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..