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Peter didn't notice the moment it happened. His stuff was already in the house, as expected, and after he took a minute to wander around and see what it was like, he decided the first thing he wanted to do was go look for a job here.
It's when his computer is booting up and he's thinking about that that he notices that he isn't... sure... what he was going to look for, exactly.
...he's hungry. And thirsty. Why does he feel like he's never felt thirsty before? Whatever, roll with it, he follows his nose to the trays of food his neighbours so kindly provided him with.
.........this is really exceptional food. Whoever made that tartiflette needs to be hired as a chef somewhere fancy, like, damn.
Right. Whatever. So he's... got no memory of his life prior to, uh, earlier today. Everything that happened before is somewhere between a blur or just straight-up missing. Possibilities for why this is the case range from something extremely bizarre having happened to erase all of his memories... and all evidence of his existence from the internet... to him having literally been created fully-formed with the vague memories just today.
Why does he feel like it's the second one.
Maybe he's just paranoid. Or it's his narrative sense. Something like that.
What does it mean for him to have been created fully-formed today with just vague memories and... concrete knowledge about programming?
Well, first, it means that everyone he's ever known doesn't exist because he hasn't actually known them. He feels like maybe he should be... mourning... his lost family, but he can't think about them. He can't remember them, they don't exist, they never existed. And he doesn't feel the loss. There isn't anyone to mourn. His heart is... empty.
But second, it has... implications about the world. He thinks. Probably.
Maybe everyone was created fully-formed today. Although those people welcoming him didn't seem... particularly existentially threatened by the idea. He doesn't want to flatter himself in thinking that maybe he's just much more introspective than they are and that mattered, that feels rude.
Maybe people just do get created fully-formed sometimes, and his question on s/NoStupidQuestions will just have something like "hey hello welcome to the world this happens sometimes yeah here's some resources to get acclimated". He checks on it, actually, it's been a few minutes, but the thread still has no replies.
...actually if that's a thing that just happens then surely there's resources about it online. He's gonna go check that.
Nope. Some substantial amount of Siimgling and Simpediaing reveals absolutely no online resources on people being spontaneously created, or at least nothing that isn't obviously crackpot stuff. So much for that.
Wizards, however... do exist. Not that he... really doubted it... he's not sure why he would? But online resources are scarce, and they do point to the best bet being going to Glimmerbrook if you're interested. Which... is weird, right? He's not going crazy, right, it is bizarre that wizards exist but are somehow endemic to this specific tiny town? Maybe magic only works here? Or maybe there's some huge drawback to being a wizard and only a tiny cult of people do it?
Okay, back up.
He got created today. He (thinks he) wants to become a powerful spellcaster. He lives in a tiny house in a tiny town and doesn't have a job.
Why does he want to become a powerful spellcaster? That seems to carry over from... his fake memories. But prima facie it seems like a legit thing to want, investigation into magic and possible drawbacks pending.
What about a job? Presumably he needs one to... well, if nothing else, pay for his bills. How much money does he have in savings? ...less than §3,000.
Why did he get spontaneously created with such bad decisions?
Well. Job first—if nothing else, he needs to send his application places.
...how is he going to apply places without having any prior experience? Or... any safety net... of any kind...
...
...
Okay maybe he can figure this out later once he has scoped out the magic. His savings should hold him for at least a week. There's meant to be a magic portal here and the town is tiny enough that he can probably spend a couple of hours walking around and see most of it. Maybe he'll run into someone and be able to ask about it.
He puts some walking shoes on, grabs his phone and wallet, then out the door he goes.
The town... has a river. Which, really, he knew, but why does he feel like he's seeing it for the first time?
(A: because he was created fully-formed inside his small house a few hours ago.)
The river seems like a good bet on what to focus on, so he starts walking along it, to the left from his house first.
He sees a jogger in the distance, jogging along the beaten path between the trees, but decides not to go after them. If he somehow doesn't run into literally anyone on his walk then he can... probably knock on someone's door?
But it turns out to be unnecessary. Whatever force of creation made him exist chose a pretty good spot for his house, because after only a few minutes of walking he sees a glimmer that turns out to be very much a magic portal in the distance.
It's an aesthetically pleasing location, he has to admit, but he docks some points due to the fact that it's right by the top of a very, very tall waterfall. What the hell, that's an accident waiting to happen, especially with how he has to actually skip from the riverbank to the rocks right in the middle of the river to get to it. Anyone could just slip and fall into the water and then fall to their doom.
Dumb.
But at least very obvious!
Once he's certain of his footing, he... stares at the portal.
Why is there a magic portal in the middle of a random river by a tiny town, entirely unattended. Is it indestructible? Is it secret somehow? Is there some mind magic affecting everyone in the world that makes them not want to visit, or do people just not care?
Peter walks up close to the portal, slowly, ready to react to anything that... might... need to be reacted to. But nothing at all happens. When his face is inches away from the shimmering surface of the portal he raises a hand up to it and stick his... pinky finger through. It tickles a little bit.
Also, the finger is totally not visible anymore on the other side of the magic membrane.
He pulls the finger away immediately and it's still whole. Which makes him feel kind of silly for worrying but on the other hand he would feel even sillier if he had just walked through the unknown magical portal and ended up being disintegrated by it or something, so, he stands by his paranoia. ...and he also tests a whole hand, then a whole arm. You know, just to be sure.
He's... sure.
It's literally a magic portal right there and he can step through.
Well. Worst-case scenario, he dies, and while he doesn't want to die, apparently he's only existed for less than a day, it won't be a big loss to... humanity.
(Yes it will, he's the best thing that's ever happened to this world, but he shouldn't really think these thoughts.)
He doesn't die. It doesn't even feel like much of anything, except for slightly ticklish and maybe a bit cold, like walking into a store with AC on.
(Has he ever done that? Probably not. So how does he know what it feels like?)
But he spent so much time thinking about all the ways the magic portal could be dangerous that he forgot to spare any thought to what he would have expected to see on the other side. Whatever it would have been, though, he's pretty sure it's not...
...this.
He's looking up at what looks like an entirely ordinary house. What's extraordinary is the way it looks like whatever he's standing on is floating in the middle of fucking space.
Rather than go into the house, Peter wants to explore the edge of... this floating island? It sure looks like a floating island, and that conclusion is backed both by the fact that he can see other floating islands with clearly-man-made buildings around and the fact that he does find an edge to this island after half a minute of walking.
And to think he'd been worried about a waterfall.
A wave of vertigo washes over him so he takes several steps away from the edge and falls on his ass, just in time to see someone zoom past and above him on a broomstick, flying in the direction of one of the floating islands there.
Flying... broomsticks. Okay. He has no idea why he keeps having intuitions about what is and isn't normal when he didn't exist until today but he still does and it'd be dumb to deny that he's having those intuitions and reactions.
But he'll just... sit there. For a minute.
Okay, enough sitting, getting his mind blown by apparently-mundane facts of existence is getting tiring.
Given that the magic portal spat him out right in front of a mansion of sorts, the mansion is probably important. He gets up, dusts himself, and walks over to said mansion.
The inside is peculiar, very sparsely decorated. One large square room with a lowered area in the center with some sort of arcane-looking symbol on the floor. The walls to either side of him have two archways each to other rooms, while the wall across the room from him only has the one. And while this room itself is empty, he can hear faint murmuring from the side areas.
He walks slowly to the right, his footsteps echoing in the large hall, until he reaches the first archway, and realises that both archways on that wall lead to the same room.
The same arcane symbol from before is etched into the floor of that room, and what can only be described as a magic cauldron stands on its center, with various crystals and gemstones placed somewhat haphazardly under it. There is also a set of stairs, a double chair, a desk with a weird balance thing on it, two bookshelves and, most important of all, a person. A woman, just standing there, doing nothing, looking like she's thinking about something.
Also, there's some sort of magic rune floating above her head.
Okay! Promising! Stranger with a magic symbol floating above her head!
Peter... knocks on the wall, right next to the archway, and says, "Excuse me?"
Yes! Yes he is—wait, no, probably she just means he's new here and they've never met, not anything more metaphysically relevant.
"Hi, yes, I am. I'm Peter Tarleton."
"My name is Cara Lane, Sage of Practical Magic. Welcome, welcome to the Realm of Magic," she says, walking over to the double chair and patting the seat next to her. "Please, sit."
Wow okay that's—he's strangely feeling like crying? What is this and why is he so overwhelmed. He stops himself from it and walks over to the chair to sit next to her.
"I, um, well." Maybe he should have thought this through a bit better. But oh well, he's here. "I'm interested in magic?" he tries.
"No, no test of aptitude or personality, no making sure I will use my powers for good, nothing?"
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