Somewhere in the downtown area, of an unspecified city, inside a penthouse apartment that the current occupant swears to his parents is not as much as they think. Despite it being way more expensive than he told them, he felt quite bad about lying to them about it. Though not so much they still thought he was lying when he said a lower amount saying there was no way any apartment could be that expensive.
Here in this dwelling, a man has been pacing back and forth all night working on an idea to help alleviate an issue. One he was not even sure he could pull off. It would all depend on if the office worked the way he believed.
Now Nicki just needed to get Drystia on board. He opened the door to the office where Drystia was sitting in his chair spinning around. Seeing the door open she ignored him and kept spinning.
Nicki found himself watching her, and starting to get dizzy. Shaking himself he jumped into it. “So I’ve been thinking.”
Drystia kept whirling, “That rarely starts something good. But I'll bite.” She let the chair settle as she shifted into her larger Amazon form. Her legs crossed and her chin on her fist as she leaned forward as the chair stopped. “What were you thinking?”
“So, I need to focus on finding that book.” He felt like he’d said that a thousand times in the last few days.
“Go on.”
“And I can’t with Heroes constantly interrupting me. If it’s even possible.” He added the last part under his breath.
“Didn't we already talk about this? I could have sworn we did. Did something change?”
“Maybe.” Nicki really hoped it would. “But that would be up to you.”
She leaned back in surprise, “Me?”
“Remember that gingerbread man?”
“Yes?” Nicki heard a hint of excitement in her reply.
“That.”
“Wait.” Nicki nodded, “You can't mean.” He nodded again as Drystia appeared to vibrate in excitement. Or she had too much sugar if it even affected her like that.
Before he could follow that line of thinking, “Yes. I want you to take over the Heroes. For a bit.”
“Yes!” She yelled jumping from the chair and lifing Nicki into a hug. “This is going to be so much fun.”
While he expected her to be willing to help, he did not expect such excitement at it. Why is she so excited? She set him down, and he checked, “I'm not sure if that’s what I expected, but just to clarify. I want you to handle the Heroes while I go after the book.”
“Uh-huh! oh! I'm going to get a bunch of new outfits.” She said excitedly confusing Nicki further. Why would she need new outfits? Does she actually understand? He watched the Amazon bounce around the room straightening it out while talking to herself mentioning a toga, a pirate hat, and lots of other clothing.
Nicki had a few concerns seeing her reaction. When the feeling he always got when a new Hero was about to appear happened. When he felt what it was he smiled. “Let’s take a look at an out-of-the-box hero.
There sitting in a chair just beyond the desk was a single silver US quarter.
Drystia could only look on confused, “What?”
#
A boy walks down a crowded street lost and alone. Everything is loud and busy, his hands hurt and he’s hungry. He just wants to find his mom. He swears he was just with her. Wait, no he had decided to go on a walk, wanting to see the city, he was older now so it was his turn to see the sites. His sister had bragged about it for months when she got back. That was months, or was it years ago? None of that mattered as it was his turn.
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Sidney rubbed his aching hand as he wandered around looking for a sign of his mother, constantly getting turned around. He was tired and sore from walking all day. Had it been all day? The sun was still high but it had to of been hours by how he felt. Now he was standing in a crowd fighting back tears as he watched people walk by ignoring him.
Why won’t anyone help me? He didn’t know why they weren’t helping him. Why would they want to help him? He didn’t need help he wasn’t just a lost kid. He was in the city to meet his friend, though he could have given him better directions. He wasn’t seeing a single landmark that Sidney had told him about. How was he supposed to meet his friend at this rate? He was going to be late.
Who was he meeting? Why was he meeting them? Sidney rubbed his hand trying to remember, wondering why he felt like he was about to cry.
As he was walking down the street he noticed a pay-phone on the corner. It was a bit beat up, but maybe he could figure out where he was. He reached out his hand shaking as he grabbed the phone, hearing the dial tone he stared at it wondering who he should call.
Who was I calling again? Oh yeah Mom. She’d come pick him up like she always does. Sidney felt his chest tighten at the thought wondering why. He went to dial only to realize he didn’t have any change. Checking the coin return he found a just enough to call.
Then he dialed a number he could never forget.
“Hello?” A woman’s voice all to familiar answered. Thats when the damn broke and Sidney began to cry.
“Mommy I’m lost can you come get me?”
“Dad!?” The voice sounded relived and panicked “Where are you?”
“I don’t know. I found a pay-phone and I called you.” He said between breathes. Rubbing his hands trying to relieve the pain in his joints.
“Ok D—Sidney do you see an address anywhere. On the phone or street signs?” Her voice sounded strained.
He looked around trying to find anything like that, “No.”
“Any landmarks or i-interesting things?”
“Um,” He quickly found a giant green chicken, “Theres a big green chicken.”
“Ok Sidney ill be there soon. Just please stay there.”
“Ok.” With that the phone hung up and Sidney waited sitting up against the statue.
Later a young woman walks up to an old man sitting against a giant Green Chicken Statue. At the sight of her he suddenly remembered and felt ashamed. “Alicia. I got lost again didn’t I?”
“Yeah Dad.” She grabbed his old arthritic hand helping him up. “Lets go home.”
#
Back in an impossible office, a woman falls back in a seat, a folder falling from her hands. “Why did my heart just break?” She asked as she became a doll once more. Not want to be an adult right then. She just wanted to be a doll for a while.
“All too many do. Whether it be who they’re saving or what they went through before becoming a Hero.”
“I’ve read so many different stories. None prepared me for something even like that.”
“Nothing really can. My best advice.”
She turned to him hoping he had something reassuring to say. Something to make that strange pit in her heart from experiencing the scene fills. By his pitying look, she knew what he said next would be no comfort.
“Try not to dwell on it. Do your best for each and every Hero. When you screw up. Do better next time.”
“That was not comforting in the slightest.” She said mockingly trying to hide her growing anxiety.
“Wasn’t meant to be. Now did you see?”
“Maybe. Though not sure how that was a Hero. I’ve seen some of the out-of-the-box things you’ve done, but that—” She trailed off unsure how to finish.
Nicki smiled, “See a hero is not always as obvious as sending a kid with a magic sword to fight the demon king. Or a wronged cultivator waking up to memories. Sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes it’s weird or strange. Not even remotely fitting into one box or the other. It’s all about where they’re meant to go.”
“What do you mean by strange?” She had a feeling she meant something other than the coin.
“You remember the sword?”
“Yeah?”
“Like that. I sent a weapon wielded by a man would would be King. Was the sword the Hero or the King? The one who worked to unite the land.” He asked raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know?”
“Why not both? Then there was this one guy, who was holding up a world, well its fate tapestry. He was a pawn to the fates held so tightly I found him, and then he became a Hero free from their machinations.”
“Fates? Wait is that why they were after you?” He had never really explained it to her.
“That’s beside the point.” Nicki coughed face growing red from embarrassment. “The point is just thinking outside the box to figure out the best place for each Hero if you need to. Don’t be limited with the cliched Hero’s journey.”
There was a lot for her to think about. Drystia just had one question. “How?”
“I have faith in you.” He said while putting a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. Except that wasn’t what she was asking.
“That’s great and all but I mean how? I don’t have your powers.”
Nicki stared at her for a minute registering what she said. “Oh! Yeah. Check your tablet.” She lifted the screen. “There is an app called Hero Matcher. You’ll use that.”
“Hero matcher? There’s nothing on there like that.” She knew for a fact there wasn’t. She had gone over the thing a hundred times. Except when she looked at the screen there it was on the home screen. “That was not there before.”
“It is now.”
* * *