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Siberian Taiga[1998]
–Damian Hawthorne–
"Isn't it great?" He asked the Woman, but furrowed his brow as he did not get the reaction he was hoping for. Instead of awe, shock, and surprise, he got suspicion, wariness and overall hostility.
"Who are you?! Tell me the truth!" Instead of asking him more about his cool crib, she instead shifted into a defensive position, her hands twitching as if itching to call on some spells.
Confused, he remained stationary, just looking at her, knowing that there wasn't much she could or would do to him, "What are you talking about? I told you. I am Damian Hawthorne."
"From the Hawthorne family?" She snapped at him, her behaviour completely at odds from what he had seen before they came to his home.
"I…don't know who they are. Look, is there something I did wrong?" He was genuinely confused here. All he did was tell her that he lived here and showed her his house–Ohhhh.
"Don't mess with me!" She all but shouted at him, "There's no way you built this–all of this," She gestured all around her. "You are no child. Tell me, what are you?"
He sighed internally. Welp, this was not going the way he wanted it to go.
And there came the eldritch shield, made up of concentrated Dimensional Energy.
He sighed, and sat down right next to the pond, feeling disappointed with the encounter. It was the first human being he met in over a year, and this is how it went. With her accusing him of being some monster in human skin.
Meanwhile, the woman continued to screech like a banshee at him, annoying him further. Sighing, he cut through her tirade, "Look, lady. Just Leave. I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity about that seal and that is done. Now, you are free to leave. You can fight me, but I can assure that it will not end in your favour."
She looked rattled at his threat, and in a way, he understood her predicament here. Some kid, just approached her, showed her stuff no normal kid should be able to do and was acting like the adult in the situation, instead of her, the trainer Sorcerer, whose duty was to defend the planet.
Well, she was part of the organisation that defended the planet. He could not see her being of substantial help against real planetary threats. Not if she got rattled every time she saw something that was slightly out of her worldview, expanded as it was.
She remained silent, assessing him, which told him she was seeing if she had any chance of defeating him here. Well, to assuage her of any delusions she might harbor, he snapped his fingers, bringing the defensive enchantments of his home to life.
She choked, as all the air in the clearing was sucked out, then stumbled before falling to her knees as his magic began pressing down on her, then she flinched as she saw literally lava being thrown at her, only stopped by a small magical shield that surrounded both of them.
After a second of that, he snapped his fingers once more, shutting them down as she frantically gasped for air, as she looked at him with terror in her eyes.
He looked down at her, bored, "I could have asphyxiated you anytime I wanted to. I could flood this entire place with lava in an instant. I could literally drown you in boiling water or force steam down your throat. So, next time you go around threatening people you don't know, make sure you have backup. Now, leave."
"I-I–"
"I don't care. Just leave. I assume you can teleport?"
___xx___
As he watched her leave-no-run out of the clearing before she opened a portal and ran through, he couldn't help but sigh and lament at how disastrous the whole thing had gone. He had never meant to scare her or paint himself as the villain, but her act of just threatening him just rubbed him the wrong way, bringing out a side of him that was…unpleasant.
What was I thinking? Boiling water? Lava? Steam Burns? What is this, torture porn?
Shaking his head, he turned to the side and went back to his cave, not finding it in himself to leave now. Plenty of time to do that later in the day or tomorrow. He was in no hurry to leave this place right now, a home that he had carved out of a forest, all by himself, for himself.
He could have left months ago, having made enough equipment for himself that he could survive a prolonged assault with some armed forces, but he heeded the warning from the note he received back then.
The words from that disintegrating piece of paper were still imprinted on his mind.
Ah, forgot something so had to send in another one.
Anyway, you are in a variation of the Marvel Universe, which one? I do not care enough to know.
Your current body has been de-aged to the age of 8. Also, you have a surprise headed your way in a couple of years, so make sure to prepare for that.
The current year is 1998. Don't worry, this is not the Zombie universe.
You can leave now but I would wait for a signal to leave, and you should get that in a year's time.
Also, prepare yourself. You will need it.
He still shuddered as he thought about the last sentence in that piece of paper. It was so small, and yet, it sent shivers down his spine, then and even now.
That was a year ago and now, as he looked back on it, he could honestly say that he felt prepared to actually go out now.
….
…
He smiled as he got up and swiped the rock pot he made for himself, placing it on top of a stove, which was just a piece of flat rock that was connected to the large thermal battery placed right next to it.
As he let the pot heat up, he turned around, humming a tune, as he used another pot to take out water from a closed water container, made of wood.
By the time he went back to the pot placed on the stove, it felt reasonably hot to him, so he dumped the water in it, letting it heat up.
As the water began boiling, he went back and swiped two stone cups off the shelf he'd built for himself, placing them down right next to the stove, on a countertop made up of rock as well.
Once the water began boiling, he opened his hand and kept it to his side, "Tea & milk, please."
There was nothing, only the sound of water boiling in the air, after which a chuckle resounded through the air as he felt something heavy being deposited in his waiting palm.
He hummed as he took the milk bottle and the tea powder, finally having all the things he needed to make tea.
"Finally!" He exclaimed softly, as he waited for the tea to come to a boil. Just as he was about to turn off the stove, he heard someone speak right next to him, "I think just a little bit of honey will make this perfect, don't you think?"
He turned to the side, to see the Ancient One in all her bald, monk glory, looking at the tea coming to a boil with a smile on her face. He smiled at her suggestion, gestured at the teapot as he took a step back, "Sure!"
Today was going to be interesting!
__xx__
After the tea was poured, they were both seated atop a set of chairs, with their respective cups of tea in their hand. He made the first chair and thought about an extra feature he wanted to add so he just made another one, and then once he made the second one, he just went ahead and added the feature to the first chair as well.
With a mental flick of a switch, he activated what he thought to be the best way to enjoy sitting.
The temperature of the air inside the room lowered a bit, with the walls, made up of rock as they were, all began absorbing heat from the air, making the room a bit chilly.
Now, that would be uncomfortable, if not for something else he installed in the seats. More specifically, in the enchanted leather cushions for the chairs.
"Heated Seats. Rudimentary application, but I can see how you got to this point with what little you saw in that seal," The Ancient One remarked as she sipped on the tea.
He did as well, and he just could not resist the sigh of contentment that left his lips at finally tasting something after almost a year of eating just meat, and some weird fruits he found in the forest.
He was sure that had it not been for his enhanced body, he would have either died, or gone a little cuckoo in the head because of the lack of spice in his food.
As things stood, he would still absolutely destroy his stomach with food once he entered proper civilisation but at least he could say that he kept his mind somewhat intact for the entire time he was here.
It helped that focusing on enchanting helped him forget nearly everything else for the time being.
"Yeah, I worked with what I had. By the way, this honey? Just completes the tea in a way I never thought possible."
"Ah, yes, that would be the case. After all, that honey has been made by magical honeybees, existing only in certain magical sanctuaries, operated in secret."
He nodded at her, still focused on the tea, as the atmosphere was nothing like it should be.
It was as if two friendly acquaintances met after a while, not like someone intruding on his sanctuary without being the slightest bit fazed by all his defense measures, something he poured his heart and soul into.
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