into the singularity, and this time it burned as if I had inhaled a burning cloud; it was agonizing.

“Hey, mister, are you okay? You are sweating a lot.”, asked Kron.

“Do you have a doctor around here?” I managed to somehow speak even though every word burned my chest more.

“We do, Aria, bring Dr.Mo here”, Kron said

“Okay, but won't Luna find out if we call him? She’ll be angry,” the girl beside Nova replied.

The kids started arguing. The pain grew to an extent that I felt as if I were fainting, I couldn't stay up, and I fell on the ship's hatch.

…

In the slum city of Demissus, at the edge of the Neo Gaia human colony, a group of kids who called themselves S.C.I-F.I was bickering in front of their aircraft, in which Syrus, the theoretical physicist who fell from the sky, was lying unconscious.

“It doesn't matter if Luna gets angry, this guy looks like he’s about to die, he needs help!” exclaimed Kron to his friends as he turned his gaze towards Syrus.

“Oh no, is he dead already?” Kron questioned in a panic

“No, He’s still breathing; he just passed out,” said Nova

The kids walked closer to Syrus and tried to wake him up, but he didn't seem to hear them. While they were panicking about their present situation, a stern voice called out to them from behind,

“I told you guys to never fly that ship again!”

The kids' panic grew, but they also felt relieved.

“Miss Luna, we were just…” Aria tried to reply

“No, no excuses this time, you'll do double the chores for an entire week!” Luna declared

“Entire week?!” Kron exclaimed as he turned around to face Luna.

As Kron turned around, Luna caught a glimpse of Syrus,

“Who’s that behind you?” She asked with a softer voice

“We don't know. He just fell out of the sky as we were looking for the spatial abnormality,” replied Nova.

Luna walked up to Syrus with a concerned look, and the kids moved out of her way silently.

She placed her right palm on his chest and closed her eyes to concentrate. Luna was a mage and an empath. She could sense that Syrus’ body was not from this planet due to his unusual energy flow and that it was trying to adapt to this new environment. Luna uses her empathic abilities to wake up Syrus and introduces herself. Syrus is still feeling overwhelmed, but seeing another adult made him calm down a bit.

“You need to calm down, breathe. You are feeling overwhelmed, which is not helping your body get used to this environment. You'll need to calm down, understand?” Luna explains in a calm voice, to which Syrus nods and starts taking deep breaths.

“My…My chest hurts, it's burning.”

“That's your abnormal energy being converted to normal. I am assuming you are from a different planet, yes?” Luna questions

“What? Different planet? I don’t…Maybe, I’m not sure,” answers Syrus as his heart calms down.

“It's fine, we will figure it out once your body calms down.”

As Syrus starts to grasp his thoughts and calm down, the group hears a loud, screaming voice from behind them,

“You brats never listen, do ya?!” shouted an old man in a military outfit. He, along with two others, was walking towards the ship, looking very angry.

“Hey, Mister Steve, what's wrong?” asked Kron while trying to pretend as if he did nothing wrong

“Ya know what's wrong, Kron? That goddamn trash can ship that ya made is not safe to fly in, how many times do I need to tell ya, ha?! All ya kids never listen, and don't call me mister, it's Captain Steve,” complained Steve as he walked closer to the kids. He saw Luna kneeling on the ship’s hatch and called her out.

“Luna, keep your kids in line. Why didn't ya stop them?”

“I came here as soon as I heard, Captain. They ran out without telling me,” Luna explained as she turned towards Steve.

Steve saw Syrus and changed his tone of voice from annoyed to scary,

“Who's the new guy?” he questioned sternly

“I am not sure, he is not well,” answered Luna

“Sir, show us your ID,” commanded Steve

“I don't have one on me,” Syrus said as he stood up with the help of the ship's frame.

“What dya mean you don't have one on ya? Raise your wrist, now.”

Syrus, still confused and partially scared of Steve’s weapon, which looked a lot like a fictional energy gun, raises his hands. Steve waits for a moment, but nothing happens. Steve aims his gun at Syrus.

“Sir, what are you doing in Demissus? Gaians are not allowed in this city, state your intent or you'll be executed!”

The other two guards accompanying Steve raise their guns as well. The kids panic and freeze; they had never seen Steve be this scary in front of them. Luna moves in front of Syrus, who starts to panic as soon as Steve raises his gun. She tries to resolve the situation.

“Captain, don’t! He’s not a Gaian,”

“Then where the hell is he from?”

“I don't know, but he's not one of them. He's not a bad person.”

“And how do you know that?”

“You know how, Captain. Please trust me.” Luna sounds calm, but is worried. Steve relaxes and starts to lower his gun, but before he can relax completely, Syrus starts glowing, which sends him into a panic.

“What the hell is happening to him?”

All the kids stare at Syrus and step away from him. Luna tries to talk and calm him.

“Hey, don't panic, it's alright, he won't hurt you.”

“I am calm!” shouts Syrus

“Then what’s happening to you?” asks Luna

“I don't know!” screams Syrus in a panic

Steve starts to sweat in fear. He had never seen any human glow before; the only things he saw that glowed were Magi!

“He…He’s a Magi! Why does he look human?!” screams Steve in fear

“No, Captain, he's not a magi, lower the gun, and I can explain,” says Luna, trying to deescalate the situation, but Steve is too scared to listen to reason.

“Magi! State your name and intent, I don't care if you are a Magi, I will kill you!”

Syrus’ heartrate increases and his body starts to burn again, He is so scared that he cant speak, he shields his head with his hands in anticipation of Steve's gun shot but before Steve fires his gun Syrus’ palms start glowing brighter than his body and in the shape of spheres and a short burst of bright yellow energy that looked like the surface of the sun blasted out of syrus’ palms into the air towards Steve barely missing him.

Steve snaps and screams out.

“Fire!”

Steve and the other two guards fire beams of highly concentrated plasma at Syrus with their guns, which produces a whirling shriek. The kids squat down, holding their heads in fear of the sound the weapons make. Syrus extends his hands towards the blast, which releases a singular yellow energy blast as big as Syrus’ body towards Steve.

As both blasts are about to collide, Luna leaps between them and raises her arms towards both blasts. The blasts stop mid-air as if they are frozen in time. Luna's palms emanate a white whirlpool that absorbs both the blasts and shouts as her eyes start glowing white.

“Enough!”

She points at Syrus, and he collapses to the ground. She turns to Steve and throws their guns with a wave of her hands, and says

“I told you to lower your weapons, Captain!” Her eyes turned back to normal

“He is not a Magi nor a threat to anyone, he's like me, a human mage. He’s not from here, and he is scared. I will take care of him, you don't need to worry about it, you understand?”

Steve takes a deep breath, “Yeah, fine. I thought you were the sole exception as a human mage.”

“Guess I’m not alone.”

Steve looks around at the kids who are still squatting down in fear,

“Sorry, kids, didn't mean to scare ya, I was just worried. You can get up now, it's fine.”

The kids get up and run to Luna. Kron and Drax hug her. Aria walks towards Steve.

“Don't ever do that, Mister Steve, it really scares Kron and Drax, you know that!” shouts Aria angrily at Steve.

“I’m really sorry, Ari dear, I promise it won't happen again.”

“It better not,” grumbles Aria as she walks towards Luna and the others.

“We’ll leave now, let's go, boys. Luna, be careful,” says Steve as he walks away from the group. Luna uses her magic to levitate Syrus’ body and carries it as she walks along with the kids towards their home.

“Luna, is he okay?” asks Kron with concern

“He’s fine. He's just sleeping; his body needs to completely adapt so that he doesn't lose control again.”

“Are you sure he’s not one of the bad magi, Miss Luna?” asks Aria

“I’m sure he's not Ari, does he look like the bad magi with a long face, three fingers, and black eyes to you?”

“No, He looks just like us,” says Aria

“Because he is just like us, He's a human, don't worry.” Luna exhales after seeing all the kids go back to normal.

“Wanna eat some ice cream?”

All the kids cheer in agreement as they walk towards their home.