Hero's Call

Prologue

Seven was roused from his slumber by a summons from The Council. It was not what a human of Earth would typically think of as sleep. It was more of a relaxation period, but it's close to what a human would consider 'sleeping'. If an Earthling were to witness Acolyte Seven or one of his people during that relaxation period you would find closed eyes and motionless bodies, but what humans consider REM sleep is nonexistent. The An'Fari, known as The Great Race on Earth, did not dream. Their bodies did not require true sleep as humans think of it. They had evolved past such frivolity.

There was to be an Assembly. To Seven's knowledge, there hadn't been an Assembly in twenty-two aeons. Over two hundred years in human reckoning. Quite a long time, but the An'Fari had no reason to track time. The last time they had an Assembly it was after the death of some of Earth's greatest heroes: The Gray Ghost and Cat's Claw, Weather Wizard and Melinda the Magician, Thunder Bolt, The Marvelous Maiden, and Empress Liana. Seven of the eight members of the Army of Justice all killed in one battle with The Dreadnaught. The Assembly was called to discuss what was to be done about the Dreadnaught, a vicious Earth Villain determined to bring the destruction of the entire human race without thought to the consequences. After the Heroes were destroyed, all hoped seemed lost for Earth. It was decided that the Dreadnaught be banished to an alternate dimension to spend the rest of his life in solitude.

Seven moved across his chambers to the compartment where he kept his ceremonial garments. He pressed the button beside the door and the clothes slowly shuffled by with a quiet, metallic whirl. He let go of the button when the robes of green and white came to the front. They were his Assembly Robes. They were made of a clean, soft material similar to human silk. The majority of the robe was a deep green like the leaves on the trees that are so prevalent on Earth. A pale white V-stripe came down from each shoulder to the middle of the chest and back.

A series of what humans would crassly call squiggly lines, were placed in the middle of the V. The symbols were the language of the An'Fari. For those who could read them, they signified him as nothing more than the Acolyte he was. Acolyte Seven to be exact, nearing the end of his journey into becoming a full-fledged member of The Council. He started as a member of a lesser Council, but it would only be a matter of time before The Council itself will be heeding his sagely advice.

He slid the robe on. The material was soft against the almost transparent material that was his skin. An'Fari skin was balanced somewhere between water and the gelatinous substance the people of Earth call Jell-O. It's solid to the touch, but, to look at, it appeared to be completely liquid. When Seven's people first landed on Earth they were called Water Men in the natives' tongue. He could no longer remember the words they used.

The Ancient Egyptians were terrified of them. He remembered it well. He had just started his Acolyte training when they made contact. They came to Earth and passed on the Hero Gene, a gene giving any living thing it inhabits powers above any other in their species. Acolyte Seven remember how amused he had been when he learned that there was a theory on Earth that extraterrestrials had built the pyramids. A fellow Acolyte had joked that they did not build the pyramids, they simply lent a hand. In the end, it was merely a single man imbued with the Hero Gene. He was the first Hero of Earth. The Pharaoh he was called.

He did many great things back then, but the most notable of his achievements was simply the passing on the Hero Gene to his descendants. All Heroes and Villains that have walked among Earth's population would be able to trace their roots back to Ancient Egypt and The Pharaoh if they had cared to do a little genealogy. Humans, always the short sighted creatures, would never care enough to dig that deep. Acolyte Seven guessed that few records remained on Earth that would help them find that information anyway.