TEXT. — id: gale

[fujita]

has anyone ever been to a different world or universe or whatever before ending up here, or just me?
are there any tornadoes in space? that's probably a silly question
but seriously, is there weather in space? they gave me a job as a weather girl

more importantly: has anyone seen a guy called lucas or roan and a little girl called sylvie around?

oh, and i'm a nurse, so if anyone needs help with injuries, well. there's probably some kind of medical service on board anyway, but if there isn't, feel free to come to me and i'll do what i can.

Comments

[estrayer]

it was another version of my world
i woke up in the body of the other me. i don't remember being him, and i wasn't there long enough to look around
but it was a place without magic. that's what was different

my world has both. magic and technology
i'm guessing it was a king of culture shock for you.

[fujita]

i grew up in a world without magic
so yeah, culture shock is one word for it

[ of course, within the first 24 hours of her arrival in oz, dorothy accidentally killed a witch and was tortured, so "culture shock" doesn't really cover it. ]

what kind of magic is there in your world? what's it like

[estrayer]

different kinds

[ He hesitates, instinctively. It doesn't come naturally to Jace to speak of the shadow world, or the people who populate it. He's kept those secrets all his life.

Things are very obviously different here. This girl has already seen too much. ]

humans can't use it, but others do
warlocks, seelie. demons, too. the mundanes of my world don't know about it, unless they're caught up in it like you were. that's usually a bad thing

did you get hurt?

[fujita]

i don't think there were demons or seelie in oz. i don't even know what seelie are. but there were witches, even if magic was outlawed by the wizard (who promoted science instead of magic, despite the name)

no. [ well, unless you count being tortured repeatedly. which — actually, dorothy probably should be counting that. just because none of it left physical scars (except where she cut open her foot trying to escape) doesn't mean she didn't get hurt. ]

not in any lasting way at least

[estrayer]

[ 'Not in any lasting way' isn't exactly reassuring. This girl's been through something. ]

where i'm from there are magic users, seelie (also called fair folk, fairies?), werewolves, vampires. they're all called downworlders, and there are laws against harming humans

i'm someone who enforces those laws. i'm called a shadowhunter
so i'm telling you right now, i'm not going to stand for anyone using magic to hurt you here. okay? i know it's a lot to get used to
but you will.

[fujita]

[ she's fine, everything is fine. she wants to go home and she wants to be with lucas and sylvie, but other than that, everything's just fine. at least there's hot water, here. ]

where i'm from, all of those only exist in novels and movies and so on. or most of them. i've never even heard of shadowhunters. so you're like magic police?

i'm not scared of magic. [ magic's been used to torture her, but it was just the tool for it, and others used different tools. magic is no scarier than a gun. it's what you do with it, isn't it? ] but thank you

[estrayer]

not just magic. not everything that's out there uses magic

but yeah. something like that, i guess

[ It's an easier explanation than most, especially without going into all the details. Anyway: ]

you shouldn't be scared of it. there's plenty of downworlders who follow the laws. can't blame them all for the wrong that some of them do

i'm glad you're okay.

[fujita]

the magic and misc. police. should i call you officer or do you have a name? :)

yeah, i'm all right
mostly i'm just happy there's running hot water

[estrayer]

shadowhunter, technically. but i just go by jace.

they really didn't have plumbing in this world? that's just cruel
was there anything you liked about it?

[fujita]

i'm dorothy, hi

they didn't have plumbing or much technology at all, at least not in oz
apparently the kingdom of ev is more advanced in that regard but i haven't been there

it's a beautiful place. and there were good people there. terrible ones, too, but
i made some friends

[ she misses lucas and sylvie ]

[estrayer]

good to meet you.

this place sounds like it was in the dark ages
or maybe some kind of fairytale. must have been weird

do you want to go back?

[fujita]

what i really want is to get back to kansas
but i left people in oz i'd like to see again

even if it was kind of like the dark ages and a fairy tale combined

[estrayer]

hey i'm not the one who'll tell you you're wrong. you got pulled to another world twice, that's more than most people ever get

did you come straight to here from oz, without going home?

[fujita]

yeah
i haven't been in kansas in

i'm not actually sure how many days it's been exactly

[estrayer]

that's rough, i'm sorry
i haven't been here longer than a few days and i'm already done.

you got family back in kansas?

[fujita]

i know that feeling
but again. at least there's hot water

kind of
i mean. yeah. my adoptive parents
my mother, too, if she's still alive

[estrayer]

yeah?

no kind of about it. i'm adopted too

[ Which is more complicated than it used to be. He'd rather not think about that part, though, so he'll stick with the part he knows. ]

you don't know if your mom's alive?

[fujita]

not the kind of thing i wanted to bond over, but

[ it's nice not being alone? even if it's just in this. and for too many years, dorothy thought her mother didn't want her, didn't love her enough to keep her. she still thinks that, sometimes, and west voicing just that while torturing dorothy hadn't helped.

nor does remembering how she left her real mother. ]

she was hurt when i was taken to oz
i'm not sure she got help or survived
the police officer i thought would help pointed his gun at me instead, so in a way being brought to oz saved my life

[estrayer]

[ So this isn't exactly the nice tale of home Jace was expecting. A second ago Dorothy had reminded him of himself. Now she makes him think of Clary, and how everything had started between the two of them.

Which is another thing he doesn't want to think about. This is going great so far. ]

wait so the cop turned on you?

what happened to her
to both of you? some kind of accident?

[ Or were they attacked? A cop wouldn't be there for no reason. ]

[fujita]

[ sorry, jace. her life is pretty much a mess, and she's been trying not to think about that too much. ]

i don't know what happened
i went to her trailer to talk to her and there was a dead body on the floor and she was hurt and hiding, and then a cop came and threatened me when i called for help

and then the tornado and oz happened

[estrayer]

wait, you got taken there in a tornado?

[ Is he reading that right? It’s not exactly the kind of portal he’s used to. As for the police, that just sounds like bad timing. Strangely bad. ]

that’s not how it works where i’m from, i’ve never heard of wind being used by that

was there any reason why someone might have been after your mom?

[fujita]

that sounds crazy, doesn't it? but yeah. i was.

[ none of what's been happening to her makes any kind of sense, and she hasn't exactly had the time to sit down to try and figure it out—or to even figure out her own reactions and feelings. ]

no idea
i don't know her at all

[estrayer]

it sounds like a portal but i've never heard of one made of wind before

i'm sorry about your mom. we're going to find a way back to our worlds, i mean that. you'll get back to her.

[fujita]

i'm guessing portals are exactly what the name suggests?

i hope so.