Diane was awakened by the sound of a baby screaming. When she tried to move she found that everything hurt. Breathing hurt. When she picked her head up to look around every muscle fiber in her neck and back protested the movement. The first thing she noticed was the red sky. It wasn't that it was sunrise or sunset, the sky was just red. Her head was pounding like she had a migraine headache. It was hard for her to breathe, like she had a weight on her chest. As she tried to stand it took every ounce of strength to stand up. When she got to her feet she was wobbly at first. Diane looked at herself noticing all the dirt and mud she was covered in. The baby's cry she heard earlier sounded close, she looked up and realized she was in a crater. She was completely at a loss as to what she should do. She didn't know where she was or how she got there. Diane hung her head and started crying, she wanted to do nothing but find a hole to crawl into. The cry was getting closer, but because it was echoing around the crater she didn't know what direction it was coming from. Looking left and right continuously, and because of this she was blind-sided by something colliding with her from behind. Diane had the wind knocked out of her as fell face first into the dirt. The impact caused the pain in her head to increase. She felt a pressure build in her head till she felt like her head would explode. Diane looked up to see a small female with purple eyes too large for her face standing over her. Diane's head was hurting so bad she didn't understand that she was the one screaming now. The little person was trying to get her to be quiet, but Diane couldn't understand a word she was saying. The beast that was chasing her would be there any second. As Diane rived around on the ground, she was grabbing her head so hard she was digging he nails into her own scalp, drawing blood. As Diane looked up to the edge of the crater she was in, her cry was instantly cut off by complete and absolute terror. The creature looking down on the hard a body of a giant spider, with sharp protrusions at the joints of its legs and along its back. But its head was that of a newborn baby. When it opened its mouth it let out a cry like a baby, with mandibles and fangs hanging out, venom dripping from its mouth like drool. Diane's entire body locked up in fear, she was paralyzed to the point that she couldn't even breathe. As the creature slowly crawled over the lip of the crater, the little person's eyes widened even more. She started to back away from the giant monstrosity when she tripped over Diane's leg. She crawled backward using her hands and feet to scurry up the other side of the crater. The dirt and mud was to slick for her to make any progress, she kept sliding back down in front of Diane's face. Seeing her futile attempts to get away from the creature awakened Diane's maternal instinct to protect children. The pressure building in her head reached a climax and she tried to direct the force coming out at the creature. Since Diane had no clue what she was doing part of the blast struck the little person with her. She flew into the crater wall, rolling back down next to Diane unmoving. The creature didn't fair nearly as well. The blast lifted it straight up into the air where it exploded raining body parts over everyone in the crater. Diane was thrown by the force of the blast, here vision started fading when someone violently yanked her up by the front of her shirt. Diane had no energy left in to even fear what was happening to her. The side of face suddenly flared up in pain. It took Diane couple seconds to realized she had just been slapped.
"Wake up you sorry excuse for a human being", Diane heard a woman yelling at her right before she got slapped again.
"Stop doing that!" Diane yelled as her eyes shot open. Standing in front of her was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Diane looked her up and down trying to understand what was going on, and beginning to hate the confused state she constantly seemed to be in. The woman had blue wavy hair that flowed down to the middle of her back. Her eyes are hazel with big yellow and green flecks in them. She had full red lips and a cute button nose. Her skin is caramel colored and smooth as silk. She wore a battle armor with gold pauldrons, her breastplate, revebrace, plackart, and tasset looked like a thick red colored leather woven with weird colored metal bars inside it. Her finger-less gauntlets and thigh high greaves were black and gold, with that same weird metal worked into them. This combined with her exceptional strength made here slaps feel like Diane was being punched in the face. "Who are you and why are you attacking me?" Diane asked as he head lulled to the side falling asleep again.
" I am Calypso and I have the unfortunate job of being your guide." she said shaking Diane awake again. Calypso reached behind her and thrust her hand into the carcass of the spider beast and pulled out its venom sac. She dropped Diane back down to the ground, climbed on top of her and gripped her lower jaw forcing her mouth open. "If you survive drinking this venom your body will change. You will be stronger than before, this planet has a gravity that is double that of earth. Your body will be able to handle three times earth gravity after this. You will be harder to kill because your skin will be able to deflect most minor attacks. As you already experienced your abilities are slowly awakening, train them, use them to survive. You were sent here to learn lesson about humility and self-sacrifice. If I feel you have learned those lessons when I return I will take you to your next training ground. If you die in the meantime then one less thing that I have to worry about. And one last thing if the little creature lying unconscious next to you wakes up she is now your responsibility. If she dies before I return I will leave you here for the rest of your miserable life. Now nod your head if you understand me."
Diane felt the pressure on her jaw loosen up just enough for her to nod her head. Just as she was about to ask Calypso a question she held the venom sac over her mouth and squeezed its contents into her mouth causing her to choke on it. She instantly felt a burning sensation down her throat and into her stomach. Diane was still too weak to do anything, and she felt her nerve-endings begin to fire off all over her body at once. As Calypso stood up off of her body, no longer restrained, began to spasm and flop about. As Calypso watch this for just a few seconds she allowed herself to feel pity for this woman, but then she steeled herself again remembering everything that was at stake here. Diane no a prisoner in her own body could do nothing but experience excruciating pain for what felt like an eternity. Her muscled where so locked in wave after wave of spasms that she couldn't even scream. Her head flopped to the left and she could Calypso walking away her red cape, that she didn't notice before, flapping in the wind. As a single tear rolled out of her right eye all she could do was wonder, "Why me....."
When Calypso climbed out of the crater Orion was there waiting for her. He didn't look pleased with her performance down there.
"You could done that a little less harsh couldn't you?" Orion asked
"You were the one who sent her here, so don't judge me on my methods." Calypso said defiantly planting her feet shoulder length apart and placing her fist on her hips.
"Yes you're right. Sorry you have to clean up my mess..... I just lost myself for a moment. I thought I could keep my cool better but seeing her after all I've been through..... Well do you think she will survive?"
"Well since she's moved to a higher plane like us that poison won't kill her. And one of the benefits of this planet is that if you consume part of your first kill within an hour of its death you make its strength your own. She will be faster, stronger, have more endurance and agility. But it will be her responsibility to figure all of that out. You said she was very perceptive and highly intelligent, so she should have everything she needs to survive."
"Yeah that is one thing Jerry and she have in common, but she is emotionally fragile. Why did you save the little female? By letting her survive Diane's psionic blast she is essentially bound to her now. You said you weren't going to give her a crutch, you getting soft on me?" Orion said with a little chuckle.
"I'm not completely heartless. Even-though she doesn't deserve any sympathy for what she did to us, I can't leave her completely lost on this planet. And you're one to talk, what about what you did to Jerry? Dropped him in the ocean, then vaguely gave him directions toward her and left him to figure everything out on his own. Your no better than me" Calypso said glaring at Orion
"Hey, I know he has help no less then what Diane does." Orion said, then holding his hands up in a surrender gesture "But your right we can't sugar coat their experiences, that will only handicap them. If they don't tackle every problem on their own they will come to rely on us too much, and they won't push themselves to the limits of their abilities and beyond. And they will need to reach their pinnacle if we are going to survive what's coming. Let's hope he is right to put his faith in them." With that Orion and Calypso start to walk away, but after two steps they are just gone.