She was a brave warrior, a brave knight. Even though the world was besieged by threats she stood strong and pushed them back. She battled their steel along with what they expected her to be. She wasn’t a helpless damsel to be nothing more than a wife and child raiser. She wasn’t an emotionless, greedy being or a liar or a cheat. She was kind, truthful, and loyal. She defeated her enemies and protected she loved. And even if her enemies and their schemes and ideas of who she should be came back, she would stop them once again.
But she wasn’t ready for the enemies at home…
The first was Joke. Was he friend or foe? She never knew. He could be trying to stab her in the back one second and healing that very same wound in the next. Sometimes she could see through the veneer and understand him but there were countless cases where he kept his loyalties away from view.
The second was Disrespect. He lived in the shadows of her friends. He was as fast as the poisonous viper but his sting wasn’t deadly with a single single strike. But he could strike quickly and struck many times. However, he was gone before she ever saw him. She could never bring herself to ask about him.
The 3rd was Future. She was beautiful to so many, a shining example of what could be. But her beauty didn’t settle the Knight’s nerves. She saw the hidden darkness of failure. With the chance to lose so much, uncertainty was all she saw. But for some reason her friends welcomed Future with open arms.
The last was Invisibility. He was different from the rest. He wasn’t a guessing game, he was always there when he wanted, no hesitation and hiding. He cast her in his influence, blocking her from her friends. And her friends didn’t even notice, they did come to help. But he would leave and things would return to normal, until he returned again.
She had defeated enemies before, but these were the ones she couldn’t destroy with a sword.
The Timekeeper
She followed the path not trusting the winding plants around her. The path wasn’t much safer though. Broken stones that were cracked just like the world. She finally reached the end of it. The ash soaked clearing where nothing grew. The world had been scarred all over and this was one place that wouldn’t heal. Love was betrayed here and it was a reminder of that. The buildings were nothing more than foot high ruins that were slowly disappearing as they were being blasted by the wind, being beaten by the rain, until there was nothing left, nothing left of what- She shook herself as the world changed back to the current. Not the memories of her childhood. When the kingdom was a kingdom and not a ruin. She continued on to what had been the town center. Her feet left marks on the ground moving the ash and soot. She knew what was hidden below, the beautiful mosaic that once covered the ground, but she didn’t want to see it. It was a reminder of him. Her papa. The powers she had gotten from him and the powers he wasn’t able to teach her to use. And that was all it took. The spark of anger. He wasn’t here anymore. Neither of them were here anymore. And the world faded away, into the curtains of the past. She watched as her younger self ran to the two of them. Her dads. Her dad scooped her up into a hug and she squealed with joy. Her dads laughed. “See,” Her dad said with a grin, “I’m her favorite.” Her papa just rolled his eyes in mild, loving, annoyance at his husband. Then he looked right at her and said, “But I’m still the secret favorite, right?” Her past self nodded and her dads laughed. That was when things were okay. That was when things were perfect. That was before, before everything. She pushed the past back again, returning her mind to the present. Why did she come here? She shouldn’t have. Before she could leave, everything changed again. The world was gone again, replaced by a white canvas. No end or start in sight. And she saw him. Her papa. Things were different in the realm of time. He was sort of transparent, practically see through. And he looked a year or two younger than when the fire came. Before one of his oldest friends came and destroyed everything. “Hello,” He said. “Hello? Is that all you have to say?” “No, but we don’t have time fo-.” “Time? We don’t have time? We literally have the power to control time!” “We see through it, and sometimes travel through it. That isn’t the same as controlling it.” She huffed, even though that was the truth of their powers. “The happiest day of our lives was when we met you, and every day after that. I wish that I could be there with you, answer every question, to help with every success and failure.”
She went silent, wanting to leave whatever this realm of time place was. “Our curse is knowing. But we have to use it. I didn’t and that cost me my friends, my home, the two people I love the most. There is a way to fix everything, to make things better.” “How?” The realm of time changed again. Her friends were standing with her in a circle. They were holding hands, connecting themselves to each other. Her eyes had gone pure white and time began to rewind. Then she was shot back to the present. Her papa was gone. The realm of time was gone. She could fix the past. They could fix the past. She left the ruins of her old home with a plan. She was the Timekeeper. She would see her dads again. She would fix this world.
The Champion of The Sun
He knew he was different. Raised by a warrior who survived the great war, but who was not one of his parents. He had asked the guardian many times where he had come from, never getting an answer beyond “when you are older.” And so he waited. And waited. And waited. He tried to stay unnoticeable at school, per the guardian’s request. His guardian was a soldier of the great war who had fought on the losing side, but now the two of them lived in the city that had won. He never asked why they lived in such a dangerous place, he knew the answer. There was no place to live outside of the city, either the cold land to the north where things barely grew or cursed ruins or the former battlefields still stained with blood. Life was okay but there was always something. A feeling of both dread and joy. Always lingering in the back of his mind with no end in sight. But that changed when two others came to the city. Two people he passed by chance, two people he wouldn’t normally care about, but a feeling told him to follow them. And he did. He watched as they met up with someone. He knew him. From the pictures the guardian had shown him. Before everything had been lost. A friend, a great warrior, someone the guardian said might have survived. The Endless warrior. He approached them and was met with hostility at first but at the mention of the guardians name the Endless warrior stood down from the coming fight. He met the two with the Endless warrior, his students the Champion of Magic and the Avenger. One had lost his parents in the battle and the other had lost everything she cared about recently. From there he brought them home where the guardian and the endless warrior reunited. “In the morning, I’ll explain everything,” The guardian said as the moon was already rising. “Everything?” “Everything.”
So he went to bed, ready for what was to come in the morning. But it wasn’t morning yet. He was at a very high point, the house was no bigger than an ant, the entire city was small. If he was able to reach it, he could play with everything like it was a dollhouse. “Strange, isn’t it,” A voice asked? He jumped as there was someone standing beside him. She was dressed in gold. At least that was the color of the fabric. A simple shirt, gloves, pants, shoes, and a cloak that covered her face. “What?” “It’s different, going from being small to having everything else be so small.” “Where am I? Who are you?” “You’ve heard about me, in passing. The guardian did her job well.” “What am I doing here?” “Now you’re asking the right questions?” “I was asking the wrong questions?” She laughed. He saw everything ripple for a second. Little images popped up around them. The one he saw clearly was of five teeangers, all of them laughing their heads off at something.
“I watch and remember, that’s all I can do,” She said. “Why?” “We were cursed, all of the gods. All because one wanted to defend the people she cared about,” The stranger answered. Another set of images rippled and he saw two scenes he knew. The bodies that were left after the great war and then someone floating in the air, glowing bright as the sun, and being trapped. It took him a second but he realized that he saw 4 of the teenagers from the first image in those pictures. “You’re a god?” “Yes. The goddess of the sun.” “Okay, why am I here,” He asked looking around, “Wait. I am a god?” “No. Well, yes? It is confusing to explain to someone who wasn’t there,” She stated, staying silent for a moment, “Me and 2 others created champions, to protect the world, and maybe to fix our mistakes.” “I’m one of those champions?” “Yes. Now it is time to wake up, champion of the sun.”
Then he woke up, back in his room wondering what else the guardian had to explain to him.
The Green Mask
Ro couldn’t fall asleep. He laid on the bed that had been too hard for years under the sheet that had been too thin for just as long. He tried to curl under the blanket but everything was always too cold. The control bracelet blocking his powers seemed extra cold. But he heard footsteps coming down the hallway and he froze. He convinced himself to stop moving, to not even shiver. It reminded him of the night they took Kem. When he couldn’t fall asleep and heard the footsteps and then Kem wasn’t there in the morning. Ro never knew what they did when they took him, he had managed to sleep that night. But not the night he lost one of his best friends. He wanted them to walk by his “room” (cell) and leave him alone. No one walked down this hall at night. They were here for a reason. Please don’t let them take him. He thought of Saria. He couldn’t leave them. He already lost Kem and Tanzi, he couldn’t lose the only person he had left. The cell door opened and he kept himself from flinching. “Get up,” A voice barked. He knew the voice. Ciri. The reason for all of his pain. Ro pushed the blanket off him and sat up. He straightened his back, let his feet hit the ground, and placed his hands in his lap, the control bracelet clearly visible. It was a familiar pose, the one that was expected of him, and he hated it. But he didn’t change it. Ciri had two guards with him, both with two guns at their sides and knives. “Stand up,” Ciri commanded. Ro did as told. “You will follow.” Ro only nodded.
The cell door closed behind them as they headed down the hallway. “Where are we going,” Ro asked, risking to ask a question? Ciri stopped walking and everyone followed suit. “You were only kept because you were deemed to be useful to Saria’s training. But you are no longer helping them, you are a distraction. So you will be leaving. Permanently,” Ciri stated. Ro was dead. He was going to die. Every bone in his body screamed to run. To fight. But he couldn’t use his powers. Ro only nodded. On the bright side, maybe he would see Kem and Tanzi again in whatever afterlife awaited him. That wasn’t as comforting as he hoped it would be. There was a buzz from the watch on Ciri’s wrist. A message popped up, Ciri’s eyes racing to read it. “You,” He said to one of the guards, “Follow me. You-he said to the other- deal with M-345.” The only response from the guards was a simple sharp nod. Ciri and the other guard left, leaving Ro to be pushed forward by the one that remained. Ciri wasn’t even there to see him off. The reason his life was miserable wasn’t even there to see it end. Kem’s face flashed in his mind, curly dirty blonde hair that was falling over his eyes. His emerald green eyes were soft and kind, something that only Ro and Tanzi were ever allowed to see. Then Tanzi’s face. But it was the night of the explosion when the chaos began. She was calm, ready for anything. Finally Saria’s, their curiosity showing at meeting someone knew. He wished them good luck. Maybe they could be the one to take down Ciri. He glanced at his guard as they walked. There was something familiar about him. There was a thin scar under his eye, his nose was a bit too large, and his brown eyes looked like chocolate. Big nose man. He remembered that name Tanzi had come up with. When they were still kids, still able to joke freely and make the strangest comments. They never knew the names of any of the guards but they knew the faces. This was one of the people who had always been at the side of the room, watching, ready to stop a fight. To do what was asked of them. Big nose man. Ro didn’t say anything, wondering if this man recognised him. The halls twisted and turned and Ro got to the point where he was sure that he wouldn’t be able to find his way back to the cell. He saw Big Nose Man’s eyes dart up and around. “M-345, stop here,” The guard commanded. Ro did as told and felt the gun press against his back. He closed his eyes, deciding what to remember. His parents were nothing more than vague outlines with patches of color. Kem and Tanzi were still crystal clear in his mind. Saria. He remembered a place that he had learned about, school. What normal kids went to. He tried to imagine himself with his friends in a school. In a place where they could be normal kids. It sounded like a fun place when he learned about it. A happy place. “You’re really going to kill me,” Ro asked? Words started coming out of his mouth. An uncontrolled torrent in his last seconds, “Just like you killed Kem?” “Who,” The guard asked? “Kem. You were one of our guards who was there when we were growing up. Were you one of the ones that took him in the middle of the night,” Ro said. “S-67293, was he the Kem you’re talking about,” The guard asked? “You don’t even know his name?” “We were only told numbers, never names, kid.”
“Ro,” He said, “My name is Ro, it’s short for Rohan.” “Caleve.” Then Ro felt a sharp pain in his back and the world turned black.
He woke up in what he had to assume was a sewer. He looked around. He was alone, no sign of anyone. There was only the repetitive sound of water dripping somewhere. As he sat up something fell off his chest and he caught the piece of paper before it hit the disgusting ground. I never wanted this job. This was the best I could do at the moment. Stay safe, lay low and live a life okay? You’re young, you have a future. Go about 2,000 feet, following the way the water flows. There is a ladder marked #87. Take it to the surface and you’ll be free. Though, you will have to deal with the control bracelet by yourself, I have no idea on how to destroy it. Good luck, Ro -Caleve Big Nos- Caleve had saved him. He had let him live. And he would. He rubbed the bracelet on his wrist. He would get his powers back, avenge Kam and Tanzi, and save Saria. He would bring everything Ciri had crashing to the ground. He stood up and headed off ready for the world.