The Chosen One

Prologue


Sometimes I wonder if everything truly happens for a reason. Is everything we do controlled somehow, planned out? Is every action that we take determined before we are born? Are we being watched, somehow, and guided by a supernatural force?

During my first fourteen years of life, I was taught that the answer to all of the above questions was yes. I was told that the Gods were all-powerful. I was told that I was unaware of it--but I never made my own choices. Everything was chosen and directed by the Gods. And I was nothing but a helpless, mortal being.

And until I was fourteen--until the day that we took the Test--I believed it. I never doubted any of these things, or anything that I was told. I never questioned the decisions of the Gods. I accepted whatever fate was supposedly chosen for me.

But then, in one day, in one instant, everything that I had been taught was tossed into the air--just hanging there, an unanswered question. What happened on that day not only made me challenge the choices of the Gods, but it caused me to deny their existence.

Now, I will tell you that the Gods do exist. I know this for a fact.

But still, I can’t help but wonder: Are things ever meant to be? When your life changes forever, is it for a reason?

Well, my life changed forever. I don’t know if it was planned, if it was chosen. It all happened so quickly. It’s funny how your world can be turned upside down in a fraction of a second. Well, not funny, exactly. Not funny, like a joke. Not the kind of funny that you can laugh at. But a strange, unexpected, unbelievable kind of funny. I don’t know how to explain, really.

My story is a long and unusual one. I wonder if I could be severely punished, because of what I must write about the Gods. But everyone should know. Everyone should know the truth--at least, as much as I know of it.

But most of all, I simply need to write it all down--I need to see my own story written down in front of me. Maybe then, I’ll be able to understand it. Maybe then, I’ll be able to believe that all of this happened to me. I just want to do it now, while I can still remember it clearly.

So here it is. How my life changed forever.

It all began because of one person, one amazing girl. If it was not for her, not only would I have missed out on an incredible friend, but I would have missed out on the greatest adventure of my life. If it wasn’t for her, I would not have learned the truth about the Gods. If none of this had happened, I would not be writing this down today--or ever, for that matter. And it is all because of one friend, one extraordinary person.

Ara.


Chapter 1
Ara


I was seven years old on the day that I officially met Ara. I had seen her before. I knew that she was my age. I had seen her at school. But I did not know her name before then. I knew nothing about her at all.

I remember that I was clinging shyly to my mother’s leg when we were introduced, peering at this unusual girl, this stranger, cautiously. My mother’s hand rested upon my head comfortingly.

“Julius, this is Ara,” I heard her say. “You’ve met her before, haven’t you? At school?”

I nodded mutely. My mother probably had not seen the nod. Perhaps she had felt it--my head bobbing up and down under her hand. I don’t know if she expected an answer to come out of me at all. But apparently it didn’t matter much to her, for she instantly went back to talking with Ara’s mother about something else.

So I took the time to look at the girl before me.

Ara, unlike me, was not clinging to her mother’s leg, or even holding her mother’s hand. She was standing there independently--already a free individual, at such a young age. She looked somewhat intense, and unusual--but not in a bad way. I wasn’t sure why, but she looked more exciting than intimidating.

Ara was, first of all, a few inches taller than me. Staring back at me intently, her unique blue eyes blazed with curiosity. At the same time, absentmindedly, she twisted her wavy, red-gold hair around one of her fingers. Those silky strands of hair caught the light in a fascinating, almost hypnotic way.

As our mothers continued to chat pleasantly, Ara and I regarded each other in silence. I felt strangely drawn towards her, an urge to be her friend. I wanted her to like me. Also, I didn’t have trouble making eye contact with her, which was unusual for me. For once, I felt ashamed for having to be so shy.

Luckily, Ara had enough confidence for both of us. After watching me for a few minutes, she smiled at me, unexpectedly. It wasn’t a forced smile, either. It was a real smile. It was a radiant smile, that lit up her entire face. It was friendly. It was contagious. I couldn’t help but smile back.

I felt as if we were sharing an unspoken secret of some sort. Just like that, I knew. Right then and there, I had found my best friend.

A few minutes after we had exchanged our smiles, Ara’s mother instructed us to “run off and play”.

Excitement welled up inside of me, and I saw the same emotion reflected in Ara’s sapphire eyes.

“Come with me,” she whispered fiercely at me, grabbing my hand--the gesture was more enthusiastic than violent. And just like that, I was stumbling after her through the village, willing to follow her lead.

“Be careful!” I heard my mother call to us. “Don’t wander too far!”

Ara’s mother only laughed softly to herself.

Back then, I did not know why she laughed. But today, I realize why: Ara was as wild and as unpredictable as the wind. You wouldn’t try to keep the wind in one place, would you?

My new friend had soon led me into the forest, which I had feared for as long as I could remember. My parents had always warned me against this place. I had always been told that it was too dangerous.

Ara, however, seemed completely calm.

“Are you sure that it’s safe to be here?” I asked timidly. I was trying to sound more cautious than afraid, but I could hear the fear in my own voice.

Ara walked a few paces ahead of me. She strolled between the trees confidently, her head held high. Sunlight shone through the tree branches above us, illuminating the golden flecks in her hair.

She turned back towards me, her blue eyes sparkling, and a smile brightening her face.

For a moment, I feared that she would start making fun of me. I had not yet learned that she wasn’t that sort of person.

But I immediately realized that the smile was not one of cruelty. It only offered comfort. I couldn’t help it. I suddenly felt a little braver. This was only the second time that I had seen it, but I already loved that smile. It probably could have convinced me to do anything.

“Don’t be afraid, Julius,” Ara said, taking my hand again. “It’s safe. I promise. Just wait until you see. I have something to show you.”

“What--” I began, but couldn’t finish, because Ara suddenly began to run.

I yelped in surprise. Ara laughed as she dragged me along through the woods. I stumbled clumsily after her, feet catching on roots. The trees rushed by in green blurs on either side of me.

“Where are we going?” I managed to ask, breathless.

“You’ll see,” she answered, keeping her eyes fixed on the path ahead.

So I didn’t ask again. I had a feeling that she would offer no other explanation.

As we continued to run, I felt my anxiety begin to fade away. For some reason, I already trusted Ara. There was something about her that made me feel protected and invincible--as if nothing could hurt me. There was a small part of me that knew how deep into the woods we were going, but I was no longer worried.

I don’t know how long we ran--it could have been an hour, or only a few minutes. I lost track of time, lost in my own dazed thoughts.

Finally, abruptly, Ara came to a stop. For a moment I staggered and nearly fell, but managed to quickly regain my balance. Suddenly, all that running caught up to me. I bent over, breathing heavily, wiping the sweat from my forehead. Ara, on the other hand, showed no sign of exhaustion at all. She stood straight and tall, looking around us, a proud smile on her face.

“Here it is,” I heard her whisper.

At last, I looked up, finally catching my breath--but only to have it stolen away again.

Because, right before us, was the most beautiful place I had ever seen.

We stood in a large clearing. Everything about it looked lush and alive. There was a soft green carpet of moss under our feet--small, colorful flowers peeked out here and there. The ground sloped gradually downward, towards the center, where there was a cluster of four trees. But there was something unusual about the trees. First of all, they were all completely different. One was slightly taller than the others, slender and silver-barked. One was squat and rough-looking, its bark gnarled and knotted. The next one was short, with fan-shaped leaves; it looked innocent, almost childish. The last tree, plain and modest, had short limbs and bright green leaves. And I could have sworn that around these trees, there was an unearthly glow.

I did not know how it was possible--these four completely different trees, all growing so close together, their roots intertwined in multicolored braids. There was something comforting and inspiring about it.

It’s hard for me to explain why this scene was so special--there was nothing really fancy about it. As I stared in awe, I tried to figure out what about it made it so breathtaking. Maybe it was simply because it looked so natural. It made me feel strangely out-of-place, as if no mortal human being as pathetic as I should be present here.

I was so dumbfounded that, for a moment, I didn’t notice Ara approaching the group of trees. When I finally saw what she was doing, I stumbled after her.

I almost wanted to protest, afraid that we shouldn’t go near, but I realized that Ara--unlike me--looked as if she belonged here. She showed no sign of fear or hesitation.

So I followed her. She walked directly to the group of trees, squeezed through a gap between them, and stood in the center, so that they surrounded her. I wasn’t sure if I should do the same. But Ara was watching me, rather expectantly, so I held my breath and walked through the narrow space, joining her.

Something seemed to change in the air as I entered the cluster of trees, as if I were crossing the barrier between the regular world and a magical one. Ara and I stood still, facing each other. Ara was looking up at the trees around us.

“How did you find this place?” I asked, softly. I was afraid to talk at a normal volume, afraid that it would somehow shatter the natural peacefulness.

Ara did not answer at first. I wondered if she hadn’t heard me, but I was too shy to ask the question again.

But then, to my relief, she spoke.

“I just sort of--found it,” she said, “I don’t know. I was wandering around, and I guess--I just knew to come here. Does that make sense?” She looked at me suddenly, an almost desperate expression in her eyes, as if she were begging me to understand.

It didn’t make sense to me, actually, but I nodded.

“You know, I’ve never shown this place to anyone,” she added, gazing at me calmly.

This comment took me by surprise, a little. If it had been anyone else in front of me, telling me this, it might have made me nervous. It would have put an invisible pressure on me. I would have been afraid of ruining the moment, making a mistake, being a disappointment. But when Ara said it, it was a simple fact, not a threat. It implied nothing, so I didn’t have to say anything.

“Can I tell you something else?” Ara said.

I nodded.

“The Gods live here. In these trees.”

I stared at her, wondering, briefly, if it was a joke. But I could soon tell that Ara was completely serious, and confident that what she had said was true. She didn’t seem insecure at all. She didn’t have to tell me not to laugh. She didn’t have to convince me that she was telling the truth. Despite how ridiculous it sounded--what she had said--I instantly believed her.

Ara reached out, brushing her gentle fingers against the bark of each of the four trees--giving each one the name of a God. “Sayitia, Enatia, Rhekius, Lukius,” she recited.

But even before she said this, I already knew, somehow, what God each tree represented.

The tallest, silver one was Sayitia, the Goddess of Knowledge, and the leader of all the Gods. The short, childish one with the fan-shaped leaves was Enatia, the kindhearted, sensitive Goddess of Light, who shone down upon earth as the sun and the moon. The stubby and roughly-barked tree was certainly Rhekius, the God of animals, plants, and the earth itself, who was the creator and protector of animals, plants, and humans--known to be the ugliest of the Gods, but also one of the gentlest. And lastly, the modest tree was Lukius, the God of the Sea, who believed that simplicity was the best form of beauty; he controlled the simple but beautiful object that was the ocean. Of course, there were hundreds of other Gods, but none of them had names or received the same amount of admiration as the four most important Gods, the creators of our world.

Until that moment, I had only known the Gods as they were in paintings, in illustrations of sacred books--two-dimensional and mysterious to human kind. But standing there with Ara, among these unearthly trees, I suddenly felt close to the Gods, to their their powerful presence. They were alive, living in everything around us. The feeling was almost overwhelming.

I didn’t know how to respond, how to put my thoughts into words. For a few silent minutes, I observed the four trees in awe. At last, all I could manage to say was, “Wow.”

Ara smiled, understanding what I meant. Later on, I would learn that she always understood me.

And even though I felt no gust of wind, the trees around us shook, their leaves rustling together with a sound that was almost like laughter.


After that day, Ara and I became inseparable. We saw each other every single day. That clearing, which we had gone to on our first day of friendship, became our secret hiding place. It was no longer a clearing. It was the Clearing. It was our sanctuary, where no one could hurt us or even find us. No one knew about it except for us--and possibly, the Gods.

We always met there. It was an unspoken rule. We never said to each other anything like, “I’ll meet you at the Clearing tomorrow.” We just knew when to go, somehow. And we always arrived there at the same time.

It would take hundreds of pages to recount the year’s worth of secrets that we shared there, all of the imaginary adventures that we experienced. Looking back, it is difficult for me to remember all of it, anyway. The only days that I remember so clearly are that first day--and the last.

It wasn’t literally the last time I ever went to the Clearing, but it was a day that ended something. Something inside of me disappeared on that day--I’m not sure what it was. All I know is that--whatever it was that came to an end--it was because of what Ara told me, and the strange thing that happened afterward.

We were about ten years old by then. Everything started out normally, on that day. Ara and I were sitting in the center of the cluster of trees. I was absentmindedly pulling pieces of moss out of the ground. Ara was leaning against the Sayitia tree, looking up through the leaves at the blue sky.

Ara said, at last, “Do you know about the Test?”

I stopped tearing moss from the soil, and looked up at my friend quizzically. “Test?” I repeated. My first thought was that she was talking about a test that we had to take at school, about history or grammar. But that couldn’t be what she meant--Ara and I never talked about school--especially not here, in what felt like our own secret world. It felt too strange. We always kept this world and the outside world separated. “You mean, at school?”

“No,” said Ara. “I mean the Test to find the One.”

I looked at her blankly, bewildered.

“So you don’t know,” Ara said. It wasn’t an accusation. It was simply a fact.

“I guess not,” I replied. “So what is it?”

Ara thought for a moment. “Well, it’s a little complicated,” she finally said. “I think that there’s a long story behind it. I don’t really know. But every one hundred years, all fourteen-year-old children have to take this special Test, to find out who is the One. See, this person who is the One is chosen by the Gods, to possess their powers.”

My mind was reeling with this sudden information. “Wait,” I blurted. “What? So the One is given all the powers of the Gods? But why?”

I didn’t understand how this could all be true. Would Ara make such a thing up? Why was I believing it? But Ara never made things up. She never lied to me.

Ara, meanwhile, was trying to answer my question. “I don’t really know why the Gods would give their powers to a human. Nobody knows. People have been trying to think of a reason for hundreds of years. I guess that maybe the Gods do it to prove something. They do it to prove that they still exist. If they didn’t, maybe people would stop believing in them.”

I frowned. “No, they wouldn’t.”

Ara shrugged. She seemed surprisingly calm about what she was telling me. “It was just a guess,” she said. Then, after a short pause, she leaned forward. There was an excited glitter in her eyes. “You know, Julius, there’s a reason that I’m telling you this.” She spoke in a fierce whisper, even though there was no one around to hear, except for the trees.

“Why?” I asked, but I had a creeping suspicion that I knew why.

“Because,” Ara replied, “in four years, one hundred years will have gone by since the last Test.”

I swallowed. “So, we’ll be fourteen,” I murmured.

Ara nodded.

“We--we’ll have to take the Test,” I continued.

Ara nodded again, with increasing enthusiasm.

“So one of us could be the One,” I finished.

“Exactly,” said Ara. “Isn’t it exciting?”

I hesitated. “No,” I decided. “It’s kind of scary.”

“Well, sort of,” Ara half-agreed, “but wouldn’t it be amazing, to be chosen by the Gods? To be the One?”

I thought about it for a few seconds. “Maybe,” I said. “But--but how do you know about this, anyway?”

Ara’s smile faded for a moment, a confused expression crossing her face. “I don’t remember,” she answered. “I heard it somewhere.”

“How do you know that it’s true?”

“I just know,” Ara answered, and I had no choice but to believe her.

A few minutes of silence passed. In those few minutes, jumbled thoughts rushed through my head, about what I had just found out. It had only taken a moment for this information to be given to me, but it had already changed my life. But even in that moment, we were just two innocent children, daydreaming about achieving a power like no human being had ever known. We did not realize how real and terrifying the Test was. We didn’t know what it was. We didn’t know how significant the Test and the Gods would soon be to us.

But right then, we did not give it much thought.

A few minutes later, in fact, we were running through the woods, waving sticks, fighting each other in an imaginary battle. I was chasing after Ara, keeping track of her long, gleaming hair, flowing out behind her.

It was just like any other day. We were playing another carefree game, not thinking about danger or fear or Tests or Gods. And it might have remained that way. We might have remained the same, carefree children for a few more years. But we didn’t, because of what happened on that day.

It happened so quickly, that later I almost questioned if it had happened at all.

I was running after Ara, watching her get steadily farther and farther away from me, until she disappeared altogether. Frustrated, I ran faster, cursing myself for being such a slow runner compared to Ara.

But still, I ran for several minutes, and still couldn’t see her anywhere. A flicker of anxiety rose in my mind.

At last, I came to a stop. “Ara?” I called. There was no answer.

I began to walk slowly forward, cautious. Maybe Ara was trying to trick me. Maybe she was hiding behind a tree, and was going to jump out at any second. But that didn’t seem like the sort of thing that she would do.

“Ara?” I called again.

Still, no response came.

My anxiety was slowly rising, becoming panic.

I wanted to call out to her again, but my throat had suddenly closed up with fear. I suddenly felt alone and small, in the deadly silence of the forest. Without Ara there, I was weak and vulnerable. She wasn’t there to help me, to protect me.

I started to run again. I didn’t know why I was running. I felt like I was running towards something, but away from something else.

I ran for a long time, before I finally found myself back at the Clearing.

And there stood Ara, her back to me, facing the group of four trees.

The first thing I felt was relief. Ara was all right. She wasn’t in danger. I had been foolish to think that she was. Then, I wondered, why was she just standing there? Why had she abandoned the game and come here, without telling me?

I didn’t know exactly what to think, or what to feel.

“Ara?” I said again.

I waited for her to turn around, to hear her name and turn to me. Then she would apologize, and explain what she was doing, and everything would be all right.

But Ara didn’t turn around. She just stood there, stiffly.

Warily, I approached her, and stepped in front of her.

And right away, I knew that something was terribly wrong.

First of all, Ara was unusually pale. All the color had drained from her face, leaving it frighteningly white. She stood as still as a statue--not moving, not speaking. But worst of all, there was no emotion in her eyes. They were glassy and lifeless, staring straight ahead of her, but seeing nothing.

“Ara?” I finally managed. But she still did not acknowledge me. She couldn’t hear me. She couldn’t see me.

“Ara!” This time, my voice had risen in panic. I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, but she still remained in her trance. I took my hands back and covered my face.

“Oh Gods,” I said, under my breath, “Oh Gods oh Gods--”

The words were choked off. I was shaking with the horrible panic. What was happening? What was I supposed to do? I almost wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. Besides, I knew that it wouldn’t help. But what would help?

Just then, I heard a loud rustling noise behind me. I whirled around, to see that the four trees were shuddering. I noticed, out of the corners of my vision, that the other trees--the ones that lay outside the clearing--were not moving. There was no wind to shake them.

Also, the small cluster of trees was beginning to glow with golden light. I watched in both awe and horror, not knowing whether to be amazed or simply terrified. I knew that I could not blame this on my imagination.

Suddenly, Ara began to walk forward, her eyes still glazed over. I could only watch her, stupefied with fear. There was a strange hint of a smile on her face, as if she could see something beautiful that I couldn’t see. She began to reach out her hand--towards what, I could not tell. But the sight filled me with a sudden new surge of panic.

“Stop!” I cried, grabbing her arm.

That one word echoed through the clearing. It seemed to bring everything to a halt. The light coming from the trees quickly faded, and their trembling stopped. I felt a shudder go through Ara.

She turned towards me, and, to my relief, the life had returned to her eyes. But she looked afraid, confused.

“What...?” she murmured, staring at me. “How did--how did I...”

“What just happened?” I asked.

“I--” Ara began, then stopped. She frowned, as if trying to remember something that had happened a long time ago. But this confused expression was soon replaced by one of terror. “We have to get out of here,” she said, “Now.”

I didn’t question this. After what I had just seen, I wouldn’t have questioned anything.

We ran from the clearing as fast as we possibly could. Nothing would have felt better at that moment than to be home right away. But getting home took a while, and that entire time, I felt like there was a ghost at our heels.

And after that one terrifying day, everything changed. Ara and I no longer had a shallow, childish friendship. Now, we had a deeper sort of friendship. Ara didn’t tell me what she had seen, but I still felt as if we shared a deadly secret, that brought us closer together, and made us more important to each other than we were to anyone else.

It had once been an unspoken rule that we meet at the Clearing every day. Now, the unspoken rule was that we never went there--ever. Neither of us ever said, “We’re never going to the Clearing again.” We just knew that we couldn’t go back. Not for a long time--if ever.

But what changed the most on that day, was that I suddenly realized that I was not invincible, and neither was Ara. Even with her by my side, I could still be in danger. Or she could be in danger.

After that day, we didn’t fool around so much anymore. There were no more games, no more imaginary battles. Because life is not a game. Life is not imaginary. Life is the realest thing there is, and it’s dangerous. That day made me realize all of this. Because that day didn’t just end our daily trips to the Clearing.

It ended our childhood.