In an unremarkable building, within an unremarkable city, there was an average guy. As far as he knew, Daniel Trethon was just like everyone else at the fast food establishment he worked at, an unfortunate soul with little to no real world talent stuck in a dead end job. The only really unique things about him were that he was from another country, a small island nation which spoke the same language and had a similar culture, and had only recently moved, after his mother died, and his golden eyes. But still, he had a mundane job in an unremarkable city. Write out a customer's order, give it to the cooks, charge them, next in line. Write out a customer's order, give it to the cooks, charge them, next in line. So on and so forth. Week after week. Daniel found it boring, incredibly so, but he also found it perfect for drowning out the things he didn’t want to think about, like how he was in a dead end job, in a country far from home, and that his Mother just died. 

Yeah, his life wasn't the best. But it was fine, as long as he kept at it, things would be fine. Though something didn't quite sit right with him about his life. Small things seemed off. But he paid them no mind. 

The day started like any other, the restaurant full of people. The air filled with the sounds of the hustle and bustle of life. Then something changes. While behind the counter Daniel finishes writing an order for a man in blue, tenth person matching that description he’s encountered all day, and sticks the ticket onto the ticket holder. “Order up!” He yells to the cooks, turning to look towards them. Startled, he sees that no one is in the kitchen, turning back around he notices the restaurant is empty. A silence has descended upon it. In the space of a blink, everyone had vanished. Except for outside, where he hears people yelling.

As he looks outside, he can see a figure, standing on a platform that seems to be hovering in the air. As he watches, the figure gestures, and holes open in the sky, before objects fly out, towards unseen targets. A feeling runs through his body, familiar, yet alien, like a half remembered dream, it urges him to go outside, and fight, as it does, his eyes glow gold briefly. “SHIT, KEEP RUNNING” He hears someone yelling outside. Before two people sprint up to the door of the restaurant, the one in front wearing some kind of futuristic armor and carrying a bolt action looking rifle, the other, wearing something a little more archaic, and carrying a large and ornate spear. Behind them large black boxes slam into the pavement, before exploding violently. “DAMMIT SAM, YOU SAID THEY WOULDN’T BE WILLING TO FOLLOW US OUT OF THE MAZE!” The one in high tech armor yells. “I thought that was the case, he must have been waiting at this exit, or near it. Wait, who is that?” ‘Sam’ says as they turn towards Daniel. “YOU? FUCK, AS IF THIS DAY COULDN’T GET ANY WORSE. A TRETHON HAS TO GET INVOLVED!” The one in high tech armor exclaims while her fingers scramble to grab something from a pocket on her armor. “What, what the heck is going on?!?”  Daniel asks as he cowers behind the counter. 

“Long story short, magic is real, so are fairies, the one out there wants to kill Sam here! And I can’t let that happen” The one in technological armor says, even as they carefully load a shell into their rifle. “Magic? I’m calling bullshit on that one!” As Daniel says that something slams into the outside of the restaurant and explodes, raining bits of the walls down on those taking cover inside. “Nalya, we REALLY don’t have time for this” Sam says, as he pulls out a spear. “I KNOW! Look, can you call THIS anything but magic” Nalya says as she aims the rifle she just loaded at the person attacking them. “Fly: The chains of heaven, that which Lyn made to bind her foes eternal” She intones, before pulling the trigger. A bolt of white light flies out, before detonating into a series of… Ribbons? Ribbons, with glowing script scrawled across them, glowing with the same golden glow as Daniel’s eyes. They quickly spring outwards to entrap the figure attacking them. “GO!” She yells to Sam. As he hears that he sprints out, spear in hand. Sam then proceeds to leap up, and stab the figure with his spear, space seeming to fold in on itself to bridge the rather large gap. Blood sprays up into the air as the attacker falls to the ground, very very dead, judging by the massive hole in their chest.

“And that’s this one down” Nalya sighs, “I suppose I should start explaining, come on, let’s pick this guy up and get out of this place” As she says that she starts walking out to the now dead assailant. “Where are we anyway?” Daniel asks as he follows nalya, who walks out to the body, before placing a little piece of paper on it, and muttering some words Daniel doesn’t catch, causing the corpse to erupt into flame, before being reduced to ash. “Remarkably calm, to be expected I suppose. We’re in a pocket dimension of sorts, a way of limiting the damage done to the real world during fights. It pulled you in thanks to your innate potential, it detects people with magic and pulls them into an extra dimensional space which is a copy of an area of the real world.” Nalya explains, even as she pulls Daniel along into an alleyway. “Alright, now that that’s done, let’s get out of here, stand close.” Daniel, Nalya and Sam huddle up, before Nalya holds a hand to the sky, “Release!” Cracks appear in the sky as a wave of energy washes over them.

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And the world fills with color and motion. All the destruction is gone, and the streets are full of people, an unnatural feeling of… wrongness, is lifted, so slight as to be only noticeable now that it is absent. “Right, now that you’ve seen this you’re part of it. It’s unsafe to discuss what’s going on right now, but in short, there has been a Coup, and Sam here came to bargain. Let’s get back to my apartment, then we can discuss what’s going on and clue you in.” As Nalya says that she leads Daniel and Sam out of the alleyway and along the sidewalk. “How are we going to get there? More magic?” Daniel asks. “Nah, we’ll be taking the bus” Nalya replies as she and the two she is leading walk up to a bus stop. After a while, a bus pulled up, as they are want to do, and Daniel and his strange companions got onto it, paid the driver, and went to find someplace to stand. 

Their appearance turned some heads, it’s not every day you see a group composed of someone in sci fi armor with a bolt action rifle, a guy who looks like he just stepped out of a fantasy novel, and a remarkably calm young man in the uniform of a local burger joint. But most people just shook their heads and chocked it up to cosplay for some or another convention and moved on. As Daniel and the others waited for their stop, just like everyone else on the bus, a thought occurred to Nalya. “Hey Sam, do they have busses where you come from? You seem a little too used to this for it to be your first time.” Sam looked back at Nalya, having been looking out the window at the world outside. “Yes, I hath traveled via similar measures many times in the past.” “Huh, why do you use that spear then?” “Why wouldn’t I? You still use that weapon from ages past.” “Fair point. Ah, this is our stop.” Nalya remarks. 

As they step off Daniel realizes something. “This is the same stop I get off of to go to my apartment.” Nalya just keeps leading them towards an apartment building though… A very familiar one. Then she goes to the 4th floor, and goes all the way to the end. “Hey wait, this is right next to my apartment?” “Yep.” “How did I never notice?” “1. I leave and arrive back here at a different time from when you’re at your apartment, and 2. Magic” “Are you gonna explain that ever?” “Yep, right now.” Nalya says as they step into the apartment, it’s tidy, and fairly ordinary looking, then she walks around the corner and reveals a curious sight. Nalya’s room is filled with a mix of mundane objects, books, plates, tables, stuff you expect to find in such an apartment, and more magical tools and equipment, with a rack for her gun and armor located next to the coatrack, and a large tome, evidently magical due to it starting to glow as they entered the room, on a bookshelf next to some cookbooks and a few romance novels. “Alright, let me just change out of this, stay here and please don’t mess anything up.” As Nalya goes into the bathroom to change, Sam and Daniel take seats on a couch, and awkwardly wait for her return. Soon enough, she reenters the room, helmet off and armor in hand. Short brown hair and brown eyes on a face that’s pretty, but not overly so, in every way she looks somewhat average, forgettable, like someone you could pass by going to work every day and never learn their name. 

“Alright, I suppose I need to explain how all of this works to you don’t I?” Nalya says as she drops down onto a nearby chair. “Shortest possible explanation is that once upon a time, there were a large number of sapient races that inhabited this world. Among them were Man, who had no gifts, besides reproducing the fastest of all the races, and the fae, who possessed an inner world, a sort of pocket dimension, which they can store things in, create portals to, and control every facet of subconsciously. Eventually mankind discovered magic and drove off the other races. Including the Fae. The Fae in turn, created a massive series of pocket dimensions, connected up into a sort of maze, The Fae Labyrinth. Broadly separated into two areas, the inhospitable Maze of Many Worlds, which forms the outer layer, and the Inner Labyrinth, where the Fae actually live. There’s a lot more I could discuss about that but right now let’s focus on what you are. You are a Trethon, it’s your last name, your family is what is known as a “Blessed” family, who are able to perform miracles and call upon the stories of their ancestors for power. Thaumaturgy, the recreation of miracles through ichor, the art I practice, you possess an innate ability for it. It works by saying or writing out Rites, stories about Miracles that happened in the past, and charging them with Ichor. I actually have a small book of Trethon Rites, the things you would need to use your power. But, well, that depends on if you want to continue with this.” “I, I don’t think I want that. This shit doesn’t even involve me, and I don’t think I want to get involved in it.” Daniel replies. “Alright, that’s your choice, but still, take the book.” Nalya hands him a book as he stands up to leave “Even if you wish to avoid this, it may still come for you. And you may find it interesting, it has a lot of stories of your ancestors.” Daniel gets up and walks out, returning to his apartment to reflect. This is crazy He thinks I was next to a real life magic user for all these months and never noticed. And only the incident of me being pulled into… Wait. CRAP, I AM SO FIRED. He thinks as he realizes he had vanished in the middle of his shift.