Lyndzee
Lyndzee was not like the other gals. She loved computers and mathematics, and the two most repulsive things to her were glitter and the color pink. She had known about her special existence ever since she was in kindergarten. When other little girls were playing with barbie dolls, Lyndzee was playing with action figures. In high school, while other girls were dressing up as princesses in fairy tales, Lyndzee was putting on a skin-tight spandex suit and pretending to shoot laser out of her eyes. In college, other girls were learning useless skill like cooking, while Lyndzee was practicing the essence of civilization—how to drive a race car.
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Lyndzee was walking back to her apartment when she encountered Lindsey, her childhood best friend before they grew apart. The last time they had talked was two years ago, when Lindsey had invited her to the grand opening of her new bakery.
Lyndzee hadn’t shown up. Psssh, baking cookies! What mundane matters! How could she have time for such events when her favorite football team had an important match that day.
Yes, Lyndzee was also a massive fan of sports, and all cool things alike.
“Long time, no see, Lyndzee. How are you?” Lindsey greeted her with a big smile.
Lyndzee forced a smile, but before she could reply, a deafening bang ruptured the ground. From the cracked pavement, a green dwarf rose slowly. His eyes were round and large the size of two tennis balls, and his teeth were brown with some unidentifiable yellow food pieces stuck in between the teeth.
“What in the world…” Lindsey yelled. She tried to run away, but the dwarf flicked his fingers, and she was immediately teleported back in front of him.
Lyndzee, on the other hand, stood still in place, her eyes wide open, mesmerized by the foreign creature in front of her. As a certified special one, she wouldn’t be intimidated by such a lowly magical creature.
“You.” The dwarf pointed at Lindsey. “Your name’s Lindsey?”
Lindsey nodded. Her eyes blinked rapidly.
“Come with me, chosen one,” the dwarf said. Then, he raised his hand.
“HOLD ON! STOP! WHAT THE FUCK!” Lyndzee screamed her lung out. There must have been a mistake.
The dwarf winced, his hands covering his ears. “What? The hell are you?”
“I’m Lyndzee. You made a mistake. Your boss told you to bring me, not her.”
The dwarf squinted his eyes, observing the two of them.
“She’s right. She’s right. She’s right.” Lindsey looked like she had just caught a lifeboat while she was about to drown. She pointed at Lyndzee and nodded vigorously. “She’s the chosen one, whatever the fuck that means. I’m just a baker. I bake cookies. I don’t fight monsters, for fuck’s sake, I can’t even tell what kind of creature you’re supposed to be, short ugly… elf?”
“He’s a dwarf, you stupid ass.” Lyndzee was furious. She played a lot of fantasy games and she remembered the names of more than three thousand imaginary creatures from all sources of the world. A scholar like her deserved to be the chosen one.
“I didn’t know your names are the same,” the dwarf said.
“Not rea—” Lyndzee wanted to clarify, but Lindsey cut her off.
“Yes. Same name. She’s the one though.” She winked at Lyndzee three times, which confused her even more.
“How do you prove it? That you’re the chosen one?” The dwarf turned towards Lyndzee and asked.
“That’s easy.” Lyndzee raised her chin high and gazed into the dwarf’s eyes. Then, she spoke slowly, emphasizing every word. “I like numbers.”
The dwarf didn’t react. He stared at Lyndzee for a long time, but she didn’t continue.
“And?” He asked, eventually. “I like numbers, too. Mr. Mentor didn’t promote me to Chosen One position though.”
“But that’s normal for you. It’s encoded in all dwarves’ DNA to like numbers. Me, I have to fight against my instinct, against my destiny, against this dystopian world full of pain and injustice. Isn’t that admirable?” Lyndzee put one hand on top of her chest and took a moment to appreciate herself.
“I’ve never realized how much suffering you went through. Such an inspirational story you have—liking numbers—that’s just unheard of. I’m so sorry I even dared to bother you with my lame recipes of cookies and pies.” Lindsey was nearly in tears.
“It’s in dwarves’ genes to like numbers?” The dwarf tilted his head, confused. Then, he looked back at Lyndzee. “Whatever. That’s not enough proof for me. You have any other way to prove yourself?”
“What other proof do you need?” Lyndzee asked.
The dwarf knitted his brow, puzzled. “Usually, I’d say ‘prove you’re a better fighter than the other Lindsey’, but it’s hardly a condition nowadays. This position, it’s mostly a fate thing—.”
“I KNOW!” Lindsey suddenly yelled, startling Lyndzee and the dwarf. They both looked at her like she was an alien.
“You know what?” The dwarf asked.
“My parents are healthy and alive. Lyndzee, she’s an orphan,” Lindsey said.
The next moment, Lyndzee and the dwarf vanished together.
__________
John Doe
John Doe was an orphan. His aunt, Anon The First, took him in when he was a newborn, and let him live in her basement, which was infested with rats and roaches, even though her mansion had five other clean, empty rooms. She always complained when she saw him, from the way he drank water to how his eyebrows were shaped. Then, she’d point to one of the empty rooms and rubbed it in.
“Look! That bedroom is spacious and fully furbished,” she often said. “Now go back to your basement where you belong, you pathetic parasite.”
Then, her husband would look at her with his tiny eyes, and whispered lovingly. “Honey, that’s what I love so much about you—your kind curses and your evil smile, they’re mesmerizing.”
On these occasions, John would leave so he didn’t have to see them kiss.
John studied at the Ordinary High School. He walked there every day, headphones covering his ears and blocking all the noise outside. Only during these long walks did he feel happy, because no one was bothering him. He could enjoy the music, feel the wind caressing his skin, and dream about the day he could leave this miserable town.
The joy was short-lived, however. Every day, when he arrived at school, the classmates would come and dropkick him in the face, then look down on him and laugh arrogantly.
There they were, standing next to the security guard, waiting for him even on his sixteenth birthday. He pulled the hood over his head, hoping they wouldn’t recognize him, but it was just a futile effort.
“John Doe, don’t you dare appearing in front of us again.” Their leader, Anon The Second, shoved John to the ground and shouted at him. They always showed up exactly five seconds after John arrived at the entrance, like clockwork. Next to them was the security guard, and next to the security guard was a large crowd of his schoolmates. They all stood still, not moving or reacting to the beating scene in front of them.
“Get out of my way, Anon The Second.” John always yelled back. He had a warrior spirit, and warriors would never surrender.
Then, he got kicked in the face three more times, and was moved to the hospital to get his broken nose fixed.
The hospital was crowded that day. Doctors and nurses were running in all directions, not paying an ounce of attention to John. He watched the stream of people moving hurriedly in front of him, and forgot about his wound, or the pain it caused.
When the sky was completely dark, it was finally John’s turn.
“Here it says: broken nose?” The doctor looked at him furiously.
“I’m… sorry?” John stuttered. He didn’t understand why the doctor was angry at him.
“You brats must not waste my time. If I see you here again with this prank, I’ll call the police. Now, leave.” The doctor yelled at John, then moved on to the next patient.
John walked out of the hospital, worried and confused. Then, he raised his hand and touched his nose.
It had fully healed.
__________
Since his sixteenth birthday, strange things kept happening to John. On the day after, the bullies had come to punch him again, but upon touching his skin, they all screamed in agony and ran away. He hadn’t seen them again after that.
John Doe didn’t try to find them, or seek revenge. These were bad behaviors, and John had a heart of gold.
Soon after, he found a letter of his deceased mother hidden in one of the boxes in the basement. It was a wild coincidence how he discovered it. He had lived in this basement for sixteen years, but on that one fateful night, while John was just resting his back against the wall, it suddenly collapsed and revealed a secret bookshelf behind it. On top of the books was a sealed envelope, and inside the envelope was a letter in such sloppy cursive handwriting he wished it had been printed instead.
“John Doe—my beloved son. If you are reading this letter, your father and I must have been murdered by the Supreme Dark Lord.” John read it out loud, even though he was the only person in the room. His eyes squinted, confused. “The Supreme Dark Lord is the most malevolent, most ruthless, most insane, and most powerful creature in the universe. He rules the world with torture and death. While everyone else surrendered, your father and I refused to bow our head. We keep fighting for freedom, for honor, for a better future, for equality, for integrity, for justice, for the environment, for mother nature, for the galaxy, and finally, for you. Now, it is time for you to take up the torch. You hold tremendous magic power within you, but first, you need to learn how to command such powerful force. We have left here our entire library of books for you. Study them carefully, and go save the world.”
John Doe looked at the shelf, which contained two picture books of a hundred pages each.
That’s too long. He winced. He wished they could have left him some video tutorials instead.
Nonetheless, John was a kind person, and thus he started learning magic, so he could defeat the Supreme Dark Lord. His orphan status became quite handy these days. He almost killed himself three times during magic practice but his aunt didn’t even know or care.
After studying all the books, he waited. Then, he waited some more. He was certain the Supreme Dark Lord would appear on his doorstep at any moment, but the next year passed without any event.
One day, he came back from school, threw his backpack to the side and jumped onto the bed. This time, his body never touched the mattress. It kept falling into a black hole where he couldn’t see or hear anything.
Eventually, the falling stopped, and he was standing in a gothic castle, in front of an old man with long beard and white hair. The old man smiled at him softly, then raised his voice.
“Welcome to the Epic Tournament, Chosen Ones.”
