Capricorn; a large, successful continent, independent and decisive; considered as the hub of information to all other nations. Located in the northeast corner of the globe, Capricorn was once a rather barren land due to the harsh conditions of the deserts that make up roughly 80% of its' landmass, however in the last three centuries they have experienced an enormous economic and political boom which they attribute to the three previous Champions of Saturn, as with the blessings of the Beast Goddess, they managed to increase their political and informational strength, as well as their technological advancements exponentially. As it stands now, Capricorn is one of the most powerful continents, with all residents living in major cities that function like clockwork despite the heat in the deserts, and the newest Champion, chosen five years prior, has proven her worth numerous times over.
At the central hub of information, located in the capital city of Alpine, the current Champion's guardian, Trisha, was waiting for her to return from her latest mission that was given to her by the Council. It had been a whole week since she had left, and since Thursday was about to end already, Trisha was steadily growing anxious. She stood silently, leaning against one of the twin bronze statues outside of the Central Information Hub, or as most people referred to it, the Rat's Nest.
The statue itself was rather grand and elegant, as it depicted the Beast Goddess Saturn, a woman with long, flowing hair and rat ears on either side of her head with her lower half being that of a salmon. Saturn herself was perched atop the Celestial Beast of Capricorn; a giant rat, which was sculpted to be curled up and sleeping in her embrace. It was something she looked upon from time to time that reminded her of the Champion she was appointed guardian of, as she had warmed up to the young girl like a mother would. As she reminisced on this, the shadows around her shimmered ever so slightly, as a small figure gradually faded into vision in front of her in the dim streetlights. Silently, the Champion appeared before her, popping into existence with a somewhat disinterested look in her eyes. "Hey there, Ellie. Are you okay? Was the mission difficult?" Trisha asked as she hurried over to hug the thirteen year old. Ellie stood at barely 146cm, and her tiny frame looked out of place in the oversized black hoodie she was wearing, with the hood pulled up to minimise her appearance. Only her small pink eyes were visible within the hood, as her face was concealed by a tight black balaclava, accompanied with black running shorts and leggings, with a knife in the hilt of her combat boots. It didn't appear to have been used, so much as even touched by her. Ellie withdrew the hood from her head and revealed long, ice white hair that was so long it reached her lower back, and was tied near the bottom with a small red bow.
She smiled slightly as she revealed a tiny USB drive with a small white rat on it. "I'm fine, Trish, just a little tired from using my teleport so much. Can I get some food before we go for debriefing?" she asked, her tiny eyes looked upon Trish with earnest begging, as she was particularly good at. Sighing, Trish nodded. "Yay!" the thirteen year old cried as she sprung up, hugging the guardian tightly. Trish reached up and held her against Ellie against her chest as the pair walked towards a burger joint a few blocks away.
The store itself was nothing remarkable aside from the name; Rat-man's Sewer Food. Hardly something appetising. Regardless, it claimed to have burgers so good that even Saturn herself would've approved of them. As the pair of them sat at Ellie's favourite table next to the huge screen window, a few passers-by stopped to take photos of Ellie, much to her disgust, as she responded by pulling her hood back up before continuing to eat her burger, blushing angrily. Trisha felt sympathy for the young girl; after becoming the Champion five years prior, at just eight years old, the poor child barely had the chance to enjoy peace and quiet without millions of pairs of eyes staring upon her constantly. "I hate people." The snow-haired girl muttered from beneath the large hood. Trish smiled sympathetically. "Even me?" She asked, looking down at her small head. Fearing she had offended her, Ellie jerked her head up, saying "Not you. You're the only one I like" in a small squeak before continuing to munch away at her burger like an albino mouse.
Trisha sighed happily at the girl; it had been almost six years already, and Ellie was more like family to her than her own had ever been, she thought as she recalled when they had first met at this very store, wiping a small smudge of ketchup that had stained Ellie's porcelain cheeks. Back then, Ellie had been introduced to her by an official of the Rat's Nest, and it was explained that she had been chosen by Saturn at the ceremony to be the next Champion, leaving Ellie to be in her care until she was no longer needed. Back then, Ellie was so much smaller, and so silent that she was almost invisible. That day, she had sat there eating a burger that was bigger than her head with her tiny mouse-like hands as the owner of the restaurant stood over them gushing about how the Champion had great taste in food, though he may as well have been spouting white noise out of a grease hose since neither paid him any heed. These days he was still just as enamoured by their presence, but it was much friendlier. Upon finishing, Ellie hopped down from the chair that was still a little too tall for her feet to touch the ground and the duo left Sewer Food, walking leisurely back the way they came as Trisha's watch notified her that it had past midnight, and therefore Ellie could no longer use the full extent of her gift for another week.
Once they arrived back at the Rat's Nest, they were rushed into a conference room where six of the seven officials of Capricorn were seated around a large table, all waiting expectantly. They all dressed so formally that Ellie felt somewhat out of place in such a presence, so she awkwardly tried to shift herself behind Trisha's legs to avoid the antagonising gazes of the officials. "Ellie," began Janet, the head of international espionage relating to the Champion of Capricorn, "did you recover the data we requested?" Trisha held Ellie's hand as reassurance, and the young girl stepped out into the open and nodded, pleased with herself as she pulled the tiny USB from her earpiece. The board members did not smile back. "Excellent work, Champion. Your money for successful completion of this mission has been deposited into your account. We will be in contact again shortly. Please head to the lab once we are done here for testing, and need I remind you that this is top secret information, and anything relating to your completion of this mission cannot be mentioned outside of this room. Failure to comply with that will terminate your employment here and your affiliation to Capricorn, meaning you will be viewed as a terrorist. Do I make myself clear? You will not be able to tell any of your friends or acquaintances about this." Surmised Janet in a flat, concise voice. Ellie looked at the ground for a moment in silence, turning red like a tomato, as if Janet had just embarrassed her. "...I have no friends." She whispered. Janet was very taken aback, and clearly struggled for a way to respond. "I-I see. Very well, that is all. Please proceed to the lab then," she finished after hesitating for a moment. Trisha shook her head at them and placed an arm around Ellie's back, leading her out of the room and ruffling her long white hair.
Ellie and Trisha were escorted out of the conference room by an official who led them across the hall towards an elevator, which trundled down several levels until they were below ground, in which the testing facility for the Champion was held, though only one doctor and a small team that developed equipment had clearance to be on that floor.
As soon as the elevator doors opened silently, they were greeted by the pristine white lights that were inside the floor panels which illuminated the corridor which split into two paths; the right was the workshop, where new tools and gadgets were developed for Ellie that she could test on the training floor above, and on the left was a medical examination area. Once the pair stepped out, the doors immediately shut and the elevator zipped back up to the surface world. Doctor Amari appeared from the break room clutching a large mug of coffee that had a small picture of Saturn on the side, and smiled at the pair as she strode over, placing it onto the floor and hugging Ellie. "Hello there, Ellie. I trust the mission went well?" she beamed down at the girl. Ellie did not show a slight response as she was instructed. "Ah, I see. So that's how this one was. Well, either way I'm glad you're back in one piece. Was your Celestial Gift of more use to you today like we anticipated? Test results have shown that you're capable of teleportation on Thursdays, and you're capable of teleporting much further in the hours between 11am and 1am. That's certainly a useful Gift to have, I must say you're quite lucky that the Goddess chose you," said Doctor Amari, pushing her glasses up onto the bridge of her nose as she stepped back a little. Doctor Amari was a very beautiful woman with caramel skin and lush onyx hair that fell down to the top of her shoulders. Her small eyes and no-nonsense demeanour gave her an intelligent air, which she made full use of with her brilliant intellect. She wore an open lab coat with a white loose t-shirt and a uniform black miniskirt with tights, and cheerily talked about how Ellie had shown clear physical improvements lately as her birthday was coming up in just three weeks on December 24th.
Upon reaching the lab, Dr Amari requested that Ellie remove her hoodie, as was standard practise by now. Ellie did as instructed, and turned her back to the doctor and Trisha to show an intricate marking that was tattooed all across her back. "My, your Seal really is quite beautiful, I must say," exclaimed the doctor, as she did every time. The Seal was a large depiction of the Goddess Saturn, whose arms were outstretched, her hands just glancing Ellie's shoulder blades, her main body stretching down Ellie's spine. Towards the base of her spine behind the Goddess, there was a large rat with the skull of a resting atop its' face that was curled into a ball, asleep at Saturn's stead. Only when Ellie used her Gift did the rat awaken, and upon doing so would prance around her waist as she continued to use the Gift she had received; invisibility. On Thursdays, the Sabbath of Capricorn, the image of Saturn would sit atop the rat as it ran around Ellie's back when she would use her teleportation ability, which was only usable on Thursdays. Dr Amari had told Ellie that it was probably only available on that day due to it being the Sabbath, as it was passed down from scriptures of old that Champions had latent abilities that were only accessible on the days of the Sabbath for their respective Gods and Goddesses.
Dr Amari continued inspecting Ellie like a butcher judging meat, and then proceeded to observe her reaction timing and heartbeat to make sure she was alright. "Ellie is exhausted after her mission; can we make this a quick visit, doctor?" Trisha asked calmly, sensing Ellie's growing impatience as time went on. "of course, of course. Just let me conduct a psychological evaluation and you can be on your way. I will need only thirty more minutes of your time," said the doctor evenly. Ellie sighed and hopped down from the examination table and crossed the room to the therapy couch which she then perched herself upon and yawned loudly. Dr Amari sat next to her, pen and paper in hand. "So, Ellie, how have you been feeling lately?" she asked, looking over at the girl. "Tired. Stressed. Fed up. I don't like people. I don't like going on missions and having to risk my life for things I don't understand. I don't like that I have to come here every week. I hate being scared of people that could kill me." Ellie confessed, taking a short breath between each utterance. The doctor nodded silently, jotting things down as she went. "So you feel we put too much pressure on you? You are rather young, after all," Amari continued. "Yeah. I just want to be left alone with Trish, but I always have to go away from her. I don't like it." Ellie muttered, choking up slightly as she reached her tiny hands that were mostly hidden from the sleeves of her hoodie above the hood, pulling it down as she sobbed silently, tears rolling down the corners of her cheeks that remained exposed. The tiny droplets disappeared into her icy hair as they went. Dr Amari continued scribbling things down as she waited patiently for Ellie to stop crying, but gave up and went to the girl's side. "Forget about the rest of the session today, alright sweet pea? Just go get some rest with Trisha, okay?" she said softly, hugging the girl tightly like a bear. "Mhmm" came Ellie's tiny voice between sobs.
Amari led Ellie back to Trisha, who was waiting near the door to the lab. She handed Trisha a couple of bottles of pills and said to bring Ellie back in the morning if she was feeling it, and bid the pair a goodnight before seeing them to the elevator. Once they were on their way back up, Trisha looked down at Ellie, who was clutching her hand softly and looking down at the floor with her hood still up. She couldn't make out the girl's pink eyes from the angle but she could see the pathway of tears that had been carved down her cheeks through her white bangs. She was overcome with a motherly desire to protect the poor child from the harsh world she had been forced into, but the reality was that Ellie was the property of the Officials of Capricorn; she was an object of the government, not a human girl with her own dreams and desires anymore. The world was just unfair.
Upon reaching their large and spacious city apartment at the top of a large skyscraper, Ellie went straight into the bedroom, throwing off her shorts and leggings and putting pyjama shorts on before crawling into the large bed that the pair of them shared. There were soft sounds of crying coming from the room shortly after. Trish followed her in, removing her jeans and crawled into bed alongside the small girl, hugging her tightly. "I don't want to be a Champion." Ellie whispered, sobbing quietly. "I know kiddo, I know," Trish whispered back into her ear. "I'm so scared of killing people. A man saw me when I was in the Aquarius information hub. I didn't want to hurt anyone so I ran and went invisible as soon as I could. I was so scared, Trish." Trish hugged her closer. "You're so strong. I wish I was like you," she said. "No you don't," Ellie muttered. "Okay, you're right. I'd rather be your guardian, as I am. If you'd never been chosen at that ceremony by the Goddess, we never would've met. I'm so happy you were chosen, because now I've got you." Trish whispered softly, stroking Ellie's long white hair slowly. Ellie began to sob harder. "You're the only one," she began before stuttering and shaking with tears, "you're the only one that actually sees me as a person. Why does everyone treat me like an object? I'm not a Champion. I just want to be normal. I want friends." Ellie continued to sob. "Ellie, you may not be my family by blood but you're all I've got. I'll always see you as who you are, everyone else can go to hell. You are a person, Ellie, and you mean the world to me." Trish said firmly. She looked down below her chest to see a tiny smile appear and vanish from Ellie's face as her breathing became softer. Crying so much had put exhausted the last of the girl's energy. Smiling to herself at the girl's cute appearance, Trish let herself drift off to sleep as well.
In her dreams, Ellie could remember the day well; the day she had been chosen by the Goddess to become the next Champion of Capricorn. Ever since then, she had questioned if she even deserved to be this so called 'Champion', and if she was even seen as a human being anymore. Before the ceremony five years ago, she had become an orphan. On her eighth birthday, she was at the festival begging people for money when a beam of light struck her like a lightning bolt from the heavens. The Seal was etched into her skin, and almost immediately afterwards she was swallowed by a crowd of people, and lifted above their heads, carried by thousands towards the shrine in the centre of the city. There, she was placed in front of a giant statue of Saturn, and she could feel the thousands of pairs of eyes sizing her up, expecting something of her. She didn't understand what they wanted, or why they had left her there, why nobody would explain to her what was going on. She wanted to disappear, to be hidden from their eyes. As if her wish had been granted, someone exclaimed that she'd vanished. It took seconds for everyone to resort to pandemonium, as people yelled at one another, throwing out accusations and such, until a gunshot echoed through the air and silence once again fell upon the crowd. The shock of the gun being fired made Ellie break her focus and people started to call out that she was back, and that she had gone invisible.
Everyone went silent again, and the crowd began to kneel beneath her as men in suits approached, likely the ones who had fired the shot before. They all looked at Ellie in surprise, as they didn't expect someone so young to be where she was. One knelt down and placed a large hand on her shoulder. "Miss, what is your name?" he requested. She stared at him blankly, still too surprised and confused to answer. The men looked at one another awkwardly, seeking answers. One reached up to his ear and said "Yes ma'am, we have found the Champion. Yes. No, she doesn't appear to be harmed. Unresponsive but conscious, likely in shock. Your orders? Very well. ETA five minutes." He spoke quickly before reaching out a hand to Ellie. "Miss, would you please come with us? You're a very important young lady, and you're about to meet some very important people," he grabbed her hand gently and led her away from the crowd towards a limousine that was parked behind the huge temple.
Not long after being whisked away, Ellie had been taken down to meet Dr Amari, who conducted a physical examination of her, and acknowledged the Seal on her back for the first time, which would be the first of hundreds in the coming years. When she requested Ellie's name, Ellie said nothing. She was afraid of these people, who had taken her somewhere she didn't recognise. They kept throwing around the word "Champion", but she didn't even know what they meant by it. Her back felt hot after she got scared earlier, and she didn't understand why people had said she'd disappeared, or why they'd knelt before her. What was happening to her? She wondered. For several days afterward, she was placed into a small room with soft walls, a warm bed and a toilet, and the door was looked. Dr Amari told her it was to observe her in a controlled environment, and that she could have any food she wanted if she just wrote it on a piece of paper, or asked directly. She didn't move from her bed unless she was using the toilet or requesting food with the paper and crayons they gave her. After a certain point, she just stopped eating, as she had decided they were never letting her out, and she wanted to die rather than wait any longer. Eventually, the door opened once she'd become so thin her arms had gotten smaller and she could clearly see her ribcage beneath the gown they'd given her.
Dr Amari took her into the lab and gave her a soft white dress to wear, and fed her some warm soup, stroking her face gently, saying it was alright to eat it, and that she was going to go back outside to meet someone. At the time, Ellie thought nothing of it; they'd probably decided she wasn't actually the "Champion", or whatever they claimed she was. She would just be discarded at the roadside where she was originally, before any of this ever happened, and she could go back to begging. At least, that's what she'd expected. The man brought her into a restaurant called Rat-man's Sewer Food, and sat her down at a table next to the large window, where she sat watching the rain pour down on the world outside, and trickle down the window as it was dyed red and green by the neon light hung outside that boasted about the Goddess enjoying the food here.
Eventually, she saw a woman stroll past, shielding her auburn hair with her jacket. Her nose had a few freckles dotted across it, and her emerald eyes peered at her through the glass. She wasn't especially tall or remarkable, but the way she looked at Ellie like she was staring at a helpless young girl offered empathy that Ellie had never experienced before. Ellie's tiny pink eyes glossed over with tears, and when the woman came in and sat across from her, she smiled brightly and rubbed the tears from her cheeks. "Hey there, kiddo. My name is Trisha, what's yours?" she asked. That one sentence from Trisha made Ellie's dull, colourless world of confusion and doubt burst into bloom, as though everything had warmth again. Trisha's melodic, soothing voice lulled Ellie's sleeping heart back into consciousness, and a bright smile grew across her tiny face as she replied "Ellie,". The man sat next to Ellie was shocked, so much so that he smiled himself at the child finally speaking after three weeks of total silence. "Ellie, huh? That's a beautiful name you have. So, Ellie, what would you like to eat?" Trisha asked her. That was the first time Ellie had eaten one of Rat-man's burgers. That warm memory was burnt into her like a scripture upon the face of time. From then on, Trisha had been with her like a mother, aside from when the officials contracted her to complete missions after she turned eleven. Without Trish, she would have killed herself. Ellie was certain of that.
Meanwhile, at the Rat's Nest, the seven officials were sat around the conference table, having seen the contents of the USB that Ellie had collected the data on. "We need to send her out to get more data from the Gemini continent on their champion," said Vince, the head of research on champions from other nations. "Impossible. She will need a minimum two weeks to fully recover from this recent mission both physically and mentally. Sending her out beforehand could result in her death. She's a talented spy and tactician, but she's still just a child," countered Dr Amari. "She ought to be back to normal condition in only six days, why give her an extra eight?" Asked Janet, folding her arms. "When you get a PhD I'll let you decide how long the poor girl needs, Janet." Responded Dr Amari curtly. "Dr Amari, it would appear sympathy is clouding your judgement, no?" asked Dominik, the head of mission planning for the Champion. "Need I remind you that we must not see her as a person, but as the Champion. If Vince says we need more data, then we must send her as soon as possible; that is simply pragmatic. She has six days, that way she can use her Gift to its' fullest extent. Let Trisha know when she comes in with the Champion tomorrow. Meeting adjourned." He said concisely as everyone rose and left the room but Dr Amari, who remained seated, biting her lip in frustration. "That poor girl is really going to hate me one of these days..." she muttered before getting up and heading back to the lab.
The next day, Trisha got up early to make Ellie bacon pancakes and so the snow-haired girl awoke to the peculiarly savoury yet sweet scent of bacon inside of pancakes that were drowned in maple syrup. "Mornin' kiddo, you slept pretty well yesterday, a lot more than usual." Trisha said, greeting her. "Yeah, I had a good dream for once," Ellie responded, smiling at her and strolling over to hug Trisha. "Good to hear. Grab a seat and watch some cartoons or something while you eat, we can head over to the lab later today, being a little late certainly won't kill those stuck-up pricks." Said Trisha as she tussled Ellie's soft hair while she ate the bacon pancakes.
Once she'd finished eating, Ellie went back to their room and changed into a pink zip-up hoodie and a frilled skirt as Beth changed into a simple tank top and jeans with her usual black leather jacket. The pair headed out of the foyer of the building only to be greeted by a wave of paparazzi and news reporters asking questions about where Ellie had disappeared to over the last few days, to which the pair didn't answer, and the chaperone had to come and escort them away. Once they were inside the car, Ellie sighed apprehensively. Trisha placed her hand atop Ellie's reassuringly as they were driven back to the Rat's Nest. Upon their arrival, the pair went straight towards the lab to meet Dr Amari, who greeted the pair and informed them of the unfortunate news. "It appears that you have another mission six days from now, Ellie. Your previous one was above my clearance level, as only four members of the seven were present for the review of that, but this one involves going back to the Gemini continent to gather more data on their champion," she explained. Ellie's happiness quickly disappeared and was replaced by the familiar look of despair and unhappiness that often accompanied her whenever she was around the Rat's Nest. "I know it's not fair. I tried to get you fourteen days off but they just brushed it aside. Anyway, I think Terence has some new equipment for you, why don't you check in with him?" Dr Amari said, placing a hand on Ellie's shoulder before returning to her lab.