It's Not My Fault: Aftershocks
Jun. 26th, 2023 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAmanda escorts Julio home and has bad news and good news for him.
It wasn't accurate to say the dust had settled, as even though the ritual had been aborted and Julio was no longer brimming with borrowed power, he still felt the earth groaning and shifting beneath his feet, causing the occasional aftershock that sent up small plumes of dust and dirt from the ground. But the imminent danger had passed, and while the weird American interlopers offered to clean up and take care of the injured, the blonde one with the funny accent offered to accompany Julio and his grandparents home. Too exhausted and confused to say no, they accepted.
Unsurprisingly, Gloria started to fix a meal the moment they got home. Omar shut that down and ordered her to sit. Good hospitality could wait until she had recovered from being pinned under a tree. Spotting a couple mangoes in a basket, Julio retrieved a knife and sliced the fruit into small pieces for them.
When the silence grew unbearable, Julio spoke up. "Thank you. Again. I... Thank you."
"You're welcome." Amanda was sitting at the kitchen table with his grandparents, sipping at a glass of water that had been provided to her. Thankfully, she had put her shirt and jacket back on. Even with the sports bra, she'd been glad in hindsight that Topaz' drain had removed her ability to be embarrassed - facing the kid with his grandparents otherwise would have been awkward for sure. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something, about your powers and what happened tonight."
They all had the good sense to look ashamed to varying degrees, Julio the most embarrassed. "We were only doing what we needed to do," he asserted, a refrain he was sure he'd be repeating ad nauseum. But even with their failure, he still believed it.
"Oh, that's not what I meant," Amanda hastily clarified. "You did what you thought was right and it's not for me to lay blame." She gestured at Julio. "Why him? As the focus?"
"He offered," Omar answered simply. "He is young but he is not a child. He has a place with us."
"It's more than that," Julio hastened to add. "The magic I wield is unusual. I'm connected to the earth. We thought...I thought centering on me would have the biggest effect, you know?
"Well, see, here's the thing." Amanda paused - he was so earnest and she felt like she was about to crush his dreams. "When I drew the magical energy out of you... none of that magic was yours. You don't have any magic."
They all looked at her like she had grown three heads and spoke Chinese. "That's impossible," Julio protested. His clenched fists were shaking, and the dirt floor under his bare feet started to, too, until Gloria put a hand on his shoulder.
"Cálmate, Julito," she cooed, and the shaking stopped. But wasn't that proof?
"How else can I do what I do?" he asked. "If it's not magic then what else?"
"Have you heard of mutants?" Amanda asked gently. "People who get powers when they become teenagers?"
Everyone had heard of mutants, of course, even in the villages. They just did not exist here. It seemed more like an American and European problem, really. Mexico had its own troubles to deal with.
"Is that what you think I am?" Julio challenged Amanda. "It can't be! I come from a long line of curanderos. This is my inheritance! I'm not some kind of . . . of genetic freak."
That earned him a smack upside the head from his grandfather. "Julio, basta. She saved all our lives and this is how you speak to her?."
"I . . ." At least Julio had the decency to look ashamed for his outburst. He muttered an apology, unable to meet anyone's gaze.
"What does it mean, then, that Julio is a mutant?" Omar asked. "Is that what brought you here?"
Amanda waved off the outburst - it had been a tough night for all of them. "We came originally for the codex," she admitted, taking honesty as the best path here. "NOT to take it, but to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands. But when I interrupted the ritual, I realised that Julio was one of us, a mutant." Okay, not ENTIRELY the truth, but she wasn't about to go into the whole Frankenberry universe and the fact she'd known another version of the boy sitting in front of her.
Omar frowned and sighed, but there was no anger or hurt in his eyes, just weary resignation. "I should have guessed more people would be looking for it than just one wealthy hobbyist. Thank you for your offer, but we can keep it safe now that the threat of our destruction is gone. But now Julio needs to decide what to do."
"I do?" the boy said, confused by the comment.
"If you're a mutant, then we can no longer train you. We don't know how. You need a mutant to guide you."
"If you ever need our help with the codex, I'll leave a number for you that will get to me immediately," promised Amanda to Omar. She wasn't about to forcibly wrest it from them, not with the kid there, and they'd protected it for generations so far. So perhaps not have the white British woman wrest an indigenous treasure away? And speaking of the kid...
"Where my team and I come from, there's a place that teaches mutants about their powers and gives them a place to stay," she told Julio. "You don't have to go there if you don't want to, but if you do, you can learn a lot about where your powers come from and what they can do."
Too much was being thrown at once to Julio for him to parse it all. Was their failure tonight actually entirely his fault because he wasn't what he thought he was? Was everything he knew about himself and the world wrong? What was he even to do now? His despondence must have been clear on his face, given the pitying look this magic mutant gave him.
Magic mutant?
"Hold up. You are a mutant, too, right? And you do magic? So maybe you could teach me."
Amanda opened her mouth to tell him there was no way... but then she closed it again, considering. Who was to say the kid didn't have any magical talent? And the mansion would be the safest place for him, at least until he got a handle on the earthquakes. "Yeah, I'm a mutant. My power means I can convert certain types of energy into magic, so I have a natural advantage, but I can teach you."
Julio grinned widely. "When can we start?"
It wasn't accurate to say the dust had settled, as even though the ritual had been aborted and Julio was no longer brimming with borrowed power, he still felt the earth groaning and shifting beneath his feet, causing the occasional aftershock that sent up small plumes of dust and dirt from the ground. But the imminent danger had passed, and while the weird American interlopers offered to clean up and take care of the injured, the blonde one with the funny accent offered to accompany Julio and his grandparents home. Too exhausted and confused to say no, they accepted.
Unsurprisingly, Gloria started to fix a meal the moment they got home. Omar shut that down and ordered her to sit. Good hospitality could wait until she had recovered from being pinned under a tree. Spotting a couple mangoes in a basket, Julio retrieved a knife and sliced the fruit into small pieces for them.
When the silence grew unbearable, Julio spoke up. "Thank you. Again. I... Thank you."
"You're welcome." Amanda was sitting at the kitchen table with his grandparents, sipping at a glass of water that had been provided to her. Thankfully, she had put her shirt and jacket back on. Even with the sports bra, she'd been glad in hindsight that Topaz' drain had removed her ability to be embarrassed - facing the kid with his grandparents otherwise would have been awkward for sure. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something, about your powers and what happened tonight."
They all had the good sense to look ashamed to varying degrees, Julio the most embarrassed. "We were only doing what we needed to do," he asserted, a refrain he was sure he'd be repeating ad nauseum. But even with their failure, he still believed it.
"Oh, that's not what I meant," Amanda hastily clarified. "You did what you thought was right and it's not for me to lay blame." She gestured at Julio. "Why him? As the focus?"
"He offered," Omar answered simply. "He is young but he is not a child. He has a place with us."
"It's more than that," Julio hastened to add. "The magic I wield is unusual. I'm connected to the earth. We thought...I thought centering on me would have the biggest effect, you know?
"Well, see, here's the thing." Amanda paused - he was so earnest and she felt like she was about to crush his dreams. "When I drew the magical energy out of you... none of that magic was yours. You don't have any magic."
They all looked at her like she had grown three heads and spoke Chinese. "That's impossible," Julio protested. His clenched fists were shaking, and the dirt floor under his bare feet started to, too, until Gloria put a hand on his shoulder.
"Cálmate, Julito," she cooed, and the shaking stopped. But wasn't that proof?
"How else can I do what I do?" he asked. "If it's not magic then what else?"
"Have you heard of mutants?" Amanda asked gently. "People who get powers when they become teenagers?"
Everyone had heard of mutants, of course, even in the villages. They just did not exist here. It seemed more like an American and European problem, really. Mexico had its own troubles to deal with.
"Is that what you think I am?" Julio challenged Amanda. "It can't be! I come from a long line of curanderos. This is my inheritance! I'm not some kind of . . . of genetic freak."
That earned him a smack upside the head from his grandfather. "Julio, basta. She saved all our lives and this is how you speak to her?."
"I . . ." At least Julio had the decency to look ashamed for his outburst. He muttered an apology, unable to meet anyone's gaze.
"What does it mean, then, that Julio is a mutant?" Omar asked. "Is that what brought you here?"
Amanda waved off the outburst - it had been a tough night for all of them. "We came originally for the codex," she admitted, taking honesty as the best path here. "NOT to take it, but to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands. But when I interrupted the ritual, I realised that Julio was one of us, a mutant." Okay, not ENTIRELY the truth, but she wasn't about to go into the whole Frankenberry universe and the fact she'd known another version of the boy sitting in front of her.
Omar frowned and sighed, but there was no anger or hurt in his eyes, just weary resignation. "I should have guessed more people would be looking for it than just one wealthy hobbyist. Thank you for your offer, but we can keep it safe now that the threat of our destruction is gone. But now Julio needs to decide what to do."
"I do?" the boy said, confused by the comment.
"If you're a mutant, then we can no longer train you. We don't know how. You need a mutant to guide you."
"If you ever need our help with the codex, I'll leave a number for you that will get to me immediately," promised Amanda to Omar. She wasn't about to forcibly wrest it from them, not with the kid there, and they'd protected it for generations so far. So perhaps not have the white British woman wrest an indigenous treasure away? And speaking of the kid...
"Where my team and I come from, there's a place that teaches mutants about their powers and gives them a place to stay," she told Julio. "You don't have to go there if you don't want to, but if you do, you can learn a lot about where your powers come from and what they can do."
Too much was being thrown at once to Julio for him to parse it all. Was their failure tonight actually entirely his fault because he wasn't what he thought he was? Was everything he knew about himself and the world wrong? What was he even to do now? His despondence must have been clear on his face, given the pitying look this magic mutant gave him.
Magic mutant?
"Hold up. You are a mutant, too, right? And you do magic? So maybe you could teach me."
Amanda opened her mouth to tell him there was no way... but then she closed it again, considering. Who was to say the kid didn't have any magical talent? And the mansion would be the safest place for him, at least until he got a handle on the earthquakes. "Yeah, I'm a mutant. My power means I can convert certain types of energy into magic, so I have a natural advantage, but I can teach you."
Julio grinned widely. "When can we start?"
