Little Red Time Hood

The Prophecy

"Haaaaahaaaaahaaa!!!" Ren was laughing so hard she could hardly breath but for short gasps in between violent giggles. "That," gasp, "was so," gasp, puff, "Fun!!!!" Her big sister Hana was laughing just as hard as Ren, yet she managed to pull Ren's red capes' hood over her head.
"We really shouldn't have just appeared in public, you know..." Hana spluttered out.
"Yes, but we passed it off as a magic trick!" Ren countered, Hana still looked worried, "Which I am extremely surprised they believed, seeing as it was 1953!" Ren, quickly seeing an argument, tactically changed subject, "But you saw that raxacapbaphorian didn't you? That was the biggest one I've ever seen! You never told me how it got so big, because my database says they can't normally grow that big." Ren inquired uncertainly. Hana, looking smug, (like all big sisters, no matter how much older) promptly answered,
"I thought you'd have figured it out! It really was quite obvious. Here, where did we chase the raxacapbaphorian out of?" Hana asked, Ren paused to think, "Well we chased it out of the New York sewers, which are really nasty," Hana nodded encouragingly, "Correct, and we took some readings of that glowing green goop, which turned out to be toxic, and raxacapbaphorians thrive in toxic areas..." It clicked, Ren hurriedly finished, "So the raxacapbaphorian got so big cause of all the goop! Sweet." Hana shook her head in disgust, her long blonde tangles swaying. She pulled the sleeve of her coat, which her friend Trevor had given her for her 22 birthday, and glanced at her watch, saying,
"Time zone's clear, let's go" Ren, who wasn't a fully fledged time and space traveler yet, grabbed her sister's hand grudgingly, and they zapped out.
"Surprise!" Ren leaped back and pulled out her screwdriver defensively. Hana laughed at her, "Tell me you didn't forget it's your birthday!" Ren gasped in embarrassment, blushing furiously and mumbling something about a; "busy day..." Her parents and big sister laughed, and Ren tugged at her chest length black braids nervously, "Alright, alright, I forgot it was my birthday, laugh all you want but I'm thirteen now so I won't get upset," Ren breathed out, her face getting redder.
"Relax Ren, we won't do anything, it is your birthday! Are you excited for your integration?" Hana said playfully throwing off her coat and plopping down on the couch. A loud whooping-esc sound came from outside and Ren's mother announced that their relatives had landing and hurriedly ushered everyone to, "look nonchalant!"
As all Ren's cousins and aunts and uncles and grandpas and grandmas came pouring in, someone turned on music, and people started dancing and eating the snacks they had brought. For a while, Ren partied and ate, always sticking close to Ren, but when it got close to one o'clock, she snuck off to her backyard. There she sat immersed in her thoughts. "Right, so, don't panic, you're thirteen, don't panic, go over the facts! That always calms you down! Okay, so, you come from an alien race, check, you don't get your full time and space powers until your thirteen, check, and you only get them after you pass a series of extremely difficult mental and physical obstacles. Check, however, the rest of your family all passed with exceptionally high scores, and are expecting the same from you..."
Ren was woken from her reverie by the sliding glass door, "If that's you Grandpa Davies, I am really not in the mood for one of your space mints!" She grouched. "Relax silly-billy, it's just me, why are you out here, and not enjoying your own party?" Hana moved Ren's dress and sat down. She looked at Ren and deduced, "Your nervous, huh? Your worried that mom and dad, and me, expect you to get as high a score as us aren't you?" Ren looked up startled, "How'd you guess?" Hana laughed, shaking her head. "I'm your big sister remember? Anyway, none of us are expecting that, all we want is for you to pass, and not get hurt. We'll be proud of you no matter how awful you perform," Ren glared, and Hana added hastily, "or how well you perform, your our little Ren, and that's all you'll ever be." Ren humphed, but was still comforted. "Now go get some rest, you'll need it."
Next morning dawned bright and early, with everyone in their, beds, except Ren, who was asleep on her bedroom floor. A knock on the door woke her, and her mother's soft voice carried through, "Better get dressed honey, if you want me to braid your hair." Her footsteps padded away, Ren groggily pulled on her favorite dress, which was powder blue, and her matching tights. Then she laced up her red moccasins, her favorite shoes, and pulled on her blood-red cape, for which her families nickname, 'Little Red Time Hood,' stemmed from. Ren anxiously squirmed through breakfast, and the whole time her mother was braiding her abyss-black hair. Finally her dad popped in saying, "Space paths clear, let's go!" The rest of Ren's family pulled out their watches, which Ren would get if she passed, and she herself grabbed hold of Hana. She gave her a reassuring squeeze then pressed a button on her golden watch and they zapped away to the Integration Center.
As they re-appeared in the great hall of the Integration Center. Ren gaped in open-mouthed amazement as she took in the golden arches and delicately carved marble statues. Not to mention the incredible paintings on the ceiling. There were some of clouds, and some of the wind, but the best ones were of space. All the blues and whites and purple and blacks and yellows mixed together to make the most beautiful scene. Ren's family was ushered into one of the separate testing rooms.
Inside the room was rather dull, with three chintz chair at the bottom of a curved section of seating, in which several bored and huffy looking administrators sat. In the middle of the room was a glowing light coming from a raised dais, and a big screen was behind it. Ren knew the screen showed the tester, because Hana had told Ren all about her test, since Ren had been only 4. Still, she'd memorized every bit of it. There were overall 6 tests, the 6th test was the hardest, determining your clearance levels, and what watch you get. There were 2 physical tests, 2 mental tests, and the 5th one was random. Coming out of her reverie, Ren stepped on to the podium, waved to her family and was zapped out.
The first physical test was easy, and Ren was pleased that she and Hana had been restoring a raxacapbaphorian earlier, because that was exactly what she had to do. The mental test was harder, Ren was rather unsure how well she had done. When she had entered the test chamber, she had found a capsule sitting in a white room, at the other end, (for the room was quite long) was a hole in the floor, just the size of the capsule. When Ren had tried to pick up the ovalur thing, it had burned her. Ren realized she'd have to levitate it, and while she had done it, it had wobbled and fell several times. Again the physical test was easy, though required a bit of mentality too. Her next mental test she was satisfied with.
The 5th test proved more difficult. When Ren stepped in, she almost fell. Looking down was a canyon shrouded in mist. There were no rocks to levitate, no vines to swing with. The only thing she had was pebbles, but she couldn't levitate enough of them to get herself across. Ren picked up a pebble and chucked it down. She could hear now sound. "Excellent, a fake canyon, I must have to jump down to get to the 6th task! This test seems more about bravery than anything." Ren thought, grinning, she backed up, the jumped out at a run. Landing with a dull thud, she looked up and around her.
It was a circular white room. The only thing in it besides Ren herself was a chair with some weird device. Ren didn't know if this was normal, as Hana, and every other person to take the test, had been forbidden to give details. Guessing the only thing to do was to sit in the chair, Ren walked up, arranged her dress, and plopped down. Instantly restraints wrapped around Ren's arms and legs, meanwhile the weird contraption lowered. Ren tried to remain calm, for her family's sake. As the device was getting closer, a screen appeared in front of Ren. "Welcome," the voice intoned, flashing pictures across the screen. "This is the sixth test level, not many make it this far." Ren's face flashed with surprise. She had never known, it seemed to her the test was full of secrets. The monotonous voice went on, " We will now try to unlock your true powers. You are lucky, if you have the powers. Good luck." The screen clicked off, the device settled around Ren, and everything went black.
Ren opened her eyes to light, she looked down, she seemed to be floating. Ren gasped in surprise, she was now as tall as Hana, her hair was longer, and somehow blacker, Ren touched her face, all the blemishes and imperfections were gone. Startled Ren just wanted to stop floating, and, she did. Looking in wonderment at her were the administrators and her family.
"This cannot be, it-, just not-!" The most official person spluttered. Ren opened her mouth, eyes widening when she discovered her teeth were straight.Ren's voice came out rich and silky, much more grown up than a thirteen year old. "What-? What happened?" Ren's voice was shaky.
The official person stepped forward. "There is a legend, that one day, a girl will test, and unlock the most powerful powers ever known to our community. She will be our Queen, after years of a cursed royal bloodline. The powers will age her to perfection, and grant her immortality. When she thinks it the right way, so shall be anything! That girl is you." Ren gasped again, curling up into a ball as her family rushed towards her like a wave. Ren blacked out.
Ren sat u, disoriented and startled. She looked around the room she was in. It seemed like a palace. "Pretty impressive huh?" Hana's voice made Ren turn around. "Yesterday must have been crazy huh? It was for us! Who would have thought my little sister would turn out to literally be the stuff of legends! You look like you could be my twin!" Ren let out a feebly hysterical giggle. "I.... I don't know what to think! What will life be like now? I don't know if I want to be Queen." Hana came and sat down next to Ren. She gave her a knowing look, and promptly launched. " Those people explained. We'll live here. It'll be fun. You won't have to do too much, and we can go on a s many adventures as you like!"
Ren smiled, which turned to a grin. "Well if that's the case, I think I'll like being Queen. Now come on! I order you to go on an adventure with me!" Laughing with each other, the two sisters zapped out, the whole of time and space awaiting them.