Zilferia

I wake up slowly, pulling myself from the security that the pill I took last night caused. I feel safe and… like I belong for the first time since I can remember. This feeling is inexplicable, for I know I do not belong here. And yet… it feels like I do. I remember the song of the trees. It’s almost as if I’ve been here before. Shaking off these feelings, I try to mentally prepare myself for the new day and everything Vlad had promised would take place.

I will meet the other contestants, make new friends, and, more likely than not, make new enemies as well. I will meet the other three ‘advisors’- Thaddeus, Zelda, and Y’vette. Although they may have something to do with my ‘education,’ my advisor is really Vladimir. Glancing at my watch, I see that it still works- it’s even changed to tell the time in Zilferia rather than Earth. I shake my head in disbelief, then shrug, figuring it’s not the most crazy thing that’s happened to me lately. I see that it’s about nine o’clock.

Getting up, I look out the window of my little hut. The sun confirms that it’s nine. I quickly get dressed in some clothes that I find on the bedside table. They are obviously for me, so I assume someone came in during the night and left them for me.

Pulling them on, I feel the fine quality of the threads caressing my body with its smooth, almost silky and velvety, feeling. There is a shirt, jacket, and pants all the same shade of rich, dark green. I smile as I pull on the soft black boots. These clothes are great! They are made with great quality, plus they are easy to move around in. Are these what I have to wear to the Games? …At least they are light and flexible. After admiring them for a little longer, I decide, …I should probably go. Vlad said to meet him outside of this building before nine thirty. And that could be any minute now.

As I exit the clean little wooden hut, I leave behind both my old clothes as well as my old life, stepping into my new insanity that is, supposedly, Zilferia. Looking around, I don’t see Vlad, so I sit down on the ground and redo my braided hair, for it has come partially undone overnight. He still hasn’t arrived by the time I finish, so I lean back against the hut and enjoy the perfect weather and song of the trees. After a few minutes, I get the feeling that something is wrong, so I stand up and begin searching, although I’m not really sure what I should be looking for.

I roam through the Village. Although it’s quite large, it is also very organized. I am currently in a section of the Village without many people out and about. The huts all look like the one that I was sequestered in for the night, except for half of those in this section. The other half are larger huts that have colored doors- green, black, yellow, blue, orange, purple, and red. I can’t see the other sections from here, but it looks like the Village is organized according to function with an open spot in the center, although there may be something there. I can’t see anything through all the buildings, however.

Soon I come across a girl sitting in front of another of the smaller huts, looking lost. She is also wearing soft green clothes.

“Hi,” I say, coming up to the girl. She stands and looks at me shyly. “Are you a contestant?” I ask her. Looking surprised, she nods.

“Y- yes,” she stammers. “I’m from Earth. Uh- the second one? Vlad said that First Earth is more advanced, and I think he said that I’m from Second Earth, but I’m not really sure. It gets kind of confusing.”

“So am I!” I say, a little surprised. “Are you waiting for Vlad?” She nods. “Yeah, me too. But there’s no sign of him.”

“I know,” she sighs. “I’ve been waiting for him for almost half an hour, I think.”

“Well, let’s wait for him together,” I suggest. She agrees, and we sit down together and start talking and introducing ourselves.

“My name is Sierra Davis,” she says. I look at her and am instantly caught up in her beautiful blond hair as it falls in long straight strands around her face and especially her stunning green eyes. “I’m 16. I’m shy, but my friends say that I’m smart and creative.”

“My name is Crystal Shay and I’m also 16. I’m from Second Earth and I care a lot about others. …So, you mentioned Vlad. Did he ‘recruit’ you too?”

She laughs bitterly. “More like he dragged me here. He had me kidnapped, chucked in a room for a while, then told me an outrageous story about alternate universes and ‘Gifts’ that I could have. When I told him that he’s insane, he laughed and said that I couldn’t escape, and that I am going to participate in the Games whether I like it or not.”

I laugh as well. “Sounds about right. I tried to fight, so he drugged my little sister and threatened me with her. I had to leave her behind and go with him. Vlad sure didn’t explain much about the Games themselves, though.”

“Yeah…. I wonder why that is? Is it super dangerous? I just want to go home! Is that too much to ask?”

Suddenly another voice pipes in. “Apparently it is.”

Jumping to my feet, I assume a defensive pose. “Who’s there?” I demand. A boy walks around the corner of the hut, hands in the air.

“Whoa! Calm down! I’m just here looking for Vlad. No need to attack.”

I relax and sit back down next to Sierra. Peering up at him, I see that he also has the same kind of clothes as me. He looks to be about 6 feet tall with hazel eyes, short brown hair, and looks strong and lithe as well. I catch my breath. I’ve been meeting a lot of cute boys lately, and this one is no different. I feel a blush starting to blossom on my cheeks as I think about what kind of first impression I must have made. “…You must be another contestant then.”

“Yep,” he says, sitting down next to me. “Either of you have any idea where Vlad got to? Not that I really want to know, it’s just that he said he would talk to me at 10 outside my hut. But he’s not there. So I wandered around looking for him and came across you two. Did Vlad drag you guys along as well?”

We both nod. “I thought so,” he continues. “Well, now is as good a time as ever to start making new friends, right? My name is Nathan Anderson. I am 16 and I have a little sister, Anna, who’s four, at home on ‘First Earth’ with my parents and my Grandma Beryl. So Vlad, of course, threatened to hurt them in order to get me to come along. Anything like that happen to either of you?”

I nod. “Yes, he captured my little sister along with me and then threatened me with her. So I had no other choice but to come along with that lunatic. She’s only nine!”

“I think we should find him and give him a piece of our mind!” Sierra says. Nathan and I agree, standing and looking around.

“Um, any idea where we should go?” I ask. They both shake their heads. Sighing, I spot a tall, gray haired man strolling just outside of the group of huts, a long black walking cane in his hand, although he doesn’t appear to actually need it. “Hey, how about we go ask him? He might know where Vlad is.” They both agree with this, so we start walking over to the man. He spots us as we come towards him and stops to wait for us.

Before we can say anything, he guesses, “You three are looking for Vladimir, aren’t you?” Surprised at how he knew this, we nod. “Ah, just as I thought. Vladimir must be testing how resourceful you are. He told you he would be at your hut for you, didn’t he? At least tell me he didn’t neglect to tell you of what you are supposed to do today?”

We shrug. “All he told us,” Nathan says, “is that we would be meeting the other contestants and some ‘advisors’ named Thaddeus, Zelda, and Y’vette. He didn’t tell us where to go, though. And he didn’t tell us any details about the Games or just what we are supposed to do.”

The man sighs. “It’s just like him not to tell everything to those who need to know. …I’m Thaddeus. I will show you three to the place where the rest of the contestants are meeting each other and their advisors. Vlad is, I believe, meeting with someone he wasn’t even told to bring here.” Shaking his head, he sighs again. “He was told not to choose favorites. Oh, well. Please, follow me,” he says, then starts walking toward the center of the town.

We follow him and after about five minutes, we enter the ‘clearing’ in the middle of the town, which is a square shaped area with cobblestone flooring and some wooden tables that are nearly hidden behind the large stage at one end of the area. There are a few people wandering around, talking to each other. Once again, they all seem to be wearing about the same outfit as me. “Welcome to the Town Square,” Thaddeus says, waving an arm grandly, showing the place to us. “Feel free to wander, or just seek out Vladimir and speak with him. He has much more to tell you.”

Thanking him, we continue down the slight slope into the Square. Before we can make our way to Vlad, however, a guy with brown hair and stunning blue eyes comes up to us. Walking between Sierra and I, he lays an arm on our shoulders. Annoyed, I shrug it off and continue toward Vlad.

“Hey!” He calls, running up in front of me, forcing me to stop. “What’s the big rush? This time is for meeting the other contestants, like me! So, how do you do?” he asks with a flirty grin. “My name is Jake Elwood and I am 17, almost 18. I’m from Ponorama and I love to run, play sports, and wrestle any monsters that come near my village,” he gloats. “Who are you?”

“Crystal Shay from Second Earth. Now go away, I need to talk to Vladimir right now.” I’m not normally this forward, especially with a guy I don’t even know, but right now I’m not in the mood to play games.

He whistles and sounds as if he’s hurt. “Ouch! A feisty one, are you? Well, that’s alright. That suits me just fine. You’ll learn, Crystal. I’m not your enemy, so you don’t need to treat me like one. And by the way, I love your eyes. Your outfit really makes them pop.” And with that, he walks away, leaving me even more confused than when I first came here.

Shaking it off, we head toward Vlad again. But he’s no longer there! Frustrated, I turn to a lady standing near us with short brown hair and green eyes with a strand of brown in each of them. “Excuse me,” I say politely. “But do you know where we can find Vlad? He seems to be avoiding us.”

She laughs. “That’s because he is! He just loves to be that unknown character, lurking in the darkness. He’s avoiding you so he can just watch and see how well you adapt to being in Zilferia. But you want some answers, don’t you? Well, ask away. I’m an advisor too, you know. My name is Zelda. How can I help you?”

Nathan answers her for all of us. “Well, first off, you can explain the Games with more detail. We have no idea what we’re in for.”

“Well, I can’t tell you much. It’s supposed to be a surprise for everyone but we advisors, but I can tell you that you will go through many Challenges, facing some of the different creatures that live here, or facing other teams. There are a few different Challenges that you will go through, although I cannot tell you the definite number- nor what the First Challenge is. That would be cheating! One person can’t know more than the rest of the contestants, or else the equality of the challenges would be ruined.

“The Challenges are meant to bring out your Gifts. Each Challenge tests a different skill- or more than one. It may be fighting, logistical skills, speed, etc., so we can attempt to find your Gifts. Your advisor should be beginning to help you develop some of these necessary skills today. Vlad should show his face by then, but for now, go ahead and be social butterflies! Make some new friends! Lunch will be served around noon. If you get tired and wish to take a nap or just relax, then you may go into the woods, providing that one of us is with you so you do not get lost or attacked by any creatures that live at the edge of the woods. Have fun!” she says, then flits away to talk to someone else.

“Well, I guess we won’t get to Vlad until after lunch,” Sierra says. We nod, disappointed. “So what do we do now? Talk to the other contestants? Because I really don’t feel like making any more friends right now,” she adds. Nathan and I agree.

“What do you think we should do?” Nathan asks me. “Go relax in the woods?”

I shrug. “Sounds better than talking about yourself over and over again to a bunch of competitors.” They both agree, so we start walking toward the edge of the trees. As we go, I feel someone watching me, so I turn to see who it is. The only one looking our way is a short, somewhat chubby kid with blonde hair that’s almost short enough to be a buzz cut. The instant he catches me peering him, however, he turns away.

Hmm… I wonder why that kid was watching us… pushing the thought out of my mind, I follow my new friends towards the woods. Already the trees’ song is relaxing me, soothing my fears and pushing them out of my mind momentarily. Sitting down in the lush green grass, I lean back against a tree and breathe in the sweet scent carried on the gentle breeze.

Letting go of all my worries, I finally feel at peace for the first time in a long time. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this peaceful and relaxed. I was always worried about what others thought of me and things I had to get done. But right now, I don’t have a care in the world.

After about an hour of dozing in the shade of the trees, I wake up with a nagging feeling that something is wrong. Unable to put my finger on it, I lay back down and try to relax, but I can’t. Something is wrong. Sitting up, I look around, but don’t see anyone or anything. Suddenly the words Zelda said to us come back to me. “If you get tired and wish to take a nap or just relax, then you may go into the woods, provided that one of us is with you so you do not get lost or attacked by any creatures that live at the edge of the woods.”

Creatures in the woods? I think, starting to panic. What- what kind of creatures? What would they do to us? … It’s probably best not to find out! I decide. Standing up, I walk over to my sleeping companions and shake their shoulders. They are completely out. Are they just sleeping… or are they literally knocked out? I wonder, starting to panic now. What happened to them? Why won’t they wake up?!

I shake them harder, but they remain asleep. Something suddenly rustles in the woods just a little bit away from us. I tense, preparing to defend my new friends from this new threat. But out of the rustling bush, out comes nothing but a cute little bunny. Relieved, I bend down and pick it up, rubbing its long floppy, adorable ears. I sneeze, and for some inexplicable reason, I begin feeling drowsy again. My eyes are sliding shut, and I can’t seem to stop them.

Just before they close, though, I turn towards the town and catch sight of the guy I saw watching us earlier coming toward us. Seeing me, he breaks into a sprint. And then, my eyelids slam shut and I black out.

“Are you alright? Oh, please wake up!”

This is the first thing I hear, and I don’t recognize the voice, so I react like I’ve always been taught by my self-defense teacher and I jump up, defending my torso and preparing to attack the enemy. I quickly fall back onto the bed, though, my body not quite obeying me and my head thumping hard in time with my heartbeats. The person standing in front of me is the blond boy that I last saw running towards me. He looks startled, then relieved.

“Oh, good! You’re alive!” he exclaims. This statement seems odd to me. What? What does he mean that I’m still alive? Of course I’m still alive! Why wouldn’t I be?

“What- what happened?” I groan, holding my head between my hands, trying to get the deep, throbbing pain to go away.

“What happened is that you three went into the woods alone, even though Zelda specifically told you not to,” a familiar voice says.

“Oh, well nice of you to finally show up, Vlad. Way to be a supportive advisor. Great job advising us! Don’t tell us that you will be there and then don’t show up next time! Oh, and maybe you should make sure to tell us if any innocent looking creatures can put us to sleep or kill us!” I yell at him. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I’m just too mad and fed up to hold back the tirade. His job is to help us and teach us, but so far he has failed at everything but getting us here.

The blond kid glances back and forth between our faces, looking frightened as I unleash my anger at Vlad. Vlad looks almost murderous. He seems to be a completely different person than the one I met yesterday. But then again, I’ve only known him for a few hours. His reaction scares me, but then he calms himself and says, “Consider yourself without an advisor, then. I will not advise someone like you. I refuse. Good luck finding yourself another one! After I tell them all of your insolence, none of them will take you in and teach you,” he says with a calm madness in his voice. His mouth twitches upward into a small smile.

“Fine,” I respond, the reality of what just happened not hitting me just yet. “It’s not like I really even had an advisor in the first place.”

This seems to make him even more furious. He storms out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The blond kid looks at me, surprise and awe in his blue eyes. “Wow. I can’t believe you just stood up to Vladimir like that.” I shrug, sitting back down on the bed with a wince. “No, really. That guy is scary. And not only that, but now you have next to no chance of winning the Games. Advisors are absolutely necessary in order to win. In fact, they’re necessary in order to survive on this universe- and most others as well.”

I shrug again. “Oh, well. I’m better off alone than trying to lean on someone who’s not there and end up being hurt and let down. Besides, I’m sure I can get one of the other advisors to help me out. I’ve already talked to Zelda, and she seemed to like me. Plus, they said that we would be put into teams, right? Well, if I need to know something, then my other team member will teach me.” I say with absolute confidence.

The boy stares at me with disbelief. “Wow. I want you on my team! You’re so strong and confident! I wish I could be more like that… By the way, my name is Ham Jacobson and I’m 17 and from Ponorama.”

“Crystal Shay from Second Earth. I’m 16. So, can you explain what happened?”

“When do you mean?” he asks jokingly. “You probably have questions for everything that happened recently! I know I do!”

I laugh. “You know what I mean. Why were you watching me as I made my way to the woods? Why did that bunny put me to sleep? Why did you say that it’s a good thing I’m alive? And if you were concerned about me, how are Nathan and Sierra?”

He looks a little uncomfortable. “Um… well, I was watching you three leave because I wondered where you were going, and… well, I don’t have many friends, even though I’ve been here the longest. I got here a week ago. You three just met, but you all seem pretty tight. And that- bunny, you called it?- is a Sietta. It’s a creature that lives on Ponorama and Zilferia. Everyone on Ponorama, even the small children – and probably everyone here as well- knows that it puts people to sleep. The thing is, they don’t usually wake up. That’s why I said that it’s a good thing you woke up. As for Nathan and Sierra, I have no idea. They were asleep longer and the Sietta’s sleep affect seemed to effect them more than you for some reason. In fact, we should go check on them.”

I try to nod, but this sends waves of pain shooting through my skull. Groaning, I hold my head. “Don’t worry, the after-effects are temporary,” Ham assures me. “If you don’t do anything, the pain should be almost gone by tomorrow morning, as well as any weakness you feel in your body. But if you can get something from the doctors here, then it will all fade within an hour or so.”

“Alright. Let’s go!” I say, slowly standing up. I stagger to the door, realizing as I go that I am in a hut similar to the one I was given- probably Ham’s.

“Um… are you sure you can come with?” Ham asks. “I mean, the Games start tomorrow night, so you want to be at your best.”

“I’ll be fine!” I insist. A few steps later, though, and I’m not so certain. “Maybe… you should be ready to catch me, just in case,” I tell him. He nods.

We make it to the medical building, but just barely. As I walk in the door, my legs finally give out and I collapse. Luckily, the nurse at the door catches me just in time. Embarrassed, I try to pull myself up, but the nurse won’t allow it. Calling two other nurses, she tells them to get a stretcher and then lay me out on it and take me up to a room. They then lay me down on a bed and leave to get a doctor. Ham comes up to the side of the bed.

“They act like I can’t do anything for myself!” I say, frustrated and confused over the nurses’ swift and controlling actions. “I feel fine, except for this headache and my body doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. They act like I shouldn’t be moving around at all!”

Ham looks embarrassed. “Um, you probably shouldn’t be. Especially after being that close to a Sietta. I probably should have left you in the hut to get the doctors.”

“I would have come anyway,” I state. “I can’t stand not being able to move around. I wouldn’t be able to just lay on my bed all day- I think that would drive me insane!”

He nods. “That’s what I thought. And I think it would be fine, but apparently the nurses think otherwise.”

As we finish talking, the doctor walks in. Before I can say anything, he looks me up and down and says, “Well, well, well. Already we have three contestants in the hospital, and the Games haven’t even begun yet! And for you to actually have the nerve to pick up a Sietta… well, you’re lucky you’re still breathing, girl.”

“Yeah, well, do you have anything to get rid of the side-effects? This headache and not being able to move around is really starting to bother me,” I say. The doctor nods as if he knew that this was just what I would say. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a needle and shows it to me. I don’t like needles.

“This has the medicine you need in it. Now, please roll up your sleeve.” He smiles. “Trust me, this is to help you,” he adds when he sees me eyeing the needle unhappily.

Gulping, I cautiously roll up my sleeve, then turn my head away and close my eyes. But then I can’t resist and look back just as the needle enters my skin. I instantly feel tired again.

Yawning, I accuse the doctor, saying, “You… you didn’t tell me that it would put me to sleep again! I- I don’t want to… sleep…” The last thing I see before I fall asleep is Ham standing guard over me. The sight comforts me as I slip into unconsciousness.