The sight of the field before the labyrinth was a grand thing to see as Jean Carteneau crested over the hill on his horse. The journey from Lulia was just over a month; it took Jean and his small team of five scholars a week by sea on the Lulian fast frigate [i]Sirius [/i] to a port of one of Lulia’s friendly trading partners, and then another two weeks by horseback to where they were now. A bit tired from the journey, Jean suppressed a yawn as he and his team of five mages surveyed the entrance to the Labyrinth. The professor thought the scene to be like some sort of fair or festival, by the sheer number tents and people adorning the great field before them, but of course he knew that the tents were simply staging areas for various nations and orders. 

Jean stood silent for a few more seconds atop the hill before the silence was broken by a steady, but still unsure voice behind him. “Shall we go in, then?” The professor tilted his head back. The voice belonged to a young summoner that had volunteered for the expedition, like everybody else on the team. She was a bit hasty, but he supposed nobody could be faulted for this or otherwise on this day. 

“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “A long journey should be rewarded with a little rest. The military’s already been here for a couple days, and it would be good to drop by before entering. Unless you prefer to barge in, hungry, dehydrated, and tired?” He tilted his head back again, giving the summoner a wry smile before gesturing for the group to move ahead with a hand wave. 

The Lulian tents were not hard to find. The temporary canvas structures were dyed navy blue and yellow, the house colors of the Crown, and its edges were gilded. The perimeter of the tents was guarded by swordsmen in ceremonial uniform, and these qualities stood out well enough for the small group of scholars to find their kinsmen after a cursory scan of the area. The little Lulian post felt more like a forward operating base instead of a place where people, in theory, went to die. This perhaps was a cultural difference, and Jean recalled the words of the Teann Ch’I commander that he overheard on the way to the Lulian tents. Lulians were definitely unlike them –All of the people at the Labyrinth entrance were volunteers, and a small group of them would even eventually return to Lulia after sending off all the expeditionary teams. 

While Jean did not know any of the officers or soldiers at the tents, they were very hospitable and were glad to share stories and food with the newcomers. Four expeditions had already gone in, he was told. Two were the elderly, one by the army, and one by the navy’s marines. They would be the fifth, joined by a team of battle-mages, a fact that Jean shrugged at. The more the merrier, he supposed. 

With night now falling fast and everybody rested and content, the joint expedition moved towards the gates of the Labyrinth, dismounted and on foot. Like the others, Jean did not know what to expect. Indeed, he feared the unknown, but the chance to see and study the Labyrinth itself for himself was too alluring. 

---

Jean blinked. A second ago, he was with his fellow scholars and army compatriots, with a sea of tents around him. That was now gone, instead replaced by a scorched field and an unfamiliar, foreign night sky. Reasoning that he was likely now inside the Labyrinth, he looked down to confirm the status of his belongings, which were as intact as it was when he first arrived at the Lulian camp. He then looked around him, scanning the blackened field. He looked for the familiar face of the energetic summoner, and then his white-coated alchemist colleague, and then for the blue-and-yellow coated soldiers of his country, but Jean only found unfamiliar faces amongst the group of people that he had appeared in. The professor slowly stood up.

“Well,” started the professor, scratching his head. “This is troublesome.”