The neon glow of Zurich's skyline bled through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Café Elysium, casting ripples of electric blue and violet over the polished steel countertops. Ikaros wiped down the espresso machine for the third time that hour, his reflection warping in its chrome surface, shaggy shoulder-length brown hair, and Gray eyes stared back at him, five-o-clock shadow making him only look more scruffy.
Outside, the city hummed, a symphony of hovercars, holographic billboards, and the occasional roar of a dragon circling the distant peaks of the Alps.
He hated Tuesdays.
"Order for Table 12!" chirped the AI server, its voice tinny through the café's speakers. "One caramel macchiato, extra synth-foam, and a… sigh… gluten-free non-gmo double baked velvet vegan croissant."
Ikaros rolled his eyes. Even in 2179, some things never changed. He grabbed the porcelain cup, his fingers brushing the emblem etched into its side—a winged hammer, the symbol of Hephaestus, god of the forge. The café's owner, a burly ex-Magic Knight named Viktor, insisted on using "authentic mythic-themed dishware" to attract tourists. It worked. The place was packed with wide-eyed naturals gawking at the framed autographs of minor demigods on the walls.
As he steamed the milk, Ikaros glanced at his wristband. The biometric display flickered: Null.
Pathetic. Most Zurich inners his age had already manifested abilities—telekinesis, pyrokinesis, or even basic aura manipulation. But him? The only thing he'd ever ignited was a crème brûlée.
The cup trembled in his hand.
Not again.
A familiar pressure built behind his eyes, like a storm crammed into a skull. Colors sharpened, the ruby pulse of a fairy's wings at Table 3, the electric crackle of a dwarf's cybernetic arm by the door. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the sensations intensified: the acidic tang of cheap cologne from the businessman in the corner, the rhythmic thrum of the building's warded foundations.
"Hey, Kaos!" A meaty hand clapped his shoulder, scattering the overload. Viktor loomed behind him like a mountain with his 210cm(6'8) height over Ikaros's 188cm(6.1), his long red beard braided with glowing runestones his head as shiny as the world's most immaculate diamonds. "...you're thinking about something rude again aren't you?" he tightened his hold a little, "Stop daydreaming. The Ascendancy rally's got people jumpy. We close early."
Ikaros nodded, sliding the finished drink onto the server bot's tray. Outside, the holographic newsfeed above the Bahnhofstrasse blared: "Supremacy militants clash with Ascendancy forces in New Athens—casualties reported." The footage showed a dragon carcass smoldering in front of the Parthenon, its scales still glittering gold.
He was scraping the rest of the day's coffee grounds into the compost chute, the store dyed a fiery orange from the sunset, when the bell jingled.
"We're clo—" he began before looking up, the words dying in his mouth.
Three figures stood in the doorway, backlit by the orange sky. Their long coats swayed behind them, absorbing the light, black nano weave obscuring their figures, hoods shadowing their faces. The air thickened, tasting of iron and ash.
Seers.
The leader stepped forward, boots clicking on the synth-wood floor. Ikaros's heart rate spiked.
"Ikaros Ze'evi?" The voice was genderless, filtered through a voice modulator.
"Who's asking?"
A gloved hand slid a cream-colored envelope across the counter. The wax seal glinted blood-red under the lights: a stylized anvil wreathed in flames.
Hephaestus Institute.
"Your admission letter," the mage said. "The trials begin tomorrow. Be at the Zurich Labyrinth by dawn."
Ikaros stared at the envelope. This had to be a joke. The Institute only recruited prodigies Inners who could bench-press skyscrapers or calculate quantum spells in their heads. Not null nobodies who burnt latte art.
"There's a mistake," he said.
The mage tilted their head. Behind them, the café's wards began to hum, Viktor's hidden enchantments reacting to hostile intent.
"No mistake." The mage's hood shifted toward the newsfeed. "The Ascendancy burns children alive for showing magic sparks. The Supremacy drags families to temple silos for 'divine assessments.'" A pause. "You'd rather die here?"
The envelope burst into flames.
Ikaros yelped, but the fire died instantly, leaving the paper untouched. His wristband flickered.
What the hell?
The mages turned to leave. "Dawn, Ze'evi. Don't be late."
The tram ride home was a blur. Ikaros clutched the letter, its edges digging into his palm. His cramped apartment in District 6 smelled of stale takeout and the musky herbs Mrs. Chen downstairs grew for her potions. He collapsed onto the couch, the envelope's seal glaring at him like a cyclops' eye.
Just open it.
The wax cracked with a sound like breaking bones.
Dear Mr. Ze'evi,
You are hereby summoned to participate in the 2179 Entrance Trials of Hephaestus Institute…
The rest drowned in static. His vision blurred—no, shifted. Golden symbols floated off the parchment, swirling around him in a helix of ancient Greek, and Norse runes, and something older, jagged, and hungry. They burned themselves into his retinas:
δύναμις
ᚱᚢᚾᛟ
𐤊𐤅𐤇
Power. Runes. Something…
A migraine spiked. Ikaros stumbled to the bathroom, retching. When he looked up, the mirror showed his eyes bleeding gold.
He passed out after that.
——-
The explosion shattered his bedroom window at 3:17 AM.
Ikaros woke to a violent wringing and the stench of molten metal, screams came from the street below. Red light pulsed through the smoke—Ascendancy sigils, the clenched fist haloed in lightning.
"SCAN COMPLETE," boomed a mechanized voice. "DIVINE MAGIC SIGNATURE DETECTED. PURGE PROTOCOL ENGAGED."
He rolled off the remains of his bathroom floor as plasma fire vaporized his bathroom mirror. Through the hole in the wall, he saw it: a 20-foot war mech, it's armor-plated with anti-magic alloys, cannon barrels glowing cherry-red. Civilian bodies littered the street, some still twitching.
They found me. They actually fucking found me.
The mech's targeting laser pinned him to the wall.
"Mage Found"
Bullshit.
The pressure returned—not in his head now, but in his bones, like molten iron pumping through veins. The golden symbols from the letter blazed behind his eyes.
δύναμις
He reached.
The mech's plasma core flared… and dimmed. The streetlights died. The entire block plunged into darkness.
The symbols rearranged.
ᚱᚢᚾᛟ
Ikaros slapped his palm against the floor. Runes erupted from his skin, searing through concrete and steel. The building shuddered as ancient glyphs reforged its structure—walls thickening, support beams spiraling into fractal patterns.
The Mech regained its lights, but the mech's next shot ricocheted off a suddenly indestructible wall.
"What… the…?"
The next attack came in as a soft crack, half a moment passed before the mech suddenly jerked and flew off into the distance, trailing drops of water as it flew.
"Sic Semper Deus!"
A dozen figures in pale blue robes leaped from behind the building he was in, their fluttering robes accompanied by drops of water that followed them like rain. Followers of Phorcys given their outfits and the Wave over a trident Symbol on their backs. They paid little heed to the people on the street, instead quickly throwing up a wall of white-water to block the incoming fire of the mech, which was now probably aided, given the amount of fire coming at them.
"Arneas, find and capture that image alive."
one of them spoke, Ikaros now noticing the black band wrapped around the speaker's arm, and the other's arms, legs, or head.
A Golden Six-Pointed Cross on a Shield.
'The Supremacy'
"Yes, Mam." the hooded figure named Arneas spoke back.
"The rest of you foc-"
Whatever else they were saying, Ikaros couldn't hear it, a wave of exhaustion swept over his body, and despite his best efforts, he passed on the spot.
—-
By dawn, the street was a crater. Ikaros awoke amidst the rubble, the letter still clutched in his blood-covered hand, he must have cut himself during the fall.
The Hephaestus seal glowed warmly against his palm.
In the distance, the Zurich Labyrinth's obsidian gates yawned open.
He started walking.