Chosen- Started.

Alli
After we are faced with the disappointment of only lifting up our luggage, not something really cool, we are briefed on the rules which pretty much summarized as don't use your powers if you're a defender. We are then told that we will be shortly boarding our transport and should prepare ourselves in the few short minutes before we board.

I pick up my suitcase and walk to one of the now revealed bathrooms. I then change into a simple pair of loose black jeans and a light grey tee shirt. As an I then brush my hair and pull it into a messy bun. As an afterthought, I pull the dagger in the sheath off of the bench where I had placed it and pulled out the silver blade. I then turn my right jeans pocket inside and cut a large hole in the bottom. I re sheath the dagger, pull down my jeans a little, and strap the dagger to my thigh, with the handle positioned so it would just poke through the bottom of my pocket.

After I pull me jeans back up, I place the dagger belt and their daggers inside my suitcase. I pick up my staff from where it's resting against the wall, wondering what to do with it. "You know what," I say, "it'd be really cool if my staff could fold-" I gasp as a click comes from the center of my staff. The staff pulls in half, revealing a metal hinge holding the two halves together.

I push the two halves back into their original position and watch as they are pulled together. A click sounds as they clip into place. "Fold," I say again. The staff clicks and the hinge is revealed. I fold the staff in half and stuff it is my suitcase, over my tightly locked black box. I give the box a gentle stroke then close up my suitcase. I then head out to board the ship.

As I step into the brightly lit cavern, I hear Ava and Arcadia singing a line if the song that had just started playing in the back of my head. I give a small chuckle and begin heading down the isle to one of the wide and plush, black leather seats. "Looks like we're flying this first class," I murmur. As I pass Ree and Stanely, I notice that Ree is staring at Arcadia. I try to hide my smile as I move into the pair of seats in front of them.

A women comes around, giving everyone water and sedative tablets - about ten of them. I look at them suspiciously and take a sip from the glass of water. I shove all of the tablets in my pocket then finish off the glass of water to make it look like I had taken it. I then hear the countdown begin.

At blast off, I am firmly pushed back into my seat, my ribs being crushed by the g-force. I feel like I'm about to vomit as I see the blue sky and clouds quickly fade to a sleek blackness that I could never truly apreciate on Earth. "This is it," I think. "We're going to Arkyle."

Finally, the roar of the engines died down and an announcement was made over the intercom. I quickly unbuckle my seat belt and stare in amazement as I float out of my seat. I laugh almost giddily and spin myself around. I grab a hold of my seat to stop myself as I see a body float by.

I smile when I see Vega swimming around in the air too. She turns and sees me too. I laugh and wave, excited to not be the only one still awake. If the others take the time to actually notice the lack of gravity when their first round of sedatives wear off, I'm sure they'll all join us.

Ree

"Like a dalmation astronaught," Stanley replied, touching his black eye, and I grinned.

"Me too."

"Do you really think we're gonna have to wait two more hours?" Stanley asked. "I don't think I can stand waiting that long." His stomach growled.

I wasn't sure how to respond, since I didn't think I ever wanted the ship to take off. We were leaving home, maybe forever. I looked around, and my eyes caught on Ava, who had stopped singing and was talking quietly with Arcadia. I saw how the light played on her hair and made it look like a halo, like she was an angel. Man, she was pretty

A nudge from Stanley woke me from my trance. "I couldn't help but notice that you two have become fast friends," he said wryly.

For a moment, I wasn't sure how to reply, but I came up with a comeback. "You're one to talk," I retorted. Okay, maybe not a great comeback, but still...

"What do you mean?" Stanley tried to look confused, but I didn't miss him glancing back at Arcadia.

I felt a grin split my face. "Arcadia's pretty, isn't she?" I said innocently.

I guess he took it the wrong way, because suddenly he started looking at me all weird. Then he seemed to relax, but I could tell he was suspicious. "Sure she is," he said cooly. "Isn't every girl?"

That left me in an weird position, since explaining the joke would be creepy and going along with him would be hard. I just sat back into my seat, disappointed and feeling awkward.

A woman came in with water and food. Stanley sat up at the sight of the latter, but she just handed us glasses of water and some red pills, telling us that they were sedatives and we should take them until the trip ended.

I stared at mine suspiciously. "I really don't want to take this," I muttered.

Stanley examined one unconcernedly. "They've kept us alive so far, right?"

"I guess so," I said. But they sure hadn't done a good job of it. In fact, it could be argued that they'd tried to kill us. And they seemed willing to go above and beyond to make us miserable. I remembered my very first 'test', with the needles. They knew I had a phobia - had that really been necessary? I got the strange feeling that if I hadn't moved the glass, they would've just jabbed me until I did. Suddenly trusting these people was the last thing I wanted to do, especially when it came to taking any drug of theirs.

Stanley was already leaning back, falling asleep. It looked like it was a sedative, after all. I looked at mine, arguing with myself, but suddenly I wondered if I'd be forced to take it anyways. I decided I'd rather take it myself than be made to. So I eyed one closely, one last time, still not trusting it but taking it anyways. I downed the glass in one gulp, taking the pill with the water, and waited for the sedative to take over.

Suddenly I heard it. The voice; the famous countdown. Ten... nine... eight... seven... Our last moments. This was it. I began to feel sleepy, but the pill was taking its time. Three... two... one...

I looked out the window as we took off. I saw it, then - Earth. I saw trees, grass, water, for maybe the last time. I watched it recede, tired, my eyes half-closed. We were leaving it all behind... for good, maybe...

My eyes fell shut, and I knew nothing more.

Ava

I can feel Ree’s eyes watching me. He is thinking about me again. It makes me feel go to know someone likes me. I want to sit next to him. Arcadia and I are just chit chatting about nothing, but I am really listening to Ree’s thoughts. Why won’t Stanley just move?

A woman comes over to me and hands me some pills to take. I do not want to take them, but I take them any way. They slide hard down my throat. My eyes start to close. Ree’s thoughts are still in my head as I fall asleep. I just want to me near him and to tell him that I like him to, but how do I tell him that?

Leo

I looked at the pills not trusting them. I saw the others take it and look sleepy and I decided not to take them. I faked putting them in my mouth and down the water normally. I faked falling asleep just as I heard the countdown. I yawned perfectly and closed my eyes just as we started moving. I opened my eyes 2 minutes later and looked around.

Vega

"Hey, Alli!" I called. "Check this out!" I threw a few more pills into the air, sending them spiraling toward Alli. She tried to grab them, but they ricocheted off her hands, and went bouncing around the cabin. I pushed off the wall and chased them, Alli close behind me. Soon, we were flying around the cabin, spinning completely out of control, laughing our heads off.

Most of the others were asleep, but in the back of the cabin, Leo floated up out of his seat. "Hey!" he shouted. "What's going on?"

"We're in orbit!" I replied, still spinning around in an awkward circle. "We're weightless!"

Arcadia

The plane erupts with laughter as we finish.

"You have a great voice," I tell Ava.

"Yours is absolutely lovely," she says. "We harmonized pretty well there."

"Thanks. Singing has always been my passion. I've always wanted to be on Broadway. You know I got accepted into the University of Michigan musical theater program? I just hope I can come back and attend school." I stop, realizing I'm rambling.

She just smiles and nods, appearing to have only listened to part of my story. "Hey, maybe if we come back we can sing a real duet," she says after a pause.

A nurse interrupts and hands us a handful of pills, telling us to take them all through the flight. I feel a little nervous about this strange little red pills, but before I can ask Ava her opinion, she is already swallowing one. I stare down at the pills in my hand, uncertain whether they will help me or possibly kill me. I glance around and see that the pills have already caused everyone else to be drowsy.

"Liftoff in ten... nine... eight..." I hear over the speakers. I have to choose now. "Six... five..." I hold a pill up to my lips, pausing. "Three..." I quickly down the pill and chase it down with water. "Liftoff."

Suddenly it's as though dozens of tiny invisible hands are pushing me back in my chair as the light outside the windows changes from a light sky blue to ominous navy. I feel the drug kicking in, making me drowsy and slightly nauseous. I turn my head sideways to catch a glimpse of the earth, now a big blue and green swirl below before my eyelids get heavy and I drift off to sleep...

Stanley


When I wake up, I feel weightless; for a moment I wonder for a moment if I am still dreaming. The fact that the cheerful shouts that echo around the room hurt my ears tells me that I must have shifted into Par in my sleep. I crack open my good eye and find myself brushing against the roof of the ship. What the-? I let out a loud yelp and whip my paws frantically through the air. This only effects in me doing a half sumersault. Alli and Vega burst into laughter, floating about ten feet away. I snarl fiercely at them from my upside-down position.

"Ooh, real scary!" Allie snorts.

"How did I get up here?" I switch back to my normal form.

Leo swims past me. "They got bored and unbuckled everyone who was sleeping." He says, grinning.

I turn and see Ava, Allie, and Ree suspended in the air, their limp heads flopped comically to the side. Wow. Dharius is hanging in a corner, his face plastered with its usual unpleasantness.

"We got really bored," is Vega's excuse.

Alli nods. "We didn't take the pill, so we've been up for like eight hours."

"We had a bit of fun with food, at least." Vega finishes as a graham cracker bumps me in the nose. Starved, I snatch it from the air and swallow it. This gets another round of laughter from the girls. I right mysef and ignore them. By doing an awkward dog-paddle, I manage to reach one of the windows.

I had seen countless pictures of space, a photo of white stars on a black canvas. This is different. I can't even describe the feeling that the view gives me. The endlessness of space, the stars just... There. What's holding them up? What's holding us up? We are just... moving. Through nothing. I swallow hard, shocked at the sheer vastness of God's creation.

Ava's scream breaks me out of my trance. She pushes through the air until she reaches the bottom, and clutches her seat, eyes big a saucers. Allie and Vega are both doubled over in another fit.

"Come on up, Ava," Leo calls, head against the metal roof. Reluctantly, she lets go of the seat and hovers right in the middle. Her face breaks into a nervous smile and she waves her arms, moving a bit.

"So, uh, where did that graham cracker come from?" I'm still hungry

Vega rolls her eyes and points to a small cabinet in the corner - how fitting. Using the seats, I drag myself over. It has no hinges or handles or anything, so I just pry the cover off. Food spills out, going everywhere. This must be a dream! I snag a sandwich and pry the vaccuum seal off it.

"How long have we been asleep?" Ava asks.

"Hours," grunts Dharius. I bite into my sandwich thoughtfully. Dharius said something not aggressive. This is getting weirder and weirder!

Vega

As the others began waking up, I pulled myself over to the food. I had managed to make myself a burrito a few hours earlier, but it had taken me the better part of forty minutes, and I didn't want to do that again. Instead, I grabbed a bag of chips. I opened it as I floated away, watching the chips explode out into the cabin.

"Hey, guys," I said, pulling myself back toward the food. "Watch this." I grabbed a juice box, stuck the straw in, and squirted a little juice out. It floated in midair, coalescing into little bubbles. Swinging my arms up, I pitched myself forward and slurped a juice bubble right out of the air.

"Come on!" I chuckled. "You guys try!" I squirted the rest of the juice toward the others, and then let the empty juice box drift away. I spun halfway around, pushed off the ceiling, and floated toward one of the juice bubbles, eating it as I flew by.

Ree

The sound of shouting came to me, dimly. I stirred against my seat - wait, no, there was no seat. I was... floating? What...

I opened my eyes and realized I was drifting above my seat, as if I was in the water. What the heck?! For a second, I felt my breath catch and I pinwheeled my arms a little, feeling unbalanced and vulnerable. That only lasted a second, and then I relaxed, somehow pulling myself into a sitting position.

I was just floating there. For a moment, I looked around, dumbstruck; then, all at once, I felt myself grinning. I was weightless! Just like I always saw in the movies or in stories, but this was real. Alli and Vega were both laughing at my reaction, and there were bubbles of what looked like juice floating all around. Stanley sat not far away, eating a sandwich, and Leo and Dharius both floated by themselves, Dharius just looking unpleasant and Leo watching everyone. Arcadia was still asleep.

Then I saw Ava floating not far away, her hair splayed out around her like a gold fan. Okay, that's just not fair. She looks like a goddess! I felt like such an idiot, thinking about her like that, but how was I supposed to not like her? Maybe I should ask her out. Yeah, right, out where, to a different spaceship? As if she'd say yes anyways. The odds of her liking me seemed pretty slim. Still, I had to get her to notice me. I steeled myself - I'd go over and talk to her. That's what I'd do. I'd be friendly.

I pushed off the wall, aiming to go next to her; I had no idea what to say, but hopefully I'd think of something that wasn't awkward or stupid. 'How are you?' That wasn't awkward. That's what I'd say, I'd say, 'How are you?' That didn't happen, though. Instead of a soft drift, I ended up rocketing off the wall, hitting Ava and shoving her along with me. We caught ourselves on the far wall.

No! No, no, stupid Ree! You just friggin' body-slammed her! I felt my face turn bright red. She probably thought I was a complete idiot! She was right, too, I was a complete idiot! I stammered something along the lines of, "Um, sorry, I, uh, I-" and tried to recover, waving my arms until I was upright.

Ava
I wake up floating to the top of the space ship. At first I am in shock, but I get use to it. It feels weird being of the ground. “How long have I been asleep?” I ask.
“For hours.” Dharius says.
All of a sudden and am body slammed into the side of the space ship. It did not hurt badly, but it was very unexpected. Ree looks at me so embarrassed. “Um sorry, I, uh, I-“ He begins
I let out a small laugh and say, “Its fine. I needed to wake up anyway.” He is so close to me. It feels right. I need to tell him I like him now. “I need to tell you something.” I begin.
“Anything.” He says.

“Um well,” I start. I cannot find the words to say. “I, um.” I can feel my cheeks turning red. “I like you.” I say. What if he does not like me back. I know he thinks I am pretty, but that is way different than liking me.

Arcadia

In my dream, I'm falling. Plummeting down endlessly, nowhere to land. I wait to splat on the ground, but it doesn't happen. I suddenly hear laughter from somewhere beside me. Is someone falling with me?

I open my eyes to see the floor, inches from my face. I scream, anticipating the jarring crash that would come.

Ree laughs. "Relax, Arcadia. It's just zero gravity."

I let out the breath I was holding and flip myself right side up. It seems that everyone else was already awake, floating around the cabin. I could tell they had opened the food too, judging by the halo of bread crumbs that floated above my head. Stanley sees me and paddles towards me, shoving the last bits of a sandwich in his mouth. Laughing, I somersault and flip away from him, showing off my gymnastics skills. He follows with larger, clumsier movements. Giving him a gentle shove, I backstroke towards the cupboard, my stomach growling.

I dig around inside before fishing out a peanut buttr sandwich. Eagerly I rip off the plastic wrap and take a large bite.

"Ya know, I'm kind of excited to go to Arkyle," I admit to Stanley as he glides through the door.

"I still have mixed feelings," he says. "I just hope everything goes well and we all make it back home."

I pause, thinking. "Me too. But I'd miss you guys. I mean, what are we gonna do afterwards? We'd be heroes sure, but what about the friendships we have?"

Dharius

I put on my seat belt, after some kind of waitress tells me to take some pills she gave me. I instantly ignore her order and just drink a bit of water, but after watching the others play like kiddies I just get annoyed and decide to sleep with them.

There's the count down... and we blast off. It's a pretty strange feeling, like being tied with chains and pulled to the back of your seat. When we reach space, I start watching everything get darker... and darker... until the drugs finally beat me and i fall asleep.


* * *

I open eyes and find myself floating. What the hell? I see some of the others laugh at me, and I'm decided to go and shut them up myself. But then Ava looks at me and smiles at my situation. Suddenly I start to calm down and the desperation feelings start to fade away. She has a pretty smile...

"What the heck are you thinking?", I say to myself quietly. Why would I think that? Ava and the others are just a bunch of idiots, whom I have to work with.

I swim again to my seat and put the belt on. Hoping to get to Arkyle soon, I take the pills again without any water and my eyes start to close slowly...

Stanley


Vega opens some juice, causing purple streams to pour out before dividing into bubbles. I buckle myself in my seat so I don't have to eat my sandwitch inverted. Despite my best endeavors, the bread practically dissolves in my hands, causing little pieces to fly everywhere. Honestly, it's been so hard to get a decent meal recently.

Arcadia wakes up, looking wildly about her for a moment before remembering. Shoving the last pathetic bite of breadless sandwich into my mouth, I unbuckle myself and swim over to her. She gives me a mischievous grin and sumersaults before making her way to the cabinet. I attempt to follow - not least because, well, I want more food.

Arcadia tears the vaccuum seal off a peanut butter sandwich.Instantly, the jelly threatains to leak out, and Arcadia has to push it back in.

"You know, I'm kind of excited to go to Arkyle," Arcadia says, taking a large bite.

"I kinda have mixes feelings," I admit, grabbing a banana and failing at unpeeling it. Why are my hands so slow? "I just hope everything goes well and we all get back home safely," I finish.

Arcadia looks at the banana intensely for a moment.

"Me too," she says finally. "But I'm already gonna miss you guys. I mean, what are we gonna do afterwards? Sure, we'd be heroes, but what about the friendships we made?"

I think a moment, letting the banana glide from one hand to the other. "When I get home, I'm going to take my money, go to New York, and watch some operas, is what I'm gonna do."

"Operas?" Arcadia looks at me like I have two heads.

"What?" I shrug. "I like operas. Like, The Phantom of the Opera?"

"That's a play."

"Whatever. Broadway stuff."

Miss Arcadia's face brightens. "I've always wanted to be on Broadway!"

"Really?" I pause my work on the evil banana. "In that case, you can be on Broadway and I'll watch you sing and dance and stuff."

"Sounds like a plan." She grins, her eyes dancing. This makes her look even more beautiful; I have to wrench my gaze away and back to my hands.

There is a sudden crackling noise, and Cheerful Lady's voice reverbrates through the ship.

"You are approaching the asteroid belt, and you will experience some turbulence. The ship is engineered to handle hits with ease. However, if asteroids do hit the ship, the jarring may effect in serious internal harm. We advise that you buckle up. If anyone is injured, press the button in the cabinet." A red button flashes behind Arcadia in demonstration. "A first-aide kit will be released, and we will be in contact with you immediately. This is an automated message. Good luck!"

I look to the others; they are all floating towards their seat.

"Come on, we better get buckled." Abandoning my banana efforts, I fly towards my seat and buckle, Arcadia close behind. I wonder if we were really just being notified. For some reason I can't shake the feeling that they aren't telling us everything.

Vega

When the recording was finished, I looked around at the others, but made no move to strap myself in.

"It's okay, guys," I reassured everyone. "They're probably overreacting. The asteroid belt isn't that crowded. I mean, maybe they have a horrible asteroid-tracking system, or something, but I've never heard of a spacecraft being hit by an asteroid. Not by accident, at least."

"So what were they worried about, then?" Dharius demanded.

I thought for a moment. I was no expert, but I did know a little about space. "Probably little meteoroids," I answered. "Those can do just as much damage as big ones. They fly at, like, tens of thousands of miles per hour, so if the walls didn't have proper shielding, they could punch right through them. And then your ship depressurizes, and everyone's blood boils--"

I trailed off. Some of the others were starting to look pretty terrified. Hmm...probably shouldn't have mentioned the blood boiling thing. I decided to shut up after that.

I had just started to pull myself back toward my seat when I felt a vibration run through the ship. "Yup," I muttered. "Micrometeoroids. I hope these aren't from a comet...because then there would be a ton--"

There was another vibration, and another, and then a bigger jolt. I pulled myself over to a window and looked out. "Oh, crap!" I exclaimed. "We're in a debris field! Looks like two asteroids hit each other, or something! We're right in the middle of all the pieces!"

Ava
Before Ree could even answer, Vega says two asteroids hit each other and we are caught in the middle of it. Before I know it, the plane is zipping around to avoid any contact. I do not have my seat belt on so I am smashing into the sides of the plane. The turns again and I slam into Dharius. He grunts and pushes me into a seat and belts me up. “Thanks.” I say.
He nods and I look for Ree. He is flipping all over the plane. When he comes past me I grip his hand and pull him into the chair next to me and he belts up. There are screams all over the plane. I am tossed from side to side, dumping into Dharius and Ree. I grab Ree’s arm and bury my head into his shoulder. All I hear are screams.