Arien's POV
"I'm going to finish college," Tavira groaned. "If I get picked as a Garrior, wouldn't that just mean more assignments, tests, and all those superfluous, grade-based stares?", She threw her head back like the universe had personally sabotaged her academic plans. Favi shook his head.
"Guess the universe didn't get your course preferences", He sighed, slumping into his seat. "And here I was worried about placement season."
We were all heading back to the hostel in one of the college buses. Due to the incident, traffic still hadn't calmed down. The roads were still jammed. Honks and sirens echoed across the roads, a strange contrast to the silence in the bus.
The college was taking extra measures to make sure everyone got home or to their hostels safely. None of us were local — our homes were hours away. I stared out the window, trying to make sense of the world speeding by in flashes of red lights and confused faces. I glanced at the black screen of my phone. Still no signal. The towers hadn't come back online after the strange blackout, after the orbits, the voices, the figures in the sky all vanished. No messages from home, no calls, no news. I wondered how things were back home. None of us had any idea what was happening beyond the city limits. the bleak atmosphere inside was a sharp contrast to rush outside.
Around me, conversations started bubbling up in low voices.
"So we're all... what? Chosen warriors? Sounds like an anime plotline."
"Why are you worried? You barely pass PE, no one's giving you cosmic powers."
"You say that now, but if I wake up glowing tomorrow, I'm demanding a cape and a stipend."
The world had always been a strange place. Some people try to shoulder everything — the responsibility, the fear, the weight of others. Some just watch from the sidelines and pray the chaos skips over them. And when it doesn't, they freeze, shocked, overwhelmed, full of complaints they don't know who to aim at. Most people would probably want to be Garriors. Free recognition, built-in powers, instant purpose — it sounds great on paper. But there will always be those who want nothing to change, who just want their normal lives back. Except now, it won't matter what people want. Whether Garrior or not, things are going to change. This world, its safety and its balance, will eventually rest on those chosen. People will rely on them. Because that's easier than facing fear alone. Because it's always simpler to leave the burden on someone else's shoulders.
And maybe that's what makes it all the more dangerous. The world doesn't magically get saved just because the Garriors exist. They're not superheroes who swoop in at the perfect moment, rescuing people from burning buildings or monsters from the sky — especially when multiple disasters strike at once, in different corners of the world. People's blind faith — the assumption that someone else will save their loved ones just because the "chosen ones" exist — could lead to carelessness. Complacency. And that's where tragedy begins.
Because when people stop being cautious, when they believe that danger no longer applies to them... They leave others — including the Garriors — to carry the fallout. And that burden, that unreasonable expectation to always show up, always fix everything, always win... It won't just weigh them down. It might twist them. And that's when things could take a dangerous, grudge-filled turn — for everyone. Even though those mysterious figures — Kaelen and his team — claim the Garriors can save the world, the truth is, it doesn't just depend on them. This isn't a solo mission. This is a fight for everyone on Earth. The Garriors may lead it. But the rest of us... we'll either stand with them, or we'll fall with everything else.
Well, those were just my thoughts, simply put.
"You're overthinking," said the girl beside me, snapping me out of my thought train.
"Am not," I retorted instinctively.
"No, you totally have that 'I'm thinking about the fate of the world' dazed look. My sister wears the same face when she starts spiraling about global warming." She said casually.
"Hey! At least we're thinking about the world," I shot back.
"Um... what are you two fighting about?", Tavira's voice floated in as she peeked over our seats.
The girl and I were sitting in one of the two-seater aisles on the bus, me by the window. Tavira and Favian were behind us. And honestly... who even was this girl?
"We're just arguing about whether thinking too much is a crime now," I said. She raised an eyebrow. "If it is, you're already on death row."
"Harsh," I muttered. "And here I was considering you a decent bus companion."
"And it seems I'm no longer needed here," Tavira groaned, sinking into her seat. "Because I can't understand whatever this conversation is."
"That's because you weren't built to process human language," Favian said without missing a beat. "To summarize, Arien has once again alarmed a stranger with her catastrophic thoughts."
"So does that make me part of Kaelen's world now?" Tavira muttered. "Because honestly, he and I were so in sync. What if he's our grandfather back from the afterlife?"
I rolled my eyes. The girl next to me blinked slowly, clearly unsure whether Tavira was serious.
"Judging by all your faces," she smirked, "it's not just me questioning her existence."
Favian and I chuckled. Tavira just narrowed her eyes. Then the girl tilted her head slightly, her onyx-black eyes glinting under the dim bus lights.
"By the way," she said, "I'm Zia Riverbrook. Sorry for the late intro."