Chapter 1 - Talk It Out

To be perfectly honest, I had no desire to end up in another world. Maybe a few years ago it might have seemed tempting, but being broadly happy with my life and prospects, the idea of being stranded somewhere entirely foreign was decisively unattractive. I hadn't just spent the last five years of my life at university to end up somewhere where all that meant nothing. Despite my preferences, the strange view before me suggested that something of that nature had befallen me. Of course, I was far from philosophical about this occurrence. The milieu of confusion and animal terror brought about by my nightmarish dislocation nearly incapacitated me.

Without thinking, in a daze, I pushed myself off the grass to my feet. Some kid with pink hair in a wizard costume was half-shouting something at me in a language I didn't recognize. It sounded like an off-brand French, maybe Flemish or one of those regional dialects like Occitan-I was hardly an expert, and it was hardly my chief concern at that moment.

"Who are you?" I asked, doing my best to not sound on the verge of hysterics.

Predictably, there was nothing resembling a comprehensible response forthcoming. Just more of the same kind of babble, just more agitated.

Taking stock of my overall situation, I took a step back. The big, menacing questions would be staved off for the moment. There was the girl, and a crowd of teens similarly dressed, and one older man. All of them seemed in no less consternation about what had occurred. At least they're no better off. Though, they probably know where they are, at least. Somehow I had initially failed to notice the menagerie of nameless creatures intermingled. My mind rebelled at what my eyes reported. As I tried to reckon with my situation the pink haired girl in front of me was growing increasingly agitated. She started advancing on me.

"Stop!" I shouted, holding my hand out in the near universal sign of refusal.

Her brows lowered and she continued impetuously brushing past my arm with surprising determination. A flash of anger hit me. Here-in this nightmarish scenario-this girl was ignoring my instructions and getting close to me for God knows what reason. I pushed her-not particularly hard-but she went to the ground. I took another step back and reiterated my instruction that she keep her distance.

Something ephemeral impacted me. Well, to the extent something mass-less can make contact with an object at least. There was a moment of buzzing then ringing in my ears, then unnatural comprehension. It didn't quite sound right, but the words of the surrounding crowd were identifiable as English. The balding man had his wand raised, presumably the one responsible for the sudden change. I'm feeling the effects of magic. It was an overwhelming realization, but something that I managed to push down.

"Can you understand me?" the old man was speaking.

I nodded.

"Yes. Can you understand me?"

He nodded slowly and asked a strange question.

"What are you?"

"Human" I said, immensely troubled by the implications of the question, "And you all?"

"Human," the man answered, allaying my most immediate fears, "You're sure you're human and not a Familiar spirit in human form?"

What kind of question was that? I resisted making a sarcastic remark. Not the time nor place.

"Entirely human. Where am I?"

I was beginning to calm down just on the basis of being able to speak with someone else. My adrenaline was still up, but my sense of immediate terror was receding.

"You are in Tristain Academy."

I nodded with nothing resembling comprehension on my face.

"And how exactly did I get here?"

The man looked a bit sheepish.

"Miss de la Valliere," he gestured towards the girl I had shoved, who had made her way to her feet and ws looking resentfully at me, but maintaining a wary distance, "summoned you here as part of the spring Familiar summoning ritual."

Those words make sense individually, but don't quite form a comprehensible sentence. I completely blanked them. Mulling the words over in my mind, I managed to internalize that the man was saying that I had been brought here by magic. Specifically, accidentally, by this girl, Valliere, or whatever her name was. Putting to one side, for the moment, how unequivocally impossible that was and taking the situation at face value, there seemed to be a clear way out of this nightmare.

I turned towards the girl and spoke as cordially as I could muster given the circumstances.

"Sorry for shoving you, I couldn't be sure of your intentions. Could you please send me back where you got me from?"

She shook her head and looked dejected. My panic was beginning to return.

"Summoning a Familiar is intrinsic to being a mage. It can't be undone."

Frustrating. I ran my hand through my hair. The courtyard was windy and it kept brushing against my forehead. I couldn't tell whether she meant it was impossible or there was just some cultural prohibition. Nevertheless, I pressed on. I was going to keep harping on until someone saw fit to un-kidnap me.

"Well, clearly summoning a Familiar didn't work, and instead you've taken me from my home and put me here," I said, addressing her with no small amount of bitterness, "You've taken me from one place to another and I want to be sent back."

She looked at me with a mix of shame and defiance, but said nothing.

"Louise's right," the old man said, "we don't know how you got here or even where you're from. The sacred Familiar summoning ritual brought you here when she called for a Familiar, but that's all we know."

I cradled my head. It was already pounding as I felt a headache coming on from trying to wrap my mind around the situation. Don't overthink it, just take it at face value, odds are this is all a coma hallucination or something. I surveyed the muttering students, noting that some of them looked anywhere from disheveled to positively singed. They looked younger than me, all fairly baby faced, but I couldn't quite tell whether they were all college aged or not. My powers of age estimation were close to null.

"Is there somewhere more appropriate where we can have this discussion?"

The old man nodded, and dismissed the other students, indicating for me and the girl to follow him.

I strode to accompany him, leaving the girl to trail after us, her diminutive stature causing her to struggle to keep up.

We walked through some gothic corridors that I'd have been impressed by in other circumstances before the professor (teacher?) abruptly opened the first door he came across and ushered the two of us inside. For all the foreign things I had seen since arriving, the sight of an empty lecture hall was disconcertingly Familiar. The man closed the door and made some movements with what I could only describe as a wand before turning to face me.

"Now, we have privacy, though I must warn you that I will report what transpires here to Headmaster Osmund."

I nodded vacantly before responding. He could be reporting this to the pope for all I knew or cared.

"I really do not understand what is happening here," I said.

"Neither do I," grumbled the girl.

I'd almost forgotten about her, despite her strange appearance and overall bad attitude. She wasn't the one surreally dislocated. I ignored her comment and started asking questions.

"Who are you people?"

The man raised a judgmental eyebrow before responding.

"I am Professor Colbert and this is Miss Louise de la blanc de la Valliere."

I nodded again. Colbert and Valliere. The names meant nothing to me, but they had names now, which was something.

"If you'll permit it," said the Professor, "it might be more efficient if I were to ask you some questions."

"I can't promise I'll answer, but go for it."

Colbert steepled his fingers.

"Where were you before you appeared here?"

"I was sitting at home. Nothing out of the ordinary I can remember."

"And where is your home?"

I looked at the two of them warily but could discern no trace of ill intent. Still, I didn't exactly need to provide a street address.

"Connecticut, if that means anything to you."

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I noted the coincidence of a famous work involving a resident of Connecticut ending up in a fantastical setting. Somehow I doubted Mark Twain had any connection to what was happening.

He shook his head, "Let's return to the basics. What is your name?"

"Lukas Martin."

"Where are you from, that your name sounds so foreign to my ears?"

His words sounded modern, but his sentence structure was antiquated. Cultural? Or a personal quirk?

"The United States of America, though I'm German by blood."

"Germanian?"

I shook my head.

"Whatever's allowing us to understand each other isn't parsing that correctly. But more importantly, are you telling me that you haven't heard of America or Germany?"

Colbert shook his head slowly.

A million thoughts collided with each other in my head. There was a moment of silence where I was simply too overwhelmed by the implications to come to any conclusion. Eventually though, my anxieties managed to produce a question.

"Has this ever happened before? Are there records of people appearing from really far away?"

It was only a moment, but the time between the question and answer seemed to drag on for minutes.

"No, this is entirely unprecedented," Professor Colbert said, with a look of almost wonder on his face.

I breathed a partial sigh of relief. It seemed I wasn't merely the most recent in a long list of missing people who had ended up here rather than in canals or trafficked. Of course, there was the possibility that the event that brought me here was so truly unique that there was no means by which I could be returned. However, basic logic followed that if there was precedent of something it could be repeated, especially if its possibility was only recently discovered.

"So what exactly brought me here?"

"I summoned you," the girl whispered.

"What does she mean by that?" I demanded of Colbert, rather sharply.

He shrugged, "Just as she says. She summoned you."

I was becoming more than a little exasperated. These people were saying words, but none of them made an iota of sense.

"What does 'summoning' entail?" I asked.

Louise cut in before the professor could answer.

"How can you not know of the summoning of Familiars!?"

"Indulge me," I said.

Colbert, fortunately, was inclined to indulge my ignorance.

"From the days of the Founder, the Spring Equinox has been host to the ritual of summoning, whereby a mage calls forth their lifelong companions, their Familiars."

That was a lot of words for one unbelievable fact.

"You're saying I arrived here by magic?"I said

Colbert squinted at me.

"Yes, I thought that was rather obvious."

I paused. I struggled to think of something more productive to say than that that was impossible. Magic did not exist. That fact was so self-evident that to utter the words would be a pathetic gesture. But what could I say to people who unblinkingly declared that I had been brought here by magic?

Considering the circumstances of my arrival and their sudden ability to understand me, it was hard to be overly judgmental of their belief in the supernatural. What had occurred was nothing short of miraculous and would be convincing if I put much weight on anecdotal evidence. But when reason and the senses disagreed, I'd always favor reason on the basis that the senses are easier to fool. No matter how much it looked like a duck and quacked like one, it wasn't magic.

That being said, I was in a situation where if there was a rational explanation, I lacked the faculties to grasp it. Let's return to the facts. Fact 1: I was in an unknown location by unknown means. Fact 2: these people refer to those means as 'magic.' Fact 3: I appeared during one of their rituals, suggesting that what they call magic is material. I had established my bearings, but was unable to launch into a line of questioning based on it as the lengthy pause caused Prof. Colbert to continue his own line of inquiry.

"Do mages not summon Familiars in your land?"

"No." I took a deep breath. "Unless whatever's allowing us to understand each other is faulty, there's nothing known as mages or magic in my homeland. The term's very definition belies its impossibility."

"That can hardly be believed," Colbert breathed.

I shrugged. "To be quite honest, I don't know what to tell you. Everything you've said to me since I've arrived has been utterly alien. From the beginning where you couldn't understand me, to when you started talking about magic, to not knowing about America."

I had for the moment given up on figuring out what was going on. I didn't seem to be under any immediate threat and these two were hardly giving me any answers. Annoyance and resignation were creeping up on me, hand in hand.

The pink-haired girl, Louise, had remained almost silent while the professor I conversed. I spared her a glance and saw her mouthing wordless consternation in what I felt was a spot on representation as to how I had felt since I arrived.

"'Tristain-' did I get that right?" I looked to Colbert who nodded in affirmation, "does not appear on any of our maps. And nothing that is similar to a power that could take me from my home and instantaneously drop me in that courtyard exists."

I felt a twinge of annoyance at how overtly excited Colbert seemed by my foreignness.

"I had known you were foreign the moment I saw you from your peculiar dress, but I would never have imagined…."

At the reference to my 'peculiar dress' I self consciously examined my button down and chinos. There were worse things to wear for a first impression, but it stood out uncomfortably from a crowd of capes and robes.

"But beyond the known world?" he continued, "such things have scarcely been theorized."

So this is the first first-contact scenario for both of us. I suppose it's going about as well as I could expect. That reminded me, what are the odds these places share the same pathogens? And I have no concept of their technological capabilities. A sudden chill came over me.

"What's the state of your medical care?"

"Why?" asked Louise, almost surprising me with her interjection, "Are you injured?"

"No," I said, "my concern is that if we're truly from as far apart as it appears, it's likely neither of us have resistance to one another's pathogens."

"Pah-tho-gin," she said, her voice suddenly sounding oddly accented as the word failed to process.

The professor looked no more comprehending. I guess germ theory isn't prevalent here. My anxiety mounted as I considered the prospect of a mutual sharing of diseases neither side had any resistance to.

"Disease carrying particles," I supplied.

"You might be diseased?" asked the girl, seeming repulsed.

I had to resist rolling my eyes.

"No," I said, trying to think of a way to explain it, "we're all carrying bits of disease from our environments. Your bodies aren't used to my home's diseases and so can't defend against them and vice versa. What's less than a minor cold to one of us may be virulent and lethal to the other. Unless you have advanced medical abilities, I'd suggest limiting our direct contact until we can devise a method of eliminating this threat."

Colbert looked pensive at that statement, which I took as a good sign. Whatever miracled had occurred had allowed us to bypass the language barrier but it remained to be seen how much of an impediment the difference in technology and culture would be. The last time there had been contact like this the Europeans had gotten syphilis and the Native Americans, well, they had gotten smallpox. If I was unlucky, I was already a dead man walking. If Louise and Colbert were unlucky, ninety-percent of their population were already dead.

Colbert, at least, seemed to be taking this seriously. His giddiness at the novelty of my appearance had vanished.

"Between alchemy and water magic, mundane maladies rarely trouble us," he said, "Nevertheless, matters of plague and pestilence are not to be taken lightly, for they can be truly devastating once they spread to the commoners. To that end, when this discussion is concluded, Miss Valliere and myself will conduct ourselves to the infirmary to be examined."

I frowned. I'm really unqualified to give medical advice, but evidently germ theory is beyond their knowledge.

"It's unlikely any of us would be infected from such brief contact, but it would be best if we could devise some means of determining the danger."

Not only do I really, really not want to die, but I really don't want to be responsible for a Great Dying.

"I fear unless you are aware of alternative means, our only course is to continue our contact and address any maladies as they arise."

If they didn't have anything more sophisticated, then there was only one thing for it. I hadn't lived through a pandemic to learn nothing.

"If that's the case," I said, "it seems we have little choice but to limit contact until we see if symptoms develop. Is there somewhere where I can stay mostly isolated for the time being?"

"That shouldn't be any trouble," Colbert mused, "but the problem of ascertaining whether there is any danger remains. I'll see if any of the other faculty have suggestions, but more likely than not our only choice will be for someone to risk exposure and trust the potency of our alchemists and healers."

More isolation was just about the last thing I wanted, but fear of smallpox was compelling motivation. The inverse was scarcely more attractive.

Louise practically shot her hand into the air, shaking with a fervor that was more than a little unsettling and half as much amusing.

"I volunteer to take the risk, Professor Colbert. I summoned him, so he's my responsibility."

I looked at her skeptically.

"I appreciate the sentiment," I said slowly, "but I am responsible for myself. The only responsibility you've brought on yourself by bringing me here is sending me back as soon as you're able. You have no obligation to risk yourself."

"This is correct Miss. Valliere," said the professor, "while you did summon him, no one will ask this of you. That being said, I will also not forbid it."

I nearly said something about his willingness to expose a child to potentially deadly diseases, but I thought better of it. When in Rome, the Romans had the ultimate say on how much agency they gave their children, even if I wasn't planning on taking cues from them.

Despite our admonishments, the girl's fervor remained unabated.

"I accept this task upon my honor as a Valliere!"

Both the Professor and I responded to her pompous display with a more than a little patronizing nod. Amazing that her little display of awkward arrogance translated, to the extent that it produced the same reaction. My opinion of Colbert increased marginally.

The girl recovered from her excitement and took advantage of the momentary lapse in conversation to ask a question of Colbert.

"Professor," said Louise, "What does it mean that I summoned him? A human Familiar shouldn't be possible."

I cut in.

"It isn't. I'm not a 'Familiar,' I'm someone from a foreign nation stranded here by magic," I turned to Colbert.

"I don't think I need to convince you that I'm from a land stranger and more distant than I can express."

"No, that is evident enough from your manner and attire, even had I not heard your attestations. However, as we have said, at the moment, we possess no means to return you from whence you came. And it is true that when Louise called into the universe for a Familiar you appeared."

I wasn't entirely following what was going on. The meaning of "familiar" in this context was unclear. Whether it was a translation error or a cultural matter, I couldn't understand it. What I did understand was that it was none of my business. My only business was getting home.

"It would be completely inappropriate for me to play at being a 'Familiar' for this girl, whatever that entails," I said, mostly to myself.

Colbert surprised me by responding.

"What is to become of you then, being stranded as you are?"

Well, assuming that somehow everything I'm seeing and hearing is true, there's nothing for it. I thought for a moment, forming the nucleus for a compelling argument, couched as diplomatically as I could devise.

"Of course, I am unfamiliar with the customs of this land, and as such would not presume to make any suggestions as to the proper course of action," I said hesitantly, "I will merely relay that in my own country, were the roles reversed, and an accident of fate strand ed one of you as a stranger from an unknown land on our shores, you would be kept comfortably, to be returned to your homeland as soon as a means was devised to accomplish this. Until formal diplomatic relations could be established, you might serve as an ad hoc representative of your people for the purpose of fostering peaceable relations and mutual knowledge."

I paused, searching the faces of my diminutive audience for any sign of my proposal's reception. Having no great skill in reading faces, the two remained inscrutable. Better hedge my bets a little.

"As I prefaced, I do not presume to recommend a course of action, only to express our own customs should a similar situation have befallen one of you."

The professor once again looked pensive, which I took to be a good sign. It seemed I hadn't grievously offended my hosts with my proposal, it seemed to even merit deeper consideration. When Colbert finally began speaking I hung on every syllable, awaiting what felt like a judgment.

"I must confess, despite the distance between our peoples, such a course of action does not seem altogether strange to me. However, as a professor, I possess no authority to confer any official status as representative of your homeland. For the time being, I will recommend to Headmaster Osmund that you will remain as a guest of our academy while the crown is informed of this unusual occurrence, as well as your offer to serve as representative until broader contact is established."

A wave of elation passed over me. It was a small victory, but it meant I was safe, at least for the time being. The crushing sense of panic that accompanied this bewildering situation quickly reasserted itself though.

"I see… I thank you for the hospitality of your institution. I must ask, if it is at all possible, by any means you possess or can obtain, that I be returned to my homeland with all possible speed."

A grave look passed over him.

"I sympathize with your situation, but I regret to say this is a truly unprecedented occurrence. I give you my word, we shall do our best to understand what brought you here and how you may be returned."

With that said, he turned to the girl.

"Miss Valliere has graciously volunteered to determine whether our contact will induce any ill effects, so for the time being she will represent the academy. Also, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to trouble you for an explanation of your people's concept of 'pathogens.'"

"I'll do my best when I get the chance, and I'd hope to tell you of many more things besides if you'll indulge me in returning the favor. Given magic is no more than a myth among my people I'd be very interested in knowing what you've discovered."

Hopefully that'll give me some insight into what a rational explanation for all this could be. I'm still not ruling out a coma.

Colbert was practically beaming. I had to conceal the pangs of resentment that returned. It was silly, but anyone being happy in this nightmare scenario I found myself in sparked annoyance. I returned what I hoped was a genuine, if wan, smile.

"The Academy is not as populated as it once was," he said, "I'll have the staff prepare rooms for you and Miss Valliere in a disused wing, there are enough that haven't crumbled into ruin yet."

With my fate decided, I had the presence of mind to display some courtesy.

"Thank you for your hospitality and I apologize that the precautions are necessary."

Colbert waved it off.

"No apology necessary, it was wise of you to appraise us of the risk, as we had no knowledge of the dangers of first contact between peoples."

I nodded graciously. First contact? I supposed that thebest analogy was alien contact. I had more or less based my proposal on how we'd treat one-at least one we could communicate with. Am I E.T. in this situation? This whole deal was both too coherent to be a dream or hallucination but too fantastically to be believed.

"You may remain here while Miss Valliere and I are seen to," said Colbert looking apologetic, "We should return shortly."

As they departed, I gave them a last thanks.

"I wish you and your medical experts luck in your efforts to ascertain danger and sincerely hope that we will not prove hazardous to one another," I said.

With that, my hosts saw themselves out of the room, stealing glances so ill-disguised that I felt the need to throw a sarcastic wave as the door closed. Immediately, I exhaled and slouched. What seemed to be the only two people in the world I knew left me in an empty lecture hall to my own devices. I supposed it was a good sign that they trusted me enough to leave me unattended. Though I supposed I shouldn't haven been surprised. After all, where might I go?

I looked up at the ornate vaulting on the ceilings, each of which centered around a decadently carved keystone. At first, I thought of the collegiate neo-gothic architecture I had seen. My mouth went dry as I remembered similar sights in the high medieval Malbork castle. Everything I had seen and heard thus far suggested where I was had more in common with the latter.

Something tells me this place doesn't have antibiotics. "Magic" had gotten me here and allowed me to understand my hosts, but that didn't mean I trusted it to save me from whatever super-smallpox these people might be harboring. That reminds me: ask about water safety. Not interested in dying of dysentery. Maybe George R.R. Martin can write a book about that and keep delaying finishing the series. I grimaced. While this place wasn't as bad as Essos, I didn't have three dragon eggs, nor was I the scion of a royal house. All I could count on was my self evident foreignness and the bluster that afforded me.

Given that, I wasn't doing too badly, though in all honesty I'd have to attribute that more to the reasonability of my hosts more so than anything I had done. Considering how bizarrely foreign my environment was, Prof. Colbert in particular was disconcertingly normal. Louise Valliere seemed a bit odd, but not remarkably so. If this truly was another world, its denizens were far less alien than they ought to be. For the moment, there was nothing for it but to wait and hope my luck held.