Young Writers Society

Bo crossed over the dying flames to approach Leo one more, but this time he did so carefully, trying not to scare him. He felt terrible that he’d already given such a conflicted first impression, and clearly freaked Leo out.

“Look, it’s okay! Not everyone dreams, and not everyone has magic, and not everyone uses it even if they do. It’s weird when you find someone with like-power and it totally makes sense to be freaked out. But it’s okay. You have magic. I have magic too!” he said with a smile, though he still looked concerned for Leo’s wellbeing. “It means you’re not alone in this world! There are others like you!”

He frantically shook his head. Bo just didn't get it. Humans had never possessed magic and were never supposed to. They were just meant to be what they were and nothing else. No lightning, no whatever abilities Bo was probably hiding. He had never once encountered a being that possessed magic; what they had was advanced technology, and that technology could easily appear to be magic. But once you took away all the fancy performances, you would find wires and electricity coursing throughout the device.

And that wasn't the case here.

"But there aren't people like me-" Maahes started to say, only to bite his tongue when he realized he could still get out of this without revealing the truth. Leonardo Cartwright, traveler, fighter of the Goa'uld and closet mage? He could get away with that. He just had to word things so it was as close to the truth as possible; then he wouldn't feel as guilty for lying.

Because even if Bo was accepting of his magical abilities, he doubted he would be accepting of him if he found out what he was really talking to.

"I mean, you might be surprised," Bo said, drawing a circle of blue, sparking electricity in the air. "There might be more people like you than you think. At least, in this one way. Because I have magic too. I mean, if you're really from another planet, which, I was honestly, seriously doubting until maybe a second ago, there'll probably still be a lot of differences. But I don't think there's anything irreconcilable. I mean, I still don't know how you know about mage hunters if you aren't from here but I guess it's possible that they're uh, a different thing from where you are. But mage hunters here literally hunt people with magic. To like, kill us and stuff. So, all that to say, I'm not gonna hurt ya because you're one of us, in a sense. Will other people in the world? Maybe. But you don't gotta worry about that if you wanna stick with me for now at least until we can figure some stuff out."

He was used to people trying to kill him - mainly the Goa'uld - so the prospect of being hunted for who he was wasn't exactly as daunting as it might have been. Still, he had to admit that he was curious about what Bo had said. It sounded like he knew all about the magic of this world, and Maahes could do with some extra information on how people used their magic.

And he was starting to get the sneaking suspicion that magic was going to be the way to return to the world he had been on last.

"I must have startled you earlier when I asked about the mage hunters, then," Maahes commented, a sheepish look appearing on his face. "The people of the world I just came from were called the Magi Venatores. They said it came from their ancestors, who were the ones who built the ruins I was in before I ended up here. The translation of their name meant Mage Hunters."

He gave him a warm, genuine smile. "And I think your suggestion about sticking together might be the best thing for me to do right now."

"Awesome," Bo said with a smile. "Well, it's good you ran into me, then! Instead of like, goblins. Which wouldn't be worse than mage hunters, of course, but there would be a wildly confusing language barrier, and it doesn't sound like you speak goblin."

"Part of what I do is study cultures, so you'd be surprised how many languages I know," he said with a smile. It helped that he had been around for the birth of some of them. Even more so, it helped that he had gone through the stargate. Something about it worked like a universal translator - he just hadn't figured out what.

Bo raised his brows up and down a few times playfully as he looked down at Leo. "Oh really? Well let's see then. How bout this one," he said with a smile, deciding to try speaking Letteran and if he would understand. "I'm gonna say
some words and I can't come up with anything cool but if you like dogs say woof!"

He smiled. Though he may not have recognized the language, he had an upper hand that Bo didn't know about. "I'm actually more of a cat person than a dog person," he said, looking Bo in the eye.

Bo's eye grew as wide as his smile and he laughed. "That's amazing, my man! Wow, haha!" He leaned forward with his arms on his knees for a moment. "I was really hoping I could get you to do a dog impression though, dangit. Oh well. But uh, I guess I should get us moving then. I'm sure you want to meet other people with magic?"

He tried his best to conceal his surprise at what Bo said, but suspected that he had failed horribly in his attempt. He had expected that they were other magical people here based on what Bo said, but he hadn't anticipated that Bo knew them and that they were in a group somewhere in the near vicinity.

He pulled down his sunglasses. "I do," he said. Even if they weren't like him, it would still be interesting to meet other people like Bo.

"Sweet!" Bo said with a smile. "Then follow me. It's a bit of a walk from here, but I think you'll like it." He turned to lead Leo through the forest, giving a wave of his hand for Leo to follow.

He wasted no time in doing exactly that. Though Bo's stride was much larger than his own, he had no trouble keeping up with him. He fell into step beside him. As they walked, he took in forest around them. He had been to many planets with similar environments - oddly enough, most of the planets reminded him of Canada - but each time he was impressed by what he saw. This time was no exception. There was just something beautiful about standing in the middle of nature, with no artificial things peeking out from behind the towering trees or underneath the bushes.

Bo pushed some semi-low hanging branches out of the way of his tall frame as he walked, and after a small bout of silence decided to break it.

"So you're from another planet? Can you tell me more about that?"

His mood immediately dampened. He studied the ground for a moment before looking back up, though the smile on his face had vanished by then. "Well, I was visiting the planet I was on before I came here," he said. "The place I lived in doesn't have much. It used to just be a village, but..."

His voice caught in his throat.

"...even that's gone now. So I just visit it sometimes, and pay my respects to the people that once lived there." He tried to smile again, although it didn't reach his eyes. "I live out of my ship a lot these days, actually."

Bo felt his heart sink a little as he heard Maahes's shift in tone. He looked down at Maahes with understanding, and a compassionate smile.

"Ah. I'm sorry I forget - home doesn't always hold good memories for people. I'm sorry you've... lost... so much. But uh, a ship sounds nice. I've never seen a ship that goes into space. I imagine it doesn't look much like the ships you'd see on the seas, does it?"