Work Text:
ONE YEAR, TWO MONTHS, EIGHT DAYS BEFORE THE RITUAL
A man stands alone.
Hunched over his workbench, Warden imbues a large bear trap with a green liquid he brought with him. He set the trap and put himself in his hand-crafted shelter. Muttering to himself, he sat and watched.
For an hour.
For a day.
For as long as he could keep himself awake. Silently watching as no creature dared to test his alchemy. Warden's eyes grew weary. He blinked.
He was in a bed. Not his own. Some of the weapons along his belt began to burn and hum. Warden ran to the door of the room. Outside was nothing. Absolute nothing.
"How may I assist you, sir?" came a voice from behind. In the corner of the room stood a slender red-haired man, wearing some attire Warden couldn't make sense of. Then he saw the man's eyes. They almost hurt to look at. "Please, I assure you I am only here to help."
"Where the fuck am I." Warden opened a flask of a viscous purple liquid that release a colorful gas from its top. "Get me out of here now."
"Warden, please have a seat." The man raised his hand and a chair snapped to Warden's back. "You're in my domain currently, so truthfully, you cannot do very much! I just wanted to be hospitable to my guest"
"What are you. Which one." Warden begrudgingly sat down. He was disappointed in himself that a patron could catch him while his guard was down.
"For now, I am but a humble servant. I've been serving humanity for decades now. However, something else has fallen to me." The slim man let out a sigh, shocking Warden. "I think, there needs to be more forces in play" This time, he laughed. "Warden, I had to take away 80% of my power to even bring myself to the human plane. I don't even know if I can get back once I'm ready." His demeanor changed in a second. "There are more like me coming to this world, make my existence more interesting"
"You gonna let me go now?"
The slim man let out a sigh, "You should be glad I told you this, Warden. You have a chance to not be a failure like your mother and father."
Warden realized just then. "This is.."
The Doorman smiled, and the world crumbled around them.
Warden woke up, he couldn't remember falling asleep at his post. He could barely remember anything after setting his trap. He moved to check his trap, and found a dead hare. He threw it in a bag, picked up his trap, and went back home.
Except, something was troubling him, a word lingering on his mind. For months he couldn't shake it from his mind. Two blue lights shining on the word "Baroness".
Warden slashed the end of his finger, and dipped it into a pot of stagnant orange metallic liquid. "They will feel the extent of our power." All over the Northeastern regions of The United States, alchemists received a message. "COME TO NEW YORK."