Unlikely Heroes

Chapter 1: Encounter In The Night

Two brightly orange orbs look at me from the dark. The orbs look with sadness at me. They shift away from me as they look to somewhere in the dark. Both orbs flare to an even brighter orange color before simmering down. Anger or maybe something else? It's hard to say, but I think it's more directed at the orbs themselves.

What are they? Why do I feel more at peace when I see them? The orbs slowly become smaller and smaller as I am being pulled away from them. I try to reach for them, but it is in vain. They flare up one more time like a silent promise to meet again. I trust them as I feel slightly better and warmer somehow.

Then... darkness. I am engulfed in complete darkness. No matter where I look, I see nothing. At a certain point I pass out, I think. It's hard to say, as I cannot see anything or anyone. No sight or sound anywhere.

"Hello?" A girls' voice says with hesitation. She is scared, frightened of something.

"A-are you okay?" The girl continues to ask. The world's sensations start to rush to my senses. It's overwhelming as I feel so many things. Cold, warmth, and air that is fresh, at least to me. Then the sounds! So many sounds surround me. The hissing of some large machines in the distance. Someone shifting on concrete and metal. Rain falling on the ground. All these sounds and sensations... how come I didn't feel or hear them a second ago?

I hear the girl take a few steps towards me. I know she is careful as I hear her carefully place her feet down on the ground. "Can... can you hear me?" she asks me.

"I... I can," I answer. The girl sighs in relief. I take a deep breath as I start to open my eyes. It seems I am in an alley or street. A concrete balcony prevents us from getting drenched in the nightly rain. Concrete and brick buildings surround us as we stand or lay in some kind of street. It seems to be a street with trash and debris of things long abandoned.

I turn to look at the girl. Blond hair, a slightly tanned skin, and gray eyes that seem to analyze everything it sees. Currently, that seems to be me at the moment. She is pretty, even for her age. Although, she is not very warmly clothed by the looks of it. Did she run away?

"Are you going to attack me?" she asks with a shaky voice. I frown slightly at the question. "No," I answer truthfully. Should I attack her? I don't even know.

"I didn't save a monster, thank goodness!" She says with a rather relieved voice. "What's your name?" The girl asks. I open my mouth to answer, but I soon close it again. I don't know, actually. And monsters? She must mean bad people by that.

I let out a groan as I sit up. My body feels slightly stiff. My name... why can't I remember it. I groan again as I feel a slight headache. "I don't remember..." I say as I look at the girl. "You don't? How can you forget your name. My name is Annabeth, by the way. Maybe you have experienced amnesia?" Annabeth ponders.

I shrug slightly as I look myself over. It seems I am wearing a leather jacket that is slightly to large for me, some basic t-shirt, black-gray jeans and shoes for the outdoor. I remember wearing them when I was waiting for mother. At least I remember that.

On my skin, near and around my neck, I feel something cold to the touch, I grab it to examine it more closely. It is a necklace with a ring attached to it. Something is engraved on the ring. I hold it under the streetlight, so I can read it.

"Alexandra Alexius Corvius," I read from it. "It must be your name! Nice to meet you, Alexandra," Annabeth says happily.

"My name... uhm," I turn to the girl with a small smile. "Thank you, Annabeth. It's nice to meet you, too. Where are we?" I ask. The girl cocks her head slightly. "You don't remember anything?"

I shake my head. "I just don't recognize where I am..." I closely study my environment for a moment. We're in the U.S.A. That much is clear as I see the signs of companies on some of the brick walls, but these building... they look so different from what I remember.

The girl shrugs, but she is rather curious about me, it seems. "I guess that's true, you were out of it for some hours. We're in Richmond," she says. Richmond, I guess that could be true.

"I don't want to intrude or take advantage of you, but... Do you have any money on you? I rather not sleep without eating again," she says softly. "Uhm, let me check," I mumble. In the pockets of my jacket I find around ten dollars, while in the pockets of my jeans I find a pamphlet about joining the army. I hated seeing those. My mother has yet to return from the front lines. She enlisted as a nurse to help the men, but it seems she never came back for me.

"I have ten dollars. Is that enough?" I ask as I show her the coins and bills. Annabeth sighs a bit as she looks at the presented coins and bills. "It's not much, but at least it's something- Wow! Are those copper Lincoln coins from 1943?" She asks shocked.

I look at the coins in confusion before looking at Annabeth again. "Yes? It's just some one cent coins," I say, confused. "Do you have any idea for how much they sell? Thousands of dollars! My father was searching for some," she explains. Somehow, when she mentioned her father, it caused her to have a pained expression for barely a second.

I look in shock at the coins. Wow, who knew that a one-year-old coin could be so valuable already? "Ehm, well, could we sell it somewhere then?" I ask. "If we can, we'll have enough for food, and perhaps a hotel room somewhere," I say as I put the money back in my pocket.

Annabeth smiles softly as she nods with confidence. "Of course, I know a place. Come, follow me!" She walks in the rain before quickly getting back under the balcony again. "After the rain has stopped," she added. I chuckle as I see it happen. "You're pretty funny, Annabeth. But very smart for your age."

Annabeth huffs softly. "I was distracted! Unlike what most people say, we can't multitask! But, thank you for noticing, I guess," she says defensively. I smile softly and stand up while taking my jacket off. I put my jacket around Annabeth, so she has something to keep her warm.

She was startled for a moment as she looks at me with a frown. "Why are you giving me your jacket?" She asks. "You're wet and it is rather cold. I thought you'd like something to keep yourself warm."

She smiles as she puts it on. "Thanks. Aren't you cold, though?" I give her shoulder a squeeze before sitting down again. "No, I never really felt the cold. Keep it. It seems we'll have plenty of money to buy some clothes later."

Annabeth nods softly as she thinks to herself for a few moments. "Multiple things don't add up about you. You seemed rather confused by the buildings, your memories are not complete, you did not know where we were. How strange," she says.

"I don't know, Annabeth. I'm not even sure how I ended up here. Last thing I remember was watching the train station, waiting for my mother to come back..." I say as I go through my memories. She looks briefly at me with a softer gaze.

"Where did your mother go?" Annabeth asks. "Europe," I say softly in a saddened tone. She raises an eyebrow in surprise. "Wow, I wish I could go there one day. Visit Paris or maybe Berlin? They've some interesting buildings I-" Annabeth says before I interrupt.

"You want what?! Are you crazy!" I say shocked. Annabeth turns in surprise at me. "Did I say something wrong?" She asks confused. "Berlin?! Do want the Nazi's to kill you?!"

Annabeth was rather confused and shocked when I said that. "Alexandra... what year is it?" she asks. "1944, of course. Why? Are you living under a rock?"

"I don't know how to say this, but this is not 1944. This is the year 2000."