Cassandra picked up her sister’s navy blue diary and began to read from it. She was in the comfort of her own messy room. It was almost time for her to go to bed. That night was quiet as she sat in her bed and wondered if she would ever see her again. After Cassidy’s disappearance there was always moments in her life that her mind would wonder off into deep thought. A void would form in her mind, it slowly filled itself up with doubt and loneliness. Thoughts of what ifs would surface within her and if she would ever get to see her face again. Cassandra would drift into deep thought every time she read each line that her sister wrote in her private diary.

The digital paper would store short clips of video and pictures Cassandra was able to look at. When Cassandra hovers her finger over it, she could see short clips of her sister recording video of her past experiences with her video smart drone. The device would move around her and capture moments that she felt a strong connection with, especially when she was around her friends and family.

The diary was one of the few things she had left of her sister. She obsessively read page after page hoping to find any clues as to why she went missing. Now, instead of watching the video clips and tearing up, Cassandra would analyze every second meticulously hoping to find where her sister could be. “There has to be something in here, there just has to be”, Cassandra thought as she turned another page of the diary. Maybe somewhere deep within the pages of the diary, Cassidy would give her a clue as to where she went or so she thought.

Cassandra remembered the day when people actually mourned her disappearance as if Cassidy was dead. The day her disappearance was announced in major news outlets, people actually felt like she did pass away. But Cassandra thought otherwise. Hundreds of Cassidy’s fans congregated around the Decca arenas to remember what an amazing athlete she was in the Decca tournaments.

Cassidy was never found, which gave Cassandra the hope she needed to believe that perhaps one day she will be able to see her again. Although she kept the diary to herself, there were always moments that she could not even bear opening it and looking at its content. Her older sister Cassidy was like a mentor to her. Cassandra would admit that there we’re times that it seemed she simply did not appreciate everything she’d done for her. Cassandra was torn inside knowing that it was hard at times for her to express her gratitude for all the times she was there for her in the past.

Cassandra now looked at a line of text that caught her attention. Cassidy had written some of her thoughts down about her younger sister Cassandra. “Cassandra is just so awesome to be around, but sometimes I feel that she doesn’t focus enough on the task at hand. It’s as if she’s not motivated to do anything at times. I push her, motivating her everyday as much as I can. At times I feel like she doesn’t really care about anything. I feel that not having mom around is affecting her a lot. Competing in Decca tournaments is my passion, but I feel that maybe that’s not what she would have done if I wasn’t around. Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing if mom was still around. I wonder what it would be like if we we’re all still together, here on Saturn of course.”

There was a knock at Cassandra’s bedroom door. It was Cassandra’s father, speaking through the door. “I see some lights on in there. It’s time to get to bed honey, you have a big day tomorrow at the tournament.” Cassandra quickly shut the diary closed.

“Alright dad, I’ll go to bed.” Cassandra sighed. “Good night!”

“Good night! I’ll see you in the morning.” Cassandra turned off the lights in her room and got ready for bed. She covered herself up with her bed sheets. She slowly closed her eyes.

Cassandra wasn’t thinking at all about the Decca Tournament that’s held every year. She knew that if she wanted to even have a chance in making it past preliminary rounds, she would have to focus on the game and not on her sister. This year things for Cassandra will be different. This will be her first time entering the tournament all on her own, without her sister by her side. A lot is expected of her, especially being one of the top champions to compete in the Decca Tournament. This year the pressure is on because the tournament is being held on her own planet, Saturn. Cassandra would have to compete against other fighters from Earth, the neighboring Saturn colonies and the colonies from Mars.

Cassandra suddenly opened her eyes and turned the lights back on in her room. She looked at her nightstand. The deck that she was planning on using in the tournament was sitting there. She grabbed it and removed the cards from their case. Since over the years she’s constructed so many decks, she wanted to make sure her current deck had all the cards she needed for the tournament. For her it was a last minute check. Cassandra had so many cards lying around it was hard for her to keep things in place sometimes. She wasn’t very organized when it came to these things.

She shuffled through them and looked at the different cards, “Let’s see I have Coranew level 2, Blades of Flame level 3, Electro Spark level 1... Yeah, these are the right cards I need.” Cassandra whispered and said to herself the names of some of the cards she was shuffling through. She let out a big sigh of relief. Each card she looked at had their own unique colors and symbols. Some were holographic and shiny with interesting kaleidoscope effects. Cassandra worked hard crafting new strategies over the years to create the perfect deck. She was confident that her new cards will secure her a spot in the finals this year.

She put the cards back into the case and went back to bed. That night she had trouble sleeping, wondering if she would win the tournament. She’d wonder at times if somewhere, somehow, that her sister was out there, maybe even watching her in the tournament. She felt so nervous knowing that Cassidy will not be there to cheer her on in every battle. “I have to win, I need to win. I need to… sleep”.

“Good morning Cassidy. It’s a bright and sunny day today.”

“Huh? Cassidy?” Cassandra was abruptly awakened by the voice of an AI assistant. It was coming from Cassidy’s diary. Cassandra had placed it on the nightstand next to her deck. “What’s going on? Why is it talking?”

Cassandra opened the dairy up to the first page and realized that she had mistakenly turned on the AI assistant when she was looking at the diary last night. A thought then hit her, if she could get the diary to think she was Cassidy maybe she could get information from it and hopefully find her sister. Cassandra’s heart began to race wondering how she was going to pull that off. “Maybe Daru can help me out. He knows a whole lot about tech.” Cassandra looked at the time and started getting ready to go to the tournament. She put the diary in a drawer in her nightstand. The rest of the day the diary was on her mind. It was getting harder and harder to focus on the tournament.

When Decca finally became an international sport, all year round athletes from all over, including Cassandra, train rigorously preparing for the yearly Decca Tournament. At first no one could really understand how a trading card game could turn into an immensely popular sport but once people saw not only the physical strength required but also the skill and strategy needed to win each battle the masses kept growing. The hologram technology used to emulate the different abilities in each card pushed the boundaries of human imagination. Not only could a card make lightning appear from thin air but certain cards could make it seem like a fighter could even manipulate time and space itself. As people watched and witnessed what the fighters could do, the awe-inspiring moves the fighters could pull off, they were hooked and kept tuning in to see each match.

As Cassandra entered the massive stadium full of screaming fans and spectators she couldn't help but wonder once again if her sister was watching as she participated in the welcoming ceremony in the center of the stadium. Before she knew it, it was her turn to fight.

"Why did she leave?" Cassandra stared at the ground thinking of the past. Her mind was on her older sister Cassidy, and her diary. Cassandra strongly felt that Cassidy’s disappearance couldn’t be a kidnapping at all. She felt that Cassidy had to have left on her own. To Cassandra that was the only possibility. But in the end she really had no idea if it was or not.

After Cassidy’s disappearance two years ago, Cassandra’s life hasn’t been the same. The thought of entering a tournament right after her disappearance was unbearable for her. So Cassandra decided not to enter a Decca tournament the year her sister went missing.

"Cassandra!" A voice from a far called out. Cassandra quickly lifted her head and realized that she was in the middle of something important... a battle. A fire ball from the sky quickly raced at her. She jumped and dodged just in time as the fire ball crashed landed in the spot she was just standing in. While dodging Cassandra jumped out of the way, the force of her speed made her slide across the stadium making her fall in a kneeling position. Flames from the fiery ball burst and spread out a short distance from the spot of impact. The flames slowly dissipated.