Thank you all of the positive feedback just in, like a day. I decided to put the second chapter up quickly so as to keep the story moving along. Remember to R&R!
Chosen
Chapter 2
It was well past midday when I awoke, head throbbing in time with my heart, mouth dry and tongue swollen. My side hurt like hell where Diana had kicked me and I made a mental note to see a doctor if it got worse. Hobbling like an old man, I made my way out of bed and into the kitchen to make some kind of token meal. Nao was in the living room, watching Jeremy Kyle in her shorts and tank top. What a glamourous life we lead.
"Morning, sleeping beauty." She said mockingly, getting off her ass to join me in the kitchen. "Why're you hobbling around like a pensioner?"
"Long story." I said exasperatedly, wondering how to get the milk out of the fridge. "Nao, could you take the milk out of the fridge?"
"Do it yourself, lazy-arse." She retorted, even though she was in the fridge herself. She turned to look at me strangely. "Why do you have your hands behind your back, Kruger?"
I blushed, embarrassed, and turned around. I couldn't see Nao's expression, but by the barking, spluttering laughter that erupted behind me I knew she must find this hilarious. I turned back to see her leaning against the wall, almost crying, giggling hysterically. "Oh god, what did you do last night?"
"Not what you're thinking." I replied sharply. Nao may be a close friend of mine, but I know her quite well and she has certain tastes when it comes to the activities of the bedroom. It begins with s- and ends with -adist. Not that I mind, as long as it doesn't ever find it's way over to my side of the hallway. "I got arrested. By Diana."
Her eyes widened. "Seriously? What were you doing, poking an innocent kitten with a stick?"
"No, I was trying to break back in here at 2 a.m. Something about a young adult with a crowbar at a window seems to be suspicious to the authorities."
"Why do you still have them on?"
"Memento." I replied sarcastically. "What do you think? She dumped me at the police station and never unlocked them."
Nao looked half excited, half pissing herself laughing. "Of all the people, Kruger… oh, happy birthday."
She surprised me by handing over a small, nicely wrapped present. I carefully opened it, albeit backwards since my hands were cuffed behind my back, expecting a can of squirty cream to explode or something, but it turned out to be a very nice alarm clock in the shape of a penguin. "Wow. Actually, properly thanks, Nao. I wasn't expecting much."
"Don't mention it. The only thing you get from your parents any more is a cheque in the post and the occasional postcard from an exotic place, so I thought you might be bereft of presents this year."
Aw, sweet. She's right, though- about my parents. They retired just before I left high school and decided that they'd spent ten years and a chunk of the family fortune to travel around the entire world, writing a couple of books about it to make more cash as they went along. So far, they'd been very successful, but I did miss the contact. A postcard from Bahrain makes not a family.
I scurried off to my room to finally replace my cheapie 80's throwaway alarm that didn't even play the radio. It was then when I felt a sudden buzzing in my room- a buzzing that reminded me of Diana's mirrors. I looked around. Nothing was there, except the mirror hanging above my dresser. I looked at it suspiciously, walking over and peering at my reflection. Nothing new, except an unamused graze on my forehead where I'd fallen last night.
Behind me, hands grabbed my wrists and I jumped out of my skin, twisting and thrashing the assailant off me. "Hold still!"
Diana stood there, looking annoyed and slightly apologetic. "Have you come to remove the handcuffs, or would you rather beat me up again?" I said snidely, never one to avoid a confrontation.
"I'm sorry." She said meekly- nothing like the powerful independent Diana that the public know as their hero(ine?). The sudden change shocked me and I shut up for a second. "I completely forgot that nobody else has the key."
I frowned by said nothing, turning around for her to undo my bindings. They clicked undone and the skin on my wrists sang a hymn of relief as they were freed from their weight. "Thanks." I said awkwardly. There was a hero in my room.
"No, I'm sorry in the first place… even heroes make mistakes, but it shouldn't discomfort those we watch over."
Nice, much? "Seriously, it's okay." I may be bitter inside, but I forget a grudge relatively quickly. Heroes make human mistakes all the time. For instance, that one a few cities over who died of alcohol poisoning in a drinking game. Idiot, but human mistake.
"Ah, well, I'm glad we sorted that out." She replied, looking around my room curiously. "So, you live here?"
I nearly (read: was about to) said something sarcastic, but didn't fancy another placement at the end of her boot, so I bit my tongue. "Uh, yeh. Me and my roommate, Nao."
"Renting?"
"For the moment, yes. When we finish college, we're going separate ways."
"Ah, I see." She hummed to herself. "What do you think of heroes?"
"I prefer then when they don't beat me up," I said before I could stop, but she smiled weakly. Okay, I'm over it. Move along, folks, nothing to see here. "But in general I think they do a lot of good. I've never really known a time when they weren't protecting us, actually."
Diana laughed, a nice sound that was soft against the ears. "That's good to hear. We do our best." Her face set in a more serious tone, and the atmosphere changed to become secretive and businesslike very suddenly. I had always been amazed by how much influence heroes had over the mood of humans. "Listen, other than to undo those cuffs, there's another reason I'm here."
Oh. My mouth stopped mid-surprised expression. Diana, here on an ulterior motive? Why did this have to happen while I have a hangover? Unsmiley face. She took a deep breath.
"After the incident last night, Asgard has reviewed your portfolio and finds you a viable candidate for ascent to heroity. We would like to invite you to attend an exam on August twenty-second to assess your candidacy."
Holy shit.
I watched the number of miles remaining display on the treadmill blink from five to four, mind blank and eyes set on the television ahead, which was playing a music channel on which some idiot was dancing badly. Still, it was better than thinking. Thinking only made my head hurt.
If I could say the f word, I would. Eff, Eff, Effing hell. I'm a candidate for heroity. That was so out of the blue that I'd never have even thought it. I mean, I fit the criteria, but still, the usual ones are public heroes- firefighters, nurses, that sort. Not third year History students at Fuuka University. I mean… it's hardly even thinkable. Me, Nastuki Kruger, a hero? I don't have the developed and contrived sense of moral justice for it. And there is no way I'd wear a silly outfit.
Still, though it was tempting. Who refuses and offer from Asgard? Of all the places I thought I'd get to see, the inside of an Asgard base was not one of them. If my parents were still in frequent contact, they'd have kittens. Literally.
I looked down at my legs, pumping away on the rubber of the treadmill. Could these really be the legs of a hero? And then, there was all that to consider. Was it… painful? 'Ascending', as Diana had called it? If I became a hero, I'd no longer be human. That was frightening; I've been human for twenty-two years and not thought a thing of it. To change species- because heroes were a separate species to humans- was just impossible, even though I'd grown up with people protecting me who'd done exactly the same thing.
A little guiltily, perhaps, I was very excited and had already decided to go to the exam. It was only a week and a day until the date that Diana had said- I'd need to push my fitness further, and get ahead in my studies. I had a paper on the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 to complete, as well as some books to read. And then there were finals! There just wasn't enough time to be a hero.
What am I saying? If I became a hero, finals would hardly matter. I'd be thwarting criminal arms rackets and that sort of thing. Compared to that, who cares about the Thatcherite Economic Miracle when you're saving children from kidnappers?
Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself. I said I'd stop thinking and just run, but I just got into more of a mess. Did Diana know just how this news affects humans?
Before I knew it, I'd done the last four miles and the speed slowed into cooldown. Wiping sweat from my brow, I took a long gulp of water and looked around at the other people in the gym. Since the realization that being fit helped you out in the recruitment of heroes, gym membership and attendance had doubled, then trebled and others saw their peers getting into shape and didn't want to look the odd one out. It was another good side effect of the grand heroic coming-out.
They were a mixed bunch, with a few more men than women, but it was still quite full. I was glad that I got my gym membership subsidized as part of Fuuka Uni's Get Fit Stay Fit program, where students were encouraged to exercise. When I left, I would be so skint.
After gym, it was time to shop- I got out after showering and changing at about four, so I had plenty of time to do a quick round of groceries. Nao and I shared household expenses, and did the food shop on alternate Tuesdays, because neither of us had lectures on those days. It was nice, being at college- so much freedom. My schedule was suspiciously tailored to the fact that I deplore waking up early, so most of my classes were in the afternoons, with only a Literature lecture on a Monday at 8 a.m. sharp to dampen my spirits.
You win some, you lose some.
Nao was out when I got back, so I turned the telly on while putting away the groceries. The news was always interesting, so I tuned onto it and listened.
"And this just in: the two masked villains known as the Masques have been captured and incarcerated by Fuuka authorities today. The duo, who performed an unchallenged streak of seven bank robberies earlier this year, were tracked to their hideout in a salmon packaging plant just outside of town. Akane Soir reports from the scene."
A female voice took over. "Thank you in the studio. I'm here at Fuuka Fishery, and as you can see behind me, there is a crater the size of a carpark outside. The direct cause of this is unknown, but we suspect it is a previously unknown hero acting without Asgard as a real vigilante. While the Masques managed to escape, they were seized by Fuuka authorities while fleeing the scene. The identity of the hero who damaged this site so badly is unknown, and both the Special Forces and Asgard are on the look out for this potentially dangerous hero… or villain?"
Wow. A crater. That is some power… It does kind of make you feel small, as a human in a world where people with his kind of destructive capability exist.
The door banged open and Nao walked in, flustered, and slammed some notes on the table. "Here's rent." She said, making a beeline for the fridge and smiling when she saw that it was filled. "Good workout?"
"Uh, same as always, I suppose." I replied nonchalantly. I'd thought of telling Nao about my impending exam but had decided against it. She'd go crazy. Nao didn't like heroes- her mother was in hospital in a coma after being caught in between a villain and a hero in a holdup. My red-haired roommate had a seething hatred for the people who'd done this to her mum, and wanted nothing better than all of heroity to go back into hiding so the world was nice and normal again. Even worse, she was very informed about the subject, so she could argue her points well- she was majoring in politics, with a minor in current affairs, which basically was the study of heroes and villains. She could name most of the ones in the city, and some from the surrounding towns, too.
She gave me a strange look and disappeared back into her room with a packet of crisps and a coke, probably to surf the web. Dutifully, I tidied the flat a bit and sorted through the mail- bills and crap mostly, so I took out our pot of money and relegated notes to various envelopes- heating, lighting, internet, television license, my insurance (Nao didn't drive) and various other utilities. Since moving out of the halls of residence, money seemed to always be tight, especially when I already held a student loan. Sure, my parents sent a wad of money every now and then that pretty much covered my living expenses, but that didn't leave much left for my own personal use. Do you know how long it takes to save up for a motorbike?
The week passed, for me anyway, in a flurry of activity. I abused my gym membership, going every day, working myself into the ground. Nao actually once asked whether I was okay, which was an indicator that I really was looking haggard. I did about six essays, working late into the night, and informed my professor that I'd be absent from her lecture on the twenty-second. As long as I caught up, she said, I'd be fine. Well, she looked a lot more receptive to me taking the time off when I handed her two papers that weren't due for another week.
On Sunday night, I was about to slide into bed when a slip of paper wafted if through my window. Curious, I grabbed for it and saw that something was written on it.
Dear Candidate,
You will be received at six-thirty p.m. sharp at Linden Baum Café and Restaurant, 43 Eighth Street. Your contact will be identified by the green pennant on her left lapel, and will instruct you further as the time arrives.
Yours hopefully,
Odin
Holy mother of Ug. I clutched the paper in my hands, nearly shaking. It was handwritten, and I was holding a note from Odin. The Odin, the one in charged of all of heroity. Nobody has seen him publicly since the one speech he made in which he outed heroity to humanity. Oh my god.
Like a giddy highschooler, I tucked the note safely away in my draw, having already memorized it, and got into bed, almost too excited to sleep. Call me a fangirl, but…
When I did fall into sleep, I remember what I dreamt about vividly. I was standing in the mist, on top of a green hill, the kind that are common in the countryside surrounding Fuuka, though I could see far through the impenetrable bank of fog that nipped at my ankles. I was walking to a ruined church, on the very top of the hill, carrying the haze with me, heavy weight of a gun on my hip. Why I had a gun, I don't remember. At the top, I pushed back a splintered wooden door, looking for someone. Someone I know should be here, I thought strangely. I have memories made in this place, but I can't for the life of me remember what they're of. Something big, something important. I stepped over the shattered remains of the church-bell, and a pang of emotion hit my stomach. Constricting tendrils, pulling me over to the other side of the room. A warm embrace. A hand in my hair.
It's all too real. I used to have terrible nightmares when I was younger, and I developed a way to get out of them. This one, though… it's not like the others. I'm not in it- I can't affect anything, like a ghost merely observing. I can't punch the walls to wake myself up. This is my life- part of it anyway. The future, maybe, or some past I don't remember. That kind of notion is silly, because my life has been relatively normal so far. And I don't… well; I do remember this place, in a way. I've been here before, but not currently, if that makes sense. I will go here.
I opened my eyes to stare at my new penguin clock. It was 06:59, one minute before it woke me up and turned the radio on. Weird. My body wanted to stay in bed, but I was too creeped out by the dream to remain still. So, I slithered out of bed and stretched, feeling my muscles ache a bit, tense, and then relax. As today was a special day, I decided to dress nicely, unlike my usual jeans and shirt combo. I had tree lectures today- Literature in the morning, then two history in the afternoon, the later one, which ran from five to seven, I was missing because of my appointment.
I'm not vain enough to have a full-length mirror, unlike Nao, so I pottered around for a bit, choosing underwear, which always takes me a while due to my expansive collection. Once I had decided on black and frilly (always safe), I rummaged around my wardrobe for some nice clothes. I had two suits, one with a skirt and the other with trousers, but they were a little formal. In the end, I went with some slacks, but ones with a crease ironed onto them, and a light blue fitted blouse. I'm not the cardigan type, but it was cold. In the end I decided on just my coat.
The radio popped on somewhere in the middle of this process and I half-heartedly listened to the breakfast show while I brushed my hair. I had showered the night before. By the time I was done, it was ten to eight and I had to grab a croissant from the breadbasket instead of making a proper breakfast, shoving it in my bag and hopping onto my bike. Nothing to wake you up like weaving through Fuuka traffic at eight a.m.
"Watch it!" a man shouted from a truck as I passed him on the inside, speeding up to overtake. His fault he's so slow to be honest. I have a lecture to get to. Fuuka Uni's campus was just off-centre of town and sprawled over the residential area of the city, assimilating houses as it had grown in prestige and size. I skidded to a halt in front of the Humanities building and chained my bike, munching on my croissant as I swankily entered the building through the double-doors. Not many people took Lit, especially not this course that had such a strict professor. But, hey, I liked Dr. Sakomizu. He was short and podgy, but friendly if you didn't skip his lectures. He also knew his stuff.
I scuttled into his class, early by a couple of minutes, and sat down near the back, pulling my books out of my bag. Despite the early hour, I wasn't sleepy, too psyched for tonight.
"Hey." I heard a familiar voice by my side and turned. Takeda was, as usual, taking his place beside me. I liked him a bit, but he does ask me out a lot and I'm not really into him. Still, he's nice, and I'm mature enough to be his friend. Well, unless he does something stupid like the time I accidentally ran off with his copy of the set text and he came into the girls changing rooms to get it back. Pervert.
"Morning," I said, trying convincingly to yawn. I watched him rummage around in his bag for a bit before producing a small present.
"I'm sorry that I didn't get to give this to you earlier last week, but some stuff came up." He offered me the present and I unwrapped it eagerly, thankful that at least some people remembered that I was getting one year closer to dying. Call me a pessimist, but birthdays are a sore point with me. Takeda's gift was actually pretty cool- his Dad ran Fuuka Kendo Club (internationally ranked, I'll have you know) but he had four other brothers, one of whom ran a specialty electronics and hardware company. I marveled at the gadget- a handsfree headset for my phone that would fit into my motorcycle helmet without squashing my ear. Coolio.
"Thanks." I said to him. He beamed and smiled like a lovesick puppy. It was quite sad, that I didn't like him back, but you couldn't help admiring his persistence. Since high school, he'd been trying to woo me. Poor lad. "You didn't have to."
"No, I did. I know that you didn't get any presents last year, so I thought that I could at least get you one this time around."
"Aw, Takeda. That's really sweet of you." I smiled. Okay, I was leading him on. I used to be very, very cool and distant from people, but that changed when I entered college. I realized that being liked from close-up is better than being feared and idolized from afar. You could say I went soft. Or that I grew up. Either way, thankfully, I'm not a studmuffin any more.
He blushed and mumbled something that I didn't quite catch and ducked under the desk to get his books our. People were coming in now, chatting about their weekends. A big topic for conversation was the incident with the crater from earlier, as well as some smaller bust-ups. There was a rumour that Rad had been spotted on Saturday night, but I dismissed it as unlikely. As one of the most prominent and powerful villains in Fuuka, Rad usually commands the others, to a point. I've seen one clip of him, about ten years ago, caught by a very lucky cameraman. He looks straight into the camera- well, you think he does, since his massive grey helmet covers his face. At least that's what it looks like. The cameraman then mysteriously collapses and the camera hits the floor and films fifty minutes of rubble in a destroyed street.
Had the crater been caused by Rad? Just a theory.
"Goooood morning, happy campers!" Prof. Sakomizu said in his booming voice. "I trust you've all got your papers for me?"
A few groans of people who hadn't done them replied, but Sakomizu didn't lose his peppy attitude. "Allrighty, then. We're halfway through your last semester. Your finals are coming up, and we haven't got long to cover the last part of the reading material. So, today we're doing Chapter Twelve in-depth, and I'll expect the notes in essay form. You pick the question, but do it well. Two thousand words."
He was always like this. In a way, I liked it, because it allowed me to write myself a question I'd do well at, but the amount of work was still annoying.
Anyway, we discussed chapter twelve in depth, and then I hung out in the student lounge. I had lunch and went to my History lecture. Nothing out of the ordinary, but all through the day, my sense of foreboding and excitement was slowly growing until I nearly wet myself when I got home at about four fifteen, so anxious was I. Nao didn't help by coming home a bit later and looking at me disapprovingly.
"Skipping?"
"Yeh." I lied slightly guiltily. "Prof. Graceburt can live without me for two hours." I'd actually got permission from that dour old woman to skip her class. A nearly perfect attendance record made that possible- I had realized that truancy does not breed kind relations with teachers in high school. I even had to repeat a year, which is why Nao and I are in the same year, even though she's a year younger.
I set about does those little nitpicking things that you usually do before important events or dates. You know- I showered a blow-dried my hair, moisturized, shaved, etc. It seemed wrong to change back into my day clothes, so somewhat awkwardly I reverted to some nice blue jeans, but with the same shirt from the morning.
Time ticked by inexorably slowly, and I was finished by five fifteen. I decided to take the bus to the Café, since I didn't know where we'd be going afterwards. Looking regretfully back at my bike, I left the house at half past and ambled to the bus stop. It was too weird to be doing this, especially on a Monday. I paid my fare and the bus driver leered at me, expecting to see handcuffs again. Damn, he was never going to let me live that down, was he?
Linden Baum was a large eatery with bright pink and white decoration. It looked studenty, but I'd never been there before. I'm not a fan of cafés, really. They're expensive and I don't have the friends necessary to meet at one. Sad. Nervously, I pushed the door open to the wafting smell of pastry, looking around. The interior was snug, with booths separating tables and red seats. I searched for the woman with a green badge on her lapel, but couldn't find her. I looked at my phone, the display reading 18:22. Okay, I was a bit early. I could wait.
I sat down and a perky waitress came up to take my order. If you ask me, she was looking at me almost suspiciously, but hey, I suppose some college students can be a nuisance. I ordered some bottled water to keep her quiet, scanning the restaurant.
A woman came out of the toilet and I immediately knew that she was the one. Small green pin on her left lapel, shaped like a lucky shamrock. She was tall and athletically built; with dull brown- you'd say it was grey- hair and golden eyes behind trendy glasses. She noticed me and smiled slightly, walking over. Her business suit was impeccable, and I wondered if she actually had just gotten changed.
She sat down opposite me. "You're the latest, you know."
I looked at her skeptically. "It's not even half past yet."
"The others got here before six. Slightly keen of them, don't you think?"
I frowned. "Yes. I have college."
"Ah." She looked at me over her glasses. "So, shall we go?"
"Where?"
"Follow me."
"Wait!" I said loudly. "I haven't paid for my drink."
"Forget it. Just come." She stood up and left the table, heading towards the door marked toilets- I swear she'd just come from there. Dubious, I followed. She entered the door, which branched out into ladies,' men's, disabled, and one unmarked door. She took a key out of her pocket and unlocked it. It swung open, revealing steps downwards. Ushering me in, she then shut and locked the door behind us. After this door was another, high-tech one that she scanned her iris at. It opened like something off Star Trek to a large underground room with a small central platform. It could have been a train station.
Three other people were waiting on the platform, looking scared and a bit annoyed. They looked at me warily, as if accusing me of being late (I wasn't).
"Well, that's the lot. If you'd get on the platform, we can move out to Asgard." I stepped from the side onto the platform, seeing that there was nowhere to sit or buckle ourselves in. The woman pressed some buttons on a control panel and then jumped on herself just as it started moving, quite slowly at first, but it sped up. We entered a low tunnel and increased in speed; so I sat down to avoid falling over and probably killing myself. The woman took up a position at the front and looked at us appraisingly.
"Well, welcome to the underground transport network of Asgard. My name is Chie Hallard, and I will be your supervisor for the duration of your visit. Please note that you are to follow me at all times and obey everything I say." She looked at them, scrutinizing their appearance. "You have all been subject to unforgiving background checks, but there is always room for error. Note that if you attempt anything that we see as threatening, you will be arrested. Or worse, depending on who is there at the time."
Ouch. These guys were serious. I looked to my sides at the other candidates. They looked similarly tough and mentally prepared for whatever was ahead, and I was sort of secretly hoping that it was not too arduous. I was the only woman, I noted somewhat smugly. That's right, boys: Kruger will take you down. Rawr.
My thoughts seemed to be getting a little silly, so I collected myself to listen to what Chie had to say next.
"When we arrive at Fuuka Asgard Base, you will begin a twenty-four hour examination. If at any time you consider yourself close to death, you will each be given a bracelet to press. You will be rescued and then eliminated from candidacy. Should you pass, deliberation will be made afterwards."
Close to death?
