The Coming of the Chosen One

The sun shined brightly in the sky, bathing the world in its rays. In backyards, children played under the sun's watchful eye, allowing it to fuel and invigorate them. People walked about, some with an important place to be, others just to enjoy the pleasant weather. Spring flowers bloomed in sidewalks, bushes, and anywhere they could, scrambling upwards for a taste of the light and fresh air. A light breeze blew through the air every now and then, rustling grass and tousling hair. 

The light and the breeze both stopped abruptly at Jake's blackout curtains.

With the spring weather  throughly kept out, the only light in Jake's bedroom was of Jake's T.V. screen, which blazed in his face like a dollar store version of the sun. His floor's color couldn't be seen, as it was covered in crumpled piles of dirty clothes and the remnants of meals from days past. A cockroach feasted on the remains of a pizza slice at Jake's feet.

Jake himself wore a plain navy hoodie, gray sweatpants, and socks that were probably white at some point in the past.

A cacophony of gunshots rung out from the screen. He gripped the PlayStation 4 controller tightly in his hands, tilting joysticks and pressing buttons with the ease most people would walk with. He remained deadly silent, allowing the gunshots to fill the silence.

The door swung open, and Jake sighed. His mother, wearing a sleeveless running shirt, skintight exercise pants, and drinking heavily from a huge water bottle, stepped in.

"Jake," she said. "You really should get outside"

Jake rolled his eyes. "I don't want to," he said.

His mom leaned on the doorframe. "So what do you want to do? Just sit here and play Killmaster: Death in Hell all day?"

"Actually, yes."

His mom sighed. It was a signature mom sigh, of the sort Jake hated. It made him want to punch her every time she sighed like that.

"Jake, it's a beautiful spring day. It's warm but not hot, breezy but not windy, it's just a great day. Why not come for a walk with me?"

"Mom, every time we go for a walk, we go like twenty miles and I come back too tired to play games. I'm not doing that," he said, taking a big oily bite of pizza.

"First of all, the farthest you've walked nonstop is two miles tops," said his mom. "Second of all, that's seriously pathetic. You're really concerning to me"

"Did you just call me pathetic? That's rude. I think that could constitute emotional abuse"

"Jake, I'm just trying to be honest with you. The parental advice blog I follow recommends that conversations with teens be filled with openhearted honesty, and my honest feeling is that you're going to die at thirty-two of a heart attack because this is what you do all day"

Jake shook his head, but kept his eyes focused on the game. "I'm almost an adult, Mom. I can make my own decisions," he said.

Jake's mom folded her arms. She loved Jake dearly, and spent many long nights worrying about him and his future. Oftentimes, she would wish that she could simply do what her own mom would have done at times like this; hit him and force him to become her idea for a perfect child. Yet she knew that this wouldn't help him, and was afraid of the consequences of exacting discipline. Perhaps, if she had overcome this fear, Jake would have been spared his upcoming fate.

"Okay," said Jake's mom. "Okay." She turned and left, closing the door behind her. Jake exhaled, and resumed his enjoyment of exploding heads in Killmaster: Death in Hell.

"Would you at least consider reading a book?," asked Jake's mom, poking her head back through the door.

"No!," said Jake.

"Are you sure? Look, it's The Lord of the Rings." She held a thick copy of the book up. It was white, with an image of Sauron's eye staring ominously from within a circle. "It was my favorite at your age"

"Mom, you know I don't like nerdy stuff. Now please leave!"

"Okay, okay," she said. She set the book down on the floor just outside the door, and left.

After twelve hours and a total of five-thousand four hundred and sixty-six K.O.s, Jake glanced at his clock. 3:42 A.M. Probably as good a time as any to go to bed.

He switched off his T.V., and blinked a few times. A pale glow was still lighting the room. He turned around a few times, struggling to find the source of this new light. He caught the copy of The Lord of the Rings just outside his door, and scoffed to himself. 'I can't wait to move out of here,' he thought to himself.

Then, he turned around, and noted a bright light creeping through the edges of his blackout curtains. He cast them aside, flinging several years of built-up dust in the air. There on the other side of his window was a heavenly blue light. Jake squinted, both to get a better luck and because of the dust. Upon looking at it a bit closer, he saw that the light’s source was a butterfly. Its wings flapped gently, keeping it in perfectly in place about three feet from Jake's window. The blue light reflected off of Jake’s eyes as he looked upon it. He thought that it seemed more regal than anything that could exist in this world.

Jake put his hands on the dusty windowsill and pushed on it. The windowsill slid open. The smell of morning dew crept into the room. Jake continued to stare at the butterfly, as if in a trance. He held his hand out.

The butterfly hovered in place, almost as if it were hesitating. After a few moments, it gently glided forward. With a few last flaps, it landed on Jake’s outstretched hand.

Jake pulled his hand back into the room. With the butterfly up close, Jake could examine it in much closer detail. It reminded him of the blue morpho butterflies he’d seen pictures of online before, but it had striking stripes of black and crimson that were unlike any butterfly that exists on Earth. Most interesting of all was its glow. Now that he had the butterfly in his hand, Jake could see that this was no trick of the eye. The butterfly was literally glowing and seemed to be coated in a hazy aura.

Jake continued to stare at the butterfly. After a few minutes, the butterfly flew off his hand and perched itself on the copy of The Lord of the Rings. The butterfly’s wings drooped down so that they were lying on the book, and its glow dimmed, returning the room to its previous darkness.

Jake blinked. Suddenly, he realized that he was very tired. Had it been earlier in the day, he may have stopped to question the otherworldly insect, but for the moment, he flopped down into his bed, and immediately fell asleep.

When Jake awoke, the first thing he noticed was that he was wet. His hoodie and sweatpants were heavy with water, but despite this, he was warm. The second thing he noticed was a powerful smell that was simultaneously earthy like dirt and fresh like a ripe apple. It was the smell of morning dew on blades of wild grass, and it caused a flicker in Jake’s mind. He'd forgotten to close the window just before he went to bed.

He sat bolt upright, prepared to quickly pull the windowsill back down. Then he felt the wet grass on his hands, saw the towering trees above his head, and realized that he wasn't in his room anymore.

Below him was a thick layer of green grass that was softer than his bed. Surrounding him in all directions were massive pine trees with dark needles. The only thing beyond the trees was pitch blackness. Had Jake thought to look up for more than a few moments, he would have seen that the brilliant light of hundreds of stars in the night sky would have more than made up for the darkness around him. But Jake’s eyes were kept on the ground level, where they darted anxiously about, desperately trying to find any sort of shape in the dark. Fear was holding onto him so tightly that he could not move or scream, he could only stare.

A glowing blue light shone from behind him. He turned around as if he’d been hit. About three feet away, he could see the butterfly, glowing as brightly as the first time he’d seen it. The butterfly was perched atop a peculiar object.

Then, as soon as Jake noticed it, the butterfly flew away into the forest, and its light dimmed until it was gone.

It was at this point that Jake decided that he must be dreaming. There was simply no way that this could be real. Still, his shoulders remained tight as he slowly crawled over to the object that the butterfly had been standing on.

The object seemed to be nothing but a rock at first glance, but when Jake picked it up, he found it extremely light, almost so light that it didn’t seem like it was there. He thought that this was probably a good sign he was in a dream.

The starlight shined down on the object in his hands, and Jake could now see that it was no rock. It was roughly the shape of an oval and curved like an upside-down bowl. It resembled a human face, except it cut off suddenly just below the nose, and its eyes were lifeless and yellow. Red markings ran like rivers across its white surface.

Jake held it up closer. It was a mask, of the sort actors in kabuki theater would wear. Jake recognized it from a recording of a traditional performance he’d seen once or twice.

It was a rather beautiful mask, he thought, and he had the odd compulsion to try it on.

Then, a loud cry pierced the still air. Jake’s hairs stood on end. This horrible cry flipped a switch somewhere in Jake’s brain. Adrenalin pumped through his body, and at that moment, he knew he needed to run.

He dashed away like a rabbit, weaving around trees, bushes, and rocks. It was now apparent that the oppressive darkness of the forest was a bit of an optical illusion, and it was actually bright enough for him to see where he was going. However, the starlight also revealed dark shapes running alongside and behind him. Jake looked behind himself briefly, then quickened his pace, desperately hoping that he wouldn’t trip because he knew that any stumble would mean death. In that brief second, he’d seen seven pairs of glowing eyes staring back at him.

Jake continued to run. He felt no pain, despite the fact that he was running faster than most people run in their whole lives. He only felt the need to escape. Then, he stopped suddenly.

In front of Jake was an enormous drop, at least several hundred feet deep, that led down to a sprawling forested valley. Instinct was replaced by human thought, and Jake realized that he’d run about three hundred feet at maximum speed through a forest. His lungs hurt, he could barely breathe, and his legs were in so much pain they gave out beneath him. He collapsed to the floor.

Jake was now lying on a large shelf of stone, which the massive pines bordered. From within the darkness of the forest, pairs of yellow glowing eyes could be seen. With another sickening cry, a large hairy beast crawled into the light. It was a wolf, black as the night it lived in and as big as a horse. The yellow glow of its eye had dimmed under the light of the stars, and now they were soulless and black.

Six more wolves, slightly smaller than the first one, stepped into the light. They growled at Jake tauntingly.

Tears began to form in Jake’s eyes. The same instinct that had told him to run from the wolves now told him that the pain and fear he was feeling was real and that he was about to die.

The lead wolf extended its head to the sky and howled so loudly the ground literally shook. The six wolves raced towards Jake, vicious hunger in their eyes.

At that moment, a blinding comet of light rose up from below the cliff. The wolves stopped short and backed away, growling and barking. The object rose up, then crashed down to the ground like a wave, blasting the six wolves away with holy light.

In front of Jake was a being that glowed as brightly as the Sun. She was clothed in white armor and was breathtakingly beautiful. Her eyes were blue as the ocean, and her hair blazed yellow like a wildfire. In her hand was a tall white staff topped by a gem, on her head was a pointed wizard’s hat, and on her back was a great billowing cape.

“Begone, wolves!,” she shouted, and what she said was what was. The six lesser wolves immediately ran away with their tails between their legs. The lead wolf growled and charged her. Once the wolf had almost reached her, she struck it with her staff. With a sound like thunder and a flash like lightning, the strike launched the wolf high into the sky, where it crashed down into the forest.

Jake had watched this so flabbergasted that he had not so much as moved. Before his eyes, the being’s cape folded over her body. Even her staff was hidden now, and by all accounts, she would appear to be a miserly beggar, dressed in a gray cloak and a funny hat.

She turned around to look at Jake. Despite her disguise, her eyes still blazed.

“Hi,” she said. “I’m Yume.” She cocked her head at Jake. Her eyes were fixated on his hoodie.

“Where are you from, traveler?,” she said. “I’ve never seen clothes like that before”

Jake simply looked at her, totally awestruck. Yume stared back at him. After a few moments, she extended a hand to him.

“Are you alright?,” she asked.

After staring for probably a bit too long, Jake took her hand. It was soft and warm. He suddenly felt blood rushing to his face.

“I think I’m good,” Jake finally said. He then immediately cried out and fell to the ground in pain.

There was a sharp stabbing pain coming from his foot. When he reached down to clutch it in pain, he felt a thick, sharp object in his foot.

“Oh my,” Yume said, with the same tone one would react to an amusing insect.

“What? What’s ‘oh my?’”

Yume grasped Jake’s foot with both hands. There was a large sharp rock wedged in his foot.

“Oh my god!,” Jake said.

“Relax,” said Yume. “It’s just a bladed rock spider. You should survive”

“I should survive?”

“Yes, you should. Judging by the fact that it's still bleeding, you’ve only had it in there for a few minutes. It’s pretty nuts that you didn’t notice it until now”

Jake was now clutching his leg. His toes were spasming.

“What do I do!?,” he said.

Yume examined the grievous wound. In one quick motion, she yanked the rock spider right out of Jake’s foot, causing a scream that almost matched the wolf’s howl in volume.

“Look at that!,” she said, admiring the rock spider in her hand. Eight bony legs waggled about, dripping crimson blood all over the place. “They really are fascinating creatures. They lodge themselves in your foot as you walk using their rock-shaped shell, secreting venom that numbs the immediate area so you don’t feel any pain at first. Then they use their eight legs to keep themselves in and suck you ‘till you’re dry.”

Yume looked back at Jake. His face was utterly pale, and a pool of blood had formed around his foot.

“Oh, sorry. I can be a bit distractible when the mood strikes me,” she said. The rock spider burst into flames in her hand, instantly becoming nothing but ashes. Then, she put this same hand over Jake’s wound. To Jake’s amazement, the deep cut sealed up like a zipper. There wasn’t even a scar.

“Well, that’s that. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, traveler,” she said. She rose up to her feet and looked at the stars. “Watch your feet!” With that, she turned around and began shuffling away.

Jake watched her go with wide eyes. He rubbed his foot with his hands, and as he rubbed his feet, he realized that he had no idea what was happening.

“Hey!,” he shouted. Yume turned around to face him.

“Myes?”

“Where am I?

“You would appear to be on a cliff, my friend.” Yume smirked at him.

“No, I mean…” Jake looked around him.

“Where in the world is this?,” he said.

Yume raised an eyebrow.

“You really are lost, aren’t you?”

Jake didn’t respond to this.

“Well, you’re in–wait one second”

Jake and Yume stared at each other for a few seconds.

Just as Jake was about to say something, the pink light of the Sun spilled over the great mountains in the distance and bathed them in its rays. Jake turned around, and in the daylight, he could now see enormous green mountains in the distance. They circled a valley full of pines, cedars, and oaks. Rising above the trees were rolling green hills, and atop one of these hills was a small village.

“You’re in Chū Nihon,” she said.

Jake gazed over the landscape of Chū Nihon in wonder. It seemed to him that it went on forever, even though he couldn’t see past the mountains.

He was suddenly aware that Yume was now standing right next to him, staring at his face.

“Whatcha got in your pocket, traveler?,” she asked.

“My pocket?” Jake couldn’t remember putting anything in his hoodie’s pocket, but out of habit, he stuffed his hands inside. To his surprise, there was, in fact, something in there. He pulled the kabuki mask from earlier out of his pocket.

“Huh, I don’t remember putting that in there”

“Where did you find that?” Yume’s voice was grave.

“In the forest.” Jake pointed vaguely in the direction the wolves had chased from. “It was just on the floor”

“Amazing,” Yume said. She held her fingers up to her chin, staring intently at the mask. As Yume examined the mask, Jake found himself examining Yume. Her skin was perfectly clear and smooth, and she seemed to glow even though she was no longer literally producing light. She had full lips, and when they moved, her voice seemed like that of an angel.

Her voice. She had just spoken, but Jake hadn’t caught it.

“Sorry, what was that?”

Yume eyed him with a scowl on her face.

“You didn’t hear a word I just said?”

Jake shook his head sheepishly. Yume folded her arms.

“Sheesh! I’m used to stares, but most people don’t lose themselves looking at me when I’m cloaked up”

Jake’s head tilted to the floor faster than a falling comet. His face turned beet-red.

“That’s better,” Yume said, though she had a naughty smirk on her face as she said this. “Anyway, I was just trying to explain to you a bit about that thing in your hands”

“Is it yours?,” Jake asked dumbly.

Yume chuckled at this. “Goodness no!,” she said. “And the world can be grateful that it’s not mine”

She caught Jake’s confused expression. Sensing that she had his attention, she continued, and told a long story that wound like a river and meandered like a sloth. Jake caught something about three cities, a guy named Eemawashie, and that the Mask in his hands was extremely powerful. By the end, he was deathly bored. As in literally so bored he wished for death.

"Did you catch all that?," asked Yume.

Jake opened and closed his mouth.

"Yeah"

"Good! Well, you seem to be catching on to this quickly, so I won't beat around the bush. You're the Chosen One!"

"What? How do you know?," asked Jake dumbly.

Yume put her hand on Jake’s shoulder. Chills went down his spine.

“What is your name, traveler?,” she asked.

“Jacob, but most people call me Jake”

“So, Jeiku, you have a strange name unlike any I’ve heard in my long life, you wear odd clothes that are soft and weak, and you have somehow stumbled upon the Mask after five hundred years of it being hidden.” She looked Jake in the eye with a look so fierce that Jake felt he could faint. “I brushed the Soothsayer’s prediction off as the product of a bit too much opium when I first heard it, but you’d have to be terribly stupid to not believe it now”

Jake took a step back, letting Yume’s hand fall to the floor. He looked out over the sunlit valley.

“So, you think…?,” he said at length, still looking over the valley.

“No, I know with certainty. You are the Chosen One, Jeiku. You are the one who will destroy the Mask and bring peace back to Chū Nihon”

Jake stared at her blankly.

“So, you want me… to be the Chosen One?”

Yume looked at him sternly. “No, I’m saying you are the Chosen One. It doesn’t have anything to do with what I want”

Jake nodded his head. He turned to face the valley. Between the butterfly and Yume, he’d seen a lot of things that he could call “breathtakingly beautiful,” but the valley in front of him took the award in his mind.

“Do you think I could just stay here for a bit?,” he asked.

Yume sighed, then smiled.

“Absolutely not!” Jake jumped at her words. “Time is of the essence, Jeiku! Imawashī’s spies are everywhere, and they won’t hesitate to maim someone with the Mask just because he's a funny-looking kid”

A few cobwebs dislodged themselves in Jake’s dull mind.

“Wait, are you saying that my life is in danger?”

“Look around you, Jake,” said Yume. “You’ve been in Chū Nihon for something like thirty minutes, and already you’ve almost been killed by wolves and by a bladed rock spider. It’s obvious that you have no power, wits, or applicable skills of any sort”

“Um–“

“But, don’t worry! The Burden of the Mask is a heavy one, but I, Yume the Great Wanderer, will help you”

“Why don’t you just take it?”

A shadow fell over Yume’s face.

“Me?” She stuttered as she said this. “No, Jake. I really… I can’t do that”

“Why?”

“Enough questions!,” she said. As when she had shouted at the wolves, what she commanded was reality, and Jake immediately fell silent. “Now, come, follow me! I’ll tell you my plan”

At that, Yume turned around and briskly walked away. Jake stayed still. 'Maybe I should have tried to listen to what she was saying,' he thought. 

The Sun's warm rays gently touched him. He found them very unpleasant, and he wished he were in his pitch-black room. It was just his luck that he get taken to another world with only ten more levels left in Killmaster: Death in Hell. 

"Well, are you coming?," shouted Yume.

 Jake sighed. Dejectedly, he hobbled after Yume. He had no idea what was happening, but he could tell that following her was his only option. He walked across the rocky floor, and with a last glance over his shoulder, followed Yume into the dark forest.