Tom Mason [Falling Skies] (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
historicizing) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
makingthisupasigo2018-07-05 08:15 pm
historicizing) wrote in makingthisupasigo2018-07-05 08:15 pm
And the Deeds of the Desperate - for Jacob Stone
cw: ptsd, mentions of war and war atrocities, violence, gore, death, torture, paranoia, abuse
He'd just been scouting for enemy patrols and food when he came across the cave.
Tom would have ignored it, too, but then something inside had started glowing and despite having to make recon, he went inside to check it out. They were symbols, all over the place, the walls marked in carvings, old, human.
And... glowing.
"What the..." He stares, in disbelief, trying to decipher them but to no avail. But something still triggers his memory and after a moment he remembers reading about it, a lifetime ago, in a book on American legends. This place, supposedly once a gateway to another world, far away. A different world, not unlike his, but one that still had its magic and a sanctuary keeping it safe. A place of unspeakable power.
Tom does not want to know what it would to to his reputation if anyone could read his thoughts right now. It's unlike him even considering it but there is the writing, glowing on the wall and as he follows it he reaches an old stony archway, that, as soon as he approaches, lights up into a glowing portal.
He stops, staring.
It could be them. It could be a trap. It probably is and he never wants to set foot on one of these ships again, the memory of the interrogation and torture too vivid still. But... desperate times, desperate measures.
A place of magic and great power. Tom had never been in the camp of believing that aliens built the pyramids and Mayan temples but then again, aliens had just overrun the planet and killed millions, harnessed kids with mind-controlling biotech devices, so... maybe it's time to believe. Just a little.
Rifle readied he steps through...
... and suddenly finds himself in another world.
Suddenly he's dreaming.
Suddenly everything is unreal.
It's a library and the most beautiful one he has ever seen. After all the destruction, all the wisdom and books lost, infrastructures crumbled and civilization shattered, the golden halls are breathtaking and he turns in circles, wide-eyed, speechless, breathless. He's panting, tears springing to his eyes because such a place doesn't exist. It can't exist.
It's insane. He's insane. He's lost it.
He walks the room, crying quietly to himself and reads the labels on the display cases which cause him to burst into hysterical gigglefits.
The Spear of Destiny. Pandora's Box. The Golden Goose!?
Artifacts of humanity's history, lined up, like a museum of... of magic.
Another label reads Zeus' lightning bolt and he stares at the handle before reaching out and picking it up. It comes alive in his hand, crackling white static and oh God.
Suddenly all this becomes very real very quickly.
This thing here against a mech or one of their warships... He figures how to deactivate it and quickly stuffs it into his backpack.
And then there's nothing more holding him back, he's quickly running down these aisles, checking the labels, putting everything that looks like it can be weaponized into his bag and pockets.
He'd just been scouting for enemy patrols and food when he came across the cave.
Tom would have ignored it, too, but then something inside had started glowing and despite having to make recon, he went inside to check it out. They were symbols, all over the place, the walls marked in carvings, old, human.
And... glowing.
"What the..." He stares, in disbelief, trying to decipher them but to no avail. But something still triggers his memory and after a moment he remembers reading about it, a lifetime ago, in a book on American legends. This place, supposedly once a gateway to another world, far away. A different world, not unlike his, but one that still had its magic and a sanctuary keeping it safe. A place of unspeakable power.
Tom does not want to know what it would to to his reputation if anyone could read his thoughts right now. It's unlike him even considering it but there is the writing, glowing on the wall and as he follows it he reaches an old stony archway, that, as soon as he approaches, lights up into a glowing portal.
He stops, staring.
It could be them. It could be a trap. It probably is and he never wants to set foot on one of these ships again, the memory of the interrogation and torture too vivid still. But... desperate times, desperate measures.
A place of magic and great power. Tom had never been in the camp of believing that aliens built the pyramids and Mayan temples but then again, aliens had just overrun the planet and killed millions, harnessed kids with mind-controlling biotech devices, so... maybe it's time to believe. Just a little.
Rifle readied he steps through...
... and suddenly finds himself in another world.
Suddenly he's dreaming.
Suddenly everything is unreal.
It's a library and the most beautiful one he has ever seen. After all the destruction, all the wisdom and books lost, infrastructures crumbled and civilization shattered, the golden halls are breathtaking and he turns in circles, wide-eyed, speechless, breathless. He's panting, tears springing to his eyes because such a place doesn't exist. It can't exist.
It's insane. He's insane. He's lost it.
He walks the room, crying quietly to himself and reads the labels on the display cases which cause him to burst into hysterical gigglefits.
The Spear of Destiny. Pandora's Box. The Golden Goose!?
Artifacts of humanity's history, lined up, like a museum of... of magic.
Another label reads Zeus' lightning bolt and he stares at the handle before reaching out and picking it up. It comes alive in his hand, crackling white static and oh God.
Suddenly all this becomes very real very quickly.
This thing here against a mech or one of their warships... He figures how to deactivate it and quickly stuffs it into his backpack.
And then there's nothing more holding him back, he's quickly running down these aisles, checking the labels, putting everything that looks like it can be weaponized into his bag and pockets.
no subject
But at least he's familiar around a firearm, that's worth a lot. Tom remembers his first few weeks, completely out of his depth, holding a gun for the first time. How much he had hated it. How much it had scared him.
How he can't imagine his life without one anymore.
"Ninjas. Well, now I've heard everything."
no subject
"You kinda get used to it?"
no subject
He walks quietly with Jake for a while, heading back to show him where he came through. There's a dull, uncomfortable feeling sitting on his chest and he recognizes the guilt for what it is. "... I'm sorry. I shouldn't put you through this."
no subject
Jake takes a look behind him, wondering if he's going to see the Library itself again. Or if he's just going to die in some otherworldly battlefield. Maybe he's making the worst mistake of his life right here, right now. He has a chance to say no, he has a chance to back away.
"But I have a job to do." A wan smile. "I'm lookin' after those artifacts you got on loan, and then I'm takin' them back when you're done."
no subject
"Then I'll do whatever I can to make sure you and them get back here. That's a promise."
What's that, Jake? Looks like you got yourself some kind of Guardian here.