1Hello to everyone who decided to give this story a chance, the name's Ander.
This will be multi-cross story, mostly because I like the freedom that it gives to the author(in this case me) but mainly because I just plain like the concept of multiversal travel. I write as the muse strikes me and with the time that real-life provides, so you can expect the next chapter to come out between tomorrow and next month, however I do have the next 3 worlds planned, so that's a plus, Rant over, enjoy the story!
Falling through the cracks
There are moments when life is wonderful, where your day begins with the birds chirping and the sunny sky giving you a warm welcome to the world.
As can be seen, by the rain of hellfire falling from the sky and the demonic horde pouring from cracks in the ground, I can assure you this is not one of those days.
Oh, but where are my manners, my name is Ander, and you are either reading this in a book, in which case AH-AH, I was right about the existence of multiple universes, take that Mrs. Blanc, or are a human killing, mind-reading demon, in which case, suck my dick.
Anyway, yeah, rain of hellfire, demons from hell showing up, you'd think that's the start of the Armageddon, which yeah, fair enough, the problem is… this is kinda, maybe, sort of my fault.
Yeah, turns out that saying you'd do anything for a good grade to your cultist university teacher wasn't a smart move, In my defense, Miss Brown was Hot for a 45-year-old lady, and I really needed that 30.
I ran away as soon as the circle started to glow, swiping a book full of notes as I left, 'Miss Brown was reading from it so it must be important' I thought as cracks started to appear from… well, everywhere, spewing out demon-like creatures, who started to rampage with no regard for human life, hell, they were relishing in the destruction, killing anyone who stood before them.
I did the only thing I could do in this situation; I ran as fast as my legs could carry me throwing myself inside a 7-11 with a half caved-in roof, trying to evade the incoming horde of demons.
"Ouch" I muttered out of habitude rather than pain, scratching my head where the box from the highest shelf fell, uh, twinkies, at least I won't die hungry, silver linings.
I turned towards the door, earing the loud sound of the glass door falling to the ground and shattering in a thousand pieces,
It stood there at the entrance, its face twisted in a permanent grimace as too thin leathery skin covered its twisted form, its head was too big for his body, held aloft by a too-thin neck with bone-like shoulders and mismatched arms, it truly had a demonic visage.
And here I was, right in his crosshairs, with just a box of twinkies to defend myself with, Shit.
I bolted; what did you think I was going to stand my ground there? Get real.
Anyway, I bolted away trying to get as much ground between me and the demon as possible, and yet, moment by moment, inch by inch, it gained ground, the bastard was faster than I was, not that it was hard, but still.
I could feel its fetid, hot breath on my neck when an idea struck me, it was stupid, crazy, and was based on the ramblings of a madwoman but hey, its either this or die.
I pumped my legs, trying to speed up as much as possible, I aimed towards one of the portals/cracks/whatever the fuck they were, and hoping to every god know to man and a good few unknown ones, I leaped in, plunging into the void between worlds.
W̴̨̢̼͋͝o̶̫͔̺̞̐̽͋̅r̵̩͔̂̏̂l̵̦͎̺̞͍̐̊͛̈́̔d̵̼͊s̵̮͖̖̯̰̽̇̀ ̸̞̝̗̱̊̎̀f̴̛̬͖̼̦̰́l̶̙̤͎̊̋ḁ̶͋̒s̵̹̟̙̈h̷͉͛̾͑ͅȩ̵͉͌̆͒͠d̵̛̗̃ ̷͚̥̬̣̺̊ả̷͉̰̜̽̃͝s̵̤̰͉̊́̃̍͠ͅ ̷͕̀̉̈́̂Ḭ̸̼͎̖̀̇ ̵̤̩̖̙̽́̊͐͝t̷͇̊ŗ̷͚͒̌̌̅̃ạ̵͈̖͇̼̇͂v̷̡͖̮̱̦́͘͠e̸͍͚͍̞̼͋l̸͓̙̽̀e̸̻̲̞̗̥̋̍͗̋͗d̵̛̮͔̖̘͓͂̅̋͗ ̸̫͒͑͐̐t̶̬̀͆h̶̛͍̠̫̦̫̑̀̈̽r̵̤̜̒ǫ̷̛̞̝̑͒̍͠ͅͅű̷̻͐͐g̶̤͂͋̚h̸̡̧̺͍̜̚ ̵̢̩̍̈̄ṭ̷͓̲͛̉̐h̵̗͔̩͓̫̓͑e̷͕͔̦̾̃̓ ̸̯̪̪͐̌́̾̑ͅv̵̺͖̾̾̕o̸̠͝į̴̜̏d̸͍͕̭͉̈̚ͅ,̷̡̮̪̂̍͊ ̶̢̧͊͝ͅư̸̯͔̲̠̐n̶͙͚͉͐̆̓̌͘į̵̦̻̑͒̐͜v̸͓̠̜̭͑̅e̴̟̠̪͑ͅr̴̠̥̘̦̿̐̏͑s̵͕͉̓͌͝ẻ̶̢͈͇͖̪͒̌̇̐ș̷̒ ̴̙̀f̵̞̲̗̻̑͋ŗ̵̟̰̝̠͋̽͗ȩ̸̼̓e̴̛̥͉̯̾ẑ̸̤͈͂̕e̶̞̟̗̜̘͆͑̄͒ ̴̨̪̤̋̐̈́͒a̷̤̖̍͑̑ǹ̷̬̟̜̮͈́d̸̛̯̓͋̿͜ ̵̬̟̪́̐̊̓͝c̴̨͍͉̲̝̉r̷̹͈̓̐e̶͙͊̂a̷̱͆̂̉t̵̛̰͕̋́ỉ̷͍̣̣͠͝͠ö̸͉͕̜̊͝n̸̡̪̪̻̱̽ ̷̺̘̼̬̈́͌̆̂b̷̘͆͐̇̃̋ų̶͚̹̾͆ṙ̶̡̨̳̥̓̚n̵̙͔̬̼̝̔̈͋̚s̵̖͛̓͝ ̵͕̞̬̳͂a̴̡͉̓̕ͅs̴̬̆̿̎̚͜͝ ̵̲̏̕͠m̷̻̾̀̄̕y̵̮͙̱͛̀ ̴̰͚̯̫̻́̊b̵̧͇̲̫͈̂̂ō̸̞͓͜͠d̸̨̺̟͇̏̅̔́ỷ̷̦͊̃ ̷̺̋͆͗͠t̸͓̑̔͑̾̕ͅŕ̸̬̰̜̪̔͂͛́͜ą̶͎͋v̸̹͍̙́̎͜͜͝e̵̡͇̠̊̓͝͝l̶̬̞̇ ̴̱̭̞̀͒̈́͊͘t̸̞͙͌̒̆̍ḫ̴̅͗̐̀̾é̷̗͝ ̵̻͎́̾d̷͇̀̀͛ḭ̵͔̭̈́͒̅̚ͅs̷̜͓͒̃͜͠͠t̵̝͉̂ą̵̛̘̹̲̠̑̑̄n̴͉͔̫͓̈̈́̌̃c̴̳̱̗̔̍́̂ę̶̼̲͚͝ ̴̪̀͊́͋͝b̴̠̙͉̎e̴͚̗͚̺͒t̶͉̤̍̅̑̕w̵̟̄̇e̷̩̯͔̓͠è̸̞̒n̴͍̺̤̣̱͐̈́̿͑ ̴̤̞̮̫̪́w̴̺̒͛o̵̬̠͊̇̽͐̆͜r̴̺̘̫̬̉̅͌ĺ̸̡̹̦͜͠d̶̰͒̌̃̋͝s̶̗̬̠̈̽͋.̸̧̛͇̦̽ ̷̘̦͑͠͝͠
̵͈͈̹̈͌́̓̚ͅM̵̩͖͘̕ỵ̵͚͠ ̷̤̇h̴̰͕͑͜å̶̳̙̔̇̎̚͜n̸͓̘̥̝͆̓̃̕͝d̶͉͑͆̌̊ ̴͍̿t̷͙̪͕̬̄̎̒͊̉ỏ̷̠̤̣̠͔̽̎́̓ư̸̮̎̑̕c̷̢̔̃ḧ̴̠̼́͆̊ẹ̸̻̟̯̿ś̶̡̖̠̎̈́͋̎ ̸͈̐̿̌ẗ̶̖͒͂͘h̴̖͝e̸̯͉̱̻͔̔͝ ̴͇̈̽̍̏̒w̶̱̲̾o̶̼͊̽̈́͂̕r̵̮̆l̵̡̡̟̭͓͂̈́d̶̬̾͌̉/̷̨̯̠̟̯͒̌͒̚p̵̹̹̋͜l̵̩̹̲̬̑̋̌͜a̵͔̞̯̍͗̑n̵̦̼̥̬͑̏̾͗͝ĕ̵̢̠̳/̸̼̬̈͆̂̏̎b̴̼̪͓̲͠ú̶͙͍͂̈͝ͅb̷͓̖̈́̅̓́b̶̬̦̾l̷͔̻̾́̔͊͛ẹ̸̺̌.̷̧̢̼̈́̃̉̇ͅ
̷̰͖̎̓I̴̝̖̪̓̔̂ ̵̥͐́͌̈̚w̸͔̑̃͗͆̅a̴̖̭̮͆̒ḱ̶̥̀e̸͕̋͝ ̵̼̈́̏ū̷̫̾ṗ̵͚̠̜̟̻.̴̻̩̦̦̜͋
I opened my eye, watching puffy white-gray clouds merrily flying through a deep blue sky, a sky that until a moment ago rained hellfire and looked to be more magma than oxygen.
"It worked?" I muttered, my eyes widening as I took stock of my situation, my shoulders rose and fell with barely restrained laughter "It worked" I said with a face splitting grin "it fucking worked!" I screamed to the world, laughter flowing free through the air like water from a spring.
And then, when a metallic roar split the air, I knew I fucked up.
I turned towards the point I fell from, expecting to find the demon hot on my trail again, finding only the unblemished sky, I turned towards the forest, watching as the trees farthest from me fell as trough something smashed through them.
I sprinted in the opposite direction of the noise, like hell I was going to stay there like a sitting duck for whatever was there to snack on.
I ran until I found the edges of a fairly steep cliff and I started climbing, hoping to find a place to either sleep or find out where I was, and If I was lucky both at the same time.
Little by little I made my way to the top, if I manage to make it back home, I'll make a statue of my friend Emmet, never again will I doubt the usefulness of knowing how to climb stuff.
It was only when I reached the top that I realized how far from home I was.
I once went to Chernobyl you know, It was a haunting sight, to say the least, an eternal monument to the hubris of man, were what we had built was drowned by the vegetation, turning back the clock of the city to a thousand years ago.
Now take that image, over impose it on a city like New York, and you might get what I was seeing.
Huge dilapidated buildings overrun by vegetation reached the skies like the bony fingers of a dead god, below them the what was once called a urban jungle gave way to a true jungle, with a few buildings jutting above the tall trees, acting as shelter for the animals there, their purpose unchanged even after the death of their creators.
But what was truly alien, what truly threw me off was the gargantuan ruined squid-like robot that rested against the building.
Where the fuck am I?
After a few moments I snapped out of my funk, ok this definitively was not my world, and I only just understood the portal thing, so I guess I'm stuck here for the time being… great.
Ok, Ander Focus, pros and cons, come on, you can do it.
Ok so, pros, it's not overrun by demons, and the apocalypse is not in act, pretty big pro.
Cons… I'm alone, or at least giving the state of that city there doesn't seem any human around, the wildlife seems, well, wild, and I won't even get into the matter of whatever that was in the forest…fuck, ok, ok, go on, what do we have then… nothing, I got nothing, no one to help me, no one to fall back to, I'm alone, holy fuck I'm alone.
It was with those thoughts that I sat with under the gaze of the unrelenting sun until it reached midday.
I couldn't stay there anymore, while a good place to stay for now and a perfect one to scout the whole of the valley before me it had neither water nor nourishment nearby, unlike the olden city before me, and so, after whittling a nearby fallen branch into a spear-like spear, I started to walk towards it, hopefully, I'd find food over there, otherwise it would be slim pickings until I managed to scope out the wildlife.
After an hour or so I managed to reach the city, having managed to snatch a rabbit along the way, at least I'll have something to eat tonight.
I reached the front of a half-broken building, the left-side wall seemed to have fallen down alongside a good chunk of the second floor but the rest seemed to be fine, If a little covered in green, then again what wasn't in this city?
I entered it, looking around for anything I could use, finding only what probably used to be a bed but was now just a pile of rusted metal and shredded cloth.
I debated on whether to leave it there or carry it along with me, in the end, I decided to just bring the cloth with me, once I cleaned it with boiling water I should be able to reuse them, for what I do not know, but still, better have them and not need them than the reverse.
I searched the rest of the rooms, finding only rusted metal and scrap cloth, whatever furbishing there were before had been long destroyed by time.
I sighed, looking at the only whole room of the building 'at least I won't sleep in the open' I thought looking at the ceramic bathtub and at the fallen sink.
I tilted my head as an idea stuck me while looking at the sink, restaurants used ceramic bowls to cook all the time, right? Then why couldn't I do the same thing?
It was with this thought that I started to bring the sink from the bathroom to the room with the roof caved in.
I started to make a fire pit, cleaning away the rubble from the center of the room while making a small circle around it, it would never be scout approved, but since I'm the only human in those ruins I say it's good enough.
I nodded to myself as I beheld the small makeshift grill I had made, sure it was only a ceramic sink with its bottom removed propped on rusty rebar bars but hey, it worked!
I went outside and looked at the sun, I had about 2 hours of light left and while I had both food and shelter, I was still without water and I wouldn't have a way to carry it any… I stopped, my hand searching the pocket of my ceremonial robe finding my stolen goods, a leather-bound book Written in what I supposed was either blood or some sort of red-colored ink, trough given who I had stolen it from I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter rather than the former.
I opened it, reading over the… fuck, its Latin, why is it always Latin? I failed Latin for fuck sake, couldn't it be Greek? I know Greek, I passed Greek why couldn't it be Greek?
I sighed, hitting my head softly against the cement wall, sometimes I truly hated my luck.
I straightened myself out, grabbing the notes inside the book, noticing that they were the same she had given to me… sometimes I truly hate my impulsiveness, then again, how the hell was I supposed to know that magic was real?
I put aside the leaflets containing the runes I had studied, no use in them if I didn't know how to activate them, and started to read the instructions in how to get started on actually learn magic.
Summary of Et Scripta est in Magica Anzio Garrium, or the Scriptures on magic of Anzio Garrium.
Magic, despite the common misconception of fools and ignorant, is not a demonic gift or the symbol of corruption, even though there is power to be found in both of them.
Magic, beyond Blood, Phlegm, and yellow and black bile is the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] constituent part of the human body, it is not the soul, for a body cleaved from the soul still displays it.
It is divided into two parts, the mana, or the magic naturally produced by the human body, and the Anan, the magic produced by everything else, but mainly the stars.
It is by first tapping into the internal mana and then combining it either through a medium or directly with the Anan, that what we call magic happens.
But how does someone tap into its own mana?
The answer is both simple and complex at the same time, for there are different mediums through which Magehood can be reached, the first and most complicated of those is the meditation of the self, this is the lengthiest process which can take years to reach without guidance of some kind, the second is faster but the chances of mishap are higher, a mage can use infuse its own power into a jewel, which then is devoured by the aspirant to reach its own mana, however, if the Aspirant magic rejects that of the Mage death is then, if not assured, then preferred, as that strips the magic from the body, leaving the aspirant to lead a half-life incapable to feel anything again.
The last one is the most dangerous; it's a ritual, trough the willing sacrifice of blood and unwilling flesh, an aspirant can tap into the mana, becoming a mage in doing so, this, however, has a price, as the aspirant will probably mutate, as in mind as in body, taking in traits from what was sacrificed.
So, either death, mutation, or meditation…. Fuck, Ok Ander, there must be something useful for you, exposition, exposition, exposition, there!
[…]Runes, what are Runes? Runes are… a way, let's say, to channel magic through a medium to achieve a determined effect, the same effect actually, every time that the Anan courses through them.
Let's take for example Arkesh, or the rune of fire, by linking Arkesh with the Anan rune creates a small flame atop of the existing rune while binding it to an object with a Tynaz[Permanence? Impression] rune creates a warming enchantment over whatever it was inscribed into.
However there is something to remember about them, runes by themselves are nothing but lines carved in the medium, it is the shape that they give to the magic coursing through them that creates the effect, in the end, runes are nothing more than a written, more restricted form of spells, but what makes it different from them is one thing, permanence.
Once a rune sequence has been transcribed in the medium it will keep being active until all magic that it has gathered/transferred into has been consumed, only to be reactivated when a new source of magic activates it again.
Unfortunately, rune-crafting[Rune-shaping?] just like spellcasting is a subjective art, and beyond the very basics I cannot help you further, beyond this point are the 10 fundamental runes and it is your duty as an Aspirant to further your knowledge of rune-crafting.
The following are the 8 base runes, in my studies and comparisons with my peers, I found that while other runes are different from one another even if the results are the same these are the most efficient and the best for a beginner to form his base on and evolve.
These are :
The Fire rune Arkesh
The Earth rune Monan
The Water rune Oaed
The Wind rune Erel
The Anan rune, Anan
The Impression rune Tynaz
The Push rune Pareez
The Pull rune reversed Pareez
Good luck in your studies aspirant and may lady Hecate smile upon you.
'Fucking finally, something I can actually use' I thought while trying to memorize the runes 'maybe if I had read these before I wouldn't be in this mess'.
I grimaced at the thought, right now I had bigger things to care about than desperation and regret, like surviving.
I stared at the broken ceramic vase that would become my mug for the foreseeable, grabbing it and looking it over, 'I guess there it wouldn't hurt to try, stranger things have happened today' and so I started to carve the rune for water into the vase, it looked like a squiggly line to be honest, like someone halfhearted attempt at drawing a wave, and connected it with a drawn line to the Anan rune, a small sphere with a small circle, well, circling it, like a miniature representation of the earth and the moon.
It didn't take long for the changes to become apparent, the air quickly became drier while the ceramic vase started to damp before a small puddle of water began to form, all in all the process lasted less than 30 seconds for it to gather enough water to quench my thirst.
I watched stunned as veritable magic happened before my eyes, magic, I just used magic, holy shit, holy fucking shit.
I, I can't even begin to describe what I felt in that moment, the sheer happiness and wonder I was feeling had no know words for their scope, it seems that some things cannot be described but just experienced.
I closed my hands around the vase, bringing it to my lips.
The water tasted sweet; unlike the non-taste of distilled water I was expecting.
I drank deep from it, sating a thirst I did not feel before, I opened my eyes and looked at the vase already refilling with water… runes, they had so many possibilities.
So many possibilities…