"So," said the hooded man, as the craft drove away. "Leffa, in case you don't know, you are the Chosen One. You are supposed to kill the four gods and take their place."

It was quite an abrupt announcement, to say the least.

The inside of the vehicle was dark and gloomy. The only windows were heavily tinted, not allowing much light to shine through, and the only light came from a small fluorescent panel over their heads. It didn't help that the walls were dark gray, and nine people and an animal that reminded Edward of a raccoon were squeezed together on two black leather couches lining the sides of the craft. The man in the hood was the driver, and he was sitting with his back to them, operating a control system not too different from Earth's cars.

"Jarex, in case you don't know too," continued the man, "you are supposed to help Leffa, because you have the potential to be one of the most powerful fighters in the Kingdom of Doom. One of you is also supposed to help her, but I'm not sure which one. Anyway, you probably all want to know what's going on."

Nobody said a word. Edward didn't like this man. In any work of fiction he had ever seen, the man wearing the black hood and the cloak was evil. No exceptions. Why would someone wear that if they didn't have something to hide?

"Nobody wants to know what's going on?" asked the man. "I thought at least you'd want to know, Leffa. You still don't know what you're chosen for, do you? Don't you want to find out? Also, what's that solotot doing in my craft?" He gestured to the red raccoon-type thing that Shynki was holding in her lap, and was madly barking.

"Um," Edward spoke up. "Did one of you, by any chance, write this letter?" He dug the paper and the photo out of his pocket, and showed them to the man in the black suit he was squeezed next to.

"Let me see it," ordered the man who was driving, and the man in the suit wordlessly handed it over to the cloaked man, who kept one hand on the controls while grabbing the paper. "P. Oh, P, that's Phoenix. Yeah, he must have wrote that. Oh, and this picture... hah, I remember that. I'm the one with the bucket on my head. That's us. Someone here said you know Chronon?"

"Most of us do," said Jetx. "Where is he?"

"He joined our organization a while ago," explained the hooded man. "I haven't seen him in like, six months. He went to go get the piece of the Puzzle that we suspect is hidden up north, but we have received relatively low success in that area. We're focusing on the one, or maybe even several, pieces that may possibly be hidden in the West kingdom."

"What the hell is the Puzzle?" asked Jarex.

"Hey, you won't get anywhere in life if you don't learn manners," taunted the driver of the craft. "Anyway, according to legends, when all the pieces of the Puzzle are found, Leffa can unlock her true power as the Chosen One. There are supposed to be seven pieces, and we have one. Or, well, depending on what legend you listen to. Some say that there's an eighth piece too. But the most widespread version is the seven pieces version, and we don't want to dedicate time and resources to finding an eighth piece if one doesn't actually exist. Oh, and Leffa, if you're freaking out over me knowing your name, it's because according to myths and legends, the Chosen One was supposed to be named Leffa. That is your name, right?"

She nodded.

"Yes. Anyway, this is probably going to be pretty awkward, but you are not only going to be the Chosen One, you are going to be the goddess. You are going to replace the Four Gods, Old Gods, whatever you want to call them, because their time is pretty much up. To do that, we need to complete the Puzzle so that you can unlock the power inside you to be a goddess. I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but when you were born, that power was given to you, but it won't show itself until we complete the puzzle. And that's what we have to do."

Silence. And then: "So... if I'm the goddess..." Leffa managed to say, although she seemed utterly bewildered.

"Yes, that means that you are the goddess, and you have to rule over the people of the Quadraterracel, and you have to make sure they are happy, etc. It is a huge responsibility, but someone has to do it. Sorry."

"Well this is awkward," muttered Ryu.

"I'm sorry," apologized the hooded man. "I'm not good at being nice. If Phoenix was around, he could probably break it to Leffa better. But he's not here. So now you know."

"Um... uh..." Edward stammered. He felt almost as confused as Leffa must have obviously been then. "What is wrong with the gods that the Quadraterracel has now?"

"Hmm? Well, the short story is, they're getting lazy. They're old. In the past, you might have heard, in the Kingdom of Doom everybody was of a huge blend of different cultures, and no one talked the same. That's because every planet in the Quadraterracel was completely different, and the gods spent their time working vigorously on the many aspects of their creations. But now they kind of just spend their time sitting around, trying to make the planets do okay with as little work as possible. They've run out of creative energy, I guess you could say. In fact, the languages on all the planets are the same now. The dominant one is called Horihan on Fire, Mervan on Water, English on Earth, and Felvish on Wind, but it's the same thing. That's why pretty much everyone here can talk to each other.

"So, there's been rumor, and lots of rumor, that the gods are just going to end their creations now. They may simply destroy all four planets, and live the rest of their lives in leisure in the Kingdom of Doom. That means everyone on all four planets, which is like twenty-five billion people, DIES. That's nothing to the gods, of course, because they've seen people come and go so much, they're oblivious. But, it's absolutely horrible to those billions of people. Think about it. That many people... dead." He paused for effect, which was not lost on the occupants of the craft.

"So, someone needs to take over for them," he continued, "someone fresh who can devote their time to working on making the world a wonderful place. That person, whether you like it or not, is Leffa.

"And even if the gods aren't going to actually destroy the planets, there's no denying that they really are doing a bad job. As I'm sure some of you know, there are all these enormous volcanoes on Wind, and in previous times they hardly ever erupted, because Wind, the goddess, was keeping them under control. But now, one of them erupts about every month or so, destroying cities in the vicinity. And that's only the worst case. Disease on Fire is out of control. Earth is gradually getting hotter and hotter, which will eventually be hot enough to fry all of humanity to a crisp. Water is pretty safe for now, but I bet something bad is probably going to happen eventually. This might just be the gods getting lazy, or maybe they're intentionally trying to kill everyone off very slowly. No one knows.

"I think that's everything. That's our goal, to get the puzzle so that Leffa can become the goddess and the world won't be in peril. Any questions?"

It sounded like the plot of a bizarre fantasy novel to Edward. Or, even more, a bizarre video game. The seven (or eight) magical items needed to awaken the Goddess to save the world? Ancient evils at work, and only the Chosen One could stop them? Edward felt like he was living in one of the books he had read back on Earth to kill time, even more than he had before.

Maybe this was all some strange dream. He hoped not. He rather liked the Kingdom of Doom so far. He liked Leffa. He wasn't sure he liked Jarex, but Jarex kept saying was going to leave them anyway. It would be kind of anticlimatic if this was all a dream. Besides, it would be so... great if it was all real. He could imagine himself, in a suit of armor with a sword, fighting evil, slaying dragons, with Leffa by his side, and going on an adventure...

It would be interesting. He was almost afraid of hearing his alarm clock, and the harsh one, not the soft thumping one they had in the Academy. But first, a question sprang to his mind. "Um, excuse me, driver? If the gods are becoming lazy, why won't they just help us locate the puzzle, instead of forcing us to kill them? Then they would not have to work anymore."

"You know the saying 'power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely'?" the driver asked him, turning around briefly to meet his eyes. Edward nodded. "Well, it applies. The gods don't want to lose control. The gods want to be the ones to start and end their creations. It's ridiculous, I know. But it's a reality."

It was Shynki's, who was stroking the raccoon-like animal that the hooded driver had called a solotot, turn to ask a question. "But, then, why does everyone keep worshiping the gods if they want to destroy the world?"

"Most of the people don't know, obviously," explained the driver. "They just think 'well, the gods made the world, and if I worship the gods I'll go to the "good" afterlife, and everyone else is doing it, so, you know'. They don't actually realize that the gods are possibly going to kill EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US.

"What about the... the equivalent of the Church on Earth? Don't they know about it?" asked Edward.

"The Quadeitia. They're the organization that worships the Four Gods. Fronted by the Emperor of Light. And they know about it, yeah. The thing is, they're so sure that what their gods have to say is right, they try to convince themselves that 'if it is in the four gods' will, it is to be so'. Or something. They think that their gods will do the right thing no matter what, and so they don't try to stop TWENTY-FIVE BILLION PEOPLE BEING KILLED. One of the most widely spread explanations is that the gods have realized that humanity has become almost flawless, so they are letting all of us into heaven now that our moral evolution is complete. And since it's heaven, we have to die to get in. Whatever. So, when the Quadeitia learned that there was an organization (us) that was trying to overthrow the gods, and that there was a person whose designated purpose in life was to kill the gods, they tried to stop that person.

"Those were the mother-... uh... those were the people who tried to kidnap Leffa back at the Academy, right?" interrupted Jarex, with a slight bitterness in his voice. "They wear robes all the time."

"Yes. That's the Quadeitia. They have amassed an... army, you could call it, of believers who are ready to fight for their gods. Of course, not all are in the army. Jarex, however, thought that they were, and tackled some poor innocent pastor who was just minding his own business. And now, because of his smooth, smooth moves, none of you can go outside now without the Disciplinary Committee finding you and placing you in jail. Great job, Jarex."

Edward heard Jarex swear under his breath.

"How... did you manage to pick us up so quickly?" asked Jetx.

"Do you recall some sort of... for lack of a better term, light coming out of Leffa's chest? Well, that's what alerted us to her presence. It was her stored power seeping out when she felt some strong emotions. It'll probably happen again. We've got instruments to pick up that type of thing, and when it happened, HQ sent the nearest craft in the vicinity to find out what was happening. As soon as we saw you, we recognized you and tried to help you. Leffa can, hopefully, learn to use that power to her advantage. It's pretty strong. She's much more powerful than she thinks."

Everybody looked at Leffa, who, Edward noticed, hadn't said a word since the revelation that she would become the goddess. Edward didn't blame her.

"Well," continued the driver, after Leffa just stared at her feet and didn't say a word, "we're almost there. I'll have to blindfold you, just as a security procedure before we get in. Kind of stupid, because we know Leffa is the Chosen One, and Jarex is supposed to help her, and so is another one of you, probably the blond kid with glasses, but you know, maybe one of the other four of you is a member of the Quadeitia or something. So, uh, Smithers, give them all blindfolds."

One of the men in suits stood up from his plush leather seat next to Edward and handed out blindfolds to each of the kids on the craft.

"Um, may I ask, where is this place we're at?" asked Edward, as he adjusted the dark cloth over his eyes.

"We're at the headquarters of the Organization for Divine Change."

"Wow," said Ryu. "That's a... bad name."

* * * * *

"How it breaks my heart," began the short, balding Emperor of Light, "that we have made an art of desecrating our sanctuaries."

"Hmm?" asked the man clothed in white seated next to him, looking up from a copy of the Dirge of Wind, one of the many religious texts of the Quadraterracel.

"This whole Chosen One business is bothering me. A part of me is convinced that it is all a fabrication... but the thought, just the thought, that a group of people would doubt our creators so much that they would want to kill them, is just horrible to me. Who are we to doubt the very beings that made us who we are?"

"I agree," said the man by the Emperor's side.

"You did hear the news, Gred? The Chosen One and her accomplices were spotted on the streets, attacking one of the members of our Quadeitia for no other reason other than that he was a Quadeitian pastor. These children are certainly corrupted by the Void, and it certainly pains me to think that this would happen to mere children, innocent and carefree..."

"We live in troubled times," agreed Gred. "Do remember, Emperor, that you are due for a public service announcement tomorrow at noon."

"Oh yes," recalled the Emperor. "In the Emerald Commons, in the northern part of the city, am I right? I trust Fire to make it a pleasant day tomorrow."

"Yes, that is the place," confirmed Gred.

"I am looking forward to it."

* * * * *

"You may take your blindfolds off," the hooded man told them. Edward's hands were resting on Jetx's shoulders, and Shynki's hands were resting on his shoulders. Presumably, ahead of him, someone was leading the conga line into the organization's headquarters. Edward slipped the cloth off of his eyes, and was dazzled at the display that met him.

He had no idea how they had gotten in, as there was not a door in sight, but they were in an enormous golden room, with a ceiling at least thirty feet tall. The floor was covered with tiles of all colors of the rainbow, from bright reds to faded greens, in swirling patterns of color. The walls and the ceiling were gold, with ornate designs in certain places. But the most noticeable thing about this grand spectacle was the beautiful statue overlooking the room. It was a statue of a young woman, her arms outstretched towards the ceiling, her chin pointing up to the sky, as if calling something down from heaven. She was wearing nothing but a single drape of cloth that ran over her upper legs, and her long golden hair covered her breasts.

Her face was the same face as Leffa.

Granted, it was not exactly the same. The nose was a little different. But even with one minor flaw, it was almost an exact replica of the girl standing right next to Edward. It even had the small mark on her upper chest, just as Edward had seen it in real life.

Ryu burst out laughing, and quickly, Jarex joined in. "You're... naked," Jarex pointed out, to nobody's benefit, and continued laughing uproariously. Edward felt embarrassed for Leffa, whose cheeks were burning bright red.

"Now, guys," said Lukas cautiously, but they continued to go into fits of hysterics, Ryu even rolling around on the floor. Jetx looked at the other two boys in slight disapproval, but that didn't stop them.

It was quite awkward. The man that had brought them here (who was now unhooded, Edward noticed! except he had a rather plain face with light brown hair, it wasn't exactly a startling revelation) was also blushing.

"That has been here for years," he hastily explained. "We built our HQ on the remains of a sort of ancient underground temple dedicated to what the people here called the "second divinity". The whole 'the Chosen One will overthrow the current gods' thing has been around for quite some time. If you're wondering exactly who 'the Chosen One' was chosen by, it was the Four Gods. Yeah, quite some time ago, they decided that if they ever were to be incapable at being gods, they would have a young girl succeed them. Of course, now, they don't want to succeeded, but they made absolutely sure that it would happen. So, now, lo and behold, the Chosen One's here, and the gods are regretting their decision.

"So, even though the gods actually used to be doing an adequate job, there were still some people who didn't agree and thought we needed new gods. They built this temple, and the statue based on images that the gods had given the people of the woman who was to be their successor. They got it frighteningly accurate."

"Uh, can we go now?" asked Leffa, who was avoiding everyone's eyes.

"Yeah, that would be good," agreed the man. "Oh, and, maybe we should know everyone's names... I'm Rogem. I know Leffa, and Jarex..."

Everybody told Rogem their names, and upon Edward's introduction, he nodded and gave an "aah". "I thought it might be something like that," he told him. "Edward, Richard... some sort of Earth name like that. Yeah, just like Jarex, you're destined to help Leffa."

"Um, right," said Edward. It would have been nice if Rogem had given him a little more information. Still, he was sort of excited. He could just see himself with a sword... saving the world with Leffa, fighting ferocious monsters (the Four Gods) and finding true... okay, never mind. He was quite wrapped up in this fantasy, he forgot that he was spectacularly unathletic.

"Anyway, before we leave here," Rogem told them, "check this out." He strode over to a barely visible golden panel in the back wall of the room, and did something that Edward couldn't see to make it slide open. He snatched something up from the golden inside of the small safe, and brought it back for the others to see. It was small, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. But it was dazzling gold, with red and orange spirals adorning it. It was a tiny piece of metal shaped somewhat like an arrow, that Edward knew he had seen before.

On the pedestal in the secret room in the chapel in the Academy. That's where it was, only it was just an image, not a real thing, and it was part of a larger design, shaped like an X on a pole. Was that what the "Puzzle" was? That X-on-a-pole design? Probably. Edward remembered it having seven pieces, and not eight, but maybe it wasn't an accurate representation.

"A piece of the Puzzle?" asked Edward.

"Yes," Rogem confirmed. "We bought it an an auction, actually. For the relatively low price of ten million menitars, because most people don't know its value. Menitars is the currency here, if you didn't know."

"Can I touch it?" asked Leffa curiously.

"Yeah," said Rogem.

As soon as she grasped it in her fingers, the place where Edward knew the special mark on her chest was shone extremely brightly all of a sudden, and then quickly died down as soon as it came.

"I guess it's the real thing," laughed Rogem.

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