If you don’t like fantasy hypotheticals with longish storytelling OPs, I have no idea why you opened this thread.
Due to a set of circumstances I see no reason to go into, you find yourself translated into the world of Pangaea, which is peopled by elves, fauns, kappa, and other such mythical creatures, but no humans (unless you count the shapeshifters). Unlike, say, Narnia, Pangaea is not stuck in the Middle Ages; in most ways even their non-magical technology is more advanced than ours. Ths world was created by a pantheon of gods led by Pallas, whose representatives in the natural world are the Prophets. Chosen from the mortal population, Prophets are charged with defending against natural disasters and supernatural threats but must otherwise respect the Pangaeans’ free will; they are forbidden to accept worship or encourage the worship of the gods. There’s only one Prophet at a time; the current one, incidentally, looks like this.
You’re not the only human visiting Pangaea. There’s also a 10-year-old kid named Emma; she’s from the same city and time as you, but you’ve never met her before, and she was not with you when you were plucked from Earth. You two get caught up in an epic quest to save the world–both worlds, in fact–and while the Prophet does the heavy lifting, both you and Emma are pivotal to the good guys’ victory. Said adventure lasts about a month. Afterwards the Prophet approaches you for a private conference. First she thanks you for your assistance; next she asks you for detailed information on when you were taken from Earth, so she can return you to the right date and location; and finally she says she needs your advice.
“Here’s the thing,” the Prophet begins. "Our doctors were healing the wounds Emma suffered on the quest–oh, and incidentally, you may want to let them examine you, and if you have diabetes or cancer or any other little problem like that, we’ll cure you before you go home tomorrow. Anyway, they discovered that Emma has a ton of old injuries indicating long-term physical abuse. When I asked her about them, she broke down crying and told me that, for the past five years, her mother has used her as a punching bag. Just to be safe I put her under a spell of truthfulness, and I discovered that she was understating the case; trust me when I say you don’t want the details about what her mother’s boyfriends have done. I’m tempted to jump worlds, track down the fuckers, and crush their skulls, but unfortunately that is against the rules.
“Anyway, Emma does not want to go home. It’s not simply because of the abuse; it’s because the elf-maid who accompanied you two on the quest, Aredhel, wants to adopt her, and Emma wants to be adopted. Emma is the spitting image of Aredhel’s own daughter, who died tragically a hundred years back. The two of them felt like family, in the best sense, from the moment they met. Aredhel sees the hand of the Fates in their meeting; I myself suspect the Fates are fucking with them both, but I’d have to check with Pallas to be sure and She is not available at this time. Back to the point: I’m ambivalent about allowing Emma to stay here. I don’t know much about Earth in your century–you’re from 2014 CE, correct?–so I can’t judge whether she’s likely to get the help she needs in your city and year. Once I send you home I am going to try once again to seal the portals between the worlds, per God’s policy on the issue; if I’m successful, Emma will never be able to return even if she changes her mind. Can you give me your thoughts on the issue?”
How do you answer the Prophet?
NSFW link: [spoiler]
She wants to stay because of love. Maternal, perhaps, but that’s a valid kind of love. Procreation may not happen, but it may not happen here, either, so that one’s a wash for me. Plenty of people are happy without offspring- more than are happy with offspring, if anonymous surveys areto be believed. Romance and sex can happen without procreation. Even interspecies, if one isn’t too squicked out and the partners are sentient.
