F0RTUNA

1

Drizzle.

The sound of drizzling is the sound of calmness, the sound of peace. A few rain drops trickled down my hair and down my uniform.

The last class of the day being Math wasn't a smart move by the teachers. I suffered a tiny headache as I left the classroom, and that pesky headache carried over from school to back home.

My shoulders slumped. I forgot to bring my umbrella out today as well. How would I have known it would be drizzling anyways? Stupid. My luck fluctuates every day, and it seemed like today would be a bad one.

A bunch of pigeons suddenly flocked at a grass patch at a nearby park beside me. I strolled past the bunch. They seemed eager to poke at whatever was in the soil, but I couldn't give any attention to them.

I looked up into the sky. It looked... cloudless? A cloudless sky, yet it was drizzling. I raised an eyebrow. Yeah, it definitely looked cloudless.

From the corner of my eye, however, was a weird stroke of red.

It wasn't noticeable until now. A small slit. A small cut. Maybe... about a millimeter width?

I grew even more confused. The stroke seemed to grow bigger every second as well. I totally forgot that it was drizzling and stood still on the pavement.

Instantaneously, as I stopped strolling, the group of pigeons next to me all started flapping their wings vigorously and flew off in the opposite direction, as if the blood red cut in the sky was a sign of danger.

Odd.

I looked back into the sky. The red stroke in the sky was growing larger. Now, it looked like a gash. Imagining someone using a knife and stabbing someone's arm or thigh. That looked like a wound.

A wound in the sky. Terrifying. A few passers-by stopped in their tracks as well and started pointing at the wound. Confused and curious, just like me.

I hurried back home, climbing the staircase faster than I have ever climbed before.

I swung my apartment unit door open and wiggled my shoes off my feet.

"Mom! Becca!"

I lived with my mother and my sister Rebecca, who is turning 15 this year. My parents haven't filed an official divorce yet, but they might as well be already. My dad left us for about 3 years now, off to somewhere unknown. Apparently my sister knew where he went but she wouldn't tell me.

My mom was in the kitchen cleaning the very few dishes and bowls that we had. My sister was at the balcony looking up into the sky. Pretty sure she is looking at that weird red stroke in the sky as well.

They both turned their head towards me and acknowledged my presence before continuing their previous actions.

"Becca, you looking at that red thing in the sky right?"

She nodded. I dropped my bag next to the couch and walked towards the balcony.

The red stroke grew even bigger than before. I started to become worried. Is this thing going to devour the entire sky?

The drizzling apparently stopped. The red gash in the sky was turning into a deformed diamond. Instead of straight lines, it just looked like 2 semicircles fused together. Like a leaf.

And, as soon as I thought the drizzling stopped, I felt a few more droplets striking my hair. And a few more. And more. Way too much to be called a drizzle.

It rained. It poured. I hurried back for shelter and so did Rebecca. I closed the fold-able balcony doors, grabbed my bag and headed for my room. Becca did as well.

Without hesitation, I took out my homework and my home clothes. I was not drenched under the rain but I felt really cold. I was ready to head to the bathroom and change, but curiosity killed me again.

The rain grew heavier and heavier. I looked out at my room window. The red stroke was growing really big now. It turned into one huge circle. And it looked like it was bleeding. A horrifying sight.

I had to stop paying attention to it and concentrate on my life but everything out there seemed more interesting than anything I had been doing over the past few weeks. Study, eat, sleep, study, eat, sleep...

There was occasional thunder and lightning outside. The sky turned grey almost immediately, but the red gash still existed. A scary sight.

Then, a bolt of lightning struck the what appeared to be the wound plastered on the sky. The lightning ray had an interesting pattern, but the wound in the sky wasn't having any of it.

The lightning bolts dispersed violently, rapidly, and randomly. It hit almost anything it saw. The trees, the roads, the cars, even buildings. One bolt of lightning even struck next to my apartment and the resulting thunder was shocking.

Terrifyingly loud. A deafening sound that could slice my eardrums in half.

I immediately cupped my ears and crouched to the ground. I could feel the floor shaking and my head spinning. My eyes slammed shut and every muscle in me tensed up. My heart started racing faster than I could have imagined. I swore I could have felt a tear escape my eyes.

I had never felt such an emotion before. I was absolutely shocked and terrified, but inside, I felt excited. The excruciating pain in my ears faded away with the sound.

My face felt hot. I sprung back up and I analyzed my surroundings.

It wasn't raining anymore. The sky still looked very grey, but the wound was gone. It disappeared?

The window felt freezing cold. I removed my fingers from the glass and took a step back.

Rebecca? Did she hear that too? Is she OK? I darted for the door and swung it open. Without hesitation, I grabbed my sister's room's doorknob and twisted it with force. The door could've flung off if it wasn't hinged properly.

"BECCA!"

I inspected the room. The lights were off. The air-con was off as well. She would never have the air-con off, even if she wasn't in her room.

What the heck...

Rebecca was standing still. Facing the wall. Her eyes were flickering in all directions.

My heart rate, as it was slowly rolling down, started building up again.

"Becca... you... you alright?"

I doubted myself.

Then, in a deep voice, she muttered back.

"WE, PART OF FORTUNA, SHALL ENSURE EQUALITY ON THIS PLANET, LAND AND SKY, EARTH AND SEA. OUR DESTINIES CROSS AND IT SHALL GRANT WISHES TO WHOEVER PASSES THE TEST. ACHIEVE THE GOAL AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS OR PREPARE TO SUFFER A LIFE OF BEING A MUTANT FOR ETERNITY."

I jerked back so hard I knocked my head onto her wardrobe. My hands trembled. My feet wobbled. My head spun even faster.

"Becca?"

She turned her head towards me and instantly replied.

"Yes Matt?"

I could see her trembling as well. Was she... conscious?

An abrupt laughter filled the room. I backed away slowly and rested my back against the wall.

"Matt... what just happened?"

She broke into a very nervous smile.

I could tell... she didn't know what she was saying either.

I looked straight down onto the floor in astonishment and walked out of her room without delay. I scurried back into my room and jumped onto my bed.

A nightmare. A living nightmare.

And I'm involved.

...

"And at 7, New York gets hit by a huge thunderstorm, no deaths have been reported."