With a sudden jolt Tephestus rose from a bed, his hands quickly feeling over his body. "I-Im alive?" his voice coarse and low. He began to look around him, leaving the soft embrace of the bed nicely fitted to him. While he was looking around he saw a mirror, and his reflection startled him. His tattered clothes, brusied lips and eyes, even the scorch marks, they were all healed.
"Someone of high power must have helped me... But why?" he looked at the robe loose over his body, purple with a strange symbol over the heart. Investagating the room once more he started to notice a trend. This room seened to be a dorm room, one you'd see in ads for colleges.
"Ah he has woken?" a soft voice suddenly sounded, and a man with a black robe with gold adornments opened a door.
"Where am I? What happened...?" Tephestus instantly asked his questions, but was hushed unhurriedly.
"I shall answer these shortly, first I need you to drink this, healing can only do so much, it doesnt replenish your blood and stamina." As the man says this, a floating glass moves towards Tephestus, who slowly begins to drink it. "I am Geralt of Profound Knowledge, I was urged to rescue your weak body by a third party. Id like to invite you to study here, in my tower." Geralt says all this as Tephestus sits on the bed, lost in thought.
'Geralt? 3rd party? What kind of studying? Something isn't right' Tephestus thought to himself, and looked at the ground. He starts, "I have two questions, and one demand... Will you hear me out sir Geralt?"
The man smiles softly and nod, responding in a calm voice "Yes of course, please, speak your mind."
"What would I be studying? Are my Parents... Alive?.. Can I please have some food as well, forgive my rudeness".
The man, Geralt, seems to ponder something, and then begins to answer him. "Magic of course, and any other studies that I can help you with. Im afraid that im unaware of your family's lives, but your home is burnt to the ground. I can have some food delivered here shortly as well, for now, please take this chance to change into more appropriate clothes. I had some made for when you woke. I must mention, you've been out cold for quite some time, six days to be exact, so please take it easy on your body." Geralt nods his head to the boy. Then turns and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him softly.
"My home.. gone? Six days? What has happened, this doesnt make sense." Tephestus sighs softly, then looks once again in the mirror, a previous blonde hair, made white from fear and pain of what happened to him. His eyes gaining a bit of their old color back, a slightly bluer hue. He looks around and spots a set of clothes, quickly changing into them. He checks the mirror and pulls a hood over his head. His new outfit consisted of a dark blue cloak with a green adornment along the edge of the hood. underneath he had a blue shirt with the strange symbol. Looking at it more he notices that its a symbol of a higher court, a book with halos encircling it in the background. The pants with the outfit were a simple blue, and a pair of shoes, plain and black, covered his feet. After checking himself over once more he heads out the room.
A huge library sprawls out from the walls outside his room, a simple table in the center or the hallway, Geralt sits in a chair at said table and holds a book in his hand, a second chair floats to the opposite side.
"Please, take a seat, in just a few moments a meal shall be there for you as well. Oh, and tell me, can you see anything around us? Anything other than just books, I want to know if you can see it"
After taking his seat, he looks around, seeing nothing of much interest until a plate floats through the air towards him. A small ripple in the air causing white waves of distortions.
"There, with the plate, theres something there" States Tephestus.
"Very astute, yes there is, can you see its shape" Geralt smiles and looks up to it.
"No, I can t, but... I see more... I see something similar to the white distortions in I believe 5 other places. One is red, up near the very top of the roof, another to the left of it is blue." as he says this, his eye's slowly close, and he continues to point them out "Two down near the stairs behind you, purple and green respectively. There is one more. It is behind me, this one is... changing colors quite rapidly" Finally Tephestus stops, and opens his eyes to see a shocked Geralt. He also sees a plate of food in front of him. This being mostly just a slab of meat and a glass of what looks like orange juice.
"Tephestus... I'm shocked, you must have immense inner talent. Not only could you see my magical spirits, you caught wind of your own power, but that brings me my own questions. I can't wait to dive into your teachings. Tell me, what do you know if the magic around this world now." Geralt stares intensely at the boy, and puts his hands under his chin, awaiting his answer.
"Magic comes from the catastrophe that happened nearly 79 years ago, when every animal died. After they died and caught flame, our world changed drastically. Not only did the whole planet change, but everyone began to find a new power inside them, this being magic. Magic itself comes from a persons own inner talent, and imagination. Everyone has access to all magic, but just because they can access it, doesnt mean they understand it. Most people tend to Focus on something they understand and neglect learning to control the other powers." He stops. Then starts to think. "How did the world change? And how did every animal die? I never understood these, especially when we have a plethora of animals in every region." Tephestus takes this time to ask Geralt a question.
"To answer your first question, our technology short circuited, everything electronic died. Buildings colapased and quickly decayed, but what was weirder was that the materials of near everything changed, we use to have metal buildings, reaching even farther than the highest tower." He paused, seeing the evident shock on Tephestus's face. "Now too answer your question about the animals, I want you to know the animals now are completely different from what we use to have. These beasts now, they came from the crystals that came from the dead animals, creating large, powerful, and new animals and monsters. It even brought some back to life. The worst, or best depending on who you are, part about it all was the pocket dimensions created, these hold even stronger monsters in a completely different place. With great risks though comes greater rewards, those places are usually treasure troves. Does that answer your questions?"
Tephestus nods, but then raises one finger. "I have one more, when do it start to learn magic?" With this question, you can hear the excitement raising from his voice.