The familiar trio was currently walking out of one of the tallest buildings. They had arrived 30 minutes late for their audition. While they still got to perform, their tardiness made a terrible first impression on the company.

“Well, I think that went well.” Gabriel gave her friends a thumbs up. “What do you guys think?”

“I think we’re screwed.” Samantha bluntly replied. “I’m being straight with you guys here. We fucking blew it. That’s it. We’re done.”

“Don’t be such a pessimist.” Gabriel frowned. “At least we got to perform.”

“That does not make me feel any better.” Samantha glared at the Danger Magnet. “We are amateurs at best, and the fact that you didn’t bother to listen to me put our chances down to zilch. First impressions always go into a job interview, and we already established that we’re unreliable.”

“Well, when we first met, we had terrible first impressions,” Gabriel argued. “But we’re best friends now, so lighten up.”

“Anecdotal Fallacy.” Samantha retorted. “Just because something happens once, doesn’t mean it’ll happen again.”

“I mean… we had bad impressions of each other when we met.” Uzi pointed out, finally joining the conversation. “So technically it happened twice.”

“That is not the point here.” Samantha sighed, exasperated by her bandmates’ antics.

They were currently having jitters after their performance. Results don’t return until a week after the audition, so they had to wait until it arrived. Not that it helped relieve their stress, of course. Gabriel was trying her best to remain positive, while Samantha was being extremely negative. Uzi, on the other hand, tried to focus on her game to get her mind off of it.

Before long, a collective feeling of dread began to seep into their subconscious. The shadows of clouds above them masked their faces as they stared shell-shocked. And just as the wind began to worm its way through the girls, it was forced to take the back seat as a thick black mass eased down towards the ground below.

The three girls couldn’t really tell what exactly what they were looking at. At first glance, it looked like an oversized black chicken. But on further inspection, it was something else entirely. The creature seemed to be a mix between a crow and an owl, with a bulky frame making it larger than normal. There was also the fact that it was wearing a porcelain Venetian mask, and a snazzy top hat on its head. The strange lifeform put its wing where its mouth should be as if it was chuckling at them.

“You can stare if you want. I find your faces amusing.” The creature spoke.

“...The bird is talking,” Sam uttered in disbelief.

“Now that’s just rude. I’m more than just a bird, you know.” The thing retorted. “I’ll have you know that I’m something far worse than that.”

“... Worse than a duck?” Uzi asked, still gawking in disbelief.

“Worse than a goose.” It declared.

“Why would you think this thing is a duck?” Gabe wondered aloud. “This thing is obviously a chicken.”

“ I’m more concerned that this thing is talking.” Sam turned to her friends. “What species it is doesn’t matter.”

“I already told you, I’m not just a bird.” The bird-like being retorted.

Sam turned back to the creature. “Then what are you? You some highly advanced robot or something? I know you ain’t no hallucination. I stopped vaping a year ago.”

She reached for the bird, intending to grab it, but the moment she came into contact, her hand phased through its body. This caused her to freak out and stumble onto her butt.

“Then again, I could’ve caught a whiff of it by accident.” She muttered.

“I’m no hallucination.” The creature responded. “If you let me speak, I can start to explain what I am and why I’m here.”

The three girls looked at each other, then looked back at the bird. They didn’t have any reason to trust this strange creature, so they didn’t have to listen to it. But something inside of them told them to stick around.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Was it fear or curiosity? They didn’t know. Whatever it was, it compelled them to nod their heads in agreement.

“Good.” The bird spread its wings and flew a couple of feet into the air. “Let’s speak somewhere a little more private. This is a serious matter, and I want to be somewhere nice.”

The creature flapped its wings to fly away. It beckoned to the trio to follow as it went to a nearby alleyway. The girls were left on the street to process what they witnessed. They already went through a lot this morning and, just when they think they could rest, this happens.

“Should we trust that thing?” Sam turned to her friends. “This feels like some sort of elaborate prank, just to punk us.”

“Well, I’m certainly interested in what that chicken is saying,” Gabe smirked. “This smells like adventure, and I want in.”

The danger magnet ran towards the bird’s general direction, dead set on learning more about what it was going to tell them. Sam was about to stop her when Uzi stepped in.

“Even if it’s a prank, it would be nice to be on TV,” The gamer noted. “Publicity is important for a band. Right?”

“... Fine.” The edgelord sighed in defeat. “I mean, what’s the worst that can happen… We get drafted to save the world?”

A cold breeze suddenly passed by, causing her to shiver.

“This ain’t an anime, Sam.” Uzi retorted. “You think too much sometimes.”

The two girls shared a small laugh before catching up with their energetic friend.

…

The girls were now in a local cafe that they stopped by often. It was a pretty small store with only 4 tables, including their own, scattered around the room. The place was cozy with its minimal setup, and the lighting made the room feel warm.

They were currently sitting on a table closest to a corner, sipping some drinks as they listened to the weird bird. The strange creature was named Strix, and he came from the underworld to find some dangerous relic.

"So this Hive… What's so dangerous about it? I mean, I know bees are a thing, but surely it's not the end of the world, right?" Gabriel stared at the chicken, skeptical about his story.

"Believe it. Don't believe it. Doesn't matter to me." The bird, now known as Strix, was lying down on the table like some sort of bum.

"Weren't you the one to say that this was serious?" Sam pinched her face. She was getting more and more annoyed by this bird and his random habits. He even made them order a coffee even though it was biologically impossible for him to drink it. "If you're going to fool around, we can just leave."

"Oh, but I am serious. I’m just wondering if You are taking me seriously.” Strix raised his head. “It’s clear across your faces. You doubt me.”

“You don’t give us much reason to believe you.” Uzi pointed out. “After all, why would you tell us this stuff. We have nothing to do with this.”

The gamer was right. Even if this so-called doomsday relic was somewhere out in the city, what could they do? They were just a couple of punks with nothing to their name. It would’ve made more sense to call the authorities since that was their jurisdiction. So what could a wannabe band do to save the world?

Strix gave a stern look to the girls before letting out an annoyed sigh. “Aren’t kids your age supposed to be hype about adventure? I would think the girls chosen by Fate would be a little more interesting than this…”

He suddenly rose to his feet and stood on top of the table. “But fine. If you want a reason, I’ll give you one.”

The girls looked at the bird for a moment, puzzled at what exactly he was planning to do. But with a snap of his non-existent fingers, a book poofed into existence. The tome floated in the air next to Strix as he began to flip through a bunch of pages in rapid succession.

“September 22, 20XX.” He suddenly declared. That was today of all days.”A man will pass by this cafe. He will sneeze, scratch his nose 3 times, and then step on a piece of dog poop. He will then scrape the bottom of his shoe before looking at his watch. Gabriel Mons will then ask: ‘What the fuck just happened?’.”

He closed the tome, and it disappeared as fast as it came. Before they could question what that was all about, they heard someone sneeze. They unanimously turned their heads to the noise and saw a man scratching his nose 3 times. He was about to leave when he stepped on a piece of dog poop, cursing as he tried to scrape the gunk off his shoe. The man then peeked at his watch and realized he was about to run late for something before shortly leaving.

“Uh, guys…” Gabriel muttered. “What the fuck just happened.”

The danger magnet covered her mouth, realizing she said the exact same words the bird predicted. She didn’t mean to say it. It just happened.

Everything happened down to the precise detail. Just as the bird said.

They turned their heads back to Strix, who was chuckling to himself, amused by their faces. “That never gets old.”

“This is quite elaborate for a prank…” Sam was starting to doubt her own words. “So what did you do? You paid that guy or something?”

“Nothing of the sort mademoiselle.” He proudly declared. “It’s just a special power that I only I possess. It’s called the Book of Fate, and it allows me to see into the future.”

This caught Gabe and Uzi’s attention immediately, as they leaned closer to the bird.

“Do we get that contract deal from Eso Records?” The danger magnet asked, clearly excited about the answer.

“When will there be a Giraffe at our local zoo?” Uzi’s eyes were sparkling as she asked that question.

Sam dragged her two idiots by their heads, pulling them back. “Wrong questions, girls.”

The two girls pouted as the edgelord put them back on their seats. But she didn’t care. She was more concerned about something more important right now.

She did want to know if they got the contract deal, but that was for later.

“So that book of yours told you to find us?” Sam crossed her arms. “Why?”

Strix merely chuckled. “So you’re finally taking this seriously… Good. But if you must know, it’s because Fate has chosen you to save the world.”

The three girls all had unanimous stares of bewilderment stretched across their faces.

They were silent for an entire minute before Uzi said something.

"... Maybe this is an Anime after all."