The Chosen One

On a calm morning, the gentle light of dawn filtered through the windows of the church.

At the altar was a young woman with a wave of hair as bright as the sun, adorned by a golden tiara. She was ready for battle, clad in a red dress and shining gold armor, with a longsword at her side.

She knelt before the bare statue of a female figure, the Goddess of this world and many others.

This Goddess, through her statue, spoke to the lady in a solemn manner.

'My voice is reaching the Chosen One. Quickly, you must retrieve him, before my brother’s Champion finds him first.'

“For the sake of my world, and all others out there, I shall.” The orange-haired lady said firmly.

'Guide him well, Princess Colette, and see your mission through to the end.'

“I will, Your Grace.”

A column of light appeared around her, and her form dissipated as she was taken to the next world.

_________________________________________

Meanwhile, Edward Clarke stood amidst a sea of flames.

The heat was almost real, to the point where he sweated through his clothes. Through his dull eyes, he saw crumbled buildings and charred bodies behind the crackling fires. Everything was in ruins, and black smoke stretched all the way up to darken the sky.

'Life is pointless…' He thought tiredly. 'People only live to suffer in the end. Nobody can change that fate…'

“There may be a way.” An unknown voice whispered from above.

A bright ray of light pierced through the darkness and shined upon Edward, and he slowly turned and looked up. There in the sky was a female figure, though he couldn’t make out who she was.

“Suffering is not the end.” She continued. “Someday, a hero will rise to bring peace to the universe.”

Hearing the word ‘hero’ made Edward scowl. Heroes didn’t exist, they were merely fantasies of those who didn’t know the cruelty of the world.

“There’s no such thing.” He muttered.

“Do you truly believe life itself has no meaning? That people can only suffer and die in futility?”

“...What else is there, other than death and a struggle to live?”

The woman slowly descended, and reached down with one hand.

“Let me show you.” She beckoned. “If you have even the smallest shred of hope left, take my hand.”

He glanced aside as he hesitated, then took a deep breath before raising his hand. The woman took it in a gentle grasp, and his vision was filled with a soft light as she carried him to the sky.

__________________________________________

At 6 o’clock in the morning, Edward was stirred by the loud ring of the alarm on his phone. He blinked several times, confused for a moment as he recalled the dream he just had.

“That was…weird.” He muttered.

The alarm kept him from thinking further, and he groaned in annoyance as he reached over to turn it off.

“Whatever, it’s time for work…”

He dragged himself out of bed and turned on the light, then started getting ready for his job.

His uniform, a green shirt and black pants, was hung in his rather sparse closet. After fitting them onto his slim frame, he trudged over to the bathroom to freshen up and brush his teeth. Finally, he straightened out his long black hair. Though he didn’t care for neatness, he at least made it presentable.

After setting the comb down, he looked at his dark-eyed self and once again wondered…

“What’s the point of my life?”

_________________________________________

Edward remembered when he was a child, so naive and hopeful. His parents were just like any other, encouraging him to do good in school, so he could become whatever he wanted to be when he grew up. His father was in the military back then, so he already knew the kind of person he wanted to be.

He could remember proudly proclaiming his dream to his friends.

'I’m gonna be in the army someday! I’ll be a great hero and save people!'

But now…

“What do you mean you mark them!?” 

Edward winced as a rather pissed lady shook a granola bar in his face.

“Ma’am, I marked all the discounted goods on the table.” He repeated with barely contained irritation. “What you’re trying to buy is full price.”

“Like hell I’d pay three dollars for a small granola bar! When did they become so damn expensive?”

“...When Covid happened, I guess.”

The customer scoffed and stormed out of the store, while Edward shook his head and sighed.

“Can’t blame ‘em…” He muttered.

He noticed a customer towards the chips section. A man in a black hoodie…who just turned away. The dark-haired man blinked, wondering if the stranger had been staring at him, then sighed and rested his head on the counter.

“I’m just seeing things…”

______________________________________

At 2PM, he clocked out and started his walk home.

He hardly paid attention to the people around him, their endless chatter drowned out in his mind. He was just focused on going to his apartment, where he would once again lie down until the next day came.

However, Edward stopped as he felt a chill run up his spine, despite the warm weather. For a second, he actually felt some kind of presence nearby, and it made him turn and look around.

He found the man with the black hoodie amongst the crowd of people, his pace quick as he was clearly approaching Edward.

'Why is he following me?' The clerk thought with unease.

His eyes widened as they caught a gleam of steel in the man’s hand. It was a pocket knife, and that could only mean one thing…

'Run Ed! Run!' An old friend’s voice echoed faintly in his mind.

With his heart beginning to beat from a rising panic, Edward glanced at the traffic light and incoming vehicles. It was too dangerous to run across the street right now, but the stalker was swiftly closing in. He could hear the seconds ticking in his head, knowing the green light wouldn’t flash in time.

He had no choice but to break into a run, and try to cross the gap to the other side. As he began his dash, the hooded man stabbed at him, and the knife managed to tear his shirt and slice his right side.

The retailer cried out and stumbled from the burning pain, and fell in the middle of the street. Several cars honked as they swerved, some crashing into each other in their attempt to avoid the fallen pedestrian. The people on the sidewalks shouted in surprise and confusion.

He groaned as he got on his knees, then noticed a pickup truck speeding towards him, unable to be maneuvered amongst the other out of control vehicles.

At that moment, all Edward could think was…

'...Maybe I can be free from this useless life.'

He shut his eyes, relenting to his fate…but the impact didn’t happen.

Confused, he opened his eyes to see the truck had disappeared. Upon getting up and looking around, he found that all vehicles and people had vanished into thin air. At first, he thought it was a dream…but the burning pain from the cut made it all too real.

“What’s going on?” He muttered, holding his injured side.

He stepped back warily as he saw the hooded man on the sidewalk, twirling the knife in his hand. Whatever happened here, he wasn’t affected by it.

“Who the hell are you!?” Edward shouted.

The stalker pointed the knife at him. “Your end, Hero.”

Under his hood, a pair of red eyes glowed bright, and a dark aura enveloped his body. Edward moved to run, but stayed rooted to the spot. He could feel a great pressure on his body, like a waterfall was pressing on him, preventing escape from certain death.

His heart pounded rapidly, and he could hear his friend’s voice in his head again, along with the bangs and whizzes of gunfire. Once again, he was facing the line between life and death.

'Run Ed! Run!'

The red-eyed man lunged forward, drawing his blade back as he was ready to slaughter his target. Edward raised his arms, attempting to shield himself from the strike.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light that caused the man to stop and hiss, and he hopped back a few steps. Meanwhile, the brightness caused Edward to shut his eyes, until it faded after a moment. And there, in his hand, was a silver sword that gleamed like moonlight.

Before he could question it, a fierce battlecry came from behind, and a young woman clad in red and gold dashed past him to slash at the red-eyed man, who leaped away to the intersection.

Edward’s eyes widened as he took in the sight of the muscular lady, whose orange hair blazed like the sun. With her dazzling gold armor and sword, and how she stood tall and proud…she was just like a knight from the books he used to read.

The knightly woman turned to face the stalker, her scarlet eyes flashing as she grinned with a powerful confidence.

“Just in time!” She declared, brandishing her blade. “You face me now, Champion of Nocturne!”

He hissed in frustration. “A Star Maiden…Stay away, this is between me and him.”

He threw his knife away and summoned a curved blade of dark steel. In his other hand, he gathered purple flames into a swirling ball, which he launched at the so-called Star Maiden.

In response, she swiftly lunged and swung with a horizontal, easily smacking the fireball towards a small Starhusks shop on the right side of the road. It exploded in a spectacular fashion, scattering cuppachino and debris all over the nearby street.

She then did a pivot while charging her blade with a pure white energy, and swung from shoulder to hip while bellowing out.

“Shining Slash!”

She sent out the energy in a wave so fast, it could barely be seen. Her opponent narrowly dodged with a side hop, and a portal of darkness appeared behind him as he retreated.

Just before it took him completely, he pointed his sword at Edward and spoke with a venomous tone.

“I will be your end, Hero.”

The portal closed, leaving Edward standing there with bloodshot eyes full of confusion and fright. He glanced at the silver sword in his hands, which were shaking so much that he was barely holding onto the blade.

“W-what…the hell was that?” He said quietly.

The orange-haired woman walked over to him, and he had to look all the way up to meet her gaze. She cupped her chin in a thoughtful manner, as if sizing him up.

“People in this world really are weak, aren’t they?” She remarked.

She grinned and chuckled lightheartedly, as if she hadn’t been in a fight just a minute ago. Then with a slight huff, she grabbed Edward with one arm and lifted him over her shoulder, which snapped him out of his stupor.

“H-hey!” He protested. “Put me down!”

She ignored him as she looked at the ground in front of her, where a column of light suddenly erupted. While he flailed his arms and legs in a panic, she took him into the light.

“This is kidnapping you bi-”

He was cut off as his mind went blank, and his vision filled with a harsh brightness.

_______________________________________

When he came to, he found himself in an unfamiliar place.

He stood on a dirt road lined by short stone barriers. Behind those barriers, he could see what looked like farms with fields of wheat and various vegetables. Outside the walls, cows were grazing the lush green grass, while people who seemed to be farmers were watching them.

A shadow loomed over Edward, and he stepped back while turning to see the sun-haired knight’s proud grin.

“Quite a sight for your foreign eyes, yeah?” She boasted.

The dark-haired man touched his forehead, which throbbed from the ache this situation was giving him.

'This cannot be real…' He thought with skepticism.

“Where the hell am I?” He said aloud in a more frustrated tone. “And who are you?”

She planted her long golden blade in front of her, with such strength that the earth shook slightly.

“First, tell me your name, Hero.”

There it was again, the word ‘hero’, which shook a nerve in Edward’s brain and made his eyes twitch. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then replied in a hesitant manner.

“...Edward Clarke.”

The taller woman nodded. “Then Sir Edward, this is Leoneburg, capital city of the Kingdom of Leone!”

She stepped aside and gestured to a massive stone wall behind her. Beyond its arch, buildings could be seen inside, along with wandering townsfolk.

“And I, Princess Colette de Leone, welcome you to the world of Solaris!”