Ashton arrived at the government building fifteen minutes early, and everyone was already there. It looks as if everyone was nervous and anxious to find answers.
  “It appears everyone is already here. My name is Miss Liz, and I will be directing you how to complete the House of Trials safely.” Miss Liz glanced around the room uneasily. “I guess we shall proceed then. Everyone line up youngest to oldest.” Ashton and her group mates solemnly moved to form a line.
“Now then. Everyone, follow me.” She smiled and walked out of the classroom. Ashton noted that Miss Liz had a clipboard. For what? She thought. She pushed the thought aside and followed her. As they left their room, Ashton noticed a few other groups doing the same. Miss Liz led them to the door of a small room.
  “Now,” she said. “A very few amount of people have already completed this. You must understand the Trials were different according to age. All of your trials will be very real.” She smiled, and went on. “Once we enter this room, you will see a small purple box. It will be slightly elevated in the air. You must not touch this box.” She said. “Do you understand?” Everyone nodded solemnly without saying a word. I wonder why it’s purple… Ashton thought. Of all colors?
  “Once we are all in the room, you may sit down on the floor, if you wish.” Miss Liz said. “However, please maintain your lines. I will explain what you do after that once we enter the room.” She turned and punched several numbers and letters in the keypad. With that, the door unlocked and swung open.

  Ashton entered the room. Everyone was staring at the box. It was indeed a purple box, hovering slightly. She guessed it to be about 2’ by 2’. It was inside a glass room.
  “Now, Sophie Grange, you’re first. Please come forward.” She motioned for Sophie to stand next to her. Sophie stepped forward and faced the class. Her face was deathly white and she looked like she was about to pass out. It must be awful being the first one.
  “Now, Sophie, when I give the order, you will reach your hand out and touch the box. You mind will be transferred to a different location, but your body will stay in this room.  You will have a partner chosen for you to help you with the first few trials. You will also have a partner chosen to perform some of the trials. This may be multiple people. They may or may not be in this group. After completing one trial, you will automatically go on to the next one. In order to get out of the House of Trials, you will have to complete all the trials. If you fail a trial, you will have to repeat it until you do complete it. You must realize however, after your partner leaves you, you will be on your own. You will most likely see your group mates there, but you will not be able to communicate with them. They will not be aware of their surroundings, nor will they hear, see, or feel you.” Miss Liz payed no attention to Sophie’s face and went on.
  “These trials may take as long as a week in the House, but remember, it will only be a few minutes here. Whatever emotions you feel in these will be false. Good luck.” She said and led Sophie to the small enclosure of glass in the corner of the room. Ashton could hear Miss Liz telling Sophie that the room was just for surveillance and security measures. She smiled as Sophie entered the glass room and closed the glass door behind her. Miss Liz spoke through an intercom system to the room.
  “Sophie, you may touch the box. Prepare to enter the House of Trials.”

  Sophie crouched down, reached her hand out and touched the box. Her eyes flew closed. Her body remained absolutely still, and her breath remained steady. After a few minutes, people in Ashton’s group began to sit down on the floor and wait for their turn. It couldn’t be too bad, Ashton thought.  Just as Ashton was beginning to relax, Sophie abruptly stood up, but remained in the glass enclosure. She turned around, as if trying to ponder where she was. Miss Liz spoke through the intercom system.
  “Sophie, it’s over. You’re done. I’m going to lead you to another room. Okay?” Sophie whirled around and faced Miss Liz.
  “Get away from me!” She screamed. Her face was streaked with tears. There was a wild look in her eyes. Whispers spread around the room
  “Sophie, it’s all right.” Miss Liz said and went into the enclosure and took her by the arm, her grip strong. She smiled at the class.
  “Just a moment, please.” Miss Liz said leaving the room with a screaming and thrashing Sophie. If this is what the House of Trials did to you, Ashton had absolutely no interest in going in. Some of her group mates must have thought the same thing, because there were a few of them at the door, trying to get out. The door, however, was locked. The other people were sitting, leaving Ashton as one of the only ones standing. Morgan, Ashton’s friend, noticed her standing alone and came over to her.
  “Hey.” Morgan said. Ashton looked over at her.
  “We aren’t going youngest to oldest, have you noticed?” Morgan asked. “How are we supposed to know when we’re going to be next?”
  “I don’t know. Wait and see, I guess.” Ashton said.  “What happened in there that could be so bad?”
  “I don’t know. Wait and see, I guess.” Morgan smiled. She was wearing blue leggings with a ruffled green shirt. Her curly brown hair was a little shorter than usual; she must have got it cut. It was currently a little longer than shoulder length. Before Ashton could ask her about it, Miss Liz reentered the room.
  “Sorry.” She said. “That usually doesn’t happen.” Ashton detected a lie. She didn’t say anything, though.
Ashton turned to face the group and saw all their pale and horrified faces. Ashton could not think of how this could be good for anything. All is did was traumatize people. Ashton desperately wanted to sink to her knees and put her head in her hands. But she would not do that. That would be an act of weakness. She would get through this. She would be fine. She remained standing.
Miss Liz came back in the room. “We are experiencing some difficulty with this.” She said. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this, but I’m sure you’ll all be fine. Now, let me see whose next…” Miss Liz glanced at her clipboard, and her face brightened a little with hope. Whoever was next must have some potential for something. Miss Liz broke her out of her curiosity saying,
  “Ashton Reine, you’re next.”

  Ashton stood up, slowly, and walked toward the front of the room nervously. She stood next to Miss Liz. Her head was swimming. She wondered if that was normal. Miss Liz motioned for her to enter the glass enclosure. She walked over to it, nearly tripping several times on her high heels. Not the smartest choice for today. Ashton reached the door and swung it open, a little too forcefully. It hit the wall with a bang. Ashton winced.
  She entered the room and crouched down next to the box. For some reason, maybe just curiosity, she really wanted to touch it. She decided against it and waited for the signal. Then it came.
  “Ashton, you may touch the box. Good luck.” Ashton reached her hand out and touched the box.

  Ashton felt as if she were falling into darkness. She didn’t know what was going on, but her head had cleared.

  Suddenly, she was standing outside with plenty of energy. Ashton studied her surroundings. She stood near a white gazebo with a table inside it. Her friends and group mates sat around it, clearly having a nice time dining. The grass was a brown-green color, and judging by the temperature, it was the near-end of summer. She stood on a gravel road. There were woods that stood near the gazebo where her friends were. The trees were not yet turning to their fall colors. She looked the other direction. It appeared to be a long field of grass that had not been cut in a very long while. Judging by the sun, it looked to be mid-afternoon, perhaps close to evening. She noticed a cement area and walked a little closer to inspect it. There was a wide cement slide down to a yawning black hole surrounded by cement. Ashton decided against going that way, and walked toward her friends.
  She walked across the grass, wishing she could take off her high-heeled boots and socks and run like she used to in the park with her mother. She pushed the thought aside. Those times were over, and she needed to focus on finishing the House of Trials.
  She walked up to the gazebo. She saw Morgan seated at the table and waved at her. Ashton did not get a wave in return. Her friends just kept talking like she didn’t even exist. Then she remembered they were not really her friends. They weren’t even real. Ashton felt a pang of loneliness that hit hard. She ignored it. Ashton walked away from the gazebo, wondering what kind of a trial this was. What was she supposed to do? How does she get out? All her thoughts came to a halt as she saw her cousin standing there.

  Ashton had not seen her cousin, Mia, since her mother’s funeral. They had been best friends before that.
  “Mia?” Ashton asked. Mia grinned at waved.
  “Hey Ashton, long time no see!” She said. Ashton hesitated.
  “How are you here? I didn’t think people could, you know, talk to me.” She said. Mia laughed.
  “I’m your partner, duh! I am going to help you get through this. At least some of the trials anyway.” Her smile faltered. She quickly regained it. “Well,” She asked.  “Do you want to get out of this or not?” Ashton eagerly agreed. She walked over to where Mia was pointing.
  “See down there? That’s where we gotta go. And if I were you, I would do that pretty quickly. The suns fading and…” She stopped. “Well, just come on. We have to slide down.” Mia and Ashton were seated at the edge of the “slide”, wondering if it would potentially ruin her clothes, when the sun went out and there was a crash. Ashton whirled around, hoping to see whatever it was that was coming, but there was no sun to give light. She got rewarded with nails raking across her face. She still couldn’t see it, but it must be human. And a girl, judging by nails. Ashton could feel blood trickling down her cheek.  She didn’t stick around to find out who it was.
  Mia grabbed her hand and yelled, “Come on! Hurry!” and together they slid down the concrete “slide” down into the yawning black mouth of the “garage door.”

  More falling and more blackness. She must have completed the first trial. Just as soon as it started, it ended. She was in a forest. The trees were not like she had seen before. They were unusually tall and had much thicker bases.  And there were tons of them. They were spread out a bit, but not so much that you could see sky clearly. She could not see the end of the forest, either.
  Suddenly, her back started heating up. She spun around and groaned. There was a forest fire coming straight toward her.
  “Ashton, come on!” Mia yelled. Ashton had almost forgotten Mia was there. She grabbed her hand and ran. Mia was surprisingly fast. Then again, Ashton was wearing high-heeled boots. She decided those were a mistake.
Ashton was managing to keep up now, and let go of Mia’s hand. Suddenly a tree fell right in front of her. Mia leaped forward and Ashton jumped back. Immediately Ashton knew it was a stupid move. She would have to find a way to climb over it in very little time. Mia must not have noticed, because she kept running. The fire was coming up fast, and Ashton could feel the heat becoming more intense. Things were going from bad to worse. How could she have been so stupid? Instead of lingering on the thought, she acted. She threw off her boots and clambered up the tree. It was a long jump, but she did it. She jumped off again and took off running in the direction Mia went. She could not afford to look for Mia, though. She kept running. She suddenly felt happy. Ashton couldn’t recall the last time she had been running through the woods with no shoes.
  She could no longer feel the heat of the fire or smell the smoke. She must have outrun it. Where was Mia? Ashton didn’t bother to spend her thoughts on finding her. After all, she technically wasn’t really here.
  Her moment of happiness and freedom ended when she tripped. Spikes of pain seared through her ankle. She looked down. A root had literally grabbed her leg. What was this? Defying physics was unfair. Suddenly another one grabbed her arm. This was bad. She started to smell the smoke again. What would happen if she died here?
  Suddenly, Mia was there. She held a knife in her hand, similar to the one Ashton had shoved in her boot, but longer. The knife! Duh.
Mia cut her free with one strike. The roots must be weak. That was good. She pulled her knife out. It was a good thing she brought it.
  She got up and took off running after Mia, who was already ahead. Her ankle was causing her pain. She tried to ignore it. She quickly caught up to Mia. They were running side by side away from the fire once more.
  “When does this forest end?” Ashton asked Mia.
  “Just keep running!” She replied. How helpful. She didn’t feel tired, though. That was good. They kept running. This time Mia tripped. Another root. Where were these things coming from? Ashton skidded to a halt. Mia was on the ground, a root holding her arm down. Her knife was just out of her reach. Ashton sliced through the root with her knife and grabbed Mia’s arm, helping her up. Mia grabbed her knife and ran.
Ashton didn’t know how long they were running. It was a while, yet her energy remained. Mia was slowing every now and then, but managed to keep up. Ashton wondered if the endurance was given to her from the House of Trials, and Mia somehow did not get it. Before she could ask, Mia was pointing ahead. Ashton looked up. The forest was ending! Finally. How long had it been? Counting both the trials they had been through, it must have been at least a day. Or so she thought. She couldn’t really tell.
Finally, they reached the end of the forest. Before they could run into the open field that was beyond the forest, they were swallowed into darkness.

This darkness didn’t seem to clear up as fast. Ashton felt like she was falling for a while. It seemed like an hour. It was probably only a few minutes, though. Ashton felt for her knife that was no longer in her hand. Had she dropped it? She didn’t remember dropping it. Suddenly she felt it in her boot, back where it started. And her boots were back on her feet. Clothing must reset itself after each trial. That was handy.

Finally, the darkness cleared. She was in a basement. She had always hated basements. She looked around. There was a small rickety staircase leading up to a door, but it was closed. And the steps didn’t look safe. There were a few windows, but they were mostly yellow and dusty and she couldn’t see through. They let in very little light. In fact, it was mostly dark in the basement. There were a few empty boxes lying around. There also seemed to be a few hallways branching off to other rooms. Other than that, there was not much to see. Although it had a very eerie feel to it. Like there was something lingering in the shadows, waiting to emerge. Ashton didn’t like it at all. This was definitely the worst one so far. She shuddered. She hated basements. Especially this one, which was dark. And there was most likely no escaping it.
Suddenly, something moved. It dove behind some boxes, far too near to Ashton for her liking. She backed away. From what little she saw, “it” was a girl. She had medium-length blonde hair, and was smaller than Ashton was. Then Ashton remembered, there was going to be a person performing trials to her. And, it was most likely the same person who had raked their nails across her face. Putting the pieces together, she figured it was Ava.
Ava was a small girl who was somewhat younger than Ashton was. Ashton usually didn’t talk to her. Ava had her own group of friends whom she usually hung out with. She usually wasn’t mean, not like this. But of course, this was the House of Trials. Ava did not know who Ashton was, or what either of them were doing. It wasn’t Ava at all. Just her body.
“Who’s there?” Mia said to no one in particular. She bravely stepped into the darkness.
“It’s Ava.” Ashton whispered. “A girl who was in my group.” Mia nodded.
“By the way, Ashton, I’m very sorry about this,” Mia whispered back. “But this is the last trial I will be able to help you with. After this you’re on your own.” How comforting, Ashton thought.
Ashton kept getting chills down her back as they walked through the basement in the dark. Of all the places they could have picked… one of the few places she despised. This one was no exception. Maybe Mia could handle this one, she thought. As soon as the thought passed she silently scolded herself. This was no time to be lenient on her cousin. She wouldn’t have her for the next few trials. She needed to learn to handle things herself, especially in her weakest points. This was one of them.
Suddenly a blur went past on her left. Ashton turned, and got rewarded with a fresh line of blood across her cheek. Anger began to simmer inside of her.
She saw Ava go by again, on her right. This time Ashton ran after her. Just before she was about to dive around another corner, Ashton slammed the heel of her boot into Ava’s foot. A sickening crunch followed by a scream filled the room.
So the boots did have some use. They were a weapon. Ashton felt a twinge of guilt but pushed it aside. It was an act of self-defense, she told herself.
She turned to Mia. “Let’s try to find a way out.” She said. Mia agreed.
They decided to go left first. There was a small, dim hallway leading down to what looked to be more rooms with empty boxes and old junk. Ashton’s heels went click, click, click as she walked down the hallway. Mia, who was leading the way, held a hand up motioning for her to stop. They paused and listened. There were faint footsteps semi-near them. Not very close, yet not far enough away. Ashton was going to remove her boots to reduce the sound, but she figured whoever it was had probably already heard her. Plus, they were proving useful in tight situations.
They were about to keep moving when something cold and sharp cut across her back. Her thoughts instantly turned to Ava. She started regretting hurting Ava. For she of course very angry now and had a knife.
Ashton whirled around, hurting her back again. She didn’t see anything. She squinted her eyes; still nothing. Next time she would have to be ready. She learned down and plucked the small knife out of her boot. She could feel blood soaking her back.
More pain cut through her leg, but this time she was ready. She spun around, connecting her heel with Ava’s face. Ava fell back, her hands flying up to her face. Ashton dove on top of her and pinned her to the ground with her knife at Ava’s throat. Mia pinned Ava’s hands to the ground. She clawed, trying to get up, but Mia’s grip was strong. Ashton had no idea how she had done what she did. She had never been trained to defend herself and would never have actually hurt anyone. Somehow it just came naturally.  Before Ashton or Mia could do anything more to Ava, they both fell away leaving Ashton alone in the basement.

Ashton was in a different room this time, but still in the basement. She was completely and utterly alone. How long had she been in the House of Trials? Days? Weeks? She didn’t know. All she knew was that it had been long enough to play tricks on her mind.
There appeared to be nothing around her, so she simply sat down and waited. And waited. It was the only thing she could do. She sat for what seemed like hours, even days in that basement room, the loneliness eating away at her bravery and confidence bit by bit.

Time passed. Tears began to stream down her face. She wanted to see someone, anyone, so badly. But of course, there was no one. Not a soul but her.
More time passed, and finally she heard a sound. More importantly, it sounded like footsteps. Ashton leaped to her feet, ready to run to whoever, whatever, it was. The footsteps were coming toward her. Sparks of hope raced through her body. She tried to stamp them out, and save herself from heartbreak, but it was no use. She finally raced to whoever it was with tears on her face.
Then she saw them. They were all people she knew. Friends, family, and her group mates. They were in a line robotically moving toward her.
Tessa was first in line. Ashton ran up to her and tried to hug her; it was no use. There was no life, no joy, and no smile on her face. A hollow shell of what Tessa was. Her eyes didn’t look at Ashton. They were glazed over and fixed on something unknown in the distance. She robotically kept moving forward.
Ashton backed away, horrified. They all kept moving past her, one by one. She reached her hand out and waved it in front of their faces; nothing. It was a cruel joke, nothing more. Ashton dropped to her knees and wept bitterly. She didn’t want anything in the world but to get out of this. Whatever it took.

Finally, the line ended and the world fell away. Once again she was in darkness, but it wasn’t very long this time. She reappeared in the upstairs of someone’s house. Sun was shining through the window looking out at a grassy lawn in the country. She recognized it immediately; it was her grandma’s house. A place normally full of laughter and cheer, now filled with eeriness. She was alone in the house; no one was home. It was weird, being in her grandma’s house without anyone there.  It was midday; it might as well have been midnight. The sun held no warmth and cheer.  She wanted out.
Something clicked in her mind, probably sent from her MCI. She looked at it. It was instructions on what would be happening in the current trial. This is what it read:

“I am seeking, you are hiding. You have thirty seconds.”

Ashton was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be a simple game. The way it was written definitely implied something more dangerous. Before she did anything, she heard counting in a voice that belonged to her father. She detected it was coming from the closet, on the left side of the room. That meant, of course, he could hear her. She took off her boots and brought them along in one hand, for later, and gripped her knife in the other. She padded, quietly as she could, across the hallway. Twenty-three, twenty-two, twenty-one. Twenty.
Ashton’s heart began to quicken. She couldn’t find a spot to hide anywhere. She leaped over the railing, impressing herself. She considered jumping out the window, or at least crawling on top of the roof, but it was locked. Alarms started going off in her head. She was in a corner, the worst possible spot to be. There was nowhere to hide. Her mind was going frantic. What would happen when her father stopped counting?
Her breathing became more rapid. Every part of her was screaming to do something instead of just standing here. Her legs refused to move. She used her knife to slit her leg slightly. The pain woke them up. She took off running down the stairs. Any hope of secrecy was gone. Familiar memories flooded her mind and she ran around her grandma’s house; Thanksgiving dinners, Birthdays, Christmas. Her throat got a little choked up with longing, but she forced it back down. She thought about going to the basement, but after the past few experiences there was no way it could happen.
Upstairs she could hear: Five, four, three, as her father counted down. She gave up and dove behind the couch. Two, one. Then there was silence.
Ashton slowed her breathing and forced her shaking hands to be still. She tried to grip the knife calmly and attempted to slip her boots back on. Unfortunately it was too difficult to do behind a couch, so she just left them on the ground. Ashton wondered how much more of these trials she could handle. Even now she yearned to run into her father’s arms.

Ashton could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. They were not rapid, possibly implying that he knew where she was and exactly what he was to do. She decided to try not to think about it. The footsteps were coming nearer. Her heart was pounding hard and fast. Panic rose up within her. There was no way she could hide.
Suddenly a knife flew around the corner and lodged itself in Ashton’s foot. She screamed as her father rounded the corner. She knew she had to run, but she couldn’t. Pain seared through her foot and up her leg. Blood stained her grandma’s nice carpeted floor. Her father came closer, revealing to her that he had plenty of weapons. She screamed again.
Whether from pain, fear, or blood loss, she didn’t know, but her vision blacked out when new pain came burning through her body like fire. 

Ashton knew it was the end of her trials. She didn’t know how she knew, but she just did. It was over. It was done. Her vision was beginning to clear, revealing a strange glass enclosure she was in. Then the world started to fall away into blackness.

Ashton was in another place now, but it definitely was not a trial. She was sitting on a gravelly road that headed towards a city. The sky above her was painted red. There was no sun, yet it wasn’t cold. It was a strange place indeed.
Ashton saw her mother walking towards her. She wondered if she might be dead, or dreaming, or what could possibly be happening. Her mother’s black hair was pulled sharply away from her face into a braid. She wore a black leather jacket and dark jeans. Ashton also noted she was wearing boots similar to hers. Her green eyes were very evident on her pale skin and dark clothing. She smiled at Ashton.
“Welcome, my daughter.” She said. “I have been waiting a long time to see you again.” Memories and questions flooded through Ashton’s mind. Her mother laughed.
“I can see you have many things to ask me. Come, let’s walk.” Ashton got up. She fell into step beside her mother. It felt nice, after all these years, to finally be with her again.
  “I see you know very little about where you are, or what you are doing.” Her mother said. Ashton nodded.
“I guess then I shall start from the very beginning, when it all started.” She said. Ashton sensed this might be long.
“This was years ago. The world was very… contaminated, as you might call it, with monsters and demons. There was total chaos. No one knew what to do or how to fight them. So many people were dying. Mankind was in danger. Technology was almost as advanced then as it is now. So a few very smart people, including me, got together. We formed a committee to stop these monsters from invading the world. Our first step was to find out where these monsters and demons were coming from. So we searched around for quite some years, and somehow, by complete mishap, I found it. It was another dimension. Of course I went right back to the committee and told them about it. We got together and formed a plan to get rid of the monsters. It went something like this: We would have a few selected subjects (I, being one of them) go, and stay, in the other dimension after mental and physical training. This group would then fight off and eliminate the monsters and demons before they got to the people.” She paused. “Are you following me so far?” Ashton nodded.
“Basic summary:” Ashton said. “The world was in chaos so you and a group are going to fight some monsters in a different place before they attack people.” Her mother nodded.
“Basically, yes. You are very intelligent.” She smiled at her. “So while we were there, the rest of the group here would isolate what is left of the people and wipe their memories free of terror. They would organize a society without pain or suffering, where mankind could prosper in peace and happiness. They had everyone installed with an MCI, their newest technology, so they could access and remove their memories as needed. But of course, they also supply you with plenty of information and were very useful. It was flawless, for the most part. My group was handling everything fine, and I wasn’t necessary there. So I came back to the society, which was already started up. I talked to our previous committee members, who had a family and were doing very well, and they told me I could have a normal life in the society if I wanted. And I did. I stayed here and married your father. He knew nothing of the committee, so I just blended in as a normal person. That’s when you came along.”
She paused and smiled at Ashton. “You were a walking, talking, replica of me. Everything about you was identical to me. So life in a family went on as normal, you got older, and pretty soon you had a little sister. Everything was pleasant. Until, one day, our old committee had to get together and discuss an issue. My group was being overrun. I was once again needed back in the other dimension. But of course we need more people; this is where the House of Trials comes in. It was a way developed by our committee to train people while they are in the House and, if they “pass” it will take them here to this dimension. From then on, they help my group here fight and protect our society. But that, of course, meant leaving you and the family. I was stricken with grief. None of you were old enough to take with me and I couldn’t take your father away from you. I had to go alone. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, believe me. I never wanted to. So we had to implant a memory in everyone’s MCI that I had died shortly after Tessa was born. And I went back to the dimension. It wasn’t the same, though. It was horrible. Finally, the time came when they had finished developing the House of Trials. And of course, you went in, and you know what happens after that.”
They stopped walking. Questions died in Ashton’s head. It all made sense now, how fighting came so easily. The reason why they had to go in the House of Trials was simply because they needed more people to protect their society.
“So,” Ashton said. “I’m here to fight monsters and demons and stuff now?”
“Yes.” Her mother said. “You have “passed” as you could call it, the House of Trials. And I hope many more will come too.”
“Tessa? Will she come?”
“I would count on it,” her mother replied, “But not for a while yet.”
A man dressed similarly to Ashton’s mom approached them. Seeing Ashton, he grinned. “Your mother has been waiting for this day. I am pleased to meet you. You are held in high regard here, Ashton Reine.” He shook hands with Ashton. Then he turned to Ashton’s mom.
“There is a monster invasion near the North Wall.” He said. “Not too many.” Ashton saw her mother put on her business-face.
“What kinds?” She asked.
“Mostly ignis alas. Maybe a dozen. Not much. Perfect for Ashton’s first monster fight.” He smiled at her. Ashton’s MCI told her that ignis alas was Latin, meaning “Fire Wings.”
“I think we’ll head to the weaponry first to get Ashton some gear.” Her mother said. “Then we’ll be right over. You can tell them to prepare for the judging.” She dismissed him and led Ashton past many store rooms and buildings. They reached the weaponry and went inside.
Ashton’s mother disappeared for a while then came back with an outfit, very similar to hers, and some weapons.
“Try this on.” She handed Ashton a pile of clothes and pointed her to a changing room. The clothes, of course, fit perfect and made her look exactly like her mother. She came back out to see her mother holding something small. She looked up, noticing Ashton was there and studied her.
“Perfect. And also,” She paused. “I want you to have this back.” She handed Ashton a green necklace on a gold chain. It appeared to be an emerald surrounded by an intricate design of gold leaves. She put it around Ashton’s neck.
“I’ve held on to this, as my little piece of you. It was from your first birthday.” She smiled. “It matches your eyes.” Ashton stood there while her mother looked her over. She walked over to the weapons and motioned for Ashton to follow.
“You can choose some of these. You’ll need them frequently here.” Ashton looked over the weapons and selected some knives, some “potions” as her mother said in simple language, and a small gun that fit in her weapon belt nicely.  She put one knife in each boot, which she kept on, a few in a pocket on her jacket and the rest in her weapon belt.
“Turn.” Her mother said. Ashton turned around. Her mother pulled her hair back and began to French braid it. For once, her hair was out of her face. Her mother finished, securing it with elastic.
“There.” She said and motioned to a full-length mirror standing nearby. Her mother went to get something and Ashton walked over to the mirror. Wow, she looked different. But it was a good different. She looked exactly like her mother now, more than ever. The green and gold necklace glistened on her throat. Her mother returned.
“Do you like it?” Her mother asked. Ashton nodded.
“Good. Noticing that you selected mostly knives, I brought you these.” She handed Ashton a pair of knives that were nearly white on the blade. She wasn’t sure what they were made out of, but it looked expensive. Her MCI wasn’t giving her any information on this foreign object. She took the blades out of her mother’s hands. They were surprisingly light.
“What are these made out of?” Ashton asked.
“Here we call it inlustris, meaning ‘starlight’. A very rare stone we found in this dimension.” Her mother said. “Take good care of them; they are hard to come by. They work particularly well here, I must say.” Ashton turned the blades over in her hands. The handles were made of some smooth black material, possibly obsidian. There were swirling silver designs covering the black handles. They were very beautiful.  
“Now I don’t want you to worry about anyone watching during your first fight. They are just going to judge your abilities and see what kinds of special training you might need.” She led Ashton out of the room onto the battlefield, her adrenaline pumping. 

Her mother motioned for her to go over to an area with some people seated at tables. Some of them looked up from their paperwork and whatever programming they were doing.
“Name?” One asked without looking up. She then finished her writing and looked up at Ashton.
“Oh. Never mind. You’re Ashton Reine, aren’t you?” She paused. “Don’t answer that. Of course you are.” She wrote something down on a sheet. When she was done she asked, “Do you have your weapons of choice?”
“Yes. My mother already took me to the weaponry for gear and weapons.” Ashton replied.
“Of course she did. Alright, go ahead and fight those monsters over there.” She waved her hand towards about a dozen monsters surrounding an area of wall. Ignis alas, she remembered.
She walked over towards the monsters. The people back at the station signaled that she could go ahead when she was ready. Her mother turned to her.
“Good luck.” She said. “Not that you’ll need it.” Ashton smiled and turned to face the monsters.

The first monster, ignis alas, came at her pretty quickly once she arrived. They monsters were not huge, maybe about as big a full-grown adult. They also had wings that were flaming along with the rest of their body. They were mostly red. Their wings were a black and red combination. They were strange things.
Ashton threw a potion from her belt labeled “Anti-fire.” She figured that would do the trick. Indeed it did, the ignis alas was left screaming and thrashing his body, as if a deadly poison had been poured on his skin. Unfortunately she only had two “Anti-fire” potions and she decided not to waste the other one.
There was another monster closing in, about the same as the other one. She hoped that the monsters here weren’t very smart. That would be easier.
Her MCI was working like crazy. Detecting what type of monster it was, where it weak spots were, other weaknesses, the best potions to use. She was nearly getting a headache from all the information.
She grabbed a knife from her belt and hurled it at the monster. The knife went straight into his lower chest; which was much lower than she intended and not high enough to do too much damage. She would have to work on that. None the less, the flaming monster fell down before her feet. The flames on its body sputtered and went out. The rest of the monster decayed so quickly it looked as if the thing was a decade old carcass.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the judges writing things down and whispering. She silently scolded herself for having terrible aim.
Another monster came towards her, clearly angry at her for killing his friends. She did a high spin kick, sending it staggering backwards. She then quick grabbed one of her inlustris knives and slashed it directly where her MCI had located as the heart. The knife practically guided itself towards the heart, and cut deep. A beam of white light appeared where she had slashed the monster, and it immediately screamed and fell dead. The beam faded.
A huge amount of whispers went through the judges. They weren’t even trying to be quiet, because Ashton could hear them loud and clear on the battlefield.
Ashton pulled out her other inlustris knife and tried a different technique with the next monster. She held one knife in each hand now. She spun around and used both of her knives to slash it across the chest. It started glowing where she had slashed, and once again the monster immediately died. These knives were proving to be quite useful.
Ashton kept slashing, kicking, and stabbing each monster that came near her until there were no monsters left. She ended up fairly unharmed, except for perhaps a few minor burns from the flames. She collected a few extra knives that had been lodged in the chest of a monster than were now lying on the ground after the body had decayed.
Ashton started walking towards the judging table. Most were furiously writing something, and a few programming something else. She couldn’t tell what. Some of them looked up.
“Thank you Ashton, that was very good. If you have any injuries I’m sure your mother can show you to a healing area. Your results will be completed shortly.” Her mother walked over to her, pulling her into a hug.
“That was absolutely amazing, Ashton. You’re going to be better than me someday.” She said. “I’ll show you to the healing area where you can take care of any minor injuries you might have.”
She led Ashton away from the judging tables to another part of the city. They came to a large apartment-like building that had a pleasant fragrance coming from it. She led Ashton inside it.
Inside there were many different items, modern and new. One area had herbal plants such as the Aloe Vera. Another area had syringes, pills, and some type of plant that looked genetically advanced. She led Ashton to a large transparent machine and motioned for her to step inside.
“This machine will detect any injuries and tell you what section to go for.” Ashton’s mother said. Ashton stepped inside. First there was a buzzing sound, and then a beep. Ashton stepped back out. The machine’s screen read;
“First-degree burns, section 4A.” There was another beep. It was clearly finished.
Ashton’s mother whistled. “Not bad at all for your first fight. I made it out with three small cuts and a large gash in my side my first time.  Here, I’ll show you where to go.” Ashton’s mother led her down several hallways and rooms until they arrived at 4A. They went inside a door that lead to another larger room. There was a woman working with some sort of a chemical mixture. She looked up at them.
“Here you go.” She handed Ashton the mixture in a vial. Somehow the machine must have notified her of another person coming in. “Pour it on your burns.” She said. Ashton uncapped the vial and poured the green liquid on her burns. As soon as it touched them, they almost immediately healed. Pretty soon she didn’t have a single mark.
“Thank you.” Ashton said. The woman just waved her hand and went back to her work. “I’m happy to help.” She said.
“Ready?” Her mother asked.
“Yep.” Ashton said. Her mother led her out of the room and back down all the confusing hallways. Ashton would have easily gotten lost in this place without her mother.
Eventually they made it out. Ashton’s stomach growled. She realized she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and it was nearly evening. Ashton’s mother seemed to know she was hungry, because the next place they were at was the dinner area. There were lots of people milling about. The aroma of food made her even hungrier. They ended up in the food line. The line was self-serve, so Ashton got to pick and choose what she wanted. Her mother did the same behind her and they found a place to sit. Ashton immediately started eating. Her mother did the same, though Ashton suspected she had had a lunch.
Ashton’s plate consisted of some interesting, new foods. She had a large amount of something that looked like homemade pasta. Whatever it was, it tasted good. There were some genetically modified fruits and vegetables on her plate, as well as a dessert. It looked to be some sort of a chocolate thing.
When she was done eating, she sat back. Her mother finished and stood up and walked to the front of the room and turned on a microphone.
“Ahem, attention everyone.” People found seats and quieted down. Ashton was wondering what was going on, but she suspected it might be some sort of a new-person welcoming.
“We have someone new with us today. She is our first subject to successfully complete the House of Trials. Ashton, will you please come forward.” She motioned for Ashton to come up. Ashton stood and walked to the front of the room, painfully conscious of many eyes boring into the back of her head. She turned to face the crowd of people.
“Ashton Reine, my daughter,” She started. A cheer came from the crowd. Her mother smiled. “Yes, I am just as excited as you are. Anyways, Ashton Reine has been officially deemed worthy to be here.” Another cheer came from the crowd. “Her score was most unusually high. She killed twelve ignis alas today in no more than six minutes and twelve seconds!” The crowd seemed surprised at this. “Not only that, but she made it out with no more than a tiny burn!” Hooting and hollering followed this one. The crowd seemed really impressed, although Ashton didn’t think it was that great. After all, she had used rare and special knives. “Everyone, please welcome Ashton Reine!” That must have been the end of her mother’s speech, because there was lots of clapping and cheering. Ashton grinned. This place was cool.
Her mother turned to her and said, “Welcome to the city of Venicante, Ashton.”