Prologue, Part Two Summary: Bertha must make many choices, which God provides for her to choose.

Prologue, Part Two:

The Choices We Make

Bertha sighed, feeling alone. Even with the LORD's presence, Him being invisible didn't solve anything. Bertha was on her own again. She couldn't imagine why she couldn't see the LORD, and yet felt Him near her.

She sighed, walking towards the three grey pedestals that carried the weapons. The staff, the sword, and the shield were there, guiding her to the right weapon. She approached each weapon, finding they could lead her to great wonders or great destruction.

She didn't want the staff. Magic was not in her forte. She turned to the sword, debating on whether or not she would take it. If she faced battles with a sword, what was the point? She wasn't sure the sword was a good idea, and so she rejected that weapon.

Then there was the shield with a lion's head symbol on the front, as well as a unicorn symbol, with its unicorn head sitting next to the lion's head symbol. Below them was the symbol of a heart, etched on the shield in a blue outline. She decided on the shield. She needed protection and healing. Maybe the shield would present both to her.

"This is the weapon I will take," Bertha said, deciding that the shield was what she wanted to keep.

The LORD nodded, smiling down on her. "I knew you would make that choice. Perfect! Absolutely perfect! A shield to protect you from your enemies, but it pushes people away. Well done, Bertha. You made the right choice."

Bertha smiled, telling the LORD, "Thank you. And I…" the shield vanished from her hands, leaving her stunned. "…what was that?"

"The shield is the weapon you wish to keep. So, what will you give away?" the LORD asked her, showing her the sword and the staff.

Picking the shield was a given. What she had to give up was going to be a little harder. Bertha moved away from the grey pedestal that carried the shield. This pedestal was now empty. Fortunately, the other two pedestals still carried the sword and the staff.

She hadn't expected to face this. It was one thing to keep a weapon, it was another thing to give away a weapon. What she thought before about the staff and the sword were now gone. She realized she would have to give up either the sword or the staff. If she kept the sword, she'd give up the ability to perform magic. If she gave up the staff, then all she'd have was a sword, but no magical abilities.

She could either be a sage or a warrior. Either choice would lead to interesting results, but what was she best at?

.

At the end of the day, figuratively speaking, she chose the sage. She chose the sage because maybe she would be granted healing abilities, an ability she sorely needed to increase. Plus, she could have magical powers, something she felt was better than hacking and slashing at things with a sword.

And so, the sword vanished before her very eyes. She now gained the power of the shield and the staff, and she thanked them both for these new powers.

The LORD nodded to her. He told her, "Your path is set. Welcome my new sage."

"Thank you," Bertha said, pleased. "Thank you."

The LORD nodded to her. "You're not done. You need to choose your talent, your occupations—we'll get to that later—as well as what fantasy races, supernatural races, you feel most drawn to." He waved his hand, making the three grey pedestals disappear.

Before Bertha were a circle of circular platforms, grey, showing off a variety of races. These races included beings and creatures. Each race represented a variety of abilities and skills, each available to that race of beings and creatures.

"Choose now which race you belong to," the LORD said, leaving Bertha alone to think. He added, so as not to pressure her, "Take your time, Bertha. You have all the time in the world."

Bertha nodded to Him, telling the air, "Thank you, Lord. I will."

Bertha observed the many races that came before her. Which ones was she drawn to, which ones attracted her, and which would help her down her path? As she walked, the choice was given to her as she drew close to them.

The shapeshifters came first. They seemed keen on meeting her. Then there was the lions and lionesses. The vampires came out to play, as did the merfolk. The dragons and dragonoids came next. Bertha found herself drawn to the dragonoids; and yet, she considered both the dragons and dragonoids as equals. They seemed like cool creatures in her eyes.

The hobbits came after the dragons and dragonoids. It was the hobbits she was drawn to the most. Out from the hobbits, Bertha found herself strongly attracted to one hobbit: a hobbit with curly, dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She could only guess his name: Frodo Baggins. Bertha waved to Frodo, who only inched her closer to him. He pulled her in fast, giving her a warm, friendly kiss.

"I'll see you soon," Frodo said, smiling to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her on the cheek in a loving manner.

"I have to…" Bertha looked up, surprised to see the sci-fi races and creatures come up next.

The Selkath came forward, as did the gizka and the grophets. While the gizka were small creatures, reminding Bertha of baby dinosaurs, these gizka had two legs, a short snout, big eyes, and their coats came in a variety of colors. The grophets were pig-like creatures with their coats in a variety of colors, too. As for the Selkath, they were amphibious alien creatures with two cephalic lobes hanging down from their mouths. The Selkath wore clothing that reminded Bertha of space. The Selkath seemed quite awesome, to say the least.

Bertha nodded to the Selkath, noticing that Frodo was still clinging to her. Frodo whispered in Bertha's ear, "We'll meet again. I promise."

"When?" Bertha's eyes widened in horror. Oh no! What was going on? "Frodo? Frodo Baggins! Frodo?!" Frodo vanished, right before her eyes. The other beings and creatures vanished, too. Bertha only had the LORD for company. But she was surprised at which races and creatures came out, before they vanished. Those races and creatures were the ones she was drawn to the most.

"Very good. Now, choose your occupations. You'll be drawn to them," the LORD stated, presenting Bertha with a variety of occupations.

Bertha reacted to what she was drawn to, impressing the LORD very quickly.

Writing seemed like something she wanted to do. And yet, healer sounded good, too. But then, pirates sounded good to her as well. Bertha smiled, finding it hard not to be drawn to the pirates. She didn't know why that was.

The LORD smiled upon her, grateful for all of choices Bertha made. The occupation choices soon disappeared, leaving Bertha senseless. "One last gift I'm going to present to you: your talent."

The LORD waved his hand, giving Bertha the chance to see her choices. Choosing a talent was special, like all the other choices Bertha made. Choosing a talent meant choosing something she was most drawn to.

Her options included nature, technology, the arts, writing, and so forth. It was only a matter of what she chose that remained to be seen.

She turned around, facing the strategist talent. A man dressed in a black and red robe, wearing a black turban, and donned with a black beard hanging down his chin looked at her with a pensive expression. His staff was golden and had a snake's head for its top. This man was Jafar and he seemed determined, by the look of him, to conjure up some trouble.

"I see you've chosen thieves," Jafar said, annoyed with her. He huffed, telling her, "But you cannot outsmart me. I'm the strategist. That is your hidden talent. It is your gift. This is exactly what Aslan and the LORD prepared for. Welcome to your true talent." Jafar cackled, enjoying himself.

Bertha sighed; glad that she had her talent. "So, what does the strategist do? What's required?"

"Hmm? Why, the strategist is an organizer, a builder, one of the essential ingredients to making your lair polished. Without the builder, what are we? Just lines on a page. That is your talent," Jafar said, as Bertha felt encouraged more and more by the strategist talent.

"I welcome this talent very immensely," Bertha said, quite convinced this was what she wanted.

Jafar nodded, disappearing right as writing was chosen as Bertha's second talent. Bertha was impressed, for she did love to write. The talents vanished a moment later, leaving Bertha feeling like she gained healer's abilities and magic. It made her happy.

The LORD reappeared, smiling at her, "Now, you are ready." He presented to her white doors, covered with an arch frame. The LORD looked at Bertha, gesturing for her to step forward. "Step through those doors, so you can continue your journey." He smiled, vanishing, leaving Bertha alone once again.