Cursed

Chapter 1

"Are you sure?" A woman asked.

"Positive." Another woman nodded, her lightning glasses glinting in the dimly lit room.

The two of them stared at the picture of a boy who seemed to be in his early twenties. He had spiky black hair with red highlights in them. One of his eyes was covered by his bangs.

"During the next event, make sure to bring him here." The first woman nodded.

"Understood!" The one with lightning glasses smiled.

She quickly left the candle-lit room after that, leaving the other woman alone. The woman took off the white fingerless glove on her right hand. She looked at a symbol of an eye that was etched onto the back of her hand.

"To think... That someone just like me was out there..."

...

"I can't believe the new figure is out!!" A boy admired the woman in front of him.

The figure had lightning glasses, long blondish-white hair, mechanical limbs, and most of all large breasts. The Cyborg Woman was a new limited edition version that had just come out, this one was special because it was sitting down with her legs crossed. The tag on the box displayed the name "Melodie", signaling the woman's name.

"Oh my God! There's only two left!" Another boy beside him exclaimed.

"We need to get them now!!"

Lucian was a boy with spiky black hair and a large obsession with heroes. Melodie was one of his favorites. She was one of the strongest out of them all as well! Lucian himself was nothing like that. He was an ordinary College student who worked a part-time job at a cafe. As a child, he had always dreamed of being a hero, fighting alongside his role models. However, they were only dreams.

...

"Oh yeah, did you happen to see the mail that was distributed to people about a competition to become a hero?" Lucian's friend asked him after they had each purchased one of the figures and began making their way back to their dorms.

"There was something like that?" Lucian asked.

"Yeah! Those with magic abilities were delivered one!" His friend Max seemed to be excited.

Max had special abilities unlike him. He had an unnatural speed that was around five times the average Olympic track runner. Lucian could never be that good.

"Max, I'm sure you're aware I don't have abilities," Lucian said, gazing down at the figure more intently.

"Who knows? Maybe they see something within you!" Max said, smiling, "Oh boy! If I get chosen, I'll be able to see Melodie every day!"

"Well, good luck... I guess." Lucian pulled out the keys to their dorm, jamming them into the keyhole, frustrated that he wouldn't have a chance.

"Oh, man! I'd get to see the Goddess too!" He sighed romantically as he sat down on his bed, daydreaming about winning the competition.

The Goddess was an unnamed hero who was known to be the strongest of them all. From the battles recorded to date, she had never lost a single match. She was an Asian woman who always wore a blindfold over her eyes and had a tight black ponytail at all times. It is said that she also fought another God and won, claiming his title as a God.

Lucian sighed as he walked over to his desk, pushed some papers to the side, and began working on his project about the creation of a human-friendly robot that would interact with humans using its artificial intelligence. He was a computer science major, something that he was often proud of. But now, seeing as he was unable to accomplish his dreams, he began to despair. He stared at the symbol of an eye on his left hand, better luck next time... He thought as he slowly drifted to sleep.

In the morning, he woke up at 5:00 a.m. Why did he wake up so early? With nothing better to do, he made his way down to the area where students could claim their mail. A classmate had said that there was a package waiting for him, Lucian decided to find out what it was. He didn't have any relatives or any other friends other than his roommate, so who would have sent him something?

Lucian opened his mailbox using a run-down golden key from the school. In the box, there was indeed a singular package, along with a letter attached to it. He reached in and grabbed the package. He then went back to his dorm to check on it. There was a dark pink lock made out of magic surrounding the box, when Lucian tugged on it, an eye appeared on the lock and began talking to him.

"Please state your full name." The eye ordered, glaring at him.

"Uh... Lucian Steelheart."

"Fingerprint please." The package displayed a panel for scanning.

"Okay...?" Lucian said, pressing his fingerprint into the panel.

"Blood sample please." A thorn appeared on the side.

"What is this thing?!" Lucian was beginning to get confused but still pricked his finger and gave a blood sample.

"Thank you! You may now open the package!" The eye disappeared, unlocking the chains.

Lucian grabbed some scissors and sliced open the sealing on the package. Inside were two items: an eyepatch and a note. He grabbed the note out, the note read:

"Hey there! You must be confused about the object in the box, right? Well, worry not! My boss or the highest-ranking hero many know as "the Goddess" sent this to you. She says that the patch is for your eye so there must be something that you have similar to her... Anyhow, no one questions the boss's decisions since she's rarely wrong. There's also an invitation that was given to you. Hope to see you at the competition!

P.S. Please come, or "the Goddess will stop at nothing to recruit you. She might even resort to kidnapping or manipulation. XD

From your dear hero, Melodie."

Lucian was shocked to see the note in the package. He opened the other letter, and sure enough, there was the invitation. It had intricate gold and black designs decorating the sides, inviting him to a certain destination with the touch of a button in the corner. He looked back at the box and lifted the eyepatch. It had small red stripes on the band, resembling the color of his hair.

"Well, I suppose it couldn't do any harm."

He brushed his bangs aside, revealing the deformity of his eye. Instead of one normal eye, he had three miniature ones which all had red pupils and blinked at the same time. Quickly, he snapped the eyepatch on, hiding the monstrosity.

End of Chapter 1

Bonus:

"Don't worry, the note will work, trust!"