Arietty was in white dress, facing him with that smile that he loved so much. Sehun saw the resemblance between his little sister and mother. Both girls had different delicate features that complimented their heart-shaped faces; while his mother had a certain sense of innocence to her look, his sister ironically had a more graceful appearance for her age.

  When Arietty smiled, her small, plump lips like that of roses curved up slightly. Her doe eyes turned upwards, looking like crescents and that little button nose would scrunch up in the most adorable way. It was those small but unforgettable features that were deeply embedded into Sehun's mind. She looked so delicate that all he wanted to do is to protect her from all the evils in the world for as long as he can. He wanted to be the big brother that she deserved.

  Sehun decided to reach out his right hand towards hers, wanting his baby sister to be nearer to him, to give her a warm embrace. As the tip of his fingers reached near her cheeks however, she had promptly shifted back, leaving a space between the two siblings. He stood frozen in confusion and shock, wondering why she would back away from him like that. Did he do something wrong? Was she still upset with him for volunteering to take her place in the games without telling her first? What did he do wrong? All he wanted was his sister to be with him, he wanted the loneliness to go away and he knew that she was the only one who could drive away this horrible feeling in him.

  He tried once more, this time making to take it more slowly, afraid that she would back away from his gesture again. Inch by inch, he noticed that she wasn’t moving away from him this time so he decided to take a step forward to lean in to touch her face. Unexpectedly, all he got was a feeling of wind her backwards in the blink of an eye, pulling her away from him as she slid across the space. She had ended up even further away from him than before.

  Sehun sensed that there was something strange going on, she couldn’t have moved that far that quickly.

  "Ary? What's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked with caution as his eyes shifted to the empty spaces around her, checking to see if there was anyone else who might be near her.

  "Ary don't be scared alright. I'm here, I'll protect you." Sehun whispered softly in her direction as he reached his hand out to let her grab it. "Just walk towards me slowly and take my hand. Everything will be okay."

  She did not move nor respond.

  He looked at her as she continued to remain still, unwavering from her stiff position. Something was up, Sehun thought to himself. There must have been somebody controlling Arietty somehow; that must be why she did not dare to move.

  Just as he was lost in his thoughts, he saw a shadow suddenly emerged right behind her.

  Stunned and filled with worry, Sehun did not dare to move an inch. The figure grew taller and clearer as it went closer towards Arietty, eventually looming over her with its towering height. It took a while for Sehun to get a better look at the figure since he was a distance away from them; all he could get was a man, tall and skinny from what Sehun can see. The figure was clad in a black cloth, which was draped over the side of his face, making it difficult to make out any other features of his.

  Sehun flinched as the man started to gradually raise his right arm towards him. It looked like it was about to attack, he knew that he had to do something, and quick. As he struggled with the inner battle within himself, he was stuck between deciding if he should just charge forward to save his little sister or to stay where he is, in case any rash actions of his ended up causing her harm instead. 

  He made the decision to stay calm for the moment, for the sake of Arietty's safety.

  To his horror, he noticed that the man wasn’t aiming for him, he was going for Arietty instead. In a swift movement, the man relocated his hand to land right on top of her skull. Sehun stood in his place in shock as he watched the scene unravel rapidly in front of his own eyes.

  Arietty's face was expressionless, her usually bright eyes were now vacant and empty. It looked as though she was not present. In a sick and weird sort of way, it was like her soul had been extracted from her body somehow.

  He could not bring himself to grasp the current situation. Everything was too bizarre to be real; he knew that Arietty was still back at home just hours ago, so who exactly was the girl standing in front of him? As much as he would like to believe his theory with his whole heart, he could not deny the fact that it all felt too real.

  He started to feel his palms get sweaty. Deep down, he was terrified of what would come next. He could feel the beating of his heart in his throat, like it was threatening to choke him using his own body. Nevertheless, what came next felt even worse than death itself.

  He saw a hint of desperation in Arietty's eyes before it instantly got replaced with an overwhelming blackness. He realized that the anonymous figure was torturing her as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

  Sehun immediately jumped forward to pull her away from its claws but the second he reached her side, Arietty's screaming got even worse. And it forced him to stop dead in his tracks.

  His heart tore as he saw her scratching against herself, her nails pulling onto the smooth skin, leaving bloody scratch marks along the sides of both her arms. Her cries filled the entire space and her shrieks echoed into Sehun's ears as he saw what was once his flawless little sister tearing herself into shreds.

  "No! Please! Please stop! Help! Sehun help!" She bawled fiercely and dropped to her knees with a thud against the ground. Her movements started to become more rapid as she cried in horror. He saw her furously clutching her own torso as she started to claw her own face.

  He could not move.

  She shook her head violently, looking as if she was trying to get rid of something that was stuck on her face.

  Sehun felt his body becoming heavier, stuck in place as he saw his sister crying helplessly while begging for relief from the never-ending torment.

  "Sehun! Help! Make this stop!” She yelled in agony as hot tears and mucus streamed down her face. “Let me die! Stop this! Just let me die!"

  Sehun shook with fear and anger as he breathed in and out heavily. He was breaking out in panic when a sudden gust of wind started to surround him within seconds; he heard the high-pitched whistles combined with the pain from her cries for help as he felt his whole frame vibrating with rage. The wind quickly picked up; he could feel it gathering in his fingertips, threatening to burst in every direction any second. He did not know what he was doing, all he had on his mind was to get that monster away from her as fast as possible. He wanted to kill that thing. He threw both his hands forward with his ten fingers spread out towards it but the figure had instantaneously vanished before the wind could even hit it.

  What followed was the sight of Arietty's limp body falling to the ground with a loud crack against the floor. Sehun kicked forward and ran towards her side. His hands were supporting her neck, carefully lifting her head up so that he could take a closer look at the damage done.

  All he was faced with was her disfigured, bloody face, filled with several deep wounds that were gushing with the deep red liquid. He stared at the long trails of scratches that lined the outside of her eyes, following it down to her lips with a small pool of blood trickling down at the side.

  "Ary! Wake up! Oh my god Ary wake up!" He hollered as he tried his best to shake her out of unconsciousness. "Please wake up! I'm so sorry!" He pulled her head into his chest as he continued to rock her back and forth.

  But she could not move. She could not respond to his pleading.

  Drawing his face away from hers, he placed his finger right below her nose. He staggered in response as he pulled his finger back, shaking in disbelief. He could not – did not want to believe any of it.

  She was not breathing. 

  He swore that he could taste bile in his mouth.

  Sehun jerked awake and found himself heaving, with endless streams of hot tears trickling down his face. He realized that it was all just a dream and that he is still in his room. As he propped him upper body up with his arms, he took a quick glance around the room to check if there was anybody else present, and managed to get himself to calm down. He did not want anyone to know that he had a nightmare, especially not Caleb. He knew that it was another sign of weakness that he must never reveal.

  He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and pushed himself off the large bed. He wondered just how long he has been asleep as he dragged himself towards the windows. The scene outside was totally unfamiliar to him. There were no more forests, no more individual houses seen on its own; never-ending skyscrapers that were placed together side by side replaced it all. There was not a single tree in sight, everything looked so modern and strange, it felt too prim and proper for his liking.

  Just then, an announcement was heard through the little black boxes hanging at the corners of the room, he assumed those were the speakers that the voice was coming from.

  "Dear warriors, if you would be so kind as to take a look outside your cabins, you will see the most amazing and wonderful city in all of Pedra, the Capital."

  It sounded like Caleb.

  "I warmly welcome you all to my home. This is where you will be training throughout the course of a month and the actual Purity Games will be taking place here as well, so I hope that you will find your stay here to be delightful,” he announced.

  "I would like to remind you all that we will be arriving at our destination in 3 minutes. Please get yourselves ready because once the doors are opened, the opening ceremony will officially begin.”

  Sehun felt his stomach flip out of uneasiness; it was all happening too fast.

  “I wish you all good luck and may peace and harmony be upon Pedra!" He heard the man chant in pride.

  Sehun took in a deep breath as he tries to steady himself for what will come next. He gazed at his reflection in the glass panel and landed straight on his own eyes.

  He stood in front of the metal door, shifting his balance about his heels with his palms all sweaty. It was kind of a habit he had since he was little, it often happened whenever he got nervous.

  As he rubbed his palms against his slacks, a familiar melody of bells rung through the enclosed space once more and an announcement could be heard through the system.

  “Dear warriors,” it was Caleb again. Sehun had recognized his voice by now.

  “I am pleased to announce that we have finally arrived at the heart and soul of Pedra, the place where you will call home for the next 2 weeks.”

  Home. He thought to himself. More like an asylum.

  “Welcome, to the one and only Capital.”

  At the end of the broadcast, the panel that was dividing Sehun from the unknown world rose up from the ground; he unconsciously took a deep breath in. There he stood, half scared and half anxious to see what the Capital really looked like. Of course, he had seen it before back home on the screen, but that was different; it was only a portrayal of what the Capital thinks should be shown to the public. He knew that under that entire extravagant and elaborate façade there had to be a flaw in the system, and he was planning to find out just what it was during his stay here.

  Once the thick metal pane was fully lifted, what revealed itself seemed to look like some sort of a stadium. It was circular in shape, an open stadium; kind of like a huge dome without its top. It had huge pillars of spotlights filling up every corner of the field, shining down on them with what seemed to feel like a thousand megawatt bulbs. He had a tough time just keeping his eyes open. Through all that squinting he had spotted millions of seats stacked so high up, packed tightly beside one after another, it looked as if the people sitting there were almost touching the skyline. Just how many people were there? Sehun was not able to see very clearly with the ridiculous amount of light shining into his eyes but from the deafening sound of their cheers, roars and hollers from the crowd young and old, he guessed that almost everyone who lived in the Capital was gathered here right now. And they were definitely excited for the Games.

  Sehun gazed around as the crowd's cheering thundered throughout the arena; he could feel his eardrums thumping along to the beat of their roars.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Jongin appearing out from his left as he slowly stepped out from his respective cabin. With his head tilted up, he too, was observing the bizarre situation that they were put in and it seemed to Sehun that Jongin was looking as overwhelmed as he was.

  Another familiar ring of the bells, an announcement was being made once more. But this time, it was not Caleb that Sehun hears; a different voice was speaking.

  Sehun scanned his eyes across the stands and landed right where Caleb was seen standing on an individual balcony located in the middle of the stadium. Beside him were two other men clad in white suits, watching the crowd and the newcomers at the same time.

  Sehun thought they almost looked identical to Caleb. Both men were taller than him however; one was about half a head taller while the other was almost towering over his body. Sehun tried his best to identify them. He figured that they were Caleb's brothers, and that the three of them were part of the Aionios. That was his best guess, seeing as how the Aionios had never once shown their faces on screen during any one of the Purity Games. He started to grew suspicious of it yet again. He just could not figure out why the Aionios would suddenly choose to reveal themselves after all these years.

  Just as Sehun was lost in his thoughts, the tallest one spoke up, his voice booming through the broad grounds.

  “Citizens of Pedra,” he started off. “My brothers and I welcome you all to the 50th annual Purity Games. It is once again one this very day that we all gather in this very stadium to uphold this sacred tradition of our ancestors. 50 years ago, our ancestors created the games for sake of Pedra's existence. They wanted to ensure the safety of its people, that never again would disaster strike upon us,” he announced as his voice amplified throughout the stadium. “This is a tradition that we have taken pride in up till this very day. This is the gift that our families have presented us with.” The man paused for a while as the crowd cheered in celebration.

  “My good people,” he continued, “let us all join together in celebrating yet another great year ahead. Let us all unite as one. May peace and harmony be upon Pedra,” he finished off his grand opening as the crowd went wild.

  Chants of “Pedra! Pedra! Pedra!” were being repeated by the masses; it went on for so long that it had started to sound like a mantra.

  The man raised his right hand after he thought that it was enough and the crowd immediately quieted down as he spoke again.

  “Within the numbered days, my brothers have travelled across the 10 sectors, looking far and wide for the nation's best Crafters. It was a long and hard journey as I have been told, but we have successfully managed to gather all 20 participants from the sectors. So now, would you all please join me in welcoming the heroes of our nation, they travelled overnight to get all the way here for the games and they have just arrived, the participants of the 50th annual Purity Games, our Warriors!" The man stepped back towards the to sit down as the crowd showed their enthusiasm.

  All lights were on them. But Sehun was too preoccupied in his thoughts to care about all that hypocrisy, it was just for show anyway. All he was concerned about was figuring out who exactly that man was. He stared long and hard and noted that the man had a silent authority to him; he did not need to do or say much for people to obey. Guessing from how he was the one who did the official announcement of the opening statement of the Games, this man was probably the head of the Aionios, the one who possessed true control.

  Just then, Sehun saw Caleb step forward along with his other brother and their presence alone was enough for the crowd to grow silent yet again.

  “My brothers and sisters of Pedra, my brother Logan and I will now introduce to you the warriors we have found in the respective sectors we visited. Logan will be presenting warriors from sectors 1 to 5, and I 6 to 10.” Caleb said as he gestured for his brother to start.

  Logan takes another step forward and starts to announce the first batch.

  “From Sector 1, we have Park Chanyeol and Lyra Michaels.”

  Sehun forced himself to pull his vision away from the balcony to find a guy appearing from the cabin beside Jongin’s. He had a head full of hair that was as red as flames; Sehun admitted that the ridiculous colour looked somewhat good on him. Chanyeol was sporting a grey t-shirt along with a pair of black skinny jeans that made his legs look even skinnier than it probably was. He was tall; Sehun thought that he might have been even taller than him, and that was saying something, seeing as how he himself stood at a whopping height of 1.8m. He saw the boy flash a goofy smile to the crowd, showing off his full set of sparkling whites and in response, the crowd cheered on for their very first Warrior.

  Beside him, a girl of a smaller statue had steadily emerged. She had on a white dress that ended right below her knees, making her look even more elegant than she already was. And in contrast to her male counterpart’s hair, hers was thick and black, with bangs that landed right above her small eyes. Sehun thought that the girl shared the same kind look and sweet smile of his mother’s.

  “From Sector 2, we have brothers Theo and James Frey.” Logan announced as he saw two men walking forward to stand in the line to join Chanyeol and Lyra.

  Sehun gazed up at the holographic screen, which was displaying the individual profiles of each warrior and their respective names below their pictures.

  There it stated, Theo was a 19-year-old but compared to his brother, James who was only 17, the elder was kind of lacking in height. The two did look alike in certain ways though; both of them had the same style of light brown hair, short and cropped. Their faces both shared identical square jaws with eyebrows as thick as bushes. But most importantly, what made them stand out to Sehun were those hooked noses of theirs, it was the very feature that made them look as tough as they were. The only difference Sehun could spot was their ears and lips; Theo's were thick and large, the younger had smaller and thinner lips in comparison.

  “Next, from Sector 3, Kim Jongdae and Wu Yifan.”

  He noticed another pair of guys appear from the cabin, this time on his right. Yifan had blond hair with bangs that were long enough to cover his eyes. Sehun wondered if he could even see past that mop on top of his head. Pushing his own opinions aside, he noticed that the blonde was also much taller than his fellow warrior, Jongdae, whose hair was a darker shade of brown. 

  “From Sector 4, we have brothers Byun Baekhyun and Luhan.”

  Sehun noticed that the next pair was both short in statue; it must be in the genes. Sehun could not help but think that as they advanced forward to take their respective places beside Yifan and Jongdae. The contrast was too hard to ignore. The one called Baekhyun had his fringe pushed back, giving his black hair a style of sophistication, which contrasted with the flabbergasted expression he had plastered on his face. Sehun noticed something else interesting about the boy, how he was the only one so far who had single eyelids that drooped downwards at its sides; it made him look like a puppy.

  Sehun then spotted the boy's sibling.

  Looking at the information on the board, Sehun found out that his name was Luhan and that he was in fact the elder of the two. He must admit if Baekhyun looked like a puppy, Luhan had the exact same look of innocence and confusion combined in his expression, making him look like a deer that got caught in the headlights. He wondered how that 18-year-old could have been the older one. As he continued his inspection of the boy, he noticed how the other had a head full of icy blonde hair, the striking colour an outstanding compliment to his fair skin. Upon closer observation, Luhan also had a small mouth with rosy pink lips. But despite all his other stunning features, what grabbed Sehun’s attention the most were those magnificent doe eyes.

  “And from Sector 5, we have Kim Junmyeon and Kim Minseok.”

  Upon closer observation, he noticed that the two boys looked similar, with their small eyes and sharp features. They even shared the same surname, he could not help but wonder if they were siblings too; the board stated otherwise.

“And now it's my turn. From Sector 6, we have brother and sister, Zhang Yixing and Silver Zhang.”

  Sehun was astonished when he read the profiles revealed on the screen. That little girl, Silver had barely just turned 10. An image of his baby sister suddenly appeared in his mind.

  He felt an immense hatred for the Games brewing inside him. They were only kids, all of them. Regardless of being Humans or Crafters, he believed that every one of them deserved to have childhood that was worth remembering. It was all too cruel; he did not know how the observers, let alone the Capital, could even bare to see children as young as them get sent into the lion’s den. He bet that if the participants were their children, they would not be as jolly as they were right now.

  To her, the Games was a one-way ticket to an instant death. It was unfair; a ruthless act of mankind, Sehun thought to himself, to put a child through all this when she had barely lived through her youth. The only thing that comforted him about all this crap was the fact that she at least has her brother here to protect her; at least she did not have to go through this alone.

  The fact that most of the Warriors from the sectors were made up of siblings scared Sehun, he wondered if was all just a coincidence or if it was all part of a scheme the Aionios had in plan. Regardless, he silently thanked God that Arietty did not have to follow him here. But then again, he thought that he should have thanked Jongin instead. In a way, he was the one who prevented them from bringing her along.

  “From Sector 7, we have Hazel Grace and Kendall Lerman.”

  Kendall was taller than Hazel by a full head’s length and her long limbs made her look like one of those gangly, awkward girls. She seemed too thin for her own good though; in his opinion, she would not last very long in the Games before getting snapped like a stick.

  Hazel on the other hand, was not as skinny but she was not fat either; she looked rather average in size. Her eyes were astonishingly beautiful though, Sehun will give her that, they were a set in deeply into her skull and large in size and just like her name, they were a gorgeous shade of brown.

  They joined the pack like the previous pair had done.

  “From Sector 8, we have Do Kyungsoo and Huang Zitao.”

  Out comes another odd-looking pair, Sehun thought to himself. The one called Kyungsoo looked too much like a 15-year-old when standing next to his fellow Warrior; it was those big eyes of his that freaked Sehun out, they looked as though they were about to pop out of his sockets at any moment.

  And as for the one who was named Zitao, Sehun noticed that his skin was much tanner than the previous participants that were introduced; it was comparable to that of Jongin’s. But more importantly, what made him stand out from everyone else was that particularly strong aura that he was exuding; Sehun felt that the boy had a cold exterior for a reason.

  Caleb continue on with the introductions.

  “From Sector 9, we have Effy Stonem and Freddie Mclair.”

  Freddie, from Sehun's observation, was tall and a looked a bit lanky. But he was a handsome fellow nonetheless; his features were sharp and distinct, which made him look like he was born out of a noble family.

  Following that, he stretched his vision past the male warrior to check out his female counterpart. The girl was of average height but she was donning a black tank top and a pair of skinny jeans that accentuated her legs, which made her look ten-feet tall. In addition, he noticed that she had a head rich with dark brown curls that were long enough to pass her shoulders. Her skin was fair and her face was small, she was absolutely stunning. As Sehun recalled from, Caleb had announced her name to be Effy.

  “And last but not least, from Sector 10, we have Kim Jongin and Oh Sehun.”

  In response to the declaration, he and Jongin both stepped forward to take their respective places next to the others.

  Sehun looked up at the screen once more and sees his own face displayed in gigantic proportions. It honestly felt weird to see himself exhibited for everyone else to see; he felt so vulnerable to their judgments, like they were constantly reminding him that he has absolutely no way to escape from their clutches or something. He shook his head slightly, trying to shake away those thoughts and concentrate on the current situation instead. He needed to stay focused.

  “With the end of the official introductions, I am glad to present to you, our 20 chosen Warriors for the 50th Purity Games! Please join your hands together to give them a big round of applause!” exclaimed Caleb.

  The immediate claps and cheers were loud and ringing through his ears and Sehun could feel his heart thumping loudly against his chest.

  “Right after the ceremony ends, our Warriors will be escorted straight into the Capital’s headquarters where they will begin their intense training in order for them prepare for the upcoming Games,” he stated. “Now, shall we all join together to wish them luck on their journey ahead? May peace and harmony be upon Pedra!”

  With the end of Caleb's speech, Sehun felt the crowd applaud and celebrate like they have never done before.

  “Pedra! Pedra! Pedra!”

  Their ongoing roars were starting to make him feel a little overwhelmed and dizzy before he spotted another panel at the opposite end of the stadium slide up to reveal a deep and dark alley. He squinted his eyes at an attempt to see through the endless stretch of black and discovered that there were a few lights that illuminated the place.

  As all of the 20 Warriors slowly made their way in into the dark abyss, he could hear the shouts and reverberations from the people becoming softer and softer, eventually disappearing altogether. He inhaled deeply and his eyes fluttered shut as he took a step towards the start of his journey.