Nova was on his way to the ruins where this "Sam" guy had last been spotted, 140 years ago. The jungle surrounding the ruins was thick. Leaves as big as Nova blocked his view, branches stretched between the trees like bridges, and the vines looked strong enough to hold an elephant. The locals called it Atomomigimata. Nova checked his map; he was only on the edge of the jungle, or at least that's what he thought.
As he pushed through the undergrowth, he spotted an insect towering about three meters tall. Its eyes bulged from a triangular head, and its long, skinny green body curved at the abdomen, its front legs ending in hooks. A shiver crawled from Nova's feet to his shoulders, and he froze in place. "That thing is huge! I can't fight that!"
Before he could move again, the insect's eyes locked onto him. It clicked its mandibles and tilted its head. Both of them readied themselves. Nova raised his machete in his left hand and balled his right into a fist. Then he sprinted straight at the mantis and slipped right past it. Yeah, I'm not fighting that thing.
He didn't make it out of range. The mantis spun around and struck, hooking his torso with its front legs. Though he was sure the creature had fractured a couple of his ribs, Nova twisted back just enough to hack at its joints. The blade did nothing. The mantis seemed amused by the attempt. It chittered excitedly and began dragging him to a secluded spot behind the giant leaves. Nova thrashed and squirmed, but its grip only tightened.
Fine. Let's see what you've got. Nova locked his eyes on the mantis, reaching for its ability the way he always did. He got jack: the power of nothing. No ability at all.
"Well, shit. This is my first mission, and I'm gonna die on it." He kept hitting the mantis, even though its exoskeleton clearly wasn't taking any damage. "Help! Someone, anybody, save me!"
The mantis began nibbling at his scalp, its mandibles digging deeper with every bite.
Once it had its fill, the mantis flipped him upside down to let him bleed out. The blood loss made Nova woozy, and his grip on the machete slackened. That's when he realized this wasn't its first human. It had hunted plenty of people before and had developed a taste for them. He tried to relax, hoping for a painless death. His eyes fell shut, and he began to drift off, until a sharp pain in his legs jolted him awake.
"This bastard is eating my legs!" The mantis bit down harder, its mandibles grinding against bone. "Shit!"
Upside down and light-headed, Nova made one last grab for his machete, but it was gone, or at least nowhere he could see.
Just then, a bush nearby rustled. The mantis stopped feeding and turned toward the sound, letting Nova drop to the ground. It crept over to investigate. Nova kept his eyes on it, waiting for an opening to drag himself away.
As the mantis reached the bush, another mantis head popped out.
"Just kill me now before I witness this," Nova groaned.
The mantis chittered again, this time with the excitement of finding a mate. It launched into a strange series of movements, almost like a dance, then paused, waiting for the other's approval. The head in the bush chittered back, beckoning it closer. As the mantis leaned into the leaves, searching for the rest of its mate's body, a machete met it instead and split its head clean in two. The creature stumbled back, its limbs locking in place, before it crashed to the ground.
"What just happened?" Nova said weakly. His breathing slowed as the mantis head retracted into the bush.
A moment later, a man stepped out. He held the severed, triangular head in his hands like a crude puppet and made the mandibles click together one last time before tossing it aside. Then he dropped a machete into the dirt beside Nova. It was Nova's own.
"I saved you. That's what happened," the man said.
He didn't look like a hero. He was weathered and scarred, with a face that seemed stuck in his mid-twenties, yet he felt impossibly old. He wore the tatters of what might have once been a regal uniform, now stained with a century's worth of moss and blood.
As he approached, a sudden, heavy pressure filled the air. It wasn't hostile; it was the weight of someone whose presence had lingered on the world for far too long.
"The mark of Grymsnow," the man muttered, glancing at Nova's cloak and the map clutched in his bloody hand. "They're still sending children to do a god's work."
"Who…" Nova coughed, flecking the leaves with red. "Are you… the one… from the map?" He closed his eyes, ready to succumb to the cold.
The man crouched beside him. He didn't reach for a medical kit. Instead, he pressed a fingertip into his own forearm, harder and harder, until the skin split open. Thick blood welled up.
"Drink up," he said, holding his arm over Nova's mouth and letting it drip.
Nova slowly drank, smacking his lips as he worked out the taste. "What is it?"
"Ichor. Basically, my blood."
Nova was too weak to react, but if he could, he would've tried to spit it back out.
Heat surged through him, hotter than any fever. Nova's vision whited out, and his flesh began to crawl. He could feel the cells in his legs scrambling to rearrange themselves, the muscle knitting back together and the skin sealing over the bone.
When his sight returned, Nova was gasping for air, but the pain was gone. Fresh, skin-colored scar tissue covered the places where the mantis had been feeding. The cut on the man's arm had already closed.
"You're definitely him," Nova rasped, the realization hitting him harder than Chloe's slaps. "The Forgotten Hero. Atomomigimata's king. You're Sam. "
Sam rose, his eyes tracking something in the canopy that Nova couldn't see. "I haven't been a 'Hero' for a hundred and forty years. And I stopped being a 'King' the moment I realized my subjects cared more about my story than my rule."
He looked down at Nova, his expression unreadable. "You're a peculiar one. A mimic, perhaps?"
"Don't worry about that." Nova pushed himself up. His legs felt heavy, but they worked. "I owe someone a favor."
"Your other teammates tried as well. You found me, but you can't have me," Sam said, turning toward the deeper shadows of the ruins. "I left being the hero to the real ones."
He started walking, moving so smoothly he seemed to know where every branch and vine would be before he reached it.
"Hold on!" Nova called, staggering after him. "Where are you going?"
"To my grave," Sam replied without looking back.
"Your grave? I thought you couldn't die."
"My legacy is what died here, not me."
"How profound."
Nova followed Sam through the lush remains of the kingdom. What was left of a civilization lay buried beneath miles of roots: stones carved with Sam's face, cobblestones crumbling beneath their feet. They approached a slanted stone throne in the middle of a clearing. Not a single tree trunk stood within thirty feet of it.
"Sam, come on. Didn't you use to be a hero?"
"That was before your time."
"That doesn't matter."
Sam sighed and turned around. "Why are you following me?"
"'Cause I'm here to convince you to join me. You know, my sect is pretty good."
"Nothing that comes from Ogun is good." Sam sat on the throne and rested his cheek on his hand. Roots and vines had grown over the stone like natural bindings.
"Well, I wouldn't say that," Nova said, avoiding Sam's eyes. Sam's laser-sharp gaze burned through his facade.
Sam closed his eyes. "What will make you leave?"
"If you came with me. Peacefully, preferably," Nova squeaked.
Sam slowly rose, stretching his legs and arms. "I guess there's no choice."
"You know we don't have to fight."
"How could I follow someone as a leader if they can't beat me in battle?"
Nova stretched as well. "So be it." He planted his feet and bent his knees slightly, settling into a grappling stance.
"What are you doing?"
Nova flushed. "Oh, I thought— I thought we were going to, uh, fight?"
"Uhh, no. We're going to the town." Sam walked past him. Nova slowly uncoiled and followed behind, embarrassed.
"So I take it you came from the town?" Sam asked.
"Well, I came from Grymsnow, but it took me about three weeks to find you." Nova looked at the map again. "You really gotta update this thing. None of your admirers would ever find you."
"I never wanted to be found. We've got a while before we hit town, so tell me about your journey here. I need some entertainment."
"Sure. Let me think for a second."