【The Age of Heroes】Chapter 1 - 5

“...with the wave of his magical staff, a blinding light lit up the land and soon enough, the Black Mage’s soul was sealed into the portal of the Dark Realms. Although this battle was over, the king knew that this will not be the last time the Black Mage would return. According to the prophecy, it foretold of the Black Mage’s eventual destruction of our Kingdom and all the other lands in the world. But the prophecy also foretold that there will be a rising of five great heroes that will join together to vanquish the Mage, once and for all. ‘May the Ancestors aide you through the final battle, destined heroes…’ the king said as he looked to the horizon. ‘This staff will help. Find each other and venture your way through the distance to receive it. Good luck!’ And with that, the King’s staff flew from his hands and disappeared far enough away where it would be kept safe and hidden for many centuries to come.”
“And that is the legend of the King's magical staff! But to us, we know it as the Grand Staff...” Kaitlyn finished off reading the old scroll to the young children, who become easily fascinated with the tales of the kingdom we all shared. Ren, our village of romance and water lilies, seems like any typical village that you would come across. The evergreen pine trees that surrounded the village grew as tall as the sky (well, at least from our point of view). They gave out a sweet aroma of the beautiful nature that is all around us. The fountain in the middle of our village has many lotus flowers floating silently on the water. The orange evening sky above us was slowly turning a dark blue, but the temperature was moderate enough to be out with a sleeveless shirt and shorts.
“Wow. This legend is probably the most famous in the world,” I looked over at Kaitlyn, who has been my best friend ever since I could remember. She looked over, smiling at me, "Perhaps, Jennie. I remember when our caretaker, Melanie, read this exact same scroll so many times in the past to us when we were young. It eventually became our favorite and here we are now, sharing a piece of our childhood with the next generation of children!” A boy who was in the group of the little enthusiastic minds looked up at Kaitlyn with such fascinated eyes, “WOW! That is so cool! I could be a Bowman hero! And my friend Ellie could be a pirate hero! Ellie, let’s go and find that staff!” Kaitlyn giggled, “Aw, you two would make such great heroes! But don’t wonder off now, children. You wouldn’t want your parents to be worried sick!” “Oh, okay! Thank you for reading to us Big Sister!” the two said simultaneously. They smiled at Kaitlyn, ran home and were eventually followed by the rest. “Arigato, onae-sama!” yelled out the rest of the children. “You’re welcome, kids!!” Kaitlyn replied back with such enthusiasm.
I walked over to Kaitlyn as she looked through the scroll again. “Wow, you’re really good with kids. Even I can’t do that.” I said jokingly. “Oh, Jennie.” She giggled as she was looking through the scroll. She looked up at me and asked, “Have you ever thought that maybe this legend isn’t just a story? But instead, it’s something that really happened?” I gave her a funny look. “No, it can’t be. The Black Mage is just make-believe.” I looked down at my shoes. Kaitlyn thought for a silent minute. Then, she said, “There were a lot of discussions about where the Staff was located, you know? One popular case noted that it's being held in one of the temples throughout the world. Since that discussion leaked out to the public, the temples throughout the world have been searched by archaeologists.” I looked back up and added, “But there wasn’t a staff found in any of them. Therefore, there isn’t any proof that this really happened…” She placed her hand on my right shoulder. “Jennie, there are people here who have the skills of Magicians, Warriors, Pirates, Bowmans, Thieves, Shape-Shifters, and there are a couple of people out there who are capable of all these skills. ANYTHING is possible!!”
“Well, yes, but-” I was interrupted by her. “Also, look!” she points to a birthmark on her skin and on mine. “We both have birthmarks that look similar. Don’t you think that’s a little peculiar? There is something that’s being kept from us. I know it!” I sighed and thought for a few seconds. What if this whole thing is just in her head? Uhh, I’m not going to argue with her, so I’ll just go along with her theories... “Well, okay, I guess the story COULD be real, but who are the heroes? And are they capable of defeating this ‘Black Mage’?” Many questions had arisen from our small discussion. We decided that it was high time to go back home, so we walked to our little house on the eastern side of the village.

~'Chapter 2'~


I walked in through the door of our small home and sat down in the recliner. “Kaitlyn, I miss Melanie…” I picked up and looked at our caretaker's picture that was on the table.

“I do too, Jennie dear. I, too, am puzzled by the fact that she would disappear like that. Six years ago, she put us into bed and then by the morning, she was mysteriously gone… We’re already sixteen and no trace of her has ever been found.”

I set down Melanie’s picture and then I walked over to Kaitlyn. We embraced each other for what seemed like five minutes or so until we were interrupted with a knocking at the door.

“Who could it be?” I wondered aloud.

Kaitlyn walked over to the door to open it. We saw a boy our age that was a couple of inches taller than us. He wore a casual jacket with a black t-shirt that had a logo of a punk-rock band name. It was arranged so creatively with colorful abstract designs. He had a black fedora on top of his head and he wore black pants with red-laced shoes.

“Hello there, how are you two ladies doing on this fine night?” the mysterious boy smiled at us.

“Wow. I can’t help but notice that you have a fedora… I like fedoras!” I giggled.

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and lightly punched me in the arm. “Please excuse my fedora-obsessed friend. How can we help you?” Kaitlyn gave a light smile to the boy.

“Jennie and Kaitlyn, I presume?” My eyes widened immediately and I knew Kaitlyn was shocked also.

How did this guy know our names? I thought to myself.

“I’m here to tell you two about the story that was presented to the children earlier today.” He looked over at Kaitlyn. “You two have the birthmarks of the Legendary Heroes. That scroll talks of a true story and I’m only here to tell you that you two are part of the five that will defeat the Black Mage...”