2: Three

The conversations in the crowd quieted as Master Summoner Larras led me forwards. I felt numerous eyes on me and I couldn’t help but fidget with the fabric of my dress as I followed the summoner towards the fountain. Murmurs began to flow from the group, hushed but excited. I saw that there were numerous antique-looking cameras set up on tripods directly in front of the four at the fountain.

Larras led me past the gawking crowd. Each step brought me closer and closer to the four, whose attention was now fixed directly upon me. My hands were sweaty and my heart thudded loudly within my chest. My fingers clutched at the silk of my skirt tightly and I bit my lip in an attempt to calm my frazzled nerves. My throat felt dry and swallowing didn’t help.

Eventually, we arrived at the front of the fountain. The four Heroes stood directly in front of me, close enough to touch. I really, really hope they couldn’t tell how nervous I was. That would be so embarrassing! My eyes flew from one Hero to the other, taking in their appearance quickly.

One of the four was Andre; I recognized him instantly. He still wore the cowboy duster and his hair was still in a messy state, looking as if he hadn’t bothered to fix it after getting up from bed. He had the usual frown on his face, and with his hands stuffed in his pockets he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but where he was.

The next Hero was young, probably the same age as Andre and me. He was Asian and looked completely and utterly ordinary. He was neither handsome nor ugly; he wasn’t tall or short. Everything about the guy screamed average. Even the outfit he wore was unassuming, consisting of a brown tunic over a white button-up shirt, brown trousers, and leather boots. He had dark brown hair and black eyes and carried a warm, friendly smile on his face. The only thing unusual about his appearance was that of the sword strapped to his belt. From the shape of the hilt and the length of the blade, I guessed that it was probably a longsword. Hours of lessons from Sirs Hirch and Gidz had made me quite familiar with the various bladed weapons available out there.

The one next to the overly ordinary guy was a tall and lean black man with a shocking shade of bright red hair. (I wasn’t aware that they had hair dyes here!) He had brown eyes and an easy-going smile. He wore a green button-up shirt with short sleeves, and from his bare arms, I could see that he had some muscle on his slender frame. Black pants and brown lace-up boots completed his outfit.

The final Hero was a woman a few years older than me, perhaps in her early twenties. She was also black and had her long hair tied in numerous braids that fell down her back. Her light brown eyes were bright and welcoming and she had a big grin on her face when she saw me. She also had numerous piercings in her ears, nose, and lips which made her look really cool. She wore a brown leather corset that hugged her torso tightly but left her arms, shoulders, and upper chest bare. Baggy maroon pants tucked into calf-length black boots completed the outfit. (Wait! How come she’s allowed to wear pants but I’m not?)

Well, three of them were smiling at me. That was a good sign, right?

“Heroes!” Summoner Larras said. “It is my pleasure to present to you… the Hero Amelia!”

Months of etiquette lessons and training suddenly kicked in and I found myself performing a perfect curtsy automatically. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The words were out of my mouth before I had known it.

The four were quiet for a while before they suddenly burst out laughing. I cringed, actually taking a step backward so great was my shame. I clutched tightly at my skirt and looked down, feeling my eyes beginning to sting. What was I thinking? These people were from Earth, not this quasi-European alternate universe! They wouldn’t go for me giving out curtsies! They must think I’m a total idiot!

“S-sorry! Sorry! That just took us by surprise, that’s all!” said the woman. She slapped at the tall man next to her in order to get him to stop chuckling; she was only partially successful. “Please, don’t mind us nitwits. You were great!” The woman stepped up and suddenly wrapped her arms around me in a hug, causing me to stiffen. “That introduction was adorable! You look just like a princess.”

Was that a compliment? It had to be. Well, just in case, I said, “Thank you,” while wiping at my eyes.

“Look, why don’t we start over, alright? Amelia, was it?” I nodded as the woman took a step back from me, releasing me from her embrace. She looked down and gave me a comforting smile. “Ok. Well, you introduced yourself so we should do the same. I’m Lynn, Lynn Gates. Originally from Birmingham but I mostly lived in London when I got summoned here.”

“Wait, London?” I asked, confused. “But you don’t have a British accent.”

Lynn laughed again, though thankfully this time she wasn’t laughing at me. “Yeah, weird, right? From what we can tell, it’s part of the translation-thing that all Heroes have. It makes the people we talk to lose their accents, even when speaking the same language. To me, all of you are speaking normally. No accents at all.”

Oh, wow. That was weird.

Lynn continued with her introduction. “I’ve been here in this world for twelve years and was summoned by the Kingdom of Zarta. People call me the Silkstring Hero. Wanna see why?”

I smiled and nodded.

She looked over at the group gathered in front of us. With all the cameras that they had with them, these people had to be photographers. They were mostly standing around talking amongst each other, though some of them were tending to the cameras. Lynn grinned at me before she thrust out an arm, wrist bent, and her fingers clenched in a very familiar way. I saw something white and silky shoot out of her wrist and fly forwards. The stringy substance sped through the air towards the photographers until it splatted onto the tophat one of them was wearing. Lynn yanked her arm back causing the string to pull the man’s hat right off his head. The photographers all gasped out in alarm until they realized what was going on. Soon every one of them was laughing, including the man whose hat Lynn had just stolen.

Said hat sailed through the air before Lynn caught it deftly in her hand. “Cool, huh?” she asked with a smirk.

Definitely! It was also very, very familiar. “S-spiderman!” I almost shouted before remembering myself and lowering my voice to a regular pitch. “B-but your power is from the movie version, the one Sam Raimi directed! With Toby Maquire! I can tell from the web coming out of your wrist.”

Lynn nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I think too. Oh!” She looked down at the hat in her hands and smiled with embarrassment. She rushed over to its owner and handed the hat back. “Sorry about that! Here you go!”

“Oh, it’s no trouble, My Lady!” The man laughed. “It was quite the treat to see you in action!”

Lynn quickly hustled back to us and continued from where she left off. “Yeah, so all of us figured that our powers come from pieces of fiction that we’ve seen. It seems to be completely random, too. It doesn’t matter if we’re familiar with the work or not, either. I only saw Spiderman once in the theaters and I wasn’t a big fan of it.” She stopped as if recalling something, then looked back at the other three Heroes. “Oops. I forgot this was a meet-and-greet. Sorry! Hey, J. Go next!”

The tall man with the red hair stepped up and gave me a nod. “Yo. Name’s Junior Dlamini from Cape Town. I was summoned by Cennik. I’ve only been here for about two years. That means I used to be the new guy, but since you’re here now nobody can call me that anymore!” He sent a grin in Andre’s direction, who just rolled his eyes. “Anyway, people here call me the Flame-touch Hero.”

Junior raised his right hand in front of him, palm up. Suddenly, there was a pop and a small explosion occurred right above his fingers. Soon, more pops and explosions appeared, and it looked like a bunch of firecrackers were going off in his hand.

“This is, of course, the smallest explosions I can do,” Junior explained. “I can make them much larger, even use controlled detonations to fly around.”

“Awesome!” I said. “That’s Bakugo’s power, isn’t it? From My Hero Academia?”

The tall man suddenly grew stock-still, his eyes widening in shock. “Y-you know anime?”

“Yes, I love anime!” I told him excitedly. “It’s my favorite thing to watch next to movies. I think I’ve seen pretty much every episode of My Hero, too.”

“Yes!” Junior shouted, his face twisting into a joyful grin. “Finally! Finally, we get somebody who knows anime! I’m a big fan of the stuff, ya know? But for two years I haven’t had anybody to talk to about it. Even Kenji here doesn’t know much, and he’s fucking Japanese!”

The Asian man smiled in embarrassment while scratching the back of his head. “Sorry! I was too busy studying to watch very much.”

“You let me down, man,” Junior told him in a deathly serious tone.

“A-anyway,” said the overly average man as he stepped forwards. He took a bow as he introduced himself. “My name is Kenji Sato. It will be good to be working with you.”

Wow. Not only was he completely ordinary, but he was polite, too. If this was an isekai anime, Kenji would probably be the main character. He had that exact mix of niceness and blandness that all isekai protagonists seemed to possess. I wonder if he has a harem of beautiful women yet.

“I’m the Hero of Penglos and I’ve been here for about three years,” Kenji continued. “Um… as for my power, well…” The Japanese man chuckled, his cheeks turning red. “I’m afraid I haven’t, um, discovered it yet.”

Oh, that’s right. When I first got here, Ghaldor had said something about a Hero not discovering his power despite being in Casaad for years. I guess he had been referring to this guy.

“Don’t worry, K! I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before you find your power,” said Lynn, obviously trying to encourage her teammate.

“Yeah. I’m sure,” Kenji said, though the manner in which he said it made it obvious he was doubtful it would ever happen. I wasn’t worried for him, though. If this was like your typical anime, then he would probably discover that his hidden power was something extremely potent and powerful. He’d then save the day at the last minute, defeating an extremely powerful villain and saving all his friends.

A long silence followed after Kenji’s intro, one that made everyone there feel awkward. Deciding to put an end to it the silence, Lynn spoke up. “Hey, Andre. Introduce yourself.”

The grumpy Hero let out a put-upon sigh as he stuffed his hands deeper into his pockets. “Already met her.”

“H-hello again,” I said while giving him a small wave.

“Wait! You already met the new Hero? When?” Lynn asked.

“I don’t know!” Andre belted out in annoyance. “A week? Two weeks ago? When the Earl went on his trip.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Junior asked.

“Jesus Christ!” The young Hero cursed. “I don’t gotta tell you people everything I do!”

“Whatever, Andre.” Lynn gave him a dismissive wave, then turned around to ignore him. Junior did the same while Kenji just stood there looking embarrassed.

Another long silence passed. Hmm. Looks like Andre didn’t get along with anyone. I decided to take the initiative and break the awkward quiet. “Um, isn’t someone missing? There’s only four of you here.”

Lynn looked at me with a smirk. “Oh, he’s here. He just wants to make a grand entrance.”

“Huh?” I asked in confusion.

The woman’s smirk grew wider. Then she pointed a finger upwards.

I raised my eyes to the sky. Overhead, the sun was shining down on us. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky; it was completely clear and bright blue. I was about to ask Lynn what I was looking for when I saw a shadow pass in front of the sun. Wait… what is that? A bird? No, that wasn’t it. There weren’t any airplanes here in this world so it couldn’t be that.

The shape began descending and soon I saw that it was the shadow of a man. Through the glare of the sun, I saw small details. Red cape. Blue bodysuit. Is that an “S” on his chest? No way! It was HIM!

“He does this every time,” Lynn muttered with a smile. “What a show-off.”

As the man descended, I was able to make out more of him. I soon saw differences that made me see that my earlier thought was wrong; the person floating down from the sky wasn’t the Man of Steel. The suit wasn’t skin-tight spandex, but blue cloth. It also wasn’t a one-piece outfit, instead being composed of a long-sleeve tunic and separate pants. He wore leather boots that were dyed red along with a red velvet cape. There was definitely a red “S” in a yellow background stitched onto the front of his tunic. It wasn’t the costume. More like an imitation of the costume using materials available in this world.

I then got a better look at the man himself. He definitely wasn’t Superman. He was in his thirties and although he had the muscular build to be the Man of Steel, he didn’t have the coloring. First of all, he was blond. He was a bit too pale. And his gray eyes were too dark. Still, he did have a commanding presence about him. Not to mention that he was incredibly handsome. I’m afraid to say that my cheeks flushed a bit when he made eye contact with me.

The flying man soon touched down onto the plaza. He quickly turned to me and smiled, flashing a perfect set of white teeth. “Hello. You must be Amelia,” he said, his voice deep and assertive. He held out his hand.

“H-hi!” I placed a shaky hand in his large one and hoped that he wouldn’t break my bones in his grip. Such a thing wouldn’t be possible, of course, since I had my barrier protecting me. To my surprise, his grip was firm but not overwhelming. It was what I would call the handshake of a born leader.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” the man said after releasing my hand. “The name’s Marcus Karisson and I lived in Gothenburg, Sweden before I came here. You can call me Mark. I serve Scepter mainly and I’ve been a Hero for nearly forty years. The people call me the Invincible Hero. I probably don’t need to tell you why.” He chuckled.

No, that he does not. If his outfit and flying were any indication, then he obviously got Superman’s powers. Dang, talk about lucky. He had invincibility, super strength, super speed, super senses, heat vision, and flight. Even then I was probably forgetting a power or two. That was a lot of abilities to possess, and all really powerful ones!

“Why the costume?” I asked, despite my nerves. I was honestly curious.

Mark flashed me another smile. “A Hero needs his suit!” His smile then lessened in intensity, becoming something more serious, more somber. “But if you’re asking me why I’m dressed like Superman, well, I guess the honest reason is that I just like him. Who wouldn’t, right? Ever since I was a child I have idolized the Man of Steel. I had read every comic book of his ever published.

“Superman always stood up for what was right. Truth. Justice. The American way. Such simple ideals, but ideals worth protecting. Superman is a hero, a symbol for all that is good and right in the world. But he didn’t exist in this world, a fact that I found incredibly sad. No one would ever know of his adventures, of all his good deeds, and all the great things he stood for. I guess I’m just trying to sow his legend in this place. I wish to be a tribute to the greatest hero of them all.”

Oh, I get it! He was just a huge Superman fanboy and wanted to cosplay as him.

It was then that one of the photographers approached us. Although his steps were steady, I could tell that he was a bit nervous. “S-sirs and madames. Now that everyone has arrived, would it be possible to take your pictures?”

Mark looked around and shrugged his broad shoulders. “I don’t see why not,” he told the man, the bright smile returning to his face. “Have you had your photo taken yet, Amelia?”

“No,” I shook my head. Both in this world and the last. As far as I know, no photo of me had ever been taken. I doubt anyone would have wanted to have a photograph of my old, hideous body anyway.

“It’s kind of a pain, but we have to get it done,” said Lynn.

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Mark said with a chuckle.

A group of photographers came up and began to herd us around, getting us all into position for the photo. Because I was the shortest, I got to be up front. Hurray. The other five all stood around me. We honestly looked like some demented family portrait, which of course showed me as the youngest baby of the bunch.

“Please hold still,” said one of the photographers.

There were six cameras altogether. Each looked identical to the other: Box-like with a lens sticking out of the front. They were all kept up on tripods with the camera operator at the back of the device under a cloth hood. Another man would stand next to the camera holding up a a pan on top of a rod. I watched them put several spoonfuls of a black, powdery substance in the pan. I really hoped it wasn’t gunpowder.

“So, Amelia. How are you liking this world so far?” asked Mark.

“Oh, um, it’s been great!” I told him. “Everyone here’s been so nice. And the food is wonderful, too!” A sudden image flashed into my mind, of General Statton and his men. Of the prisoners I had been forced to fight. Of the well-dressed man who killed himself in front of me. I forcefully buried those thoughts into the back of my mind. Now wasn’t the time to think about such things. I had to make a good impression on the five Heroes; I couldn’t break down in front of them. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice my slight distress.

“Any news of home?” Mark asked. “We always ask the newcomers about Earth. How it’s doing, any new technology, that sort of thing. Last news we heard about was two years ago.”

“Yeah, when I got summoned,” said Junior. “Is the pandemic still going on? It had gotten pretty bad when I left.”

Uh oh. If there was a subject I was really bad at, it was current events. I never really paid attention to the news. It was always so depressing, and scary, so I usually ignored it. I wasn’t totally cut off from world events though. I knew there was a pandemic going on; it was kind of hard not to notice. But as for other events like politics, sports, world events? I had no clue.

“The pandemic is still happening,” I said. I saw their faces look grim upon hearing my words. “But it’s gotten much better! Companies have developed vaccines and the rates of infection have steadily been going down.” Everyone seemed to relax at those words. “As for any other news, well, I don’t really have anything to report. Everything’s been pretty quiet for the most part.” At least I hoped so.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” said Kenji. “A quiet world is a peaceful one.”

Our conversation was interrupted by one of the photographers. He waved to us, signaling that the camera was ready to take a shot. “Smile!” he shouted.

All of us, with the exception of Andre who continued to wear a grim frown, smiled. There was a loud puff and a bright flash as the powder in the pan ignited. I may have flinched a little.

“While we’re here, Amelia, I should probably go over the rules,” said Mark in a quiet tone. He looked around, making sure no one in the crowd was within earshot. Master Summoner Larras was the closest, but he had moved away from us to give us our privacy. “These rules have been passed down throughout the ages from one generation of Heroes to another. These are rules that Heroes themselves have set forth for ourselves, rules that have pretty much kept us alive for the thousands of years that Heroes have been around.”

Oh, wow. There are secret Hero rules? This was just like being inducted into a secret society!

“The first rule is to always be true to yourself,” Mark said. “What I mean by this is to follow your conscience. We, as Heroes, represent the nations that have summoned us. But that does not mean that we are slaves to them. Never let your kingdom force you into doing something that you do not want to do. The people who summoned you will want to use you to do their dirty work. Do not let them. You are a Hero, a valuable asset to them. With that fact and your powers, they can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Once again images of all the people whose deaths I was responsible for flashed into my mind. I ruthlessly squashed the images down, forcing them away into the deeper recesses of my mind. Oh God. Have I actually broken the first rule? I didn’t even know there were rules!

“The second rule,” Mark continued. “Always conduct yourself with dignity and honor. As a Hero, we’re symbols. We are supposed to be the best of humanity. Don’t ever do anything that sullies that image of you. Not that I think you’ll do any of these, but no drugs. No getting drunk. No whoring. Stuff like that.”

Okay, that rule seemed easy enough. I’d never do drugs. I only drank wine during dinner. As for the whoring… yeah, no thanks.

“Third rule,” Mark said. “Never abuse your power. This one ties in with the reasons for the second rule. As a Hero, you’re a symbol. So never use your powers in a corrupt way. Don’t use it to victimize the locals, unless, of course, they’re attacking you or anyone else. Sometimes people will ask you for a demonstration of your powers because they’re curious; in those cases, it’s fine. Just use your best judgment.”

Another simple rule. Got it. I had used my powers against Prince Callion, but that was self-defense. Then there was… I saw myself attacking various rebellious soldiers, breaking their limbs, not taking their lives but condemning them to death anyway. I once again ignored those thoughts.

“Fourth rule. Never fight amongst each other. Like I said, Heroes are symbols. If people saw us fighting each other then it would hurt that image. Getting into disagreements is fine, just be sure to work it out. Physical confrontations are out of the question, and I will get involved myself to stop it if necessary. Remember, you have powers now. Getting into a slap fight with another person with powers can be extremely destructive. You’ll not only damage property, but you might end up killing innocent people.”

I glanced over at Andre. He was looking to the side, staring at nothing in particular. Could I work out my differences with him? In a one-on-one fight, with my powers I could probably take him. But I didn’t want it to come to that.

“The last rule,” Mark said. “And this is an important one. Do not ever tell any local, even your summoners, about your death.”

My… what? What the heck was he talking about?

“You can tell us, though. All of us are here for you. Depending on how you died, it could be very traumatic. So we can listen whenever you want to talk.” Mark’s face became darkly serious. I tried to still my face, but it was very hard because of the confusion I was feeling. I continued to listen.

“But do not ever tell the locals that you died. Not even the people who summoned you. They wouldn’t understand. And if word got out that we might be ghosts or zombies or whatever, then our image as Heroes might get affected. The people here will tell you that they don’t have religion, not since their gods vanished thousands of years ago. But in my experience, that’s not exactly true. A lot of them still practice their old pagan ways in private. There’s no knowing how being dead will affect their view of us.”

What. The. HECK was Mark talking about? Died? As in dead? I never died, at least I don’t remember it. Had I died? Maybe I died in my sleep? Wait, does that mean that the five of them were dead?! That’s creepy!

“Smile!” shouted one of the photographers.

I forced my lips to turn upwards as I faced the camera, this time not flinching when the flash powder ignited.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked over and saw that it belonged to Lynn. “I’m sorry if all this talk of dying brought back bad memories,” she told me. “It took me a while to come to terms with it myself. I died in a plane crash.” My eyes widened upon hearing her words. “Yeah. Me and some mates were coming back from a trip to Spain. We were over the Atlantic when it happened. I don’t know if anyone on the plane survived. Probably not.”

Lynn’s face fell into a pained expression and I found myself reaching up to my shoulder and placing a hand on top of her own. She smiled, though her eyes were still sad. “It all worked out in the end though. I got summoned here for a second chance at life, got superpowers, met the love of my life, it’s been great!”

“Smile!”

We all faced the cameras and smiled.

After the flash powder went off, I felt another hand, this time on the opposite shoulder. I looked behind me and saw that it was Junior.

“No need to be sad about it. Look at me, I’m not sad about my death at all. Most likely because I died in a really stupid way,” he said. “I tripped and fell down the stairs of my house.” I grimaced at that, imagining how it went. “It’s pretty embarrassing. I still can’t believe that I went out like that.” I reached up and patted his hand.

“I was hit by a truck,” Kenji stated.

The snort of disbelief shot out of my mouth before I even knew it. “S-seriously?” I asked him with wide eyes. He really was an isekai protagonist!

Kenji rubbed the back of his head, looking extremely embarrassed. Junior laughed loudly.

I looked up at Mark. Everyone else had shared how they died and I wondered if he would as well. But he remained quiet, and I for once didn’t press. It was obviously a very personal subject to him, so I didn’t pry.

Andre, as usual, remained silent, refusing to get into the conversation at all.

At least my concerns about them being dead were put to rest. These people were not zombies. Sure, the five of them may have died, but they were alive now. They were people, full of laughter and happiness and life. They were friendly and fun, plus they all seemed very upright and moral. They were Heroes, and nothing would change that.

I then thought about myself. Did I die when I came here? Something inside me told me that no, I didn’t die. When I was summoned here, I was very much alive. So why was I different? Was this because of the fact that I was summoned by a man-made chalice and not the god-made one the others were summoned by? Should I tell Ghaldor about this? He might know the answers, but telling him would be against the Hero rules. What do I do?

We kept on talking while the photographers continued to take their pictures. Overall, the photo session took about twenty minutes to complete. Once done, the photographers began to pack up their equipment while the six of us continued to get to know one another.

With one exception, of course.

“Well, I’m outta here,” Andre said once the cameras were packed up. He began walking away from the fountain.

“What, already?” Junior asked. “We still haven’t finished with introductions.”

“Yeah, no thanks. Unlike you losers, I got things to do,” Andre stated as he continued on his way.

“Prick,” Lynn muttered once he was out of hearing distance.

“Lynn!” Mark chided, obviously hearing her with his superior senses.

“What? It’s true.” The female Hero shrugged. “Ever since that prat got summoned he’s had a vile attitude.”

“He can be difficult, yes,” admitted Mark. “But I believe he has a good heart.”

“If you say so,” Lynn said, unconvinced.

“Anyway,” Mark turned to me. “I believe it’s time that you introduced yourself.”

“Huh? Me?” I asked.

The blond man nodded. “Everyone else has introduced themselves. Yet we know nothing about you.”

“It’s only fair,” Junior cut in.

“O-ok.” I took a deep breath to steady my nerves and tried to organize my thoughts. I saw the photographers passing by, their equipment all packed and leaving the plaza. “I… My name is Amelia-” I suddenly stopped, realizing a problem. Should I use my real last name? I didn’t want to. I was in a new body, a new life; I wanted nothing to do with the old one. Besides, it was obvious that that family wanted nothing to do with me.

“Amelia. Just Amelia.” I said, finally deciding. The others nodded. “I was from…” Crap! What city and state was my hospital in again? Oh, whatever. Just go with whichever city pops up first in your head! “... New York. I was summoned by the Kingdom of Duncan about a year ago. As for my power, uh…”

I looked around the courtyard, trying to find something to demonstrate my power on. My eyes quickly locked onto a pebble that was by my foot. I picked it up and showed the others. With Mark, Lynn, Junior, and Kenji’s attention focused on the rock, my mind completed all the necessary calculations. As they watched, I quickly moved my hand from under the pebble whereupon it remained in the air, completely unaffected by gravity.

“Wow, so you have telekinesis or something?” Lynn asked.

I shook my head. “No. I have the ability to manipulate vectors,” I told them. I reached a hand out then poked the pebble, the force causing it to push through the air and float towards the four of them. “Those vectors include the gravitational forces acting on that pebble. I just nullified them.”

“Accelerator!” Junior suddenly shouted. “From Magical Index!”

I smiled widely and nodded. “Correct!”

He laughed and raised his hand up, palm towards me. I eagerly slapped it. Awesome! My first high-five!

“Amazing,” Mark said as he watched Lynn poke the pebble in the air which sent it floating in another direction. “What else can you do?”

“Well, I can pretty much control and manipulate the vector of any object I touch,” I told them. “I can throw a rock and accelerate it to travel at the speed of a bullet. I can lift heavy objects by canceling the gravitation forces around them. I can force shockwaves through the ground.”

“Do you have that passive barrier that Accelerator had in the show?” Junior asked me.

“Yes,” I said and the tall man suddenly got excited. At the other three’s confused looks he explained.

“She has a sort of force field around her that prevents harmful effects,” Junior told them. “Not bullets, not fire, not lightning, not even poison gas. Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, can hurt her.”

From the shocked looks on their faces, I could tell that they were suitably impressed.

“Ha! That’s fantastic! Pretty soon they’ll be calling you the Invincible Hero!” Mark told me.

I looked down at the ground, my cheeks turning bright red from the compliment. Everyone laughed.

“I’m afraid that I have to go,” Kenji said after a while.

“Training again?” Lynn asked.

“Yes,” the Hero said with a sigh. “Unfortunately, I still have yet to discover my power. This means that I have to be extra diligent so that I don’t hold you guys back.”

“C’mon, man. You don’t do that,” Junior said.

“That is nice of you to say, Junior,” Kenji said with a somber smile. “But we both know that’s not true. Do not worry about me, though. I will discover my power. Then I will proudly stand with you four. Er, now five.” He gave us a wave before turning around and walking towards the exit.

“Damn,” Lynn said as we watched him go. “For three whole years he’s worked so hard, all with nothing to show for it. It’s not fair.”

Mark nodded. “The people have taken to calling him the Fool Hero. Which is utter nonsense. Kenji is one of the smartest men I know.”

“Does he train a lot?” I asked.

“Every time he’s free,” Junior said. “I always see him at the training yard, doing drills and swinging his sword around.”

“He does nothing but read training manuals in his spare time,” Lynn said. “I see maids delivering them to his room all the time. I even heard that he ordered some magical tomes, trying to see if he could teach himself magic. But of course, it didn’t work.”

Wow. It all seemed so sad. I know I’d feel awful if I still hadn’t discovered my power, and Kenji’s been at it for years. I guess I had Prince Callion to thank for that; if it hadn’t been for him and his sadistic attack, I probably would still be blind to my power.

“Well, I think I’ll head back home as well,” Mark said. “Kessi, my wife, is having the chefs prepare braised short ribs tonight. The kids are coming home for a visit, and they’re bringing the grandchildren!” Damn, I forgot that Mark had been here for almost forty years; he looked way too young. This never aging thing will take some getting used to.

“I should go, too,” Junior spoke up. “My handler’s got me scheduled to meet some school kids tomorrow. I need to get up bright and early. Lucky me!”

“I thought you liked kids?” Lynn asked.

“I do, but I hate getting up early.” Junior sighed, shaking his head. “Even in this world school is open way too early! Why do they do this to their children?”

The three of us laughed.

“Do you need a lift home, Lynn?” Mark asked.

“Nah, not today, thanks,” she said. “I think I'll hang back and talk to Amelia here in private.”

“What about?”

“Oh, you know. Girl talk.”

A look of understanding appeared on Mark’s face. “Ah, of course. Say no more.”

I could see that the two men were ready to go. “It was wonderful getting to meet you. I hope we see each other again soon!” I told them. Then, without thinking, I performed a curtsy. I cringed in horror when the three of them started laughing. Damn it! Not again!

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Amelia. And don’t worry, you are definitely perfect for this team!” The Superman-obsessed Hero gave me a wink along with a parting wave. He then shot up straight into the air launching himself high into the sky before rocketing off northwards at supersonic speeds.

“Whoa!” I said in awe as I watched him fly away. I will never get tired of seeing that!

“Seriously, that guy needs to stop showing off! He makes the rest of us look bad!” Complained Junior. “Well, whatever. I’ll see you two later.” He waved, then began jogging towards the exit.

I waved back.

“Well, now that it’s just the two of us girls, I need to speak to you about some important matters,” Lynn told me.

“Actually, Lady Lynn,” Summoner Larras cut in. I jumped in surprise when he did; I honestly had forgotten that he was still here, waiting. “Lady Amelia is scheduled to meet back with her entourage. I am to show them to their arranged chambers.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Lar.” Lynn wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into a hug. She gave the summoner a wide grin. “After our talk I’ll take Amelia to the dormitories myself. Don’t worry, we won’t get lost.”

“I see.” Larras didn’t look happy, but I guess he couldn’t do anything about it. Lynn was a Hero, after all. “I’ll leave you to it then. Ladies.” The man bowed low before walking off towards the central building.

Lynn allowed me to slip out of her grip. “Well, now that we’re alone, we can have a real discussion. Come on.” The Hero turned around and began walking through the courtyard, headed towards the deeper parts of the facility. “I’ll show you around while we talk.”

“O-okay!” I made haste to follow her.

“Now, Amelia. Real talk.” Although Lynn still smiled, her tone was definitely more serious. “The boys are nice, but there’s just some things they’ll never understand.”

“Oh?” I made sure to walk next to her as we passed through the courtyard and into a cobbled pathway leading through a small wooded area.

“Yes.” Lynn nodded. “I’m sure you’ve noticed, but this world isn’t exactly like Earth. What I mean is, well, some of its norms and customs are a bit… backward from what we’re used to. How they treat women, for one.” A frown came to her lips.

Ah, yes. I know precisely what she’s talking about. “Yes. The pants,” I told her with a knowing tone.

“S-sorry?” She asked, confusion in her eyes. “The what?”

“They won’t let me wear pants,” I complained. “Every time I tell them I want to wear pants, they say no, only boys can wear pants, girls wear skirts and dresses!”

“Oh. Right.” Lynn smiled, shaking her head at something. “I suppose that’s part of it. But I’m mostly talking about all the men’s chauvinistic attitudes towards us.”

What? They were being chauvinists? I didn’t even notice! Was it because I’ve only been a girl for a year?

“They treat their own women like garbage. They won’t let them work, except in the shittiest of jobs. They won’t let them attend higher education. In the Republic, they won’t let them vote. The situation for them here is awful. Even we, as Heroes, don’t make us immune. We’re treated worse than the male Heroes are. We never get any of the good, high-profile assignments; only the boring ones. When I complained about it, the bastards actually had the gall to say it was ‘to keep me safe.’ Can you believe that? All they want for us is to serve as poster girls for the Alliance. To stand around and look pretty at functions and gatherings. It pisses me off so much!”

I didn’t know what to say. I know what Lynn was telling me was true. I may be a bit flaky sometimes (shut up) but even I have noticed the air of sexism that pervades this society. Little Princess Riltara came to mind. A girl like her wasn’t allowed to learn swordplay. Even in as high a station as she was in her society, she was forbidden from learning what was considered a “man’s art.”

It also brought to mind something strange that I had noticed some time ago. During my research into Heroes, I had noticed that all the Heroes mentioned in every book that I had ever read was a man. There were no tales of a female Hero destroying an evil army or fighting a Dark Lord. There were no chronicles about female Heroes, no songs, not a thing. I don’t think there was even any mention of them existing at all.

I doubt it was because most Heroes are male, either. Ghaldor had informed me that the summoning process was random, and if that were true then there should have been just as many women summoned to this world as men. Yet none of the numerous books I had found in the library makes even one mention of a female Hero. If what Lynn had said was true, and I definitely believed her, then female Heroes may not have been allowed to participate in the epic battles or fight the attacking Dark Lord. And those that did perform some great achievement were possibly ignored by the history books, or more likely ignored by the men writing them.

“Men suck,” I finally decided and told Lynn out loud.

The other woman suddenly got an alarmed look on her face. “Whoa, whoa! Look, I’m not trying to turn you to be a militant man-hater, alright? I’ve met some decent guys in this world, so not all of them are bad. I’m just telling you these things so that you’ll be prepared for when it happens to you, if it hasn’t happened already.”

Ah, ok.

“Another thing you should know, and something your handler probably didn’t tell you,” continued Lynn, “is that you can not get pregnant.”

I blinked in surprise. Yikes. I hadn’t even thought of the possibility.

“Yep, that’s all part of the wonderful Hero package,” Lynn said sarcastically. “It’s not just us girls either. The boy Heroes can’t get their SO’s to conceive. So, I’m sad to say, but if you had dreams of being a mamma to your own brood, then you should probably give up on them immediately.”

Yikes. That was harsh. I’m too young right now to even think of having kids, but maybe later on in life I might have wanted to have one. Now I’ll never know what it’s like to have a baby growing inside me.

But wait, didn’t Mark say he had kids? “I’m guessing Mark’s children are…”

“Adopted, yes,” Lynn confirmed for me. “That’s the only way for Heroes to have any young ones for their own. It’s actually quite fulfilling. My partner and I adopted two kids ourselves.”

“Really?” I asked. “What are their names?”

Lynn smiled brightly as she recalled her children. “I have a little boy named Mikah and a little girl named Levlin.”

“That’s so cute!”

“Oh, they are. I always take the family on trips to the Tower, so you’ll probably get to meet them one day,” she told me.

We had walked through the wooded area and now came to a split in the road. One went up a hill towards a large building with a domed roof. Lynn told me it was the library, and I almost salivated at the thought of all the stuff I could read inside such a huge place.

“The no-pregnancy thing has a benefit though,” Lynn remarked as we walked past the building. “No periods. I definitely do not miss those.”

Oh yeah. I remember in my early days being afraid of meeting Aunt Flo, then being confused when she didn’t come. I guess this explained it.

Lynn continued my tour of the Tower. The vast majority of the buildings in the facility were offices for the HOS’s numerous summoners and clerks. Apparently, summoning in the Alliance was a whole bureaucratic affair that needed a whole bunch of paperwork to be performed. Lynn wisely stayed away from those places. She did take me to see the more fun places in the Tower, such as the pool, training yard, and general store.

When it turned late afternoon, Lynn escorted me to where the dormitory was located. It was a large building in the southern part of the facility located in the middle of pristine green parkland. Once we got to the front doors, Lynn decided to take her leave.

“Well, this is the place,” she told me, pointing towards the dorm’s entrance. “Lar should’ve set you up in one of the nicer rooms. Just go to the front desk and ask for your room key.”

“Oh. Ok,” I told her. Part of me was a little sad that the day was about to end. Meeting the other Heroes had been wonderful! They were all so nice, especially Lynn. I really didn’t want to stop talking to her.

She seemed to sense my melancholy. “Say, me and Kana, she’s my partner, we’re going out to the Dockside tomorrow. Did you want to come along? We’ll have lunch and I can show you around the city.”

“S-sure! I’d love to!” I said, a smile widening my face.

“Great! We’ll meet you out here at ten o’clock, sharp. See you then, Amy!”

Wait, what? “Amy?”

“Yep! It’s your new nickname,” she explained.

“Wait, why Amy?”

Lynn shrugged. “Well, I can’t call you ‘A’ since that’s what I call Andre. Millie was nice, but I felt it didn’t really suit you. So I settled on Amy. It’s nice, short, and cute. Just like you!” She pinched my cheek.

“Stop!” I swatted away her hands though the damage was done and my cheeks were red.

Lynn laughed. “Ok, ok! I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah? Ten! Don’t be late, Amy!” She turned with a wave and then set off down the road headed towards the central building.

I rubbed at my cheek and watched her go. She was definitely a character. But Amy? I think I would have preferred Millie.

I opened the doors to the building and walked inside. The lobby was finely furnished, though small. It definitely wasn’t as glamorous as the Hortenz. I stopped at that thought and blanched. I really, really hope that I hadn’t gotten used to the first-class treatment I’ve been receiving. I didn’t want to turn into a spoiled brat, after all.

After retrieving my key from the front desk, I was surprised to see a familiar face (and uniform) waiting for me by the stairs.

“Griselda?” I asked the maid, who had greeted me with a bow. “What are you doing here?”

“Why, waiting for you, My Lady,” she answered.

“Oh.” That was nice of her. “Did you wait long?”

She shook her head. “Just a few hours.”

Oh crap. “Sorry! I shouldn’t have taken so long!”

“Nonsense, My Lady. It is my duty to be at your service. There is no need to apologize,” she told me. “Besides, I’m guessing you were out for so long because you were enjoying yourself?”

“Oh, yes!” I excitedly told her. “The Heroes are wonderful! They were all so nice and friendly. Well, except for Andre, but he doesn’t count.”

Griselda and I began to ascend the stairs to my room, which the front desk said was up on the top floor.

“Well, it is always a pleasure to see My Lady make new friends,” said the maid.

I paused slightly upon hearing that, slowly digesting Griselda’s words. She was right, wasn’t she? I did make some new friends today.

With a spring in my step, I swiftly climbed the stairs. I couldn’t wait to meet up with Lynn tomorrow!