She woke up the next morning with a major headache. Looking over at the clock, she saw 5 am flash across her eyes. She got up. She had to get up. She would have to walk to school today cause her mom couldn't take her and Mari Cruz had car trouble. She got dressed in her usual black attire and went downstairs to her bag and left out the door. It was still dark out. The stars were gone except for a few who could resist the peek of the rising sun. In what seemed like minutes though, the sun was up and Carmen was walking up the campus. She looked at her watch. 8:00. School started in 30 minutes and students were just arriving. She passed by the main office when something caught her eye. A short plump woman came staggering out into the hallway. Carmen moved to the side to let her pass, but she just ended up stopping in front of her. "Is your name Carmen?" Carmen looked around, thinking what she had done wrong this time as she remembered when she got in trouble for keying a certain principals car. "What if it is?" The woman looked at her shocked and weird. "Then you have a letter from the school representative. He wants to meet with you today." She rolled her eyes. "Look, whatever it is, I didn't do it, so you can tell Mr.Biggshot that I'm not going." She began to walk away when she was suddenly pulled by her arm. "I insist that you go. You're not in trouble, you've been selected." "Selected?" "Yes" the woman breathed. "You've been selected to go to attend a meeting. It's for the Gifted and Talented and the representative would like to speak with you along with some other students." She began to back up. "Look, tell him thanks, but I'm not interested." She walked away. "You get to leave school early!" Carmen quickly turned around. "Ok, I'm in."
The day passed quickly and at 12, Carmen found herself sitting in the back of some luxury car as she went on her way to some corporate building somewhere downtown to meet some guy for some boring reason. (She wasn't paying attention as usual) They pulled up to a large building were a guy in a suit came up and opened the door. "Follow me please" She followed and they went inside the stone white building. Yet, to her surprise, the grand hall was very dark and dim. They entered an elevator and the man pushed the down button. Down, down, down... almost 5 minutes passed until they stopped and exited. They walked into what seemed like a dungeon. There were chains on the dark walls and cells in random places. A hallway of torches lighted the room. She marveled at the setting then ran to catch up with that loser guy who took off without her. They came to the end of the hallway and entered a brightly lit room. There were a couple of chairs here and there but it was mostly open space. Bright lights from the ceiling illuminated the room, and it was somewhat cold. It reminded her of some sort of lab or official place of work. The guy walked over to a door on the other side and ushered her in. She walked inside and into a small meeting room. It was dimly lit and in the middle was a long table that could sit about 15. There were some people already sitting. She counted six boys and six girls, seven counting herself and all about her age. She went over and sat away from everyone else. They were in little groups. Just sitting there talking, not taking notice that Carmen had came in. She noticed that most of them were different ethnicities. Just one African American dude, one Asian chick, one Indian chick, one middle-eastern dude, and then everyone else was some kind of Hispanic. One girl came and sat down next to her. "Hi." she said softly. She was about 5'0, her skin was fair and her hair was dyed brown and black. Carmen looked up and replied with a "hi... So, what are you in for?"
The girl looked at her surprised. "What are you talking about?" Carmen sighed. "I don't get called to meetings unless it's to discuss my punishment for starting a fire or something, so the rest of you must be in some sort of trouble." The girl sat back and laughed. Carmen gave her a look. "What's so funny?" The girl giggled "You" and she giggled again. Usually, Carmen would've beaten someone up for saying that, but then she noticed the girl's eyes. They were like hers. Black. Literally, black, as to where you couldn't see the pupil or cornea, just black. She stopped laughing." What?" Carmen just turned around and shrugged "Nothing" At this; the door opened and in came a tall, sharp dressed man. His black hair was slicked back and his pale skin illuminated his wicked green eyes. He walked with pride and sophistication. Everyone fell silent. He walked to the head of the table spoke.
"Hello, and welcome to my meeting area." Several nodded their heads as he continued. "Now, you have all been called here for one similar reason. You are among the most gifted and talented people in the world. You have been brought here today, to be offered something you could never imagine. You see, all of you here are special, but in a um... different way, than you think." He walked over to the wall and pressed a button. A screen appeared from the wall and lit white. You see, a long time ago, many, many, years ago, there were 13 warriors. The screen showed a castle in some forestry. "These warriors were the best ever seen, but because they had...unusual abilities. They protected the world form evil and when they died, their spirits were locked away so no one could use them for evil, and so that when the world needed them again, they were there." The screen flashed onto an ancient hieroglyphic. It had inscriptions and a picture of the warriors. Eleven of them were standing, glowing, while two of them were above them and had what appeared to be wings. As weird as it all sounded, Carmen listened, as did everyone else. "This is a picture of the stone that their spirits are held. I found it some time ago. The inscriptions are too old to translate, but about a week ago, the stone began to glow, and I knew, it was time." He walked over and turned off the screen.
"What I am offering you is something no one else can offer. I am offering you the opportunity to summon these spirits, to revive them and save the world." Everyone looked stunned. What was this guy talking about? Was he some old coot just out for some fun, or was he some strange maniac out for a good joke? One guy, whose black hair was short and curly, spoke out. "Um... so, you want us to, uh, save the world, and revive some 'warriors', and...yeah" He blushed, which made him look kind of cute, but onto other matters. "Yes, that would be exactly what I am saying, Samuel." The boy now known as Samuel looked shocked. The man just laughed. "Yes, I know all of your names. Like you Lauren." He nodded to a short young girl with long black hair. "And you, Valerie and Esmeralda." She looked at two girls who sat next to each other. One was Indian, tall, dark, and somewhat athletic with black hair that went pass her shoulders. The other girl was shorter, bright, and Asian with bright brown hair that fell to her shoulders. "Hello there Terry." The African American guy looked up. He was skinny but look very interested in the meeting. Then the man pointed to two boys. They were about Carmen's height. One was skinny with black spiky hair, the other one had a nice tan and his hair was jelled back. "Hello Ricardo, Alex." They nodded. "And to you as well Mary, Ariel." He nodded at two girls who were extremely pretty. They were both light complected and had freckles. The one he called Mary had long, flowing light brown hair that fell to her waist and the softest face and light brown eyes. The other girl whom he called Ariel had darker hair that fell on her back and pretty green eyes. "And then we mustn't forget the love birds, Adrian and Logan." The Middle Eastern fellow looked up. He was skinny and his black hair was pulled down, almost like the guys from the Beetles. Carmen noticed that the girl who sat next to her had blushed. She began to wonder why a girl like her was with a guy like him, but she came back to reality when the man spoke again. "Oh, and I mustn't forget Carlos. Yes, you over there falling asleep." A guy at the end of the table sat up. The man was right, he was falling asleep. His long black hair was spiked up and his bright face showed his dark blue eyes very well. He was by far, the cutest of the bunch and Carmen couldn't help but smile. "And of course, you." The man's voice became soft, as he beamed at Carmen and stared. She stared back, simply because she didn't like it when people began to stare at her, just out of nowhere. "Carmen" he whispered. She didn't respond, but kept staring him down. The man had fear in his eyes, and she wasn't going to loose it now.
He snapped back to face the others as he clapped his hands. "Well now, if there are no more questions, will everyone please follow me..." He began to walk to another door at the other side of the room. Slowly, everyone stood up and began to follow. Everyone that is, except for Carlos. The man looked back at him curiously. "Not joining us today Carlos. I promise you'll have lots of fun." He just sat there and stared at him, then finally stood up, and followed. Carmen couldn't help but admire his attitude. If she wasn't so pyshic'd outta her mind, she would've done the same thing. They filed into a large locker room with a wall separating it into halves in the middle. Now, girls in the back, guys in the front. There is a locker with your names on it. I would ask that you please change into the clothes that are in there. I will be back soon." And with that he left.
Some of the girls began to go towards the back, and so Carmen followed. The whole room was white and the lockers were black. There were benches in front of the lockers so Carmen found hers at the end and lay down. She looked around at the other girls and began to listen to their conversations. The girl named Valerie was the main one talking. "I don't know what that guy is planning with this whole "warrior" saving the world thing he's got going on, he just better pay me for it." Mary spoke "Hey, as long as I'm doing something, I'm in." Lauren nodded, as did Ariel. "But what if he's right?" Adrian asked. Esmeralda laughed. "Ha! If it's true, then I'll do it. But I'm telling you, its not, so don't get your hopes up." Adrian sighed. "As long as I'm away from home, I'm in for it." Everyone fell silent as they looked over in Carmen's direction.
She sat up. "What?" Mary spoke. "Nothing, it's just that we all know each other, even the guys and you haven't said anything since you got here." Carmen looked at her confused. It was then that she began to actually think about these newcomers. They were all happy and girly. 'Great' she thought 'I'm stuck in here with a bunch of preps...' she looked around and noticed Adrian was wearing all black. She had a whole lot of earrings and necklaces. She wasn't as preppy as they were. 'Good' she thought 'someone I can talk to...' But her thoughts were interrupted when Lauren opened her locker and gasped. Everyone turned around as she pulled out some strange clothes. They were like what you would've worn in the middle ages. Hers were long, like a robe, and a bright red. They had even brighter red designs on them in the shape of flames. "They expect us to wear this?" Everyone began to open their lockers. Ariel, Esmeralda, and Adrian pulled out the same clothes as Lauren. Valerie pulled out some that were khaki and designed with what looked like leaves. Mary pulled out some light blue ones that had little watery designs on them. Carmen noticed that each of them had a different style to their clothing. Lauren and Mary had robe like dresses. Esmeralda, Valerie, and Ariel had something that looked like a shirt and skirt but with pants. Adrian's was a long sleeve shirt and pants. She seemed relived that she didn't have a dress of some sort. Everyone looked at Carmen. She sighed. "Again with the staring?" Adrian giggled. Annoyed, she stood up and opened her locker. She pulled out some pure white pieces of clothing. When she pulled them all out, she realized she had a sleeve-less shirt and a pair of baggy pants. On the sides were little wavy designs in gold trimming. She also found a jacket like piece that fit like a robe, but still showed what she wore. Everyone looked at her attire with a little jealousy, but she had to admit, her sparkling white and gold clothing did look better than what everyone else had. Valerie sounded jealous no-doubt. "How come she gets the awesome pretty white ones and I get the khaki colors..." she began to whine and everyone rolled their eyes and started getting dressed. "Hmp" was her last remark as she too began to dress. Carmen just looked around, which was the wrong thing to do because after a while, the girls began asking her what she was looking at and whether she was bi or something. "NO!" she said and quickly began to dress.
When she finished, she looked back in the locker and saw some matching white boots. They didn't have a base at the bottom, and she was surprised when the leather fit around her perfectly. Looking deeper into the locker, she also found a long brown package. She pulled it out and tore off the wrapping paper. She was amazed when she found a sword. The case was brown leather and the hilt was sparkling silver. It had diamonds decorated in it. She picked it up and un-seethed it. It made the most brilliant chiming sound as the razor sharp blade was revealed. The blade shined in the light and she even had to close her eyes so she could adjust to the light. She looked around and saw that the others had found similar brown packages. Lauren had pulled out a cool looking red spear with a ruby in it. Mary got the same thing except hers was light blue. Esmeralda and Ariel pulled out swords that were gold at the hilt and decorated with rubies. Valerie pulled out a bow and arrow set. The bow has long and slender and was very well furnished. The arrows were strong and sharp and came in a case that she could put on her back. She smiled and called over to Carmen. "Ha-ha! Look at what I got! Look, there's even little spiky blades at the edges incase I run out of arrows, I can just slice 'em to death." Carmen smiled and just nodded. Adrian pulled out a sword just like Esmeralda and Ariel's, but she noticed that hers came apart and formed two swords. "Cool" Carmen whispered as Adrian began to swing them around. One of them went around towards her and Carmen quickly moved out the way when the other one came right behind it. Carmen pulled out her sword and blocked it as she jumped back and away from Adrian.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Adrian looked down and blushed in embarrassment. Carmen looked at her and couldn't help but feel sorry herself. "Nah, its ok, that was a good trick you pulled." Adrian looked up and smiled. "Really?" Carmen smiled back. "Yeah, you had me thinking and everything." Adrian giggled as she put her swords back together and wrapped it around her waist. Ariel was concerned about other things. "Where the hell did you learn to do that?" she asked looking at Carmen. "Do what?" "Do that, that, move where you like, dodged, blocked and moved. It was awesome!" Carmen blushed. "Oh, I don't know, I just did it." Valerie came over and sat in front of Carmen. "Hey, I don't know if you might get freaked out or whatever, but I noticed that while you were changing that you had this awesome six pack, and yeah... I couldn't help but notice." She began to blush, but Carmen didn't. She was used to having girls 'compliment' her athletic body in the locker room, and it became a usual thing to her. "Oh, yeah, well..." Valerie blushed again. "Sorry, it's just that I HAD to say something. I feel like such an idiot..." Carmen laughed softly to herself. "Eh, don't. You aren't the only one who comes up to me like that." Valerie looked back quickly "Really?" Carmen smiled, "Yeah, don't worry about it, Valerie." She smiled back, "You can all me Val." Mary quickly came over. "Well, if you're SO comfortable with it, then show us. I didn't get to see." She smiled a little devilish smirk as she stood there with her arms crossed. Carmen laughed to herself. 'Ah... I love it when they don't think I'm straight... so many mind games, so little time...' She leaned over on the locker. "Sure I'll show you, but what do I get outta it?" Mary looked at her a little taken back. "Well, what do you want?" "What do you have to offer?" She smiled. Mary was getting nervous, she could tell. Carmen laughed in her head as Mary began to look back and forth. "Well, if you don't have anything, then I guess you don't get anything." She turned back and closed her locker and walked away to the wall where there was a large mirror. Even she had to admit, the clothes were good, and she looked good in them. She pulled out her sword and began to swing it around, all the while catching a glance or two at Mary who was now whispering to Lauren. She laughed, and then noticed Adrian watching her. She stood up and walked over to her. "So, you gonna show me what you got, or not?"
Carmen stopped moving and stared at her. "You're not hitting on me, right?" Adrian giggled. "No." Carmen sighed. She giggled again, "So are we gonna just sit here and look, or are we gonna fight?" She pulled out her sword and held it to her side. Carmen smirked, "After you..."
Author notes
Chapter 2
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