They gathered all 83 of us together in the morning. By this time everyone knows who the two Great Heroes and the two Great Saints are. Ettiene and Tia: Bethany and Altan. A boy and a girl for each. They’ve already acquired entourages. Everybody seems to know the strength and Blessing of everyone else. A new social dynamic is being forged. A new pecking order under construction. Although to me it all looks the same.
None of our classmates inquired about our Blessings and we didn't inquire about theirs. Our subgroup has no connection to their supergroup. After we finished eating breakfast, the old man with the beard stood up to talk to us. Apparently he's the Prime Minister of Grado; this country which kidnapped us. He thanked us for our patience and understanding and apologized again for ripping us away from our lives and loved ones.
Yeah, yeah. Thank you for your concern.
After an explanation of what had gone wrong during the summoning, he called out a Priest, who performed a memorial service for the deceased summoners. Apparently three of the local mages died. Lots of others had bad injuries. Things magic couldn’t easily fix.
When that was finished, the Prime Minister reiterated the country's tragic need for Heroes and Saints due to the invasion by the Demon Lord. Then he begged us for our aid. Same old blah, blah, blah. Like we should happily accept their problem as ours because they’d already ruined our lives anyway.
The other students lapped this up. He appealed to their vanity and flattered them for their strengths and abilities. Seems like all the Heroes and Saints they’ve summoned are even more than the normal ten times stronger vs. homegrown heroes. Don’t understand how they measure that, though.
The majority of students responded positively to his appeals. Some even standing up and pledging their support in front of us all. Led by Altan. Pardon me, the Great Saint Altan. That dumb jock! We, The Accursed, remained silent and impassive before this jingoistic wordstorm. Soon a line of ten other old guys stood up alongside him. At the Prime Minister's direction, the first one of them pulled out a piece of paper and called out some names.
It became clear that the students had already been assigned to groups. Although they called them parties. First, each of the Great Heroes and Great Saints were formed into groups with seven companions. Then six other groups of six to eight people who would form different sorts of support parties. As each old guy finished reading their list, they led their group out the door. Like papa ducks leading their ducklings.
At first, the aura of excitement was palpable. Thick enough to cut with a knife, as the cliche goes. But as each group left, the room became calmer. Finally, just us five Accursed remained. The only other people left in the room were our two maids standing by the wall and Sir Aldo.
Sir Aldo asked us to follow him and led us back to the same room we'd been in before. We all sat down, and Sir Aldo sat down with us. For a moment he brought his hands to his face to cover his eyes [See illustration 3c], clearly unsure how to explain what needed to be explained. It was a very human gesture: more human than anything we'd seen from these people thus far. After a moment, he looked up and began talking.
"Each of you are Cursed," he said. "Due to this we don’t anticipate any of you having a role in support of the Great Heroes. That leaves us with two options. You can take a job here in the Palace with the civil service or you can move into the city and start a new life on your own."
He went on for a while in that vein. He wasn't explicit, but I think he was implying that it would be difficult for them to find us a civil service position.
"I apologize," he said. "That's all we really have for you."
We looked around at each other in silence. Then Addie asked, "What if we choose the second option? Will we receive any support?"
"Yes, you would. But the specifics haven't been worked out yet," he said.
"We need time to talk together," said Addie. "Can you give us until after lunch and then come back to us?"
"Yes of course," he said. "Please let me know if you have any questions. Just tell the maids and they will contact me."
"Thank you," said Addie. Sir Aldo bowed and left.
I was a football hero once. It seems crazy to say since it was all of three days ago, but that’s the way it is. From the looks of things I won’t ever be playing football again. I’ll come back to that later. Maybe.
Right now, we’re all scared. A natural result of being ripped out of our old familiar world and thrown into a strange new one. New to us anyway. They seem to have a whole host of old problems that they’re going to force us to solve for them. I’m not gonna pull any punches on that. Not in the privacy of my own thoughts.
We had a meeting last night. The Great Heroes and Great Saints. That’s what I am. A Great Saint. Don’t know why. Saint means I’m a protector of some sort. Great means they are going to make me a leader. We’ll see.
Anyway, we met last night. Three of us, that is. Ettiene didn’t want to get involved. He’s already riding the wave of his ‘greatness’. Somebody messed up when they named him a Great Hero, that’s for sure.
Why can’t I get to my point? Guess Dad was right when he told me to stick to physical stuff over mental stuff. So we had our meeting. We’ve been thrust into leadership positions whether we want them or not. The three of us are up to it, I hope. The girls are alright. Great Hero Tia and Great Saint Bethany.
We none of us trust the people who summoned us. But right now we’re weak. We’re ignorant of this world and have no idea how to even approach getting free of these asshats. So we decided to play along. And since I’m the football hero, I got elected to lead this flock of sheep. Woohoo I’m a bellwether!
You didn’t think a football jock would know that kind of word did you? I saw it on the cover of a book once. My sister said it was good but I never read it. Guess I live down to your expectations after all.
Anyway, so when that Prime Minister guy gave us that rah rah, need your help so bad speech, I stood up and gave my support. Everybody else just kind of fell in line. That plan worked like a charm.
We just couldn’t think of anything else to do. We’re too vulnerable right now. We don’t have any good options except to go along with what they want until we can think of a better way. My decision as ratified by the other ‘Greats’, but I’m afraid it’ll come back to haunt me later.
We sit in silence for a moment. Finally, Kari: "I want to go home."
"But we can’t." That’s Nix. Trying to sound brave: not realizing that he’s crying again.
"I don't really know what to do," says Addie.
Saki signs to the group, We don't have enough information. Ask Rio to analyze.
And all eyes turn to me. I look at the maids, who have just finished giving us all a fresh cup of tea, and ask, "Can you leave us alone until it's time for lunch?" They seem to understand; curtsying, and leaving the room.
I turn back to face my companions. Statistics and data analysis are a specialty of mine. Almost an idiot savant talent. I have some extremely well developed memory aids which they’re based on.
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"You’re right, we have very little information. I can’t give you an analysis based on the information we’ve received since we arrived. I can, however, give you an analysis based on fictional literature from our own world. It’s extensive and hopefully has predicted most of the probable issues and outcomes related to our situation.
“There’s a big chance that a Hero or Saint is not actually required for whatever the current situation is. It’s almost certain that the Great Heroes and Saints and those supporting them will be mobilized to achieve goals that are unrelated to the quest as explained to them. They will undoubtedly be manipulated for either external political leverage or internal political infighting.
"I wholly concur with their decision to support our summoners for now. It’s the only option that offers them any control over their fate in the long term. For our own particular situation, we’ve been removed from that context. We have no power whatsoever. On the upside, our summoners seem to be willing to ignore us. They are making no demands and have no expectations either.
“Speaking to that, I predict that if we remain within the castle and accept the civil service position, the majority of people around us will come to resent the favoritism shown to us. There is a 50/50 chance that we’ll be forced out of the castle within two years. Every year thereafter, the percentage increases. That’s my analysis.
“I cannot really predict what would happen with the other option. Taking some kind of a payout and going off on our own sounds like a good idea but we have virtually no information about this world outside of this little corner of the Palace we’re sitting in.”
“Thank you,” says Addie. "If we decide to leave the Palace, there are a number of important factors. However, the main factor to consider is whether we stick together as a group or fragment into individuals or pairs.”
Kari pipes up, “I think the greatest chance of survival comes with sticking together as a group.”
We will need a strong leader, signs Saki. And tater tots.
“We need to find out what kind of support the Palace will give us,” says Nix. “Now and when we leave.”
“I don’t like how off-balance we are. We still have almost no information for making decisions or even a solid promise that we’ll have the ability to direct our own futures.”
Addie sums it up for us, "First, we negotiate for time: two or three months to gather information. More if we can. We will also need to secure access to sources of information that will help us understand this world better. Second, we need to commit to remain together as a group and choose our leader."
Everyone is silent for a little while. A lot of deep thought is happening. Or maybe not thinking, but just trying to find the courage and will to accept our situation and do what is necessary.
Saki adds an important point: We have to find out about our magic. Denying us that information is unacceptable.
We all agree with that. All of us have been feeling or experiencing things which almost have to be magical in nature. We want to know more.
Addie finally speaks, "I’ve known you all for years. I know what we’re capable of when we decide to commit to something. I believe in all of you and I want to stay with you. I feel deep in my heart that if we commit to each other right now and work hard we will be successful at whatever we choose to do."
Wow! This is really cringy stuff. I cannot think of anyone but Addie who can talk about commitment and believing in this way and keep a straight face. But it does seem to fit the moment.
Nix stands up from his chair and extends his hand out over the table. "I will commit to you. To all of you…" he says simply.
Saki stands up and reaches out to cover his hand with her own.
I reach out my hand to join theirs. "I commit."
Addie stands up, "I commit."
Kari climbs on top of the table so she can reach and adds her hand as well, "I commit."
For some reason, we’re all crying. But we’re all smiling as well. A moment later, there’s a knock on the door and the maids enter with our lunch.
I stare at the wall and feel my shoulders go into a slump. I really have no idea what I’m doing. In general or in specific. I’m just kind of stumbling along, doing what’s expected of me.
But I’ve got responsibilities so I need to do better. I shift my focus to the people around me. At my team. The seven people who are now looking for me to shepherd them through whatever we’ve gotten ourselves caught up in. Just like when I was elected Class Representative this last year, I owe it to them and the others to make things right.
Our local advisor steps up beside me: Master Sergeant Kinloche. He’s supposed to be helping us choose weapons right now. It’s surreal.
And yet way too real. To be doing something like selecting a killing tool. The weapons come in many shapes and sizes. There’re long stick-type weapons, metal sword-type weapons, shields, bows, hammers, axes and a bunch of odd-type things. Where do I even begin?
I pick up a sword, but it’s too heavy. I’d need two hands just to pick it up. I put it back and something else catches my eye. A short sword less than two feet long; almost a knife. I pick it up and draw it from its sheath. It’s straight, double-edged, about an inch wide near the hilt and tapering slightly to the tip where it suddenly comes to a point. It looks razor sharp. There’s another one right beside it. Looks like a matching set.
I draw the other one and, making sure there’s no one around me, I strike a pose with one sword high and one low. I try a cut or two and a few anime-style moves. I’m sure I look soooo cool!
Until I hear Bethany laughing behind me. How did she sneak up on me? She’s got an awesome looking bow in her hand. That fits. She’s been doing archery since middle school.
I slide the swords back in their sheaths and go to put them back. Master Sergeant Kinloche stops me. Tells me to keep them. See? I did look cool!
We discuss leadership while we eat lunch. I figure it's a no-brainer for Addie to be our leader. Her leadership strengths outweigh all the rest of ours combined. 'Cept maybe Rio, but he spends a lotta time in his own head. Addie has the ability to talk to people and she understands us. Though she's weak physically, she's tough mentally. Smart and, above all, able to make decisions. Saki would never agree to do it. I'm too wild and Nix is too indecisive. Really though, Addie's always been the glue holding us together. She's been our leader from the start anyways. Why are we even talkin’ ‘bout it?
We all vote it so and install Addie as our leader. Not sure the look on her face is the joy we expect.
After lunch, Sir Aldo comes back. Addie talks him into giving us time to do research into this world. Coupla months. Timeline still a bit ambiguous. Access to the Palace library, too. Plus he'll come answer questions once in a while.
I'm not sure if he'll be a great information source but figure we can probably find others as well. I know Rio's wanting to interview that cute maid. Fufufu, he's such a horndog!
We have two maids, actually. I guess I'll introduce them here. The young one is Tara. Dark red hair and ivory skin. Definitely a cutie! At least I know Addie and the guys think so. Even Nix, but how can he tell? A mystery...
The other maid is Jane. Late twenties, dark brown hair, dark eyes, olive skin. Not thin, not fat. Voluptuous is the word, I think. Pretty in a girl next door sorta way. Take charge kind of voice when she wants. Damnably efficient.
After Sir Aldo leaves again, we start talking about magic and Curses. Trying to figure out what it all really means. Too much ambiguity. More information is needed.
Then we have supper, a bath and bedtime. Tomorrow'll be a big day. Lots of work to do so we need our rest.
I'm kidding. We don't have a clue what tomorrow will bring. We’re trying not to show it but we’re all scared.
Addie wants us to start gathering information about the place we’re in. First thing we need to do is verify this isn’t some elaborate prank. Are we really on a different world? Gotta know that fer sure before we can do anything.
One strange thing happened that I'm gonna report. It involves Nix, and when I say strange I mean weird strange. Addie and Sir Aldo were negotiating. Nix was doing his favorite time-killer: origami. He's been doing it his whole life. Don't know how, since he can't see what he's doing. Touch, I guess. He makes some beautiful things.
But that's not what’s weird. I watched as Nix folded a cute little frog. As he made the last fold, there was a tiny flash of light. When he sat it down on the table the frog glowed green and started hopping around. Freaky! Nix couldn't see it, so I quickly reached out my cupped hand and covered the little guy. I don't think anyone noticed but me and Saki. After half a minute, the frog went back to being plain old paper.
Magic? Maybe. Weird? Definitely.
It’s been such a loooonnnngggg day! We’ve been on our feet since 6 am and it’s almost 10 pm now. This job is going to be a trial, I can tell. At least it pays well.
My Aunt Jane and I have been assigned to a group of the Summoned Heroes. Only they’re not Heroes after all. Rumor has it that they’re Cursed. I don’t believe in curses but I can tell you that all five of them have some kind of handicap. A blind man, a dumb girl, a tiny child-size girl, a girl in a wheelchair and another boy that always seems to be in pain.
I feel sorry for them, kidnapped from their homes and asked to do crazy stuff. That’s the way they put it, anyway.
But they’re the nicest people I’ve ever met. Nobody we’ve worked for as maids ever gave us much respect. These kids, though. They’re polite, kind, and tidy. The sort of people I’d always dreamed about working for.
The other maids and staff, though. They’re not particularly nice.
I help the one girl out of her wheelchair and into bed. She can walk a little but she’s weak. A lot taller than me when she’s standing, too. I wish her sweet dreams and put out the light. Time to hit the sack myself. It’ll be another early day tomorrow.