Choice
Her name was Eva Wei and she had been abandoned by her father. Her mother had died two years earlier during a race. Her father had left her at the Stern Boarding School. It had become Eva's personal Hell.
This is where our story begins.
It was a normal day for seven-year-old Eva Wei. It was break time. Classes were over for the day, for which the young child was thankful. She really didn't like the teachers. She leaned back against the cool stone of a building and sighed. She was exhausted.
"So this is where you've been hiding," an adult female voice said from the nearby shadows. Eva gasped and spun around to try and see who was intruding on her solitude.
"Who's there?" Eva cried to the darkness.
The being chuckled. "I was a friend of you mother's, Eva Wei. Call me Shadow."
"Why are you here? Mom's been dead for two years," Eva said.
"I know. It's taken me this long to find you. I felt Maya's death. Every one of us did," the being said with sadness. "I made a promise to her long ago."
Eva was getting curious about this woman who claimed to now her mother. "What sort of promise?"
"Do you have you mother's ring?" the being asked. Eva nodded. "Do you know what it is for, what is symbolizes?"
"No, is it supposed to mean something?" Eva asked, picking at her mother's ring that hung from a small gold chain around her neck. The ring was gold and had some weird symbols etched into it. One of the symbols on the top looked like a fancy Celtic knot.
"Listen closely. When this universe was born, the Creator of All placed all of the universe's power on one planet, Oban. The beings of Oban were supposed to protect it. They failed and a war started on Oban that nearly destroyed them all. The Creator, seeing what had happened, took away most of the power and sealed it into Gates, which it placed on different planets. To protect these Gates, it gave powers unimaginable to beings of the planets. Those powers were locked into rings, like the one around your neck. Maya was a Guardian. I am a Guardian. You are a Guardian," the woman said. Eva stared at her in shock.
"The Guardians have immense power, but we have placed laws on ourselves to keep everything in order. Other races have also placed laws concerning us. That is one of the reasons I am here for you," she said.
"Here for me?" Eva said.
"I made a promise to your mother," the woman said. "I would take care of you if something was to happen to her. I am here to give you a choice."
"A choice?"
"Come with me and become my adopted daughter or you can remain here," the woman said.
"What? I don't even know who you are?" Eva hissed.
The woman chuckled. "Didn't your mother ever tell you about Shadow?"
"You're Shadow?" Eva said in awe. Her mother had told her stories of Shadow before the young girl had gone to bed. They were some of her favorite memories of her mother.
"My real name's Karmena, but I am also called Shadow," the woman said. "Now, what is your choice? Come with me or stay here?"
"But I don't know anything about you," Eva said.
"Then, to use Maya's words, close your eyes and listen to your heart."
"Huh?"
"Maya discovered that when a Guardian, no matter what class or power level, listens to their instincts, they are never, ever wrong. It has to do with our Gates guiding us to become stronger. So, do it. Close your eyes and listen to your heart."
Eva closed her eyes and concentrated on her heartbeat. A cold chill ran through her body, despite the warmth of the day. Warmth began to emit from her mother's ring. She placed a hand over it and opened her eyes.
"I'll come with you, Karmena," Eva said. "Just, can I actually see you first?"
"Of course, child," Karmena said and stepped out of the shadows. Eva fell back, eyes wide, with a squeak.
Kareman, the woman who just said she would adopt her, was a Crog.