The Magic And Tea Association For Extraordinary Individuals

Stepping over the demonic corpse that had only just fallen still, Fen sighed.

'That was far too close for comfort'

Not only had Fen been completely unsure as to if his plan would of worked till the very last moment, a plan which required him to predict the thoughts of a completely unknown being, it had not even existed - and would not of, if it hadn't been for a exceedingly rare stroke of luck.

Thankfully, said being had been felled by whatever overwhelming power dwelled in that mysterious door in front of him - a door that Fen would, begrudgingly, have to exit.

The creature had seemed sure of Fen's ability to open it. Fen was not, but was able to admit that it would certainly be more well versed in the doors workings.

Thankfully, it seemed the creature had been correct. Fen did not suffer the same cruel fate as the creature, and was able to comfortably touch and pull open the somewhat rickety piece of birch. Fen immediately hissed in surprise as daylight flooded into the chamber, temporary blinding his unadjusted eyes.

Feeling the suns rays beat down upon his skin, Fen allowed a smile to escape. He had actually escaped, something that had only seemed more impossible the more he progressed through the dismal tunnel.

Speaking of the sun's rays however, Fen was a little unsettled. The environment was frankly… a bit too nice for a inhabitable zone - even though the Southern Quadrent occasionally recieved splashes of sunlight occasionally, this was far too, frankly, nice. This was only further confirmed by the large, vibrant array of trees and succulent grassfields that stretched for as far as the eye could see - a far contrast to the muddy, desolate and industrialized streets of what was considered one of the nicest inhabitable zones out there!

Well, he supposed it made sense - it wasn't likely Fen was completely expecting to pop back up in the gloom of the Southern Quadrent after such a strange happening of events, especially due to the fact he knew practically everything about his prior unwelcoming area of residence - that, unless he had completely missed something, housed no such cave system.

Also, a team of supernaturals residing in a inhabitable zone, even for a temporary expedition, was very unlikely - especially ones that seemed as capable as Thor's had been.

Except for the guy who wielded the pole of course - Fen had no real reason to believe the man had been any less capable, it was simply his fault for leaving behind such a useless weapon.

Finally fully stepping through the doorframe, Fen spun around, checking his surroundings completely. He had seemed to emerge from a rather sorely sticking out lump of rock, the door planted firmly in the centre of it. This would of been a little surprising given Fen's awakening in a deep underground cavern, had it not been for the slight upwards gradient that had appeared in the tunnel - just enough for it to be plausible that it connected to the surface. To his sides was simply more grasslands, with many shrubs and the such littering it lazily, the only thing useful seeming to be a path of course dirt that stretched in front of him.

Fen immediately began climbing the jagged boulder he had emerged from, hoping to gain a more useful view. Unfortunately, it offered little, simply allowing Fen sight of more grasslands behind him, which eventually at least led into some kind of forest.

Carefully treading down from the boulder, Fen contemplated his options. The forest seemed a little too risky, his environment was still completely unknown, and guaranteed no eventual place of sanctity. Instead, the course dirt path seemed to be the best choice. It would most likely end up reaching some kind of village or town, and unless the creator had been particually reckless and powerful, would most likely be safe to travel along.

A painful twinge of hunger developing in his stomach, Fen was unceremoniously reminded of his lack of supplies. He had decided not to risk taking the backpack of water, as even though he was fairly sure the creature was simply faking slumber, allowing him to leave, he didn't wish to test the theory. It had also likely been at least a week since he had consumed any kind of food, maybe longer, depending on how accurate Fen's sense of time within the tunnel was.

Hopefully, the path's destination would not prove to be too far.

'Worst comes to worst, I could probably hunt something, and find a stream I suppose?'

Fen had scavenged enough to know how to survive in the wilderness to at least a basic level, so he was confident that, in a place that seemed so fertile and teeming with life, he would be able to make it by.

Before setting of down the path, Fen curiously tried pulling the wooden door shut - after all, he had assumed all along he would not be able to simply close it after exiting - if it was that simple the creature surely wouldn't of left him to freely make it to it. Somewhat thankfully, the door did not shut - likely it had to be somehow closed from inside, as the real Thor and his party must of closed it somehow.

It would likely be fine to simply leave it as be - the creature was dead, and if any rift creatures were to exit there were countless people more suited to worrying about it than him.

Fen took one last long around, and began moving forwards.

At first he was alert and surveyed his surroundings carefully, but after a while he fell into thought, barely taking his passings - he had a lot to mull over, after all!

First, was his location. It seemed likely to Fen that he was in the capital, a place often described as vast and ethereal, a perfect city. Naturally, Fen had knew it was all simply propaganda, but he had to admit, the vast rolling plains did seem like a completely different world to him. Being brought up, Fen had been taught in whatever limited education he had recieved that the capital was the goal - to be allowed entrance was like being given your humanity back.

'Guess it kind of just worked out?'

Fen laughed, the concept was simply ridiculous. He had been chased by a horrific creature, jumped from a window, been seemingly killed, brought to a unknown cave of which he traversed with another horrific creature before - barely - making it out. It was not particually a situation you'd expect to work out in your favour.

Speaking of things working out though, Fen was a little hopeful towards the idea of him being once again firmly rooted into reality. Yes, he had been forgotten and seemingly completely erased, but whatever the man had done to him may of reversed that - after all, had the creature of the cave not been completely capable of processing and remembering him? Unfortunately, Fen could not currently be sure. The creature was of the rift, and it was definitely possible th-

"Oooh, I like your uniform. Fancy!"

Fen almost leapt in surprise, quickly spinning around to face the source of the voice. He was met with the sight of a fairly old woman, likely in her early sixties, who wore a rather spectacularly white, and certainly exceedingly expensive tunic, paired with a extremely contrasting pair of rather bland baige trousers.

The tunic was certainly an artefact, and a powerful one at that. Maybe not as much as the pendant that currently found itself around Fen's pale neck had been, but certainly something to be wary of.

Fen was also unconsciously aware that the woman was incredibly powerful. Most likely even more so than the two completely transcendent creatures he had already recently met - a feat Fen had thought would take years to occur.

'It certainly made sense that she had been able to sneak up on me so freely then, I was a little out of it but not enough to allow some random old woman to surprise me. Probably.'

Acting as if he hadn't nearly leapt into the nearest bush, Fen's exterior remained calm.

"Thank you, I guess? Still not sure it's exactly mine, but whoever previously owned it probably won't miss it."

"Ahh, one of those days, eh? I've had plenty of them, once I even - well, let me not get sidetracked. My name is Auxley Audlett, formally from the Magic And Tea Association For Extraordinary Individuals. The founder, even. Most people consider me an oracle of sorts, and although my set of ability's are frankly, so much more than that boring marginalisation, it would be best to think of me as one - Now, you're either going to explain exactly what happened in that rather mysterious cave you exited a few miles back, or I'm unfortunately going to have to restrain you under suspicion of you being a very, very ancient, and very, very nasty demon. Actually I take that restrain part back, it didn't sound as cool as I hoped, I'd basically just kill you."

Fen sighed.

It was certainly 'one of those days'.