The Last Hope

02.

December 2023 - Nova Scotia

After being found in the middle of nowhere, the man that found her had taken her inside and got her warm clothes and food. True to her words, she was fine, felt fine except for feeling quite disoriented. At his insistence, she allowed him to take her into town to get checked out by the local doctor; he informed her that she had to have been out there for hours before he found her. The doctor was thorough in her assessment and concluded that the girl was indeed fine despite how long the man says she was out in the cold.

The most concerning thing was her not being able to remember how she ended up there or even her own name for that matter. The doctor suggested that some traumatic event led her to block out things leading up to being found in Nova Scotia but she's never seen blocking on this kind of scale. The man, Henri, offered to house the girl while she attempted to figure things out. The girl was moved by this; a complete stranger that could've just dumped her at the doctor's office and left without another thought did the opposite and was opening up his home to her.

They'd done some shopping in town for more clothing for her after her examination. He explained things around town, where everything was as they made their way back to his home. Henri made space for her, utilizing the spare he had that was just storage for him.

Two months later, after getting her settled in, Henri was preparing dinner for the two of them. Placing a bowl in front of her, Henri sat down across from her, "Digby scallops, fresh vegetables from the garden. Hope you enjoy."

She smiled at him and started stirring the contents of her bowl, zoning out as the seconds ticked by. Henri noticed her far-off look and cleared his throat, gathering her attention, "Perhaps, with not knowing your real name , Mademoiselle, we can find one for you. I guess this 'Jane Doe' is not much of a name anymore."

She smiled again and nodded, "I guess you're right. It just doesn't feel like me, then again I don't know who I am."

The two shared a laugh before Henri spoke up again, "If you don't have a name in your mind, perhaps you can search the internet."

The girl agreed and followed Henri as he showed her where his laptop was. There were so many names in the world she could choose from and she had no idea where to start. She was searching lists for the top girl names, Ashley, Rebecca, and Molly, and even some unique names like Arya, Everleigh, and Juniper but none of them felt right. Then one name came up that stopped her in her search. Lily.

"Henri, I think I found one."

-

2024 - Chicago

The 8-hour flight gave Druig plenty of time to think about this girl and the video. It made no sense how she was able to do the things that she could do; did she have the same powers as the rest of them, more than that? Sersi had a point, if she was on the Domo with them then they would've known she was there and if she wasn't, when did she arrive on Earth and why? Why would Arishem not tell them there was another Eternal on Earth?

They all were wondering the same thing since they left London; Dane was along for the ride too despite the many warnings and heavy sarcastic comments on his ability to defend himself. Sersi and Dane were seated together in front of Druig and Sprite; Druig could tell they were asleep and he envied them for it. They weren't plagued with the nightmare of this girl getting killed by a Deviant. Plagued with this feeling of loss and pain, he'd never felt like this before and while it was only a dream, it felt real as if it really happened.

At least he wasn't alone in his thinking; Sprite hadn't been asleep once, not even to shut her eyes for a few seconds. She'd been busy searching through all the videos of the girl online, seeing the different ones that Dane had mentioned. One of the new things she'd seen was the girl using those portals while running; she threw one right in front of her and went through it before another opened and she landed right on top of the Deviant. She moved with skilled and practiced ease; Sprite didn't want to admit it but this girl was probably better than Ikaris.