MARCH 17th 2000 ON EARTH

hoko rested her feet on the terminal with her back in the chair of the asteroid, her eyes dead as she stared aimlessly out the front window. she rolled the bits of sand in between her front teeth. her hair scattered about, a certain rotting stench filled the asteroid. empty cans laid around across the floor, alongside four used rockets. it was a nightmare, and not necessarily what hoko had in mind. at this point she didn’t really care. she had a significant knot in her gut that told her she’d die out here in this nothingness. it had been over two years since she first locked herself inside of this sphere.

7. 6. 8. 4. 1.

“LOCATING…”

hoko waited.

“!! UNABLE TO LOCATE EARTH”

a weak, yet genuine smile spread across her face. the numbered pad had been reading this for a while. what for, hoko didn’t really know. it could be anything from the reader not being calibrated, to the asteroid being completely off-track.

at this point, all she wanted was for it to end. the isolation was so unbearable, it seemed to tear and pry at her mind and constantly remind her of her fate. she hoped for something, for anything, to just go wrong and end her miserable, idiotic life now.

“why have i been given so many second chances?” hoko thought out loud, speaking to no one but herself. “why had i been the only one left?”

she stared hazily at the blinking LEDs over the terminal, entranced by the pattern they blinked in. she had programmed everything in here herself. it sounded strange, but this asteroid had never felt so alien to her than it did now. she didn’t recognize any of the equipment around her. she didn’t remember programming the lights, she didn’t remember building the walls and installing the terminal. she didn’t even remember why she was here.

“why am i here?” she asked.

her fingers twitched, her hands placed together between both her legs with her feet still placed on each side of the terminal. she sat like a corpse, every part of her unmoving besides her unused, rigor mortis fingers.

after a handful of minutes, she’d finally felt a wave of sleep taking over again. thank whoever was in control right now. it was only occasional that she’d get her sleep.

falling backwards, the slumber began to take over her body, limb by limb. it tore her apart, and finally took her into sleep.

“you’re back!” the angel smiled through the window.

“i can’t even get out of this asteroid in my dreams…”

“keep holding on, hoko.” the angel muffled through the door. “you are going to birth something incredible.”

“how are you in front of the asteroid if i’m flying hundreds of miles per hour in space?” hoko asked, a bit ignorantly.

“i am an angel.” the angel answered. “you already know this.”

“it doesn’t make any sense…”

“what doesn’t make any sense, dear?”

“how do you even know about me?” hoko asked. “are my parents dead? did they tell you about me in heaven?”

“no, no…” the angel laughed. “nothing like that.”

“then why are you here?” hoko asked desperately. “what did i do to deserve a fate like this?”

“fate?” the angel asked, waiting for a response to which hoko didn’t reply. “this is your destiny. your golden destiny.”

hoko stared dead at the angel, like a corpse missing it’s insides.

“you are going to create something amazing.” the angel explained. “there is something waiting for you on earth-”

“i’m not even going to make it to earth. i’m going to die out here.”

“what’s gotten you to believe that?”

“i don’t know where i’m at or where i’m going. i already feel dead.” hoko’s eyes streamed with tears. “i.. i can’t even tell if this is real or a dream right now. the only way to tell this is fake is because i’m not alone. i’ve been in here for over two years now and i have no idea what’s next for me. i don’t know why i keep trying to stay alive. i don’t know why i wake up and eat. there is no day and night. one moment i’m just going to die, and that’s going to be it.”

the angel stared with a strange smile on it’s face.

“i’m scared… i’m so scared… i wasn’t made for this task.” she covered her face and images of her home flashed in her mind, making her sob even harder.

“could you open the door now?” the angel asked. “i want you to show you something before you wake up again.”

hoko slowly dropped her hands, revealing her wet face. she stared at the latch above the terminal, the one locking the angel out from her asteroid.

“i promise you won’t get hurt.” the angel reassured her. “i wouldn’t ever hurt you.”

she stared for another minute, the enigmatic creature staring back at her through the window gave her a strange feeling. this was a dream after all, and you can’t die in dreams right? did it matter anyways?

hoko sat up from her chair and leaned over the terminal, pressing a number of buttons to which nothing was activated. hoko was safe. she grabbed onto the latch, tugging on it before it clicked and popped forward. there was a strange abscence of chaos. the door opened slowly without either of them grabbing onto it, revealing the angel’s strange features.

the angel was tall, it had purely white fur covering it’s skin under it’s colorful markings. it’s hair was jet black with green and blue tips, it’s tall ears poked through with red, green, and blue stripes lined down them. it’s hands were scattered with broken rainbow markings, and a giant pink heart marked into it’s fur on it’s stomach. everything from it’s head to it’s toes was destroyed with rainbow markings. it’s face was even stranger, what should have been the whites of it’s eyes were bright red, and it’s pupils were colored white under blue and yellow irises. deep black liner surrounded it’s eyes, and colored markings scattered randomly about across it’s thin face.

“hello hoko.” it’s voice was much clearer now that it was in the asteroid. it’s voice was very adrogynous, deep but light, leaving it’s gender inconspicuous. “it’s so nice to finally see you.”

hoko’s eyes were wide as she lingered underneath the angel’s gaze. the angel grabbed onto her hands and held onto them, giving them a burning but not yet painful sensation. she slightly gasped at the feeling, but it was such a wonderful feeling that she didn’t let go. it was inexplicable. it felt so real, was this really still a dream?

“i’m sorry for barging in like this, this really wasn’t part of the task.” the angel smiled. “i just couldn’t help it. i’ve wanted to see you like this for so long.”

hoko was very confused, but absolutely fascinated by the angel. she was at a loss for words.

“now, i must hurry before i accidentally wake you up. are you ready?” the angel smiled eagerly, excitedly staring into hoko’s eyes. hoko slowly shook her head yes, a cautious smile appearing on her face.

“alright, okay okay.” the angel kneeled down to hoko, now face to face with her. it spoke gently; “now. i need you to close your eyes for me, okay?”

hoko nodded, and closed her eyes. she was ready for anything at that point. at first she was a bit suspicious of the angel, but now she was absolutely certain of her safety around it.

“ready? one… two…”

hoko winced a bit, ready for impact.

“three.” the angel leaned in, and wrapped it’s arms around her. the same burning feeling she felt in her hands suddenly drowned her entire body. the sensation was overwhelming, almost orgasmic. she felt her eyes roll into the back of her head, and she wrapped her arms tightly around the angel to feel the burn across her entire body. a bright light seemed to invade her brain, taking her consciousness and leaving her in a void of nothingness. she wasn’t in the asteroid anymore, she wasn’t anywhere, in fact.

“wh-wh…” hoko worriedly twisted her head in all directions, trying to find the angel. “where am i?”

“calm down, it’s okay. i know you’re nervous.” the angel appeared out of thin air behind her, grabbing onto her shoulders and instantly calming her down. “now, remember i told you about your destiny, hm?”

hoko shook her head yes, still a bit nervous and confused.

“do you know what your destiny is?”

“u-umm.. i’m not sure really.”

“you do know your destiny, hm?”

“i-i… i’m supposed to help my people. there’s a keyholding on earth, a keyholding hold’s a special power and uh… yeah.”

“the calling of baeya.”

“what??” hoko took a double-take. the angel knew of baeya.

“you have the calling of baeya, don’t you?” the angel asked.

“no i don’t, no one had the calling of baeya because that shit isn’t real.” hoko crossed her arms and turned away, clearly embarrassed by the angel’s invading questions.

“who’s to say?”

“baeya is some shit my dad made up to make me do what he wanted.” hoko shook her head. “he wanted to make it to earth too and he fucking died.”

the angel smiled gently, it’s eyes narrow as it stared down at her.

“you’re really immature sometimes, you know that?” the angel giggled.

“wha-?” hokos eyebrows furrowed. “who do you think you’re talking to?”

“oh stop it, i’m joking with you.” the angel laughed again. hoko tried but couldn’t be angry. they both stared at each other in nothingness, hoko still a bit tinted with anger. the angel decided to say something else. “maybe baeya isn’t real. maybe you are baeya.”

“oh my god, now you’re just saying shit that sounds important.”

“no, no, not like that, let me explain. like, maybe you are going to be the one that all of the people on planet banks talk about. maybe you make it to earth, go back to planet banks, and you rule the planet and grow better societies.”

hoko listened closely to the angel.

“but, i dunno. maybe that’s just a silly prediction. maybe none of this is real at all.”

hoko looked down at her feet, her eyebrows furrowed but not with anger this time. she was deep in her thoughts once again. maybe she was just too immature to understand.

“i don’t really understand why all of this is happening. i hope this is just some weird dream.”

there were a few seconds of silence.

“why did you come and find me?” hoko asked.

“i… i can’t tell you that yet.” the angel looked down caringly at hoko. “i wouldn’t want to break you.”

hoko stared up at the angel, a rush of worry filled her but fell away again.

“i… i wish i could stay here forever. i don’t want to go back to the asteroid.” hoko began to cry.

“don’t be scared, dear. i’ll be there with you, even if you can’t see me. you’ll feel me.” the angel wrapped it’s arms around her once more. “i still have one more thing to show you.”

the angel stepped back and created a bubble out of thin air from it’s hands, inside of it slowly glowed a scene of a vast empty field. it was the greenery of planet banks, just outside of her childhood home. the fields were so nice and liberating when she was younger.

“what is this?” hoko asked, a tear still dripped down her cheek.

“you know what this is.” the angel replied. “home.”

“...home…” hoko pondered the bubble for a moment. “..what about home?”

“it’s been a while since you’ve felt that feeling.” the angel began. “but you remember that feeling, don’t you? you remember it because you haven’t felt anything for the past two years, isn’t that correct?”

“w-what?”

“that feeling was your golden destiny, hoko.” the angel ignored her confusion. “it kept expanding inside of you up until now. your golden destiny has commenced, and it’s only going to become greater from here, on.”

hoko stared at herself through the orb. the figure of herself as a child shone through her blurred reflection in the bubble.

“i… i don’t think i understand.” hoko raised her hands, cupping them around the angels hands who were holding onto the orb.

“this, hoko. this is what you were destined to be.” the angel was tender but honest in its words. “don’t give up on me yet, okay?”

she lifted her head, shifting from the bubble to then staring into the angels luminous eyes. they both stared at each other for a moment. the angel took note of hoko’s eyes beginning to feel alive again.

hoko began to realize, and a warm glow felt as if it began growing inside of her once again. she changed her focus back to the bubble.

“i’ve been here the whole time.” hoko spoke to herself. “i’ve been here, staring down at myself the entire time.”

her eyes began to well up. the same feeling began to grow inside of her again, and she clenched her hands around the angels. she felt her jaw tighten, crunching some of the sand in the back of her teeth. this wasn’t fate, this was destiny. safety, growth, destiny.

“do you realize now, hoko?” the angel asked. “are you understanding what i’m telling you?”

“i…” hoko began, but couldn’t think of any words to say.

“fate isn’t real.” the angel finished its lecture. “i must leave you now.”

“n-no please, i-i can’t go back i-”

“it’s okay.” the angel smiled. “i’ve kept you here until you have arrived to earth. now, is the time.” hoko’s eyes widened as she stared at the angel.

“...yes.” she couldn’t really think of anything to say.

“now go. i will find you on earth.” the white void around her began to fade into the brown rusted interior of the asteroid. “live on in your golden destiny!”

the angels voice faded away as she was finally met with the asteroid. it was strange, because she still had the bright glowing feeling in the pit of her chest. she snapped back into action.

“RELOAD>>>RELOAD>>>RELOAD>>>” the numbered pad spun in a panic. “APPROACHING UNKNOWN ATMOSPHERE>>>ACT WITH CAUTION>>>30 SECONDS UNTIL BURST>>>” the red light strobed as the asteroid began tossing itself around.

“shit shit shit-” hoko shook as she struggled to grab the last rocket from her bag.

“RELOAD>>>RELOAD>>>RELOAD>>>RE “ the screen had stopped. all of the power inside of the asteroid was gone, leaving no light except for the blaze from outside the asteroid. hoko began to panic. she grabbed a hold of the rocket, and climbed behind her seat to try and insert the rocket into the chamber, but the latch wouldn’t open. it was locked shut, and with no power it wasn’t going to unlock. it probably wasn’t a good idea to try and unlock it now either, but hoko tore the latch of the front door off and began to try and jam the chamber open. all the while, the asteroid tossed and spun around in the air, beginning to enter the atmosphere of some unknown planet.

as the asteroid entered the atmosphere, it fell faster and faster down into the planet, pulled by it’s gravity. it threw hoko out of her seat, causing her to slam her head against the chamber, and then rammed her back into what would’ve been the ceiling of the asteroid. her head began to leak a deep red blood.

there was no point in trying to fix anything now. this was fate.

if it had not already been terrible, the asteroid caught flame as it tore through space into the planet’s ground. closer and closer, she could barely see the dark blue color of whatever she was flying into. the asteroid tossed around, spinning over and over again as it got weaker in the blaze. hoko hoped that the angel was protecting her now, because there was no saving her otherwise.

in a giant burst, the asteroid couldn’t contain itself and exploded in the flame, tossing hoko into the air along with the debris of the asteroid. she was now only a couple hundred feet away from a giant body of water, there was no mistake in telling where she was now. her entire body burned from the fire, but a strange, anticipating feeling of hope began to fill. earth, home, and what a glorious arrival hoko had made.

this was destiny.

continued in CHAPTER 3