Of Lorenz Theory & Love

Jimmy & Darcy: Matias versus Proto

Charmed CW characters belong to Charmed CW. Denis and Tera, Darcy, Della, and Dora Valensi are my imagination at work. Light research was conducted for context.

18 Jimmy & Darcy: Matias versus Proto

7:51 am Azores time, Madalena Village, Azores, Doorstep of Epicenter Pico No. 22, August 1, 1941

Jimmy found himself facing the front doorstep of Epicenter Pico No. 22, according to the number tacked onto the dwelling and the street sign some steps away near a set of robust, rustling palm trees. About to knock, he stopped—

And looked at who he was carrying, and just how bizarre it must look to the average bystander. Though there were none at this particular hour (thank heavens), Jimmy imagined that they would be quite horrified to see a scruffy, questionable English man carrying a deceased Azorian beauty in a tapestry, with her equally lovely baby nestled against his chest with a bit of torn patterned curtain. One might venture to say it looked incriminating, even. INTERPOL would surely have a field day, that much was possible, Jimmy worried to himself. Nothing in his improvisational theatre training had ever prepared him for this dreadful moment.

Jimmy briefly considered leaving Darcy and Matias on the doorstep, ringing the bell, and fleeing using the black marble so that the remaining two Valensi sisters, Dora and Della, would see neither hide nor hair of him. Darcy left their home awhile ago, and here he was, having the audacity to bring her deceased body back with a baby the sisters may or may not have known of. It seemed like the worst possible homecoming he could ever imagine. Depending on the nature of said sisters, his entire familial line could be cursed into entirety, he thought to himself. From how things looked right now, I wouldn't blame them.

But Jimmy remembered a promise he had made to himself when he first met Darcy—to take this chance at redemption to be a better man—a man of his word.

So. Gathering his courage—

He knocked.

It wasn't but a second later that the door slowly creaked open, revealing a small girl with very long red hair, who, squinting in the brightening tropical sunlight, smiled up at him. "Olá," she said courteously.

"Er—hello, is—is your mum home?" Jimmy inquired politely, hoping that the tapestry was as discreetly wrapped as he needed it to be.

"Você fala português?" The precocious girl seemed to be asking if Jimmy spoke Portuguese, the national language of the Azores. Jimmy shook his head, and gently repeated the question; the girl gestured for him to wait a moment and ran away to find an adult. Jimmy prayed in the name of all that was good and holy that the little girl wasn't Dora or Della Valensi. He couldn't stand to break a child's heart like this. Not now, not ever.

Another minute passed by, and Jimmy saw the girl return holding the hands of two women who he presumed were Darcy's sisters, due to their distinct resemblance. Taking one look at Jimmy's face, one of them bade the girl to leave and go play, and so the girl did, skipping through the home and into the back garden.

"It's happened, hasn't it?" said one. Jimmy nodded mutely.

"You'd best come inside," said the other. Jimmy followed the two women into the home, tapestry, brocade, Matias and all, and closed the door.

8 am, Madalena Village, Azores, Epicenter Pico No. 22, August 1, 1941

Once Jimmy was seated in the living room across from Dora and Della, he gave them the letter that Darcy had left for him in her nightstand. They, like Fiona, used a finger to scan the letter for its authenticity, and when finished, they looked toward him as if waiting for him to speak.

Jimmy attempted to speak clearly and to leave as much emotion out as he could, as Darcy's sisters deserved to know precisely what happened. "My name is James Westwell, though folks call me Jimmy. I knew Darcy all of three weeks; she had asked me to keep an eye on her—something about an Azorian soothsayer. A bomb fell during the airstrikes in Manchester—I begged her not to leave her room, but she thought she saw Celeste. Darcy left a letter instructing me to pick Matias up from a convent. I cleaned up the glass and wrapped Darcy in the dark purple tapestry material she had. Then, after picking Matias up from the convent (handcuffs on the ceiling, I was frightened for his life), arrived back to Darcy's flat and placed him in a sling, for safety. Just before arriving here, Celeste tried to stop me, wondering if it was against Darcy's wishes, I think."

At this point, Matias began stirring, and one of the two women reached out to hold Matias, whispering softly into his ear. The other left the room, to return shortly afterward with a small bottle of fresh milk to feed the baby.

"You must believe me, I had no idea about Matias; I only found out today. If I had known sooner I would have taken him from the convent much earlier. But most of all"—Jimmy's voice wavered—"I am so, so sorry that I could not bring Darcy back alive. I loved her those precious weeks we had; we were engaged for not even a day. I wish it could have been me instead. I'm so...so...sorry," he ended, and with that, Jimmy dissolved into tears, covering his face with his palms, not realizing the woman who had returned with the milk bottle had seated herself next to him.

8:20 am, Madalena Village, Azores, Epicenter Pico No. 22, August 1, 1941

After several minutes in which Jimmy slowly regained his composure, she finally spoke. "Jimmy—can I call you Jimmy?" she asked softly. Jimmy nodded. "I'm Della. Dora's the one holding Matias." Dora nodded at Jimmy, who nodded back. Della appeared to be looking at him rather transfixed, as though she were reading a virtual rolodex of his innermost thoughts. "We don't blame you a bit for Darcy's death; we knew this day would come, and soon. And it is clear that you and Darcy loved each other very much. You protected her from dying alone, and you rescued her son from the Sarcana, who would have weaponized Matias."

"W-weaponized?" asked Jimmy, puzzled. "In what sense?"

"Darcy, in her fear of the soothsayer's prophecy, fled to Manchester to pursue jazz, but was forced to make a deal with the Sarcana to protect her baby. She was under the impression that it would be for the short-term, while she established herself and put her affairs in order, but the Sarcana conspired to turn Matias into what they call "The Proto-Source," or 'Proto,'" said Della. "Darcy realized too late that she had misplaced her trust in the Sarcana; the protection spells around Greenfield Convent were such that none of Matias' maternal line could physically remove him, so he risked becoming a child warlock of the court. That way, supreme guardianship would revert to the Sarcana, likely meaning that the child would never set foot in the Azores ever again."

"Blimey." Jimmy had no idea that Darcy had suffered so; this explained the flurry of letters and those times she had hidden in her bedroom closet. She had been writing letters to her sisters all along. He wished he could go back in time to that moment and hug her—and tell her that he was making things right, and that her son, Matias, was going to be ok. However, he had no idea what some of the words Della used even meant.

"So, this Source," said Jimmy, hesitating. "What was this Source exactly? And what did the Sarcana mean by Proto?"

This time, it was Dora who spoke. "The Source of All Evil. In the universe. The Sarcana wanted to create a rebellious alternative Source of their own, and they wanted to house this essence in little Matias over here."

"No!" exclaimed Jimmy, aghast. The sisters nodded. "We were horrified when Darcy told us," Dora stated. "Never in our lives as healers did we imagine a group that would so turn against us. If created, Proto could have been pure, unbridled energy devouring itself and destroying everything in its path; such an entity does not have the trained capacity to sort out good and evil; just power and even more corruptible power. Our prior international safeguarding alliances meant nothing to them, apparently. In short," she looked directly at Jimmy as she spoke, "you have saved so many more lives in the magical realm than you could ever imagine, Jimmy Westwell. We owe our lives to you, and we are forever in your debt."

They paused, which was enough time for Jimmy to ask, "What happens next?"

Della answered, "A funeral today, for our dear sister Darcy Madalena Valensi." Jimmy nodded.