Falling asleep is always a gamble for what kind of rest I'll receive. Will I fail to sleep at all and sit in a restless near-sleep? Or perhaps it'll be that one recurring dream where I am running down a trail in the mountains with mind bending unnatural and impossible geometrical shapes hunting me down? Or maybe I will win the dream lottery and simply slip into a dreamless peace to wake up refreshed and ready for the next day? Time to roll the dice?
Slipping into fresh boxers and a light tee I slither my way under the covers of my bed and roll around before sending a short prayer to the Gods above for the new semester and a peaceful slumber. Letting the fatigue dictate the speed of my thoughts I ponder over what was said at the dinner table, and why their words bother me so much. It's just hair right? Why does it matter so much to me? Why do the words hurt? These questions anxiously whirl around my mind before I finally let go of consciousness with the aid of a full stomach and the tight embrace of a blanket burrito.
Suddenly with no forewarning or obvious trigger, I am brought up into awareness with my eyes taking in the sight of my surroundings. I can feel the air entering and leaving my lungs and the touch of a gentle breeze on my bare arms. Unfortunately I can also feel that same breeze on my bare legs as I seem to be in the same clothes I went to bed in. Now anxious at my underdressed state, I find myself sitting at a tea table under a marble gazebo within a luxurious and manicured flower garden.
The path leading to the steps of the gazebo is sidelined by a layer of moss upon which colorful mushrooms sit beneath the bright expanse of flowers. I question if I've somehow landed into the wet dream of a gardener of some sort. Stranger things have happened before... but before I can further appreciate the garden I've found myself in, I am interrupted by a posh accented man across from me at the table.
"Hello there!" he says with cheer in his voice and a grin that reminds me of a furry green goblin that just got away with stealing a national holiday. That's not concerning, not in the slightest.
"Um hi?" I respond with all the gravitas and intimidation I can muster, which is to say none at all.
"Ugh you didn't get the ref- never mind. Anyway! Hi! Hello! Sorry to steal you away from your sleep for a minute, I just have a thing or two to give you real quick and I'll have you back in bed ready for school in a jiffy"
Ignoring his overly excited voice and unnervingly smug grin, I instead focus on his words. Despite the disarmingly cheerful and relaxed tone, I am unable to muster any trust in his words. As such I fallback onto my training, thus I attempt to reset my priorities and ask myself the important questions of 'where am I? Am I safe? Is he armed? Can I escape?'. Finding the distinct lack of information to be an issue, I resolve myself to engaging with the unknown man across from me.
"umm.. do you have any pants I can borrow?" I mumble red in the face glancing down with my hands hovering over my boxers, attempting to cover any outlines of anything inappropriate. Perfect, lack of pants is certainly my first priority here, mother would be proud of my crisis management skills if she should find out, I'm certain.
"Ahh yes forgive me I hadn't meant to *snap* embarrass you like that, please take this and be at ease. You shan't be here for long" The man looks down under the glass table before quickly snapping his fingers materializing the softest blanket I've ever felt. It's a light pink and covered in cartoonish cute heads of cats that are somehow moving on the fabric floating like balloons that are low on helium whilst carefully avoiding each other.
"Is there anything else you might require before we get started?" He asks with a polite smile bringing my attention back towards him. Had he been talking while I was enamored with the unusual blanket? Trying to be upset over my lack of pants, but being mollified by the most adorable and comfortable blanket ever seen, I move towards my next priority and objective.
"I suppose this is enough thank you, with that said, forgive me for I must not have heard earlier if you said your name, and why I am here? Am I a captive here? Or is this a dream and my subconscious has a thing for flower gardens and cute cat blankets?"
"Hahaha dont worry about it, I'm glad the blanket is to your tastes and to address your other questions, no this isn't a dream and you may call me Torus. You are here to receive the tools and power necessary to choose the next hero or heroine of the world. As you can understand this is quite the serious business so I appreciate you taking the time out of your sleep to meet with me here this morning" With a teasing smile that quickly morphs into a grim expression as he drops multiple terrifying facts onto my virgin and unsoiled common sense, thus pushing me into a state of shock and disbelief.
"umm... ok" is just about all I can manage to push out whilst I process the likelihood that this is just a dream, despite his words, thus entering the first stage of grief. If this happens to be real however, I wonder how loud mom will get when she finds out I met with Torus, as she did just warn against this very thing a couple of hours ago. After discounting the idea of getting him to find someone else, (never ask a god to change their mind), I skip over anger and go straight into depression. Over and over I've heard mom's stories and adventures, she would bounce us twins on her lap and tell us how she defeated evil all across the lands. The glory, the riches, the fun it all had. How wonderful those tales sounded, how inspiring. How terrifying...
And I... I'm supposed to be thrown into stories like those? I'm not naïve enough to think that all I will do be doing is choosing the next hero. Torus with as notorious as he is, and as dangerous questing can be, especially on the scale of heroes battling evil itself, I have no doubt that by making a single step into the gravity well of heroes and destiny I will not be able to escape.
*Snap*
A death grip onto a blanket full of kittens and the sensation of my stomach dropping is as far as I get before the snapping of fingers grabs the attention of my eyes and redirects my focus. With this awareness of the present I realize I had been holding my breath unconsciously for a tad too long, and force myself to release the pressure on my lungs and begin the monotonous and necessary task of learning to breath again.
"I'm sorry my dear I hadn't anticipated such an intense reaction, forgive me for the stress this has caused you but it really won't be all that bad I assure you" the god reaches across the table to set down a plate with shortbread cookies and a cup of suspicious brown liquid. Likely his attempt to drug me and win me over. I should refrain from trying anything he gives me in case its laced wi~ oh that's just black tea, never mind. Mmm tastes pretty good too. While I munch on my cookie and sip my tea slowly reaching the final stage of grief, having been bought by food, Torus decides to start sharing the details of my fate and destiny.
"So now that we are on the same page let's start the process of the absorption and termination of your physical body, 'wait what was tha~' Moving on! You will have complete control over the next savior of the sentients. Albeit with some instincts to help guide you along with the ability to bestow great power to those chosen. This you might be interested to know was actually based off of..."At this point I was completely lost once again. I was still stuck on the part where I loose my physical body and couldn't keep up with the mad God's rambling. Somehow able to remain calm and still breathing I stare at my hands trying to imagine what it will be like without them. If I'd even be alive still. My mind falls into distraction again wondering if the tea or cookies is whats keeping me levelheaded and whether or not he will let me take some home.
"Hey! were you listening to me little mortal? Did you hear a single thing I said?" I am startled out of my thoughts for the nth time and pay attention I try to pay attention.
"*Sigh* Well at this point I can't say you wont fit your new form with how easily distracted you seem to be. Well in any case I'm not going over this again, here take the ring and just go do your divine duty as you already know. Just remember to protect the ring and follow your instincts, if you have any other questions, ask your mother she should know a thing or two. Good luck sweetie you'll need it" And with those ominous paired with an overly cheerful voice with its stupid accent I am thrown a small ring, almost dropping the damn thing in my confusion.
I blink my eyes only to find that the sensations around me have changed. No longer can I smell the floral scents or feel the soft wood beneath me. Instead I find myself returned to my dark room sitting at the edge of my bed with the blanket still covering my legs a ring in my hand and a strange metal box to my right.
Still slightly stunned over the experience I automatically and mechanically lift the metal lid off the tin to find a small note written that says 'A final parting gift~ xoxo love Torus' and lifting the note I see the same cookies wrapped up in some special tissue paper along with bags of tea leaves. Despite myself my heart is filled with a sense of warmth and is touched by the gift. I really do seem too easily bought by food. I'm sure this won't be an issue at all in the future...
As I close the lid again I notice the back of the note from Torus has a P.S. written saying 'Put on the ring', despite my reluctance to involve myself in this so called destiny, I know better than to go against the instructions of a God, nothing good lays down that route.
Having said that, the instant the ring is on my finger I feel piercing cold pain flash from the finger to my chest almost like one of the veins in my arm was flash frozen. Hardly a second goes by before the pain is gone and exhaustion crawls from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.
*Knock knock knock*
"Hurry up! We have to leave soon!" The banging on my bedroom accompanied by the warning from my loudmouth sister nudges me into the waking world. Unfortunately my body feels weighed down and exhaustion still plagues my thoughts, slowing them down. I take a few moments staring at the ceiling, until I finally feel my head kick into gear, processing what my sister said.
Trying to force my body to get up and start getting ready was my next task. Much like a neglected computer full of dust and malware, with 57 tabs open on the web browser, I wasn't moving very quickly and was making lots of noise.
Not for the first time in my life, I begin contemplating whether or not dying would be easier than getting out of bed. As well as running down every cuss word I know in new imaginative ways.
I push the adorable pink blanket to the side and begin the rush to get ready. In five minutes I've put on my extra small men's uniform and pulled my hair into a high ponytail. Grabbing my ID card and swordswand putting the latter into its sheath and affixing it to my belt.
Breathing heavily I rush towards my bedroom door. As I reach out my hand towards the door I notice the metallic white ring with a pearlescent hue sitting on my finger. Before I could overthink it and stall my rush out the door any longer I pull open the top drawer and grab a pair of white dragon leather gloves I received to go with the dragon leather sheath of my swordswand.
Having pulled on the gloves and hidden evidence of my late night Tryst I finally escape my room and meet with my sister downstairs. She seems to be channeling inner peace whilst tapping her foot with her eyes closed. Either that or contemplating the prison time for kin killing. Fortunately with the claymore strapped to her hip I can only hope its the former.
Seeing that I arrived she opens her eyes and gives me this look before turning around and heading out the door. Following behind I try and catch my breath, hardly 10 minutes has passed since my eyes first opened this morning and my limbs feel on fire. Let's just ignore that while I focus on taking one step at a time... First step, school.