The Key

[tennmiller]

The captain of the ship yelled at the top of his lungs for all the passengers to hear;
"Jhelom! We're docking at Jhelom!"

She stepped off the boat and looked both ways once setting foot on to the dock. She nodded a thanks back to the captain and opened her notebook to the map that had been drawn up for her by the strange man in the training grounds.
She didn't say much upon passing the merchants and civilians in the city. She kept her head down and wandered about until she found the house on the map.

"Hmm. I suppose this is it, Evie," She whispered to her steed.
The door swung open to an empty house.
"Let's explore the place."

She set down her pack and looked around at the barren house. There is no furniture, not even a chair. just a polar bear rug and a decorative armour.

"Could use a decorator's touch.." she thought to herself, clinging to her notebook.

She reopened the book and read the sloppy scribbles on the pages following the map;
"Hello and welcome to my home! You are free to use whatever you like when you need to! If there is something you need, leave me a note and I will get it for you without any problems. Your key is under the polar bear rug. Enjoy your stay!
--
J.D."

She nodded slowly as she finished reading and looked back at the polar bear rug.
She saw a glint in it's mouth and walked over to get a better look.
It was a key marked E.G.
"but.. how did he know my name?" she thought for a moment. Then shrugged and slumped in the corner to rest until her journey the next day.

[tennmiller]

She awoke from her slumber in the middle of the night. It was very dark, she could not even see her own hand in front of her face. But she did hear a voice. At first it was distanced and mumbled, but then it became very clear as it chanted the same thing over and over.
"You're destined for this, you're destined for this!", the voice cried out to her.

She scrambled for her walking stick to fend whatever it was away from her;
"What do you want from me?! I have no time for this non sense!"
"You're destined for this, my dear. You know it, and I know it."
"What am I destined for? Why are you here? Who are you??"
"You know who I am and what I want, my dear. You are destined for this."
"This can't be, how did you find me? How did you know to look for me here?"

Then the voice chuckled briefly and replied,
"I am always with you, my dearest."

She stumbled back into her corner as a cold sweat broke from her forehead. She called Evie next to her and settled back to sleep.
"I am destined for this, you heard it Evie. I am destined for this." she whispered as she nodded off.

[tennmiller]

She awoke the next morning with her stick still in hand and Evie right by her side.

"whatever or whomever that was, I don' want them coming back anytime soon," she whispered to Evie.

She bundled up in her robes and waited at the shipyard for the next boat to a remote island.

"All aboard! That'll be 800 gold pieces please miss!" the first mate yelled.

She quickly gave him a small satchel of gold and proceeded onto the boat.

"I hope I'm doing the right thing," she thought to herself.

--

She got off the boat and was greeted by a stranger.

"Greetings," he said as he waved for her to follow him.

"Where are you taking me, sir?"

"Well, I am taking you to train. You need to be strong and ready for all that is to come."

"Are we in danger?"

"Always. We're only human, and as long as that is true; we will always be in danger. But in my order, we have unspeakable power to keep ourselves impervious to all the follies that befall-- ordinary people. Hence, you need to train my dear. So that you can be worthy and ready for all the power you will be given."

"What makes you think I'm ready for all this?"

"It's simple, my dear. You were destined for this. All the time you spent feeling like an outsider wasn't in vain. The disdain and the disgust you had for your fellow man wasn't just a strange quirk. It was your heart. It's all of our hearts. Which is why we have beckoned upon you. We wouldn't squander our time on such a young child if we didn't think you were ready."

"That was you last night?"

"Aye, it was."

"You could have been a little more soothing you know,"

She grinned and he smiled back as they walked off into the jungle.