Chapter One: Watch what you wish for….
"Yes, Chief, I understand," I replied, suppressing a sigh. The last thing I needed was to appear angry when I was getting reamed by my boss. "I'll pass it next time, I promise." I kept my gaze straight ahead, not daring to look him in the face. Chief Reyes was usually a nice guy, but, after failing the advancement exam three times in a row, all in the same area, he was not a happy camper. Especially since he had personally tutored me.
"You better," he finished with a sigh. "Sit down." I obeyed instantly. When Reyes gets like this, there's never a request. Only an order. "I just don't get it, Blake. How do you fail the same portion of the exact same test three times in a row?" I couldn't hold it in anymore. I finally let loose the sigh that I'd been holding the entire.
"Honestly, Chief, it's because I start freaking out when I get to that part," I answered, lowering my head to stare at the ground. "I just can't handle the concept of being a leader. It scares me, honestly. As it is, I don't like having this job. I know you hear these sorts of things all the time, but I really didn't know what I signed up for when I signed that contract. I didn't realize so many lives would be depending on my job." I sighed again. Why couldn't I have just gone to college like every other high school graduate? Instead, I had to play hero and prove I was stronger than I thought.
"Dammit, Blake," Reyes turned away from me with a sigh. I knew I was a disappointment. He'd taken me under his wing, taught me all the tricks of the trade, and I still couldn't pass a simple third class advancement exam. "You didn't think to get out before you finished school? Didn't it occur to you that you should try to get out of there before you're stuck in the contract?" It took me a long time to finally speak.
"I didn't want to be like all those people trying to get out of the Navy, Chief," I answered hesitantly. "I didn't want the people who believed in me to see me that way, as a quitter." I could see the responses I would get. Most likely that I was already letting them down by simply having this conversation, by not forcing myself to just grit my teeth and get the job done. But the thought of going to war and being the one that innocent lives depended on for protection was just too much for me.
"You realize there's nothing I can really do for you, right?" I nodded. "Just stay out of trouble and you'll be all right. No one says you have to advance if you want out. It helps things onboard a ship, but it's not something you have to strive for." Reyes turned to face me and I couldn't help but raise my eyes to meet his. His eyes held all the hardness expected of a chief and the kindness of the father I hadn't been raised with. "I really hoped you would tough it out, Blake. We need more honest sailors like you." Another sigh escaped my lips.
"So had I, Chief," I whispered, biting back the tears I knew would drop the moment I stepped out of that office. I really had wished I was stronger than that. I wanted nothing more than to be strong enough to defend the lives of the people I worked with. They had quickly become the family I had always wanted. Dysfunctional at all times, but people that genuinely cared.
"That's all, Blake," Reyes finally said, turning his back to me once more. "I'll see you at quarters tomorrow." I stood and headed for the door. Somehow, turning the knob was harder leaving than it was going in. I knew that leaving things the way they were meant that I had lost not trust, but faith. The faith Reyes had once had in me was now gone. Yet saying something was out of the question. What could I say? It was far too late for apologies. All I could do was step out that door and not look back.
"You all right?" I hadn't even realized I had walked out of the building until I heard his voice. The only friend I had on this base, Jackie. We'd known each other since we started school and somehow managed to end up on the same base as each other for our entire career of about a year. Somehow it seemed wrong to address each other by last names anymore. And it was impossible to keep secrets.
"Reyes just chewed me out for the whole advancement exam thing," I explained sullenly. Jackie's expression softened and she gave me a gentle hug. "It's not even that I failed," I explained, finally letting loose all the emotions I had to keep bottled up in the office. I explained everything to her without holding back. I told her exactly what happened in there, why I felt like I had just lost the entire world, and how – and why – I didn't think I could deal with being in the military with the job I had.
When I finally looked back at her, I expected to see some sort of sympathy. Instead, it was that same look Reyes had in his eyes. Disappointment. I should have known. To people like them, I was the reason it was hard to work with people in the navy. I was the reason there wasn't enough pride in our job. I was the reason for the problems we all faced every day. What made it worse was that I knew it was true. I was the problem.
Without a word, I left her standing there. I didn't even bother telling her where I'd be. It's not like she'd go looking for me. Not unless I didn't turn up for the morning muster, which I would. I just needed some time alone.
After what felt like an eternity in minutes, I was at my usual thinking spot. It's a small river just outside base. I usually stop there to watch the sunset after walking to the grocery store or McDonalds. It's out of the way, but I love being there. Somehow, being close to the water and nature itself helped relax me when I'm stressed about something. Though I know I'm not supposed to, I climbed over the railing and sat on the edge of the bridge, gazing out at the gentle scene before me. If only I had kept my mouth shut. Sometimes, I seriously wished I could just have another chance. Just start over. Without the family baggage. I love my family, but sometimes I wished I could've been born into a family with less financial and emotional problems. Maybe then I wouldn't have signed my life away.
Before I knew what was happening, a truck, a semi, actually, came up behind me and honked its horn loudly. Without thinking, I instantly jumped forward, falling face first into the river. It seems odd now that I think about it. The first thing I started to worry about was getting my uniform wet. Or, rather, the white blouse that was sure to get stained from the water. Little did I know, I was going to be somewhere I wouldn't need my uniform when I woke up.
Strangely enough, when I awoke, it was nowhere near the base. I didn't even recognize the city I was in. It certainly wasn't somewhere I had been before. It looked almost like something out of a fairy tale with its cobblestone roads and crystal clear fountains every ten feet. And it seemed as though every single person there was blonde. Had I died and gone to hell? If so, Satan had really lost his touch. I mean, how could Hell look like it was decorated by a video game designer? Namely, the designers of the first few Final Fantasy games.
The first thing that I thought of doing was exploring. I was free until the next morning, so I figured a little exploring would do me some good. After all, I would probably stumble across some street signs and the name of the city I was now apparently in. Forget how I got here. I just wanted to know where I was, if there was anything interesting, and how to – eventually – get back.
However, to my dismay, the first few signs I saw didn't help much. First, they were in a foreign language I had never seen before. Second, they were posted in front of what I assumed to be local shops. It then occurred to me how odd it was that I would fall into a river and then suddenly wake up in a foreign country, not know how I got there, and not know a single person around me. Parking my not-so-happy derriere on a nearby bench, I started to work through what had happened. How had I got from the base to some strange country I didn't know and why was it that no one even recognized me as being in the military?
Just then, my brain seemed to burn, as if someone had reached inside my skull and lit a small brush fire. I felt myself reach up impulsively to grab my forehead. As quickly as this pain had come, though, it was gone, leaving me lightheaded and a subject of concern for passing citizens. One of whom was being followed around by several men in clanking armor.
Wait a minute. Armor? I looked up and saw a pair of ruby eyes hidden behind thinly framed glasses gazing at me, halted, and at least a couple yards away. Initially, I thought they were amazingly realistic contacts, not at all that fake sort of red that didn't even have the texture of a human iris. Then, I pieced it all together. This man had long brown hair and a light blue uniform completed by a Pac-Man shaped belt.
The man who was staring at me was none other than Jade Curtiss and this city that I had mysteriously arrived in was none other than Grand Chokmah.
Well, now the only question I could think of was why he was staring at me. I could do nothing than gaze in shock as he dismissed the guards walking with him. I had a feeling I was about to get my question answered. Either that or I was in for a world of verbal torture. With a laugh under my breath, I realized I was most likely going to receive both.