chapter 2: Exodus
Jack is rummaging through his car for whatever he can find to help him get back.
Dammit! How did this happen? Where the hell am I? Am I going to be ok?
Jack pauses from his search for a moment. The reality of the situation has started to sink in
I might not make it back. I could very well die here.
He doesn't know what to make of this. He then decides to try and focus on anything but that thought. He does find a hoodie and thicker boots in his trunk, along with a blanket and sleeping bag; he only had these items in the car at all just in the slight chance that him and Lynnée wanted to lay out and watch the stars. He finds a lamp packed for emergencies there as well. In the backseat he finds his water bottle, which is empty.
Well, that's not going to help.
He takes stock of what little he has with him.
So, a light, a blanket, a sleeping bag, some warm clothes, and hiking boots. No food, no water, nothing to drink and no way to contact anyone. Also, nothing to defend myself with except this pocket-knife, the dang thing is less than 3-inches long!
He ponders why he feels the need for a weapon considering how incapable he would be to do so with his thin frame and less than average muscle-mass.
Jack then begins to walk off in a direction. Any sounded like a good idea, but he thought better of trying to tackle the mountain ranges. He notices the chill running through the air; and then the fact that the light outside seemed to be getting brighter. This puzzles him since it was evening when he left to see Lynnée, but the fact that the sky is getting brighter is indicating it is morning. He becomes very afraid. He has just realized that he needs to not only worry about where he is, but also When…am I?
Jack is lost in thought and fear, but he finally notices the mountains around him and the freshness of the air and how wild this place looks. Then he notices the old man who decided to take a seat on the hood of the car, which was only 5 meters behind him. Oddly enough, the strange man is waving at him.
Who..? Uugh…whatever.
Jack decides to back-track the very short distance to talk to the old man and see what he may know. The old man seems to be wearing a very old-styled robe, almost making this bearded figure appear to be a benevolent wizard.
"Hello there, good sir!" Jack, trying to be as polite and formal as he can possibly be. He also was trying to channel what little he knew about old customs to create a persona for him to better fit in.
"I was wondering if you could perchance inform me of the current date."
The old man's grin turned into a smirk.
"Why, it's Tirdas, the fifth of Sun's Height." Replied the old man.
Tirdas? Sun's Height? What the hell kind of calendar is he using? Dear God let this man just be an eccentric old man! But Tirdas…why does that sound familiar?
"My deepest apologies, but I completely forgot to introduce myself! My name is Jack."
"Well, Jack, it is a pleasure to meet you! My name is Tiberius."
Now that I know is not a modern name…This is really bad.
"And also, Jack, I already know that you're not from here and I even know the cause." Tiberius's words shocked Jack. He knew he did not dress anything like what the old man did. But he did not expect to find answers so quickly.
"Tiberius, is it possible for you to help me return home? I am so lost and I don't know where to even begin!" Jack didn't care how ridiculous this all sounded. If there was a small chance of being able to return home, he was going to jump on it and give it his best shot.
"I am not able to help you right now, Jack. At least, not the way you are. But first, let me clean up this mess first."
Tiberius got up and moved to face the car. Jack was thoroughly confused. What is he on about? And with a wave of Tiberius's hand, the car is engulfed in purple, blue, and black flames. And in the next moment, the entire care is gone without so much as a scorch mark on the ground.
"Hey! What did you do to my car? Why did you do that?" asked Jack.
"I got rid of it. It was in the way. Besides, it's not like you could have lugged that thing around. You won't need such a vehicle on Nirn." Tiberius said, chuckling to himself as he walked off. Jack followed Tiberius closely. Since he now knew Tiberius was a powerful wizard of some sort, he figured that his offer to help him was true.
"Tiberius, would you mind telling me where I am?" asked Jack.
"Oh right, I forgot that someone like you wouldn't know this. You are on the planet Nirn. Specifically, in the province of Skyrim on the continent of Tamriel." Replied Tiberius.
This stopped Jack dead in his tracks. He had to force his mouth back shut, much like a cartoon character would.
That's why some of those things sounded familiar! This is the world of Elder Scrolls! But…wait…Can Tiberius even help me? How in the hell is this possible? I cannot deny that what happened to me looks like it was magical between the movement through time and the unfamiliar area; but this is a whole new level of weird.
The situation looked grim to Jack, but he kept following anyways. They marched for what seemed like half an hour to Jack until a dilapidated castle came into view. It appeared as if this is where Tiberius lives.
Tiberius turned to Jack "Where, there she is! Home sweet home. Come on! Let's get you settled in and start working on blending you in. Lunch will be on soon after we get you familiarized to the area."
"Wait Tiberius. I am so thoroughly confused! What is going on? Why am I here? How am I here?"
Tiberius stopped walking and turned around to face Jack. "All right, I guess you do need to know and you really should take some time to fully process this. You are in the land of Skyrim and this is because of the plot of a traitor I know. Almost nothing is known about this man except that he is indeed a man. But he is a wizard of great strength, power, knowledge, and wisdom." Tiberius's grin was now replaced with a very stern look on his face. "I thought I knew how to deal with him, but he betrayed everything he ever told me. But this man is unknown to most. He is simply called the Enigma by those few who have contacted him. He used you as a key into other worlds and dimensions."
Jack was in shock. He had never heard of such a thing and had only put a little thought into the possibility of multiple universes and what they could be like. "Well, why did he need me?" Jack was still lost in the sea of information he now swam in.
Tiberius shrugged. "That is one answer that I wish I knew. If I just knew that, I would be most of the way there to figuring out how to send you back to your time and place. However, it seems it was just a case of bad, dumb luck."
Jack was starting to grow very angry. If I find that Enigma, guy, I am going to make him regret plucking me from my life!
"Now I have seen that look far too many times to not recognize it. And no, you cannot face him. Revenge is futile. Enigma may have simply used your world as a stepping stone into an unlimited number of other universes." Scolded Tiberius.
"Listen Jack, you are much better off sticking with me. Now, I can't help you get home right now; but what I can do is help you to be prepared to assist me in sending you home." Chuckled the old man.
"Wait, Tiberius. What to you hope to gain from helping me? Surely this isn't a free sign of goodwill." Jack asked the increasingly strange man.
"Well Jack, I am glad you are not too foolish to ignore ulterior motives. I admit that I do gain from helping you, though. I get to teach my first magical pupil; I get to have a helping hand around the castle for anything I may need but don't have time to go fetch myself; and I also get a chance of getting back at the Enigma!" Said Tiberius, quite excitedly.
Jack had a skeptical and confused look on his face from this statement.
The old man continued "There is a chance that sending you through to your home will disrupt his plans and cause him to be trapped between the universes for eternity! What better way to get back at such a callous individual?"
"I don't like that you're using me for revenge, but I'll try to think of it more as a side-effect of me being sent home. Besides, what can I do? Just refuse due to pride and be stuck here with no help, only to die in the next few days? I'll take being used over getting grisly murdered." Said Jack, in a slightly stern tone.
What can I do? I need his help. And what's worse, is he knows this! I hope he doesn't get me killed running simple errands for him. What the hell? Why does this day just keep getting weirder and weirder?
Little did Jack know that there were far stranger adventures in his future. But he will prevail. Because he must. He must return to his life and world; especially for Lynnée.