The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of Runes and Stones

So the Adventure Begins

Tintin remained seated in his seat as he continued to reflect everything the women had told him. He exhaled deeply as his back hit the seat, sliding slightly down in exhaustion.

"So let me understand this. Magic does exist but it is harder to ignite it here than in your realm which is basically parallel to mine. The relic you seek to find is one of many others that are needed to make an ancient spell that happened ages ago. Which caused one world to become two realms parallel to each other. If such a spell happens again, the mere magic used will cause massive destruction upon both realms and disaster will occur that can never be repaired."

"Not to mention your people here will not be able to cope with the mere normalcy that comes with a magical world. The mere thought of such a concept is deemed stupid, impossible. All we know is that the very few who did witness magic or did somehow find their way through one of the many portals..... They died. Unable to take it all in without the proper guidance." Anna said quietly. As if the mere mention of those people's deaths weighted in sorrow and mourning despite them being strangers. Tintin lifted his head, sitting up.

"Why me?" He asked. "If you come from a land with magic, surely there is something you can do with your magic."

"It is not as simple as you may think," Elsa said, handing Tintin a cup of brewed tea to calm his mind from the vast information he had received. "The spell from centuries ago removed the majority of magic from this world. One must have magic powers or obtain a powerful relic in order to use magic as simply as in our realm."

"Which is why your relic was stolen. It not only contains the spell but holds powerful magic within it?"

"Correct." Elsa took out the small vital and handed it to Tintin. Who set down his tea to take it. "That contains a tracking spell of the thief. We found a lock of hair in the vault so it should take one directly to them. But as you can see, it is dim."

He examined the vital, noticing the coldness of the glass and the contents within. To his surprise, there wasn't any content to examine. The vital itself was filled with sparkly liquid.

"Which is why you wanted to find me. Because you have no clues, no leads to use this tracking spell."

"Plus. You were recommended by those guys in the alleyway. They said you have a record of finding your way into messes and doing the right thing. That you found ancient artifacts that were stolen and returned them safely or stopped drug dealers from continuing their empire. This is no so different than your previous adventurers, save the magic."

Anna had a point, Tintin supposed. What they were asking of him to find wasn't so far off from finding the idol with the broken ear or ending the drug smuggling from Alan. It just seemed different since there was the secrecy of magic and ending a spell from happening. It weighed differently but it still helped the world grow to become a better place.

"I'll be honest, I won't believe in this magic situation until I've seen proof myself. It's a reporter thing. But this doesn't mean I won't help you."

Anna looked at Elsa in a way that Tintin wasn't too sure about. It was as if Anna wanted Elsa to do something.

"Thank you, Mr. Tintin."

"Please. Call me Tintin. Mister sounds way too formal." he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.

The women giggled.

"I'll return to our hotel room to collect our notes for him then. He'll need everything if he's going to find clues."

Anna rose from her place against the wall and left without much of another word. Then came this tension between Tintin and Elsa. Nothing negative or awkward, just tension. Tintin wondered if she had the same dream with him in it. Surely not, they just meet! But then why did she feel the tension too? Tintin glanced at her. She was very beautiful in person, his dreams didn't match her beauty at all. Her eyes...