Birungi had found it funny the way that the news of a Champion traveling to their country had brought joy to many faces. Children mostly populated his village. Most of their parents had died from horrifying diseases. Foreign aid had come to help him and many of the other children in the village, but it had been the coffee bean farm that had allowed him to help himself. He made enough money to feed both himself and his younger brothers and sisters, but it was not enough for much else.

It was the hope that a Champion would be found in their country that brightened everyone’s faces. A Champion in their community meant prosperity for the people within it, and they could be eating well and sleeping in comfort, just like the people of wealthier countries.

Despite the news, when Birungi had stepped into his little schoolhouse, the last thing he had expected to see was a Champion. It was even one of the few he recognized: Asim Fahkry. He looked tired with dark circles under his eyes and warm smile withering as soon as he gave it, and Birungi knew it must have been the months of endless travel that made him look on the verge of falling asleep.

Birungi rubbed the top of his head, feeling the stubble of his shaved head scratch against his palm. It confirmed in his mind that he was awake, that he had not come to class and fallen asleep during his teacher’s lectures, and there was a real Champion sitting in his schoolhouse.

Mr. Fahkry gave him that tired smile again, and he motioned toward the chair in front of the teacher’s desk, which he sat behind.

“Come sit down,” the older man said. “Birungi, wasn’t it?

Birungi’s heart fluttered with excitement as he rushed to do as Mr. Fahkry requested, and he stretched out a hand to give the man a proper greeting. A light chuckle came from the man when Birungi shook his hand with far more energy than the older man had.

“Your file says that you’re a quick learner,” Mr. Fahkry said, “and a hard worker, and you help the other students when they’re struggling. These are all nice qualities to have.”

“I try my best, sir.”

Mr. Fahkry nodded.

“Now, I’m about to make a strange request,” he said.

It was indeed a strange request to turn in his seat while closing his eyes and stretching out his hand behind him, but he was eager to please the celebrity before him. Once he was turned around, he felt something in his hand, and then he heard someone, a woman, whisper in his ear:

“Birungi Kizito,” the woman said, speaking in his native tongue rather than Anglan. “What a pleasure it is to finally meet you.”

Birungi jumped, gasping, and he snapped open his eyes. He was no longer sitting in the schoolhouse but standing in a black room, holding a leather-wrapped crystal in his hand, and before him was a giant globe of the planet Gaia. Green and brown were the continents. Blue represented the water between them. White moved across its surface the same way clouds moved across the sky.

The globe was suspended in the air, but there was nothing that held it, as far as Birungi could. There was no stand nor cables. It just floated by magic.

Then, it changed shape, taking on the form of a woman, and she was tall—taller than Birungi by at least half a meter. The colors changed and shifted, red bleeding into the blue and green like ink on paper, and suddenly he was looking at the Goddess Tellus, the depiction of Gaia in a different, far away country.

Her body was wrapped loosely with a simple green cloth, but it was thin, allowing Birungi to see every curve of her naked body beneath the fabric. The cloth covered her red hair, there were twigs and leaves woven into her hair. Thorns from a rose bush threatened to rip the sheer fabric.

The woman gave him a gentle smile, tilting her head to the side as she gazed down at him.

“Hello, young Champion,” she said in a softer tone than she had had when she had first spoken to him. “My apologies for frightening you.”

Birungi realized that his heart pounded in his chest, and his breathing had quickened.

“Champion?” Birungi repeated.

“Yes, I have chosen you to fight in the Trials of the Gods.”

“You’ve chosen me?”

The Goddess chuckled. She cupped his face in her hands, and a comforting heat soaked into his skin, spreading throughout his body. He felt his heart slow to a normal speed, taking his lungs with it, and the muscles in his body released a tension he had not realized had been in them

“Yes, this is all overwhelming,” Gaia said, “understandably, but I’ve chosen you because I believe you have the strength to not only defeat me in the Trails but to help the other Champions defeat the other Gods as well.”

Birungi thought about what he had been taught in school about the Trials. Each of the Seven Gods represented a different sin, and he was supposed to fight against that sin within himself to defeat the God and move onto the next part of the Temple. Gaia represented kindness, and the opposing sin was envy.

“Yes, you will be fighting against the sin of envy,” Gaia said. “It is not because you lack kindness. You’re an especially charitable young man, but it will be up to you to find your strengths and weaknesses. Only then will you be able to guide yourself and others to the path of victory.”

Tellus released her gentle hold on his face, and her kind smile remained.

“I shall release you to the care of the past Champions. You have much to learn before you are ready to fight against us.”

When Birungi next blinked, he was staring at the back of the empty schoolhouse. There was something different about the room, but as he took in the worn tables and the dirty and scratched walls, he saw nothing out of the ordinary to him. He turned in his chair. Asim Fahkry was sitting just where he had been before Birungi had seen Gaia, the Goddess who had made the very planet they were both sitting on, and he gave Birungi a sad smile.

“I see you have been chosen,” the older Champion said, and he waved his hand at something in Birungi’s hand. “By Gaia.”

Birungi looked at the object that Mr. Fahkry had given him. It was the same leather-wrapped crystal he had been holding while speaking to the Goddess, but it was glowing green and radiated its own heat

“I know it’s a little difficult to grasp right now,” Mr. Fahkry said. “You’ll need time to understand what had happened, but I’m afraid we have little time to discuss this. You’ll need to be escorted home until we can take you to the place where you will be training. I need you to leave your Handle here, and we will have it shipped to you at your new location. Until then, we have lots of paperwork for you to fill out.”

Birungi looked up from the glowing object in his hand. Asim Fahkry was holding up a bag, and it took him a few slow seconds to realize that he was supposed to place the object inside the bag. His hand shook as he lifted his hand to place the strange object inside the bag.

“Thank you,” Mr. Fahkry said. “Your teacher is outside of the school waiting to give you everything you will need. I’ve already notified her of what has happened. I would be grateful if you kept this quiet until we’re ready to announce that we’ve found our Champions of your generation.”

Birungi nodded. It occurred to him that he needed to speak, but no coherent thought would stay in his brain long enough for him to consider speaking out loud. He stood from the chair, and it was a miracle he was able to stay upright as he exited the schoolhouse.