There was once a girl who slipped through the space between worlds.

She was walking home after another miserable day at her school. Her morning was spent cleaning nasty notes off her locker, trying her hardest and failing not to look at the horrible, mocking messages that had been left for her. Her classes had been nothing but tedium, her teachers berating her for never paying attention while her classmates snickered. But worst of all were the free periods, where she had to hide away somewhere new everyday just for the hope that she could eat her meager lunch in peace without having to endure another round of bullying from her fellow students.

After all this she found herself trudging home, her gaze firmly planted on the ground at her feet. She watched her shoes as she stepped, avoiding the little cracks on the ground as best she could, sometimes catching herself just in time and taking a half-hop forward to plant her next step on unmarred concrete. It was easy to lose herself in this silly little game, and after years of practice she was very good at it too. She was doing quite well until she couldn't help but step on a crack that stretched across the entirety of the stone in front of her. A crack in the ground that seemed to stretch across the concrete and the grass and even the air around her. A tear that filled her vision and seemed to want to swallow her whole.

She hardly had time to register this incomprehensible sight before she was falling, caught in a maelstrom of impossible colors and mind-bending sounds that no mortal was ever meant to experience. Though it was only seconds, it felt like eons as her mind was warped and scraped and bent to the limit and beyond by this interstitium between realities. But just as quickly as it began, it ended. And when her senses returned to her after who knows how long she realized she was shivering on the grass of an unfamiliar glade.

That day she found herself in a strange new place, far away from her home that had seemed so dull and so gray.

In a vivid forest, with no one around but the looming trees and speckled undergrowth, she tried to call for help. But this was unlike her world and it wasn't a human that responded. Instead, a howl rose up from deep in the dark woods of the forest, still distant but far too close for comfort. Her heart spiked with fear and her pulse quickened, but just as her body began to panic the reality of her new situation snapped into crystal clear focus. It wasn't time to wonder how she'd gotten here or to nurse her still throbbing skull. It wasn't time to collapse into a sobbing, confused mess. It was time to run.

She was once such an ordinary girl. Mundane even, if you asked her. But that day was the beginning of something special. Though she didn't know it yet, she was there for a reason.

----------------------------------------

When Penelope had been jolted from her perfectly ordinary life into a bizarre magical ritual she'd certainly felt panic and confusion. But there was a hint of wonder as well. Something sparked in her when she'd woken up to see herself enveloped in glowing runic formations. A sense of wonder and excitement that had been asleep in her for a long time. And, well, when the leader of this congregation started addressing them as "hero aspirants" and speaking like he was the wise old mentor in some children's fantasy movie, those feelings started to bubble up into a true, giddy excitement.

Granted, in retrospect there was probably a 50/50 chance that those were just euphemisms for the innocent youths who were actually to be ritual sacrifices. But the thought had only barely entered her mind and seeing as there were probably hundreds of guards in the opulent hall preventing her escape, Penelope had firmly chosen to turn her mind towards greener pastures.

All of this led back to the present moment in which Penelope yipped and laughed on the glowing platform within those shadowy ruins. She was practically dancing with joy, letting out all the tension and anxiety that had been building up until this one moment.

Eventually, Penelope regained enough self control to take one final, deep breath and slowly release it, standing up straight again to look at the woman in front of her who had simply been waiting patiently, watching her with a gentle smile.

"Phew, sorry! Sorry about that! I- just- it's been a weird day." Penelope blushed in embarrassment.

The woman gave a light nod, still smiling impassively. "Of course. It's natural for hero aspirants to come from a myriad of backgrounds and for some to be selected under unusual circumstances. Please, share a little of what you've experienced if you don't mind. I'd be a poor patron if I didn't care what troubles plagued my Inheritor. Not to mention my own curiosity!" She sat back onto the stump of a long-broken pillar, crossing her legs and leaning back. The woman gestured for Penelope to speak, her every motion a picture of grace and control.

Penelope noticed that her dark gray cloak was actually covered in a patchwork of roughly sewed edges and slightly different squares of gray fabric. The well-worn outfit made quite a contrast with the woman's otherwise tidy appearance and noble mannerisms.

She hesitated for a moment before speaking. There was a flash of worry that maybe this was an elaborate mistake and that this was just the woman's way of probing to see if she really was one of these "chosen heroes" that they wanted. But she seemed nice enough, and Penelope was a bit too emotionally exhausted to really worry about that sort of thing. So she began to recount the strange events of that morning. About making plans for how to spend her day. How she'd seen a strange gray creature. How she wasn't really sure what was going on at all.

As Penelope told her story she sat down on the glowing stage. It frankly felt a bit awkward for her to address this woman while towering over her from up on the stone. She thought about draping her legs off the edge, but the shadowy world and black grass was a little too unnatural for her to feel comfortable being too close to it.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

When she talked about seeing strange screens in front of her for the first time with some notifications on them and how she'd been surprised to find herself in a place of magic and mysticism, the woman's eyes grew wide, though she didn't move to interrupt. She seemed engrossed by her words.

After Penelope had finished, the woman finally spoke. Her body had begun to lean forward during the story and she was obviously somewhat excited as well by Penelope's retelling.

"My… You're saying you had no knowledge of magic prior to arriving here? You did come from a far ways away, didn't you!" She seemed to think for a moment before clapping her hands. "Tell me… Do you know where we are?"

"Here?" Penelope gestured to the space around her.

The woman gave a little apologetic grin. "I suppose I should rephrase the question, though that's just as worth addressing down the line. No, what I meant was, do you know the continent? Or the world for that matter?"

Penelope blanched "Oh." She had sort of suspected that maybe she wasn't just being held by some strange cult or secret society, but she found it difficult to say out loud the conclusion the woman's words led her to as if it would make it a little more real. Her gaze lowered nervously. "Um. Is this… Earth?"

"No. No, it's not." The woman's firm reply shattered any of her lingering doubts.

Penelope sat in silence for a moment, staring at the grass. Her mind was in a storm of conflicting emotions. She felt…

Well, she didn't want to think about how she felt.

Instead, she sprang up, gave a little stretch, and quickly attempted to recover some of her positive momentum. "Right! Well, that's- I'm here now aren't I?" She forced a smile which the woman graciously returned.

"That you are." The woman stood up as well and strode forward along the grass. "Incidentally, there's still the matter of blessing you as my chosen. I'm sure everyone outside is eagerly awaiting."

Penelope's smile faltered. "You're sure you still meant to select me as your, um, 'chosen'? I'm not even sure what that means."

The woman nodded sagely. "Yes. We all have a part to play in fate after all. One does not simply cross worlds without a strong cosmic connection. You were meant for this, there can be no doubt. I'm sure one day you'll discover just what brought you here and what newfound responsibilities this role entails." She gave Penelope a soft, reassuring smile. "Though I can promise you that regardless of what paths you choose, with this gift there will be many great adventures and exciting days ahead of you."

She paused, waiting for Penelope to absorb all that she had said. "Now, are you ready to begin the ceremony?" After a moment of thought, Penelope nodded shyly and the woman motioned for her to kneel down. Penelope felt herself brighten up just a bit closer to her earlier cheer and, without a sound, she complied. As conflicted as she was… she still really wanted to become a chosen hero.

The woman reached out towards Penelope's face and instinctively she closed her eyes. She gasped at how cold the woman's finger felt on her forehead, her touch sending shivery chills down into her bones. An image bubbled up to the surface of her mind of a gentle light shining like an icy blue flame.

Penelope felt the woman's cool finger tracing a complex design on her skin as she began to speak. The design reflected in her mind, a complex weave of cold flames.

The woman spoke, her voice softer yet resonating with a deep pool of untold power. "I gift you my blessing, worthy Inheritor of the Rat. Carry my mantle, tread my path, and wield my power as you lay claim to the earth and the heavens above. Let the union of our legacies be the foundation of your transcendence."

After speaking the short prayer, the woman pulled her hand away, but the chill remained. It sank into her skin, pulsing through her veins as it slowly slipped deeper. She felt the blue cold fading from the surface as it moved to the base of her skull, a strange sensation of motion like the cold itself was alive. Slowly it settled into place just above her spine. Penelope opened her eyes, then looked at the woman nervously.

"There. It is done. Easy as that. Now you must simply accept the blessing," the woman said. As if on cue a notification appeared in front of Penelope.

[Do you accept the Inheritance of the Rat? Y/n]

"What is… this?" Penelope gestured vaguely at the odd transparent screen in front of her. She hoped that the woman could see the screen as well, though she doubted it based on how Hu and Renslow hadn't made any particular note of the screens surrounding her when she'd awoken.

Nevertheless, the woman seemed to understand what she meant. "Those are Messages. You might think of them as heavenly guides to the world around you. Though, they are also quite a bit more than that." She smiled wistfully. "Now, simply wish to accept my Inheritance and the ritual shall be complete."

Penelope absorbed this information slowly but did as she was told and focused on the notification. Although she'd experienced it before it still came as a shock when she concentrated on accepting the prompt and it responded to her thought.

[You have accepted the Inheritance of the Rat!]

[Talent Gained: ]

[Class Gained: ]

With that the cold feeling at the back of her skull slowly dispersed, turning into a flood of soothing warmth flowing through Penelope's body. At the same time a chill rippled across her skin, the cool and the heat shifting in concert. It was a strange sensation, the inner heat melding and dancing with the cold, but within it all Penelope caught a glimmer of what it was at its core. A sense of pure and overwhelming power.

When the sensations finally settled Penelope slowly leaned back. The energies that had rampaged through her body had finally faded away, though she had the sense that some spark of them was still there, deep within her core. She was breathing hard and felt tired but somehow satisfied, like she'd just completed a strenuous task.

In her weakened state, a thought occurred to Penelope. A thought that, if she was being honest, she really should've thought of sooner.

"I'm sorry, I didn't even ask your name. I'm Penelope Morris," she spoke between ragged breaths.

The woman gave her that same unreadable smile, though she looked particularly amused to have been asked the question out of the blue. "I am merely a reflection of the power you now wield. A manifestation of the Inheritance which marks you as a hero aspirant," She met Penelope's gaze, her piercing blue eyes twinkling in the reflected light of the stone platform. "But if you wish to know the name I once possessed… I was once known as Aulia Corsby. It's a true pleasure to meet your acquaintance."