The Right and Wrong way to Pursue a Prophecy

Diana

LOOK HOW CALM SHE IS
Original poster
ADMINISTRATOR
MYTHICAL MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Not accepting invites at this time
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
  2. Slow As Molasses
Online Availability
10AM - 10PM Daily
Writing Levels
  1. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Female
Genres
Romance, Supernatural, Fantasy, Thriller, Space Exploration, Slice of Life
"This is not the way we witches do things."

"Yeah, well, when has waiting around for a prophecy to do it's thing ever been BENEFICIAL to the heroes in question? I'm just expediting the process a bit."

"You're vanity will be your undoing, you know."

"Vanity has nothing to do with it, old crone. The Portal is open. I'll return in three fortnights."



When one thinks of a portal, they often envision swirling vortexes, loud sounds, rushing wind or cracking thunder. This was not the case. Like watching a reflection ripple on the surface of a pond, the air shimmered near a path in the city park. It was practically invisible until you were truly trying to stare right at it. A scent of cherry wafting through the air seemed a little out of place, but that's what came first. The scent of cherries, followed by a medium height women in a dark blue cloak, stumbling out of thin air. In her hands was straggly looking broomstick and and a small silver charm giving off an odd sort of glow.

"Seems to be a forest..." she muttered under her breath. Starting down the path. Before long the trees opened up to reveal a stunningly bizzare landscape. Tall metal and stone structures rising up like trees. She surmised that they were likely castles of some sort. Truly a rich country to have such outstanding buildings. Now she was starting to see people milling about, playing around in the grass with balls, walking dogs, or jogging along the path ways. Every where she looked, there were more people.

"All right then, tell me which way to go. I don't have all day." She spoke directly to the charm in her hands. It gave a tiny flash and a glimmer, a tiny beam of light pointing forward like a flashlight to show direction.

"Excellent. Now to find a guide in this world."
 
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Ryan stretched as he walked into his small kitchen, pouring some juice for himself he pondered what to do the rest of the day till his shift started, he'd spent over two hours by the screen practising his skills and downloading some music, finishing up with running his virus program after visiting more illigal pages, and more hours sitting hunched in a cheap chair wasn't really that appealing. Taking a decision he placed the empty glass in the sink, grabbing his keys and phone before heading out, locking the door behind him, exiting his apartment building a strong sunlight greeted him and Ryan had to shield his brown eyes until his sight adjusted. The air was unusually fresh today with very little polution for once, a slight breeze kept the heat in check and rustled through the leaves along the bustling street. Ryan didn't even by a longshot live in any kind of fancy neighbourhood but it was still a well populated part of town, maybe because of the relatively low rent and close proximity to a city park. In secret Ryan also believed it to be one of the best substitutes for riding in when living in the city, but he kept that from his peers, one of his weaknesses that he didn't acknowledged very often.

Reaching the edge of the park Ryan noticed it was quite packed today, people milled around walking dogs or playing with their kids or having a picknick, far into the park a pair was riding horses, probably from some nearby riding school and people jogged along the grovel roads together with cyclists. It was packed in other words, and Ryan wouldn't have it any other way, he'd grown up in a small town and he much prefered this more active city instead. The warm air smelled of fast food from the many food carts, flowers and the normal city smells, but as he walked down the road close to the woods in the park he caught the smell of cherries, it was vague and vanished in an instant. Ryan wasn't even sure hed actually smelled it or if he was just imagining things, but he was curious and bored so he broke off from the road and went into the forest, it hadn't rained in a while thankfully so he got no mud on his sneakers or jeans but branches brsuhed over his arms, leaving leaves and small bark pieces on his shirt.

There it was again, or was it? Once again he'd caught the faint smell of cherries, like the one he'd smelled close to cherry trees in bloom but in this forest there were no cherry trees, not to his knowledge at least. Stumbling on a tree root Ryan almost walked into a tree, narrowly escaping the embarrassing fate of smacking into its trunk he looked around but the forest was empty except for some birds, he could hear the city traffic and see the skyscrapes through the trees, in a city like this there wasn't room for a large wood even in a park. Feeling sure he'd just imagined stuff Ryan started making his way out of the small forest to get a soda or something from one of the many carts in the park.
 
Sylvia walked around the park, much like a huntsman on the prowl for a mark. There were lots of available people. She really could have grabbed any one of them for a temporary guide. Yet, it was much wiser to be choosy. Children were never helpful, so she crossed them all off her mental list. Anyone that looked like a couple or involved with a family was also disregarded. The sort of work she did was dangerous, so she wouldn't put a family at risk. Finally she zeroed in on one man. He was alone, young enough that he wasn't likely to be involved with someone, and also made her little charm give off a pitiful squeak. A squeak was a good thing.

The first thing Sylvia did was jump out of the three she had been hiding in. Landing neatly in front of the man. Then, without warning she swiped his feet out from under him with her broom. Once he was lying on his back on the ground, she pointed the twigged end of it at his nose.

"You! You are going to be my guide in this realm. Don't fear, I can pay you well. First I need to know what his realm is called..."
 
Ryan walked along the barely visible path through the trees, thankful for the thin tree line because if he couldn't see the houses he'd probably get lost in minutes, he'd never been such an outdorsy type, he like being out in the air alright but he was not they type to walk around in forests or doing orientation. He spent more time watching the ground to spot any more vicious tree roots that could potentially trip him than he spent his attention forward and upwards and the woman that dropped down in front of him out of a tree almost gave him a heart attack.

Stepping back in surprise over the young woman's sudden appearance he didn't even have time to entirely smooth out his slight shock as she stuck out a broom and tripped him causing him to fall hard on his back, really who did even use a broom like that now a days, even her look was strange compared to modern people. "What the hell are you talking about? Are you high or what?" Ryan snapped angrily, looking up at the woman through the bristles on the broom, his position on the ground made him feel out of control and vulnerable. Really of all the people in the city, even this park, why did this nut job sort him out, maybe this was a clue that he should keep to the more populated areas of the park.

"Would you mind taking that broom away from my face lady? This is uncomfortable." He glared at her from around the brush.
 
"I suppose high is something akin to being insane?" she responded with amusement. Sylvia took the broom out of his face and stepped back to allow him to return to his feet. However, she was fully prepared to tackle him if need be. The thing about guides, was that they were rarely willing right away. And Sylvia hated having to try multiple people.

"I want to know the name of this realm. I am unfamiliar with this world and I require travel assistance. I can pay you very handsomely. Do you prefer gold, silver or jewels? Magic scrolls? A special favor? As long as it isn't unreasonable and you are useful to me." As she glanced around the park again, Sylvia noticed she got quite a few curious stares.

"Hmm. Some knowledge about the fashion of this place might be necessary as well. I do believe I stand out..."
 
"It's more of a word for when people take drugs," Ryan automatically explained as he quickly got to his feet, frowning at the strange woman, seriously considering to just bolt and run from the nutjob, but he was curious despite his sour look. "Have you slept through both history and geography or what? This is Earth, you know, small blue planet in the middle of space, good distance to the sun and all that." As he spoke the thought of this being an elaborate joke of some kind hit him, would some of his pals actually do something this weird? Or was it some kind of reality show maybe?

The strangers next line caught his attention though. "What the...magic scrolls? You do realise that magic is only fairytails for kids right?" But the money part had caught his interest though, he was surprised over her wording though, this day folks used money, hard cash, in deals, how many normal citizens had real gold or silver coins in their homes, or jewels for that matter. "Okay, I'm listening lady," Ryan wasn't a greedy person really, he didn't want a big estate and such but money would be good. He could by more high tech stuff, get better with his computers, he could see his bartender job as a hobby and this woman claimed she could do that for him. "What would I have to do for you in that case?"

"Well, no one has looked even close to you for a few hundred years or so I think, I'm not so educated about medieval times, have you been cosplaying and hit your head or something? Well in any case do you have any money, you know credit card, dollars, cents things like that? You can buy clothes in one of the stores out on the next block after the park." Ryan said, pointing out towards a series of skyscrapes beyond the park.
 
(I am so sorry for the delay! My time management skills are balls right now!)


"Earth. Not the most original name for a world... I suppose your kind here aren't very intelligent." He definitely wasn't proving otherwise as of yet. Sylvia could understand the lack of belief in magic. Many cultures often disregarded magic as it was a substance that was incredibly wily. But the rest of the things he blathered on about may as well of been another language all together. At least money was a universal means of communication!

Sylvia rest her broom handle on her shoulder, now actually taking the time to look him over. At least in comparison to other people out roaming the park area he was well dressed. He looked a bit annoyed with her, which did make her smirk. There was a kind of enjoyment in riling people up.

But she was forgetting why she was here.

"I have gold, silver and some gems." she responded, glancing where he pointed towards the tall buildings. Sylvia's hand slipped to her side where she opened up a pouch with two fingers and plucked out a coin. She held it up for him to see before tossing it over. "Gold. If lenders do not take that sort of denomination you will have to supply me with your money."
 
Ryan looked at her in slight irritation, humans had done many things that definatley demanded intelligence, but this woman seemed to have no knowledge about the technological breakthroughs, though he had to agree with her on one point, not all humans were intelligent. "Not to start an argument but I think it takes intelligence to construct a space shuttle, master computer and even a quite simple cell phone," a hint of sarcasm laced in his voice, feeling slightly defencive on the behalf of his race.

"And on another note," he said, his brown eyes looked curiously on the woman's broom. "What exactly is that broom for?"

As she cast him the coin Ryan caught it and stared in disbelief, a piece of pure gold. Where had this woman got that, and apparently she had more in her pouch. If this gold was real it be worth quite much if he got it sold at a jeweler of some sort. "Well lady, if this gold isn't fake then you have enough money to buy clothes but unfourtunately no shop will take that gold as payment, you need to get it checked by a specialist and then sell it to get cash." He gave her the coin back and took a quick look on his watch before deciding.

"I don't start work until tonight so I can take you to a store, I have nothing to do anyway." Ryan sai, it would give him something to do, and so far it promised to get interesting. "Besides what's your name?"

(No worries, if you're busy, take your time:)
 
"It's for sweeping." she responded sarcastically.

She pocketed her gold, a little baffled that no one took pure gold as tender. Generally businesses would take it away. "My name is Sylvia DuBlanc. Professional Witch." Sylvia gave a flourish and a bow. Another sarcastic moment of mocking him, despite the fact she was more likely the odd one out in that universe.

She gestured for him to lead the way. "You will pay for my things and I will give you the gold to exchange later. I don't have time to waste on running loose in this city. Her hand ran through her hair, shaking out with impatience.

"Now tell me, have you see anything unusual in this world? Is there something plaguing the people here?"
 
Ryan only frowned in repsonse to the woman's sarcasm, it told him she really used it for other things but his logical side couldn't quite accept that train of thought.

"Witch? Really?" Ryan raised an eyebrow, his way of showing surprise. "Well anyway, I'm Ryan Becker." He continued, not completely sure what to think of Sylvia yet, she sure didn't seem crazy at least not obviously and she did look quite different, but something inside him said she wasn't a danger to him, but then again his gut had been wrong before. Shaking his head slightly in annoyance Ryan nodded in agreement to Sylvia's demand, "call me crazy but why not." Ryan led the way out on the road through the park and made his way towards the south exit where several stores were located on the street outside.

"Strange? Not really, but I'm mostly in the same area all the time and this city is large, with several million inhabitants there can happen alot that I would not heare about. We will probably pass by an electric store, they usually have TV's on, maybe there is a news program on, if something strange is going on then it will be on TV, those nosy reporters find out about everything."

Leading the way out on the main street Ryan made his way through the mass of people towards a clothing store, "this one isn't too expensive, you could probably find what you want in here."