// BEFORE //

Evenfall City was a miracle, they said. Refuge turned fortress turned haven, surrounded by walls both physical and otherwise but with gates open to all. It marked the crossing between Amaranth and Valk, separated east from west, stood as a grand testament to the power of neutrality. It was a proud city, a hero city, a place whose sheer existence defied the world.

To Vee it was mostly just home. She'd been born there, had lived in Evenfall her entire life, had never even considered the possibility of leaving. She was a citizen through and through, of purest type.

She pushed her face into the flowers as she walked. They were a treat, but didn't she deserve it? Hadn't she earned them? She was improving by the day, everyone said so. There had even been mention of her replacing Miles VanDean when he stood down.

She reached the conservatory and was instantly attacked, her assailant leaping from the shadows.

"Ah!" she cried. "No hugs! I have flowers!"

Caleb twisted in the air to throw himself past Vee, spinning his momentum into a twirling dance.

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"Amazing news, huh Vee?" he said. "Lovely flowers by the way, you do those yourself?"

"Oh yes, I just picked them on a whim, arranged them as I walked, plucked a colourful ribbon from the breeze--no, Tizzy did them for me, of course. I wanted something special for the anniversary."

Caleb stopped his dance. "It's been a year already?"

"Exactly one year," Vee said, walking into the conservatory proper, through slices of sunlight from high thin windows. "What's the amazing news?"

"The tour! The caravan! Didn't you see it outside, that's for us!"

Vee stood on tiptoes to peer inside a vase. She did vaguely recall a few carriages and such on the street outside. "For us for what?"

"For travelling, you nonce. Six months of adventure, we're going to see the world!"

Vee turned. "We're what."

"Valk first, then through Stox and Wyrne then all the way down to Muur, can you even imagine?"

"But, but, when was this decided? When ... why do we ... do we even get a choice?"

"It's supposed to be exciting, Vee."

"It's not exciting! It's terrifying! Outside of Evenfall is, it's outside!"

Caleb stared at Vee as his face was eaten by red shadows. Vee screamed but no sound came from her mouth. The conservatory dissolved, replaced by an expanse of crimson nothing. In the distance something moved, large and slow, and from nowhere came a female voice:

"Hello. You have been chosen. Aren't you lucky. Now I don't wish to panic you, but you're in quite the precarious situation. Would that it could be otherwise. So it's kill or be killed, I'm afraid. I wonder, will you be a sacrifice? Or will you be a survivor?

"Anyway. Welcome to Death Theory. Today, your life begins."