Arriving Unannounced ]] Brandt / Brody / OPEN

[Trevor Caufield]

He took his time to feel, before he opened his eyes. They'd been in a rather awkward position when they'd orbed out of the clutches of that crazy lady - Brody and he had been on the ground, splayed, more or less, in clothes that very literally fell off of them. Brandt had been squaring off with the woman who was terrified of getting old, and more or less, this was the best way to fix that situation. Still. It had been a long time since he'd been up there last--

Which made his brows furrow. He had a sense of recognition, as though he'd felt this before, though he couldn't quite place why or how. Again, his memory seemed to be withholding information that he just couldn't access. It was not a good feeling - almost conspiratory. Leaning away from what felt like clouds, he took a deep breath, again, vainly wishing he'd been smart enough not to do what he'd done.

"Everyone here...?" He asked in that innocent voice that he seemed to have regained. He hadn't realized just how long five years was. How much he'd gained - and lost - in that time. Nor did he know, really, just how much that meant to him. It was strange, though - as much as he couldn't remember some things, he knew other things with certainty. That this was wrong, that he'd lost five years...

That this wasn't where he should be.

He couldn't remember a safe place. He couldn't remember faces or names. His mother and father were just blurs amidst more blurs. They gave him nothing to work with - no ideas or blemishes in his mind with which to hold on to.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, he let his eyes open to the quiet white and blue that was the heavens. He wasn't in a familiar place - quite the opposite. This felt like a place of importance, and he felt as though he was doing a very serious 'Bad Thing' by being here. That didn't bother him, though. He started to get to his feet, his muscles aching, and his mind fogging even worse than it already was.

He knew he'd been older at one point, but he was already forgetting what that was like. At this rate, would he remember anything at all about what he'd done, or why he'd done it to get here?

"Are we... in the right place?" He asked, one hand resuming the job of designated pants-holder. After all, you didn't want to walk around heaven with your pants around your ankles. Still. He looked down. "Aww, damn." He'd forgotten that he stepped out of his shoes before. Unintentionally, of course, but because he hadn't been wearing them when they orbed, they were still on earth.

Fat lot of good they did, anyways. Too big!

Hopefully, someone up here would have answers.


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Word Count:480
Music: She Could Be You - Shawn Hlookoff
Notes: Sorry it's not a big introductory post.

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[Mark Windsor]

Brody didn't actually let go of his twin until the orbs cleared and he saw that they were in fact in the heavens. He also slipped his arm off Trevor. That isn't to say Trevor moved at all immediately, but Brody did.

He stood up, glancing around them at the place that seemed fairly empty. This was the heavens and it was where they'd been headed, where Brody had thought they'd be safe, but then why wasn't there anyone around. Could be because Brandt and Trevor aren't supposed to be up here, but I couldn't very well make them safe anywhere else.

If he was going to be punished for this, he might as well. All he could do was explain things and hope the elders understood his reasoning for doing what he had. If they didn't..... well, he was hoping they would. After all, magic gone wrong had left the trio with little option in ways out and no idea what they'd done.

"They might be avoiding us. I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to bring you two up here, so I'm not sure what that means in terms of a reaction from the elders and other whitelighters. I might get in trouble for this."

Brody too was missing his shoes since he'd fallen out of those when Trevor had pulled him down. That didn't matter much now when the heavens were pretty much vacant. There has to be some sort of reason for this, probably one relating to me bring Trevor and Brandt up here...... I hope.

[Selene]

"Well," Stella said as she approached the trio. "it's not everyday someone pulls off magic like you three did let alone arrives on our doorstep moments later. I can't find any sign of you three existing until just moments ago. Does someone care to explain?"

Stella was here, if only because she'd gotten a vision of herself in this exact situation moments before the arrival of this trio. While the witches could have escaped her notice, the thirteen year old whitelighter was younger than any she'd known to exist. He was what had tipped her off, what had made her curious as to the existence of the oddly dressed trio who had just now landed at her feet.

Stella Cassidy was not formidable, and only authoritarian because of her robe. She was the youngest elder chronologically and one of the youngest physically, appearing to be somewhere in her twenties. Still, she was trying to be kind all the same. She didn't want to frighten the trio of children, no matter how odd mysterious their arrival and abilities were. No, she needed to get them to trust her. Once she knew their story she could get help from the other elders to figure out what should be done with them.

[Trevor Caufield]

It wasn't as though he wasn't expecting to be greeted by a Whitelighter or an Elder - he vaguely remembered an Elder... telling him something of importance. It was when he found out he would be a witch. What felt like years ago, before Father Albright turned out to be evil...

A concrete memory with a few hazy edges stuck out prominently in his mind. He almost jumped, as he hadn't been expecting to remember much of anything. Hazy feelings, yeah. But the more he reviewed, the more he realized there were still several memories in tact. Brody and Brandt were in several, and others all revolved around fragments of his life. But they were showing no signs of fading. That lone fact allowed him to let a smile along his face.

Still, his focus returned to the present - and the woman who was all but towering over him. He could remember a time when she wouldn't have been. This whole experience was certainly a new spin on an old feeling.

So, he couldn't do anything but answer her: "It's my fault. I was casting a spell - bigger than I thought it was, apparently... and it zapped us here. Then there was this woman... she wanted to eat us..." His pre-pubescent voice almost grating to his own nerves. He was NOT looking forward to whatever reprimand he was about to receive. "So Brody brought us up here... we didn't know if we could fight her off. OH! and... we're actually older. Six years, actually..." He scratched the back of his head.

"The magic... it messed with us. I don't know about... about Brandt and Brody... but it's like my brain is scrambled and fuzzy..."

And that was the ten cent explanation. He was NOT going to tell her why he had been casting that spell. He wasn't going to divulge what little memory of his life he had to appease her, not when she was still a complete stranger. Still, his newfound age was showing, in that he'd stepped a little away from her, and closer to Brody and Brandt. It was amusing - he was usually infinitely more outgoing. He remembered that.

Right now, more than anything, he wanted to go home. He wanted to remember what home was.

It didn't look like that would be the case any time soon - his own fears rang loudly in his ears.

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[Meagan Windsor]

Brandt felt..... so small. So insignificant. He was scared and lost and the logic he could recall relying on to keep him grounded was slowly slipping through his fingers like water. On top of that he was still in a stunned shock, the fireball he'd generated had been like nothing he'd seen himself do before. And now this, the elder questioning them. Trevor tried to explain, but Brandt was all too aware of his friend's fear, his empathy kicking in to full gear and giving him a major headache. All he could do was instinctively reach out and hug Trevor, and even that felt odd to him. He could hardly make someone who could sense his fear safe with his presence.

"P-please. W-we wouldn't have come up here if we'd known anywhere else to go." Brandt had always been the calm one. He was losing that though. He wasn't nineteen anymore, and he could only look to Brody, his twin, his brother, to guide him. I'm lost and I'm losing myself. Memories, some of them were blurring and fading. Many felt like they should have been more important than that, more important than to just be erased from him. Names were gone and their faces were dimming ever so gradually.

I just... I want to go home, but home feels miles away. Home... home might not even exist here.

[Selene]

Stella glanced at the trio. The younger boy said two names, and yet knowing which of the two older boys was Brandt and which was Brody was not easy. At least, until he said, "Brody brought us here." Brody was the whitelighter then. Brandt was the other witch, the child who spoke next. She realized then that this was more mysterious, and even frightening, for these three than it was mysterious to her. They'd been six years older, in a different dimension from what she could tell when she'd watched their arrival and had tried to sense their presence prior to it. Now they were here, they were children and were swiftly losing their calm, probably losing a lot of their other life too.

She knelt down, as close to eye level as she could get. "It's okay. I want to help you. I'm not mad, I'm just confused like you. I don't have answers to what happened to you, but I want to help find them. If possible, I want to get you back where you belong." She reviewed the scene of the three that she had watched from above. The boy, Brandt, was at least pyrokinetic and extremely powerful at it. That was a start.

"You, Brandt, you're a very powerful pyrokinetic. Potentially your two friends are equally powerful with their powers. I'm thinking that might give us at least some hint. The only way to be so powerful is either be born that way or to have some how jumped into your own future. I assume it wasn't the first, but because you're younger rather than older the second doesn't fit well either." She pause here and looked at them. "It's not much to go on, but it might give us something to work with." For now though, it would just have to be her. She didn't have enough to go on to involve the other elders yet, or she didn't feel like she did.

[Trevor Caufield]

He found himself leaning in to Brandt's hug. He could feel their fears, brilliantly, in fact - more accutely than he ever had before. What was more, he was steadily feeling better - at least, physically. Like this sort of proximity was allowing him to draw power from his fears, not just sense them. He tried to shrug that thought off, but it didn't do much to make him feel better. She was at least trying, though - she was approaching them like they were children. And in one sense, they were. Biting his lower lip a bit, he nodded.

"They were..." His memory was hazy, but he remembered. "The necklaces... they meant... something important. About how they were more powerful together than apart. I'm... I'm like..." They'd resolved this. Someone explained to him how it was possible to be like he was. "My parents were both half witch, half-demons. I came out a whole witch, but my powers are all demonic. Like Barbas' power..." Perhaps if she knew the root of their powers, she might better understand how a bunch of kids had punched a hole in the dimensions.

Or rather, how three kids had survived punching a hole in the dimensions.

Taking a deep breath, he let his eyes close. He was having a difficult time, but he was finding that certain bits and pieces of his memories were smudged away, not necessarily the whole memory. People, places, things. They were like burn marks in his mind, leaving the edges seared and torn, but otherwise whole.

"We were all unique back home. I remember that." Even if home was a distant memory, even if it were unrecoverable... he could remember their place in it, even if he couldn't see the rest. He looked at her, trying to figure out why exactly he had the slightest shard of dislike. He knew he didn't like the Elders, but he didn't know why. That was yet another hole in his mind. Perhaps it was inherited..?

He hoped she could figure it out - his own theories were being muddled by his age, too. His panic and paranoia continued to build. "Thanks, Brandt..." He murmured, to let him know he did still appreciate the gesture, even if it was doing them no good in the brain department. At least in his soul, he was feeling a little better.

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[Selene]

Hmmmmm..... This was getting more interesting the longer she tried to get answers from the three of them. Until the younger boy had mentioned them, Stella hadn't noticed the necklaces the two identical boys wore. The dangled around their necks on chords, the pendants metallic and bearing the zodiac sign of Gemini. Still, she didn't know how they could enhance each others power when one boy was a whitelighter and the other a witch. But the younger boy's story of his parents was equally odd. It was like three oddly powerful beings who somehow shouldn't have existed but did had now landed in this reality from another.

"Well, that makes things a little more interesting. A witch with demonic powers, and a whitelighter and witch who can combine their power to be stronger. The former is.... well, unlikely but obviously possible. The latter confuses me though. What sort of connection do the two of you share?" Maybe it should have been obvious, but it wasn't. The only connection similar to theirs that she knew of was that of the Charmed sisters, and even then Paige had been half-whitelighter, half-witch. And if that was the case with Brody then it would have been so with the other boy too. They were too close in age and appearance to only be half biologically related.

[Trevor Caufield]

He watched her, listened to her, and slowly but surely, nodded a little bit. It was interesting. He knew what was what. They were twins, that much should have been apparent. But hey, he was having a hard time keeping his own mind in line, let alone throwing a witty crack her way. That shouldn't have been his first instinct anyways. That was a little bit dark, and he just wasn't that way. Leaning back, he finally let go of Brandt. There was a familiar warmth to him, but it wasn't the same kind as he was used to. Like everything felt right but one thing.

He slipped his arms then around Brody, for it was only fair - Brandt had the benefit of comfort, but Brody had not, yet. As he hugged him close, whatever had been missing was suddenly replaced. That hole was gone, and he felt, for the first time since they'd wound up in this... dimension? Place? Time? He wasn't sure. But for the first time, he felt as though he'd be at least cared for.

Smiling a bit, he watched her try to ascertain what they were. "They're twins." He replied, as though it should be quite obvious. And it was. There was more to the story than that, but it was all he felt willing to share with her - after all, it was Brandt and Brody's story to tell.

If, of course, they could remember it. He couldn't.

He left his arms wrapped around Brody's waist, and his head cradled just under his chin.

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[Mark Windsor]

Brody didn't know what it was, but when Trevor hugged him something just felt.... right. The whole time they'd been up here and explaining things, when Brandt had been comforting Trevor especially, Brody had felt like he should have been doing more. Then Trevor hugged him, and he felt like this is what he should have done at first. Being the comforter felt.... somehow like a missing piece had fallen into place.

His and Brandt's history.... he felt like he should have remembered more of that. The elder needed to know how Brody amplified Brandt's powers. He should have known that. Trevor explained about them them being twins, but there was more to it. "We.... I was a witch. Before I became a whitelighter. I.... I gave up my life for.... an innocent, and I was brought back as a whitelighter."

There was more to it, wasn't there? "It had been my destiny, and Brandt still needed me." He was having trouble remembering all of it. There had been more reason to Brody's death than the innocent's life and becoming a whitelighter, something huge. But.... it just wasn't there. That part of his memory was all fuzzy. It just.... he couldn't remember it.

[Meagan Windsor]

Brandt's and Trevor's mental powers were probably only feeding off each other. Brandt knew his empathy wasn't being helped at all, and it was more out of his control then he could ever remember it being. He was surprised he hadn't just lost it yet. But, he was trying. He knew that, and Trevor's thank you at least showed the gesture had meant something.

Trevor moved to hugging Brody, something Brandt didn't take as a personal offense. For some reason, it was like that was just supposed to be that way. There was more explaining too, about Brody and Brandt being twins and about Trevor's powers and the connection the twins shared. Brandt knew there was supposed to be more he knew about his bond to Brody, and yet nothing was coming to him.

"There was.... there was something big to me still needing Brody. It had more to do with his death than even the innocent or his personal destiny, because.... it was the reason for his destiny.... I think. It's all just..... hazy. Things that don't fit with this reality are slipping away."

Wait. Did he just think logically? For a moment he'd felt like himself again, but the moment was gone now. It was like soap bubble, and trying to hard to keep it he'd popped it and it was gone. "I still..... I don't understand why our ages changed. Really that part is only making this worse for us. At least if we were older.... I don't know, I feel like we'd be a little less frightened." It all must have had something to do with Trevor's spell, the spell he could no long remember the words to but which had caused all of this to happen.

[Selene]

Stella realized as soon as the younger boy said it what she'd assumed was right, the two other boys were twins. It was, however, Brody's explanation that helped her understand how they were the way they were. Brody had died and become a whitelighter. His own age being affected had probably been a result of his connection to his brother. And there was a lot of talk of destiny between the brothers, but neither could remember the destiny it seemed they had once known they had.

There was one good thing about this, Stella had more answers now. Also, she had more questions. Brandt, for a brief moment, was far more logical than his age suggested. How had they mentally remained as being six years older if so much else was slipping from their minds?

"I'm not entirely sure. It obviously has to do with the exact wording of the spell that brought you here, but I assume none of you remember that. The only thing I do know, is the only reason Brody's age changed is his bond with you, Brandt. And hopefully the bond will allow him to return to at least his natural age. I have my doubts that the spell would have worked on any regular whitelighter, but any regular whitelighter might have also not survived what you three did the same way Brody did."

She shook her head. This was far more interesting than she'd first thought when she'd seen the vision. "Ok, well, I suppose I might know all you're going to tell me now. I might as well go to the other elders and see if they have any more answers than I do. I'm.... well, I'm the youngest elder and a little bit less traditional. Let's hope that doesn't count against me here." She stood up, but didn't leave just yet. She wanted to see if anyone could tell her more, anything at all that could help.

[Trevor Caufield]

Leaning in to Brody was filling him with a sense of calm. It was comforting, and warm, and everything he felt he needed right now to make him feel better. Despite the fact that their minds were still older, he knew, that if the others were like him, even that was getting a little muddled the longer he stayed conscious.

"I feel like our powers are stronger than they should be. I remember we were powerful before... Brody and I stood up to Barbas... Brandt and Brody..." There was a face, a honey-colored face with eyes of blood red that was smearing. A name that started with a T, that even that was gone. "Upper level demons and warlocks. But even this... this is too much. It's more than we should have."

He said, softly. He didn't know if that would help her at all, but a young Elder would want as many puzzle peices as she could get to assemble the fractured mirror that was their current predicament. Letting out a sigh, he realized he'd long since lost grip on his pants - not that it really mattered, he looked like a ten year old in an overly long night shirt. Still, it caused him to go scarlet, and draw himself off Brody.

He tugged his pants back up, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand. Even if he didn't realize it, some of his actions were much closer to a child's than a teenager. Nevermind that, he yawned a bit, fatigue from such a massive spell finally catching up with him. It was strange, but he was feeling better, more calm. He hoped that his calm would be infectious to the twins...

But he had to wonder why his calm came at the expense of the fears around him. "Where should we go?" He asked.

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[Selene]

Their powers were stronger than they should be. For someone who was fairly powerful to begin with that could lead to interesting results. They'd apparently taken on warlocks and upper level demons before, even Barbas, but all that had been done with help or with the combined powers of the twins. It was really hard for Stella to say much of anything about their power now, how strong they were or should be.

There were two things Stella wanted to take care of with these three, though one would probably have to wait. The first was they needed rest, or so she assumed after whatever magic had done all this. She could take care of that by taking them to one of the empty houses in the cloud villas, a temporary place for them to stay. The second was that they needed clothes, something that was obvious in how their current clothing was still meant to fit them as they had originally been, at whatever older ages they had been. Clothing she couldn't provide though, she'd need to have someone buy them or something. Thus, that would need to wait.

"Well, for now I need the throne room for myself and the rest of the elders, besides which all that magic you did will be catching up to you. All three of you, even Brandt and Brody who didn't do much, should probably get a little rest. I can take you to one of the empty houses in the cloud villas, where the elders and whitelighters live, and let you sleep there for now." She smiled, though she wished she could do more for them. "It can't be a permanent home for you, but it's at least safe for now and will give you some privacy." She had caught Trevor's embarrassment at his pants having fallen down. Really, until they were in better fitting clothes privacy would probably be the best option. "How does that sound to you?

[Trevor Caufield]

Rest sounded like a good idea, even to his fear-empowered mind. He didn't know if he'd be able to sleep, but it would be a great chance to clear their minds. And without the threat of being attacked by demons or other such beings while they were in this massively vulnerable state, it would probably be one of the only peaceful days they got while in this form.

Running fingers through his hair, he closed his eyes a bit. "Hey..." He said, before she decided to leave them in a wispy haze, or orb them to the room that they'd be staying in for the night. He knew - not entirely certain why, but he knew - that sometimes when Elders made up their mind, they acted without further rhyme, reason, or debate. The youn boy looked up at her, eyes full of otherworldly knowledge and regret, and smiled.

"You never told us your name." He said, at least trying to put forward the effort of being frindly. If she legitimately wanted to help them, then he was not going to be the one to be impolite, even if his brother---

He had a brother. He could remember that he'd yelled at him before all this had happened. His jaw set, tightly, as that memory remained tainted and torn - he could hardly recall except by accident the fact that there was even a sibling involved.

Touching the back of his neck, he remained silent. "Thank you, for trying to help us." He offered her, after another moment of contemplation.

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