Camp NaNo July '23: Chosen Sidekick

“Mmm, yes.” The elder gazed into the silvery seeing pool and stroked his wisp of a beard. “The Chosen One,” he intoned, “shall have scraggly hair and long toenails, and breath like the reek of raw onions. They shall—”

“Ugh, stop joking around, Frederick! Let me see,” complained a second elder. A woman with sunglasses propped on her head jostled for a position in front of the seeing pool. “Ah, much better. Let’s see… dark hair, brown eyes, somewhat timid expression… and ink stains on her hands. Hey, I know that girl!” The woman tapped a third elder on the shoulder and said, “Braden, would you please announce that the Chosen One is Mira Chalcedony from New Geode Middle School?”

“On it,” Braden replied, tapping out a message on his phone. “I’ll let the principal know to inform her of the quest.” He hit send and ran a hand through his graying hair. “Any idea who her companions should be, Eileen?”

Eileen squinted into the seeing pool again, holding on to her sunglasses so they wouldn’t fall. “It looks like she has a friend with her already… Valencia Heartwood, I believe.”

Frederick let out a loud guffaw. “Isn’t that the girl who everyone thinks is the next Chosen One? Man, she’s in for a big surprise.” He shook his head and grinned.

Eileen ignored Frederick and continued, “And for a third member, I think Caleb Bornite would be a good choice. His quest got canceled last year, remember?”

Braden nodded, already composing messages to each of the questgoers' families. “Alright… and sent.” He glanced up at Eileen. “When should they get started?”

“Next week would likely be a good time. I believe that’s when the New Geode public schools have their Spring break.”

Chapter 1

Valencia

The only thing that had gone well for Valencia today was being called to the principal's office. In Geometry, they had received their tests back and upon seeing her 92%, Val had felt the drop in her stomach that always came with falling short of her parents' expectations. It was an A+ or nothing. Then at lunch, she had spilled milk on her shirt and despite her and Mira's best efforts to clean it, there was still an unseemly stain on the front. The last straw was when she had tripped down the stairs when walking back from her last class of the day, World History, and all her books had fallen out of her backpack.

Val was still crouched on the stairs, stuffing notebooks back into her pack, when she heard the crackling of the PA system.

"Would Mira Chalcedony, Valencia Heartwood, and Caleb Bornite please report to the principal's office? A new quest has been announced," a feminine voice declared.

Val's head snapped upright, startling a student who had been walking down the stairs next to her. Val's eyes sparkled, her previous misfortunes forgotten, and she just managed to stifle a delighted scream. This was her chance! Finally, the time for her quest had come!

As she shoved the rest of her supplies into her backpack and flew down the remaining stairs, blonde hair whipping around behind her, she started to visualize her parents' proud smiles as she told them that she was the Chosen One.

"As expected of our dear Val," her mother would say with a nod of approval.

"Let's have something special for dinner!" her father would boom, whipping out an apron.

Val sprinted down the hallways, skidding past classmates who called out, "Congrats, Val!" She grinned back at them. Everyone had known for years that Val would become the Chosen One for her year. After all, her parents were the most successful Chosen Ones in New Geode history. And Val was determined to live up to their names.

Val slapped a high-five with her Physics teacher as she rounded a corner and ran down the final hallway leading to the principal's office. She slowed to a walk for the final few paces, took a breath, and composed herself before knocking on the door.

"Come in," said the secretary.

Val forced her manic grin to become a more appropriate smile and pushed open the wooden door.

The secretary looked up from his computer and hooked a thumb towards another door behind him, this one with a frosted glass pane. "Principal Amethyst is waiting for you."

Val nodded a thanks and walked through the second door.

The principal's office was a cheery space. The blinds were open on the window behind Principal Amethyst's desk, letting in stripes of afternoon sunlight. A few bookshelves lined the side walls, and a healthy potted plant rested on the corner of the principal's desk. The rest of the desk was taken up by a computer and stacks of papers.

Mira was already sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk, smiling nervously at Val. Mira fidgeted with the backpack by her feet, her hands ink-stained as usual. Val took the seat next to her and beamed back.

"Welcome, you two." Principal Amethyst closed her computer. Her purple eyes glittered at the soon-to-be questgoers, and she tucked a black braid behind her ear. "We'll just wait a moment for Caleb."

Just as the principal uttered those words, a student opened the door and sauntered in. He ran a hand through the waves of his sandy-brown hair and grinned at the others. "Hope I'm not late!" He folded himself into the third chair, crossing his long legs.

Val looked him up and down. As far as love interests went, Caleb wasn't bad. Val had never really interacted with him before, as he was in a grade above her, but he seemed popular enough. She'd seen him chatting and laughing with other basketball players before, as well as people from some kind of club-- maybe the art club? She wasn't really attracted to him yet, but feelings could change throughout a quest, right? Val gave a mental shrug and turned her attention back to Principal Amethyst.

"You're right on time." The principal smiled at the three of them. "Now then, without further ado, I'll announce your roles."

She looked directly at Mira. "Mira is the Chosen One. Congratulations."

"Caleb is Companion One. Valencia is Companion Two." The principal handed each of them a sheaf of papers. "Waivers for your parents..."

Val accepted the papers mindlessly, then stared at the principal, the rest of her words flowing past Val's ears like white noise. Mira... Chosen One? Valencia... Companion Two? Something wasn't fitting right here. Val felt like the world was tilting slightly, as if she was on a boat in rough waters.

She must've misheard. Or the principal misspoke, or, or-- Val glanced at Mira, who was also staring at the principal in shock, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

Mira slowly turned to look at Val. In Mira's honest, startled eyes, Val found evidence that she'd heard correctly. Mira was the Chosen One.

Val turned back to the principal, unable to bear her best friend's gaze that was surely turning into one of pity. She clenched her fists, crinkling the waivers. Val stared at the blinds behind the principal, willing her face into a neutral mask of stone. She imagined her blue eyes as hard sapphires, her blond hair simply carved citrine.

She stiffly exchanged phone numbers with Caleb and the three of them made a group chat to plan their quest. But anything more the principal said slipped past her ears, and when they were finally released, Val walked jerkily to the door.

Still statue-like, Val stalked down the now-empty hallways and out of the school, starting the walk home on autopilot. She stared blankly ahead, barely registering the cars zipping by at the first intersection. Companion Two... Companion Two... Companion Two was the least important, the most likely to get injured, the one there for humor and moral support. Val gritted her teeth, reminding herself that statues didn't cry. She stared unblinkingly at the white stripes on the street and started to cross.

A hand gripped her sleeve and pulled her back. Val blinked, momentarily shaken out of her stupor. Mira looked back at her, panting slightly, as if she'd ran to catch up. "The... the walk sign wasn't on."

Val glanced across to the sign. "Oh."

Mira shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. When it looked like Val wouldn't say anything more, Mira started, "I'm sorry. I-- I never wanted to be the Chosen One, and I know it was your dream, and--" She stopped. "Val, look at me."

Val turned her head towards her friend in rigid motions, back to her carved-stone state. Mira was facing her, pleading earnestly with her dark brown eyes. "Come on, Val. We've always been best friends. I don't want that to change. Please."

The two of them looked at each other for a moment. But Val couldn't bring herself to do anything more than jerk her head up and down. Then the walk sign turned on, and Val strode across the intersection, her mind filled with thoughts of crystals cracking and reflecting scattered shards of light.