CHAPTER ONE

  Magic was real now. It was just that simple. Our world was one of science and technology. Then one day that all changed. Well, to say one day isn’t correct, but it only took one day for the world to realize that it had changed and that the status quo was no longer quo. The actual time Magic manifested was around was around fifty years ago. The one day that it took was only about forty years ago.

  The exact time of when Magic started to enter our world can’t be known for sure. What is known is that a new energy source found its way into our universe. Whether it was due to traveling here through conventional space or by other means no one can say, or at least no one is willing too. One thing that is known is that it is strongest in Europe, or what was once Europe. In Switzerland, near Geneva is the highest concentration. Some scientists theorize it was an experiment at CERN that allowed it in.

  It might have been some collision in the collider there that opened a doorway that let it in. That is the leading theory nowadays though. But the research into it is limited at best. The world is trying to recover and deal with the aftermath of what happened the day Magic was revealed to all, and the short time after it.

  The only real governments left are the United States and China. They have banded together in order to survive. Each still sees to their own affairs in general, but food and medicine were the important things following the events. Those events shifted the world almost back to the dark ages. Most of Europe fell within a year to the new power. The rest of the world committed most of its military to Europe’s aid. They were all decimated. Even the last-ditch effort involving the nuclear option failed to even dent the new world power.

  He called himself Emperor Mitchell. Doesn’t have a very fancy ring to it, does it? Well most people didn’t at first either when he took over the city of Geneva and then broadcast his call for surrender to the rest of Europe. The Swiss just sent ion their forces to quell his little uprising, when that failed it escalated. To be fair to Mitchell he did offer to pardon all who opposed him after each incursion. He claimed all he wanted was Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France and Italy. The four countries around his main stronghold. He didn’t even want all of those countries, just enough to create a buffer zone.

  His claim was simple, he had discovered something new and wonderful and wanted to use it for the betterment of humanity. His also chimed on about how if a government got it they would corrupt it and use it to oppress people and eventually the world. He just wanted to ensure that his people and him would be left alone until they could do what was right for the world. At first this confused many. As far as anyone knew he had been an American Grad student that took time off to intern at CERN. He was hired on and then quit after two years only to disappear from the radar.

  He formed what was deemed a cult when he reappeared about a year before the ”Day”. Then came his takeover of Geneva and his proclamation. It was unknown how he took Geneva so quickly and quietly, as it was the center of so many international entities, though Magic was surely involved. What was even more unknown was if his stated intentions were real. It didn’t really matter though as no government was going to give in to his demands.

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  After is was all over though, many did believe him and went to Europe to be a part of his new kingdom. Other out of desperation as the rest of the world fell into chaos. The one thing he did to warrant so much credit was that after every battle and escalation, all of which he won, he would offer a truce and even to demonstrate how he could help the world. No leaders were having it though, at least from the major powers.

  It all finally came to a head three years after he announced his intentions. Most of Europe had fallen, including England. All of the remaining world powers massed on the Eastern front in Russia to make one final push towards him. His forces met them and finished off the bulk of the remaining military on the world. This was also the day they used the Nukes. All estimates put the count at almost one thousand missiles. It didn’t matter. None of them made it to their targets, I mean they did, but they did not detonate.

  Some did go off though, when they returned to the countries that launched them, right at their capitals. The casualties were enormous. This was when Mitchell offered a truce. He would leave the rest of the world alone if they left him alone. The people in the countries still fighting urged their governments to take the deal, and they did. The world shifted into its new paradigm.

  Mitchell found many smaller and destitute countries reaching out to be allies and he accepted these alliances more for intelligence purposes than need. His enemies would be plotting against him and he wanted to be able to have eyes on them if needed. This is also when his outward message changed. He might have once been looking to help the world, but after a long war where the rest of the governments had tried to wipe him and his followers out he warned them they were on their own and to leave him alone.

  The new Europe was locked down. Not much information got out, but what did was horrifying at first. He purged all dissidents and anyone he thought would give him trouble. At first he offered to let them leave, but when the rest of the world, leery of anyone coming from Europe, would not take them he systematically wiped them out. Over time though, as things settled down, the word from Europe was that it was almost a paradise on Earth. For those that adhered to the Emperor’s will that is.

  The rest of the world wasn’t too concerned since they had sunk most of their resources into the war and efforts to try and figure out what was going on. One of the good things about the war was that overall, civilian casualties were low. When the world tried to bomb Europe, they were deflected somehow. And Mitchell never went after the cities of the enemies, except on that final assault. The downside of this was that when it all ended there were more people for the starvation and disease to effect.

  The aftermath of the conflict left few alone. Even countries that had stayed out of it, usually the smaller and poorer ones, soon found themselves under siege from larger neighbors over resources. This went on for years, even still seeing occasional events to this day. It was a mess. In the end almost half the world’s population was lost. It is back to almost four billion outside of Europe, since no one can say for sure how many are there. And Mitchell has kept his word to leave the rest of the countries alone.