Dota 2 World: Return of Oracle

Chapter 1: The Man Who Swore To End Magic

*10 YEARS LATER*
I wished I could have said that change was good... it wasn't. After that incident when I was 11, I started getting creative. Beginning a hobby of collecting photgraphs and pictures, my dad started joking how I'm probably going to become a photographer when I get older. The idea was fairly tempting, I admit, but knowing my ability, staring at photos all day and all night is probably the worse idea, ever.
So in the end, I settled on becoming a PI, or Private Investigator, if you will. As I grew older, I've also realised that my ability, like any skill, could be trained, nurtured. When in the start I can only see emotions that occured immediately when the frame was captured, I can do much more now.
So it brings the story to a 21 years old me, laying back on my office couch and pondering about life in general, or probably just thinking about that cute girl I saw when buying coffee earlier. Not what you'd expect of someone with my ability but hey, this kinda ability is harder to explain than an ability which allows you to pass through walls.
I've just accepted a missing cat case of a cat that ran away during a photoshoot. Lucky for me, the cat ran away and hid in an alleyway not far from the studio. (There wasn't anywhere else to go around that place) Therefore it was easy since all I had to do was request for a photo that was taken during the shoot.
Holding the photo in my hand, I stared deeply into the picture. After a moment, I looked up and I am in the studio where the photo was taken, with everyone frozen in place, even the cat. Commanding in my head, the studio came to life. As the photographer clicked the camera, a flash ensued, which startled the cat and sent it jumping from the elevated chair, scuttling out of the studio. Following the cat, I saw as it darted out of an open backroom door and turn a corner into an alleyway.
The cat hid in a corner directly behind a trashcan and stayed there, falling asleep after a short moment. Securing it's location, I was about to break this virtual reality when something tugged in my gut. Looking up, I noticed a mark on one of the windows. A symbol was drawn like a square, shining navy blue as if... it was basked in a blue glow. Shaking to clear my head, I closed my eyes and I was back in my office, holding onto the photo of the cat startled by the flash. The symbol was bothering me, I had the distinct impression that I had seen it before, somewhere.
Bothered by it, I decided to look it up later. Replicating the symbol onto my notebook, I then pick up my trusty camera from the table and left for the alleyway I've seen in my vision. Oh I've forgotten to mention that due to my ability and the nature of my job, bringing a camera whenever I'm on a case is always useful.
It didn't take long to reach the alleyway, a mere 15 minutes drive and I'm on the scene. Strangely enough, the area seems quiet, maybe it's a work day, or it could be the neighbourhood, but that didn't sit particularly well with me. As I entered the alleyway, it was obvious the cat was gone. At the spot where it was hiding, it was now just an empty spot. Lifting my camera, I positioned the camera to capture the spot where the cat was at.
In the past, I've learned this neat trick. To activate my ability, I had to see through something... such as a lens, or at least the screen of a camera, in order to be able to project myself into the virtual reality where I can control my environment. Hence, holding the camera and looking through it, I closed my eyes and once again, I'm at the same spot but in my own world.
Looking around, I willed time to return, to go back to the moments when the cat was still around. There! The cat was getting up, shaking it's fur. It seemed tense for some reason and I begin to feel a strange foreboding as well. Remembering the strange symbol, I looked up, and someone screamed. Since I was still in my world, it took me a while to realise that the scream was occurring in real time. Breaking the virtual reality and running up the metal staircase on the alleyway side, my heart was thumping as I wondered what happened. The scream seemed to be made by a girl and it came from the window with the strange symbol. When I reached the backdoor of the place, I looked to the right and noticed that the symbol was... glowing.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped back and then rushed forward to knock down the door with my elbow. Well since I'm no superman, it took me 3 more tries before I finally succeeded. Gingerly stepping through the wreckage of the door, I entered the property. The place seemed unnaturally silent, especially after that scream. As I got closer to the living room, a voice was speaking and I quickly hid behind the wall as I eavesdropped on the speaker.
"... is done. I have eliminated the candidate for your prophecy, the old prophecy shall remain unfulfilled." The voice ensued calmly.
Prophecy? Candidate? What the hell is going on? For all I know, the voice might be from an alien of another universe, though it sounds oddly human enough. Edging closer, I sneaked a peak at the origin of the voice and nearly let out a scream of fear.
The man standing before me, if you can call it a man, was tall. He was wearing an ancient, well-crafted armour and wielding two huge, fine-edged swords. Though his back was facing me, I can see he was communicating through his right arm, which could be connected to a voice com, enabling him to talk to someone on the other side who also uses a voice com. Thinking that I wasn't discovered, imagine my shock when suddenly he turned around.
The man spoke, "Stop hiding there and come out, whoever you are. Did you really think I wouldn't have heard that racket when you break down the door?"
Startled, I stumbled forward and nearly tripped over a dead body lying on the ground. I was lucky I hadn't noticed it before because I instantly vomited, which would have blew my cover even earlier. The dead body was that of a girl, a clean cut can be seen at her abdomen, slicing through her, poor girl probably died from the wound immediately.
"Who sent you? Was it Mortred? Arrrgh, sorry I did it again, was it Phantom Assassin?" The man inquired.
Scared as hell, all I could do was put up a bravado as I stared into his eyes, which were glowing, almost like the symbol outside, "No... I... wasn't. Answer me first, why did you kill that girl and who the hell are you?"
"Ahh... a brave one, perhaps? Since I can smell no magic in you, I shall indulge you for the moment. My true name, don't use it too often, mind you, is Magina, but you may call me Anti-Mage. That girl was a part of an ancient prophecy made by someone known to me only as the Oracle. If that girl had survived, she could probably be the candidate for the prophecy, and that can not be allowed to come to pass." Magina said as he getured at the girl's body with his blade.
"Oh my god Anti-Mage you fool! Stop running your mouth everytime someone sees you! The previous person who saw you was killed for what you told him! And now we're gonna have to kill this poor sod too, just great." Someone's voice crackled through the com on Anti-Mage's right arm, which I assumed to be Oracle's.
Hearing that, I was instantly on full alert as I know that my life is in terrible danger. Spotting an exit just behind him, I pretended to make a move for it, which seemed to make Anti-Mage kick into action. In a split second, he vanished, only to reappear right next to the exit I had spotted. Not even having the time to process what I've just witnessed, I immediately snapped a picture of Anti-Mage and dived straight out of the window which I saw the symbol on. (Snapping pictures based on pure instinct had became something of a reflex action since I had discovered my ability)
Falling, I dropped onto the rubbish dump I noticed just before I had entered the apartment. Grunting, I quickly got out of the dump and hurriedly limped away, not even bothering to see if I was followed by Anti-Mage.

{It seems we have a new player in town, Oracle thought to himself. He had heard the voice of the one Magina was speaking to, and for some unfathomable reason, Oracle was slightly worried. While Magina was always quick to run his mouth, no one who ever heard him speak ever left his vision. This one, however, seemed to have broken the sigil without realising it, sending Magina back to his world. He knew that something was starting, but whether is it the prophecy coming to pass, he did not yet know, but he shall be ready, if that were true.}

[Author's note: I suppose for avid fans out there, you can already see a direction that I am hinting to you readers. Don't worry though, if you guys stick around, things are about to get a whole lot more interesting, mark my words xD]