Totally, Completely Normal

Hi, my name is Eiko Yamada, I’m 16 and a half years old, I like cats and reading fantasy, and I am totally, completely normal.

At least, until the day everything changed.

Coincidentally, it was Friday the 13th of October. And if you’re superstitious, then you know that Friday the 13th is an auspicious day of bad luck. Especially in October.

Anyway, my morning started like normal, I woke up, and that’s when things started going… how do I put this? Not quite as normal.

Firstly, I noticed my room was filled by a blinding white light, illuminating the cobwebs in the corners of my ceiling. But that was only the beginning of the strange happenings. For it was then that I noticed a …Person?

Was it a person?

I mean, it was glowing, and unless I had missed something throughout the 14 years of my life, people do not tend to glow.

I rubbed my eyes; sure I was seeing things. I opened them again and the glowing… person… thing was still there.

Then it spoke. In a deep and commanding tone, she said.

“Greetings, mortal. My name is Aurundi. I am the ruler of heaven and queen of the angels. I have something to ask of you,”

“S-Sorry, I must’ve missed something; you said you were the angel queen? And what was your name again? I haven’t done this before.” I said, apprehensively.

“I am the angel queen. Now please, no more questions and hear me out.” She said, a few decibels louder. And much more commanding. I shrunk back.

“U-understood… Your majesty. W-What do you need m-me to do?”

“Come with me.” She held out a celestial hand. I hesitated, so she gave me a glare. I couldn’t look her in the eyes, and took her hand very hesitantly, unsure of what was going to happen next. Well, I know now obviously: It was like being on Hyperia at Thorpe Park, the wind rushed around me on all sides, then we were plummeting towards the ground in a neck-breaking corkscrew. We were about to hit! Then the ground swallowed us. Actually swallowed us. Dirt, rock, bones, and precious gemstones flew past us as the very earth itself moved out of the way. Then we stopped with a jolt.

“We’ve arrived. You can let go of my hand now.”

I blushed and let go quickly, looking carefully and observantly at my new surroundings. It seemed I was underground; sharp stalactites poised to fall from the cave-like ceiling. Rocks were the sickly colour of dried blood, occasionally protruding from them was a sharp, cloudy gemstone, the colour of cold mist. Bright red fire burned from inky black cauldrons, and lava flowed in rivers. The air was sticky and hot, and the smell of sweat burned into my nose and clouded my sense of smell. It was horrifying. But that wasn’t the worst of it. There were people – if you could call them people – dotted around, clasping pickaxes in manacled hands. One looked up at me. It was a girl, with dark skin, deep red hair, and red, angry eyes. But it wasn’t the eyes that shocked me. It was the blood-red wings protruding from her shoulder blades. She bared her teeth at me and went back to swinging her pickaxe. I jumped slightly

The angel queen saw me looking at the girl and sighed. “Dawn. Fallen angel. Used to be one of our best soldiers…”

“T-These people were angels?” I asked.

“Some of them. Those ones over there are infernals,” She casually gestured to a group of red-skinned demons with long, silver, spiralling horns. “Those are abyssals,” She signalled to a swarm of inky black humanoid shapes with glowing white-blue eyes. “And those are daemons.” Her voice tightened as she pointed at a large silver cage filled with………… were they people? Young children, mothers, fathers? What!? I looked at her for an explanation. “They are disguised in a hope that you shall free them. They do it all the time.” She sounded exasperated and disgusted. “In here” She gestured for me to follow.

I followed her into a passageway carved into the rock which ended in a small cave littered with the gemstones dotted around the mine. She turned and addressed me very formally. “Eiko Yamada, you have been chosen by the guard of angels, sentinels of heaven, and myself, to fight against the evils I have just shown you as The Chosen Fighter.”

“Um sorry, but, how? I’m a totally normal human who can die like everyone else. How am I supposed to fight cabissals - or whatever they were called - when the only weapon I’m legally allowed to even hold is a breadknife?”

“I am an all-powerful being and you seem to think that I have not thought about this. We have taken your mortality into consideration and have formed a solution. Before I tell you, however, allow me to explain your task. You saw those beasts out in the mine. They’ve been imprisoned here by previous Chosen Fighters. That is your task. Until you saw me, those monsters were invisible to you, but now they are not. This is useful, for it is impossible to fight an enemy you cannot see. That is your purpose. To fight that enemy, and to imprison them all here until the world is cleansed. Do you accept?”

“Listen, I understand what you want me to do, but you still haven’t told me how to do it.”

“It is simple. I shall grant you powers that you couldn’t even dream of, and you shall use them to exterminate any creature of hell that you encounter. Some will fight back, some will try to convince you that angels are evil, do not fall for these schemes, no matter how convincing they seem. A creature of hell’s greatest talent is persuasion, so do not let yourself be swayed. You MUST accept”

And against all better judgement, I said, “I accept.”

The angel queen closed her eyes and held out both her hands in front of her face, palms facing me. She then moved them slowly to the sides as a thin golden thread appeared between them. She rotated her hands so the string was vertical, and then slowly pushed her hands together. Grimacing with the effort, she held it up to her chest and then flung her arms wide with a cry of power. The string floated towards my wrists and wrapped itself up my arms, and a final piece floated in a ring above my head. A halo. Did this mean I was an angel? My clothes (pyjamas) melted into a white toga and then my school uniform came shimmering over it, like a cloud. Slightly hazy but real enough. The queen sighed. “That should stop people wondering why you’re wearing a toga in the 21st century. Now, as for your powers, let me show you. Press your hand against the wall. Good, just like that. Close your eyes and breathe deeply, feel the greenery that should be here, and repeat after me.

“Grow.”

Her voice was deep and commanding, and without thinking about how to say it, I repeated.

“Grow.”

I opened my eyes and a thin, vine-like tendril was crawling up the wall from where my hand had been moments before. More vines followed it and before long I was facing a wall draped in thin, green tendrils. A flower bloomed where my hand was.

“I did that?” I look up at the angel queen.

“Yes, my child. You did that. There is more.” She held her hand out to a gemstone in the corner and whispered,

“Destroy.”

A blinding beam of light from her palm and the stone was ash.

“Woah...”

“Now you try” she said, pointing at a small rust-red pebble.

I hesitated and then mumbled “destroy.” A small spark from the end of my hand but the pebble was left unharmed.

“Be more confident. Speak loudly and clearly or your power will fail you.”

“I’m sorry…. It just …… it just feels wrong.”

“Clear your mind. It is just a pebble; you can destroy it. Try again.”

I took a deep breath and tried to focus my mind, only to realize how full it was. I couldn’t focus with so many thoughts whizzing through my head.

What am I doing here? Stranger danger! Why choose me? Am I not normal? Why do I need to do this? How the hell do I pronounce her name? Why are all the creatures of hell chained up here?

I fell to my knees, overwhelmed by the clarity of my thoughts.

“Shh, it’s ok, you can get up and try again.”

Who was that? It wasn’t the angel queen, was it? Her voice was too soft. I looked up. It was a woman, as dark as the angel queen was light.

“You call her the angel queen? Has she not told you how to say her name?”

“Who are you?”

“Her name is Aurundi. I can tell you were wondering.”

“Well- “

She stepped closer to me. I could see her clearer, but not clearly. She was slightly blurry, like in a dream. She had pale blue eyes and paler skin, like the moon. Her long hair swept the ground and her robes were intricate and floaty. She would’ve been extremely beautiful if it wasn’t for the deep scarring on the right side of her face, splitting it cleanly in half. She saw me looking at her scars and her face hardened as she said,

“My name is hel. Hel to you. I rule over hell, and it is nothing like what Aurundi showed you. You must leave now, do not mention this to her.”

“Wait!” but it was too late, she was gone.