Dota 2 World: Return of Oracle

Chapter 2: Alchemic Tramsmutation

I suppose it's not too girly of me if I admit that I was shaking all the way back to my office? That encounter with Anti-Mage is not, a fun meet and greet, let me just say that. Anti-Mage seemed awfully familiar, but when I try to recall where I've heard that name before, I could feel a chill running down my spine. Deciding that a shower would probably help me settle down more easily, I proceeded to take a shower, and then heat up some leftovers from yesterday's dinner.
Munching on the spaghetti, my mind started to sort through the events that happened today. When I realised where I've heard that name before, I nearly spit out the spaghetti I had in my mouth. Rushing over to my laptop sitting on the table before my office couch, I turned it on. With trembling hands I turned on google and typed in: Dota 2 Anti-Mage.
The results were... astonishing, to say the least. The pictures on google were surprisingly accurate, though not having seen his face, I had no idea if what the pictures depict of it were true. So if the Anti-Mage in Dota 2 actually do exist, then it is also possible that others exist. Considering that, a name comes to mind: Oracle. Anti-Mage mentioned about Oracle hunting down candidates for his prophecy, which is obviously, not mentioned on the internet.
Going through his bio, however, it was mentioned that Oracle was bound and gagged, then sent on a dimensional barque at high speed out of their universe.
Clearly, I was skeptical about the whole affair. A famous mmorpg actually turning into a reality show? Come on! But as much as I didn't want to believe this is happening, the events that occured today was very real. Whether it's a murder done by some crazy dota 2 fanatic, I will never know. However, as a PI, I did have an obligation to report a murder that had occured.
Scrolling through the contact list in my phone, I paused at the name: Officer Verdent. Officer Verdent has been my inside contact within the police for a while now, supplying with critical information regarding some of my cases and in return, I'd use my abilities to resolve some of his cold cases.
"Hey dude." I said as the phone connected.
On the other end, Verdent grunt as he greeted me as well.
"I got something kinda big this time man, a murder case occured in an apartment about 20 minutes from here. Best send your man over now." I informed him as he mumbled something that sounded like: "Always telling me what to do..." Verdent was a nice guy, but rather shy and rarely asks too many question, which makes him perfect contact material. Now that the murder was reported, I begin to revise certain details of the scene.
The thing that kept bugging me was that symbol. Looking back on the internet, I found that the logo was similar to the one from the dota 2 website. However, the one in the website was red, but the one I saw was actually blue.
Curiously, I managed to find the blue symbol on the internet and in a moment of curiousity, printed it out. Wondering how Anti-Mage, if he even is real, came to my world, I took out my camera. Looking through the pictures I'd taken, I found the photo I was looking for and focused on it. The picture that I'd taken just before I dived from the window was not of good quality, due to the haste I was in when it was taken. Also over the years, I learnt something else of my ability: the quality of the picture, actually translates over to the virtual reality.
It is of no surprise, therefore, when I materialised in a reality that was rather... out of focus. Fortunately, I can still see Anti-Mage standing next to the exit. Controlling the environment, I steered it to the moment before Anti-Mage was in the apartment, to the time when the girl was still alive, and let the scenerio play out.
The girl was around 18, now that I can see her. She seemed to be studying a stack of notes in front of her but I can't see clearly, due to the blurring effect of the picture. Suddenly, the girl stood up, holding one page of the notes. She then placed it onto the window and drilled it in. On that page, was the blue-coloured symbol that I have seen.
Then, she shouted, in a clear and unwavering voice, "Come forth, Magina!"
From the symbol on the window, a sharp light shone and a wave of force burst through the symbol, throwing the girl backwards. When the girl regained her footing, she quickly turned around and found the hero standing there.
Not for the first time, I cursed the quality of the photo that I'd taken as Anti-Mage spoke, "... me, did you? The Oracle was ... once again, as he .... Now that you know I ..., your ... is decided."
She screamed, visibly terrified, as if she suddenly woke up from a trance. Anti-Mage raised his sword high as he slashed her in one smooth swing. Clutching her stomach, she sank to the floor, muttering something inaudible as she died.
After that, since I'd already experienced it before, I shut my eyes and returned back to my office. It was a weird experience, and left more questions rather than answering them. Desperate for answers, I decided to make a reckless move. Grabbing the copy of the blue symbol, I placed it onto the wall on a corner of my office, making sure there's enough space if Anti-Mage comes through. Knowing how dangerous he is, I went to the drawer and grabbed a colt from it, preparing to fire in case he bursts through the symbol like what I'd seen in my vision.
However, before I can utter his name, the whole building shoke. Since my office was located at the 2nd floor, the shake wasn't too strong so the symbol managed to hold, somehow. At this moment, the symbol shone brightly, and what came out of it was something I did not, expect.
"Halt! Halt! You big oaf!" A small man riding a huge ogre shouted as the ogre stumbled around.
When he finally calmed down, the ogre seemed to be mild and peaceful, even sitting on the floor and letting the small man down.
"So... this is where the symbol had led us. In which realm is this? What plane of existence makes something so mundane? Speak, worm, before I smother thee!" The small man said, hands still juggling potions as if be was born with them.
"It can't be... you're Alchemist, aren't you? But why do you sound so weird?" I remembered seeing him as one of the heroes from the Dota 2 world.
"Urrrgh, humans. Should have figured they'd know about our existence by now. Go tell that useless king midas that he's a thief and that if I ever see him again, the hand of midas better be given back to me, or so help it I will unleash my ogre through his entire kingdom!" Alchemist was raging on.
After I managed to calm him down, it took quite a while to explain everything: How king midas had been dead for a very long time, how I found out about the heroes' existence and how the people would react if they saw a huge ogre and a tiny midget (hey sorry but he was irritating with his snark comments) roaming around my office.
"Hmph, of all the people who can give you the grand tour of our situation, it just had to be me. Zz, all right fine, listen up then you slow human." Alchemist rumbled as he jumped onto my couch and laid back, "Firstly, my true name is Razzil, since you seem pathetically harmless. In my place... let's just say my experiment was sabotaged by a certain king, and the result, my capture. In my cell I met this ogre, created a formulae that allowed him to become crazily, and I really mean, crazily strong. With him I managed to escape into the woods and continued searching for the materials to recreate my experiment." Alchemist explained.
Knowing all this from his bio on the website, other than the sabotaging part, I said, "I've already known this from your bio man, I just want to find out what is Oracle doing here murdering people through Anti-Mage?"
"So you've seen his henchman, Anti-Mage? That's bad, really bad indeed. Very well, it seems like you are already deep into the affairs of our world, so an explanation would be highly appropriate. You see, there were others who ventured into the world of Dota 2 before, which would explain why the game even exists. Most of the stories and skills are accurate, but there are things that were left unsaid, such as what happened, after Oracle was sent out of his universe, banished by his own people. That kind of stuff would have messed anyone up royally, no matter what you are. Now, let me tell you more..." Alchemist began to speak of the story that would set in motion the events that will alter the course of history, of all worlds.

{Sensing a shift in the worlds, Oracle knew that someone had stepped from the world of Dota 2, into the world of men. He rose, floating across his chamber as he approached a highly-technical device that showed many events happening at once. After scanning through all of them, he found the missing hero: Alchemist. In his gut, Oracle already knew what is happening. The events of his prophecy is finally coming to pass, and his return would not be far behind.}

[Author's Note: I hoped you enjoyed reading this part as much as I did writing it, the truth about both Oracle and his story will be revealed in the next chapter, so stay tuned ^^]