The horn blew and they circled, looking for weak spots. Cosimia already knew where to strike; Amorita had injured her hamstring in a hover car accident when she was 16, so the muscle didn't heal properly. If she just hit her there she would fall. Easy from thereon. She licked her lips, feeling the tang from the berry juice on her taste buds.

Amorita sprung forward, bringing her longsword down hard. Sparks flew as Cosimia held up Stellam's steel handle, feeling the sparks on her bare skin. She rubbed her teeth together hard, prancing out of Amorita's rapid attacks. They showered down on her and she fought the urge to let the fire loose. She would but now is not wasn't the time. As they kept up their game, Amorita's strikes becoming less stronger with each one and her arms shook with each blow. Her grasp on the sword began to slip and Cosimia could see she was exhausted. With a push of her foot she leaped at Amorita, who barely was able to counter the attack. Understanding shone in her eyes as she constantly, but weakly repelled the strikes. Cosimia feinted left and dove to the right, pressing her thumb to the pad that enabled Stellum's spikes to retreat, until Stellam was just a heavy, steel ball. She whacked Amorita's thigh and with a cry, Amorita fell to the floor. Cosimia wasted no time and stepped on her gently. The purpose of the Trials wasn't to kill, only to display. The buzzer sounded and Cosimia felt the grin break out on her face. She had won. She had done it. With a sigh of relief, she turned to Mother, who was smiling proudly, dropping her strict act for once. Geneva's eyes blazed with anger but she closed her mouth and just sat down. Her friends cheered wildly, abandoning all the protocols and jumping up and down, screaming her name. Mathias just shook his head with wonder, shimmers of pride falling down his cheeks in the form of tears. She had her freedom, finally, after so much planning. The Goddess had finally answered her calls. She held her filthy hand out to Amorita who looked at it with disdain, her upper lip curling. She took it, obviously hesitant.

"Well done." Amorita said begrudgingly.

"You, as well. You fought valiantly."

"Oh, save the theatrics, Nedias. I don't need it." Amorita trudged off to the cleanup showers, feet dragging. The crowd was roaring with obvious energy and heat bloomed on her cheeks as all these people continued to cheer for her. Cosimia clapped her hands together to get rid of the gravel pieces that had buried themselves in her palm. There was a ghost of a smile on Mother's face, eyes shining with what seemed like satisfaction and joy. Cosimia relished the moment-all these people were cheering for her- the sloppy, uncaring student who had seemingly no talent. Her smile wavered as she glanced at Geneva who was scowling at her with a look that made her gulp nervously. Her sister was not one to be reckoned with-it was a trait that all members of the Nedias family shared.

She forced Geneva out of her mind and continued to wave to the crowd.

"The last part of the Trials is to test whether the Goddess approves Cosimia Nedias. If the Deam Gloria burns her, the Trials shall happen again next week, and Cosimia will not be allowed to participate. However, if the weapon shows some kind of celestial display, it means the weapon accepts her and Cosimia Nedias will be officially called Huntress Cosimia Nedias." 10 men brought out a huge safe and set it down on the podium that had just been set up. The weapon was a thing of beauty, bathing in a heavenly light that seemed to follow it anywhere. She took a few cautious steps, her hands shaking as she neared the celestial creation. It was a gleaming gold, with impossibly large jewels in the encrusted handle. This was something she had no control over. Mother knew it too from the tightening of her lips. She, along with Cosimia, must have forgotten about the Deam Gloria. Her hand felt warm at the light surrounding the goddess's creation and she took a final gulp before grabbing the handle, waiting to feel the searing pain of the burn. But the weapon began to hum, shooting out light so bright it made her want to cry. The cheers were deafening as the weapon dimmed and warmed in her palm. She felt like screaming with joy, and crying. The world was now hers.

It all felt surreal, even though it was two days after the Trials. She finally had all she had dreamed of since she was a child-a proud mother, knowledge, respect, and mostly freedom. In Zorias, Cosimia had learnt, freedom was a rare gift. The people of the city were under strict rules, rules that had led to Zorias's infinite success. But rules were restricting. With rules, you are chained and bound. You will never be able to discover what lies beyond Saturnus.

Because the main rule that all citizens have tattoed in their brains is that under no circumstances can you ever leave the planet.

This was Cosimia's least favorite of all rules because without leaving, how do you discover what lies beyond the rings? People will forever be stranded on their little oasis. Over the years, Zorians have learned to banish all wondering thoughts from their minds and focused only on the small, mundane tasks that kept them busy.

But she wanted to explore the universe. And now that she has won the Trials, she will be able to finally discover the wonders of the cosmos.

"Where's Huntress Nedias running off to?" Freda, one of the members of her squad, came jogging up to her.

"The library." Cosimia stopped and waited for her friend to catch up. Freda made a face and fake vomited.

"What for? Come train with me! Oh, and bring that wonderful weapon of yours." Cosimia stopped right before the entrance of the palace library.

"Maybe later. And you know you can't touch the Gloria." Freda rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Well, aren't you a treat. Anyway, have fun doing whatever you're doing." Freda called back as she ran down the long corridor. Cosimia chuckled under her breath. Dominica, Isadora, and Nova didn't really like her, but those three never really cracked a smile anyways. When you got past Freda's bold, outspoken exterior, Cosimia found that she was a pleasant and wonderful person to be around.

The library was quiet as ever. And that was definitely her favorite sound.

The librarian was seemingly ancient and really fragile, like a piece of shattered glass. One misstep and the glass would break into millions of unfixable pieces. The man smiled weakly, his wrinkled folds of skin making it look like he had an excess of skin, too much for his miniscule, shrunken frame.

"What may I help you with, Huntress Nedias?" Cosimia stared at him for a few moments, until she realized he was talking to her. She still hadn't gotten used to being called Huntress.

"I would like some papers about the cosmos, in general." The old man's thin eyebrows furrowed and he slowly hobbled over to a towering bookshelf. The shelf was stuffed with scrolls, ancient texts, and relatively new books.

"In order to narrow it down efficiently, my dear, please tell me what specifically in the cosmos you are interested in. The cosmos, as a general subject, is a broad one."

Cosimia wanted to know everything, but she knew the librarian was right.

"Saturnus's rings." In order to leave her planet, she needed to know everything about the rings. They were a formidable obstacle in her path. Only her mother had the authority to exit the rings and even with her new position, she wasn't high enough to allow a capsule car to leave Saturnus.

The man mumbled to himself, smacking his lips as he slowly ran his gnarled finger over the spines of the texts. He pulled out multiple papers and textbooks and Cosimia was incredibly surprised by the old man's youthful strength. When he saw her gaping at him, he gave her a toothless smile.

"Not everyone can handle the task of categorizing this labyrinth of information, Huntress. I have been doing it for many, many years. I have seen many things, and have firsthand experience." After dumping the stack in her arms he toddled off, muttering to himself about Goddess knows what.

"Um, sir? May I take these textiles to my bedroom? I shall return them as soon as I have read through." Cosimia bit her lip and waited for his response.

"By all means, dear. It is a library, after all."