Built on smoke and mirrors

Chapter 6

The ride here was emotional, and for most of it, Yuri was nowhere to be seen. I assumed that he was somewhere eating all the food he could find. As we passed over small towns, I couldn't help but wonder if they looked like Hell. All the Commonwealths were so isolated from one another. I knew the next town over, but the Motherwealth liked to keep us separate and it only left room for questions.

In the belly of the hovercraft, I wondered where the other scouted teens were. Did they feel just as lost and confused as I did? Were they also in hovercrafts, being taken to a place that they had only read about? Surely they felt alone like me. 

I tried to prepare myself for what I would go through in the Motherwealth, but I don't think anything could prepare me for something I had no expectations of. The last person from Hell that was scouted never returned and Mr. Green could provide me with little information about the Talent Seekers and what happened afterwards. There was nothing that could help me prepare and that scared me.

Snapping me out of my thoughts was when the lights overhead flashed. An alarm rang as the hovercraft jerked to the right, throwing me onto the ground. I jumped to my feet as a sinking feeling rose in my stomach. 

"Sorry for the momentary disturbance. The skies are clear," a voice echoed through the belly of the hovercraft. 

I ran to the window, hoping to find what caused the hovercraft to react in such a way, but through the dark of the night, I could see nothing. 

"Are you doing alright?" Yuri asked from behind me. 

My head snapped towards his direction as he rubbed his hands on his pants, letting the crumbs fell to the ground then wiped his mouth. "What was that?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea. We are about to land anyhow." 

The hovercraft buzzed lightly then shook as if connected with something solid. I stumbled backwards into the wall as Yuri stayed still. 

"You get used to it," he said as the back door of the hovercraft slowly opened. "Welcome to the capital of the Motherwealth."

"Regal," I breathed as lights shined into the hovercraft, blinding me for a moment. For the dead of night, I had never seen such bright lights out. Hell never had lights like these. 

Yuri cleared his throat and walked out of the hovercraft. I followed behind him as my mouth felt dry. In front of use stood the tallest buildings I had ever seen in my life. Moving picture screens doted the scene, telling the viewer to buy this or that. 

"Ah yes. This is Regal," Yuri hummed as he picked up my bag of things then walked towards another black shiny car.  "This is my home. Welcome."

Although all the sights left me breathless. I did not feel welcomed as I stumbled into the car. No amount of reading could prepare me for this. Everything was bright and shiny. We passed people walking in bright coats and the amount of cars on the roads was uncountable. 

"Any questions about Regal?" Yuri asked as we passed a busy intersection. 

I was unable to tear my eyes from the windows. People paid little attention as we passed as if we were nothing special. "Are you from Regal?" I asked, not looking away from the sights we passed. 

"I've lived here for a few years now." 

"Does all of the Motherwealth look this grand?"

"Not all of it looks this grand...." His voice trailed off as if he was holding back more comments. 

It made me wonder what other cities in the Motherwealth looked like. We were taught that all of the Motherwealth was grand and beautiful, that the streets were polished every night and the buildings were always shiny. For what I could tell, Regal looked like this, but did the rest of the Motherwealth?