A Long Time From Home

Author's notes:

'A long Time from Home Ch. 01 - A rude awakening' was too long a title, so I had to shorten it somehow :)

This is an Alternate Reality story, where Atlantis, which the inhabitants called Baylon, was real and inhabited by a powerful humanoid race called Baylons.

About half the story happens in the bronze age and I've researched a lot for this story. If you find anything that looks like a mistake in the story, please double check to be sure that you're correct and then PM me about it. :)

A slight warning: This is erotic action adventure, meaning that there will be both sex and violence, but I don't mix the two.

P.S. I haven't gotten an editor yet, so any mistakes are mine. Interested editors are welcome :) Just be warned that this is a LONG story :)

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Chapter 1 - A rude awakening

Friday, 16th of June 2000, Spain

The sound of stone crashing against stone slowly penetrated my mind.

It was a sound that somehow screamed 'danger!'

Slowly my mind started to speed up, as I tried to understand what was happening, but without much success.

Ignoring my building frustration, I concentrated on my body instead.

The heart wasn't beating, and I didn't breathe, but I wasn't dead, all of which meant that I was in a Vis trance and was being kept alive by energy alone.

For a moment, I wondered why I had entered into that trance, but my memory was somewhat hazy, so I stopped wondering and started to redirect the flow of Vis through the body instead.

For a short terrible instant, nothing happened, but then I felt a sharp pain in the chest, followed by the low drum sound-feel of a heartbeat. Slowly, very slowly came another and then another.

I have been in trances before and restarting everything is normally rather easy, but this time it felt like I was pushing a big rock uphill... in the rain... against the wind.

Another pain hit me, as nerves woke and discovered they had been still for way longer than they were designed to. It felt like a thousand pins and needles hit every part of my body at the same time. If I could, I would have screamed with pain, but as that would require that I was breathing, I couldn't scream just yet. Instead, I cursed inside my head. What was going on? It had never felt this bad before.

Eventually the pain subsided and was replaced by a tingling sensation, while the nerves slowly worked their way back to normal.

A few moments later, my breathing also started and carefully I opened my eyes.

I was sitting in a small cave at the end of a tunnel and outside the tunnel opening, there was blue sky and sunshine.

A stone slab hit the floor in the middle of the tunnel with a bang, telling me it was time to get out before the cave collapsed on me.

I started to stand but had to brace myself against the sides of the cave to avoid falling, when my legs threatened to collapse under me.

Another thing that surprised me was that as soon as I started to move, my clothes crumpled into dust.

This time I could curse aloud, and I did. I usually don't go into trance for more than a year at a time, but something must have gone horribly wrong, because clothes don't crumble after one year.

More stones hit the floor of the tunnel and I started to stumble towards the opening, leaning against the wall to insure I didn't fall.

I almost made it, but as I reached the opening, something hit me, and everything went black.

When I woke up again, I was lying on a bed, with a sheet covering me and two different looking young women were studying me intensely. One of them had long shining blonde hair that curled softly, framing a beautiful sun-tanned face, with full sensual lips and eyes the colour of the deep blue sea. The colour of her skin, hair and eyes marked her as a Celt, Norse or Scythian.

The other looked like she came from Punt or Kerma, with her orange-brown skin, glossy long black hair and sharply defined facial features. Her eyes were so dark brown that they were almost black and lovely lips encircled pearly white teeth in a friendly smile.

In a glimpse, I noticed they wore sleeveless shirts of a kind I had never encountered before, and the tight fit revealed that both of them were well shaped.

The brown-skinned woman smiled when she saw that my eyes were open and started to speak in a wonderful soft voice. Unfortunately, I didn't understand a word she was saying.

My face must have shown that because she tried again, in what was clearly another language. There was something familiar with it. Like an obscure dialect of Latin.

Hoping they actually did speak Latin as well as the dialect, I switched to that language. "I don't understand what you are saying."

The blonde blinked a few times in surprise, before she slowly, and with a thick accent, said "Did you just say, that you do not understand what we are saying?"

I smiled, as I looked at her and nodded "Yes I did."

Apparently, I was somewhere in the Roman Empire, so I decided to use the Roman version of my name. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Ivanus, but just call me Ivan. Nice to meet you."

Both women looked at me in disbelief, causing me to think my situation over.

I didn't know how long I had been in the trance. That also meant I had no idea about acceptable behaviour. All in all, I needed more information, before I talked more about myself.

The blonde slowly said, "I'm Alice Baker and this is Rita Meyers. "She paused. "Do you mind telling where you're from?"

I closed my eyes for a moment and sighed, before saying. "I... can't remember."

That caused them to talk for themselves, before the brown-skinned Rita asked, "Do you want us to take you to the doctors?"

Having no clue about how advanced their knowledge of medicine was, I shook my head.

"No, I think I need some sleep and to relax a bit, if that is okay with you."

They both said it wasn't a problem and left the room to give me some peace after assuring me that I just had to shout, if there was anything I needed.

The door closed behind them and I leaned back in the bed to think.

To see a blonde and a dark-skinned woman together wasn't special. I've seen it lots of time in Rome, but the two women's clothing didn't really fit into any area I knew... and that actually took some doing, due to the fact that I have been almost everywhere.

I took the glass of water from the table beside the bed and drank some of the water while looking at the room. The white walls were undecorated and beside the large bed, there were two bedside tables and a dresser with a mirror over it. All three made from some sort of dark wood. The large closet was white painted wood and dominated one wall, while the only window in the room was close to the ceiling and covered with white curtains, that were impossible to look through, but still thin enough to let light filter through.

To my astonishment, it wasn't the only light source in the room. There were several magical lights in here as well, instead of the oil lamps I had gotten used to.

One of them was placed on the table next to me, so I placed the glass on the table again and took the lamp instead, only to discover that it was connected to the wall with a long cord.

That was strange, unless it was to prevent theft, and even stranger was the fact that I couldn't detect any magic in the lamp.

I studied the lamp for a while, but gave up, when I couldn't figure out how it worked.

Then I smiled to myself as I placed the lamp on the bedside table again and took the water instead. If it worked, but I couldn't figure out how, I might as well just call in a new form for magic and be done with it. At least until I knew more.

The glass was made from clear glass, which I had never seen before, but at least it wasn't at strange as the light.

I drank the rest of the water and discovered something written on the bottom of the glass and that the writing was Latin letters. Looking closer, it spelled "M a d e I n C h i n a.", but those words didn't make any sense in any language I knew.

I placed the glass on the table again and yawned.

The fact that I was still tired somewhat puzzled me. You don't get tired from sitting in a trance and with the sleep I had gotten, I really shouldn't be tired.

I remembered the sound of stone against stone right before everything went black. A stone must have hit my head, knocking me out and my body must have used the energy on healing the wound. It would also explain why my memory about when I went into the trance was gone. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember when, where or even why I had gone into the trance. However, if a blow to the head were the cause, some more sleep would help a lot. Closing my eyes, I willed myself to sleep.

I don't know how long I slept, but I woke up with an abruptness that made my head spin and for a moment I simply lay there, wondering what had waken me up.

Then, much to my surprise, I heard a faint mental whisper, talking a language I didn't understand.

It wasn't a clear sending and from the feel of it, it wasn't done on purpose. More like someone untrained was leaking it, without even knowing that he did so.

The strange and creepy part of it, was that while I didn't understand the words, just by hearing them, it felt like my mind was emerged in filth.

Then it disappeared, leaving me to wonder if it had really happened or if it was something I had imagined. A figment of a forgotten dream.

I hoped so, because much as I liked them, humankind in general didn't have the self-discipline needed for having powers without developing megalomania. At least not in my experience.

I pondered it for some time, but then pushed the thought away. Without information, it was just idle speculation and that generally leads nowhere.

Instead, I decided that I might as well see what was behind the other side of the door and got out of bed. Then I stopped. The sleep hasn't helped as much as I had thought it would and I was almost as tired as before I went to sleep. I also realized I was naked. For a heartbeat, I wondered why, but then remembered my clothes disintegrating when I stood up from the trance.

Normally nudity wasn't a problem for me, but having no idea how this culture viewed nakedness, I decided to err on side of caution. The blanket on the bed was too big to be worn easily, but there was a smaller piece of cloth lying on a chair, which I wrapped around my waist in the same manner as an Egyptian zhendyt (skirt).

I really needed to get back in the cave and get my things from the hiding place, I thought and opened the door.

There was a hallway with a few other doors and a staircase leading up.

For a few heartbeats, I wondered where to go first, but then I heard the sound of a soothing female voice coming from the staircase and walked that way.

The staircase led into another hallway and then in what was clearly a large living room of some kind with chairs and couches arranged around a table. Behind the couch and chair there was another area with a dining table and on the other side there were large clear glass panels, with a garden on the other side of them. The walls were the same light colours as the room I had woken up in, but instead of being bare, they were decorated with paintings of all kinds as well as a few mirrors. It was clearly a house belonging to someone prosperous.

Alice Baker lay under a blanket on the big couch, cradling two unhappy looking children in her arms. Both children were girls and looked so much like Alice with blonde hair and blue eyes that they had to be closely related.

From their size, I guessed they were between ten to twelve years old and twins, but Alice looked too young to have kids that old, so they had to be relatives and not her daughters.

When she saw me, Alice smiled tiredly and said in slow Latin. "Welcome back. Eh... It was Ivan, right?"

Since that was close to my real name, I nodded. "Yes, it was and thanks." Gazing over to the two girls, I added "Twins?"

"Yes. Meet my daughters. This is Cyra..." she said and nodded to the left "...and this is Zena and they are unhappy because they're tired and have.." she paused, while she searched for the words and finished with, "pains in their legs." She looked irritated "Can't we speak something else than Latin?"

Deciding that I must have read her age wrong, I nodded to the question and picked another fairly common language. "Do you speak Greek?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't." She turned her attention towards the children, who was looking at me wide-eyed, while I walked over to the sofa.

"I think you have surprised them." Alice said with a chuckle and made a series of complicated signs with her hands, while she said something to the children in a language I didn't understand. Cyra, the daughter to the left, nodded and used the same kind of signs to her mother, but she didn't speak, and I realized she was most likely mute.

While they signed to each other, I studied the two children. They looked alike, but there were subtle differences in their faces and haircuts. I might not be able to tell them apart at a distance, but I was confident I could tell them apart at close range.

Alice turned back to me. "They say you look like a..." She paused for a moment and sighed. "There isn't a word for it in Latin, but it's a professional athlete."

Laughing softly, I bowed to the girls and said, "Thank you," before I sat down in one of the chairs.

They smiled a bit shyly and snuggled up against Alice.

I would have done the same, given half the chance. Now that I was more awake, I could see Alice was a stunningly beautiful woman and the blanket couldn't hide she had a nice curvy figure.

Despite my tiredness, I could feel my body starting to react and changed my line of thought.

"You said they had pain in their legs?"

"Yes. Pains from growing."

That sounded strange. Growing is a natural thing and should not hurt. It went against everything my teachers had taught me. "Where?"

Alice hesitated, and I guessed she was searching for the right words. When she failed to find them, she pointed instead to Cyra's knee and lower leg. "There."

Now it was my turn to hesitate. I do have extensive medical training, but having no clues about cultural taboos and beliefs, I was walking on dangerous ground here. Stepping on cultural taboos makes people want to kill you and just to be on the safe side, I projected trust into the blonde woman.

"I might be able to help." I said slowly. "But I will need to examine the affected area. If that is a problem, please accept my apologies for suggesting it."

She thought about it, but slowly nodded. "As long as you touch only their lower legs."

"It shall be as you say." I said formally. "Please advise the children to lay still."

Alice shook her head slightly, as in disbelief, and spoke with the girls before giving me a nod.

The examination didn't take long, I almost laughed when I discovered what the problem was, and that I had seen it before. It was a simple misalignment of the energy in the muscles that sometimes happen in children, when the flow of their energy isn't as defined as it will be later. Considering that, 'pains of growing' wasn't a bad name for it, since it never happens by accident in adults.

"Why are you smiling?" asked Alice with a touch of suspicion in her voice. Apparently touching a child while smiling was wrong in her culture.

"Because this will be easy." I answered, while I placed my left hand above Cyra's knee, and the thumb of my right hand in the right spot on the sole of her foot. Making sure my fingers were in the right positions, I pressed down for a few heartbeats to snap the energy back into the right lanes, before I released the leg.

I repeated that process with her other leg, being careful not to smile when I saw the look of relief on the child's face, and did the same with both of Zena's legs, before sitting down again. "There. The pain should be gone now."

Alice turned towards the children and asked them some questions, which they answered with their hands, along with nods and smiles, before she turned towards me again, smiling. "I don't' know how you did it but thank you."

"That was the least I could do after what you have done for me." I said and added, "They are unable to speak, right?"

"Yes, they were born that way."

"Well, that happens." I said with a nod, causing Alice to look at me a bit strange. I decided to change the subject before I stepped on any taboos again.

"Do you mind telling me how I got here?"

"Not at all, but it will take time to do it in Latin."

I nodded and leaned back in the chair, while she slowly recounted the events.

She and twenty other students had been on a trip from 'the states' (wherever that was) to Spain to learn language and culture. After the learning period was done, Alice, Rita and another friend had extended their trip for three weeks and moved from the city of Madrid, into this house outside a small village near Malaga. They had been living here for more than a week now, mostly going to the beach, relaxing and attending a few parties.

Since she was talking hesitantly and slowly, I was thinking while she told her story and things started to make sense. Spain had to be what the Romans called Hispania, since Malaga was almost certainly the Roman port city of Malaca. I had no idea what Madrid was, but it sounded like a fairly big city, which indicated I had been in a trance for an extremely long time indeed.

I turned my attention back to Alice as she continued.

The day before Alice and Rita had gone for a walk in the rocky hills behind the house and had spotted me, lying naked on the ground near some bushes. They figured I had been drunk and passed out, so they had carried me back to the house. They haven't contacted the guards because they assumed, I was here on vacation as well and they didn't want to ruin it.

"But - " she said as her explanation were coming to an end. "- if you can't remember anything within a few days, we really need to get you to a doctor."

"Yes, and I can't really thank you enough for what you have done for me." I said with a smile. "I don't know how to repay you yet, but I will."

Somewhat to my surprise, she blushed. "It was nothing."

On a whim, I reached out with my mind, focusing on hers.

As usual, thought images from her mind flashed into mine and they were highly erotic.

I didn't take it too seriously, as many people have a vivid sexual imagination and rarely act on it.

On the other hand, absorbing some positive energy would help a lot on the tiredness I felt now and speed my recovery.

Alice looked at the now sleeping children. "I better get them to bed."

I realized the two girls had been missing from the story and asked. "How did they get here? I mean, did they go to school here as well?"

She laughed softly, and I decided I really liked the sound. Not as high pitched as most women, there was a genuine warmth in it. "No. Rita's parents took them here. They're on a... " again she paused, while she searched for the words "...sailing trip in this area."

"Nice." I said and gestured at the kids. "Do you need a hand to carry them to bed?"

Alice hesitated and looked at the sleeping children, before she nodded "Yes please."

"Well, if I lift Cyra you should be able to get out." I said and carefully lifted the child. Alice disentangled herself from the blanket and stood up, which made it the first time I had seen her while we both were standing.

She was much taller than I expected. Barefoot as she was, she was about the same height as me, which is 6 pes 5 unica (6'3"), and for the first time in many, many years I was standing next to a woman that could look me straight in the eyes.