Chapter Text
After the war with the Whisperers, a majority of the food was destroyed and the security of Alexandria was compromised. The group did their best to patch up the weak spots in their walls and scavenge for food, but it wasn't enough to make them feel comfortable again. And after a couple of weeks of non stop patrolling and scavenging, the group gets together to overlook a map for possible locations to search through.
Maggie, Carol, Daryl, and Father Gabriel sit around a table as they look over a map as Negan stands against the side wall while popping pecans into his mouth. Normally he wouldn't be a part of such meetings, but today they needed his knowledge of the surrounding towns.
"What about this place?" Maggie asks, gesturing to a spot on the map.
Daryl leans forward and shakes his head. "N'aw. Camped out around that place for months. S'empty."
She sighs as she circles the location, then scribbles it out. "Have any of you been anywhere else on the map that we can go ahead and scribble out now?"
Carol takes the marker, taking a moment to look over the map before scribbling out two other places.
Father Gabriel frowns. "We're going to have to travel further out than normal, but we don't exactly have the fuel for the trips."
"Well what's this place circled in red?" Maggie asks. "What's the deal with this place?"
Daryl shrugs as he glances between everyone else who has no idea either. "Dunno. S'been circled for a while. Figured one of you did it."
Upon hearing something circled in red, Negan speaks up. "Nope. That's a no-fly zone, amigos. Do not pass go. Not unless you got yourself a death wish."
Everyone stares at Negan, both unimpressed with his cheerfulness and surprised to realize there's a place that he fears stepping foot in.
"Is there food there? Resources to help us rebuild?" Father Gabriel asks.
"Probably." He shrugs. "But that place is off limits less you want another fight on your hands."
"Why?" Maggie demands.
Negan smirks, chuckling softly at knowing something they have no clue about. "Why? Because the Red Witch lives there. That's why."
"The Red Witch?" Carol frowns.
"Mhm. One badass lil' lady who took out about twenty of my men with just a flick of her wrist. There was some type of red mist, hence the name Red Witch."
Darcy scoffs. "How high were 'ya?"
"Stone cold sober."
Maggie rolls her eyes. "If there's resources we can use, we're going. It's one woman against a team of us."
Negan shrugs. "It's your funeral."
"Don't look so calm, Negan. You're coming with us."
It's been such a long time since you've had a conversation with a human being that when you feel the wards around your safe haven being breached, you welcome the intrusion. You let the individuals continue to pass, sipping on some tea on the front steps of the house you'd fixed up for yourself.
Four individuals approach your house head on- one familiar, three not- and the three strangers are all armed. The man with shaggy hair has a crossbow in his grasp, the woman with white hair only has a long pointed staff in hand, but there are large blades holstered to her belt, and the younger brunette woman has a handgun grasped in one hand with blades attached to her belt as well. Fortunately for them, their weapons are not aimed at you. At least not yet.
You set your cup aside before you stand, walking down the rest of the steps and then a few more steps forward until you're standing in the middle of your yard. "Friend or foe?" You call out.
The younger of the two females calls back, "Friends. Hopefully."
"Yet you bring my biggest foe to my home." Your gaze travels over to Negan who doesn't look as confident or strapping as he once did. In fact, he has a frail look about him. "Oh my. How the mighty have fallen," you drawl. "You look like shit."
"Are you flirting with me, darlin'?"
Your eyes briefly flare red in anger as you sneer at him. "I'd flirt with a dead one before I flirted with the likes of you." His three companions, who had tensed with apprehension, all huff with amusement before you give them your attention once more. "So what do you want?"
"My name's Maggie," the brunette says, "and these are my friends Carol and Daryl. We've heard there's lots of resources here- food and supplies to rebuild. We were hoping you could help us out."
"Did you now?"
"Please," Carol says then. "We have children in our community. The Whisperers, the ones who wore the faces of the dead, tore down our walls. They sabotaged our food and crops, and we're on the verge of starving."
"I see." You look between each individual, trying to decide the best course of action. "And are you prepared to take my things by force if I don't agree to be helpful?"
Maggie glances between Daryl and Carol. "To be honest, the weapons are more for our safety. Negan said you took out a bunch of his men with just a flick of your wrist."
You slowly smirk as you glance at the man in question. "And did you tell them why I took out your merry band of criminals?" Negan says nothing. You shake your head as you look back to the others. "I don't take too kindly to anyone demanding my things from me. I found it, I grew it, I built it, so I wasn't about to let some assholes take it."
Daryl shifts his weight from foot to foot as he glances at Negan. "We went through months of that. Even went to war. Fortunately we came out on top and disbanded the Saviors. Negan's just a prisoner of ours."
"Some prisoner if he walks freely."
Maggie shakes her head. "He killed my husband, so he's on a tight leash. Trust me. We just needed his knowledge of how to get here so that we may speak with you."
Your eyebrows raise at that, but you're not surprised. From the brief mind reading you did when you first met him years ago, he was a terrible man who did terrible things under the guise of saving people. "Well you're here. And because you asked instead of demanding, I'm willing to help you out."
Maggie stands a little taller. "Really?"
"Yeah. Really." With one hand tucked into the back pocket of your jeans, you raise your other hand in the air. It glows red and you grin at everyone tensing, Negan included. Then with a slight twist of your wrist, the air shimmers behind you and the acreage behind your home is now visible. "After my run in with Negan and his men, I took to guarding my things. Come on. I'll part with what I can. My name is YN, by the way."
Not only are there rows and rows upon fruit trees and vegetable crops, but there's also a barn filled with building materials, tools for harvesting your crops and tools for building, and extra seeds for planting. There's also several pens of pigs and chickens, their pens extra warded to keep their noises from attracting unwanted attention or other wild animals from sneaking into their pens for a snack of their own.
"That's a lot of pigs and chickens for one person," Daryl says.
You shrug. "Well you can't eat without replenishing what you take. I breed 'em and I eat 'em. It's a never ending cycle of food."
"Not to be a buzzkill," Negan finally speaks up again, "but how are we going to get our share back to Alexandria?"
Maggie, Daryl and Carol all glance between each other, frowning. They apparently didn't think that far ahead.
"There's a moving truck around the back of the barn," you tell Daryl. "The keys are behind the visor."
"You have a movin' truck?"
"Of course. How else do you think I brought stuff here?"
"So what all are you giving us?" Carol wonders.
"A bit of everything." You shrug as if it were no big deal. "Until your people can start growing your own crops, you can make trips back and forth to pick what you need so nothing spoils in your storage. But to tide everyone over for now, there are some wicker baskets you can fill with apples, oranges, lemons and pears. There are tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, potatoes and watermelons. I'll even part with a few animals so you can start your own breeding program before the slaughtering begins."
Maggie's eyes blow wide in surprise, Carol can't believe what she's hearing, and Daryl and Negan just look plain distrustful.
"What's- what's in it for you?" Maggie asks. "What do you get out of helping us?"
"I get to go to sleep knowing that your children aren't going hungry. If I can help some of the civil people left on this Earth, then why not? Despite what Negan's said about me, I'm not a monster." Negan rolls his eyes and you smirk. "Now do you guys wanna get to work? Someone go bring the truck around and the others come with me to the barn. We'll get the baskets and then start loading up."
Negan mentions getting the truck, but Maggie stops him and gives that job to Daryl instead. You can't help but chuckle at his disgruntled expression and then lead everyone to the barn. Maggie eyes all the building supplies within the barn, but there's not really anything they can use to patch up their walls except for a few sheets of metal.
Maggie asks about the sheets of metal and you tell her to go ahead and take them. You haven't had use for them anyway. So Maggie puts Negan in charge of getting the sheet metal into the truck, and then she and Carol pick up wicker baskets and follow you out.
After they give you a number of people that's in their community, you give them enough food for a week. Any longer and some of the food will start to rot, but you assured them that they were welcome back when their food was low. They also get ziplock bags full of seeds so they can plant around their own community and animal feed for the animals you're going to give them. Maggie and Carol gather up some chickens to shove in a few cages while Daryl and Negan take some rope to lasso a few pigs. And once the animals are in the back of the truck, you pull on your magic and will the pigs to go to sleep so they don't give the foursome any trouble.
Pulling the door down on the back of the truck, you lock it and then turn around to face the small group. Your hands find purchase on your hips as you sigh. "Well that's that. Return the truck in a few days, that's all I ask."
Maggie steps forward, holding a hand out for you to shake. "Thank you. So much! You have no idea what this means to us."
You smile. "Us decent folk gotta help each other out. Now go on. Go feed those kids."
A couple days later finds you pruning some of the trees by hand since it keeps you far busier than doing it with magic. You're sitting atop the ladder, hidden among the tree limbs as you munch on an apple when you feel your wards being breached. You look out towards the driveway, only to see your moving truck being returned. So with a wave of your hand, the rest of the wards are brought down so whoever it is can see the rest of the property.
Climbing down the ladder, you walk towards the truck that's now parked. Daryl climbs out of the driver's seat and you offer him a wave as you approach. "Hey. Is everyone doing well?"
He nods. "Yeah. The community sends their thanks." As he walks to the back of the truck, you grin when you realize he's a man of very little words. So you follow, hoping to have at least some form of small talk.
The back of the truck is opened and one of the ramps is pulled out, and Daryl climbs in to drag a motorcycle out. "So how's the rebuild going?"
He shrugs. "Kind of slow, but it's goin'. Walls were a lot more damaged than we thought and the dead are being drawn in by the noise of the tools."
"Do you guys need some help?" You ask. "I don't mind."
"Yeah? What exactly can you do?"
"A lot." You grin and then look off to the side where a log lays. Raising your hand, it glows red and then the same red mist envelops the log right before it lifts up. Then as you move around your hand, the log moves mid-air. "I can do a lot with just a wave of my hand and it's all noiseless."
"You don't care that the others will see what you're capable of?"
"The dead are walking, Daryl. How shocking can magic really be?"
"I'm sure the others would appreciate the help then."
You smile. "Mind if I catch a ride with you? I don't want to waste anymore fuel and I can magick myself back home afterwards."
Daryl shrugs and says no more, and you quickly put your wards back up before climbing onto the back of his motorcycle after he's settled. You're not sure where exactly to put your hands until he tells you his waist is fine, and you grip the sides of his shirt to keep from wrapping yourself around him. He might have that dirty, rugged look going on for him, but he was still pretty much a stranger.
Daryl drives off when he assumes you won't fall off and you enjoy the ride. It's eerie to see nature taking back what's rightfully hers, growing over abandoned vehicles and buildings. Everything man-made has fallen, but nature is absolutely flourishing.
Thirty minutes into the drive and Daryl starts to slow. You sit a little taller in your seat, glancing around him to see the cause of him letting up on the gas. "What's going on?"
"Too many damn dead blockin' the way," he grunts. "We're gonna have to find another way 'round."
Daryl starts to turn around, but you tap his side. "Wait. I can clear 'em out."
"S'too many."
"I'm not gonna take them out one by one, Daryl. I'm gonna take them out in one go." Daryl pulls his bike up to a stop and glances over his shoulder, and you smirk at him. Concentrating on pooling as much magic as you can together, you let your eyes glow red.
"Be my guest. If you fail, you better be a fast runner."
You snort as you climb off the back of his bike, stepping in front of him so he's out of your magic's path. "Rev that engine of yours to get their attention."
You roll your shoulders, loosening up your limbs, and then hold your hands aloft at your sides with your palms facing forward. You inhale deeply, letting your magic pool and pool as Daryl revs the bike's engine. Many of the dead stumble to a halt and turn around, and you smirk as they start walking in your direction. This was going to be easy.
The dead continue to come closer and closer, and you continue to glow brighter and brighter. Daryl calls your name out in warning, but you pay him no mind. And when you feel like you're about to burst, you open your mouth and scream. Wave after wave of red energy pulses from you, and your eyes close as you concentrate on pushing your magic outward to destroy everything in its path.
After what feels like a couple of minutes, but really it's only a few seconds, you run out of breath and straighten up. You watch as the red dissipates before your very eyes, all the dead crumbling to dust.
"Well shit. Why couldn't we have met sooner?" Daryl's words surprise a laugh out of you and you whirl around, smiling in amusement. Using your magic has left you feeling quite exhilarated and apparently your good mood is contagious because Daryl actually flashes you an honest grin. "C'mon then. We're almost there."
The rest of the drive to Alexandria is only another ten minutes and you're absolutely astonished at the state their community is in. Several buildings have been burned down, walls torn down and then hastily put back together, and all their vegetation is dead. People are walking around in clothing that looks like it can use a decent wash, or ten, and are doing their best to stay warm. Someone stands in front of a building that's on the verge of falling down, spooning soup into bowls for the few who are in line.
Daryl brings his bike to a stop and you say, "You guys didn't tell me how bad it really was."
"S'not that bad."
You climb off before Daryl and you glance around to see what needs the most work, and then you can't help but smile when you hear two child-like squeals, followed by a dog barking. Turning around, two children and a German Shepard are running for Daryl and he's quick to kneel down to intercept them.
"Hey. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" The words make your turn around and you smile at Maggie. Next to her is another woman of Hispanic descent, a baby that maybe looks a year old in her arms. When Maggie catches you looking at them, she introduces them. "This is Rosita and her daughter Coco. Rosita, this is YN."
The woman smiles. "Oh so you're the person we have to thank for keeping us fed. You've literally saved our lives, so thanks for that."
"It was no problem. I have more than enough to spare," you tell her. "And I mean, anything to help the next generation." Your eyes fall on her baby once more and she smiles, bouncing her daughter in her arms until she giggles. "But Maggie, you didn't tell me how bad it truly was."
Suddenly sheepish, Maggie shrugs. "We're working on it. It's just a slow process."
"Yeah.. about that," you drawl. "I think I can help."
"Think?"
"Well I know I can," you say, "but I was just going to move around a few things and meld them together before I saw the state of this place."
"What were you thinking?" Rosita asks.
You glance around, slowly grinning. "Gather everyone. What I'm thinking is pretty large scale and I want everyone gathered in one place so as to not freak them out. If you can convince them about magic being real beforehand, that'd also be great so they know what to expect."
"Yeah. Okay," Maggie says. "Rosita, help me out?"
"Of course."
The two women take off to round up their community members and you turn around to walk back up to Daryl. The two children glance up at you, curiously, and you offer them a small wave before addressing the gruff man. "So where around here can I perform some magic? Preferably an open space."
"You can do magic?!" The little boy excitedly asks.
You glance down at him, smiling and nodding. The little girl in what looks like an old sheriff's hat rolls her eyes at the boy's excitement. "I'm Judith. This is my little brother RJ."
"Hello. My name is YN."
Daryl grunts and then gestures in a direction. "Follow me."
You grin and reach down to pet the dog as you pass, falling into step with Daryl. He takes you what looks like what would have been the foundation of a house, and you step up onto it. "What was this place?" You ask.
He shrugs. "Some new neighborhood that was being built when the world went to shit. Deanna and her husband Reg brought their group here to secure it. They made it as safe as they could before they continued to build and then we got here."
"What happened to them?"
"They died."
You let the topic drop when you see Daryl shift uneasily, placing your hands in the back of your jean pockets as you watch the community's people gather around. Many looked confused as to why they were summoned to this place, whereas others looked either skeptical or hopeful. Carol walks up to greet you, surprising you with a hug and a smile. Then Maggie joins the three of you and she tells you everyone's here.
"Do you mind if I quickly say something?" You ask.
Maggie shakes her head. "Go ahead."
You give her a brief smile and then step forward, nodding at the people looking up at you. "Um, hi," you say, untucking your hands and waving with one. "My name is YN, and I'm the one who asked Maggie and Rosita to bring you all here. You don't have to stay, but I just needed everyone out of the buildings before I got started so I could explain. It's going to seem scary, what I'm about to do, but I promise you have nothing to worry about."
"What exactly are you going to do?" Someone from the crowd asks.
"I'm going to fix all this," you say while gesturing to their crumbling community. "I've done it to my own place, made it anew as if the home were brand new. Everything you own will remain, just be made better. You'll also have better water and electricity." Though there are still skeptical looks, no one objects. "So now is the time to go back to what you were doing if you wish, especially if you have a child. The, uh, the magic might take a toll and I don't want to scare your kids."
"And nothing will happen to us if we're inside our home while you.. make it anew?" A woman wearing a hijab asks.
"No, ma'am." you smile at her. "Everything around you will flicker and shimmer as it mends itself, but no harm will be brought to you."
"Okay." She shares a few quick words with a few other adults and you smile as a couple of children groan in dismay when they're told to go with her.
A few other individuals take their leave, but a majority of the community stay to watch. Then when it appears no one has any other questions, you walk back to Carol, Maggie and Daryl. "So I was lying when I said the magic might take a toll. It will. It's going to take a lot more magic than I've dispensed at once, but you need to just let me do what I do."
Maggie suddenly looks uncertain. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Of course." You flash her a dimpled grin and then try to calm your mind. As you glance up, you see everyone staring and decide to turn around. The trio stare at you and you shrug. "I've never done magic in front of a large audience. They make me nervous."
Daryl snorts as Maggie and Carol chuckle, and then you try to calm your mind once more. Your eyes close as you inhale deeply and exhale, repeating the deep inhale and long exhale as your magic builds and builds. And when it feels like you're going to burst with overflowing magic, you keep a lid on it and keep going.
Your skin starts to feel tight and you can feel your face twitching as you start to feel pings of pain, and then when you can't take it anymore, you throw your arms out to your sides and you fall to your knees.
Daryl, Maggie and Carol all flinch as YN falls to her knees, swirling red energy bursting from within her. Both her hands and the center of her chest are burning the brightest as her magic pulses off her in waves, but it's her scream that has them worried. It sounds as if she's in pain and they're not sure whether or not they're comfortable with her putting herself through all this. But as they glance around, they can see their home mending itself right before their very eyes.
The rest of the community is watching in awe, waving their arms through the red energy and are surprised when they feel nothing at all. The vegetation around them revives, the walls build themselves up a little higher, and the homes and other various buildings build themselves back up even sturdier than before. The foundation they are standing on suddenly has four beams appearing- one in each corner- and a roof materializes above them. They're now standing under a pavilion as picnic tables materialize around them, and even a playground builds itself where there was nothing but open space.
Seconds later, the red energy starts to rein itself back in, and Maggie, Carol and Daryl walk around so they're standing in front of YN.
She gasps as the magic disappears within her and sags with exhaustion.
Carol, Maggie and Daryl all stare between one another with apprehension, and it's Daryl who calls out, "YN?"
She glances up and her eyelids flutter. "That.. was a lot more than I anticipated." And then her eyes roll into the back of her head as she falls forward.
All three Alexandrians lunge to catch her before she can face plant on the concrete beneath their feet, but it's Daryl who gets to her first.
"Get her to the infirmary. Now," Maggie says.
When you wake up, you're in a room you're not familiar with. You're not bound or anything which leads you to believe you're not in any danger, so you don't panic. Instead, you decide to sit up and figure out what's going on.
The door opens just as your feet touch the floor and Daryl walks in, stopping short at seeing you sitting up. And oh. Now you remember where you're at. "I passed out, didn't I?" You grimace.
"Yep." He walks further into the room, leaving the door open behind him. "We, uh, we had 'ya looked over. Our only guess was that you exhausted yourself buildin' this place up."
"Yeah. That sounds about right." You stretch a little, groaning quietly when you feel your back pop. "So is everything working properly? Everyone okay with the changes?"
He huffs. "You're jokin', right? They love it. Some are scared of what you can do, but the others wanted to cry out of relief. You just made our lives a helluva lot easier."
"With great power comes great responsibility," you say. "Or something like that." You finally stand, cautiously walking back and forth to make sure you're good. "We're a dying species, Daryl. If I can make living easier for the last of us still on this Earth, I'm going to do it so long as the people I'm doing it for are good people."
Daryl's staring at you, letting your words soak in when there's a knock on the door jamb. You smile as Maggie walks in. "Hey, you're up!"
"Yeah. How long was I out for?"
"You passed out yesterday afternoon."
"Oh. So about a day then?"
She grimaces. "Yeah."
"I guess I know my limit then, huh." You chuckle softly, letting the two others in the room know that it wasn't a big deal- that you were feeling okay.
"I won't lie," Maggie then says. "What you did yesterday, that was scary. But I can't even begin to tell you how grateful we all are."
You smile. "I'm glad I could help." A brief bout of silence follows and you sigh. "Um, well I guess I should get going. I've been away too long and I need to check on my animals."
"Oh. Of course!" Maggie quickly looks around and finds your boots sitting atop a wooden chair. She grabs them up and hands them over, and you take a seat to pull them on.
When you stand up, Daryl says, "I'll drive 'ya back. Don't want 'ya usin' magic and passin' out again."
Maggie looks surprised at the offer, one you gladly take. "Thanks. I'd appreciate that."
The three of you head outside where a few community members watch you, smiling and waving and even calling out their thanks. Carol joins you when she sees you're heading for Daryl's motorcycle.
"Hey, is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Just need to get home," you assure her. "Daryl offered to drive me."
Carol smiles as her stare turns to the man in question, he shrugging off her curious stare. "Well isn't that a kind offer."
Maggie and Carol share an amused look behind Daryl's back, and it leads you to the conclusion that Daryl isn't usually the helpful type. You huff a quiet laugh, stepping forward once Daryl is situated on his bike. Then taking a seat behind him, you hesitantly wrap your arms around his waist this time.
He tenses, but relaxes and then tenses all over again when you rest the side of your face against his back. "I'm, uh, I'm feeling a bit lightheaded. Just don't wanna fall off while you're driving."
Daryl grunts and when you catch Maggie and Carol's gazes, you can't help but smirk and wiggle your eyebrows. Both women snort in amusement, quickly averting their gazes when Daryl looks at them. "Ready?" He calls over his shoulder.
"Yeah."
Before he can drive off, Maggie calls out, "Don't be a stranger!"
"Trust me. I don't plan on it!"