Chapter 4: Episode 2- Finding Our First Hero

"Never did I think I would find a watermelon hanging from a branch," I said as I took a bite from a slice of said watermelon. 

I was sitting on a giant telescope's extremely comfortable observation seat—one that was fixed atop an elevated platform in the center of the room. Said room was cylindrical, and the walls and floors were a cool blue. There were all sorts of pipes and random fixtures along the wall, but they didn't seem all too important. Anyway, a giant bronze and silver telescope was before me, and its base was fixed to and supported by the platform. This platform was spacious enough to fit a few extra chairs and also had rails around the perimeter.

This was the -Observatory-. Here, we would somehow adjust the telescope's orientation and find a Hero to recruit. The telescope had a traditional eyepiece, but it also had a screen next to it—most likely for showing us the hero more conveniently.

"Yup!" Svilran said as she munched on her own slice. "We don't need to be so caught up on Earth's logic—we're not there anymore after all!" She cut another slice from the watermelon we brought along. "Do you want another slice, Fainn? It's heavenly, isn't it?"

"Nah. I'm alright... So, how do we make this work?" I asked, poking the telescope's various knobs.

"We'd kind of drive the telescope around until we found someone who qualifies."

"How will we know if they qualify?"

"The telescope will show us a special glow around the person."

"Hmm... Okay... So, we just have to search randomly? Aren't there infinite worlds out there?"

Svilran nodded many times. "Yup, at this stage, we can only search at random and hope we find someone."

"Holy crap—the powers that be aren't setting us up for success..."

"It's okay!" Svilran said, hopping on one foot beside me. "I threw a watermelon slice into the wishing well—"

"God, I hope I don't have to clean that up."

"—and made a wish!"

Svilran found the wooden steering wheel next to the telescope—one that I somehow missed—and grabbed it like it was the wheel of a ship. 

"Maybe there's a big one out there who's willing to help us out." Svilran licked her lips and spun the wheel. "Fainn! Turn those knobs at random!' she declared.

"Uhh." The gap between our excitement levels was as pronounced as the difference between a block of ice and fire. "Okay."

I played with the knobs randomly.

"THERE!" she yelled as she threw herself across my face. 

You see, the steering wheel was on my left, and the screen was on my right. This excitable woman spotted something on the screen and leaned over me, shoving the side of her breast against my face in the process.

"Fainn! Fainn! There! Do you see the glow?" 

Why, no, of course, I couldn't see the glow, Svilran. Your boob—one comparable to the watermelon we snacked on, was in my face. Actually, that was a lie; it was bigger, as I was being forced to find out.

I could hear her fiddling with the knobs on the telescope. "Almost... Almost got it..."

At this point, I was just happy I could still breathe. Truth be told, it had been a long time since I had anyone to talk to—women obviously included—so it wasn't like this was the worst. Actually, to her credit, this half-assed and extremely serendipitous embrace was heavenly. Not really sure how it worked, but it felt like her side-boob was a fluffy cloud hugging my face. It almost felt like it was liquid happiness splashing my face too. Not too sure how that worked though... Was she sweating? Did goddesses sweat? Her skin was cool and refreshing to the touch.

... Guess that's a goddess's assets for you. Anyway, she finally started calming down.

"Got her!" She peeled herself away, went around the chair, and stood to the side of the screen, looking at it with sparkles in her eyes. She looked at me and laughed. "Come on, Fainn. What were you doing? I did all the work myself!"

"Uhuh," I said with a smile. "Yeah, I'm so sorry."

Yeah. A few minutes of her poking fun at me in exchange for paradoxical liquid happiness being delivered to my face through her chest? Worth it. Ten out of ten would subject myself to it again.

"That's a goofy smile, Fainn." She looked at the screen and then at me and made a happy fuss. "Oh! Do you like her? Do you think she's cute?" She looked at the screen closely. "Eek. We might need to work quickly here. She may not last much longer. It's kind of strange you find that cute, Fainn."

That concerning comment got me looking at the screen quickly. There was a young woman—one frail, malnourished—chained in a dark cell. Her shoulder-length wavy hair was snow-white but filthy. Her ribs were showing, and she barely had rags covering her body. Her arms—from her elbow to her fingers—were pitch black—almost like she was wearing gloves. Her ears—they looked like the ears of an elf. There was one more thing. It looked like something was leaking out from where the black of her arm met the gray skin. It looked like smoke, but it was fading in and out—I wasn't sure what I was looking at.

"What the heck? This is a Hero?"

"Yes and no," Svilran replied. "But she will certainly be our Hero."

I pointed at her. "Okay, you need to explain this to me later. But for now, how do we get this girl out of her predicament?"

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Svilran lit up. "We're summoning her!" 

"Really?"

"Yes, yes! Come on, let's get this show on the road!" Svilran fiddled with the telescope and clapped her hands. "Done! It's done!" she declared. 

I looked at the screen and saw the girl's head fall. Had she just died? I looked to Svilran for answers.

"She will be arriving via the portal! Let's go greet her, Fainn!"

She grabbed my arm and urged me to stand up. I did, but I kept looking at the screen as Svilran dragged me out of the building.

"Hey, did she die?"

"Yeah! In that world!"

"Svilran, we have minutes. Explain. She's the Hero?"

"Okay," she sucked in a lot of air, "here's how this works. We can't just go plucking people out of their worlds when they're still living in them peacefully. That's incredibly rude."

"Agreed."

"So, we pluck them out when they're moments from death. Doing this also makes them less likely to feel like they have to return. Incidentally, the same rules applied to you."

"Okay. Got it. Why an imprisoned girl, though—I don't see a Hero there."

"Yes... The truth is we can't pluck out heroes, per se. If someone is already pretty clearly a hero, then it means there's already a threat that hero is countering. If we plucked them—"

"Right, counter-productive since the goal is to stop evil. But what about heroes on their deathbed?"

"Yes, we could pluck them if we could find them, but that might not reflect well on us. I didn't clarify earlier, but making a paradise for heroes to come and visit in between their adventures—that's MY dream. That's not actually what the main goal of this project is. Our main goal is to raise new heroes. Out in the Imaginal Realm, millions of sparks with the potential to be heroic never got the chance. That light remains untapped. Now that we live in an era where evil is surging, those untapped people will be sequestered further. That's why we have to intervene and give them the chance. The truth is, someone who is already a hero will likely be well treated by the Imaginal Realm's will. That's why focusing on people who already unleashed their heroic potential isn't the best move." I saw the faint hints of sadness in Svilran's expression and made a note of it to ask her later.

The portal was in sight. We were a minute away.

"So, this girl has heroic potential?"

"Yes! The telescope said so! Oh, Fainn!" Svilran whipped out a brown briefcase from nowhere and opened it up. "You should get changed before we see her! I picked out what I thought you would like."

"Oh, gotcha. Okay." I ripped off the old beat-up shirt I was wearing and grabbed the black sweatshirt at the top of the pile. "Where did this stuff even come from?"

"It came with the house."

"Handy." I put on a long red robe—I felt kind of like a mage. It also came with a hood... Now I really felt like a mage.

"Fainn, don't forget some new pants!"

I looked at her, then the portal, then the pants. "Right."

I took off my pants while walking and threw on the new pair while Svilran giggled.

"You look great, Fainn!" She opened a smaller jewelry box. "Here's some rings. They don't do anything, but they'll make you look powerful."

"Yes, thank you!" 

My mage-cosplay levels were reaching new heights. Was it wrong to wish for a staff?

Whatever, I was looking the part now. I kind of hoped the new Hero would have a good impression of me.

 

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