The Retrieved Soul

The Invitation

With another stressful day at school, and a little bit of PTSD driving home, Genevieve sighed as she walked in her front door, and slumped over the couch.

It was officially the 4th day of the Heroes being pronounced gone, and her anxiety levels were only rising. Her trainer worked her harder and longer the day before, and she knew it didn't mean anything good. Her muscles were sore, and she had to wear jeans in the blazing heat to cover up a massive bruise on her leg she got from poor footing, and lack of strength.  

She thought about what she'd seen the Heroes do, and how powerful their magic was. She thought about them flying in the air effortlessly, casting their power like it was nothing at all. 

"How could I possibly do that? Especially now? I can hardly get my wings off the ground." Genevieve thought to herself. 

She laid down across the couch with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Envy and self-doubt overcame her, and she couldn't take her mind anywhere else other than, "I could never be like them." 

A knock at the door made her jump out of her seat. She quickly wiped her tears and ran to the door.

"Oh! Markus, what're you doing here?" 

Her combat companion stood at her door, in never before seen casual clothes. He and her instructor Carlos had been with her nearly half of her life, but she had never seen them outside of the academy, or their training gear for that matter.

"It's good to see you Genn. I'm here to talk to your parents. Are they here?" He asked, peering into the house.

"Oh, no, but they should only be about an hour. Would you like to come in? I can get you a drink, it's scalding out here." 

"Oh, that would be nice. Carlos is out in the car, could he come in too?"

She looked past his shoulder to see a sparkling white car. Though she didn't know anything about them, she could tell it was a fairly new model, and obviously expensive.

"Oh, of course!" She said, now a little more nervous about letting her teacher into her home.

They walked in, and she gestured for them to sit on the couch. She rushed to the kitchen, telling them she'd get them a drink, but partially giving herself a second to breathe. What could they possibly be here for?

Walking back into the living room with two bottled iced teas, she put a smile on her face.

"A cold drink would be nice in this weather, huh?" she said not quite looking Carlos in the eye.

After sitting down across from them, Markus spoke, "So you're probably wondering why we're here." He chuckled nervously, still holding the unopened drink in his hand.

"To... speak to my parents?" She guessed nonchalantly.

After chugging half of his tea, Carlos laughed. "I think she knows." He chuckled, before going back to drink.

"It's... quite serious. We need their permission of course, but we need you to-"

"Genevieve." Carlos interrupted. "Please. You know what he's going to say. Tell me. What you think it is?" He asked, leaning his head into his hand.

Genevieve wasn't surprised. Although he was her combat trainer, he was far older than she knew, and full of inquisitive wisdom. He often asked her to think and solve problems whether it be the next heroes move, or what she thought they'd work on that day.

"I... I think you want me to start training in more than just the academy." She said with a sigh.

"Go on." Carlos said with a wave of his hand.

"Carlos, I think that's-" Markus tried to say before Genevieve intervened.

"It's ok Markus." She sat forward in her chair, and a bead of sweat fell down the back of her neck.

"I'm... becoming one of the next heroes."

The room fell silent, and Carlos sat back in his chair. Markus looked like he constantly had something on the tip of his tongue.

"What... training is involved?" Genn spoke so softly, is was almost a whisper.

"Well," Markus started, looking up at Genn. "You've been briefed over what kind of magic you'll be using. You'll have to take several courses."

Genevieve's mind raced. "Briefed?" Sure, she's tried to study the logistics of it, but never actually tried. She learned most of it from footage of the Heroes.

"There are 5 categories. 3 of which are magic involved. The other two are Physical." He continued.

"One of which," Carlos said with a twinkle in his eye, "Is the defense we've been teaching you."

"So, I've already got one course down?" She asked looking up at the two, a little more hopeful.

"Almost." Markus said looking her in the eye. Her hopeful glint faded. "You need to learn how to work with the others. The other 4 heroes, that is. We know that you don't know them that well, but we know you can learn to work together quick."

"Ha!" Carlos exclaimed sarcastically. "Don't know them well? Hell, they've hardly met! You know why the last heroes did so well? Because they trained with magic as early as they could. Together. Sorry, but I don't see why they had to train in only combat separately. Now they've got unprepared kids left to defend the country. Genevieve, I gotta break it to you. This is gonna be a lot harder than you think. You need to devote yourself to this, and there's no backing out."

"Hey Carl, there's no need for that. We'll start training them now just in case, but just until the Heroes come back." Markus panicked.

"Come back? The Flights were devoted. They're not missing, they're dead kid. Sometimes you've gotta face the facts."

"Okay, fine!" Genevieve yelled, causing the two to jump. "I've known for a long time that they've been dead, and I know that I have to do this. Whatever the cost. When do we start?"