Going Home

2 years ago, 146 PND (Post Nuclear Disaster) Jon made a wish. This wish lead to the last 2 years of pain, confusion, longing, depression, anxiety, war, new friends, new enemies, and a host of other boons and problems. That was all going to be history, he was finally finished constructing the teleportation array and putting the final touches on the Arcane Circle.

'There, it's finally done, I can finally get back home to my friends and family', Jon thought as he set his scribing quill down and nodded in satisfaction. He had been diligently working in a remote lab in the far reaches the Great Silt Sea, an arid, salty, desert wasteland of this world he had just barely begun to learn about. The closest city, if you could call it that, was easily a day and a half walk from here. He wasn't sure how the array would interact with the magic around the city, so he had decided to come out here and construct a lab six months ago.

The lab was as bare bones as he could afford to make it for this experiment. He had a small fridge, an ice box, a cot, a small chest, a small bathing and toilet area, and a few energy stones that were dedicated to running the basics while he constructed his array. There was a storage area, of course, that he kept under lock and key with no shortage of Arcane arrays and traps to deter others from meddling and let him know if anyone was within 4000 meters.

It wasn't that he didn't trust anyone necessarily, it was that he wanted to take as many measures as possible to make sure what he was doing wouldn't harm others. He shook his head, his shaggy mess of dark blonde hair falling into his face as he pondered how people would react when he made it back.

'Do they think I've died, or am I just another missing person? It's not like I was ever the best at keeping in touch anyhow, but it has been two years.' He moved to the bathing area and stared into the polished metal surface of the wall that he had been using as a mirror, realizing how much he had changed in such a short time. He had always kept his hair shoulder length, but it was now easily just below his shoulder blades. His grey eyes were a stark contrast to his sun darkened skin, his beard unkempt and uneven from neglect while he had been diligently constructing the teleportation array these last four months. He stood to his full height, admittedly not an imposing sight as he was only 1.7 meters tall (67 inches). The light build of his frame, although toned and somewhat muscular, was only about 65 kilograms (approximately 145 pounds).

'I guess it's time to clean up, shave and dig my better clothes from my chest before I enable the array and go home.' With that thought, he pulled the knife from his belt and began honing it on the small leather strap he kept attached to a bar set into the wall. 'I wonder if anyone will recognize me?', he pondered, almost absent-mindedly honing the edge of the blade, well-practiced motions that had long become ingrained in his muscle memory.

With his current look…basically that of an overworked mage's apprentice (given the long hair and unkempt beard along with filthy torn up clothing and robes), he would appear as a homeless vagrant upon his arrival. After shaving, he took another look in his makeshift mirror, deciding it wouldn't hurt to cut off the excess length of his hair. He wasn't particularly worried about it looking neat and manicured like he had been in the past; he just didn't want to look homeless. Slowly working around with his blade, he managed to get the length mostly uniform at shoulder length. Without another thought, he hopped into the makeshift shower and cleaned up the best he could with what was left of what passed for soap on this world.

After picking the best clothes he had from the chest and getting dressed, he quickly moved to the storage, disabling the trap and security arrays. He braced himself, recalling he needed to close his eyes before opening the doors. As the doors were opened, a brilliant light, as if the sun itself had been stored away, shone through the cracks. Had Jon had his eyes open, he would most certainly been blinded for the next 15 minutes or so. 'I've been cooped up in this lab for far too long' he mused as the light came through his eyelids, temporarily blinding him for a few seconds anyhow. After a minute, or was it two?, he opened his eyes, squinting as he grabbed the heavy energy crystal.

The weight was familiar, a mild heat pulsating through his body as he handled the crystal. He had hunted diligently across the vast desert called the Great Silt Sea for 6 months while he studied the Arcane circles he needed to activate the teleportation array. This crystal in particular was going to be overkill, but better to have too much power than not enough, right? If someone had a good pair of welding goggles, they would see a pure white crystal, almost a perfect sphere, radiating a pure white light. Standing within a few feet of the crystal, the energy it gave off was palpable. Had Jon not been so dedicated to getting back home, he could easily sell such a treasure and live comfortably in a major city for the better part of the rest of his life. Jon had no clue about that though, ever since arriving on this world, all he had though about was how to get back.

'That damned Djinn, if I ever run into her again I've got some choice words for her. I'll be damned if I ever allow such an entity to twist my words screw up what should have been a fantastical wish.' With that thought, he placed the crystal into the power receptacle of the array. He stepped back after closing the hatch, finally able to open his eyes again. He wasn't sure exactly where he would end up after activating the array, he only know the spatial coordinates to get him back to the mountains in what used to be near NORAD back on Earth.

He stepped onto the array, moving to the spatial coordinate input center with two quick steps. Pausing, he wondered how much had changed back home, if anything at all. 'It's not like the wish affected anyone else. She couldn't have twisted my wording that much…..could she?' He shook his head, not allowing his mind to wander down such a dangerous path. He quickly put in the coordinates, along with what he could remember of latitude and longitude for that region of the Rocky Mountains. His hand hovered over the activation control, his mind running a million scenarios of how this could go. Before changing his mind, he slammed his fist into the control.

Power surged through the array, the Arcane circle beneath and around the array flashed to life, breathing power into the machine. Energy transfer circuits cam to life with a whirring sound, connections were made throughout the array, small sparks of energy flying out when breakers activated. Within a matter of seconds, just as Jon started to regret his decision to hit that control without conferring with the high mage back in town to scry where he would end up, the lab fell silent. A light whir could be heard, energy idly moving in the array, the Arcane circle still bright with power. The coordinates on the input center flashed dully, as if inviting another to step in and activate the array once more.

A shadowy figure stepped into the lab, a light smile playing on the corners of their mouth. This had been made all too simple for them. They would have to wait for a couple of hours, not wanting to arrive on top of their prey. That would be much too simple, and he was only a small part of their assignment anyhow. There were powers that wanted to know more about this strange new sphere that had entered their existence. This new world, not yet accustomed to universal powers, wasn't scheduled to advance to this realm for another 3 millennia. They needed to know who this man, Jon, who had asked too many questions in ear shot of important, power-hungry individuals, was and how this world, Earth, he had called it, came to be here so soon. The shadowy figure ran their slim, delicate fingers across the railings of the teleportation array, grinning to themselves while pondering how this would play out. This was going to be great fun…..