From a Grave to a Cradle

Of New Beginnings.

Three hours into the supposedly five hour journey from the Astra pack to the Capital, Elysia closed her book with a thud and glared at it.

"I don't know where over there is. But I know it's somewhere. And I hope it's beautiful."

Tears started to well up in her eyes. For the billionth time in her life, she shook her head and tried to fathom why fictional characters had such impact over her life.

Verena, the chosen girl who'd arrived with three others at her home this morning to whisk her into the unknown, fixated her stare at the cover of the book Elysia had been reading.

'Looking For Alaska.' it read.

Verena seemed to have understood the reason behind Elysia's tears, because she gave her a soft smile and nodded at her.

"Your reaction to finishing this book is still very controlled," Verena began. "I'd thrown the book at the wall and yelled profanities at it and at John Green after I finished it."

"You read books?" Elysia dared ask.

"Of course I do. Why do you think I'd completely zoned out for one hour now? I was thinking about books!" Verena babbled  and Elysia's smile widened. 

Elysia hadn't realised how nervous and jittery she was until Verena pointed it out to her.

"The backseat is shaking from the fidgeting of your legs!" She'd said. "You can talk to me, you know. All of us had to say  goodbyes to our family and had to get through our first days at the Capital."

In these few hours that she'd known Verena, Elysia couldn't pinpoint a single reason why she shouldn't trust her - like her training had told her to. So she started -

"It's just that.. the choice of being a part of the committee, the choice of leaving my family and coming to the Capital never felt like a choice. It felt like an obligation. And now that I'm actually being sucked into a world I know nothing of.., " she paused to take a breath " I hate being clueless. I hate not knowing what to expect."

Verena seemed to have felt every word Elysia had spoken enter her heart, only because she'd been exactly where Elysia was now. She wanted nothing more than to erase all doubts in the brown eyed girl's mind but didn't want to give her any kind of fake promises.

"I can't really tell you what to expect at the Capital, Elysia. But one thing that I can tell you for sure is everyone will treat you as family - especially because everyone has left their homes to venture into the unknown. So people at the Capital often look at other people as family with ties not bound by blood."

That brought a genuine smile to Elysia's face and her nerves eased out a bit. That was until Verena announced they'd arrived.

~~~~~

No description could do justice to what the Capital was. So she shut her mouth up and drank it all in.

It was pure architectural magnificence. Every structure had the most intricate details and the design of the place was magic in itself.

There was only one building. The one that looked like an office. Apart from that, it seemed as though the chosen ones got one house each for themselves and lived in colonies.

The car pulled up in front of a massive house and Verena got down to help Elysia with her bags.

Elysia had no clue how the chosen committee knew her preferences but here it was - her literal dream house with a nameplate that read "Elysia Jarsdel" attached to the front door.