“Be kind. Don’t hurt other people. It’s all the sort of Christian ethics stuff I thought was bullshit when I was a kid. No, it turns out it’s not bullshit. Tell the truth, be kind, all that corny stuff." - Carrie Fisher -- RecklessPrudence
Above all else, do no harm. That had to be a law for landing in strange places and in weird circumstances. Of course... the landing couldn't be helped. Something there was that didn't like her landing in a complete set of clothing. And something always ate her left shoe, no matter how secure she thought it was when the 'gods' whipped her away.
Bloody Loki. If she saw their false faces again, she'd either kill them or die trying. Something of a plan, but no window of opportunity. The world stopped spinning and pushed the air out of her lungs and made breathing in again a very painful prospect. On the upside, it looked like she wouldn't be waking up tied to a stake and on top of a pyre in progress again.
"It's a demon! Kill it before it can gain power!"
And there came the other boot. Shayde could barely prop herself up and cast a Water Shield in time. Just take that which was given. Being mistaken for a demon always lasted longer when she pulled in available light to refresh her strength. She'd landed through a lot of glass and wood. Not deeply embedded, thank goodness. The good news... they spoke a variant of English. But their accent was barely understandable.
They'd probably have the same trouble with hers. She kept the Water Shield up, using the energy they were throwing at her. There was a lot of energy. One beam from above almost hit her, it was only a chance that she caught the movement in time. And there... against the night sky... was a human flying unassisted. Beams of light shot out of his eyes and splashed into Shayde's shields.
Superheroes? She hadn't thought that heroes were of a mind to be particularly religious. Well. Maybe not the ones she knew from the comics. This... was some semblance of real life. With real people who followed real rules that mattered to them. In an infinite multiverse, there had to be one where superheroes were real.
"I can get the demon," shouted a very young voice.
"Christi! NO!" That was one of the... heroes? Since when did superheroines wear long skirts?
She didn't have time to worry about them, because someone hit her with a super-soaker. Her attacker was, at most, four years old, and dressed in a white... what she always had thought of as a "Nanna Nightie". Little House on the Prairie style with the lace and everything. Their soaker was adorned with holy symbols.
Oh good grief.... A holy water-gun. Hardy har har. On the potential bright side... demons were meant to melt in holy water.
"Well," she chirped. "That's me soaked."
"Say a prayer! Quickly!" The presumed-mother-of Christi screamed.
The child ummed. "Now I lay me down to sleep..."
Screaming and chaos. That had been the wrong kind of prayer. Every male hero let loose with their powers in Shayde's direction. Which also happened to be Christie's direction. And Shayde could not let them harm a child. Which lead to more than a predicament as deadly powers were striking everywhere.
Shayde desperately zigzagged to keep the kid in the shadow of her shields while the kid kept trying to run away. The women weren't doing more than running up to the verge of safety and screaming. Completely unhelpful.
And then one unlucky shot concussed Christi into unconsciousness. Shayde hadn't thought that the women on the sidelines could scream any louder, but she was clearly wrong. Especially when she leaped to protect that small body. The men would be shooting at her all night.
She had to show them that she meant no harm. Go against everything a demon might do. Like... appear on holy ground and surrender a child to a holy man. Shayde could only hope that the holy men here were nothing like the notorious ones she remembered from home.
Shayde had to pick up Christi with one arm, since the other was holding her shield up against every sling and arrow this lot had to throw. The pyrotechnics were impressive and almost drowned out the screaming. Concentrate. Find the best, closest place where she could be accepted as not-a-demon. Despite the energy they were pouring into her, she was still weak.
There. Inside the building. A chapel and there was a holy man in it. She gripped Christi close and fell with the kid into their own shadows.
The briefest of absolute cold. The rage of whispering voices craving for life... any life... And then a burst of comparative heat and light that was the real world. A chapel lit with candles and decorated with the sign of the fish. Shayde stepped out of the shadow of a column and stuck with one of the older lingua francas that she barely knew. "Sanctum sanctorum," she panted. "I nomini padre, et fili, et spritus sancti... infantus vivum...." And she probably mangled that much. But gesturing like she wanted to hand him Christi was a safe bet.
He snatched the kid out of her arms.
Shayde knelt on the floor, and laced her hands on her head. "Sanctum sanctorum... mi sanctorum?" she tried.
Of course she got sprayed all over with holy water. Choked with incense. Covered in prayer until her ears were as numb as the Bishop's tongue. And when it was finally clear that she was not, as she seemed, a demon... they didn't know what to do with her.
Of all the dimensions that the 'gods' had sent her to fix... This was going to be a tricky one.
[AN: I derped and got to my prompts out of order. Very sorry to all those who were waiting]
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / rudall30]
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