Author's Note: This story can be seen with illustrations, music, voice acting, and animation at my site at http://www.legendaryonline.com
Chapter One: Kali
"There are things you take for granted...
Your friends will call, your parents will ask about your day, water will come
out of the taps. But you never know when someday there might be just you and
an empty house... and there's nothing you can do about it."
Trees, houses, people rushing past with the wind as Kali sped down the hill,
standing up on the pedals, leaning onto the handle bars of the bike as it jolted
over a stone. Behind her on the rack, Cherry gave a little gasp.
"Do you gotta go so fast?" she squealed
through giggles as they reached the bottom of the hill, gliding onto level ground.
Kali jerked the bike around a couple of parked cars, grinning as her friend
gasped again. "Jeez, Kal!"
"You want to drive?" Kali asked, letting
the bike screech to a halt by a public fountain. A woman in a business suit
glanced at her with narrowed eyes, which narrowed further when they focused
on the girl with punch-pink hair clambering off the rack. Cherry responded by
sticking her tongue out. The woman quickly walked"Oni
"So where'd you get the bike?" Cherry
said as Kali rolled the it over to one of the benches facing the fountain. In
the center of the pool, a marble mermaid perched on a marble stone, water trickling
over her outstretched fingers.
"Logan St.," Kali replied.
Cherry guffawed. "A freebie, then?"
"I'm going to bring it back. I just wanted
to cheer you up." Kali frowned. "Like you never bend the law a little."
Cherry laughed. "Hey, I've snapped the law
in two and used the pieces to pick a lock. Don't get all guilty about it. But
what do I need cheering up for? I'm Cheery Cherry. You're the one with the messed
up family."
"Don't remind me." Kali ran her fingers
over the polished frame of the bike. Whoever it belonged to seemed to care about
it a lot, but not enough to bother locking it up. Kind of like Trent with Cherry.
"You said the water went the other day?"
Cherry asked.
"Yeah." Kali sighed. She could feel
a tremor creeping into her throat as she contemplated her words, and paused
to steady herself. "Actually... I wanted to ask you... Would it be okay
if I hung out with you guys for a while, up at the building?"
"Oh, come on, Kal. You think I'd say no?"
Cherry rolled her eyes. "Heck, I named you. You're like my kid. I can't
turn away a kid of mine."
Kali's lips twisted. "A kid who's three years
older than you?" And another on the way...
"Anyway, it'll be great. Like a slumber party
or something. It's not like there isn't room - there's only the seven of us
using the place right now. 'Course, if the cops decide to kick us out..."
"I know, I know. Thanks. Really, I mean it.
I was starting to think..." Kali stared off across the park, and happened
to notice the clock tower, tall in the distance. She leapt up. "Oh, damn,
I'm going to be late for my lecture. Sorry, Cherry, but I have to go."
"It's cool, it's cool." Cherry grinned.
"You're the only person I know that goes to school 'cause she likes it."
"Yeah, well, you're the only person I know
who thinks pink hair is cool, but I don't judge you for it." Kali swung
onto the bike. "See you tonight."
"See ya. Thanks for the ride!" The rest
of Cherry's words were lost in the air hissing over Kali's ears. Five
minutes left before the lecture started, Kali hopped off the bike and leaned
it against the closest parking meter. Maybe not the one she'd found it at, but
near enough. She turned to begin her jog to the college.
"Hey! Wait a minute."
Kali paused in mid-step, glancing back. A slender
girl with a long, chestnut ponytail was striding towards her. The owner of the
bike? Kali took off, sneakers pounded the pavement, drowning out the girl's
shouts.
Ten blocks, a left turn and a right later, Kali
slowed, approaching the school's entrance. She pushed through the huge oak doors
of the English and Humanities building and hurried to her lecture hall. She
slipped inside and slid into one of the seats in the back row. Best to make
as little commotion as possible, considering she was both late and not actually
registered in the class.
The biking must have tired her out more than she'd
expected, for she found herself waking up to the sound of feet stomping up the
steps past her. She yawned, and checked to make sure it was still the same professor.
Thus confirming that she hadn't made a complete fool of herself, she got up
from her seat and followed the students out the door. Where had she drifted
off? She remembered him talking about Paris and Helen, a thousand ships sailed
to Troy... Achilles and that faulty heel of his... Hmmm... She stepped out into
the shadows of early evening. Maybe during the war somewhere, that was were
she'd dozed off, though the professor was a great speaker--
"Hey, could I have a word with you?"
Someone grabbed her hand, tense fingers pressing
into her palm. Kali spun, startled. The girl with the chestnut ponytail let
go, smiling at her. "I thought it was you. I really need to talk to you.
I--"
"I'm really sorry about the bike," Kali
said, backing away. Had this girl been waiting out here all this time? The word
'obsessed' sprang to mind. "I just wanted to borrow it for a bit. You really
shouldn't leave it unlocked like that; you were practically asking someone to
steal it. Most people wouldn't have brought it back, you know."
"It's not about the bike. This is something
important." She was gazing at Kali so intensely with her toffee-brown eyes,
her mouth curved in such an innocent smile that Kali paused.
"Well, what's it about then?" she asked.
The smile widened, becoming almost condescending.
"It's not something I can explain very easily. You will have to see it
for yourself. You've been chosen for a very special task."
The girl was a nutcase. Time to go. "Look,
I don't know what you're talking about, but I have places to be, you know, people
to see. Catch you later- Oh."
Kali's hand was glowing. Not just a faint shimmering,
but really glowing, a bright circle shining from her palm into the dusky evening.
She blinked, and it was still glowing. She glanced up at the girl, looked around,
then back down, and it was still glowing. Her lungs tightened, her stomach going
queasy. Maybe someone should call a doctor?
And then a flash and there was light, light everywhere,
burning into her eyes. She stumbled, dizzy, and it faded. Her hand turned dull.
Her head ached. She shook it as if that might dislodge the pain. It didn't work.
"I was right," the girl said softly.
"That was your sign. Here, take this card. I can't tell you any more now,
so you must come to the address there for dinner tomorrow night. The future
of the world depends on it."
Kali accepted the card gingerly, eyeing her hand.
She forced out a shaky line of sarcasm. "I guess these prophecy things
never change much, do they?"
The girl started. "What?"
"No, nothing, it's just..." The girl
was already walking away. Kali watched her blend into the shadows, her head
still throbbing from the brilliance of the light. Just like all those damned
fairy tales and myths she'd read for so long.
"You'd think when it really happened it would
be a little less cliché," she remarked to herself as she began the
long walk home..