Zusia, Desmond, 10416 P.C.

Even during the late-night hour, the city was alive with sounds and lights. Stephanie left the monorail car, her feet pounding the landing as she made her way toward the stairs leading down into the street. The monorail hadn't been as crowded as it often was during the day, but she still had to brush past many people to get to ground level. The street she entered was busy; lights flashed and storefronts were decorated with all the different sorts of products they were selling, boasting of discounts, twinkling with lights. Stephanie walked by with unseeing eyes, pulling her coat tighter about her slim form as she stepped around groups of chattering people. She was still unnaturally cold, and she was sure it had nothing to do with the chill of the night. She slipped away from the main market streets, following the back alleys until she found what she was looking for.

Noe's Diner, a glittering little eatery on one of the back streets, was her and Marcie's favourite place to eat out. The bell above the door jingled as she opened it and walked inside. The place was small, yet cozy, one of the warmest places in Zusia in Stephanie's mind. Despite the hour, many people sat in the booths, enjoying a late supper or dessert or drink. The little eatery was run by Noe, a man about ten years Stephanie's senior. He was always overly nice to the girls, a bit on the pudgier side — he liked food too much, he claimed — with dark skin and light eyes. When he saw Stephanie enter, he catcalled from behind the counter, his eyes shining with a smile his face never showed.

"Lookie lookie, back from her Test already."

Stephanie pushed herself up onto one of the barstools at the counter. "Already? It's practically midnight, Noe."

He snorted as he bustled about behind the counter — preparing her usual for her, she knew. "I didn't get back from my Test until three in the morning, sweetheart. Count yourself lucky you weren't the youngest of your year." He lifted an eyebrow, giving her a glance over. "It went well?"

"I guess." The dead man's face flashed in her mind. Do you like being a murderer? She shuddered.

Noe was oblivious to her reaction. He scooped ice cream out of the freezer, humming. "I remember my Test," he said, almost wistfully. "Them were the hard years, I tell you. My ma was so frightened for me, but pops said it done me good." He paused, the scoop in his hand floating above the bowl as his eyes stared off into space the way they often did. Making a clucking noise with his tongue, he flung the ice cream into the bowl. "Couldn't tell ya why he thought that. His boy became a darn baker nonethelesser."

"You've told me this story." Like thirty times, she didn't add. Noe seemed blind to how lucky he was to have known his parents. She didn't know hers. Neither did Marcie. In fact, next to none of the Trainees did. There were a few exceptions, but those were incredibly rare.

Noe dropped a cherry on the top of her banana split. It tumbled off the side. He tried again. "Well, here's to celebrate," he said, finally just taking the cherry and pushing it into the ice cream so it would stay put. "You're finally out of the system and into society." He placed the dish before her proudly.

Stephanie accepted the spoon he handed her and proceeded to knock the cherry to the side. She heard Noe sigh. "Tomorrow," she corrected him. "The graduation ceremony is tomorrow."

He nodded, his many chins bouncing. "Or, really, today." He tapped his watch and plucked a cherry out of a container, plopping it in his mouth. "Where's Marcie? Still Testing?"

"I guess." Stephanie had done her best to avoid thinking about Marcie and her impending Test. Knowing now what her Test had been like... she wasn't sure how Marcie would react to it. Marcie wasn't a cold-blooded murderer.

Not like Stephanie was.

Noe must have picked up on her worry. "She'll be fine, love. Eat your ice cream and cheer up. Trainees don't ever die in the Tests — I mean, well, rarely. They step in and stop things before anyone dies. She'll be fine."

Stephanie stared down at her ice cream, a bitter taste in her mouth. "You're wrong. I killed people tonight. People died." The words were emotionless, spoken with blunt honesty. She wanted to feel something, but couldn't. It was just all a part of the Test.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Besides, those men must have deserved to die. Why else would they have been in the arena? Only those deserving of death ended up there.

Except she had been in there.

Noe cleared his throat. "It's okay, Stephanie. It's just how it is. Don't beat yourself up over it, okay sweetheart?" His voice found its regular bouncy tone. "Eat your ice cream."

He left her alone after that, tending to his other customers as she slowly ate her dessert. The minutes ticked by dully; she and Marcie had agreed to meet in the diner after their Tests were done, but it was getting late. She waited. Having finished her ice cream, she put her head down on the counter and closed her eyes, fighting away visions of dying swordsmen and blood. The woman's voice haunted her ears, and more than once she thought she heard it beside her again. She was still so cold — not that the ice cream had helped any. Voices murmured around her, and every once in a while she felt Noe pat her head in a comforting sort of way as he passed by. She wanted to stay awake, but it was getting harder to ward sleep off.

The next thing she knew, Noe was gently shaking her awake. "Wake up, love. I've gotta close up shop."

She opened her burning eyes. The murmur of voices had faded to silence. Lifting her head, she searched for the clock on the wall. It read two in the morning. She took a deep breath.

"Don't worry so much," Noe said, seeing the look on her face. "She was one of the younger ones. She probably won't be around til morning." He patted her hand. "Go on home, sweetheart. I'll send her that way if she comes round looking for ya."

Stephanie gave a silent nod. Sliding off the barstool, she walked across the empty diner and exited out into the chilly night air. It pricked at her bare skin. Folding her arms to keep warm, she walked down the streets, still so lit up with twinkling lights and yet deader now, like a half-sleeping beast. Making her way back to the monorail, she climbed the stairs and stood on the platform, waiting for its arrival. The wind was bitter, more prominent now that she stood above most of the buildings. When the monorail finally arrived, she stepped inside and found it completely empty. The night had finally claimed the inhabitants of Zusia.

Used to a strict curfew, Stephanie found it strange to be all alone. As the monorail rushed across the city, she stared out the window, watching the blurring lights passing below. She got off at the next stop and walked the rest of the way to the Trainee Campus — a sectioned-off, fenced-in part of the city where the children were housed and raised. The gate was closed, but the scanner captured the image of her face, namely her eyes and the dragonmark on the left side of her face, and she was let inside. Following the path up to the girl's dorm, she hurried inside and closed the door. The warmth enveloped her like a hug yet didn't pierce the insistent chill in her bones.

Her room was on the fifth floor, and she jogged up the stairs to get to it. Walking down the well-lit hallway, she found her room, the door with the numbers Seven-Zero-Three-Five displayed on the front.

"Stephanie?"

She gave a start, turning around to find Taise sitting against the door behind her. The girl's numbers were emblazoned on the door above her head, exactly like Stephanie's. In her tired daze, Stephanie hadn't even noticed that the other girl was there.

"How'd you do?" Taise croaked. She sounded like she had been crying.

"Fine." The word was out of her mouth before she had even thought about it. She stood still, wary of the girl's tears. Most of the Trainees had given up crying years ago, especially in public. It was pathetic and a waste of one's time. "You?"

"I don't know." Taise stared straight ahead, her red eyes swollen, her cheeks glistening.

"What's wrong?"

"I hated it, Stephanie. Oh, Jauliks, I hated it. I couldn't do it." She lifted her terrified eyes to Stephanie. "Will they put me in Dregs? I don't want to be a Dreg!" A sob escaped her mouth, and she shuddered. "What if they choose me for the Arena Purge?"

Stephanie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Go to bed, Taise. It's no use crying over something that hasn't and might not even happen." She pushed her door open and retreated inside. Shutting the door behind her, she leaned against it, hearing Taise let out another sob.

Desperate to get away from the sound, Stephanie walked across her small room and sat down on the window seat, looking out into the night. No one walked the pathways. Marcie wasn't anywhere to be seen. A stab of pain went through her as she thought of Marcie. What if something had happened to her best friend?

Stephanie crawled into her bed and pulled the covers over her head.