(A/N: Sorry about the delay…moving in to college and everything is tough. Anyway, I'm finally here at Brown and settled in, so on with the fic!)
Chapter 2: Introductions
Owen Affalle was not distracted easily.
That said, the strangely-dressed man who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere snatched Owen's attention like a frog snapping up a meal. It wasn't only his dress, either. It was everything about him…his mannerisms, his dialect, his intense and fearful curiosity.
He had never been much of a science fiction fan, but Owen had a strange feeling in his gut about the newcomer's origin. His reaction to the friendly fat man seemed only to exacerbate the mystery man's suspiciousness.
Now Owen's interest was completely piqued. The man stared up in the sky in horror at an incoming jet, then knelt down and began to meditate. No one else nearby seemed to notice the man's bizarre behavior, but a moment later, he had their attention easily.
The spell was not an especially difficult one under most circumstances, but Raonull found himself straining to tap enough mana to invoke the protecting dragon. Never mind that the mountains were miles away from this artificial city; Raonull was used to that. It was almost as if something in the air in this city stifled the generation of mana. Being a powerful mage, though, Raonull was eventually able to overcome the effect and summon the dragon of Shiv.
As soon as it materialized in midair, the citizens erupted into panic. Raonull could not understand how they feared a real dragon more than the artificial one in the air already, but realized that his creature had caused more consternation than he had anticipated. He was no diplomat, but Raonull knew that alarming the population of unknown territory is never a good strategy. With just a touch of blue mana, he Unsummoned the dragon.
Owen gaped in amazement as the strange man summoned and unsummoned a dragon. An actual dragon! Owen's original guesses were solidified: this man was definitely not from around here.
"Hey, what's your name, pal?" Owen found himself asking the magician, extending his hand amiably.
Raonull turned, suitably impressed by the general kindness of people in this area. He stared at the hand, confused, and answered,"I am called Raonull. And yourself?"
"Owen," came the reply. An awkward moment of silence reigned, but Owen could not help himself. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Do what? Summon a dragon! And then make it disappear!"
"That's simple magic, man. Any apprentice worth his salt can conjure up a Dragon Whelp, at least."
Owen looked around anxiously to ensure that no one had heard these comments. So far, the majority of people in the vicinity had not identified Raonull as the source of the dragon, but his strange attire could become a big hint.
"Come on," Owen said. "Let's talk somewhere private."
Raonull hesitated a bit, but decided to follow the man. He would need to learn about this strange environment, and as far as he could tell, this Owen was trustworthy. He just hoped that Owen would know something about inter-plane travel.
Yogini stared, bewildered. Her opponent's creature had disappeared, and so had her opponent. She waited for the Cabal to inform her what had happened, and went over to help the white mages take care of Purcell. The embermage was recovering, albeit very slowly, from the Minion's powerful attack.
"Do I win?" she impertinently asked the audience. For once, the audience did not make a sound. Certainly, Raonull's disappearance had nothing to do with the young blue mage, but what else could explain it?
The First's voice boomed out, echoing in the stadium. "Do not worry about Raonull. I have teleported him to his residence to rest, since he was clearly the victor. Yogini cleverly cast Boomerang on the monster before it was able to destroy her, but Raonull expressed his noble wish that the fight end there."
The audience was reassured by the First's words, but what he said didn't make much sense. The First showing pity? A few audience members cheered half-heartedly, but none among them had come to this event to see a powerful mage show pity on an upstart blue mage. Disappointed, they began to shuffle out of the arena.
"I didn't cast any spell," Yogini whispered to the nearest healer.
"Hey, whatever, lady. You survived somehow. That guy was supposed to be the best fighter in all Otaria."
"I should go thank him for sparing me," Yogini thought, leaving the pit to some additional scattered applause. Everyone knew where the great Raonull lived, but he rarely entertained. She guessed he would make an exception for her. She left Purcell in the care of the well-trained healers, and started off for the champion's domicile.
Jelani chuckled as he watched Yogini leave from the top row of the audience. He, and he alone, had recognized Raonull's true fate, and he was not surprised that the First had not explained the truth. Interdimensional travel was Jelani's secret fascination; he had always suspected that something beyond planeswalking existed. Raonull was clearly not a planeswalker, and yet he had vanished.
He followed the crowd out of the pits, and returned to his humble laboratory. For months he had been trying to identify the combination of effects that would allow interdimensional travel to occur. And now he had it. He hoped that he ended up in a world where there was no magic.
He hoped to conquer it.
Raonull was stunned. He had surmised from the people's reaction to the dragon that magic was not prevalent in this world, but to suggest that no one in this world possessed any form of magic whatsoever? Especially when the five mana types exist in such abundance!
"Tell me, Owen," Raonull said slowly, trying not to alarm his host, "you wouldn't happen to know how I might…return home, would you?"
Owen opened and closed his mouth, but no sound emerged. He sank slowly into his chair, breathing heavily. Raonull interpreted this reaction to mean "no."
"You don't?" Owen groaned, rubbing his temple. "How did you get here?" Owen asked.
Raonull began to relate his story, but stopped as Owen's attention shifted to a strange circular object on the wall.
"I'm late for work! Sorry, Raonull, I have to leave. Stay here and…don't touch anything, OK?"
With that, Owen left the room. Raonull was left alone to try to develop a way home. He had initially assumed that some sort of planeswalking effect had taken him here, but if no magic existed here at all, that conclusion seemed unlikely. If what Owen said was true, there weren't even any goblins or elves in the wilderness!
The First stormed angrily to confront Yogini in front of Raonull's house. No one else was around, naturally, and Yogini was terrified to see the intimidating figure in such a strange environment. Whatever the First had to say must be extremely important.
"You won't find him there," the First called out in a low voice. Yogini chuckled; she recognized that tone. The First had expected to shock her; he didn't realize she had seen him. Still, his words shocked her, and she was able to feign the appropriate amount of surprise.
"Aah! Wh-what do you mean?"
"What did you do to him, Yogini? What spell did you cast before he disappeared?"
"I…cast a Time Warp on him."
"While he was under the influence of his own Time Walk."
"Yes…I think he did something to himself, though."
"Convalescent Care," the First nodded. "A clever tactic, given your Psychic Purge. As you know, magical damage becomes much more painful as death approaches."
Yogini nodded, but her face displayed confusion, not understanding. "I know that. But what happened to Raonull?"
"I believe that the combination of unconsciousness and the concurrent time spells have sent Raonull to another dimension."
"Dimension? Is that like a plane?"
"In a way, yes. It is not as easy to move between them, however. I'll explain everything later, but if Raonull is to return to this world, we have much preparation to do."
Hewitt Nedreak, Hewe to his friends, would scarcely be considered a good influence on anyone. With stereotypical glasses, a caustic sense of humor, and years of experience with Linux, he was rarely considered difficult to file into a social category. An acquaintance of Owen during their years at Columbia (Hewe was a computer science major; Owen philosophy), Hewe had been present at the appearance of the dragon. Unlike most of the audience, though, Hewe had thought he had recognized the shape of the dragon, and was walking home to investigate. On the way, he passed by Owen's humble apartment building, and decided to stop by. The two hadn't seen each other since graduation; almost ten years ago. Neither had found a reasonable job or a significant other as of yet.
Leaning against the call button, Hewitt said amiably, "You there, Owen?"
Instead of an answer, Hewe heard an unfamiliar gasp and some shuffling around. Hewe was pretty sure that Owen understood how the communication system works; he must have a friend over. Hewe shook his head and started to walk away, but over the microphone that was still on, he heard something that would change his life forever.
"By Urza!" a strange voice said through the speaker.
"What?!" Hewe gasped in shock, and raced back to the door. "Did you just say Urza? Who are you? Can you please let me in?"
Not too far away from Raonull's dwelling, Jelani was intensely reviewing the commentary from the duel. He had to find out what spells were cast that sent Raonull across dimensions. He knew that at least one of the spells in question was Time Walk. Scowling, he reflected that few mages in this plane were advanced enough to know that powerful spell. He would find someone, though. He could easily convince Yogini to give him a Time Warp, and the final spell didn't appear to be very difficult to learn.
"Soon," Jelani whispered, unable to resist a bit of ominous narration, "soon I will arrive in this other dimension. And it will be mine!"
The ensuing maniacal laughter continued for several minutes as the audio commentary continued to play in the background.
(A/N: Will Hewitt discover the truth of Owen's visitor?H Will Raonull find a way home? Will Jelani find a way to another dimension? And what will the First and Yogini do? Find out…later. Don't forget to review!)