The Hollow Tournament

Chapter 1: The Panerans' Stars

    He didn't deserve to be born here. No one deserved to be born in this gruesome place. We were no longer people, but nearly a number on a chart, at least those who live in the Dessence. For Dessians don't live, they nearly survive. 

    The lights above were blinding. It felt as though the sun was gliding across my skin. The bare, white walls didn't help. They often contributed to my belief that I was working at an asylum. Only I wasn't. It was just a building. A Panerus' building. I couldn't even tell you what kind of work was actually done here. Most of my encounters with Panerans ended with them gifting me a glorious mockery statement. I've grown so used to their ridicules that I've become immune. Their words no long hurt me.

    The row of suns suddenly shut off, and it became silent. My breaths were now the loudest noises in the hallway. The darkness was something I craved because it symboled the end of my workday. I ran down the hall and speedily put away the broom I was using. Then I was gone. My feet didn't stop for a second. I was out of the hall, then the building, and then the street. Time was precious, especially in this world. Time helped me to make him forget.

    The transition from the Panerans to the Dessians' territory was something no one could miss. You went from a rambunctious, glaring world to a land of horror. Right in between the two were the Dorns - Panerans claimed farming land. It felt like one more way for them to tease us, the Dessians. They were dangling a bed of ripe crops right in front of us, but they made us scurry for scraps. 

    Even in the Panerans' perfect world they still make mistakes. There's a weak point in the electric barrier surrounding Dorn #4. The fence has a slight cut in it after a past Dessian tried to break in. Even thought they were caught and terminated, the guards never went back and fixed the fence. I assume they believe their presence is enough to scare people away, which it is. Except when it comes to a certain eager and desperate 17-year-old girl. 

    The cut is just big enough for me to glide through. However, the mission is still dangerous. I'm well aware that if I make one mistake I'll get snatched, but today was an important day. It's one of the few days out of the year that I can pretend I don't live in this gruesome place. It's one of the few days that I barely have to distract him from his abominable future, so I took my chances.

    When I rediscovered the bent hole in the fence, I took off my small, black bag and slid it through the hole first. I then looked around one last time to make sure there were no extra eyes peering, and I slithered through. My race against time suddenly escalated. I grabbed my bag and ran briskly through the sea of green. Dorn #4 was dedicated to fruits, and in this particular section berries. I kept running until I saw a glimpse of red. I crouched down and scavenged through the bush to discover strawberries. My brain had no time to comprehend my eagerness of immediately trying the new fruit. I promptly opened my bag and grabbed as many as I could. I had heard stories of the fruit, but I had yet to lay my eyes on one.

    I left the Dorn just as quickly as I had entered. The glare from the light of the Panerus' buildings were getting brighter, so I knew it was getting late. I ran as quickly as I could until the slick pavement beneath me turned in old, rough cobblestone. I began to relax as I felt shelter from the Paneran's eyes. The rusty, broken down territory I was now in wasn't a pleasing view, but it's where I live. It's where many Dessians live. 

    Unlike the party that lives in the Panerus' world, the Dessians home appeared musty, dark, and cold. When you walked through the streets, you could barely hear anything. It was as if everyone was too afraid to be heard. I can't blame them. To the Panerans we're overflow. A group of people unworthy to enjoy the same life as them, so we're crowded into the streets of the west side of our supposedly shared country - Sealia.