The ride here was emotional, and for most of it, Yuri was nowhere to be seen. I assumed that he was somewhere eating all the food he could find. As we passed over small towns, I couldn't help but wonder if they looked like Hell. All the Commonwealths were so isolated from one another. I knew the next town over, but the Motherwealth liked to keep us separated. Tt only left room for questions.

Did those towns have other scouted teens? Did they feel just as lost and confused as I did? Were they also in hovercrafts, being taken to a place they had only read about?  

Preparing myself for what I would go through in the Motherwealth was useless when I didn't know nothing about it. The last scouted person from Hell never returned and Mr. Green could provide me with little information about anything related to the Talent Program. 

"Telvi, buckle-" Yuri shouted, running out of a room.

Lights overhead flashed. Before I had time to react, an alarm rang and the hovercraft jerked to the right, throwing me onto the ground. A sinking feeling rose in my stomach. My eyes met Yuri's begging for answers.

"Are you ok?" Yuri asked, rushing to my side, helping me off the ground. 

I rubbed my head, feeling a lump start to appear. Sharp pains radiated from it. 

"Looks like you got your head pretty good." Yuri lightly touched my head. 

I pushed him away. He was not to be trusted, just like anyone else from the Motherwealth. My mom trusted the Motherwealth before she lost her mind. I would not make the same mistake.

"I'm ok," I said, getting up from the ground to the nearest window, hoping to find what caused the hovercraft to react in such a way, but through the dark of night, I saw nothing. "What was that?"

He shrugged, wiping his hands on his pants, letting bits of crumbs fall to the ground. "I have no idea. But we're about to land anyhow." 

He stood beside me and pointed out the window. Outside the window stood a sea of buildings. The stretched as far as the eye could see. Even in the darkness, the buildings still shined. Hell was nothing but a few streets, but Regal looked as if it could fit 1,000 Hells.

The hovercraft descended within a space in these buildings. It shook lightly as it connected with the ground solid. I stumbled into the wall as Yuri stayed still. 

"You get used to it," he said as the back door of the hovercraft slowly opened. "Welcome to the capital of the Motherwealth."

"Regal," I breathed as bright lights shined into the hovercraft. The buildings in front of us had screens with bright lights and displays. Some even moved like a movie. I had seen nothing like this in Hell. 

Yuri cleared his throat and walked out of the hovercraft. I followed behind him. My mouth was dry. Never did I feel so small as I did standing in front of these buildings that touched the sky. 

"This is Regal," Yuri hummed, swinging my bag over his shoulder. We walked towards another black shiny car, but my eyes were anywhere but the car. The streets glittered under the lights of the buildings. Everything sparkled, shined, glittered. The opposite of Hell which was dull, dark, and gritty. "This is my home. Welcome."

How could I feel welcome in a place that had nothing familiar? I was a fish out of water, gasping for air in a place that had none. No amount of reading about a place could prepare me for this. 

The car lurched forward. We passed people walking in bright coats. There was so many things. People, signs, cars, shops. The Motherwealth did have it all.  

"Any questions about Regal?" Yuri asked as we passed a busy intersection. 

I was unable to tear my eyes from the windows. People paid little attention as we passed as if we were nothing special. But this was everything special to me. Regal was grand, I knew that, but this was exorbitant. How much extra could they be? 

"Are you from Regal?" I asked. 

"Not originally. From another town in the Motherwealth. But I've lived here for a few years now." 

"Does all of the Motherwealth look this grand?"

"Not all of it looks this grand...." His voice trailed off; his eye drifted towards the driver then out the window. "But Regal does have everything you could ever want." 

The other cities still must have been beautiful though. They were not like the Commonwealth. They were the Motherwealth for a reason. We were told all of the Motherwealth was spectacular. 

"So you will be staying in the training campus for all talent," Yuri explained. "It's just a few more minutes down the road. You will live and train there. On Sundays, you are permitted to leave the campus to see the Motherwealth. You will be given a small stipend that you can spend on your free days."

I nodded, although his words didn't not sink in. There was too many things to look at. I swore I just saw a woman walking a racoon on a sparkly cord. In Hell racoons were not pets.  

The car stopped in front of a tall black metal gate with an emblem on the top. Yuri got out and I quickly followed his lead. 

On the other side of the gate stood a group of brick buildings standing close together. They had the same red brick color as some buildings from Hell. At least that was something familiar. But even then, these stood up taller and were wider than anything I knew.  

"This is Pinnacle Campus. Most people just call it Campus. As mentioned before, all talent comes here from all over the Commonwealth to train. We have people in sports like yourself, academics, music, you say it we have it," Yuri said as he walked through the gate with my bag in his hand.  

His polished leather shoes clacked against the brick path. There was very little snow here. Only a dusting covered the grass, but nothing was on the bricks. 

"The walkways are heated so no need to worry about slipping on snow getting from play to place," he explained with a smile. 

Could the Motherwealth get any grander? A small amount of anger bubbled within me. People back home were worried about freezing every winter and the capital wastes energy by heating the walkways? 

"Everything within Campus was planned for the trainees in mind. We made this place for you." 

There was a sort of prestige in his voice as he talked about this place. But my anger only grew. This was wasteful. There could be more effort given in the Commonwealths, not the training program.  

"So, enough about the history about this place." He sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets. 

I was so busy looking around that I forgot to listen to the last things he said. I wanted to ask him to retell the information but held myself as he continued to talk. 

Yuri shivered. Our breath hung in the air, but the deep-freezing temperatures were in Hell. The light snow showed that. 

"You'll be rooming with a girl named Eydis," Yuri explained as he pulled out a small circular high tec thing from his pocket. He pushed a button as information lit up in front of us. He waved his hand over the circular item and the screen shifted. He kept waving through maps, numbers, and other information until the screen flickered. "Walter. These damn things never work well." 

The bright image in front of us died out. Yuri stuffed the tec in his pocket with a scowl. "Well, lucky for you, I already know where we're going. You will be staying mainly on the west side of the campus." He pointed in the direction of a three story with windows lining the sides from top to bottom. 

Looked different from the other buildings we had passed thus far. This one looked more like it belonged outside of the campus. It looked newer as opposed to the other buildings which had more of a historical look to them.

"And the ice rink is right beside it," he said and pointed to a large domed building lit up with bright lights. 

The skating was inside. That was something I only dreamt of doing. 

"And there is ice all year round?"

Yuri chuckled. "Of course there is. You need to practice every day; how would you get better otherwise?" 

I was proof that you didn't need to train every day. Hell only had winter skating and still I improved throughout the years. But I didn't want to rain on his parade. 

For a moment I stared at the massive structure. Something pulled me towards it. I wanted to run inside now to see what it looked like. Was the ice as smooth as I thought it would be? Tomorrow seemed so long to wait.  

"Telvi, come. I'll show you your room," Yuri called out to me, already ahead by a few yards. 

I tore my eyes from the building and ran to catch up. Skating was on my mind. Maybe I did want to be here and skate. Maybe I did want to be the best. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I thought. 

Together we walked into the building the smelt of soap and flowers. In the dead of winter that seemed like such a novelty. Did they really wash the floors in flowers?

He walked to an elevator and pushed a button. We waited for a few moments before he sighed again and looked down the hall. "Looks like the elevators are down. Or just running slow. I think we need to take the stairs."

I had never ridden an elevator before, so I was not disappointed by something I knew nothing about. The stairs were familiar. One more thing to add to a list that was familiar. It wasn't long, but I wanted to collect things as I could. Finding similarities helped me remember.  

"You will like your room, I'm sure of it," he went on to say as we walked up the stairwell then down the hall to a wooden door that had 234 on it. "This is it." He handed me a small yellow metal chain with orange-colored beads. "This is how you get in. Just put it to the handle." 

I put chain to the handle and the door beeped. With a deep breath, I stepped inside the room with two beds. One side of the room was already decorated with little trinkets and books. It looked well lived in by the messiness of the bed. On the other side a bed was made but nothing made it look homely. It was just blue sheets on a wooden framed bed. No trinkets, no textbooks, just the bed and one chair at a desk.

"Looks like your roommate is not around. Maybe she is doing some evening classes. That's a shame because I wanted to introduce you two before I leave." 

"You know her?" 

Yuri nodded. "Oh, Eydis and I go way back."

"Yeah, way back. All of one year ago," a voice rang out from behind Yuri. 

A tall girl with short wavy black hair walked in with sure steps. She eyed me from head to toe as she placed her hands on her blue jeans. "She's my roommate?" she asked Yuri. 

Yuri nodded then gestured to me. "This is Telvi."

"Hey. Eydis," she said with a wave. 

I froze. She looked like she had it all together and would put up with little crap. I was an emotional wreck. This meeting would set the tone for our relationship. I should have thought something out. A monolog or something. How could I be so stupid? 

With a deep breath I straightened out my shoulders although my voice was barely audible. "Hi," I whispered out. 

Yuri smiled at the both of us then stuffed his hands into his pocket, showing the green rope wristband again. "How have you been, Eydis?" 

Eydis shrugged as she walked into the room. "Alright. Training is kicking my eyeballs out." She rubbed her eyes. "I am not sure how much more I can take studying calculus." 

"Sorry."

"Hey, it's fine. It's what I signed up for." 

Yuri nodded then clapped his hands together. "Well, I do need to get going. Telvi, Eydis is really the best. You're in good hands. I promise you." 

Wait, he couldn't leave so soon. I wanted to go with him. At least I knew Yuri a little. Eydis was tall and catlike with more grace than I had. She commanded the room, making me feel out of place. I didn't want a roommate and I didn't want to be with her. She was judging me. She would spread rumors about me. I couldn't have that.

"I'll keep an eye out for her, promise," Eydis said with a smile.

"I know you will." He smiled as he clasped her hand with his. "I'll see you around." 

Eydis nodded. "Yeah. See you." 

My eyes met his, begging him to stay. Hoping he would. But Yuri left without another word. 

As the door clicked shut, Eydis flopped down in her messy bed and sighed. "So, where are you from?" 

"Hell."

She laughed hard enough that tears came to her eyes. When she saw I was not laughing with her, she stopped. "Talk about archaic. It's been years since I've heard that word. To be honest, I think most of these people don't believe there is such a place..." her voice trailed off. "Wait, you're serious?" 

I swallowed. Already laughing at me. Great start. "Yeah. It's a small town on the edge of the Mandania Commonwealth."

"Oh god. Mandania. That's way up there, isn't it?" She snickered. "Kind of ironic that you're from way up there when hell is normally..." She pointed towards the ground.

I nodded. 

"I heard that Mandania gets over 10 feet of snow every year, is that true?"

"Sometimes, in some places, we get more." 

"Goodness. I'm from Solano, in the way south. I've never seen snow before coming here. It doesn't get that cold."

Solano was a Commonwealth that I knew little about. It was in the south, right next to the ocean, but I knew little more than that.

She laid down, letting her wavy hair drape over her pillow. Even from across the room, I could smell a hint of sugar on her. "So what are you here for? What's your skill?"

"I-I ice skate," I said, as I tried to raise my voice to sound confident. I'm not sure if it worked. 

She grinned widely. "Now that's exciting. I had only watched the figure skaters once or twice before. There isn't many of them. I'm here for math. That is what I'm best at. Maybe one of these days I'll have to watch you skate. I love a show."

Her chattiness started to put me at ease. Her smile felt like it was designed to melt any fears. Could she melt my fears? Only time would tell. 

"Anyhow, what do you want to know about this place?"  

There were so questions. But I held my mouth. I was on Motherwealth's ground. One wrong move and they would throw me out and I could say goodbye the stipend. Plus I didn't know if she stood by the Motherwealth or with us Commonwealths.  

"I have been here a year as Yuri mentioned, so I can really watch your back." 

Right now, that was exactly what I wanted. For someone to watch my back. But was she the right person to do this?

"You don't say much, do you?" Eydis chuckled. "That'll work out just fine because people tell me I say too much." 

I smiled as I sat down on the bed on the other side of the small room. I sank down in it. It was stiff. It felt new, unlike my bed in Hell which was well worn. 

"Yeah, I know, the beds are nice. We had nothing this nice in Solano. But you will learn that Regal is a different kind of fancy." She stretched. "Well, I won't keep you up any longer.  Feel free to unpack. The bathroom is just down the hall to the left." She pointed towards the direction of the bathroom. 

"I don't have much to unpack," I said as I showed her my bag. 

"I was the same when I first came. I collected most of this stuff as I have been here," she said as she gestured around the room. "You will too. I promise. So, did Yuri give you a schedule?" 

I shook my head. "No."

"That slag boy. He's lucky I'm your roommate. I'll get it for you. You just stay here and unpack," she stood up from the bed and stretched. 

She walked out, leaving me alone to look out the window. Below, I watched a few people laugh as they walked into the building. They looked happy, happier than I had seen any one in Hell before. I wondered if Eydis was as happy. Could I be that happy here?  

"So, looks like your training will start at 7:30AM tomorrow," Eydis said as she walked back into the room with a paper in her hands. She handed it to me to look over with a smile. 

My eyes flew over the schedule as I tried to make sense of it. Every aspect of the day was full of something to do. Based on this schedule, I would be busy from 7:30 to 6. I was used to being busy, but I thought I would ease into training. Worry bubbled within me. What if I couldn't keep up? 

"Before you ask, yeah, your schedule is normal. They like to pack it in," Eydis said as she laid back on the bed.