PRELUDE /// CUBECRAFT'S FORESIGHT

Life in the Districts (LitD) is a series of side stories spotlighting a single district, and they typically tell a story in the current year and recent times. Cubecraft’s Foresight serves as both the Cubecraft LitD and a prelude to the Cubecraft spin-off of FHG.

~

a small bit of context for new readers -

In the 100 districts world of Forumers Hunger Games (FHG), the Circle Trial is an event held by the ruling district, Archiva, every seven years, that districts last on the rankings are required to participate in. Each participating district sends a team of two contestants, much like the global games. The last-placing district of the Circle Trial will have their title as a district, their treasure, and their land taken away to be given to others to start a new district.

Cubecraft is, unfortunately, one of the last-ranking districts, and have regularly participated in the Circle Trial, although they have never placed last before. The present time is the 224th year, which means that the 32nd Circle Trial will commence on the first day of the next year.

Every district has a leader and a deputy. Cubecraft District holds an election every four years to select its leader - however, if the leader wants to stay in office and a majority of the citizens also want them to stay in office, then the election will not happen, and the leader will just stay leader.

In the FHG universe, spring is from March to May, summer is from June to August, autumn is from September to November, and winter is from December to February.

Enjoy the story!

~

late autumn of the 220th year - Marseille, Cubecraft

The golden hallways didn’t move when the girl with the long, cyan-green curly hair walked through it. Her heels made no noise on the pristine fluffy carpet despite the outspoken way she moved herself.

“Clare, you survived!” Frill’s eyes lit up as he stood up to face the girl.

Clarette throws her hair back with her hand, revealing her gemstone earrings. “Do you really think I wouldn’t live? I’ve been to that stupid place six times already.”

Etienne stood up too, although slowly. “Getting sent to the principal’s office six times in one school year isn’t a good thing no matter how you look at it.” He tapped Clarette on the shoulders, causing her to pull back her chest, which she had puffed out in pride.

“Ugh, whatever.”

“What did you do this time?” Frill asked. 

“Cheat on a stupid horticulture test.” Clarette shrugged. 

“That’s not a good thing! When we get to high school, it will be taken super seriously.”

Frill’s serious tone was dismissed by Clarette without a second look. “It’s literally PLANTS!! Whatever! Let’s go. Come on, Eti and Frilly. Come on, Sena! You’re the only one still on the floor!”

The girl on the floor tosses her blue hair aside - still quite long, but not as much of it as Clarette did have, and angles her rabbit ears to the side, looking up with her red eyes. “What?”

“Were you even listening?” Clarette feigned anger. “Ugh!”

“Hey, cut her some slack. She’s running for leader!” Etienne said.

“Why are you running for leader as a middle schooler anyways?” Clarette asked. “Is this what you clan kids do?”

“Why are you cheating on a test about plants?” Sena asked, standing up.

“Ugh, so you were listening!!”

The four friends headed down the school hallway. The clock rang seventeen times, signifying the coming of the late afternoon. “We really waited a long time for you.” Etienne commented.

“Now we can’t even go to the garden anymore.” Sena said.

“That’s okay.” Frill said. 

They passed through the main gate of the Marseille Academy’s lower division, and the town opened up before them.

“I’m sure we’ll get to tomorrow.”

the next day

By the gates of the courtyard, Sena waited for Nicki, the maid, to ready their carriage and take her to school. 

Lapine Clan’s golden residence was situated at the edge of Cubecraft City, but the most prestigious school in the land just had to be in Marseille, the little town next to it. Oh well, Sena didn’t mind that much. She liked talking to Nicki on the way as they looked over the vast green lands together.

The sun was not high in the sky as it was at the beginning of the school year - this meant that winter was coming soon. Sena shivered with that thought in mind. Perhaps today she should have worn something warm… her ears were freezing.

Not that warm clothes would help with her ears being cold, though.

“Sena!” 

She turned around to see Nicki running towards her, without the carriage or even anything else.

“Nicki, what’s wrong?”

“You are required to be at the castle, at once!” She seemed so serious, unlike her usual tone.

“The Cubecraft castle? What’s wrong?” Sena asked, but she already had a guess.

“The results are being revealed.” Nicki caught up to Sena.

“Oh goodness.” Sena said. That’s today?

“We can’t take the carriage, the city will be incredibly busy.” Nicki said. “But go now!”

“Okay!” Sena ran off, abandoning any thought about the cold weather.

The Lapines were a clan of rabbits, so she could run as well as anyone else. To the opposite direction of the school she went, sprinting past the mailman and the citizens of the city.

Her main opponent had been her own older brother, Durante, which was honestly the hardest part about all of it - because they lived in the same house. It caused a lot of awkward stares during dinner, especially when it was clear that she would be one of the finalists along with Durante. Her family was also divided, but Sena knew that most of them voted for him.

He’s the obvious choice. He was older and understood more complex issues, and - Sena hated to admit this - he was more calm in the face of urgent matters. His head wasn’t just a hot mess.

His campaign was a lot better, too. He actually spent money and hired a campaign manager. The Lapines were very well off, and Sena could have technically done the same, but they were all older men and she couldn’t trust any of them. Instead, she let Clarette, Frill, and Etienne do the campaigning for her. 

At least now that she was definitely losing, there won’t be such a huge rift between her and her brother anymore.

With that thought, Sena approached the castle, squeezing her way through the crowd until she was at the stage, which Durante was already waiting upon. 

Of course his brother knew that today would be the day and didn’t tell her… Sena sighed, walking up and trying to not let the thousands of eyes landing on her bother her.

“Hello, citizens of Cubecraft. It’s time to announce the next leader.” Leader Charlotte said. Her voice was calm, brisk… and really weak.

She wasn’t even that old. Is this what being a leader did? It’s true that she had been leader since Sena could remember.

And now she’s resigning…

“After counting the results, I’m very pleased to announce that the next leader of Cubecraft will be…”

At least Sena would never have to deal with being leader.

“Sena, from the Lapine Clan.”

What?!

From the other side of the stage, Durante seemed to echo Sena’s exact thoughts, but aloud. “What?!”

And then the audience clapped. Had they all seen this coming? Sena felt dizzy, to the point where even standing up was hard.

“No, Leader Charlotte! I demand a recount!”

“The counts were right, Durante.” Charlotte spoke calmly.

“That can’t be…” Durante said, looking down as his pupils shook inside his eyes.

The crowd began chanting Sena’s name, and Charlotte handed her the microphone. “Say something.” She mouthed before heading to the back of the stage.

Sena walked to the podium, her feet shaking. The crowd quieted down when they saw her, and now even a pin drop could be heard. 

But what do I say? She swallowed. “Well, I am honored.” She gave an awkward smile. “I didn’t think that this would happen.”

Her voice sounded weird through the microphone - nothing like herself, really.

“I guess I should thank my campaign managers. Frill, Etienne, and Clarette. They are the best friends ever. And… um… I will always do my best.”

The crowd claps, starting very slowly at first and then getting louder.

Charlotte takes back the microphone. “Thank you all for gathering here so early in the morning. Sena and I will proceed to the leadership ceremony now in private.” 

Before the claps started again, one proud voice rose above everyone. “Charlotte, thank you for your service!”

“Thank you!!” Everyone started chanting.

She did really do a lot for us. 

And now she’s leaving, and now I’m replacing her! 

Sena tried to ignore Durante’s angry gaze when she stepped off of the stage.

~

Sena had never been inside the castle before.

It was where the leader ruled along with her team, so she really had no reason to.

But as she hesitantly followed Charlotte through the door now, it felt as if the servants were also bowing down to her.

She observed the red carpet - even more fancy than the carpet at Marseille Academy. She looked at the giant staircase ahead.

“Leader Charlotte.” Deputy Bastien greeted her. “Is this our new leader?”

“Indeed she is.” Charlotte answered.

“Greetings.” 

And yet, on Bastien’s face, there was a look that resembled surprise and shock. He hadn’t expected to see her today.

“Hello.” Sena tried to keep her voice from shaking.

Charlotte had not aimed for the stairs as Sena thought she would, but instead, behind the stairs. There was a secret door there which blended in with the wall, and she opened it with a touch of magic.

“Close it behind you.” Charlotte commented as she headed down the deep tunnel that appeared behind them.

“The deputy isn’t coming with us?” Sena asked.

Charlotte laughed. “Of course not!”

With caution, Sena followed Charlotte down, listening to her footsteps as there were no lights anywhere. 

“Where are we going?” She dared to ask.

“To a very dark chamber.” Charlotte answered.

Sena thought she was joking for a solid minute, but she wasn’t, because they were at the end. The fact dawned unwelcomingly when the next step Sena tried to take turned out to just be flat ground.

Charlotte lit two very long and thick candles on, and Sena could finally see. 

There was a single table to the wall where the candles stood, and there were two soft, fluffy pillows on the wooden floor. Otherwise, there was nothing else there in the dark room except for a weirdly pleasant smell. A mixture of stars and flowers.

“Do you know how this works?” 

Sena shook her head.

“I have to give you the leadership spirit.” 

“What’s that?” Sena asked.

“It’s exactly what it sounds like.” Charlotte answered.

“It doesn’t sound like anything…” Sena was too scared to ask at this point, but she should probably get it figured out before she has to do it.

Charlotte sighed, but there was no exasperated expression on her face. “The leadership leaders show manifest in them in the form of a spirit, which in turn helps them lead and gives them great power. I have to give mine to you now, but it might take a while, because I’ve had it for longer than most. Come,” she motions to the pillows, “sit down with me.”

Hesitantly, Sena sat down across from Charlotte. 

Charlotte abruptly grabbed Sena’s hands with her own, and Sena felt something like the worst pain. It went through her entire body and electrified her. She cried out. “Why, what-”

Over the stars and flowers of the room, she seemed to see someone being stabbed to death by a spear, which seemed to have stabbed its owner too. Sena couldn’t see the faces of either through the pain, except their eyes, which seemed to glint with a bleak light.

After a solid minute, the pain seemed to calm. Sena felt like she was back in the room again. 

Charlotte’s eyes were glowing bright pink. She looked out of this world.

“Please, I hope that never happens again…” Sena said. She was talking to no one.

The next few minutes felt warm in an unexplainable way. Sena had never really felt like this before. Over the warmth she could see a warm-colored bench and a box of chocolates sitting on top of it. Nothing about the box really gave away what it had, but Sena understood somehow.

She wished that this feeling would last forever, even if she couldn’t explain it with words, even inside her own head.

But the next moment, everything turned ice cold. Suddenly her own heart seemed to freeze, and her whole body seemed weak. She could hear rain and see a cloudy night, the desperate calling of someone and windows being shut over their voice and the sound of rain.

That seemed even worse than the beginning, even if there was no physical pain.

The next scene before Sena’s eyes was red and awful. Over the smell and the tint she could see a couple of corpses lying on a field. She shuddered and felt pain again, but even worse. She changed her mind. This was worse than the rain and heartbreak.

~

When Charlotte said “a while”, she really meant… like… the entire day or something.

Sena gradually came to understand what the scenes vaguely flashing in front of her were. The painful ones seemed less painful, but that was probably just her body getting used to it.

When it was all over, Sena truly felt like she was back in the room again. Charlotte fell over, gazing up at her with starry eyes. 

“Those were your memories, weren’t they?” Sena asked, shock in her voice. 

Charlotte managed a weak nod.

“You didn’t have to end it with him just because you became leader! You can have both. That fight could have been avoided if you didn’t go to her house! And no one would have died! Your friend could have been cured… if… if…” Sena stopped. There was something wrong with Charlotte. She seemed like her physical form was disappearing.

Surely, that’s just the dim candlelight of the room… 

“It’s too late now. But really, I think I did okay.” Charlotte said. 

No, it wasn’t an illusion. Charlotte was fading away. Slowly, starting from her legs. 

“Charlotte! What-”

“Sena!” Suddenly, the way she said her name seemed stern, unlike her other words. “Lead… Cubecraft… well.”

She was gone. Turned to pink dust that filled the room.

Sena sat back, shock in her eyes and shocked to the core.

Was that supposed to happen? 

The dust amplified the smell of the room… the stars and flowers must have been from the countless other leaders that died in this room.

Is this what leaders of all the other districts go through when they were given their leadership? Is this what is going to happen when she eventually gives away her own leadership?

Suddenly she felt terrified. Her legs seemed weak and she collapsed on her side, just as Charlotte had.

Durante should have become leader… everything was a mistake.

The long candles of the room were nearing the end of their life, too.

And yet, before a really long time seemed to have passed, she seemed to have regained some strength. She quickly discovered that it was hard to breathe, and walked, as fast as she could, up the stairs.

The memories and unexplainable things shown to her seemed to become a new kind of energy, and all of a sudden she couldn’t wait to see the outside again.

She emerged to the castle’s main hall again, a little dazed.

“Leader Sena.” Deputy Bastien appeared, and bowed his head.

Goodness, he was probably in his thirties or something! Why is he bowing down to her?

“These people demanded to see you. When I said you will be a while, they said they will wait.” Bastien pointed to the side of the room, where Clarette, Frill, and Etienne are seated on three wooden chairs that seemed to go against the rest of this shiny room.

“You made us wait until seven!!” Clarette said. But she came up and gave Sena a hug, and when she spoke again, her voice was broken up by tears. “Don’t do that again…”

Frill and Etienne joined in on the embrace. 

“Calm down, guys, it’s not like I died or anything…” Sena pushed the image of Charlotte fading away out of her mind.

“For all we know, you could have! Who knows what happens down there.” Frill said.

He seemed really worried. Sena thought that was cute.

“We couldn’t go to the garden today either.” Etienne said.

“Leader Sena.” Bastien cleared his throat. “We should start the feast now.”

“Is that a tradition?” Sena asked.

Bastien nodded, although his expression seemed a little annoyed. “The clan members and prominent citizens have been waiting to meet the new leader.”

“Okay. Alright. I will meet them.” The thought seemed to make Sena just as dizzy as before, but she stood up straight.

I will always have people by my side. She glanced gratefully at her friends.

around three and a half years later - late spring of the 224th year

The blue-haired rabbit girl was looking out the window. It had been raining yesterday, but the sky was finally sunny. 

It’s almost time to think about the global games again… 

Definitely her least favorite part about being leader. 

In the last games, the Cubecraft contestants didn’t even make it past the cornucopia. She couldn’t remember what happened in the games before that, except that they didn’t make it past the first day either.

She wondered if the Cubecraft people were disappointed in her. Underneath Charlotte’s leadership, they actually had a victory. The only one in the history of Cubecraft, but that makes Charlotte the greatest leader of them all, in a way.

But there was a more urgent problem on her mind too. 

Well, both of those problems are urgent, but one is more than the other! 

Everything is stressful. With a sigh, Sena dropped her gaze from the warm outside.

That problem was, of course, the upcoming Circle Trial. Cubecraft can’t afford to place last - they will be stripped of their title as a district, and their treasure. Their land will be given away.

How would the Cubecraft citizens see Sena if they lose everything under her leadership?

Thankfully it doesn’t happen until January of the next year… so there’s still time to think about it.

“Hi, Sena.” The door was opened without a knock.

The tall purple-haired figure that walked into the door lit Sena’s eyes up, and all of a sudden her stress evaporated.

“Frill!” She ran up to him and hugged him, planting her face in his chest and not moving.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Frill gives her a pat on the head. “So what’s on your mind?”

“The Circle Trial.” Sena admitted. “We can’t place last.”

“We didn’t last time.” Frill said. “It will be fine.”

“But what if that was because Charlotte was a better leader than me?” Sena asked. Self-doubt seeped through her voice.

“No, Sena, you’re doing great.” Frill said.

“But I also have to set up the selection process for this year’s selected team too.” Sena said.

Frill paused for a moment, and Sena looked into his eyes. They were purple, just like his hair. Glittering, like a galaxy.

She has made plenty of mistakes during her leadership, but this wasn’t one.

“How about I take over the process for this year, then?” Frill suggests. His voice is warm and gentle.

“What will you do?”

“I’ll hire the people and set up the trials and conduct them.” Frill said.

“That seems plausible.” Sena nodded, trying to give it a serious thought even though a warm mist seemed to be clouding her judgment. “I trust you.”

“I know you do.” Frill leaned in, and Sena gave him a light kiss on the lips. “Alright, so shall I go set that up now?”

“What, don’t you have something else to do?” Sena laughed. “We have time.”

“Good point. But I will start looking around for people now.” Frill said.

Sena nodded, and a comfortable silence sat between them for a few moments. “Will you stay the night in the palace?”

Frill shook his head. “Family is expecting me.”

“Family.” Sena rolled her eyes, trying to hide her disappointment. “My dad is visiting tonight. I can’t even. I want to rerun for leader just so that I don’t have to live at home.”

“You should rerun anyways.” Frill is backing away towards the door now, and Sena reached out a hand, as if to try and stop him. “I have to leave now, but you’re great.”

He stepped out of the door. Sena blew a kiss at him and waited until he was out of sight to let out her troubled expression.

She had saw on the books that she’d read. If she gets another term, her body will probably be broken somehow by the time she gives her leadership away. 

The scene of Charlotte fading to pink dust flashed for a second in Sena’s head. It’s no longer a traumatic memory, just a memory that she can’t forget.

That, is the last thing that I should worry about right now.

~

Sévère stumbled into the castle like the place was his. Sena was annoyed at the sight of him. “Hello, father.” She bit back down any unpleasant feelings.

Sévère coughed. “Don’t you have maids or something? Tell them to clean this place up.” He glanced around at the empty walls of the main hall. “And decorate this place so that the future generations will remember you.”

Sena tried to hold back her sigh, because she knew it would sound exasperated. “No. And I like it being empty.”

“Fine. You won’t serve another term anyways.”

Don’t snap, don’t snap, don’t snap… Sena thought. “Let’s eat dinner.”

“At least you have a chef.”

Dinner is set up at the giant dining room upstairs. The table is long and Sena decided to sit as far away from her father as possible.

Even though her father has been in this room for a couple more times during her leadership, he still can’t resist looking around with those judging eyes.

“I told you to get rid of that painting!” He said, pointing to the giant painting of a chocolate cake on a white plate above the fireplace. “It has no meaning.”

Sena tried not to be angry. “I will not. It was Charlotte’s.” And it was so, so meaningful to her. 

Sévère made a grumbling noise. At least he has enough respect for Charlotte to not complain any further.

The food on the table was beautifully made by the dedicated palace chef, Dual. Sena had thought about ordering Dual to give her annoying father a stomach ache “accidentally”, but she knew that he would just complain again. Instead, she had ordered the most gourmet food, just so that it would be one step above what the Lapines eat at home.

Sévère surveyed the table, his eyes landing first on the whole, juicy-orange chicken decorated with green vegetables that was meant to be the main piece. “I don’t like chicken." 

“I do.” Don’t snap, don’t snap…

“And what is this?” He points to the chocolate cake sitting beside it. “The dessert comes after the main course.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be disturbed.” 

They eat in silence. 

It had been a while since Sena last saw her father - probably two months, or more. She tried to remember what he had said the last time he was here, and what that visit consisted of - but apparently her brain was too tired to function. Instead, she focused on her chicken. She is really hungry, even if she has to eat across from such a judge-y figure in her life.

To be honest, everything was a lot better before she became leader. Her family were really nice back then, actually.

“So.” Her father spoke again after five minutes of silent eating. “What will you do about the global games this year?”

He’s not going to like the answer. “I’m going to put Frill in charge of it.”

“Frill.” The word sounded like it was going to make Sévère throw up. “Are you crazy?”

Sena swallowed. “He has good knowledge of Archiva and of the global, and he’s quite organized. He will do a great job.” 

“He has no experience whatsoever!” Sévère spat. “He’s stupid!”

Sena stood up and slammed the table. “Don’t say that about Frill!”

“Those commoners always bring trouble.” Sévère said. “This is why we were all against you being with him. Sena, you’re a leader, and Cubecraft needs one now more than ever - so you can’t be immature.”

Sena stared at him in disbelief. Can’t you see that I’m trying to be a good leader?

~

It’s Sunday, the sun is shining, and the Cubecraft Royal Guards are inside Sena’s office for their weekly meeting. They sat in a half-circle, facing Sena’s desk.

The Royal Guards mostly looked over the district, although they were independent of the ruling houses.

“I’ve done something about the global games.” Sena announced, as the first thing in the meeting. “Frill is going to be in charge of them.”

A moment of silence ensued. Then a quiet voice - presumably from Wild, the Royal Guard from Egmont.

“Who’s Frill?”

Sena decided to ignore that question, knowing that there is no way that Wild genuinely didn’t know. 

“My leader, that is not wise.” The voice came from Nightmare, the Guardian of the Skybrush, Cubecraft’s district treasure.

His appearance was eerie - shadowy, with glaring red eyes. Sena did not see him often, as he rarely came to these meetings, so she never quite got used to the look. Even though she knew, with clarity, that he was a kind person.

“Tell me why.”

She knew that Nightmare would give her good reasons, so much so that she was afraid to utter those three words. And yet, being a leader is about hearing everyone out.

“Because he has never done this before, and he’s not made out to pick out the candidates to the most bloody fight in the world.” Nightmare said simply.

His real name was actually Luca, but he kept that from everyone. Sena always refrained from saying it.

“How can he have experience doing this sort of thing if he can’t do it for the first time?” Sena hoped that her rebuttal made sense. “And what do you mean, with the latter part of your words?”

“I can see that you only picked him because you love him.” Nightmare said.

“You love him” aren’t words that should be uttered so emotionlessly. What do you know about love anyways? Sena kept down her embarrassment.

“I trust him.” Sena said. “And now I can focus on more important things.”

“What other things could there possibly be, that are more important than the games?” The Royal Guard named Worlden pointed out, hesitantly.

The Circle Trial… have you forgotten? Sena eyed her council member closely. Worlden is not wearing shoes today either - she imagined the pebble paths digging into their feet and winced on their behalf.

And yet, as she was about to profess her worries to her trusted guards, something stopped her. The feeling that they would all think that she was inadequate as a leader.

She hated others looking down on her - that’s why she had so little contact with her family, not that they liked her that much either. She made some - most - of the old Royal Guards leave, because they were constantly undermining her in everything. She even fired Bastien, the old deputy, because she knew that he was always judging her in his heart.

“I trust that you would make the right choice, Miss Sena. Has he started on the process yet?” Lyra, the Royal Guard with long, brown wavy hair and a frog beanie on top of her head, asked, after it was clear that Sena would not answer Worlden’s question.

Sena nodded her head. “He has sent a couple of letters of invitation already to worthy fighters, although the form for participation in the trials is still in the works.”

Lyra was Sena’s favorite Royal Guard. She was kind and gentle and pretty, and - unlike everyone else who called her by that - did not sound condescending in any way when she called her “Miss Sena”. Sena considered making her deputy after she fired Bastien, and even summoned her once for that occasion - only stopping at the last second when she suddenly realized, with bitter feelings, that Lyra was a couple of years older and more mature than her by too much for comfort.

“What about the Circle Trial?” Lyra asked.

Lyra!! I just complimented you inside my head, and now you’re going to make everyone realize how inadequate of a leader I am! Sena took a deep breath. “I’ll have that figured out.”

“Perhaps we should invent a process for picking out candidates for the Circle Trial as well.” Worlden suggested.

“Worlden, the day you have an actually good idea, I’ll make you the next leader.” Sena tried to make it clear that she was joking, and most of the council members did laugh. 

Worlden seemed a little embarrassed though. Sena stepped off of her chair and around her desk so that she could pat them on the head. 

She wondered if she would still be leader seven years from now, and decided that there was definitely no chance. If she hadn’t been voted out of office by then, she’ll probably resign once her second term is done. According to her readings, taking another term is guaranteed death when she gives her spirit away.

The scene of Charlotte and stars and flowers came back again, and Sena shut her eyes in an attempt to get it away.

Now that she thought about it, the elections will be coming up in early winter of this year - although, if most of Cubecraft voted to keep Sena in office, and she also wanted to stay leader, then there won’t be one. Sena sighed and wondered if most of her citizens disliked her.

“I can help with the Circle Trial process, if you need me to.” Lyra offered.

“Thank you for the help…” I mean it. “But it will be a while from now on.” And I don’t want you to worry.

~

Sena couldn’t sleep that night. She wasn’t sure why. Because, before, she always managed to fall asleep, even if the stress on her shoulders was bigger than the planet and the moon combined.

She wished that Frill could come visit, but he had other things to do. The amount of time they could see each other was limited, so every second was to be treasured.

She stood on the castle balcony instead and awed at the nightlife of Cubecraft City.

Why couldn’t Cubecraft win a global? 

Actually, Cubecraft did win a global under Charlotte’s leadership.

Why couldn’t Cubecraft win more than one?

Sena squinted and remembered Lifeboat - not only did they win the two previous global games, they were also won by the same guy - like what? 

Lifeboat does have an extremely bloody selection process. Strong fighters were selected to a gladiator fight, where the loser was actually killed in the fight, or executed later. 

Perhaps she needs to find someone just like that guy who won the global twice for Lifeboat.

Perhaps other districts like Lifeboat, have naturally stronger people. Perhaps it’s in their blood, but Cubecraft people don’t have that.

Could that possibly be the reason? 

~

The next morning, Sena decided that that theory was a bunch of nonsense. People are people, how could one district possibly be better than another in every way?

At least she thought so, until the head of the House of Ludique came for a visit. He was incredibly short… 

Cubecraft was a lot more diverse than Lifeboat. That could definitely be it.

But how do we approach that? 

~

Frill came to visit the castle today, which ignited a spark of happiness in Sena as usual. He demanded that she take a break from her work, which is why she’s strolling through the streets where a farmer’s market is set up, instead of being in the castle.

Most of the things being sold were normal, peaches and pineapples and whatnot. She saw a huge crowd ahead, though, and when she pushed her way to the front of it, she realized that they were gathered around what appeared to be a very big black egg with purple spots.

“The egg of the rarest breed of dragons! The Abysswings!” The green-haired dealer shouted as he patted the egg. “Strong and fresh, directly from Velt!”

Sena squinted her eyes. It’s not every day where you see a dragon egg being sold at the local farmer’s market. Actually, that has never happened before.

“Really?” Sena said. “Tell me more.”

“Yes, of course, the-” The dealer was cut off when he realized who was in front of him. He looked over her blue hair and rabbit ears for a good second before continuing. “Hello… Leader Sena.”

“Hi! So, about the Abysswings…”

“Ah yes. The Abysswings are the furies of the night, the shadows of the forest, the crackle of lightning! They fly at the speed of sound and are amazing fighters, capable of a number of magic spells - in addition to being one of the easiest to tame! If you buy this one, it will definitely be a great addition to the Cubecraft Royal Guards, to the House of Lapine, and to the district in all!”

Sena eyed the price tag, which said “300000” on it. No one has money like that. 

Well… the Lapine Clan does, but we can’t spend it on a questionable egg.

“Good for you.” Sena said. She had no interest in dragons from such a far district. Cubecraft is on quite good terms with Velt, as well, so there’s no need to worry about a possible dragon invasion in the immediate future.

She was about to turn and walk away, when a strong voice shouted, “stop right there!”

That voice was so commanding that Sena stopped in her tracks. From the audience, a white-haired lady walked out, with similar red eyes to Sena’s own. She wore a black leather jacket and leather boots. 

“Oh, could you possibly be the new owner of this Abysswing?” The dealer’s eyes practically sparkled with money symbols.

“You’re a liar.” The white-haired lady said. 

“What- of- of course not. This is a real Abysswing egg, through and through…” the dealer said.

“The Abysswings aren’t the rarest kind of dragon, that would be the Lightwings - the last sighting was twenty years ago. That is also not an Abysswing egg, it’s the egg of an Enderwing, a more common dragon type. And there is no such thing as being ‘easy to tame’. It depends on the individual dragon, not the species.”

“N-no! You’re the one who’s lying!” The dealer’s stammering made certain that he was the liar.

“I am not, because I actually have a dragon.” The white-haired girl said.

And almost as if on call, the ground shook. Sena panicked for a second, because she thought it was an earthquake. And when the dust was gone, she turned around to see a gorgeous white dragon, with red eyes, landing on the floor, making a grand roar that shook the earth again.

“Did I forget to introduce myself? I am Haku, from the Royal Riders of Velt, and that’s Shiro.”

At this point, the entire market is in shock. Especially the dealer, who is now kneeling on the floor. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I just wanted some money, my family is tired of farming…”

“Don’t kneel at me.” Haku said, “talk to her.” She pointed at Sena.

“Forgive me, Leader Sena!” The dealer repeatedly smashed his head to the ground.

“Stop doing that.” Sena ordered. “Where did you get a real dragon egg anyways?” 

Even if according to the experienced Haku, it wasn’t a rare egg… it was still the first time Sena had ever seen a dragon egg. For a second, she wondered if she could confiscate it for use for Cubecraft, but then decided that that would be a bad thing to do.

“I sailed to Velt on a wooden raft and picked it off of a nest in the nearest forest…” The dealer confessed.

“Courageous, even if stealing.” Sena nodded. “How about you give it back to the same forest? I can let you ride on a ferry.”

Haku turned around for the conversation. “That will be it, even if he’s stealing from Velt?”

“Does Velt claim to own all of the dragons on their land, even the wild ones?” Sena asked.

Haku shook her head.

“Then we can assume that he’s only stealing from the dragon family and that nest, in which case there’s not anything else he can do. I assume that dragons aren’t creatures who like money.”

Haku shook her head again. “All of the stories were wrong.”

“Then it’s settled.” Sena glanced around at the spectators, most of which seemed satisfied with how she handled it. I’m not that inadequate! She hoped that this story would spread.

“And I see that the Cubecraft leader here is quite compassionate.” Haku commented. 

Is that a compliment? Sena watched her get on top of Shiro and fly away.

~

That turned out to not be the last time that Sena would see the rider from Velt. In fact, she saw her again on the same day, in the same farmer’s market.

Only this time, it’s sunset. Half of the morning crowd had left, and the remaining sellers here didn’t have many customers.

“Nice job this morning, with that dragon egg scammer.” The old man selling the peaches complimented her as she walked past him. 

“Thank you!” It felt nice to be validated by someone so much wiser than her.

Sena walked a couple of steps further, before being stopped again by a familiar voice. 

“He was right, you know.” 

It’s Haku again. The sunset painted her white hair orange, and her red eyes glinted. 

“You are a really good leader.”

“Why, what’s the Velt leader like?”

Haku fell into thought for a moment. “We have a Queen and a King, so I guess they’re joint leaders. They don’t really do much though. Queen Fantasia likes throwing parties, and King Lyric likes… well, I don’t know what he likes. I guess he likes showing off his giant crown.”

Sena laughed.

“No but seriously! It’s bigger than his head.”

“Is he also bald with a beard?” Sena asked.

Haku shook her head. “Although it would be funny if we convinced him to shave his head.”

Sena nodded in agreement - smiling for the first time in a while. 

“But all of the actual work was up to the twelve Royal Riders. Which is a problem, because our captain doesn’t actually care about Velt.” Haku explained.

“What does they care about?” Sena asked.

“Uhh… dragons.” Haku answered. “Captain Maverick rides his Leafwing, Emerald, but he’s not satisfied, and has secretly been researching to find the rarest dragons in the world behind his back.”

Sena laughed. “Sounds like we both have our own problems.”

“What problems do Cubecraft have?” 

Circle Trial… Sena hesitated. She hasn’t told anyone how big of a problem it has been on her mind.

But Haku told her about Velt’s problems, so she should probably be honest too.

“The Circle Trial.” Sena said. “It’s coming up next January, and if we place last, Cubecraft will be stripped of its treasure and title as a district… and I’ll become the worst leader in its history.”

“Is it very likely to happen?”

“What?” Sena blinked.

“For Cubecraft to lose the Circle Trial. Is that a high possibility?”

Sena thought about how terribly they did in the global games since she became leader. “Yeah. I guess our selections just haven’t been strong or smart enough.”

Haku stopped walking for the moment.

The sun is shining its last orange light on land before sinking below the horizon, visible just between two tall buildings of the city. It painted a light on Haku’s face. The face of someone fiery and honest and warm.

“I think our captain could help you with that.”

“What’s his name… Mav…?”

“Maverick.” Haku answered. 

“How?”

“His only interest is rare dragons, so he doesn’t care about being loyal to Velt. And I hate to say this… but he’s really smart and strong.” Haku said. “So, if you can make a deal with him and get him what he wants, you can probably convince him to participate in the trials for Cubecraft.”

“Oh.” Sena’s eyes lit up. “But…” A bunch of problems immediately came to mind. “We need two contestants in the trial. And he’ll definitely ask for something expensive…”

Still, that might possibly work.

“Plus, I don’t trust this Maverick person. What if he’s not actually good at anything?” Or doesn’t follow through with the deal?

“You could come see him, come to Velt.” Haku suggested. “Or stop thinking about him all together. It’s just a suggestion.”

“A trip to Velt, huh…” Sena did not take diplomatic visits often - she didn’t see the point. Other districts mostly didn’t bother with visiting Cubecraft either.

“I will say that he is very vicious though, and should be fitting for what the Circle Trial will offer.”

“Then take a message back to him for me,” Sena decided spontaneously. “I’m coming to see him.”

Haku nodded. “Excited to see you again soon.”

“And tell King Lyric to shave his head!”

Laughter filled the air.

~

“I’m taking a trip to Velt.” Sena announced the next council meeting. “Who would like to come with me?”

Nobody raised their hands, that was because they were all confused.

“Why would you be going to Velt?” Nightmare asked.

“To see dragons.” Sena said.

“Is this over the market incident?” Nightmare asked again.

So you did hear. Sena nodded. “I shall take this trip to understand these mysterious creatures.”

“Who will be in charge when you’re gone?” Wild asked.

“Royal Guard of the House of Egmont, Wild, shall be in charge.” Sena declared.

“What?” Wild seemed flabbergasted.

“You would do a good job.” I know you would, or else I would have fired you already! 

“Perhaps it’s a good idea to pick another deputy one of these days.” Lyra suggested after a couple minutes of silence.

Yeah, and I even thought that it should be you… “Lyra, would you like to come with me?

“Of course!” Lyra perked up.

“Take another guard with you.” Nightmare said, sternly.

“Don’t you order me around.” Sena said. I was going to, but just because you said that… “The two of us will be fine.”

“Are you really going just to learn about… dragons?” Worlden seemed confused.

“What?” Sena stared at them. 

“Nothing.”

“Wear shoes.”

~

“You’re going to Velt?” Frill seemed surprised. “How come I just heard about this now?” And a little hurt.

“I’m sorry.” Sena gave him a hug. She wanted nothing more than to sink into him, but their plane will be ready for them in ten more minutes, so now wasn’t the time. There is an important reason, but I can’t tell you.

“Please stay safe.” Frill said warmly.

It’s the first thing that I couldn’t tell you…

“I love you too.” Sena declared, and buried her face in his chest. Frill wrapped his arms around her.

“Miss Sena, we should- we should, uh, leave.” Lyra walked into the room. “Sorry.”

Sena pulled herself away from Frill. “Yes, we should!!”

~

The plane ride to Velt from Cubecraft was vastly ocean, with only the occasional islands that were hard to see. Although at the end, they did have to fly over a couple of other districts.

Sena soon discovered that Velt was a magical dragon-filled utopia. There were rainforests, deserts, a volcano, all brimming with winged life. 

And the capital city was made with glorious white marble, the aquamarine-colored roofs giving off a dreamlike fantasy look to the city. 

“This is amazing.” Lyra said, watching through the window as a pink dragon with golden scales flew past them, almost touching the windows with the tips of their wing.

Sena couldn’t focus on admiring the views, though. There was too much weighing on her heart.

~

Velt’s castle was a whole palace, a lot more fancier than Cubecraft’s own. It distinguished itself from the rest of the city by using even more clean and shiny white marble and colorful roofs instead of shades of green or blue.

“Hello, Leader Sena. Velt welcomes you.” The man in front of Sena did have a giant crown, to the point where Sena had to try really hard to hold back laughter. And he was also bald too… had the riders already convinced him to shave it?

“King-,” Sena had to cough to stifle the giggle she felt coming up. “King Lyric.” She dipped her head.

“And this is Deputy Lyra, I assume?” King Lyric shifted his gaze to the girl with the mint green eyes.

“Actually, I am not-” Lyra started to speak.

“That’s correct.” Sena cut her off with a quick stern look. There is no need for the leader of this stronger district to know that Sena had refrained from picking a deputy again, unlike every other leader on the planet.

“We are so happy that you are here. We haven’t had visitors in such a long time, so I was delighted when Haku told me you were visiting.”

This king seemed so genuine in his words, no hint of the defensive and passive-aggressive way leaders usually talked to each other.

“The Royal Riders have put on a fantastic show for you, and so has Queen Fantasia. If you would please entertain us, before we discuss any other matters.” King Lyric said.

“Oh? What is it?” Sena asked.

“Well, all shall be revealed on the balcony.”

The way to the balcony was a maze. The main building of the Velt palace was nothing like Cubecraft’s straightforward castle design. Grand spiral staircases were involved in their ascend to the top of the structure, but so were climbing through a very thin hole on a ladder. There seemed to be no organized path.

Lyric was a man of considerable size, and he spent a good twenty seconds trying to get through the ladder entrance. Sena watched, trying not to feel pained on his behalf and trying not to giggle at the same time.

The balcony was big, and decorated with only a couple of golden telescopes at its very edge. The floor was made of a glass-like texture that wasn’t see-through. By the edge, Sena spotted who she assumed was Queen Fantasia.

She was in contrast to King Lyric. She was clearly an older woman, and yet she appeared so elegant. She had wavy brown hair too, similar to Lyra’s, but a shade closer to orange, and shorter. Her lavender-colored dress and crystal heels seemed to fit her perfectly, and so did her purple eyes, when she turned around.

“Visitors!” She called, waving.

“Hello, Queen Fantasia.” Sena wondered if there were proceedings on how to treat actual royalty, but she decided that it was something she wouldn’t need in the next second.

“Why, hello there. Would you care for an airshow?” Fantasia asked.

“They should be here any moment now… there.” Lyric added, looking up at the sky.

A giant shadow was casted overhead. This time, though, Sena learned not to flinch. The ground didn’t shook as much, even though twelve different dragons slammed on top of it one by one. Perhaps this magic glass was made for dragon landings.

“Woah…” Lyra muttered quietly.

The twelve members of the Royal Riders were lined up in front of them, on top of their dragons. Each of the dragons was different from the others. From the way they landed, though, Sena could tell that they were all trained exceptionally well. 

Sena immediately spotted Haku - she stood out, because Shiro was the only white dragon, and a pure white at that. She decided not to wave, and instead gave a small smile.

The one in the middle of them, she guessed, was Maverick. He wore a captain’s hat. He was atop a dark green dragon with ferocious red eyes, and he himself had ferocious-looking dark green eyes to match. 

“Places!” Maverick suddenly shouted. And with that, he and Emerald took off first into the sky. 

The other eleven riders followed behind him immediately in a fan shape. As they crossed the sky for the first time, the two dragons on the edge of the fan breathed orange fire to the side.

“Symmetry.” Lyra suddenly said.

“What?” Sena asked.

“It’s not symmetrical… there are five riders on the captain’s left, but six on his right.”

“You’re quite observant.” Sena remarked. 

“It’s bothering me.” Lyra admitted.

“Me too.” Sena said, as the dragons swerved around to fly fast in a circle.

~

Sena had never thought that Queen Fantasia would be a singer. 

It’s not that she doesn’t fit the role or anything, it’s just that Sena forgot the fact that singers existed in this world, because she came in contact with so few of them in her entire life.

Now that she thought about it, in Charlotte’s memories… her friend was a singer too. Sena squeezed her eyes shut and remembered that friend’s last performance in bed. The sickness had taken her last breath away right before the end of the song, and she was unable to land on the last note of the melody for the resolution. The withering flowers and devastated cries in that white hospital room were as clear as if it was Sena’s own memory. She tried her best to push it out of her mind.

Fantasia had a string quartet to accompany her, and they apparently worked inside the castle, just like how Dual does for Cubecraft.

But Dual’s skills were needed for each of the meals of the day, whereas the string quartet… were just musicians playing on their violins and bigger-violins-that-also-happen-to-sit-on-the-ground.

Still, Sena had to admit that she sounded beautiful. What she was singing seemed to be an ancient language that the world no longer speaks, and all of a sudden the lavender-colored queen seemed like a flashback to the glorious past of the land.

When she was finished, she took a bow, and Sena clapped as hard as she could.

“That was so wonderful.” When Sena turned, Lyra had tears in her eyes.

“Did it touch you that much?” Sena asked. She agreed wholeheartedly with that sentence, but apparently not to the point of crying.

Lyra simply nodded her head while wiping her tears away.

“I’m so happy that you think so. Seeing other people enjoy my songs makes me the happiest person in this world.” Fantasia said as she joined the two.

Perhaps you weren’t meant to lead. Sena thought.

She watched as the queen turned back to talk to the musicians in the string quartet. You really weren’t. 

~

Sena had to talk to Maverick. That was the whole point of this trip, after all.

So that night, after a whole day of trying to take in dragon facts from the instructors of the palace and touring the glorious, beautiful capital city of Velt, she got up from her bed after she was sure that Lyra was asleep.

Lyra wears a lime green frog onesie to bed, matching the frog beanie she wears during the day. Sena thought that that was so adorable.

King Lyric and Queen Fantasia had given them a giant guest room to stay in. But now it felt cold, and the outside of their giant bed was also cold.

Sena slipped a jacket on and went outside to the dimly-lit hallway, carefully closing the door behind her, and flinching when it squeaked anyways.

“Hi!!!” 

The whispered word almost scared Sena half to death, she breathed for a couple of seconds before turning around to Haku’s matching red eyes. 

“You’re a lot more cheery than I thought you would be, when you landed in my market exclaiming ‘liar’.” Sena commented.

She and Haku had decided to meet up at night around this time earlier in the day.

“What? Life is hard as it is, and now I can’t even say hi in a cheerful manner?” Haku feigned anger.

Sena was starting to like the white-haired rider more and more. “You should come to Cubecraft. Be my deputy.”

“So you’re saying that frog girl isn’t actually your deputy.”

They were further away from the guest room now, so Sena dared to reply aloud.

“No. I thought about making her deputy, though.” Sena said. “She would make a good one.” But she’s so much more mature. 

“So what’s stopping you?” Haku asked.

Probably best not to let her know about my insecurity issues. Sena sighed. “Answer that question, I will not.”

“Talking like this, why are you?” Haku asked.

“Waiting is Maverick where?” Sena ignored the question.

“On the balcony, should he be.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Sena thought about how it took a whole twenty minutes for them to get to the balcony for the air show during the day.

“Hey, you ruined it!” Haku said.

~

“I shall go no more, you take it from here.” Haku said before they got to the top.

Sena ascended to the balcony alone. The glass floor reflected the purple sky and its stars underneath Sena’s feet, and she couldn’t help but awe at how wonderful it looked.

The fierce black-haired captain was waiting, with his dragon, Emerald, by his side.

“You wanted to see me?” There was something lacking in his voice, when he spoke.

“Yes, Captain Maverick.” 

It was respect. There was no respect in his voice.

Do not be intimidated. Sena said. The night wasn’t helping, and neither was the big green dragon sitting behind him.

“I would like to make a deal with you.” Sena said.

“Oh, what for?” Maverick’s eyes showed calculated curiosity.

“Cubecraft will lose its title as a district if we lose the upcoming Circle Trial in January. I can’t let that happen.” Sena said simply. “I’ve heard that you are quite the smart and strong captain. If you, and perhaps someone you know, would be willing to participate and secure a good place in the Circle Trial for Cubecraft, I will get you something of monetary value that you want.”

“Monetary…. value.” Maverick narrowed his eyes as he seemed to fall into thought. “Lachlan and Tyrion are the two best riders aside from me, so they will definitely be willing. I’ve studied the Circle Trial before, and I know for a fact that we can crush the weaklings from those weak, last-place districts…” Sena tried not to frown at the implication of Cubecraft being a weak district. “Very well, we accept your deal. Although… what I want is quite the rare thing. I’m not sure if you have the power to find it… Sena.”

Leader Sena. Sena refrained from saying that aloud.

“What do you want, Captain Maverick?”

“I want three Lightwing eggs.” 

Aren’t they the rarest dragon in the entire world…? Sena remembered the scene with Haku in the market.

And the last sighting was… twenty years ago.

“You’ll get your Lightwing eggs.” Sena said.

“So you’re saying that you can definitely find them.”

“Yes.”

“You promise.”

“I promise.”

“I want them before December.” Maverick said.

Sena will never be able to find the eggs of a dragon that hasn’t been seen in twenty years. 

“And if you don’t, I’ll make sure your entire city falls.” 

What?!

That wasn’t in the plan.

“If I can’t, then you will leave my people alone.” Sena said.

“I will not, because you promised.” A malicious glint sparkled in Maverick’s dark green eyes, and his voice grew dark and sinister. “I’ve been waiting for this chance for two decades… I will never let it slip through my fingers again. The Lightwings will be mine, and so will the world… there will come a day where nobody will get in my way! Not that stupid old woman, not Quinn, not that little weakling out there plotting her lame revenge… NONE OF THEM!! And I will rule the world.”

Sena felt a great shiver down her spine. She wasn’t even sure if anything in Charlotte’s memories was able to top the fear she felt now, from the ground up. Maverick was something she wasn’t ready for, clearly. 

“Tomorrow, I want to meet Lachlan, or Tyrion.” And yet, her practiced voice did not quiver.

“And you shall. They are quite strong and brave, as well.” Maverick said. “I look forward to working with you, Sena.”

Maverick got on top of Emerald, and they flew off into the night sky. Sena looked at the sky for a little longer before retreating defeatedly.

“How was it?” Haku asked as they walked along the staircase together.

“He wants three Lightwing eggs.” Sena said.

“Wow.” Haku said. “You’ll never find three Lightwing eggs.” 

“Thanks for the encouragement, Haku.” Sena rolled her eyes.

“I’m not even sure if they’re real anymore at this point.” Haku said. “Maybe he’s asking you to find something that doesn’t even exist.”

“I already said I would find them for him.”

“Sena! That was totally a mistake.”

Sena stopped walking. “Haku, did you rope me into this on purpose?” She felt her own voice going ice cold as the sentence picked up and came out of her lips.

“What?” Haku’s lighthearted expression faded away as she turned around to face her.

“Do you want Cubecraft to fall? Is that why you suggested this idea to me?!”

“Hey! Don’t start blaming me because Maverick asked for something hard!” Haku snapped.

“Maverick… is evil.” Sena breathed.

“I knew that, but, I genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, thought that he would solve the problem if you can get him what he wants.”

Sena put her own arm on Haku’s shoulders, trying not to cry.

“I think he might be more evil than you thought.”

She had never made a worse mistake in her entire life.

~

Sena opened the door to her and Lyra’s guest room again, not caring at all if the door creaked this time. She walked a couple more steps before realizing that the weak yellow lamp of the room was on, and Lyra was awake, sitting on their bed looking at her.

“Miss Sena, where did you go?” She asked.

“I…” went to make a deal with the vicious captain of the Royal Riders, and now he wants me to find some probably extinct dragon egg three times over, and I’ll never be able to do that but I already agreed to the deal, and now if I can’t find them he’ll destroy Cubecraft, and now I don’t even know anymore, I thought this was a good idea for whatever reason. Now our land will be destroyed and we’ll lose the Circle Trial and Cubecraft will lose its treasure and I’ll become the worst leader in the history of all of the districts! “...went to the hallway for a short walk.”

“I don’t think you went to the hallway for a short walk, Miss Sena.” Lyra blinked at her through the dim yellow light.

“You’re not one to be so condescending, Lyra.” Sena said, and sat on the other side of the bed, looking at the purple walls of the room.

“I’m not! But you took over half an hour.”

The yellow lamp cast both of the girls’ shadows onto the wall, their backs against each other.

“Lyra, do you want to be the leader of the district?” Sena asked.

“What?!” 

Sena could feel a mint-green gaze on her back as Lyra rapidly turned around. She herself was too tired to look back at her, though.

“Do you want to lead Cubecraft?”

“Well, no. I really like how it is right now. And you’re doing a really good job, Miss Sena.”

About that… Sena sighed.

If she gave away her leadership spirit at the end of this year, she would be fine with the exception of needing a while to recover. Taking another four-year term and then giving it away would most likely result in some sort of permanent condition. And taking another one after that… well.

Lyra would make a great leader, but by then… 

Sena wondered what she would see if she handed her leadership spirit to her now. At the end of it all, Lyra would know everything Sena had ever been through.

Probably a lot of things about Frill to begin with. When Sena had felt love through Charlotte, she hadn’t yet known what love was, but Lyra would probably recognize it if she feels it through Sena.

Perhaps for the other happy parts of Sena’s life, she’ll see the garden adventures with Frill, Etienne, and Clarette. All those times of catching butterflies…

As Sena settled into her role as leader, she became more and more distant with Etienne and Clarette. Now, she hasn’t seen either of the two of them in at least two years.

With that, she swallowed a gulp of pain.

On that note, Lyra will definitely feel plenty of pain, too. Or perhaps the misery of having a family who practically hates you. She’ll know about her insecurity issues and why she made the old deputy, Bastien, and so many of the old Royal Guards leave.

And she’ll know that Sena made this deal with Maverick. She’ll know that Sena had put Cubecraft in a terrible place, and she’ll think that she was handing her the leadership because she doesn’t want to care for Cubecraft anymore.

Ah! Sena tried to push what happened away.

“Why are you asking me that question? Are you thinking of resigning?” Lyra asked. Alarm was in her voice.

Sena fell back onto the bed. “That wouldn’t be right…” I wouldn’t hand a burning and broken district down to you. It would all be my fault.

“I’m glad you think that way.” Lyra did the same. The bed was so big that even their long hair barely touched.

“Lyra, I made a terrible mistake.”

“What’s wrong?”

The room fell still as silence settled, soon covered by the girls’ steady, even breathing.

~

The way back home, Sena couldn’t sleep or focus on anything.

She spent her time trying to look at the blue skies outside in silence, instead.

~

“How was your visit to Velt?” Dual had been the first person to ask about Sena’s visit. 

The castle chef’s voice was calm as she carried out a plate of wonderfully cooked carrots with meat. 

Sena had only returned for thirty minutes in total after saying goodbye to Lyra for the night, so it was so nice of Dual to make her favorite food.

Well, her other favorite food, aside from chicken.

“Fine.” Sena answered. “How was the castle?”

“Peaceful, and quiet.”

“Oh, so I’m the one who was causing all the ruckus before.”

“Yes, my leader.” 

Sena rolled her eyes, but she did welcome a little bit of joking, especially after her visit.

“Come eat with me, Dual.” Sena looked up at the castle chef - her brown hair was decorated with flowers of various shades of blue today. Very fitting for her. 

“That would not be fitting, for I am your maid, my leader.”

“Oh, Dual…” Sena picked up a couple pieces of carrot with her fork, and held it up to Dual’s lips.

Dual took a step back and firmly shook her head. “Hygiene is very important, my leader.”

“I haven’t been sick since I became leader.” Sena retorted.

“You’re lying, my leader. Around a year after you became leader, you had a fever and demanded that I bring you cool blueberries covered in honey.” 

“Shut up, that did not happen.” 

“Shall I bring you a drink?” Dual asked.

“Sure… warm water, please.” Sena said.

And watched, as Dual stepped out of the giant, and empty, dining room.

Dual was smart, and always seemed to have great ideas throughout her time in the castle. She was decisive and always knew what to do. Perhaps if Sena tells her about her deal with Maverick, she’ll know what to do, this time too.

The only problem is that Sena can’t say anything.

~

Sena decided, by the end of a whole week of awful restlessness and worrying at every turn, that she had to at least start looking for these Lightwing eggs.

How, though?

She can’t go off to the world adventuring - she has no experience whatsoever and will likely die at sea, plus, there’s a district here that she has to look after.

It would probably be weird to go back to Velt again, and her actions will be seen there by Velt citizens, even if Lyric and Fantasia seem to trust her a little too much than how much trust should be given to a foreign leader.

She had tried going out to the library to do some research, but she was (of course) immediately recognized, and decided that she couldn’t possibly look for the right book without other people seeing what she’s looking for.

In the end, there was nothing to be done after all.

She wanted to confide in someone about it, but she couldn’t, because it was way too heavy of a weight to carry.

She couldn’t even tell Frill…

~

“Welcome to the council meeting.” Sena declared.

“Why so gloomy?” Wild complained.

“Shut up, Wild.” Sena said. 

“Oh.” Wild looked down.

Sena felt bad, but she was serious.

“Is something on your mind?” Nightmare asked.

For some reason, he’s been coming to council meetings more and more recently - before, he always preferred to maintain his distance.

Sena stared at his shadowy figure as her eyes zoned out. 

Perhaps she could ask her council about the Lightwings.

But she can’t just say that she’s looking for Lightwing eggs, obviously.

So… how to phrase…

“I need to find something incredibly hard to find, and I have no clue where it is, but I need it.” Sena said carefully.

“So like, a hairpin or something?” Wild asked.

“Shut up, Wild.”

“Oh.”

“It’s more like… a treasure.” Sena wondered if that was too close to the truth.

“A treasure.” Worlden echoed from the far end of the half-circle. “A pearl in the sea?”

“Pretty much. But, you have to believe me when I say that it is incredibly hard to find.”

“I could help.” Nightmare stood up. “I could use the Skybrush to try to find it.”

The Skybrush! 

Sena kept forgetting the existence of Cubecraft’s treasure. It was so irrelevant during her leadership, and to this day, she still doesn’t have any idea on what it does aside from that fact that it’s “something related to dreams”.

But treasures are magical and all-powerful… and Sena had no doubt that it could work. Suddenly, everything seemed a little more hopeful.

“If you tell me what it is, that is.” Nightmare finished.

Oh.

Well, Sena can’t tell him what it is. Then she’ll be forced to say why she was looking for them, and that doesn’t end well…

Nightmare will think she’s inadequate and stupid for making that deal, and so will everyone else. They will all know that the district is under the precipice of disaster, and everyone will panic…

The thought of that made it hard to breathe. 

“I want to see the Skybrush.”

“Sena, what are you…” Nightmare said. “No, you cannot. It cannot be wielded by anyone who has no previous experience.”

“I will never get experience if I don’t see it.” Sena said, louder.

“No, for your safety, I will not let you.” Nightmare normally doesn’t speak this loud - he even caused the purple-haired Royal Guard next to him to flinch.

Voices are getting raised now, as the rest of the guards looked on in concern.

“I need it, more than-” anything else. “Let me see it.”

“For your safety, for the safety of all of the people of Cubecraft District, I will not-”

“LUCA!!! If you cared at all about the safety of the Cubecraft people, then you will LET. ME. HAVE. IT!!!!!” Sena walked around her desk and to the middle to hold Nightmare by the collar. “That’s an order from your leader.”

She ignored the shocked gazes of everyone else on her as she pushed Nightmare away and let him go.

“Okay.” Nightmare coughed.

~

The Skybrush was not a paintbrush at all. Sena felt like her entire life was a lie.

It was a dreamcatcher - this beautiful, white woven thing with three pure white feathers hanging at the bottom.

It was kept in a glass case in the basement of the castle, in another room quite similar to the one used for the leadership ceremonies - albeit actually lit by lights this time.

Nightmare carefully lifted it out of the case, and handed it to Sena.

It doesn’t feel any different than a normal thing. “How do you use it?”

“You have to hold it, and say a chant.”

“What’s the chant…?”

“The chant is…”

Nightmare hesitated a little bit, seeming scanning Sena with his piercing eyes. Patience. 

“Let my dreams become my wings,

let my wishes take flight.

Let this hope become my power,

so that tomorrow comes alive.

In my dreams I see a better world,

in my heart I feel rain and shine.

Kind-spirited Skybrush, overcome this hill,

because that beautiful future is also mine.”

“How do I get it to help me look for something?” Sena asked.

“Once you say the chant and it starts glowing, you should be able to talk to it.”

Talk… Sena wouldn’t have usually believed such a word, but treasures are magical things, aren’t they?

“Okay.”

Sena started reciting the chant.

When the last word left her lips, the room stayed dead silent for a split second. 

Will you… glow? 

Before her mind could even form the last word of that thought, the world started shaking underneath Sena’s feet. Her mind was so uncontrollably dizzy, everything went black even though her eyes were still open, and her head hurt so badly that she lost her balance and fell to the floor, which just made every part of her body hurt worse and worse.

“Luca! LUCA!!” She screamed through the pain. Her own voice was underneath an ocean. “I can’t see, I can’t breathe-”

“SENA!!!”

Nightmare’s call faded away to a far away place as everything became heavier and heavier.

~

…

……

A black galaxy stretched out without end, sparkling with glaring stars of various colors. 

With a massive headache, Sena stood up, and looked down to see the same galaxy, just as vast.

“Am I dead?” She wondered aloud.

“Not quite.” 

Sena turned around.

She never thought she’d see that pink hair in her lifetime again - but it’s Charlotte. 

Her body was a little bit see-through. Her eyes glittered with stars, and so did her hair.

“But since you’re here… that means…” that I’m probably dead.

“Look.” Charlotte said.

Where? The word was about to leave Sena’s lips when Charlotte, the stars, and the entire galaxy suddenly shifted to a far away place, as if they themselves were moving.

~

Now Sena was on land again, on a wide field covered by white snow, and tinted by a nostalgic sunlight. Far, far away, she could see a glorious city of red brick buildings.

Spread out on the grass were around twelve or so candidates, and in front of them was a man with long white hair and purple strands in them.

Sena never saw him once, but she learned from the news that he was Leader Vespasian of Archiva.

Wait a minute, actually.

Where is she? Is this Archiva? Leader Vespasian never does foreign visits, and the red brick was the signature of the old Archiva, so it can’t be anywhere else. But isn’t she dead?

Maybe dead people can go wherever they want.

Why is she in Archiva then? She wanted to go back to Cubecraft.

“It’s time to announce the district in the last place of the 32nd septennial Circle Trial.” Leader Vespasian announced in a surprisingly lighthearted voice. It really went against his wise old man appearance.

Circle… what?

So this is winter.

Duh. There’s snow on the ground!

But it’s not winter. And since it’s the 32nd Circle Trial… that means that it’s January of the 225th year… which hasn’t happened yet.

What? Do dead people also time travel?

And yet, this was what Sena had been worried sick about.

The people in front of him each seemed to be freaked out. Their faces were beyond nervous, and one girl was visibly crying.

Sena found herself shaking too, not that she could feel the cold that must be in the winter air. Her eyes studied Vespasian’s lips, waiting for the syllables to come out.

“Hive District.”

Sena breathed the biggest breath of relief of her sixteen years of living. Her entire being seemed to lighten.

At the same time, so did most of the contestants.

Cubecraft doesn’t lose!

Cubecraft… doesn’t.

Cubecraft…

She walked, unsteadily, to the front of the contestants, where she tried to look for any sign of Maverick - wondering if the deal went through or not.

But Maverick’s shadow wasn’t even there. Instead, Sena saw two people she never imagined she would see on this stage, here and now.

Clarette, and Etienne.

Oh, her cyan-green hair was so beautiful - and Etienne was so grown up. Sena sprinted towards them to hug them both, but her arms went right through them.

She lost her balance and knelt to the snow-covered ground instead, crying tears that she didn’t think would still be possible to produce after dying.

~

When she opened her eyes again, she was back in Cubecraft City, watching from above on some sort of balcony. The aura in the air felt different, although there was no snow on the ground.

A small parade went through the middle of the street as people left confetti behind them when they marched on, and in the middle of them was Clarette and Etienne.

Sena guessed that this is what happens when the district doesn’t place last. She doesn’t remember anything from the last Circle Trial, that’s for sure.

So, whoever replaced her as leader picked Clarette and Etienne as the contestants for the trial, huh?

What a perfect pairing.

She hadn’t talked to either of them in two years, but she was certain that they stayed friends with each other.

Maybe they even fell in love! Just like her and Frill…

Although Sena had a feeling that that possibility was less… at least from what she knew of the old Clarette and the old Etienne.

They’ve probably changed so much… physically they certainly have.

I’ll never get to talk to them again. Sena sighed with pain.

But she wasn’t upset about dying, because Cubecraft is okay.

Wait… Cubecraft is okay! And it’s January!

Maverick never invaded. Maybe he forgot, or maybe the deal was completed in some other way, even though he wasn’t participating in the trial for Cubecraft.

Or maybe he did, and Cubecraft successfully dealt with him, to the point where not a single visible scratch was in the city.

Sena hoped it was the second possibility. That will show him who’s stronger.

She’s crying again, of both unimaginable happiness and bittersweet sadness this time. Whoever became the next leader of Cubecraft was so much more reasonable, sensible, and definitely would not have made that stupid deal with Maverick in the first place.

According to the rulebooks, the deputy was supposed to become leader if the leader dies in the middle of their term. But Sena never picked one after she fired Bastien…

She wondered who it was.

At least, until she saw a familiar blue-haired rabbit girl on the street, walking up to give Clarette and Etienne a hug.

It was herself!

Cubecraft was safe, and it will be for the next seven years, and that was because of her.

And the majority of Cubecraft citizens also wanted her to keep being leader!

I’m not inadequate, I’m not immature… I’m doing just fine.

She’s definitely going to cry a third time at this point.

Wait a minute… if I’m still the leader by then… then…

Then I’m not-

The next word in that thought was “dead” with a solid question mark behind it, but the scene suddenly switched, catching her by surprise.

Now, Sena was standing in a dimly lit room with purple walls.

When she turned around to the source of the light, there was a dead body on the ground. The blood was fresh from mere seconds ago.

Black hair and a trampled hat. It’s Maverick.

The murderer was standing right beside him. Red hair, blue jacket, and piercing green eyes. A short girl whom Sena didn’t recognize - likely around her own age.

“Serves him right.” Sena muttered.

I wonder if I’ll meet you someday. She thought before the murderer walked out of the room, the knife still in her hand, dripping blood down to the floor.

~~~*~~~

Wild came over the first thing in the morning. He practically ran non-stop to the castle.

Okay, that was a lie, he actually stopped twice, but only because he was really out of breath.

The castle is eerily quiet, but he guessed from the awful news received that Sena would be in her room.

He went up the stairs and through the hallways. The door to Sena’s room was opened by a giant crack, so he quietly pushed it open.

Wild spotted some of Sena’s family members already there - Durante, who had run for leader when Sena did, Sena’s father Sévère and mother Flavie. He never really saw them visiting, ever, so he only guessed that they were family based on their rabbit ears. Frill was there, sitting on a chair by the bed with an awful, worried-sick expression on his face. A couple of the royal guards were there. Lyra was kneeling on the floor and asleep with her head on the bed - Wild thought it was funny that she still had her frog beanie on. Worlden was sitting in a corner, their golden eyes looking dimmer than usual. The castle chef, Dual, was sitting on another chair, holding a tray of breakfast that no one will eat on this bleak morning.

Overall, the room was quite crowded.

Nightmare had been the one to call him here - literally banging on Wild’s door at six in the morning, talking about how Sena might be dead, and yet he is nowhere to be seen right now.

Speaking of which… Wild forgot to look at Sena. She’s lying, facing the ceiling, an uncomfortable expression on her face.

Please be okay. He prayed in his heart for her.

“Sorry, everyone.” Nightmare is back. He closed the door behind him. “Polar wanted to see her. Worst timing ever.”

“Wow.” Most of the people in the room stared at him blankly, and Durante was the only one who gave that reaction.

Everyone knew who Polar was - he was the only one to win a global game for Cubecraft, ever. He was well-respected, although Wild wasn’t sure what happened to him after the global and what he’s up to now.

“I hope you didn’t tell him off too rudely.” Wild muttered.

“Of course not.” Nightmare shook his head. “I just said that Sena was busy today. Probably best to not let the secret get out.”

“Speaking of which,” Dual asked. “What even happened?”

Wild guessed that everyone else was wondering that too, because they all perked up somewhat.

“She tried to use the Skybrush. Since she had no preparation whatsoever, it must have taken her so much energy that she couldn’t sustain herself.” Nightmare said. “I performed healing magic on her, but nothing worked.”

“Idiot.” Durante said.

Silence sat in the air for a few more moments.

“So, is she going to be alright?” Flavie asked.

“Obviously not.” Nightmare said. “But I think she can be saved. She’s still breathing.”

“I know how.” Frill said.

Everyone in the room turned to look at him, including Wild himself, straining the small amount of hope in his chest. 

“I read off of the books.” He said. “I know how to save her!”

Frill started heading for the door, but Nightmare stopped him swiftly by catching his arm. “Explain first!”

“All we need to do is to bring the Skybrush to her again.” Frill said. “The effect will-”

He couldn’t even start his second sentence. “NONSENSE!!” Sévère exclaimed, slamming his hand against the wooden door to make a loud noise. “You’re out of your freaking mind!!!”

“That will never work!” Flavie also stood up. “Don’t talk crazy.”

“This is why you’re nothing but trouble.” Durante added to the mix, too.

“Let Frill talk.” Worlden chimed in from their corner.

“The Skybrush doesn’t want to hurt Sena. It was told to activate earlier, which is why she’s hurt, but now it’ll wake her up.” Frill explained quickly. “We have to go get it now.”

Nightmare nodded in agreement.

“You have to get away from here now!” Sévère snapped. “Do you want to kill her?”

“Of course not!” Frill snapped too, stepping closer to Sévère. “I love her!”

Wild had never seen him angry, ever. It was a new sight for everyone in the room.

The loud voices of the two woke Lyra up, looking up at the people in the room with confused, dizzy eyes as she straightened the frog beanie on her head.

“We love her a lot more than whatever the hell you think you’re doing.” Flavie stepped up until she was an inch away from Frill, and then slapped him on the cheek.

Frill covered his cheek with one hand and retorted back with even more anger. “Oh, really?! Then maybe you would have visited more often and tried to piece together relationships in the family, instead of criticizing her at every single turn!”

“ENOUGH!!!” Nightmare yelled with a voice that shook the ground. “Now is NOT the time to be having a fight.”

“We need to give Frill’s idea a try.” Dual said.

Finally a sensible thought! Wild thought, adding in. “Yes. There isn’t anything to lose.” He knew that Frill loved history and the wonders of the world, so he no doubt read a lot of books on the treasures of the districts. 

“Yes there is.” Sévère directed his eyes to Wild, which made him take a whole step back in fear. It’s a lot different when the anger is directed at yourself. “At least she’s still breathing now, but if it fails, she could die.”

For a split second, Wild saw where he was coming from. There is considerable risk. Permanent risk. He felt sympathy for the Lapine Clan’s leader. Perhaps he did love his daughter after all… even if it was in a way that was hard to see.

This is just a lose-lose situation.

“You have to trust me on this!” Frill said with frustration.

“Let’s vote.” Nightmare finally said, after a moment of silence. “Everyone except Frill, raise your hand if you’re in favor of trying his plan.”

Wild was the first to raise his own, followed by Worlden, Dual, and Lyra.

“Four.” Nightmare said. “Raise your hand if in favor of not.”

The three members of Sena’s family present - Sévère, Flavie, and Durante, raised their hands.

“Majority wins. Frill can go retrieve the Skybrush.” Nightmare declared.

“NO!” Sévère said. He turned around and pointed an angry finger at Lyra. “She doesn’t even know what the freaking ‘plan’ IS!! She slept THROUGH it!!!”

Lyra flinched.

Nightmare slapped his own face hard, and raised his own hand. “Okay, now majority wins. Frill can go retrieve the Skybrush.”

Before Sévère could snap again, Frill ran out of the room at lightning speed.

The next two minutes seemed to pass at a glaring slow speed. Wild wondered if Frill knew where the Skybrush even was kept - it’s usually a secret between just the guardian and the highest officials of the district, but he guessed from Frill’s quick movements that Sena must have told him where it was once.

He brought back the Skybrush. It’s a white dreamcatcher, decorated with blue colors and glowing with blue light.

The presence of the treasure seemed to make the room feel cooler, for some reason.

Sévère glared at the thing with hateful eyes, Flavie simply looked away, and Durante was looking at it with some sort of beyond worried expression.

“Everyone, back up.” Nightmare said. 

They reluctantly followed, and Frill alone walked over to the bed. He knelt on the floor and held the Skybrush out.

Nothing happened for a few moments, and Wild felt his own heart fall back down with disappointment. 

But then, abruptly, Sena sat up.

Awake.

“Sena!” Frill exclaimed, and hugged her.

“Frill,” Sena said, a little breathlessly.

Everyone in the room seemed to breathe a heavy sigh of relief, especially Sena’s family, who were practically crying.

“Everything is okay! Cubecraft will be okay! And there’s someone I have to see!” Sena suddenly exclaimed. “Two someones, actually.”

She stepped off of the bed and quickly ran out of the room before anyone could stop her.

“What-” Nightmare said. “Wait!” And followed her out of the room.

Wild practically leaned back against the wall.

He hadn’t realized how much he’d grown to genuinely care about his leader. At the beginning, he didn’t think she was going to do well - even thought that she might be a tyrant or something, when she fired so many of the old Royal Guards. But everything she did proved that wrong, little by little, each step was taken with more and more thought until she grew into the leader that she is today.

Lyra was crying, too, with her head on the bed. And Worlden was rubbing their eyes. Wild had never seen Worlden cry before, ever, he wondered if they were doing that now.

“Frill,” Sévère said abruptly. “Uh… I’m sorry.”

“We were wrong about you.” Flavie said. “All of the things.”

“We’ll try to love her properly from now on.” Durante murmured quietly.

“Woah, what was that?” Frill asked, leaning closer to Durante, who looked up at him with a scared expression. “I’m teasing.” He stood up straight again. 

“Thank you guys.”

~~~*~~~

“Who do you have to see?” The shadowy guardian’s voice echoed in the halls after Sena’s footsteps.

“Clarette and Etienne!” Sena turned around to answer. “They are the ones who I should pick for the Circle Trial!”

“Who? The what?” Nightmare seemed confused. “What?”

Ugh! Sena thought. She turned around and ran back into her room. “Worlden! Wild! Lyra!”

She just noticed that her family was in the room too… so annoying. They’ll probably be talking about how she doesn’t have a single fancy painting up soon enough.

“What?” Wild said, while Lyra and Worlden looked up at her with tears in their eyes.

“Why are you crying?” Sena asked, slowing down a little.

“That’s… uh…” Lyra said. “Nothing, Miss Sena. What do you need us for?”

“I need you all to fetch Clarette and Etienne for me and bring them to the palace now!” Sena said.

“Who, what…?” Worlden looked confused.

“They’re my childhood friends! They live around the edge of Cubecraft City, near Marseille.” Sena said. “I have to see them!”

“Okay.” Wild was the first one out the door, Lyra and Worlden quickly followed. Perhaps the messenger job will distract them from… whatever was making them cry.

“Sena.” Sévère said.

Oh. Sena braced herself for a lecture, about the paintings or the Skybrush or whatever.

But Sévère only slowly walked up to her and hugged her.

What…? 

She can’t recall this happening, not even once. It felt so weird.

Flavie, her mother, and Durante, joined in as well. 

Oh, but maybe it can start happening from now on.

Sena hugged them back.

~

The footsteps on the first floor of the castle made Sena’s ears perk up straight. She walked to the balcony.

But it’s not Clarette and Etienne. It’s just Nightmare, and… Polar?

The only winner of the global games for Cubecraft doesn’t ever make much of a public appearance anymore. In fact, Sena doesn’t think she’s ever talked to him. So what is he doing here?

“My leader.” Nightmare called. “He has wanted to see you since this morning, and wouldn’t leave no matter what.”

“Hi, Polar.” Sena said. “What’s the matter?”

She hoped that this would end quickly. Clarette and Etienne might be coming anytime soon.

“Leader Sena, can we talk in private?” Polar said.

“Sure, come to my office.” Sena said, beckoning him with her fingers.

She sat on her red, swivel chair, and pulled out a purple swivel chair for Polar to sit on. “Close the door.” She motioned, waving a small goodbye to Nightmare.

“I… have a new plan for the method of Cubecraft for selecting the selected team for the global games.” Polar began.

“What?” Sena squinted her eyes. “Go on.”

Polar took out an entire easel and put on multiple blueprints in place. Sena didn’t understand anything written on them, let alone the equations and the mechanisms depicted on it. He also took out what seemed to be a handbook of some sort, and then another copy which he handed over to Sena.

Polar cleared his voice, and started speaking.

“A bit of a backstory. A few years back I went to the Hive District for a vacation. As you know, they have this simulated trial which supposedly mirrors the actual global games. I figured this might be a good way to learn the ins-and-outs of the simulation, so I contacted the guy in charge of their selection process, Cyclosword, hired some engineers from Archiva, sought the advice of Frill, and spent all of my prize money from my global win to create this thing. Now, may I present to you: The Minerware Trials!”

Even though Polar was still talking, Sena couldn’t sum up any interest in this supposed new selection method that he was going on about.

“Instead of having the nine royal houses prepare a trial for the selection process each year, the Minerware simulation will have fifteen trials picked at random. You could refer to your handbook if you wanna know how a certain trial works. People who manage to complete a trial will be granted a point, and those who get the most points will be selected! However, there’s a catch: There will be a simulated game of hunger games at the end of the trial, and the winner will be granted five points!”

“So what’s the point of those trials before the simulated match?” Asked Sena.

“Warm-up!”

Polar answered confidently, but for some reason, his reply gave off a ton of awkwardness to the atmosphere.

“Ah! Well, uh, a-as you know, skill matters more in the global, and, yes! They- the participants could hone their skills in those trials before participating in a match of hunger games.”

“Yeah, that’s a ridiculous idea.” Sena stood up. “This year, we will continue as it always has.”

Polar looked up at her with wide eyes. “...really?” There were more pain in them than Sena had thought, and she pushed her own feelings out of the way.

“Yes.” Sena said. “This conversation is closed.”

“Oh…” Polar looked down, packed his things, got up, and had one last look at his leader with his pleading eyes before he left the room.

Sena sighed, and stared at the closed door for a moment more before sitting back down.

Well, that’s over with.

The door immediately burst open in the next second. 

It’s the newer Royal Guard, Hoshi, kicking the door open with her foot as the breeze kicked back her beautiful purple hair. “Sena, you wanted to see them?”

Sena zoned back to reality with the sound of the door. When she glanced up, the most beautiful cyan-green hair was in her sight. Flowing down until her hips, even.

She looks so much more real than in the dream.

“Clarette!” Sena exclaimed. The other purple-haired figure appeared behind her. “Etienne!”

“Hi! Missed us?” Clarette walked into the office, her steps confident. 

“Of course!” Sena said.

“Hey Sena,” Hoshi cut in. “Not to disturb, but I just saw Polar leaving. What did he want?”

“Oh.” Sena was suddenly forced to think about the offer again. “Something ridiculous.”

Hoshi laughed. “Have fun.” She called behind her, and snapped the door closed cleanly as her footsteps faded away.

The room was now just the three of them. Sena took a moment to observe the changes in her friends once again. “I wish Frill was here.” He just was this morning-

“Sena! I-” Frill burst through the door, “was just… Clarette! Etienne!”

He wraps his arms around the two, and Sena joined in as well. 

“Too tight. Can’t breathe.” Etienne complained.

“You’re still the same as always.” Frill let go to pat Etienne on the shoulders.

“Why aren’t you guys calling me ‘Clare’? Call me Clare.” Clarette complained, looking sideways at Sena, and then Frill.

“Sorry.” Sena said.

“Never call me Eti again.” Etienne declared.

The four old friends laughed and giggled until they were seated by the couch at the side of the room.

“So, what did you call us here for?” Clarette asked.

“I was wondering if you…” Sena paused for a moment.

The sunlight of the window missed the couch perfectly. She shifted her eyes to the sunlight on the wooden floor for a moment, watching the dust in the room turn visible in the areas where the shine is.

“If you two would participate in the Circle Trial for Cubecraft in the upcoming Circle Trial?”

Clarette exchanged a glance with Etienne. “Of course!” She said first.

“Sounds like something up my sleeves.” Etienne said as well.

“Oh my goodness…” Sena leaned back and brushed away the sweat on her neck that she didn’t know was there. “Thank you.”

“What, why do you look so relieved?” Clarette smiled with a teasing look in her eyes.

“You have no idea how hard it was…” she decided not to tell them the whole story right now. “I’m just so glad that you two are willing to participate.”

“Of course! You’re my friend!” Clarette said. “And, we’ll do whatever it takes to win.”

“We have quite a lot of tricks up our sleeves.” Etienne nodded his head in agreement.

“For Sena, and Cubecraft.” Frill said, blowing a kiss over the heads of Clarette and Etienne, since they were sitting in the middle of them two.

Sena returned the air-kiss.

“Woah, are you guys dating now?” Clarette gasped, with a hand over her mouth for dramatic effect.

“Our three-year anniversary is coming up soon.” Sena said.

Clarette gasped again. She stood up and dragged Etienne up with her against his will, and then pushed Frill towards Sena. 

“Well, we best get out of the way!” 

“Clare, you’re the worst.” Sena declared.

Clarette was in the light now, her beautiful eyes blurred by the dust in the sun.

Cubecraft is going to be okay, and everything is fine!

~

“What happened while you were in the coma?” The door burst open as Nightmare came in to ask the question.

“People need to stop bursting open my door.” Sena said. “Hi, Nightmare.”

Nightmare didn’t repeat the question, because he knew she heard him.

“Why are you asking me that?” Sena asked instead.

“The moment you woke up, you wanted to see Clarette and Etienne. It seemed like you weren’t totally passed out, and could even think with a clear mind. It’s important to me to collect as much information about the Skybrush and what could happen when it is used as possible, as I am the Guardian of the Skybrush.” Nightmare said, his eyes glowing.

I saw Charlotte. Sena said. And I had a dream where I saw the future. 

But I don’t want to tell you that.

“Why, Nightmare, instead of that, let’s sit down and have tea instead.” Sena blinked a couple of times. 

“No, Sena, what-”

“I saw some things.” Sena said. “But I want to keep them a secret.”

Nightmare blinked. 

Sena blinked back at him.

“If that’s what you wish for, my leader.” Nightmare sighed, and backed out of the room.

Sena watched him for as far as the door would let her before it closed. Cubecraft has a good guardian, who is wise and knows what he’s doing.

~

Sena was alone in her meeting room, not moving an inch from her original position.

It was silent inside her office, and Sena could only hear the ticking of the clock on the wall, showing exactly twelve o’ clock with its hands.

Dual had entered the room moments after that confrontation, bringing lunch for her, paired with exotic tea from Endpoint that had become cold by now.

Sena found herself unable to eat, even as the food also grew cold with time. She started - without reason - thinking back to the dreams she’d had when she used the Skybrush.

It had told her the future, about Cubecraft winning the Circle Trial and being safe, and about Maverick being murdered. 

But that didn’t have anything to do with Cubecraft. It felt like she was given that dream because she had wondered about whether the deal with Maverick worked out or not. Maybe the Skybrush heard her!

Now she’s wondering about what would happen in the global games this year.

Not that it was likely for the Cubecraft contestants to win… but still.

If she could use the Skybrush again, she might be able to see what happens, just like how she saw the Circle Trial!

“No, that’s a terrible idea!” Said Sena as her thoughts suddenly spilled out of her mouth.

I want to know what happens in the global, too! But I can't ask for the Skybrush again. I already feel too weak from using it, and I don't want to hear another lecture from Nightmare! Everyone will be worried… What do I do? Frill… What do I- 

The conversation with Polar came back to her, suddenly. She had quickly dismissed that idea to begin with. It did seem ridiculous at the time… why change something that has been working fine since the beginning of time? Especially to whatever this “simulation” Polar is talking about is.

Ah, but, Polar’s simulation, it was supposed to have a round of hunger games… maybe, if we used that- yes! I know what to do.

That’s perfect plan! And it wasn’t ridiculous to begin with.

A knock on the door could be heard from outside her office, interrupting her thoughts.

“Come in!” Invited Sena.

The door slowly opened to reveal Frill behind it.

“Frill! Thank goodness, never a better time!” Sena rushed up from her seat and rushed straight into Frill’s arms, tightly embracing him.

“What’s the matter?” Asked Frill. “And Sena, I need you to see this, by the way.”

“I have decided that Cubecraft will be using Polar’s new selection process for this year’s selection process, and I need your help with things.” Sena explained as she took the piece of paper Frill had handed to her.

It was a list of people. Sena noticed that they weren't just the typical people from the district, they're a little more notable. People who are smart and capable, some of her own Royal Guards, even…

“That's a list of all the people who signed up for this year's selection process so far.” Frill explained. “I was thinking about the new selection process, too. Polar seemed to have worked really hard on it.”

Yeah. Polar was the previous winner after all. Sena remembered that Polar had said that he had spent all of his prize money on it, and she suddenly felt awful for rejecting him in the first place.

“This list looks great! Tell Polar that I took back what I said earlier, and that I'm asking for forgiveness from him… also tell him to prepare the simulations in advance, I would like to hold them in around a week.”

“I will, Sena.” Frill gave a salute to Sena, and started to walk towards the door. “See you in a bit!”

“In a bit, Frill!”

~

By the soft twilight of the end of that day, the stars glittered in a purple galaxy outside Sena’s office.

Frill is sitting by the couch, a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Why are you drinking that at eight in the evening?” Sena asked as she got up to open the window, letting in the cool evening breeze of early summer.

“Oh.” Frill looked down. “Wait, this is coffee?”

“Yeah.” Sena said.

“Dual just handed me this drink.” Frill said.

Sena frowned. That doesn’t seem like a mistake that Dual would make.

“Oh well.” Frill kept drinking it.

It’s been such a long time since Frill and her were alone in a room, it feels like a year ago - even though the breeze from the seasons that only softly changed outside were evidence that that was false.

Too many things happened… and an entire crisis was avoided, even. 

She wondered if Charlotte had faced even harder times when she was a leader. 

Of course she has. Sena saw some of it with her own eyes. And she was a leader for sixteen years.

How long does Sena want to be leader for? According to the dream she had, she takes another term. But what would happen if she tried to change the future?

She’s read many novels about that kind of story. None of them worked out.

Frill finished his coffee and set it down on the table, the pang of the sound interrupted her thoughts.

That’s right… Frill… 

If she’s cutting her own life short, she won’t get to spend the rest of it with Frill.

Ah, the problems just never end!

But it’s important to treasure the things before your eyes, because the next minute, they might be gone.

Landing on that thought, Sena cleared her throat, but Frill spoke before her. “I think I’m going to stay the night at the palace.”

All of a sudden Sena panicked. “Wait, Frill, ah, you can’t-”

“What?” Frill blinked at her innocently. “It’s not like I haven’t done it eight times before.”

“There isn’t any room!”

“That’s ridiculous.” Frill said simply.

“O-okay, fine.” Sena said, crossing her arms.

“What?” Frill asked.

This is a new feeling. Sena glanced at Frill and tried to read his gleaming purple eyes.

Silence sat between them for a while, as the stars whirled outside, carrying the wind in.

“I have to… worry about Cubecraft.” Sena said finally.

“The Circle Trial is set, the selection process is set, the elections haven't started yet… what is there to worry about?” 

“Uh…”

But he’s so right, to the point where Sena was just thinking about that earlier. 

And she’s using it as an excuse now!

“Alright, you can stay the night.”

Cubecraft is a district on the planet, and more than anything, it will survive now. Even as the seasons change and rain fall… they will always be one, and be together.