Elene found herself in complete darkness. Her mind was being reconstructed by the portal to better prepare her for this new world, leaving her emotions to their own devices as her rationale put itself back together. She would later recall the long purple tunnel, as all with intelligence enhancement inevitably do, glowing with an overwhelming light as something wove knowledge into her brain, grinding and polishing her memory and analytical functions into hyper-efficiency. She followed Sneakers footsteps subconsciously.

  Elene heard voices in the darkness, but she was in a daze. It was like she was awakening from a coma, their voices both did and did not make sense. She couldn't piece together anything that was going on around her, but she knew she had just gone missing like her mother, leaving her father all alone. Her emotions were in disarray.

  "No one has been summoned by our cave in a long time!" One voice says. "It's a little early for there to be another Saviour, isn't it?" Asks another. "Of course, our cave would be stuck with the dead weight." Another voice scoffs.

  Sneakers stepped into Elene's arms and licked her tears, trying to calm her down. His ears were folded in an apology. Sneakers felt that in a way, it was his fault that she was brought here. Elene Barely registered the chill of the floor, but she desperately clung to Sneakers warmth anyway. Suddenly light pooled in from behind her, outlining a large cave. There were many shallow cuts into the wall, some with people, some with food, and some with manual weapons and tools like halberds, axes, swords, and war-hammers. Elene turned around to find the source of the light, the only thing she could possibly find familiar.

  Standing in a doorway twice his length and height was a young man, slightly older than Elene. He pulled down his wide-edged hood to show that his deep brown hair was tangled and unevenly cut. His eyes were permanently closed, and his lips were slightly pouted. His face was smudged with dirt and blood, and he was visibly sweating from a hard day's work. A staff, hardly shorter than he was, seemed to serve as his walking cane, his loose clothes scraping the floor. His bare hands were visibly calloused, even at a distance, and his build seemed wiry, although his muscles were clearly defined. Elene was shocked out of her stupor.

  "Aldar, close the rock!" A man gravely calls from somewhere near Elene. Aldar obediently turned to pull the large boulder back into place. Elene watched as Aldar moved a rock four times his size, and she finally felt calmer- which she credited to her sheer amazement.

  "Chief, Saviour has calmed down." A man reports to the man who told Aldar to close the rock. "Ah, so it has. Aldar, you'll be its mentor." The elderly voice huskily commanded. "Yes sir," Aldar said in a slow, calm tone. Elene was instantly charmed by the clarity of this boys slightly deep voice. This was someone who worked just as hard as her father, she just knew it. Since she had nothing but her gut to go on while her rationale was offline, her intuition was very accurate at the moment, and she didn't have the capacity to second-guess the feeling.

  While Elene had nothing but good impressions of Aldar, Aldar could not see Elene as anything but an ugly, lazy woman. Aldar silently walked up to her. In his head, 'she' was an 'it' until his new charge could prove they were more than the laziest person he had ever sensed. All Elene could hear was a faint bustle of activity around her as people moved out of his way. He stood next to the chief and bowed respectfully. Elene waited for a moment. "What's going on?" She asked the small crowd around her that she could not see when no one offered up an explanation. Aldar frowned deeper. It was worse than he thought. "Saviour, I am Aldar, and I will be your mentor," Aldar said with little regard for its pleas for an explanation. "Aldar, I can't see," Elene whined pitifully. Aldar felt a bitter taste in his mouth- his disgust an ugly shade of green. This lazy mess was to be his charge? He almost wished Daleq would end his suffering.

  Aldar breathed deeply, finding some patience. "See?" He asked about the strange word. "Seeing. You know, looking at things?" Elene asked in that tone of sarcasm teenagers couldn't quite keep out of their voices. Aldar understandably felt confused by the word still. The chief moved closer. "She is from the land of sight." Aldar respectfully bowed before the chief in response to his words. "Please enlighten this young one, Chief." Aldar formally requested the chief for an explanation.

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  "Not much is known about the land of sight, and its people are sometimes very difficult to understand. What the Meeting of the Highest Order was able to extract from their words is that in the world a number of Saviours come from, there is no such thing as training, mana, or magic. It is unknown why we do not share this ability they have to 'see', but the Meeting of the Highest Order seems to believe it relates to our curse." The chief kindly explained to Aldar in his gravelly voice. Aldar directed his senses back towards Elene and felt almost relieved. His student may be ugly and talentless, but perhaps it had hope. Perhaps he could help it.

  "So she cannot feel any part of her surroundings?" A young clan member nearby asked. "That is correct. To her, the world is simply lifeless." The chief somberly stated. Faint gasps of pity arose from a few clan members, not including Aldar. He was already trying to figure out what he could do to groom it into a beautiful woman now that it was his charge. "Umm, Chief?" Elene hesitantly asked. "Can you send me home?" Elene hopefully asked. "I'm afraid not yet. The portal called you here for a reason. Until you fulfill its conditions, you cannot be sent home." Elene started weeping again.

  She was confused, lonely, and scared- the emotions emanated from her in droves. Nothing made sense. She wished her father were here with her. She wished that instead of this dark cave that smelled of groundwater and moss and leather, she could be back home, where the world smelled like pine wood and felt like comfort.

  She just wanted to go home.

  "However..." Elene hopefully looked up as the chief uncomfortably shifted in place in response to her tears. "You are sixteen, are you not?" The chief asks Elene. "I am," Elene answers eagerly. "Then until you come into your own at eighteen, the summoning spell will offer you an opportunity to speak with someone from your home once a month. What form this offer will take, I do not know, but I do know every choice magic presents comes with a cost." The chief relays the meaning of the clause for minors in the portal, with a hint of contempt Elene does not hear.

  "Oh, thank heavens!" Elene sighed with relief, not catching the contempt or pity. Not noticing how quickly she switched emotions. Not noticing her deep grief had been siphoned off in one swift, silent bite"So why was I summoned?" Elene asks the chief. "We don't know. Each cave takes a turn summoning someone each year. Each Saviour has a different purpose that they must discover for themselves. All I know is the magic decided to grant you 'intelligence enhancement,' ''language comprehension,' 'a Minors Blessing,' 'Enhanced capacity,' and 'Halved Hero.' The last one supposedly being a hint to your mission, but I've never seen 'Halved Hero,' just 'Hero.' Curious." The chief sank deep into thought.

  "Well, what does a 'Hero' usually do?" Elene asked. "Ah. Yes. Well. Heroes have many different avenues, but they are often heralds of advancement, defenders of the weak, or re-directors of disasters. It is up to you what you will become. I know it is vague, but you cannot receive the totality of the portals' blessings until you agree to take on this mission. Do you accept this mission?" Chief asked Elene seriously. "I don't really have much of a choice if I want to go back home, do I?" Elene asked bitterly. "I'm afraid not." The chief shook his head.

  Elene sobbed deeply. "I just want to go home." The clan gave her a few minutes to breathe. After she wiped her tears away, she responded hoarsely. "I'll accept." Sneakers stared at her face from below. A small green light is reflected in his eyes that no one else could see or sense. He closes his eyes slowly and nods.

  "What is that creature next to you?" The chief asks Elene in a measured voice. "This is Sneakers, my pet cat," Elene tells the Chief proudly, kneeling carefully so as to pet him. "Curious." The chief says, examining Sneakers. "This little one, Sneakers, is a hunter, yes?" The chief said. "Only for fun, though I suppose that will change here," Elene said.

  "Yes, he will do very well here. There is a species that feels similar to Sneakers here called Tigerooths. They are dangerous, so I would stay away from them." The chief kindly warns her. Sneakers purrs as Elene scratches behind his ear. "I'll be careful," Elene says.

  "Saviour, we'll take it easy today with a simple tour." Aldar respectfully redirected the conversation with a few motions of apology to the chief. "Come with me," Aldar said as soon as he received permission. Elene tried to follow the sound of Aldar's voice obediently, and immediately stepped off the edge of the dais and tried to put her weight on air. Elene managed to plant her face in the dirt, a landmark achievement for humanity. Aldar was bewildered but immediately ran to her side to help, while the onlookers simply stood watching. She was his charge, so she was his responsibility- that was simply how it worked here. Gloves materialized on his hands as he helped the Saviour sit up.

  Elene hissed with a bit of pain as she rubbed her nose with her free hand. "Are you alright?" Aldar asked with a hint of concern. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I just can't seem to find my way around." Elene muttered. After a moment, tears streamed down her face, invisible to Aldar. Elene was still suffering from intelligence disorientation, although it had started to simmer down. Sneakers nuzzled against her hands, and she scooped him up into a hug as long as he would let her.