Dota 2 World: Return of Oracle

Prologue: Story Of My Life

Aren't you curious of how the superheroes in all the movies, comics came to be? People used to say that behind every great hero, lies a humble beginning. Well, mine seems to fit the bill, though its kinda too low tone, even for my taste.

By the way, I'm no superhero. If you're reading this just cause you're looking for some epic action hero who fights bad guys and trash monsters, wrong book pal. I was born with a gift, that much is true, but its not the kind of superpower that you see in Thor or Spiderman. My ability, is to see through pictures, photographs and understand what lies behind them.
Ever looked at a photograph that was taken during prom and try desperately to recall what happened that night? Well I can actually see what happened in that moment, or to be exact around 3 minutes before and after the photograph was taken. At least that's as far as I've tried. It's probably easier if I give you an example, like when I was 11...
It was a cold night. My parents were home for thanksgiving. I sat on the couch with my dad and my mum was in the kitchen preparing the turkey for dinner. My dad was suddenly nostalgic and he took out an old photo from an album that he had kept for years. Inside the album was an old photo, of my parents during their junior years. The class photo that they had taken together was in black and white, with the girls sitting with their legs crossed on the front rows, and the boys standing neatly in the back.
Curiousity piqued, I leaned forward as I stared at the picture, while my dad went on about how he missed those days when he was the top of his class and how he had a crush on my mum. As my dad continued on, I felt something distinctly... strange. When I first looked at the picture, the students' faces were all emotionless, serious. But as I stared longer at the picture, their faces seem to change. It started small, one of the guys in the back started to grin. Then the guy next to him seemed irritated. Emotions started to appear on their faces as one by one they become more animated. After a short moment, the photo was a whirlwind of emotions as the students remained still, but their expressions evident and clear as day. Fortunately, just when it started to feel eerie, my dad took the photo away from me.
"Come on Jason, your mum just called, looks like dinner's ready." My dad said amiably as he ushered me into the dining room.
Still curious about what just happened, I asked my dad, "Daddy, why was the boy in the back looking irritated?"
A shadow seemed to cross over my father's face, but since it left as soon as it came, I was wondering if I saw what I saw.
"Irritated? You must be seeing things Jason, that photo was taken ages ago, and they were all supposed to look serious, or risk getting punished by the headmaster." My dad explained as he helped my mum set up the dinner table.
"Honey, what were you and Jason talking about? He looks like he's spacing out slightly." My mother commented as she placed a plate in front of me.
"Oh it's nothing. I simply showed him a photo of our old class. Remember dear old Bill from our class?" My dad replied as he cut a slice of the turkey and placed it onto my plate.
My mum frowned and answered, "Isn't he the irritating boy who kept bugging James? If I recall correctly, James was so irritated at Bill for grinning before the photographer took that photo that he reported it to the headmaster!"
"Ha ha you're right! Oh the look on his face, it was priceless!" My dad said as he settled down onto his seat.
After that exchange, the topic slowly drifted off to daily affairs and recent economical crisis. Not for me, however. My mind was already racing, I might only be 11, but I've heard enough to know that what happened moments ago wasn't just a figment of my imagination. What I saw was true, the boy grinning at the back must have been Bill, and the irritated boy James. Amazed at this, I probably already knew then, already, my life is about to change.

{Somewhere distant, a man was speaking to a weird figure playing with an orb and a cloak floating behind his back. "Get ready Magina, I have summoned you into this world for only one purpose, find those deemed possible to be candidates to my prophecy, and you shall be awarded with a priceless gift that you've always desired: the gift of sight." The man bowed deeply before the figure and replied, voice full of respect, "It shall be done, Oracle."}

[Author's note: I hope this was a decent start for you guys. If any of you readers would like me to recommend music from youtube to go with the story, please leave a comment and I will oblige. Pictures that can be found in this book are not made by me. Rather, these pictures were modified by me and the original sources can be found all over the internet.]

P.s. Due to a recent comment of a close friend of mine, I decided to clarify something. For those of you dota players who do not read the heroes' bio, its fine. The story itself progresses in the dota universe, true, but it is an extended and adapted version. While I try to remain true to the events that happened based on the bios released by valve, the story itself could be read without the knowledge of those bios as there will be explanations along the way, so just keep reading or leave a comment, should you have any doubts.