2 Learning

Posted on Wed Aug 16th, 2023 @ 2:12am by Dungeon Master Sue Donym
Edited on on Fri Aug 18th, 2023 @ 1:35am

1,562 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Chapter 1 - Strange New World
Location: Her Apartment in New New York
Timeline: 2090

The next morning found Miss Luna feeling much more alive and far more integrated in both her new body and her new surroundings. She had figured out how to use something in the apartment called a computer and discovered that via the interface, she was able to use it similarly to the clairvoyance and scrying equipment she was used to. She had found several things in this computer's world called wikis and they had been quite enlightening.

She had discovered that she was on a planet called Mars and that the environment here was quite hostile. She enjoyed the irony as the god from her world named Mars was quite hostile as well, being a god of war. everyone here was kept safe from the hostile environs by a colony built by people from another world called Earth or something. The colony's name was New New York, which was confusing to her - how new did a York have to be to be new new?

She also learned a fair bit about the technology and science that the people used. It honestly seemed no different to magic to her, though she admitted that it did seem to run on different energies and follow slightly different rules. The fact that she had also regained only a little of her own magical energy levels pointed to why they had gone down this path rather than magical development. They had no choice but to develop it to evolve as a society.

Then there was the matter of the year. 2090 AD. It meant very little to her since she had no frame of reference. Try as she might, she could find no information on the kingdoms or empires she had known during her life of over a thousand years. If these were indeed the same people she had known previously, there was no way to prove it.

Leaning back in the flimsy chair at the computer she'd been at for half the day, she finally gave up the search and sighed heavily, one of the frozen treats she had found in the ice box sticking out of her mouth as she stared at the ceiling. For all she knew, the resurrection spell had tossed her into the far future AND into a random timeline or to a random world. It's not like she knew the spell would even work right, after all. She was just lucky to even be alive right now.

And it was proven just how much alive she was when a jarring yet musical tone came from the door of her apartment. It was like nothing she'd ever heard in her prior life, but it instinctually filled her body with anxiety and the desire to hide. It was apparently an unwelcome sound. Therefore, she did what she knew best - she shook off her desires, stood up, strolled over to the door, and investigated.

There next to the door, she found a panel with several inscribed runes and pictograms. As the sound went off again, this time definitively from the same panel she was looking at, she pressed one of the buttons that looked like it might open the doorway next to it.

"Marvelous!" she exclaimed as the door whooshed open to reveal Ryder on the other side. She thought to herself 'I have learned a bit more about this technology.' She trilled. "Do please come in, would you? I have questions for you and I have a feeling you may have a number of questions for me as well."

"Ah... Yes, actually," As Ryder stepped inside, looking a bit nervous in his freshly pressed uniform, he glanced around before fixing his gaze on the other person in the room. "I was a bit worried about you last night so I wanted to check in on you before my shift today. You didn't seem yourself... You still don't, if I'm being honest."

With a quick grin and a bow, she decided that if she was going to get anywhere in this new world she was in, she was going to need to trust someone and with how exploitative this world seemed via the computer, since this man had actually helped her, she decided that she could trust him at least a little. "Yes, I do owe you at least a bit of an explanation. And quite simply, I could use your help."

"The explanation first, if we may. My name... Or at least, my former name... Was Selene Starcrest. I was a wizard from another Earth, from another time. A practitioner of grand and amazing magics that guided the fate of entire Kingdoms for over a thousand years. I was betrayed by my top pupil and apprentice and in my dying breath, I was able to ensure my reincarnation."

As she spoke, she moved fluidly and motioned about with her frozen treat like a wand as if lights and sparks should be dancing from it and her fingertips, though none actually did. "What I can gather from the poor host that I now find myself located within, she fell into a pit of despair and threw herself from her balcony to her demise. As her soul slipped from her dying body, I inhabited it and used what little magic I could muster in this world to heal this body enough to meander into the lobby in which we met."

With a deep bow, she finished her recap. "The rest you have seen for yourself."

Ryder just stood there staring at her for almost a full minute before starting to nod, waiting for the punchline. "Ok, yeah, this is either one of those ghost stories or you're a loony."

"Believe whatever you will, my good man," she replied as she stood back up. "But the fact of the matter is that Aurelia Luna died last night and though I can recall some of her memories, I am a veritable newborn when it comes to this world. I will need help and if not from you, who else can I trust?"

"Ghost story it is then," Ryder shook his head in defeat. "Look... I..." He sighed heavily trying to find the right words before he threw up his hands. "I have to clock in soon. I know some people that might be able to help with whatever you want to do, whatever it is you want. Miss Luna was one of those internet call girls, if you catch my meaning, so I doubt you'll be wanting to do that. No offense, but you don't seem the type."

The woman tapped her lips thoughtfully for a moment, trying to recall some of her host's memories. "Yes, I do seem to remember a lot of stress about making men happy and money before she allowed herself to succumb to the embrace of gravity. I do believe I have more talents that could be put to use elsewhere, but I'm not disinclined to the work."

"I'll... I'll keep that in mind." A bit more shaken than he'd like to admit, even after what had happened last night, Ryder straightened his uniform jacket and cleared his throat to excuse himself. "Ahem... In that case, if you need anything, I'll be in the lobby. I'll stop by after work to check on you again, if you like."

"I think I'd like that, yes," she replied with a wide grin as she walked him back to the door. "And thank you for keeping a level head. I know this is a lot to take in."

As the door closed between them, they both smiled at each other. Though from Ryder's perspective, it looked like a predator was grinning up at him, getting ready to strike and he wasn't sure if he should ask for an immediate transfer that day or stick it out and see where things went.

On the other side of that door, Selune, now Aurelia, relaxed and finished off her frozen treat. She tossed the stick in the trash and mused about the man in blue that she had befriended. Of all the people she had seen in the streets yesterday, none of them even gave her more than a sidelong glance as she walked herself into the building. He actually seemed to care about people and as much as she hated to exploit something like that, if that's what it took to survive, she would befriend him in a heartbeat.

He had brought up a good point though - what DID she want? Obviously to survive, but what did that entail? Her old world and old life were gone. Did she want to get involved in politics and kingdoms and empires again? Did she want to change the landscape of this world like her last?

No. As soon as those thoughts came into her head, she dismissed them easily. She wanted to live a relatively easy life to the point she could help people. She just had to learn enough about this world to figure out how to do that, preferably with what little magic she could access.

With a nod of her head, she started stretching. "No time like the present for a little magical experimentation. I have to figure out what kind of magic, if any, exists, and the only way I can do that is by trying every type I can think of."

 

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