failure

3

"villagers of jubile, please head to the main square now. i repeat, all villagers of jubile to report to the main square now."

it was like a mayhem at the central of jubile.

kids hung their heads low, mentally preparing themselves for the worst while their parents would place their hands over their mouths, choking back their sobs.

the selection trials have started.

which means, it would be the day of either death or everlasting imprisonment in the guard islands.

chelsey orman held on tight to her mother's hand as they got pushed around.

"mother, am i going to die?" she asked, her voice trembling.

her mother looked at her in shock at the sudden question, and weakly smiled, "no, you won't chelsey. you will stay strong and make sure you won't"

chelsey started tearing up.

she was only 10 and about to face death.

there was still too many things she wanted to do.

she wanted to play games with her friends like the other kids out there would.

she wanted to ride roller coasters and taste candy floss.

she wanted to sit a plane and travel to different parts of the world.

she wanted to watch a screen, which the other kids would call, a tv.

but she couldn't, at least not anymore.

"stay strong darling!"

as soon as chelsey snapped back to her senses, all she could see in front of her was her mother getting pulled away as she got dragged into a crowd of kids her age.

chelsey was at a loss for words.

now she couldn't even say goodbye to her parents and siblings.

"stay strong, you'll make it", she thought to herself.

chelsey looked around her.

she was in the heart of the main square.

it was an empty room, with four pillars located at each corner of the room.

the room was white, too white.

and the floor was rough and rocky, which was a problem since slippers or shoes did not exist in jubile.

chelsey's quivering eyes scanned the room further to see where they could possibly be taken to, but there were no doors, or windows.

"how did i even get in here?" she mumbled to herself.

"children of jubile! welcome." chelsey's eyes shot up to find an old-looking man standing on a wooden deck, not too high, but visible above the crowd.

he had a long grey beard and small beady eyes.

he wore a grey robe which looked like it hasn't been washed in years, with dark patches and torn holes decorating it nicely.

"i am the king of one of the guard islands, sinara, and my name is graham."

he smiled brightly, which made chelsey much more relieved to see the king act so friendly.

"and this is my brother, king of the neverlands. his name is will."

this time, a middle-aged man stepped onto the wooden deck.

his face was sharp and rectangular, with an extremely sharp jawline and thick eyebrows.

he had a nicely shaven beard and messy black hair.

he wore a training vest accompanied with tight pants, revealing his nicely toned muscles.

and, he looked way more scary.

chelsey gulped, she probably shouldn't have said it earlier.

"as you all know, you are here for the selection trials today" graham announced, trying to lighten up the depressing mood.

"to those who pass, prepare yourselves. and for those who didn't, my condolences." will added, smirking at the fearful looks on the children's faces.

"dear me, don't get all afraid now-"

"you should be much more afraid later"

will stepped down from the wooden deck and brought his face closer to one of the kids in the crowd, "this will be a nightmare and i hope you came prepared."

uncomfortable silence filled the room for a minute or so before graham started chuckling nervously, "let's start, shall we?"