Reawoken

[Grimm]

Slowly Grimm faded back into conciseness. The last thing he remembered was laboriously scratching a rather nasty combustion spell into the padding of his cell. The guards always gave him space after the he had managed to get a levitation spell into one of their pockets causing the poor guardsman to be sent through the wardens office window giving him the time he had needed to set this all up. Grimm shock his head now was not the time for reminiscing about his five year stint in an agency prison. calmly he sat up and looked around and then with a silent chuckle got to his feet. A field. of course it was a field, that was where he awoke last time. A new life, a new world, logicically it had to follow that a new field was also in order. This field was less impressive then the the one he had awoken in so many years ago though. it was smaller giving way to a white void of nothingness after only a few meters. There were no trees and now that he looked there was no dirt either. The grass beneath his feet simply sprouted up from nothingness.

Grimm span on his heels, a quick three-hundred and sixty degree turn. it seemed that he was not the only person in this world, off in the distance he could see people walking, running and riding between eight large gates that stood as the only solid things he could find. In an unfamiliar world surrounded by unfamiliar people Grimm resolved to do what he did best, experimentation. He remembered Omni's rather bare bones description of how summoning things worked. First things first he would need to figure out the basics. A new set of cloths would probably be the best bet. It would allow him to get a feel for this new form of magic, test it's ability to replicate the complex structure of a weave and get him out of the rather conspicuous orange jumpsuit that had been the only item in his wardrobe for far to long. Grimm tried to mimic what he had seen. he raised his hand palm open and pictured his old suit forming around him. As he did so a rainbow coloured bubble slowly began to crawl out of his palm covering his hand in a thick layer and then slowly spreading up his arm. The expanding bubble didn't seem to be harming him but a lack of pain receptors meant that he really was none the wiser as to what exactly it was doing. The bubble kept moving and had made it to his shoulder now. for a brief moment Grimm was worried that it would spread to cover his face but it stopped at the collar of his jumpsuit. Grimm had to admit that the function of this mystery substance was indeed fascinating. it was clearly a fluid from the way it moved but it's shimmering prismatic hues where hard to explain not to mention that fact that it seemed to be obeying his whim without need for magic incantation. He could have mused over it's nature for hours but after only a few minutes it was done. As slowly as it had spread from his palm it faded away leaving him in his old suit. Grimm smiled, his old suit had seen him through some rather impressive adventures and while this one was only an imitation it was enough to remind him of his old home. Out of habit Grimm gave his suit a quick pat down and checked his pockets. He hadn't expected to find anything but it appears that when he had visualised his old suit he had visualised everything including the contents of the pockets. one by one he emptied them into his hands taking inventory as he went. One A5 notebook he used to jot down whatever spells he needed when he was out and about; two vials of cheap enchanters ink, he had always kept the good stuff in his desk at home; one cheap on the go quill he used to scribe ruins into the aforementioned notebook, it wasn't the best quality but it served it's purpose and one deck of cards with various spells scribed into them.

Grimm would have loved to use use this time to set up some new spells but he knew that wouldn't be practical. This world was clearly an empty husk but the gateways shimmering films implied that they might lead somewhere. His best bet was to take a last few moments to gather his bearings and then pick one at random before heading through.

[Grimm]

Something seemed of about this place. Grimm couldn't quite put his finger on it though. The seemingly endless expanse of emptiness was arguably peculiar of course but it wasn't necessarily wrong, mage's and technologists alike had used voids just like this one to test the basic functionality of new spells and machines for years and as such there existence wasn't too far out of the ordinary. The world wasn't even that empty, people of all shapes and sizes bustled between the archways in the distance going about what for them had probably become everyday life, but still something didn't feel right.

Shaking his head Grimm set about what might turn out to be a very important decision, which gate would he go through. On the face of things this was a rather terrifying prospect, just picking a gate and waltzing into the unknown. Even from the distance he was at he could tell that the haze hovering in the various archways obscured the precise contents of the other side. Logically it was possible that getting closer could cause the haze to clear but the archways were a long way off and if the people commuting between them were anywhere near what he would consider to be a normal scale then it would be a good two or three hour walk to get there. He would have to chose one now.

Dead ahead of him was a gate made of solid milled steel. He couldn't quite make out the minor details from this distance but it's aesthetic reminded Grimm of the great skyscrapers that filled the city states of the technologists. Directly in front of the gate stood two figures. They appeared tiny but they were quite clearly carrying armaments and most likely standing guard. It was possible that they were friendly members of the local enforcement department but if they were anything like the security forces from his own world it would be best avoid them until he had a better sense of what exactly this place was and who he could trust.
Turning an abrupt forty five degrees Grimm turned his attention to the next gate. This one was made of old yellowed stone, still no good. one by one Grimm took in each of the gates. By this point he feared he might have to resort to choosing one at random, then one caught his eye. It was made out of pale stone and what at this distance appeared to be a dark moss. The gate was almost crypt-like in the way it stood and Grimm could see a definite lack in travellers using it when compared to the others. While for the other gates this may have caused Grimm to immediately discard it something abut this one called to him, causing him to put some more thought into why it might be a good choice. Not standing out was very important; He could easily get someone's attention if he needed help but disappearing into a crowd when things went south would be near imposable if he stood out like a sore thumb. By this logic a crypt-like destination would probably be the best. With confidence in his decision Grimm quickly looked over the other gates to be sure that one of them wouldn't be better and then out at a brisk stride.

About a half hour passed and the Gate on the horizon had been growing steadily. Grimm went through his logic checking it for any errors, much better to find them now when he could still change his mind, there were none. As long as his assumptions held true and this gate did lead him somewhere that reflected it's appearance everything should be fine. With that done Grimm set about thinking of something to pass the time.
"One. Two. Four. Eight. Sixteen. Thirty two. Sixty four" Grimm murmured happily under his breath as he resigned him self to what would likely be the next hour or two.

"One billion seventy-three million seven hundred forty-one thousand eight hundred twenty-four. Two billion one hundred forty-seven million four hundred eighty-three thousand six hundred forty-eight" Grimm stopped. the gate was closer now and bigger then he had thought it would be. mustering all the confidence he could he speed up to a brisk pace and drew himself in so that the haze that obscured the other side was only a few centimetres away from his face. Then he took a deep breath, that was really more a gesture then anything else, and stepped into the unknown.