Today was the day that my life, no, everything would change. All teenagers my age, 15, either look forward to or dread this very day. As this day only happens once a year, and we only get one chance. This day and the following month will decide your fate. Not to mention this event will either boost or ruin your family's reputation. This day marks the start of a competition to become a member of 'The Order of the Rising Dawn'. The very people who saved the world from extinction hundreds of years ago and made the Earth stable once again.
I studied the traditional ceremony entrance garb, no person is made to look above or below the other members. Even the colors are the simplest of the color spectrum, stark white, and spider black. Each and every participant in this competition had to be specially fitted so that all the dresses would look the same on all the bodies of the teens.
I locked the door to my room as I took a quick shower, thoroughly scrubbing my skin before washing my hair for what seemed an eternity. As soon as I was done I `walked to my bed and let the towel drop as I quickly put on my undergarments. I then covered and twisted my hair into another towel, allowing the fabric to absorb the water from my hair, preventing the fabric of the clothing from getting soaked.
The white silk of the dress felt soft against my skin, far different from the denim and jersey fabric I was used to. The end of the dress barely graced the end of my knees, the bottom also fading from white to gray to black making it slightly more interesting than the rest of the garments. The slim straps also sat nicely on my collarbones, neither too tight or too loose. The dress was accompanied by a silver belt which rested perfectly on my hips as well as two silver cuff bracelets that fit around my wrists almost like a prisoners gauntlet. Lastly, the shoes were a pair of white ballet flats which were quite bright against my skin.
Once everything was properly situated I pulled the towel off my head and let my hair fall down. I brushed my hair through with a comb before pulling it back into a tight braid, I couldn't afford for my hair to be in my face if we're thrown into a challenge right out of the gate. A deep sigh left my throat as I stared at the room I had come to know as home, this might be the last time I set foot in this room again if I ended up winning.
A knock came from my door startling me back to reality. I unlocked my door and opened it and was greeted by the sight of my uncle. A proud smile was on his face but there were tears in his eyes
"What is it Uncle Jester?" I questioned.
He put his hands on my shoulder "I'm so proud of you Octavia, you've trained so hard for this and I've never seen someone work as hard as you. I know that you'll make it. I'll be watching every night."
Oh right, the competition is televised so families can watch their children.
"I promise you I'll make it, I'll make my parents proud wherever they are."
He gave me a hug before letting me go and wiping the tears from his eyes. "Now, the escort is here and the others are arriving as well. Remember, keep your face like a stone until they close the doors to the vehicle, they all report back to their commander on the behavior of the arrivals."
I nodded my head before giving him one final hug goodbye. After I let go I let my smile fall from my lips and my face muscles relax entirely. I took in a deep breath and let it out with all my nerves. Self-control was the most important trait that a member of The Order needed to have, without it, they would be reckless.
Memories flashed inside my brain as I walked through my childhood home that I sadly hope to never see again. As once you're picked to become a Guard or Assassin for the order, you stay in the citadel in the room you're given till the day you retire or die.
Once I was at the front door I could almost feel the presence of the guards waiting outside. I pushed open the doors and was greeted by two masked members of the order holding their guns in front of them. What I would assume would have been their eyes locked onto my own and they began to lead the way to the vehicle where others would be waiting inside. I knew who would be inside as well, my friends since the days we were in school. Two of them had been getting bullied which I wouldn't stand for, and neither did another girl. We had stopped the bullying and become inseparable. We visited constantly, and I knew that I was richer than some of them so I did my best to help them out.
The car was in front of me before I realized it. One of the guards opened the door and I stepped inside, greeted by my friends who wore their stone faces as well. We simply stared at each other, waiting for when we could drop the face that took extreme self-control. Only once the door was shut and the car was moving did we drop the masks and start smiling.
"Saige I'm surprised you managed to get Scout into a suit!" I laughed out
Scout managed to retort during his laughing fit "Now that's just cruel 'Via! I consider myself a gentleman if I do say so myself!"
Saige slapped him upside the head with a smile. "Now, we both know that's a damn lie Scout! You practically threw a fit when I made you get changed this morning."
Scout rubbed the back of his head with a smile fitting of a Cheshire cat. I saw Alyssa facepalm out of the corner of my eye while she laughed out "I swear to the Goddess Scout, sometimes you're worse than my younger brothers."
Scout then put his hand over his heart and let out an obviously fake gasp "I'm offended that you would ever compare me to those little demons."
Saige let out a sigh before looking over to Alyssa herself "I'm surprised you didn't dunk your dress in paint yet Alyssa. It's almost unnerving seeing you in just black and white."
Alyssa fell back into her seat as she groaned " By the Goddess, I really wanted to, but my parents basically locked this thing up until this morning so I didn't get the chance."
I let out another laugh as I looked over my friends. It was true, we all looked extremely different from how we usually chose to be dressed. Alyssa who usually wore pastels and patterns that complimented her dark skin looked rather strange in her white and black outfit. And Saige, who usually let her fiery curls stay loose and free had straightened her hair and pulled it back into a tight bun. But Scout looked like another person entirely. His red hair was combed and gelled back and his trademark hoodie was nowhere in sight. It was almost unsettling seeing all of us as we are now.
I joined the conversation once more " I would have thought your parents wouldn't have even allowed you to get the ceremonial garb. They always wanted you to stay in their shop and learn how to run their 'family business'."
Alyssa practically buried her head in her hands as she groaned "They honest to the Goddess above weren't going to let me go, try and hide me until the ceremony had begun. I tried to talk to them about it but they didn't change their mind until two guards came to the door and told them if I wasn't fitted and accounted for during the pickups then they would be taken to the Void for disrupting the process of the selection. "
Saige grinned "Bet they changed their minds real quick when they heard that."
"Oh they did, they took me straight down to the tailor and paid for me to get fitted." Alyssa laughed out.
Scout then scoffed causing all of our attention to go to him. I raised an eyebrow at him in confusion leading him to explain his scoff. "The only thing bigger than their pride is their desire to keep up their stupid social standing."
Alyssa let out a surprised cough "Thank you, Scout! Finally, someone said it!"
Scout rubbed the back of his head while giving a small laugh. Saige and I looked at each other for a few moments to roll our eyes before turning back to our other two friends. It's been obvious for years that Scout likes Alyssa, at least to Saige and I. But do to Alyssa's stubbornness and refusal to believe anyone would actually like her, she doesn't see it. At times I just want to shove them into a closet to make them sort out their feelings.
A thought slipped into my head, I wonder what this year's competition will be, it changes every year…
"I don't know, but last year's opening competition was really rough. I think about 27 participants were hospitalized due to injuries alone." Scout acknowledged the question ringing through my head. How did he-god damn it I'm an idiot.
I put my face in my hands and groaned out "Oh goddess I said that out loud. Well, that's lovely."
"Don't worry about it 'Via I think we all wondering the same thing."
"Yeah Octavia, I mean with how the last few years opening competitions have been getting tougher I'm a little worried for our odds of getting in." Saige chimed in.
I sighed out "I'm worried to guys, so I'm trying to guess what we'll be asked to do."
Alyssa rubbed her head, thinking of what to do. "Then let's look back at, say, the last five years of opening competitions."
She began listing the previous competitions while counting them off on her fingers. "Last year the participants had to fight against members who had been recruited the year before them. The year before that the participants had to hunt down and kill one of those who were thrown into the Void for murder. Before that, the participants were thrown off guard by being told to race against one of the (TBD)'s personal 'hounds'. Failure to beat a hound resulted in being removed from the ceremonial competition entirely. That was the shortest year of all time." She took in a deep breath before continuing. "The previous ear the participants were told to fight against some of (TBD)'s personal war pets which had just been brought back from a battlefield earlier in the morning, still bloodthirsty. And the year before that they were sent into the forest of the Old Gods to find and retrieve items hidden the day before."
"Leave it to Alyssa to remember all of the events that happened in the history of this competition and the participants involved. Meanwhile, Scout can't even remember our own Mum's birthday." Saige sighed out.
"Hey! I remember Mum's birthday! It's on the 18th of September!" Scout retorted.
Saige slapped a hand onto her forehead with a groan "You idiot! Mum's birthday is on the 16th of November!"
Scout sheepishly lowered his head while running a hand through his hair, most likely embarrassed by his lack of memory. I let out a small laugh, he'd been this way for as long I can remember and I still find it one of his most adorable little quirks.
Alyssa broke the silence with a comment "Anyway, there are quite a few possibilities of what the opening ceremony could be." And
I raised an eyebrow as Saige and Scout turned their heads to look at her again.
"We could be fighting against other 'participants', previous or current. Fighting against one of (TBD)'s war pets. Given a target to take out over a limited amount of time. Or told to retrieve an item that will be hidden in an area." Her eyebrows furrowed together in thought. "Of course, there is always the slight possibility that we'll be given the opening challenge of being asked to exhibit how eloquent we are with words by preparing a speech about a given topic in a single day before presenting it to a council of sorts, or the general public."
Saige went white at the thought, she had some of the worst social anxiety I've ever seen. Back in school whenever we had to present a project she always went last, no matter what. It wasn't as bad when she was in a group as she only had to speak a little. But when she had to present by herself she would stutter to the point of being incomprehensible. Not to mention her hands and legs would shake and she would have little ticks that would at times cause her harm. There were several other things obvious as well. She's gotten a little better over the past few years but nothing's changed that much, she still hates speaking in front of people.
"Alyssa, how often does that one come up?" I had to find some way to calm Saige's nerves or else she'd lose all of her confidence and wouldn't stand a chance at being selected.
"Every twelve to fifteen years or so. The last opening ceremony like that took place around seven-eight years ago so we should be safe from that choice."
Saige leaned back into her seat and let out a deep breath "Oh thank the Goddess, I would have made a fool out of myself."
I smiled towards Saige, glad that she wouldn't have to go through that. She'd get teased quite a lot for having her anxiety, but she couldn't help having that problem.
"Alrighty new topic, how long do you think this year's competition will last? Last years was almost six months for Goddess's sake." I brought up a new topic seeing as talking about the competitions seemed to be making everyone a little unsettled.
"I don't know to see as we're the last generation born before the rebellion really started up. I mean our high school grade alone had around 470 kids and this competition brings everyone around the country to this citadel. I'm going to guess it'll take around eight months at the least." Alyssa then let out a small sigh "After this year's competition, the number of participants will be going far down as the rebellion has prevented children from being safely born…"
Scout placed his hand on her shoulder, knowing what had happened to her family only a year ago. We all remember it.
~~~~~~
Alyssa had called us over to the hospital saying that her aunt who treated us all as her own children was in labor. We were maybe ten back then, and really eager to meet 'our little sibling'. Scout, Saige and I made it to the hospital and to Alyssa's aunt room when the rebellion struck. A dozen or so soldiers wearing strange clothes and armor rushed through the hospital capturing and killing all those that they could. The four of us did our best to barricade the doors while the doctors and nurses surrounded Aunt Dahlia, trying to find how to get her out of here.
We put just about everything we could move in front of the door, shelving units, unused heavy medical equipment, even spare beds in the room. I could hear the soldiers banging and shooting at the metal door, trying to barge their way into the room. Aunt Dahlia screamed as she pushed her baby out, struggling to stay calm. As the rebellion soldiers pushed harder at the door I found myself throwing my own body at the door of the room, determined to keep them out until soldier could arrive.
After what seemed to be half an hour of working to keep the rebellion out soldiers from the Order arrived and took them all down. Aunt Dahlia's own husband was in the unit, returning from a previous mission assigned to him. We didn't even let him and the other soldiers into the room until the Doctor told me to let them in. It took a few minutes to get all the stuff out of the way but the soldiers got in.
Aunt Dahlia gave birth to a little girl who she named Artemis, after one of the old gods. Due to the stress of the event that happened when she was giving birth, at least that's what the doctor said, Artemis was born a mute. But I never considered being mute to be a disadvantage though, if anything it was an advantage to have. Not to mention she was already great at sneaking around the house without being caught. When she participated she'd be an amazing spy or assassin for the Order.
~~~~~
Alyssa shook her head, "I don't want to think about that anymore. Let's talk about something else shall we?"
"Like what?" Scout asked skeptically, seeing a certain gleam in her eye.
"Like the fact that just last night it was announced that our leader herself is going to be present throughout the entire ceremony this year."
"Has she not been present throughout the previous ceremonies?"
"No, she hasn't been present throughout an entire competition for the past 15 years, not since the rebels first made themselves apparent."
"Shouldn't she make herself more apparent to show that she and the Order aren't weak?"
"Scout you idiot, if she made herself more apparent she would have been attacked more often and caused the death of hundreds of guards. That would have made them so much more vulnerable and the rebels would have the possibility of taking over once more."
"Oh….I guess I never thought about it that way."
Alyssa sighed and leaned back in her seat. "I wonder where we are right now? We've been on the road for the nearly two hours now."
"Well there's a window right there," I lazily gestured to the window on right "Let's open it and find out."
I turned myself to face the window and tapped the button that pictured a window lowering. As the window lowered we were greeted by a sight that left me breathless. We had reached the border of the citadel. Large white marble houses surrounded by acres of open land went as far as the eye could see. Beautifully carved statues of our beloved Goddess were situated outside a temple that was larger than any building I've ever seen before.
"We're actually here…" Saige breathed out.
Alyssa mumbled something to herself while I kept staring. I had nearly forgotten how upscale the citadel was, after all, all those with political power lived up here. But what really counts will be my actions around those who are members of the council. The people who will make the decision of who will be chosen to be in the top 75 participants. And the people to which I will report and serve under until the day I am retired or die at the hands of an enemy rebel soldier.
Once I snapped back to reality I noticed we were approaching a wall that seemed to go on for hundreds of miles. So, this was the entrance to the citadel. The wall was different from its beautiful surroundings, black in color with defenses lined all around the wall and most likely inside the walls as well. Even from where I sat I could see soldiers and members of the order patrolling the walls in their squadrons. That would be me one day, hopefully.
This year's group of participants was going to be huge, at the very least there would most likely be around 20,000 others participating. Though many would be dismissed once we got there, if they didn't display self-control when being picked up then they wouldn't even make it to the first challenge. In last years competition, over 2,000 went home as they didn't know their self-control was being judged as well as their fighting abilities. Many weren't happy about being dismissed either. A cocky sophomore at my own school who believed he would win the entire ceremony was dismissed at the beginning because of that very reason. He's been nothing but a nuisance to the teachers and other students ever since.
I closed the window once more and fell back into my seat. I could feel my heart thumping against my chest, it was finally sinking in that I was here and would be competing soon. My hand twitched a little due to the adrenaline running through my body. My friends all had the same look on their face, realization, and nervousness. As the car passed through the entrance of the citadel's walls I let my expression fade into nothing. The skills and abilities would be put to the test here, and ultimately decide my fate.