When Daniel woke up, he realized he wasn’t in the nurse’s office. No, he was in fact quite far from there. His head still pounded dully as he sat up and looked around his bedroom. Everything seemed normal, besides the fact he was home. Perhaps he was just so bad one of his parents had taken off work and come to bring him home? The idea seemed unlikely, but what else could it be?

“Oh, good, you’re awake.”

Apparently, Chanhee.

Chanhee had changed out of his uniform and was now wearing a rather eccentric outfit, one with a neon yellow sweater and disgustingly pink shorts. He noticed Daniel’s gaze and cleared his throat. “Don’t ask,” he muttered.

“Didn’t really plan on it,” Daniel said.

“You’re so funny,” Chanhee said sarcastically. “Since you’re up, you might as well start packing. We need to leave ASAP, buddy.”

And there he went again, going on about leaving right away. “Pack what, for what?”

“Clothes. Necessities. Stuff you treasure. I don’t really know, okay? Just— pack something!” Chanhee exclaimed, and with that, walked out of the room, leaving Daniel angry and confused yet again. This time, however, he listened to the older, and grabbed a bag and started packing.

His body was still weary from what happened earlier, but he pressed on. Soon his bag was filled with clothes and an extra pair of shoes. Daniel was about to call for Chanhee, but then something caught his eye. A photo sat on the night table. Melanie, Juliane, Daniel, and Chanhee were all doing ridiculous poses that brought a smile to Daniel’s face. He picked up the photo and slipped it into his bag.

“Treikra? Treikra? Id inde culatr taub treikra?!”

 Chanhee’s voice floated into Daniel’s room, and he sounded as angry as Daniel was feeling. There was a pause before Chanhee continued on, “Id salu en perpolo—! Momilen, momilen… Medete, umher! Ruxan wiev nan—“

Another pause. And then, a click as Chanhee slammed a phone down onto the receiver.  

“Jugsameich…”

He continued to mumble loudly enough that Daniel could tell he was walking back to his room. In a panic he dumped the contents of his bag onto the floor and bent down to fill his bag up again, hoping it would seem like he hadn’t been listening.

There was a knock on his door, and without waiting for a response Chanhee poked his head into the room. He watched Daniel for a second, and then said, “I know you were listening.” Daniel remained silent as he finished filling his bag up again. When he was done he stood up and stared at his friend expectantly, who stared back at him with a raised eyebrow. “What?” he asked.

“Can you tell me what’s going on, please?”

“If you’re done packing, let’s go,” Chanhee said, completely dodging the question.

Daniel opened his mouth as if to fight back, but decided it wasn’t worth it and snapped his mouth shut. With a sigh he followed Chanhee out of his room and into the living room. There was a hastily written note stuck to the phone; ‘Chanhee and I are staying at a friend’s house tonight. Love you. –Daniel.’

Again, Daniel said nothing.

The two headed outside, Chanhee not even giving a second glance back towards the house. But Daniel stopped walking and turned, wanting a last look at his home. He took in the peeling paint and the wilting flowers and the weed-filled lawn, now suddenly a lot more appreciative of his home than he’d been in the past. It was always embarrassing to have friends over, since there wasn’t enough time or money to give their home a makeover, but looking at the home now, he wondered why he was so embarrassed. After all, it was his home.

Daniel continued walking, keeping himself a few extra steps behind Chanhee, wanting to keep a distance. His friend walked tensely, his shoulders squared and fists clenched. Every other minute he looked to the left, to the right, back at Daniel and then to the front again. Whatever was happening was turning Chanhee into a major freak.

But what the hell was even happening?

All around him, the world did nothing to reflect his current situation. Everything looked as it normally did. The sky hadn’t turned red, the grass hadn’t grown twenty feet high, giant bugs weren’t roaming the streets, there were no glowing blue monsters destroying all the buildings in sight—everything was just completely normal, which really bugged Daniel. People walked past the two friends, blissfully unaware of them as they went on with their own business. Daniel and Chanhee were just background characters in their lives; all the weirdness happening wouldn’t affect them in the slightest.

And Chanhee wouldn’t even tell him anything! Why in the world was Daniel just going along with all this? What if Chanhee was leading him to his death? This made Daniel stop in his tracks. He expected Chanhee to keep walking, but he stopped as soon as Daniel did and whirled around, looking extremely anxious.

“What are you doing? Daniel, we gotta keep going!” he exclaimed in a hushed voice, as if worried people could overhear them.

“Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

“Daniel—“

“I will not take one more step until you do, Chanhee.”

“Please, we gotta—“

“Tell me.”

Chanhee looked around the area again, his foot tapping and his hands twitching to the beat.

“Aw, . Come on, then,” he finally said, grabbing Daniel by the arm and dragging him into a nearby alleyway. They stood there for a moment, Chanhee seeming to contemplate his decision, and then he scoffed, shaking his head and biting his lip. “Gods, I can’t believe I’m doing this. Sit down because we’ll be here for a good while.”

And so Daniel sat.

***

The werewolves snarled at the messenger as he passed their homes, their fur bristling and their teeth looking awfully pointy that fine day. The messenger did his best to ignore them as he hurried down the dirt path. His destination was not much farther. Surely if the elders had promoted him he could’ve easily flown there in thirty minutes flat, but no, the messenger still had ‘much to learn and experience’ before he could move up the ranks.

Goincis. They were all complete, total goincis.

Upon the hill that was coming closer and closer sat a depressing looking shack. Smoke came out in steady puffs through the crumbling, dirty brick chimney. There was no way to see inside the shack, even if one was to be standing directly in front of it, for the windows were boarded shut to keep the weather forces from entering. The door, too, was boarded shut. However, that was from the inside. Boards made excellent replacements for the locks used in the cities, or so the messenger had heard.

The smell of rotting wood made the messenger’s nose crinkle and his tail curl in disgust. Were the villagers really so poor they couldn’t afford to repair their own homes—if that wolfhouse could even be called a home? Certainly even the messenger’s measly home (three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a rather spacious backyard garden) would be better than that.

He finally approached the door and gave it a tentative knock. From inside he could hear the shuffling of fur-covered paws against the wooden flooring. The board lock fell to the floor with a dull thunk and the door opened just enough for the old werewoman to peek outside. Her lips drew back in a snarl, but the messenger was prepared for that.

“M’lady,” he said with a deep bow, “I come bearing a request from Lord Zeus.”

And at once she calmed. With a nod of her head she opened the door all the way and gestured for the messenger to enter her charming abode, but the messenger politely declined.

“Thank you, m’lady, but I’m afraid I cannot enter. For, you see, your response is needed immediately.” His words made the werewoman’s ears perk up. “Lord Zeus requires your assistance in seeing the hero who will save our lands. As you are currently the only…person with the skills needed to do such, by doing so you will be rewarded quite well. I’m sure we could…” he trailed off, looking at the shack with masked disdain, “certainly fix up your, uh, home. So, m’lday, what might your response be?”

***

“What does this have to do with what’s happening, Chanhee? And who the heck is this messenger? He sounds like a jerk.”

“Shut up! I’m getting there!”

***

Taridec was the largest city and home to most of the Kings, Queens, Lords, and Duchesses of the lands, as well as their servants and help. Lord Zeus had a home atop a mountain, so high up that on even the clearest of days you couldn’t see it through the clouds surrounding it. The journey was normally long and tedious, but riding a werewolf made it much quicker.

The werewoman had the two in Taridec and up the mountain in only 2 days, despite her old age and weary bones. Lord Zeus was appreciative of this and promised extra rewards to not only the werewoman, but also to his messenger, who quickly became much more tolerable of the foul-smelling hound.

Nobody but Lord Zeus, the werewoman, and the messenger were to know who the new hero would be. Only they would partake in the seeing, and only they would release the name of the new hero. It was a grand ceremony that happened once in a blue moon. Of course, nobody in the lands looked forward to this event, because it meant their lands were at a risk of being exposed to the world beyond the Veil, and one hero carefully selected by the Voices, who he himself would come from the world beyond the Veil, would be the one to save the lands. The task was dangerous and, most likely to the hero, utterly confusing, as he would be into a world he never knew existed.

When the time came for the ceremony to begin, the moon shone directly into the quarters of Lord Zeus. Hurriedly he called for the messenger and the werewoman, and together the three climbed to the highest tower in the Lord’s castle. After their arrival, they stood ‘round the orb, all eagerly watching and waiting. The werewoman’s raspy voice began to speak, calling for the Voices to bestow their knowledge upon her.

Soon, her voice died down, and then grew in power once again, with a tone similar to that of Lord Zeus himself, loud and booming and commanding. The orb lit up; the werewoman’s eyes began to glow; the entire room seemed abuzz with an energy Lord Zeus and the messenger couldn’t quite see themselves, and then all at once—

***

The magic of Chanhee’s story shattered into pieces, just as the glass bottle did across his head. He hissed—literally hissed—and turned around, looking right into the eyes of…Jaeyoon? Jaeyoon, the new girl who stole Melanie’s seat, the girl who Chanhee probably used to date? That Jaeyoon?

“Yes, Daniel, that Jaeyoon. Now get behind me,” Chanhee snapped.

He just read my mind.

Oh my God.

What the hell is happening here?

Daniel still sat on the ground, too confused and freaked out to move. He shook his head to try to clear his mind, and then looked at Jaeyoon. Nothing seemed weird, so he turned back to Chanhee and wait what the hell was that—

Jaeyoon didn’t look like the Soa Daniel met at school. No, she looked completely different now that Daniel got a better look at her. Her eyes were completely black and instead of a mouth she had a beak (how was that possible?); she had long, leathery wings sprouting from her back (again, how?!); there were talons protruding from her shoes (and for the last time, HOW?). There was no knowledge of anything like this happening to people in real life in Daniel’s brain. Maybe in movies and stories or something, but in real life?!

Tension was evident in the air as Chanhee and Jaeyoon stared each other down. Chanhee took a step forward.

“I don’t want to do this,” he said softly. “You could just walk away right now—no harm, no foul.”

“And miss an opportunity like this?” Jaeyoon fluttered her eyelashes. “Not a chance, dragon boy.” And then, with a terrifying screech, she flung herself forward, eyes flashing and arms outstretched towards Chanhee.