"Anyway, I gotta head out to meet a few people," Mike said, pulling up his jeans and grabbing himself a t-
shirt, "you still on for that party tonight?"
"Yeah I guess so," you replied with a sigh, figuring you didn't have anything better to do and getting
ridiculously drunk may just take your mind off Jenna for a bit (although you did secretly kind of hope that
she would be there too, giving you another crack at asking her out).
"Cool, well I'll catch you later then," Mike grinned, giving you a light slap on the back of the head as he
walked past and to the door, "Don't study too hard now."
"Dick!" you chuckled, rubbing your head as you watched him leave, turning back to your laptop, deciding that
you'd better get started on your English assignment if you wanted to free up some time for tonight's
festivities.
Although you weren't exactly a swat, you certainly had a bit more interested in actually finishing college,
unlike Mike seemed to be, doing your best to get through the numerous homework you for handed out as soon as
you possibly could. Still, that didn't mean you found it particularly easy or anything, your attention often
wandering, just like it was doing now in fact as you sat staring at the screen, one hand propping up your face
while the other tapped rhythmically on the keyboard. "Bah, it's no use. I can't concentrate at the moment,"
you told yourself, sitting up and rubbing at your eyes, Jenna Williams and the incident with the football
still playing on your mind.
Heading over to the fridge, you pulled yourself out a can of soda (figuring some liquid refreshment might get
your brain working), pausing momentarily at the full length mirror on the wall on your way back to your seat.
The image reflecting back at you was of a slim, slightly scrawny looking young guy with short, scruffy brown
hair and dark green eyes hidden behind a pair of thin black frames, possibly around 5' 7" - 5'8" (not that you
ever bothered to measure yourself), dressed in a light blue t-shirt and a pair of rather faded looking jeans;
not exactly a look that screamed "lady magnet", and perhaps more "reluctant geek".
You let out a small sigh as you examined your body, admiring for a moment your less than impressive biceps,
the small amount of muscle showing, being closer to a golf ball than a tennis ball. "Maybe I should try
lifting weights or something," you considered, thinking about the dumbbells Mike had stored underneath his bed
that barely ever got used, before dismissing the idea as silly, knowing that you'd never be able to compete
with the muscular jocks and their mad fitness programs, and not particularly having the staying power for such
an exhausting task. "Nah, think I'll just stick to comics and computer games," you laughed, heading back over
to your seat, "much safer."
Finishing up your soda, you then returned to your English assignment, getting ready to get stuck right in and
actually write something this time when, as if out of the corner of your ear you suddenly heard a strange
whispering noise, almost like a feint voice caught on the wind, speaking to you. "Huh? What the hell was
that?" you asked, looking around puzzled, seeing nobody else in the room and nowhere the sound might have come
from. Letting out a chuckle, you shook your head, figuring you were going mad, then set about your work again
just as the sound started up again, causing you to jump from your seat.
"Alright, whats going on here?" you said, looking around suspiciously, doing a quick search of the room to see
if Mike had foolishly left the radio on or something, coming up with nothing as the hushed voice continued,
whispering as if in some strange distant language, it's tone soft and lilting like it was singing. As weird
and as hard to pinpoint as it was, for some reason the voice wasn't unsettling to you, in fact it was rather
enticing, your curiosity having become peaked as you rooted around the dorm room, peering under beds and
inside closets, desperate to find the source.
"The ring has awoken, the time has come..."* it whispered, this time much louder and clearer so that you could
actually make out the strange words, the sound seeming as if it was being spoken inside your head.
"Whoa!" you exclaimed, jerking up from off the floor where you had been searching as the obviously female
voice rung out in your ears.
"Come to me, tempting OH, let the spirits of all ages fill you with strength..."* the voice continued, still
making little sense and you found your hand suddenly being drawn towards your pocket, fumbling around inside
to find the ring you had long since forgotten. Pulling it quickly out, you held it up in front of your face,
noticing that the plain gold band now seemed to be shimmering quite beautifully, the light dancing off it's
surface. "in the ring and become our champion again,"* the voice or the ring, or whatever the hell it was
finally spoke before the room fell deadly silent again, leaving you kneeling on the floor staring in awe at
the seemingly magical piece of jewelery you'd before thought so little of, now utterly mesmerized by it's
beauty and it's call...it's call to put it on.
Before you even knew what you were doing, almost like a zombie, your will power along with your common sense
seemingly having slipped away, you found yourself holding out a finger and slipping the ring gently on,
pushing it as far as it would go, the hard metal pressing tightly against your skin causing an odd tingling
sensation to course up and down your spine.
And that's when it happened...
*Translated from the Greek