Downtown in a city where people are, which is true for most cities, except for those abandoned ones or the ones built by governments to show that they’re growing pr investors or something but then not enough people actually move to them for one reason or another so they just end up abandoned, a man is walking down the street following a line of karma only he could see.
It had been an interesting experience trying to perform a ritual spell in the park. It had taken Nicki eight attempts. At first, he couldn’t believe how many other people were doing rituals in the woods in the park. During the day no less. It was a thought he had all day the day before as he himself began to put his own work together.
Nicki thought he would have a nice private space in the park or at least some quiet. Boy, was he wrong. It started with people who wanted to join in on his “Magic Mumbo Jumbo”. There were at least three different groups of goth teens who really wanted to join wanting an authentic experience. One of the groups even offered to pay him to join. He had to make some junk about multiple people’s energies messing it up and their auras weren’t right for the ritual.
That hadn’t even been the strangest person to interrupt. A random man in a dark robe was complaining about no one doing these things right anymore talking about how they used to do things right. Then he brought up always having a ceremonial dagger. When Nicki said he didn’t have one he kept insisting on Nicki getting one and that he really should have a proper robe. Nicki tried to explain the spell didn’t require either he insisted it didn't matter and that he still needed one. Conveniently, the man happened to have a couple of daggers ready that he had forged himself. Nicki’s jaw had dropped, as he realized this guy made it his job to sell daggers and robes in the middle of the woods and was probably making good money. The whole trip in the park threw him for a loop.
At least there were some helpful people too. A coven of witches actually noticed his struggle with the ritual, he was ninety percent certain they were actual witches. They were happy to help when they noticed real magic. It took a few hours but were able to get it set up properly.
The sun was rising when he was finally able to successfully cast the spell. A thousand, thousand threads appeared originating from him and out into the world ghostly and ethereal. They reminded him of the threads of fate each world weaves, except these were more wild, and intertwined. Some were thick almost feeling solid, while others were thin barely visible. He had no idea what any of them actually meant but hoped some of the thickest ones would lead to the book.
After following the thickest thread he noticed some of the smaller threads reaching toward various buildings, disappearing inside. A surprising number of small threads led to the building across from his apartment but most were thin. Does saying hi generate karma? He really should have done more research on karma, and what karmic threads did, but he had been a bit impatient.
After hours of following various threads, he was exhausted his feet hurt as he found himself standing in front of his favorite coffee shop. It looked like Lilly his sometimes crush Barrista was working. He had never thought of himself as the type of person to have a crush on the Barrista, but he found himself going more and more often. Now though, the thickest most solid karmic thread led directly to her. Does this mean we are connected? Nicki’s heart started to beat faster. Suddenly he was extremely nervous feeling butterflies in his chest. What do I do? He was lost. Should I ask her out? He quickly found himself falling into habit as he fell into line. Every time he took a step forward he questioned what it meant. Does it mean she likes me? Are we closer than I realized? Another step. What if I make a fool of myself? Should I bother her at work? Another step. She is pretty. Her rainbow freckles were cute, and her bubbly and playful personality always made him feel like he would have a great day.
He was just a step away from the counter when he wondered, Could I make it work? Surprisingly, he found himself calming slightly when he looked at her. Yes.
“Hi, what can I get for you today?” Her voice was as bubbly as always.
Nicki smiled, “Latte to go.”
Holding up a cup and a pen, “Can I have your name?”
Thinking he would try to be a bit playful, “No.” Lilly frowned at that but that wasn’t what caught Nicki’s attention. No, it was how the karmic thread had trembled slightly at the word.
“I’m going to need a name.” Lilly’s smile strained.
“Don’t you already have one?”
She turned an annoyed look down at Nicki, hair falling around her slightly pointed ears. “Yes, but I need yours.”
Nicki had been coming there almost every day for the last couple of months so hearing that all the confidence he had built up left him; She is definitely not into me. “Sorry, my name is Nick.”
Nicki felt like a complete ass. Of course, she wasn’t into him and if she was she was working. She wouldn’t want another dude hitting on her. Feeling like a creep he trudged to a table and sat down waiting for his order. Trying to take his mind off things he focused on the thread. If it’s not attraction, then what does this mean?
Trying to take his mind off the embarrassment, Nicki focused on the Karmic thread between them trying not to look at her, but at the thread itself. It was solid about the thickness of rope, and like gas. Not to mention the impossible other dimensions Nicki couldn’t even start to describe, except maybe pulling towards her. It was as he was looking at the thread he noticed a couple of smaller threads leading to a couple of the other Barristas the tugging just barely there.
Following the lines he took in the others, that’s when a few things began to stand out. They all had multicolored freckles, some reminded him of fall, other spring, or summer, and one even had a singular blue freckle on her cheek. Then there was their hair wild, or colored, brighter than normal, looking completely natural even with the streaks or dashes of color. Normally, he would have chalked it up to how Barristas were. Except now he began to wonder, ever since he took the job he could see what the world truly was. It all had all been rather mundane. A few people with extra hair. People with off-color skin, pale skin almost white, or red that was so close to pink it could have been mistaken for a bad sunburn. He’d seen people with slightly too sharp teeth. Hair with a feather or two growing naturally from the skull, leaves, and flowers growing in someone’s hair, easily mistaken for hair ornaments. It had taken him weeks to even realize he was seeing anything odd or not human. So now that he was thinking about it he finally put it together they weren’t human, but what were they?
Nicki watched his mind go through fantasy race after race. The shop was live with customers. One after the other Lilly or another Barrista would take an order the ask for a name. Then they would write it down and start their order.
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“Latte for Nick! Latte for Nick!” As he grabbed his drink he realized they always asked the same question: “Can I have your name?”
“Fae!” He said excitedly under his breath. Missing the other Barrista’s ears twitching, as he took his drink to leave. I guess she really wasn’t into me. He knew it had been a long shot but still felt disappointed. Taking a breath he reached out to the threads connecting him. These must be from giving them my name.
Doesn’t giving the Fae your name give them power over you, or is that just magic in general? No. Fae can take your identity or your essence? No, you become their property? There were just too many differing legends about them, and he didn’t know which might even apply to the race in his world. They must be weak due to how little mana the world has. That was the only reason he could think for them to work in a coffee shop like that. Well, all the stories say it’s a bad idea to give them your name. Carefully he gathered up all the threads that felt like they were metaphorically pulling at him, taking…he did not know what.
Let’s see if. Nicki pulled on his power and squeezed. The strings shattered dissipating into gas. All at once Nicki felt more awake, and less tired. Wow.
Curious, Nicki took one look back inside. All the workers didn’t seem even remotely effected except for Lilly, who was staring straight at Nicki, surprise and confusion clear on her face. Nervously he smiled, and waved goodbye leaving the coffee house behind.
#
In an office between the real and unreal, a little doll is pacing around the office carpet dragging her feet trying to draw shapes in the carpet with her little feet, while trying to come up with a game plan for the day. “Ok, Drystia. Yesterday was a complete wash.” Wash? She lifted her arm to smell herself. Wait, I don’t sweat. She giggled at herself. At least not like this. Drystia paused in her pacing her brain latching onto the idea.
It couldn’t hurt. Drystia shifted growing to a seven-foot-tall woman, in a lovely little sundress, with a cute little rose pattern. She turned to a floor-length mirror that may or may not have been in the room before and looked at herself. I need a big ginormous floppy hat. That would complete the look, and no one would scream when she spoke, at least she hoped they wouldn’t. I hope tall women aren’t another horror trope. Shrugging she went back to her pacing noticing that it was much easier to make shapes when she was big as she finished a terrible drawing of a dog.
Seeing how bad it was she moved her feet over it removing the drawing. She was still a bit frustrated from the day before. Drystia had been so excited for her Heroes, then everything immediately went sideways. Two teens came through both screaming and took a while to calm down. She wasn’t even sure if the second one ever did or if he just convinced himself it was a dream. That had been rough convincing him to take anything seriously. Eventually, she got him out and into a simple RPG-like world, he’d be familiar with—one that was just like Earth-just with a bit of magic, and a dungeon or two.
Then there was the old woman. She didn’t scream. No, she only smiled, and talked about her family back on Earth, and how she was hoping to see the rest of her family. More than once she asked if Drystia was one of her old toys guiding her to heaven. She had found her a lovely, new world, and a new life. She had to stop after that, and collect herself, watch a few comedies to take her mind off everything.
Today would be different. She would be in her human form, looking unassuming, and hopefully with her light dress, non-threatening. Grabbing her tablet and clicked the button Ready for Hero. A loading spinner appeared: “Searching for Hero”. After a few minutes, the tablet dinged as a folder appeared on her desk.
“Let’s see. Sheila. Female twenty-three. Advanced tech society. Colonies on the Moon and Mars. From Earth. Cybernetic implants. Worked in an office. Bored looking for something new. AI Chip—AI Chip?” She paused remembering that was one of the options she could give a Hero. “Neat. What else could I give them?” She continued perusing the file ideas for the girl going through her head. Nothing appeared to stand out as strange. Just a normal woman, from a technologically advanced society.
She was just finishing Sheila’s file when Sheila appeared across from Drystia. She was brunette with long hair, and an undercut. One of her eyes was green, and unfocused the other scanning the room on its own a shade brighter than her natural eye.
Bit weird.
Sheila’s normal eye focused as the cybernetic one moved in concert looking much more natural. She blinked as she looked around the room until she caught sight of Drystia, and did a double take. Her smile turned predatory, “I don’t know what’s going on but I think found myself an angel.”
Drystia was confused. “I don’t think this was how you’re supposed to react.” Why would she react like that?
“Oh, I’ll react.” Shelia winked at Drystia.
Oh. This is going to be a whole new issue.”
#
In an unassuming building across the street from a high-rise apartment. A surveillance team is watching a set of monitors. The team themselves not sure exactly what there looking for, just that the subject had information. Detective Mercer head of the investigation stepped up behind Alice seeing Nicholas Knight laughing at the still unknown tall woman.
“What are they doing?” Mercer asked not able to hear.
“Commiserating?” Alice answered uncertain. She unplugged her headset and turned up the volume.
“It’s not funny!” The woman said annoyed.
“Oh come on its a little funny.”
“It’s frustrating. They either screamed or hit on me. It’s weird.” The large woman stomped her foot pouting.
Nicholas schooled himself. “I know. You can never really predict how they’ll react.”
“I know. It’s just—”
“I know. But I mean have you looked at yourself?”
“Yes. I’ve always been gorgeous. They just all lack decorum.” She said annoyed.
“Any Idea what they’re talking about?” Mercer asked Alice. Just listening to them he felt there was a lot more behind their words. If they could just figure out what they were talking about maybe they could make some actual progress.
Alice shrugged. “None. But this isn’t the first time they alluded to something like this.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he’s alluded to helping people before. Never anything definite. Honestly, it was like he was describing something from a book.”
“That doesn’t really tell us much.”
“No, but…” Alice trailed off uncertainly. Mercer turned to her noticing her sudden hesitation, raising an eyebrow.
“What is it?”
“It’s just. The doll.”
Mercer checked the screen looking for the odd item that Nicholas would carry around with him from time to time. Not finding it on any of the cameras. “What of it?”
After a moment of hesitation, she answered, “Don’t you think she kind of looks like it?’
Mercer squinted his eyes examining the woman. He could see the resemblance if he imagined the giant in an oversized dress. “Huh. Maybe he had the doll made to look like her.” It was a stretch but it was something. If he had gotten a customized doll of her then they would need to check it out. “Alice you see if you can track down the manufacturer. Now what about the “Magic”. Anything new?” He put finger quotes around the word.
“None. At least not here.” She picked a binder and opened to a page showing photos of Nicholas in the park. Talking to some guy in a robe, Nicholas looked uncomfortable. “He went to the park like the other weirdos for magic.”
“Anything happens?” He asked flipping through the photos not seeing anything interesting.
“Nothing out of the ordinary, at least not there.”
Mercer continued flipping through the binder, “Then where?”
“Coffee shop called Seasons Brew. When he left he turned and smiled at one of the Barrista’s. She looked unsettled.”
“Is he stalking her, or did he imply something?” Nicholas didn’t strike Mercer to be the type.
“Not that we could tell. But she looked unsettled after he reached out and grabbed something.”
“What?”
“We don’t know. We only know when he grabbed it she went from bubbly to concerned.”
“Hmm. I’ll take this to the higher-ups. You all keep up the good work.”
Mercer left the building, and once he was in his care he made a call.
A deep voice answered with a single word. “Report.”
“He’s begun moving with purpose. Whether or not it is in the right direction, only time will tell. Right now if he wasn’t real before he is now.” Real. Mercer smirked to himself at the term.
“Any indication he knows where it is?”
“None. Right now it seems random. Following only a trail he can see.”
“What about the girl? Has she made any progress?”
“I’m not sure. I believe she’s still illusory fading in and out from time to time. But she’s becoming more solid.”
“Hmm.” The man said sounding pleased. “Faster than I expected, but things are moving how we hoped.”
* * *