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Alex stood on the roof of Sanctuary, looking out over what was once the nearly abandoned ruins of the surrounding neighborhood. Baltimore's skyline was already beginning to light up in the distance, but out here he could sometimes see the stars, if the smog wasn't too bad. Tonight was one of those nights. It felt different than before, though. Not bad, exactly, but different. For a moment, gazing out at the reconstruction, he felt a pang of.... homesickness? That wasn't quite right. He was home, but home had changed. The dream had become reality, but still....for just a moment, he longed for the simpler times of the past.
"What's up, nerd?"
Eris's greeting shook Alex from his reverie. His eyes darted to the side as she casually strolled forward, a smirk tugging one side of his mouth upward. "Nerd?"
"You read weird books and you're sleeping with an elf. Definitely a nerd."
His smirk grew. "Oh yeah? And what does that make you, then? Last time I checked you read a lot of the same books I do, when you're not up to your ears in comics and spray paint."
The hobgoblin scoffed in mock-offense, kicking a pebble at her much taller human-looking brother in defiance. "Me? I am an artiste. I'm supposed to read weird books, for inspiration and stuff. It helps with my whole 'suffering artist' image I'm required to cultivate. I wouldn't expect a nerd like you to understand, though. It's not your fault, really. Your thick head is just too full of magic dragon weirdness and responsibility to understand the burdens of being a young, budding artistic genius."
Alex's smirk became a laugh. "Your suffering, eh?"
Eris's mischievous grin shifted into an expression of overly dramatic distress as she put one paint-encrusted hand to her forehead to really sell the act. "Oh, yes. No one understands the pain and suffering I endure daily, seeking out new ways to express my incredible virtuosity while being burdened with a nerd for a brother. Oh, woe is me, will my torment never be lifted? Will Alex ever learn to chill the hell out and be cool?"
"Hey now, I'm cool! I'm a DJ that owns his own club and races bikes for fun, how is that not cool? Besides, aren't you supposed to be 'suffering' in the sand pit, doing balance practice on those pillars?"
She dropped the act and chuckled. "See I was, but I got tired of eating sand. Then I saw you up here being all melancholy and shit and I figured it was a prime opportunity to harass you. I swear to god, you're the only person in Baltimore who could accomplish your dreams and still manage to be a broody, moody sad sack. So, I made it my mission to antagonize you until you smiled." She reached up and punched him in the shoulder. "Great success, if I do say so myself."
Alex laughed again. "I suppose you're right. It's hard not to cheer up around an endless fountain of abrasive sarcasm and self confidence."
"Look, you try living life while being not quite five feet tall. Christ, I need a ladder to look Torvi in the eyes, and don't even mention Nikki. The self confidence is a great substitute for the lack of height."
"And the abrasive sarcasm?"
"That's just a special bonus prize I choose to bless you all with, due to my gracious, generous nature and crippling boredom. I figure if it's abrasive enough, maybe I can sand all that nerdiness off of all of you."
"I see. So we're all nerds? even Nikki?"
Eris ignored his question, her pointed ears twitching and her yellow eyes focusing on whatever had caught her attention. "Hey, come look at this."
Alex immediately went into threat assessment mode, scanning the front lot for whatever crisis had chosen to visit them. Eris sighed.
"No, you dense idióta. LOOK." She hopped up and down, pointing out into the distance. Alex's eyes followed the bouncing hand out to the growing community. There had always been a few residents stubbornly clinging to the little piece of stability they had carved out for themselves, but with the addition of the Autonomous Zone residents and the application of Damien's funding, the entire area had begun to experience a rebirth. The old residents had welcomed the refugees, becoming fast friends and lending their knowledge of the area to the newcomers' drive to turn the ruins into a home with the combination of corporate credits and hard work. Gardens had been transplanted, power lines connected, and old buildings were being restored with the kind of care they hadn't seen in decades. Metal Mike had even been able to find a source for "liberated" solar panels, and the Ruckus Crew had finally managed to secure a few of the massive Mitsubishi-Tesla bio-septic tanks, turning human waste into a renewable source of clean natural gas for heating and cooking. Within a few weeks, the diaspora of determined refugees had turned the ruins into a growing community. But tonight, something new was happening.
As the sun slowly sank beneath the horizon, the refugees began turning on lights. At first it was easy to ignore or dismiss as people simply reacting to the onset of evening, but it eventually dawned on Alex that he wasn't just seeing interior lights. Here and there, one and two at a time, patches of color blossomed to life in the new A.Z. - blue over here, purple across town, reds and oranges and greens and whites and teals, all slowly growing in radiance and expanding to meet each other. Alex watched wide eyed and speechless as the little community became a kaleidoscope of electric lights, a thousand colors together throwing back the approaching darkness of night - a chaotic, jumbled, collective sign of solidarity from a community that refused to be broken.
"Alex," Eris whispered, "I think that's for you."
It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen, and as the full meaning of the display hit him, all he could do was watch the display speechlessly, eyes blurred with tears that threatened to spill over. Eris pointed to the massive old billboard that used to be visible from the highway but had long since been stripped of any advertisement, and as Alex shifted his attention, it lit up for the first time in years. Elegant, glowing teal letters across a black background shone out past the little town, across the highway, and into the outskirts of Baltimore proper.
NEON CITY
A SANCTUARY FOR THE LOST
I finally found it. Home. This is home. I'm home. The thoughts ran though his head on repeat as he lost the battle with his eyes, tears running down his face silently.
"This... it's amazing, Alex! Look at this! It's beautiful!"
"Yeah, it sure is." He had more to say, but his supply of air was suddenly and violently cut off by a waist-height hug from his little sister.
"You made this happen, you know? For them and for us."
Alex shook his head. "No, I didn't do it. Not on my own, anyway. We made this happen, kid. All of us, together. That's what a community is supposed to be all about, right?"
Eris hugged him harder. "I don't know. I've never had a community before so I'll let you know how it goes, but I think I like this feeling." She felt something wet hit her hair and looked up. "Wait, are you crying? Gods, you're a NERD!" She released the bear hug and threw another punch at his shoulder. Alex stepped to the side, laughing, and Eris ended up falling on her ass. She sat up with a smile on her face. "You wanna hang out with your kid sister and watch the show?"
He flopped down next to her, put an arm around the hobgoblin orphan, and nodded as the two of them looked out over the birth of Neon City together. "Can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be, kid."