"You're jumps are looking good today, Telvi," Irena said as I skated back to the boards. 

"I'm trying."

I wouldn't dive into details about how I cried getting ready today. How I felt like my soul was dying. I didn't want to skate any more. I didn't want to improve, but I had to force myself forward. I needed to at least fake it for safety. 

"Good. We need you at your best because I got a call last night about a show on the edge of the Motherwealth. Run through your program a few times and end practice today. We need to get on a train to the location," Irena said.

I hadn't had a show in a few weeks so this felt wrong to perform. It wasn't like I enjoyed it to begin with anyhow. 

"Telvi, you really don't have a choice," Irena said with a sigh as Ari skated over to us. "Ari will join you. Try to enjoy it."

"I enjoy taking a break from our 10-hour training days," Ari said with a smile. 

"Good. Take a lap then get off. Someone will be picking you up to get onto the train to Iver." 

"Iver has an ice rink?" Ari asked in disbelief. 

"Of course it does, Ari. Now go, get, do that lap." She huffed as she shooed us with her hands. 

"Iver is on the edge of the Motherwealth boarder. I've never been to the edge but I've heard stories," Ari said as he pushed around the rink with me by his side. 

"What kind of stories have you heard?" 

He shook his head. "I don't want to ruin any surprises." 

I didn't know what to expect. The Captial was clean and organized with it's sky scrapers and straight streets. I expected the same on the edge of the Motherwealth, but a smirk on Ari's face told me I shouldn't have expectations. 

______

What I wasn't prepared for was the broken roads and small shack like homes the closer we got to our destination. Within a two-hour train ride, we went from skyscrapers to one story buildings that were as gray as the sky. 

Slowly, the busy train filed out until Ari and I were the last in the cabin. 

I wondered if we were going to the right place since no one else was around and the scenery did not seem to fit the Motherwealth I knew, but Ari seemed calm which made me think we were in the right location.

Finally, we pulled into the empty station and the train screeched to a stop. 

The dark poorly lit station was all but inviting. I wondered if I was really in the right place.

I met Ari's eyes as he stood up and stretched. He looked unphased by the station. "This is our stop." 

It couldn't be. What happened to the polished marble floors and sparkly chandeliers? "No." 

"Surprise," he said casually as he got his skate bag. 

I grabbed my skates and dress bag in trailed after him like a lost puppy. "Have you been here before?" 

He shook his head. "No, but I had an idea of what it would be like. All edge towns are the same." 

We stepped off the train and were met by a man dressed in black. "Are you two the figure skaters?" he asked. 

I looked up at him with my mouth open. I don't think I had ever seen a man as tall as he was. He loomed over Ari and I. With shoulders like his, could he even squeeze through the door? 

"Yup, we are the figure skaters," Ari said as he swung his bag over his shoulder. 

"Come with me," he said as he turned around and walked out of the small station that smelt of must. 

I didn't have time to look around the falling apart building as we were whisked away to a black car.  

"The show time has changed. It will be in an hour. So, you will not have much time to get ready," the man said as he drove down the road, avoiding potholes that were as large as my skates. 

"Walter, are you serious? How can we get used to the ice?" Ari protested. 

He shrugged as Ari looked at me, hoping I would chime in, but I was too busy staring at the broken windows and the worn faces on the people. They looked defeated, broken, tired. They looked like people in Hell. 

"I've been told you are the best skaters the Motherwealth has seen in a long time so why are you complaining?"

Ari shut his mouth and pouted at his shoes. 

"Do you live here?" I finally ask.

"Born and raised." He sighed. 

I met his eyes and wanted to ask him so many more questions, but I remained silent. 

"What do you think of my town?"

"It's different then the capital." 

He shrugged as he turned down another road. "Never been so I don't know anything different."

How could he had never been? I knew that as Commonwealth citizens we couldn't travel, but I was told that people could travel more freely in the Motherwealth. Did he not have the money to get to the capital? "Do you want to go to the capital?"

"Everyone does, but that doesn't mean we can." 

I frowned. I wasn't sure what that meant to him. Could he not travel because he had no money or was it because he wasn't allowed? I thought being part of the Motherwealth provided freedom, but these people didn't seem free. "Is it just too expensive?" 

He chuckled. "You Commonwealths don't know much, do you?" He pulled up to a large metal building. Its domed structure towered over most of the buildings around it. He got out of the car and opened the door to the metal building as a kid came out of a bush. 

The small skinny boy held his hands out although I couldn't take my eyes off of his black eye. 

"You are the skaters from the capital, do you have any spare change?" a boy asked.

"You know the rule, don't talk to the capital folk," our driver said as he pushed the boy to the ground. 

My mouth fell open as I froze, unsure what to do.  He was a child asking for money and he got shoved. What kind of place was this?

Our drive pushed us inside the building before the boy could get up. "Remember, one hour," he said before shutting the door. 

"Wind of a twister." I ran my hands through my hair under the flickering fluorescent light. "This is the Motherwealth?" I asked Ari in disbelief.

He nodded. "This is the edge. I've been to a few and they all look the same."

We passed a street that was not paved. "But this is the Motherwealth." Wasn't it supposed to be all beautiful and cheery? There was nothing beautiful about this place.

"And this is the Motherwealth, Telvi. I don't know what to tell you. Not every place can be as shiny as the capital." 

"You're dressing room is this way," a young girl said as she rounded a corner to face us. She wore a smile, but it seemed a little too fake for me. She pointed down the hall. "You can follow me if you like." 

We followed her in silence but I couldn't help but notice her limp as she walked. Ari didn't seem to notice though as he kept his head straight. 

"I'm really excited for your show tonight. We haven't had figure skaters in years. But with our ice rink just fixed, we have no reason to not host," she said quickly as she opened the door to another room. 

"Do you skate?"

She shook her head. "They say I'm not good enough..." 

"Well you can do it for fun, can't you?"

She frowned. "Not this. You only skate if you are good. It's a waste of recourses." She stepped aside, allowing us to walk into the room. "I'll come back in 30 minutes." 

Ari and I walked into a room that had wooden benches lining the room. The cinderblock walls were painted a white chipping paint with some kind of cream color underneath. There was nothing special about this place, but I was expecting more. 

Ari sighed as he sat on a bench. "I'm surprised you haven't caught on. The Motherwealth is built on smoke and mirrors." 

"But this is nothing like I read in books for school."

"Well," he started as he got his skates from the bag, "people lie." 

I frowned as I sat down beside him. It felt as if someone was twisting my stomach into knots. "The talent program is to build a better Motherwealth and Commonwealth, but this place looks just like my town I'm from." 

"I'm not here to better anyone but myself. Aren't you? I thought you hated the Motherwealth. Why does all of this matter to you?"

I shut my mouth. He was right, why did it matter? I wanted to leave. I had to leave. But I still wanted to know the truth. We had no idea what the talent program was for. We were just here, improving until we vanished, like Eydis. But for what reason?

"Don't you want to know?"

He shook his head. "No, I really don't. Now Telvi, can we please get ready. The only thing I care about is landing my jumps with no warmup time." 

I shut my mouth. Landing my jumps was the last thing I was worried about. 

"You can change into your outfit first," Ari said as he pointed to door on the other side of the room. "I'm pretty sure that's the bathroom." 

____________________

My nylon laces dug into my hands as I laced my skates. I had done this so many times before but this time was different. This was the Motherwealth but it didn't felt like it. I heard the crowd behind the doors and knew the show would start soon. The cheers were muffled against the door. 

"Are you ready in there?" A voice rang out from the other side of the room.

"Not really, but I guess we need to be," Ari said as he stood up and pulled on his sparkly outfit. He looked at me and smirked. "You look good, I like your outfit." 

"You have seen me wear it before."

"Yeah, but I don't know, this time looks even better." 

I stood up and rocked back and forth on my skates, breaking them in. "You'll do good out there."

He nodded. "I just hope the ice is decent. There was a reason why I wanted to skate on it before the show." 

"You'll do fine. You have skated on worse, haven't you?"

He shook his head. "Not in a long time." He opened the door and saw the same girl that led us to the room. 

"Ooh, you two look beautiful. Full of that capital sparkle. Now follow me." She turned on her heals and we followed.

Soon we were on the ice, behind a black curtain. Ari and I skated around, warming up on what little ice was behind the scenes. We heard the presenter talk about the capital and the Motherwealth. He mentioned how the Motherwealth was the best place in the world. 

The crowd cheered but the energy was different. There was less of a buzz.

"Skating first would be the charming Ari Devon from Polock." 

Ari never talked about his town. I wasn't sure why because now I realized that he was closer to Hell than I realized. His town was a few hours drive from me. He knew this but why did not tell me? 

"Polock?" I asked in shock.

He shrugged. "It's not like a place to be proud of." He sighed and shook his hands. "Here goes nothing." With that, he pushed his way through the curtains. 

I continued to warm up as I heard Ari's music play. By the cheers, I knew he was skating well. But that was Ari. He was always consistent. 

As the music died down, Ari pushed his way through the curtains again. He smiled at me. "The ice is fine. Good luck out there."

"And from Hell we have Telvi Attica!" 

I took a deep breath and stepped through the curtain to see a full stadium. People smiled, cheered and waved to me as I skated a quick lap, checking the ice. Ari was right, it did look good. 

I waved to a few people as I stopped and waited for my music to start. 

The music began and I started forward. 

As I set up for my first jump a bang echoed the building. The ground shook, throwing me onto the ice, knocking the wind out of me. The smell of fire filled the air. With wide eyes my head snapped up just in time to see a blinding flash of light erupt from the side of the building. 

Screams filled the air as another blast came throwing bits of debris at me. 

My ears rang, and my vision swam but I could still make out the panicked screams of people fleeing the scene.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees. But as I staggered to my feet, a sharp pain in his side radiated down my body. My attention shifted to a piece of shrapnel embedded in my side. Blood oozed from the wound. 

Another blast shook the ground, knocking me to the ice again. 

Above me the burning ceiling faded into black.