Are you ready to Create A Legend? What will you choose?

Kit was standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring at a giant poster with twelve characters in different combat poses dressed in colourful armour, each represented a combat class. Kit had a silly grin on his face. Five minutes had passed since he stopped to stare. Passers-by pointed and giggled at him, he ignored them. Tomorrow he would choose one of those combat classes and join the virtual reality massive multi-player online game (VRMMO), Create A Legend (CAL).

“Stop standing there and move away, don’t even think of coming in my store and stealing anything.”

Kit saw a brown object moving closer to him out of the corner of his eye. A broom swung towards Kit’s head, Kit ducked and stumbled backwards. An angry man in a white uniform was glaring at him. He raised his broom to take another swing.

“Sorry, I was just staring at the poster, I meant no harm.” Kit glanced at the poster above the shop.

The broom paused, Kit bowed his head and hurried off in case the shop keeper decided to try to swing at his head once again. Kit gave a sigh, this wasn’t the first time this had happened, he rubbed the side of his face where a scar ran from his cheek to the corner of his mouth. Unfortunately, his appearance and his inclination to often be in a daze got him mistaken for someone of untoward character.

Kit glanced down at his clothes, and not for the first time wished he could afford something more presentable. His current attire was well worn and slightly out of shape from repeated washing. When he purchased it from the second-hand store it hadn’t looked this bad. One of his shoes was currently missing a shoelace, he thought he was quite ingenious tying it together with straws his sister had brought home from her workplace.

Usually getting scolded from random strangers would upset him, but today nothing could bring his mood down. The excitement Kit felt today was unlike anything he had felt before. He had a constant warm feeling inside his chest, and today he was having more trouble than usual concentrating on tasks, because his mind wandered to finally achieving one of his dreams.

He had been waiting for five years to delve into the unknowns of CAL. He had watched a few live streams when the game first came out. What he saw was unlike anything he could have imagined. He held himself back from watching more. He wanted to experience everything the game had to offer firsthand.

From the little he had seen, a seed of a dream had begun to grow. He dreamt of one day owning his own little slice of heaven by having a restaurant inside the vast empire of CAL.

Three years ago, his father had made him a promise to join him in the virtual world after Kit had completed his schooling. His father told him he wanted to retire and spend more time with his children and if CAL was Kit’s dream, then that’s where he would be too. Kit could remember that conversation like it was yesterday.

Kit pulled his focus, from his once again wandering thoughts, to why he was down the street in the first place. Hanging from each of his hands were shopping bags, they had started to cut into the palm of his hands causing red stripes to appear.

‘Ah, I really should get home. Tomorrow will be better than staring at a giant poster anyway, and I still have things to do before starting my adventures.’

Kit continued his walk home to his apartment where he lived with his older sister Kat. As he turned down his alleyway to reach his little slice of home, he glanced at his surroundings. The smell of urine reached his nose causing it to wrinkle, litter was scattered on the ground from careless people tossing their rubbish. Vulgar graffiti was sprayed along the walls, Kit hated walking past this alley to reach his little apartment.

He could still remember when Kat and he lived at their parent’s house. They lived in a nice neighbourhood, and they even had a back yard where their father would grow vegetables. Their house was two stories high, had large living areas, and a warm and cosy kitchen where he would spend most of his time when he was not at school.

A sharp ache stabbed his chest at the old memory. Two years ago, Kit learnt what it was to live in a continuous nightmare, he went from a family of four, to Kat and himself struggling to survive. He had come from a well-off family, his father was a criminal lawyer, and his mother was a research scientist. He had never had the best relationship with his mother, she was a cold person and would only come alive for their father.

Kat and Kit always joked she only had them because their father had wanted children. Clark, his father, more than made up for their mother’s closed off personality. Kit’s father was the opposite, he was sometimes a little too over involved. Kit never minded, he always felt loved.

Before Kit’s father left the house on the night he died, Kit and his mother had an argument over Kit spending the next day with his father. His mother wanted to go on an overnight stay with Clark, his father had declined saying he had already made plans with Kit. They were going to a restaurant, that they had made a reservation at months ago, and tomorrow was finally the day to enjoy the long-awaited cuisine.

Ruth, Kit’s mother, had a little tantrum over feeling like Clark always picked the children over herself. Clark smoothed things over with the promise to go to the store and buy Ruth her favourite ice cream. Clark never returned from the ice cream store. Police arrived at the house to inform the family of Clark’s death. He had been involved in a hit and run car accident, he had died immediately at the scene. Overnight Kit’s happy family turned into his living nightmare.

Kit could still remember the debilitating sadness when he found out the news of his father’s death. He felt like something had grabbed hold of his chest and would never let go. The feelings of despair and loss were crushing, the thought of never seeing his father’s smiling face again drove him into a frenzied madness. Tears would not stop falling, he would pinch his arm to make sure it was not a dream. He ended up with large bruises all over his arms from the constant checking.

In his time of deep despair, he did not think anything worse could happen. Kit was proven wrong the morning after his father’s death. Kit walked downstairs in a blur, his emotions at the time were overwhelming and he could not focus properly. Every time he thought of his father, his chest would ache, and he did not know how he could survive without his father there to offer comfort or advise.

Ruth was standing in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hands. She looked up at him from the brim of her cup without an expression on her face. Kit started to walk over to his mother to give her a hug, tears once again started to fall down his face. His mother held up her hand to stop his movements.

Kit would never forget the words that came out of his mother’s mouth next. “I never wanted you. I only had you because your father wanted another child.” She paused to make sure he was paying attention. The blank look disappeared from her eyes and was replaced with a look of loathing. She was looking at him like he was the most disgusting thing in the world.

“I should have terminated you before you were born. You killed your father, if you had just let him go on holidays with me, he would still be alive.” Ruth’s face suddenly contorted with rage and she threw the cup she was holding at his face.

Hot liquid splashed against his face and the cup shattered from the impact of the throw. Kit felt a sharp sting on his face, the burn and cut combined made a terrible pain explode on his face. He felt wetness drip down his face, but he was unsure if it was coffee, blood or tears. Kit could not move though, he was frozen in place from the shock of his mother’s words.

His mother did not move to see if he was alright, she just continued to sneer at him. “Don’t give me that look, you should be thankful that’s all I did to you.”

Kit’s mind started to whirl, he could not understand why his mother was doing this. He knew their relationship was not the greatest, but he could never imagine in his wildest dreams that she would treat him like this. Kit’s heart shattered completely, he could already not imagine a world without his loving father, now his mother hated him too.

Ruth had not finished her torment of her own son, she continued to dig his wounds deeper.

“From this day onwards, you do not exist to me, I only have a daughter. Get your things and leave. You have one hour, then I’m calling the police to have you removed.” Kit’s mother turned her back to him as if he no longer existed in her eyes.

Kit walked upstairs on auto pilot and packed a bag. His mind at that time had closed, instead of receiving love and support at this critical time he was rejected and blamed for something he had no control over.

Kit could not remember the next three days, an old man found him sitting in the rain staring at nothing. The old man had tried to get him out of the rain, but Kit was not responding to anything. Police were called, and he was taken to a hospital where he received treatment for hypothermia. The wound on his face he received from his mother had become infected. He had not been in a state to clean it, this resulted in an ugly scar running from his left check to the edge of his mouth.

Once he recovered from the hypothermia, he went into a psychiatric facility for three weeks. They told him he had gone into a catatonic state, due to his mind shutting down from all the trauma it had received in a short time.

Kat had been at university at the time of their father’s death and did not arrive at the family home until Kit had already left. Kat found out what had happened to him shortly after her arrival. She thought he had gone to a friend’s house and would return her numerous calls when he was ready.

When she found out that he had been alone on the streets for three days without anyone to care for him, she blamed herself. She immediately dropped out of university, and found a job by the time he was ready for discharge. Kat had also found them a place to live.

Kat never mentioned going back home to him, she would only talk about their new life in the little apartment. Kit could tell she was worried about upsetting him by bringing up their mother. Kit’s personality had changed overnight after the accident. He went from a well-adjusted happy child to an anxious difficult to engage teenager. Kit developed depression and trust issues after the accident, he found it hard to communicate with people.

Kit pulled himself out of the painful memories and back to the present. ‘Kit, now is not the time to think of the past. Think about the things you need to do before tomorrow.’

He was still in the alleyway and the unpleasant smells and visuals were still assaulting his senses, he rushed through the alleyway, bags swinging on his arms. Once he was clear of the alleyway, he could see the small rundown apartment complex that he called home.

The building was three stories high and had a long strip of apartments on each floor. There was a cement staircase off to the side of the building climbing up to each floor. Along the walkways of the top two floors was a cement barrier that came up to Kit’s chest, it was perfect height to lean on and gaze over the surrounding streets.

The paint was peeling off the outside walls, wood was missing from window frames and doors. An occasional broken window could be seen patched up with cardboard. It really was a rundown building, but it was where Kit had built himself back together after the dramatic life changing events that happened two years ago.

It was where Kat and he now called home, he was proud of the efforts they had put into the little apartment. When he entered the apartment and looked around it gave off a cosy feeling, the furniture was second-hand, but it was well loved. They did not own a dining table, the area was too small to fit one. They ate standing over the kitchen bench or sitting on the sofa in front of the small temperamental TV.

Thankfully it was a two-bedroom apartment, so they did not have to share a room. Kit still had to finish cleaning out his room before tomorrow. His gaming capsule would arrive tomorrow at 10am for installation, His heart thumped at the thought.

‘I feel like I have had arrythmia today, my heart accelerates with my excitement over tomorrow.’

Kit placed his grocery bags on the bench and packed them away, then he went into his room to finish getting ready for tomorrow. He had already dismantled his bed and packed the frame neatly against the wall. His mattress was lying on the floor. He needed the space where his bed used to be for the gaming capsule. The only other piece of furniture in the room was his chest of drawers. He was going to squeeze it into Kat’s room for now.

He emptied out his clothes from the drawers, it did not take long because he did not own many clothes. He then dragged the empty wooden chest into Kat’s room. When he opened the door to his sister’s room an attack of colour hit his eyes. Posters were pinned up on every surface of the walls, Kit had forgotten for a moment that his sister was obsessed with an anime series. Even the bed spread had a huge male character holding a sword in a fighting stance.

Kit pushed the chest of drawers in front of a huge poster of a girl with bright pink hair pulled into two pigtails with a lollypop hanging out of her mouth. ‘I think this one is Kat’s favourite, at the moment, if the pink hair is anything to go by.’

Kat currently had her hair dyed a bright pink just like this character and was often seen with a lollypop hanging out of her mouth, although the sight of the lollypop was common since she was little. His sister had a massive, sweet tooth. Because she worked in an anime café, she found it easier to dye her hair than wear a wig. She always complained they gave her a headache.

Kit walked back into his room and returned his clothes back to his drawers. He then went to the kitchen to prepare tonight’s meal. Kit had taken over the kitchen since they moved out, Kat was a terrible cook. She could burn water if left alone in the kitchen. Kit had developed an obsession with cooking over time, he was constantly in the kitchen making dishes he had found on the internet or creating a new dish from ideas he had come up with.

He had tried many things over the two years to save money on household expenses, he always felt guilty that he could not attribute much financially. One way he tried to save was to buy a large side of meat and cut it. He had also experimented with making several oils, salad dressings and jams from scratch so they could have a wider range of condiments in the house. They could not afford the extra luxuries otherwise.

Kit had only just graduated from school a month ago, so he had only contributed with his part time income he received from working at a convenience store. His sister was the main money earner in the family, she worked full time in the anime café. She had pulled out of university two years ago to support Kit so he could finish high school. Kat never complained about leaving university, she said she was lucky to get her dream job at the café, recently she had been promoted to manager.

As Kit was frying some steaks for their dinner, Kat walked inside the apartment. “Little Kitty, what is that lovely smell.”

Kat’s bright pink hair floated over to Kit’s side, Kat only came up to Kit’s shoulder, she was what his dad called a pocket rocket. She was a little ball of energy, ready to explode at any moment.

Kit was average height, had short brown hair with it long in front, light brown eyes, a straight nose and an average build. He was not ugly, nor was he strikingly good looking. The one thing that stood out on Kit was his eyes, they were slightly uplifted at the outer corners and underneath his left eye he had an enchanting little mole. He often got complemented on his eyes, he inherited them from his father.

Kat on the other hand, looked nothing like Kit. She was very beautiful, she had soft glowing skin, large blue eyes with long black lashes. Even though she had a tiny frame she was well endowed, and as many of his old friends had said, “curves in all the right places.” Kit had gotten into arguments with a few of his old friends over their crushes on his sister.

His sister was currently trying to steal a piece of steak from the hot pan. Kit smacked her hand with the tongs he was holding.

“Go wash up, it will be ready when you come out.” Kit pushed his sister towards their tiny bathroom.

Kit finished cooking the steak and placed it on a plate that already had salad waiting to go with the meat. Kit had seasoned the steak and a spicey meaty fragrance had filled the small apartment. Kat walked over with a clean face and took a long sniff of the meal.

“Smells good like always, my mouth is watering already.”

Kat stood next to Kit at the counter, they started to eat their meal in silence. Kit’s steak hit his mouth and the warm soft meat filled his mouth, a spicey flavour mixed with the juicy meat created a perfect blend. Kit gave an appreciative hum, next to him Kat was doing the same. The meal continued with enthusiastic sounds until both their plates were empty.

Kit took the dishes to the sink and washed them, Kat made them hot drinks. They each headed to the sofa with warm drinks in hand. “I’m going to miss you for the five days you are in the game, who will make me yummy snacks while you’re in a suspended state.”

Kit lifted an eyebrow in response “….”

“Seriously, you know I’m a foodie, it’s lucky you have already prepared my main meals. Do you want me in the kitchen while you’re gone? NO, even I don’t want me in the kitchen. You should whip me up some snacks now before it’s too late.” Kat had a pleading tone in her voice, and she gave him her best impression of a sad puppy.

Kit sighed, he was helpless when it came to his sister, she had done so much for him already, so he could never say no to all her food requests. “Fine, I’ll make you some snack bags later, I will probably struggle to sleep tonight from excitement anyway. My heart has been beating like crazy on and off today and my face is starting to hurt from breaking out in a smile all day.”

Kit had not been this excited in a long time, he was no longer used to these sensations he was experiencing today. Over the last two years a smile was a rare thing for him, since the accident where his father died.

Looking back now, he did not know how he and Kat managed to come so far. The support they gave each other attributed to where they were now and how far he had come from those desperate days. Kit suddenly felt drained from the rollercoaster of emotions he had experienced today.

“Kat, I’ll make you some snacks tomorrow, I think I’ll head to bed.”

Kat looked like she was going to argue, then she noticed the change in his appearance. “Ok, little Kitty I will hold you to that though.” She gave him a soft smile and a light rub to his hair. Then she took his cup and headed into the kitchen.

Kit headed towards his bedroom ready to sleep for the night. He was going to need all his strength tomorrow to start a new chapter of his life, inside the magical world of CAL.