When Destiny Falls

chapter one: from beyond the walls.

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Here in diamond state, your entire life is planned for you even before you're born. Who you'll marry, who you'll be friends with, even how and when you're going to die. Me, Elisabeth Lawrence? I was destined to be friends with Abby Jackson, Tyler George, and to marry Patrick Nickles. Today was the day of "15(1)" the symbols come from an old language used in the region called "English(2)" here we speak kerodin, similar to the old language, but some alphabetical and grammatical differences. Anyway, the day of 15 is the day when our age group has only five more years until adulthood. I woke up with a start as my alarm blared, I am always startled by it, that's part of my plan,
"easily startled by loud noises".
I climbed out of my bed and down the stairs, groggily checking my amber hair in the hall mirror as I always do,
"finds hair care and grooming important as part of the morning routine."
I stepped into the kitchen, where my mother was preparing helkov, a breakfast food she learned to make while she was in sapphire state on student leave. It's made with eggs, fluffy bread, and fruit.
"Good morning Lissy!" My mother called from the kitchen stove,
"Good morning," I said, still a bit tired, as I sat at the dining table. My mother placed the plate down soon after.
"Big day today! You're turning fifteen this year. It's the day of 15!" She cheered, "it feels like just yesterday I held you in my arms." I was embarrassed,
"Is easily embarrassed by the lovey-dovey remembrance of the past." So I blushed a little, and said,
"Wow, I guess so mom." I started to eat the fluffy bread when she piped up with,
"And soon you'll be marrying Patrick!" I dropped my fork,
"Mom," I yelled, "that's not even for five more years!" She nodded, allowing me to return to my breakfast.
"Alright, alright. I'll stop." She resigned.
"Thank you."

When I finished my helkov, I thanked my mom and brushed my teeth, packed my things, and headed out the door. My best friends Abby and Tyler were out there waiting for me.
"Hey, Elisabeth." Tyler greeted,
"Hi, Lissy!" Abby chirped.
"Hi, guys. Sorry, I kept you waiting." I apologized.
"Has a tendency to be late to most events."
"It's fine." They said in unison. As we walked to school, we talked about our plans, what jobs we would have in five years, who we would meet, and also when we would marry our planned significant others.
"Mine's name is Kelly Norman. I'll meet her when I'm eighteen." Tyler boasted.
"Mine is Robert Quillow's. I'll meet him when I'm sixteen. Ha!" Abby told tyler, who rolled his eyes at the statement, "yeah, yeah. Well, Lissy's already met her's," he looked at me, and said in a sarcastic love-struck voice, "Patrick Nickles!" I punched him playfully in the arm,
"Shut up Tyler," I laughed, "we barely even talk! But we're going to, soon enough." I had doubts about this, though, we didn't get along well, and I kinda thought Patrick was a bit annoying.
"Suuuure..." Abby giggled, "like you two don't call each other all the time. I know I would."
"No really, I've told you a billion times. He and I barely talk." I reinstated. It got on my nerves a bit that I was destined for him. But hey, my plan so far has been accurate. We passed the fence, separating diamond state from the outside, it's more of a wall really. But it keeps us safe, or so they say. There is a hole in the wall, we look out onto the wasteland outside the walls. Sometimes we'd see people, but they wouldn't see us. The whole was big enough to crawl through, but we had built a makeshift door from a board on the other side, it was really heavy so only Tyler could really move it out of the way, he's about a foot taller than me and Abby. We looked out the crack, and saw someone running, she had platinum blonde hair with a stripe of black, tied back into a loose bun. She was being chased by what looked like a clockwork elephant, and she had one hand on her shoulder.
"We should open the door for her!" I said to Tyler,
"B-but, that's against the rules."
"I don't care! She's in danger." I yelled. He sighed and moved the board. I crawled out the hole into the outside.
The wasteland was like a dessert, the air was very dry and the land was barren and hot. I waved the girl over, she spotted me and broke into a sprint.
I pointed to the hole and said, "In there!" She nodded and crawled through, I could hear shouting coming from the mechanical beast that was chasing her, so I assumed it was a vehicle of some sort. I looked it over, then went back through, Tyler quickly resealing the hole after my return.
"Thank you." The girl said, she had an accent similar to the people in ruby state, but a bit different. She looked about our age, but about as tall as tyler, maybe taller. She had a white t-shirt on and pants torn at the knees. Her eyes were a piercing blue, quite contrasting my soft hazel ones. She still had her hand on her shoulder, but the fabric around her hand was stained red.
"Oh, you're bleeding!" I said, quickly opening my backpack, looking for my first aid kit I always had around.
"Is prepared for anything."
"It's fine." She said, slightly stepping back from my hands, "I'll survive."
"Just let her help," Abby said in a soothing tone. The girl resigned and let me bandage her wound, wincing when I used an antiseptic spray to prevent infection.
"So, got a name?" Tyler asked. She thought for a moment, then answered,
"Catherine Anderson. Please, though, I go by Caty now."
"I'm Elisabeth Lawrence, this is Tyler George and Abby Jackson." I gestured to my friends, "welcome to diamond state." When Caty heard this she got up with a start,
"Diamond state?" She almost cried out,
"Yeah. Why?" Abby asked.