(Untitled)

[godpleaseheal]

[OOC: Contains potential spoilers as it takes place shortly after the end of I, Lucifer. Please read this slated entry first before commenting.]It was horribly unpleasant trying to sleep the night after I had organized Lucifer's papers, added my notes and gone on my not-so-merry way to nowhere in particular. I had done this to myself, but I still

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[goldeneyedflash]

Bart wasn't actually patrolling, he was just varying his running path to go by the church for a change. He'd liked churches, more for the artistry than religion. He'd read the Bible, the Quran, and a dozen other sacred texts, and none of them really had something he could cling to. He was nominally Christian, but his best friend, the guy he woke up to most mornings was equally Jewish. Neither of them had much time for religion when the battle of good versus evil was out on the streets.

But he liked churches. He'd expected it to be mostly abandoned, though. Easter Sunday it may be, but that shouldn't be observed indoors, because life was about living, and the best place to do that was surrounded by other living things.

The voice stopped him, though. "Hey," Bart replied, politely.

[godpleaseheal]

I smiled politely and moved to the door of the church now that it was open, peering out slightly before eying the young man thoughtfully. He was unfamiliar to me, but I found that to be more of a strange curiosity than a cause for alarm. "Where are we?"

[goldeneyedflash]

Bart considered, and stepped to one side, leaving the door open to allow a slight breeze. "Well, that's kinda complicated. If you're talking about the building, it's the church, but the island? The gods only know," Bart said, with a slight hint of tension across his shoulders.

What did he know about how to welcome people to the island? So far, he had a pretty bad track record.

[godpleaseheal]

"I see." The truth was, of course, that I didn't really see anything outside of sand and palm trees and a young man I didn't quite recognize.

"This is an island then?" I asked, uncertain if I had understood him correctly or not. I reminded myself that one island could hardly be that different from another, but as I told you earlier, I felt different. That sentiment was much more difficult to dismiss.

[goldeneyedflash]

"Yeah, it's an island. Most people call it Tabula Rasa," he said, with a slight nod. "It's just that nobody's exactly sure where. It isn't a normal place, that's for sure."

[godpleaseheal]

I did not think much of the name then and to be honest, I still don't. I sighed quietly before nodding. "I can imagine." My situation, normal or otherwise, would keep, however, and I was curious about something else. "What is your name?"

[goldeneyedflash]

"Oh, right, I'm being rude, aren't I?" Bart said with a slight smile, then held out his hand. "I'm Bart, Bart Allen."

The guy seemed to be confused, but everyone was when they first arrived, so that was fine. At least he hoped it was fine. "What's your name?"

[godpleaseheal]

I could not think of one single decent name for this new body and Theo Mandros did not seem appropriate. "Raphael," I said as I shook Bart's hand, not wanting to pause for too long to debate because then it would be only too obvious that I was lying if I lied. The truth has always had a greater appeal to me.

[goldeneyedflash]

"Welcome to the island," Bart said, with a rueful smile. "I'm sure you'll love it. Not that there's really that much of a choice seeing as there's no way off."

He hesitated, thinking for a moment. "It takes some getting used to, really. People from anywhere within time and space show up or disappear at a moment's notice. It's a little strange, but it's home."

[godpleaseheal]

Blinking a bit, I found myself nodding again. I would find a way to deal with it, but I wasn't sure how much I would love the island if there was truly no way off of it. "Home," I repeated uncertainly. "I suppose so."

[goldeneyedflash]

"It's nicer than my last apartment, and I've heard the surfing is excellent," Bart commented. "There's the Compound, which is sorta the center of civilization around here since it's got the clinic, the kitchen, and hot and cold running water. There's a place there for settling in, or you can choose a hut. Some of the current buildings have been left behind when their occupants vanished."

After months here, he'd started taking the eccentricities for granted, because there wasn't another way to deal with it. "Who knows, you might even find someone you know around here. Where are you from, anyways?"

[godpleaseheal]

My former residence had been much more luxurious and the prospects of remaining human there in Mandros' villa had seemed pleasant enough outside of the loneliness I suspected I would feel anywhere I was. I simply nodded, imagining I would find this Compound eventually.

"Formerly of Heaven and recently from Earth. And you?"

[goldeneyedflash]

"Los Angeles, most recently," Bart said, trying to keep some of what he felt about his last memories of that city out of his voice. He'd given everything he'd had to save those people.

Then he blinked. "Heaven, as in God and all the choirs of angels Heaven?" Bart spluttered, more than a little surprised.

[godpleaseheal]

"Yes," I said with a small smile. "But as I said, I am more recently of Earth." Having little desire to explain why, I left it at that and considered the outside world once more. "Where is the Compound?"

[goldeneyedflash]

"Holy Hera," Bart said, and then chuckled at his own choice of words. "Oops, wrong pantheon. No offense, I hope."

He gestured absently in the direction of the compound. "Down that path a bit. Just look for the concrete bunker."

[godpleaseheal]

"None taken," I immediately assured him. I have been close enough to humanity over the years that it was no real surprise to me to find one more young man who had not reached any real conclusions about God or religion. I was more surprised to find a young man I didn't recognize. "I suppose I ought to go there first then. Is there someone I ought to report to?"