The Nose looks up from her desk, where she had spent the last half hour bent over a ScanTron test. There is a sudden intense ringing in her ears, that both sounded and felt like tiny needles. The psychology classroom seems to bend and twist in front of her, as if reality was being wrinkled and torn. She pulls the military-grade handgun from the hidden holster, but is knocked backwards into a wall.
A comically deep voice chuckles, and the Nose scrambles to her feet. “What do you want with me?” she calls, voice refusing to shake.
“I have something to show yooooou.” The classroom is almost completely gone now, and the Nose squints to steady the illusion in front of her. There is a large door, and so she goes to it and opens it.
The door opens in the middle of a dense forest, and as soon as she steps through it, it disappears. Frowning, the Nose takes a cautionary step forward, still gripping the gun. “Whoever you are, I’m not afraid of you. I’ve been an undercover agent for the government for seven years. Some people have near-death experiences; I’m only lucky enough to get near-life ones. Now answer my question. What do you want from me?”
“You are impatient.”
“I am going to fail my psychology test, actually. See, where I come from, you actually have to be in the room to even have a chance.”
“That is the least of your troubles now.”
With a frustrated growl, the Nose takes a few more steps forward. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You have been chosen.”
“Well, that clears everything up, thanks.”
“Our world has been in turmoil for many eras. Only a strong warrior of body and wit can give us our peace back.”
“I’m a seventeen year old high school student that occasionally fights with international criminals. I am also from Earth, because that seems to be a definite problem about now.”
“We need you.”
“Yeah, well, so does my psychology test. Take me home.”
“I’m afraid that is no longer an option.”
“And why not?” One arm in front of her, the Nose batters through a thick brush, moving towards a spot of light in the distance. She hoped it was the exit from the forest.
“Earth is gone.”
“And what is-”
“Gone. Disintegrated. Nonexistent. This is your home now.”
At last, the Nose was shocked beyond speech. It was well timed, because centaurs don’t often take well to short, angry-looking young women talking to themselves in the middle of the Forest of Lost Hope.
The largest of the centaurs held out his hand to her. “Come with me.”
