The chaos of the moment struck fast, one moment I was sitting in the living room of my apartment on my computer, the next my front door bangs open with a huge gust of wind. The wind whipped around making a mess of the place knocking around the shelves as blank canvases and paint fell to the floor, I stood to get the door but the movement of standing up seemed to draw the wind to me and I felt myself dragged towards my open door and I realized it was different It was unpainted, sure the simple grey from before would normally make this hard to notice. But I'm sure I would notice swapping out the door with a wooden one, especially a wooden one. Though I have to say I wasn't really worried about that, it was what was through that door that had me frozen as I was dragged forward into it. The white sparkling swirl sucked me in and to my shame I only realized this when I was at the door.
I clutched against the door frame as I realized it was pulling me in but the shock of it and my less than healthy lifestyle left the effort futile as what felt like a slightly stronger breeze yanked me through, I heard the echoing thud of the door shutting itself as I ended up flipping and watching at that swirl expanded each twinkle on it a star. But only for a moment as I heard the door close again just as I was thrown into the dirt of wherever I ended up.
A face full of dirt makes anyone look foolish, doubly so for me in what amounted for a loose fitting shirt and shorts. The cool air hit me but I was still running hot on adrenaline to really care. I quickly went to sit up while finding myself on the floor in front of an old man. He was... a wise old man... At least as one would imagine a wise old man, he might look old but he held a confidence that I knew he was anything but old.
I swore his eyes twinkled as he rubbed his long white beard. "How interesting. I suppose you're a new student then." His clothes then I realized were the cliché of cliché, they were wizard robes, the classic blue with white stars complete with a pointy wide brimmed hat... but considering the glittering white starts in the swirl I saw that sucked me in I admitted to myself that for a wizard the stars fit well.
I felt my body start relaxing as I tore my gaze from him, I was in what had to be a magical forest... I mean that tree over there was on fire and another had flowers for leaves... Not to mention the absolutely ginormous tree that had spat me out, I saw the sign of a door in the bark noticing the distinct lack of a door handle.
Suddenly I am brought back to the man when he stamped his staff on the floor. "Well, what is it boy? You're here to enroll yes?"
I spent a moment confused as I tried to stand before I managed it shakily stand speaking with as much dignity as a man in shorts could. No doubt my voice was just as shaky as my legs. "Ah- Well. Maybe not. I was just at home when I was sucked through a door and spat out here." I could swear he smiled after I said that, though it was kinda hard to tell under his beard.
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Then after a moment no doubt him thinking he laughed. "Ah, it would seem your world has just joined the spiral. No worries once you have the strength you will have the ability to return. Though you will have to do a lot of searching."
Spiral... I suppose that swirl of stars that sucked me in? "You mean the swirl of stars?" I echoed my thoughts without thinking. That was when I wondered why I was so calm about this... I had just been sucked through space and spat out here. Maybe it was the distinct lack of any kind of danger, there was no threatening presence or aura or whatever that was putting me on edge.
He nodded this time. "Oh yes. I do mean that. Come on, lets get you some robes and I can explain more. I'm sure you're cold." I was cold... A bit, but I was more concerned about where I was. I was in a forest but it was more structured, the path I was on was more of a road... which turned out to be true when I followed the wizard robed old man, we stepped out of the forest... One moment there seemed to be an endless forest then the next step was onto an actual cobble street. No tall skyscrapers, just one and two story buildings. All made of some kind of stone and everything seemed to sparkle with magic.
I was still coming to terms with everything I was told. Being given robes of my own, simple plain grey but much warmer than my shorts. Sitting through a lecture on how the world works...
Wait I actually needed to hear that part, I focused my attention back on what the man with the blue robes was saying. "- Now while wizard city is not technically a world it is the base of the spiral making it the best place to construct the academy, every time the spiral finds a world with species of sufficient intelligence it pulls one from the world to learn letting them decide if their world should join the spiral or remain locked away forever." I started zoning out when he started commenting on previous times this happened.
But then as we walked he said something that caused my mind to stutter. "Of course, if you decide your world isn't ready to join the spiral you can't go back." A world of magic? Why would I think earth wasn't ready for magic? He seemed to get what I was thinking as he stopped.
"Well, it can't be a rushed decision that's why you can't even travel the spiral right now. You'll learn things that might be a bit tough for your world, things that will cause revolts, civil wars, not to mention the magic rushing into your world bringing with it the dangers implied."
I couldn't help but ask, I just had to know. "W-Why me?"
My question seemed to give him some kind of signal. "Well I know I said this earlier but you were still recovering from the shock of it. But you have the potential to be a wizard." His powerful hand rested on my shoulder as his gaze become compassionate and understanding. "I know what its like, trust me. I too was one of the original wizards, I chose not to open my world and decided to guide the others in how to do magic. Now, get some rest I'll send a professor to get you through tomorrow." That hand on my shoulder suddenly pushed me into the door we had been standing in front of and I found myself in a simple dorm room.
I tried to open the door to speak with him more but when I opened the door he was gone, even though I turned around almost immediately he was gone, I never even got his name... Well I guess I am tired, so I might as well sleep