Prologue

My last memory of Lucilia was when I was only seven years old, on the day before the SoulMaker Trial- the day before she disappeared without a trace.

We spent our last few hours together in our favorite garden, unaware of the fact that in just a moment, soldiers clad in midnight black and blazing red suits and carrying armed weapons would come knocking on our door and would my sister away. For good.

Early in the morning, when the sun was just beginning to peek out from the clouds, I found Lucilia bent over her rose patch, a small pail full of dirt and a shovel in her hands. She was dressed in a simple white dress with a dirty, faded blue apron around her waist. Her dark hair was braided messily and thrown over her shoulder.

I put on a thin black jacket and slowly creeped my way down the stairs and out onto the porch. I quietly slid open the glass door and stepped. The morning air bit at my skin, but I didn't mind the cold. I scurried over to some of the bushes that were going wildly nearby and crouched down low. Through a gap between leaves and branches, I watched as Lucilia sprinkled a fresh layer of dirt over the new rose seeds that she had placed down. She worked as if she was playing an instrument. Her hands moved with rhythm and preciseness as she molded the dirt to cover up the seeds and then patted it down.

I had always loved to watch Lucilia work. It was like magic to watch a little seed grow into a full-bloom flower. All of Lucilia's flowers were grown perfectly. If there were ever imperfections, she would immediately fix them. A trim here or there, more water, new layer of fertilizer. Whenever I asked why Lucilia insisted on being so perfect, she answered that the garden must be beautiful in order to reflect the calmness of her soul. I never understand what exactly she meant, but since it kept her happy, I never questioned her further.

Lucilia had just moved on to plant a new patch of roses when I decided it was time for my little surprise attack. I jumped up from the bushes, fallen leaves and bits of branches rolling off my clothes. I dashed through the colorful flowers, careful to not crush any of them. I flung my arms out wide and, with a cry of delight, I pounced on Lucilia, causing her to tip over and almost lose her balance. I laughed as she almost face plant directly into her newly dug up dirt.

"Evie!" Lucilia cried out in alarm, her arms flailing about wildly as she struggled to regain her balance. I collapsed onto the ground in a fit of giggles. Lucilia tried to look stern, but it was hard for her too, so, before long, she was laughing along with me.

"Alright, alright, I admit that you win," Lucilia said once she was calmer. She smiled as she placed down her pail and shovel. "Now, what exactly are you doing so early in the morning?"

"I wanted to see what you were doing," I chirped and crossed my legs on the ground.

Lucilia sighed. "Evie, it's too cold this early in the morning," she said. "And you're not wearing anything warm."

"But you're only wearing a dress," I pointed out.

"Alright, fair point," she said as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Maybe it's not that cold." I giggled again before pointing at the mounds of dirt.

"Are you planting more roses?" I asked. Lucilia nodded as she picked up her shovel and bucket again. The dirt had scattered all over the place, so she had to carefully scrape it all back into the bucket, careful as to not accidentally dig back up the planted seeds. The moment her bucket was full again, she returned back to work.

"Why more roses?" I asked as I glanced at the long row of roses that Lucilia had made a long time ago. Lucilia grabbed a pinch of seeds and spread them out into the dirt.

"It's because I like roses," Lucilia replied with a small smile. "I think they're beautiful, especially when they glisten with dew early in the morning. Don't you think they're beautiful, too?"

"Yeah," I said. "What colored roses are you planting this time? Are they those weird purple ones from last time?"

One time Lucilia had tried to plant purple roses by first planting white roses and then adding a special chemical to it to turn it a dark purple. But her plan didn't go as she thought, so the flowers ended up looked blotched with dark and light shades of purple all over. From afar, it looked as if the roses had caught a deadly disease.

Lucilia laughed. "No, I'm not," she agreed.

"Good," I said. "Last time you scared Mom so much with your purple roses. She thought that the garden was rotting."

"That would be a terrible mistake to make again," she said. "I'm just planting white ones and I'm going to leave them that way. I think they look much more beautiful that way because they remind me of your silvery hair."

I unconsciously reached up to gently touch a stray strand of my pale, white hair. I had never seen my hair as special or pretty enough to be complimented on. I had always envied Lucilia's smooth dark hair since it seemed to reflect the sunlight during the day. She could fashion it anyway- from a basic ponytail to a complex braid- and she would still look beautiful. As for me, my white hair was always stringy and would stick up at odd ends. I never pulled up my hair because, if I did, I wouldn't be able to cover my unusual red eyes.

But whenever Lucilia complimented my white hair, I felt happy, special, accepted. I knew that she was speaking genuinely because with one look at her radiant face and glittering eyes, I could tell that she was speaking the truth. I smoothed out my hair and and softly smiled to myself.

"Thanks, Lucie," I said. "I think you're very pretty, too. I think you'll definitely pass the SoulMaker Trial." And it was the truth. Almost everyone could agree that Lucilia Greene could pass the SoulMaker Trial with flying colors. She was the epitome of perfection. Both beautiful and smart, she stood out almost like a prodigy in our sector. She was my idol, my definition of perfection, my ideal image for the future.

The moment I mentioned about the SoulMaker Trial, I knew that something wrong was going one with Lucilia.

Lucilia smiled like she always did, but this time there was a hint of sadness swirling in her eyes. But then she blinked and the little dark cloud that floated within her bright irises disappeared as well. She slowly sank down onto her knees so that she was facing me at eye level. Her usual startling blue eyes were slightly duller than usually. Maybe it was just because of her nervousness for the SoulMaker Trial. Afterall, it was the biggest event that could happen in our lives and it was only natural that she was feeling the last minute jitters. But it was still surprising to see her this way since she hadn't shown any signs of nervousness or anxiety during the months leading up to her trial.

Her eyes never left mine as she took my small hands into her warm ones. She opened her mouth a couple of times, trying to form words, but failed to. For a couple of moments, she remained silent.

This version of Lucilia scared me. She was supposed to be my beacon of light, my model of courage. It was so rare for her to act this way since she had only appeared weak and fragile twice in my whole life.

"Lucie?" I said softly. When Lucilia didn't respond, I said, a bit louder, "Lucilia?"

That seemed to wake her up from her sullen trance. She blinked and grasped my hands tighter.

"Evie, you must listen to me," she said in a hushed whisper. She quickly glanced around her, checking to see if anyone was listening on us. But there was no one. It was just she and I and some flowers.

"If I somehow fail the SoulMaker Trial, promise me that you'll never come to find me," she said softly. I frowned.

"But you're going to pass," I said, confused. "Everyone, including Mom, says so."

I expected Lucilia to immediately brighten up with newfound confidence and laugh off her sulleness with a joke. But she just looked more forlorn and crestfallen.

"Evie, as much as I would like to, I cannot determine fate. There will always be a chance that I may fail, no matter how much I try," she said. Her hands slightly trembled as she spoke, but her eyes remained hard and determined. "So please, I beg of you, promise me that no matter what, you won't come looking for me."

"Why not?" I asked.

Lucilia sighed. "Evie, you probably won't be able to understand right now, but there are some very bad people out there," she said gently. "And I don't want you or Mom to get hurt because of me."

"Who are they?" I demanded. "Who will want to hurt us?"

"I don't know," Lucilia replied. "But they may be hiding nowhere near us right now, listening. So I need you to protect yourself from now on once I'm gone."

"Lucie, I don't care about any bad guys. You need to pass," I said firmly. "Both Mom and I believe in you. So please, try to do you best."

Lucilia smiled, but it wasn't one of her normal bright ones. It was a tired looking one as if she had worked a long day and was ready for a good rest.

"I'll try, I promise," she said. "But please promise me that you'll stay safe."

I nodded. "Ok, it's a pinky promise." I held up my pinkie. Lucilia reached up and entwined her long, ivory finger with my small, pale one. Suddenly, the porch door opened and Mom ran out, breathless. We quickly broke apart as seven soldiers dressed in black suits with glowing red stripes stepped out behind Mom. They wore a black helmet that covered their identity and they all carried some sort of weapon. On of them, clearly the leader because of the way she carried herself and because of the back on her shoulder, stepped forward.

"Lucilia, it's time to go," Mom said.

Lucilia didn't move. She remained crouched in front of me and her hands tightened around mine. I gave her a gentle squeeze back to assure everything was going to be fine. Mom called out to her again, but Lucilia remained still.

The leader of the soldiers was impatient and decided to move things faster. She pushed Mom out of the way and took matters into her own hand.

"Lucilia Kiev Greene, you are hereby summoned by the great Kellos Council to participate in the annual SoulMaker Trial. We were sent to come collect you and assure you arrive at the assigned designation for testing without harm. You are to cooperate and immediately come with us," she said loudly in an official tone. "This is not a choice."

At this, Lucilia gave me one last squeeze and one last meaningful look before she stood up.

"Yes, I am coming," she said and with that, she began to walk towards the waiting soldiers. She walked confidently and looked as if the conversation we had just a moment ago never happened. She passed Mom without saying a single word and mounted up to steps to where the leader stood.

At the last moment, she turned around and mouthed the words Promise to me and, with that, the soldiers took her away.

After Lucilia left, the garden began to fade in and out, slowly at first and then violently a moment later. The roses and daisies and lilacs made glitchy noises and began to blink rapidly in and out of existence. I watched as row after row of flowers disappear until at last, only the roses were left. A single white petal floated down onto the ground and disappeared before it reached the ground. Then the rest of the roses disappeared as well, leaving the room bare and white and empty, the way it had been before Lucilia had decided to use holographs in order to create a pristine garden.