Author's Note: Posted on time this week! Yaaaaaay! Probably posting over spring break, but don't get too mad if I don't. Well, here's a chapter! Read, vote, comment, do what you want with it. Glisteen stared at the portraits. She and Yilasia looked so much like them. And the man had the same last name? There was only one explanation...  they were her parents.
Glisteen was outraged. Who had done this? Who had the audacity to take her and Yilasia away from their parents? Who took them to the worst orphanage in the whole world? Glisteen clenched her fists and walked straight to the captain's quarters.

She stormed into the room, slamming the door open, even angrier than before. "You know there's a thing called knocking?" Hepas said, looking over some kind of map, of all things! Glisteen was too mad to give him a snappy comeback. All she wanted was to confront the person, or people that had left her an orphan.

"Who did it?" she asked, in an angry, deep voice.

"Ah, I see you found out." he replied, barely glancing up at her.

Glisteen took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Tell me." she insisted.

Hepas finally put the map down. "Well if you're so eager to know, you should ask-"

"Me." a low, cold, but definitely female voice growled.

Glisteen whirled around. If there was one word to describe this woman, it would be deadly. Her hair was black as obsidian. Her eyes were crow feather black. Her skin, though, was unnaturally pale. It was the color of alabaster; almost white, but with that odd greyish tinge. "Who are you?" Glisteen asked, her anger returning.

"My name is Showda." Showda replied.

"Well, what do you know?" Glisteen replied.

Showda scowled, but proceeded to tell the story, motioning for chairs. They sat across from each other. "It was a long time ago, 20 years, I think," Showda began, "Your mother and I were friends, best of friends. She had the Gift of nature. Then there was Erif. He had fire powers. Your mother, Uterna, was head over heels for him. That year, two could win. And they both won-"

"Won what? What am I here for?" Glisteen demanded.

"You haven't told her?" This time, it was directed at Hepas.

His ever constant smile seemed to fade away. He cleared his throat. "No, I haven't. I thought it best-"

"You're here to fight, to win, and to kill." Showda interrupted.

"Not exactly," Hepas said. "You fight until one submits."

"And if they don't?" Glisteen asked.

"Well... Then you can kill." Hepas said, returning to his map.

"May I finish?" Showda asked in a voice much more authoritative than the question required.

"Of course, Madam." Hepas said.

"Now," Showda said, "They both won and they were both so happy. I lost. I won the next year, though. Well, anyways, then they had two children. You and I'm guessing, a little blond sister out there."

Glisteen nodded in reply. "Yilasia."

"Oh yes, that's it! But alas! With great power, comes great challenges! Challenges your parents could not face."

Glisteen felt a cold knot of foreboding begin to tie itself deep inside her. "What happened to them?"

Showda gave what must have been her saddest look, but it really looked like she was mocking Glisteen. "They were found in their room, each holding a knife, each knife in the other's hearts."

Glisteen sucked in air. She couldn't breathe. It didn't sound... right. Her parents, suicidal? Glisteen's chest felt hollow. What was she going to tell her sister? 'Hey, I just found out our parents went here, and won in a competition, which we have to participate in, but you sometimes have to kill people, and after they won, they decided to go and kill themselves?' Not likely. She was already on Yilasia's bad side.

"No, it's-it's not possible." she sputtered out.

"I'm afraid it is. Felt like I was... losing my soul when I heard. " Showda said, still giving her that mocking sad look.

Glisteen staggered out. She felt like she had been punched in her stomach, like a dull ache, that just makes you want to throw up. Glisteen couldn't bring herself to tell Yilasia what she had just learned. She skirted Yilasia's line of vision and sat by the front of the ship, what was it called? Oh, the prow, Glisteen remembered, though she didn't know how.

Maybe she remembered because she had been here as a young child. Maybe-

"What are you doing here?" Glisteen jumped, as a girl appeared, out of thin air beside her. The girl had fair skin and dark blue eyes, with straight shoulder length ink colored hair.

"Who are you?" Glisteen asked.

"Sinlivbie. You are?"

"Glisteen." Glisteen replied.

"Evocabeth?" Sinlivbie asked.

"Yes." Glisteen replied, tiring of this 'interrogation.' "How'd you appear out of thin air?" Glisteen asked.

"I didn't just appear. You almost sat on me." Sinlivbie replied, with a smile.

"I did?" Glisteen asked, before it dawned on her, "Your Gift is invisibility."

"Took you long enough." Sinlivbie stated. Glisteen rolled her eyes. "Do you know what your Gift is?" Sinlivbie asked.

"No... Not yet." Glisteen replied.

"You'll find out soon, I know it." Sinlivbie said.

"Does she know her Gift?" she asked, gesturing to Yilasia.

"Who? Yilasia? No." Glisteen replied, before realizing that they were back to interrogation. "How long have you been here?" Glisteen asked.

Sinlivbie counted on her fingers before replying, "About two weeks."

Glisteen widened her eyes, "Two weeks of dealing with Sabecary?"

Sinlivbie laughed. "It gets easier, don't worry. Most of the time he's up in that crow's nest." 

Glisteen nodded. "That's good to know."

Sinlivbie smiled. "He must be interested in you, though."

Glisteen rolled her eyes. She was not interested in anybody, certainly not Sabecary. "Well, I'm sure that dissipated, after I nearly broke his hand."

Sinlivbie's eyes widened. "You did what?"

"Nearly broke his hand. It was really red." Glisteen repeated.

"Without him freezing your face off or something?" Sinlivbie asked, astonished.

"I'm pretty sure I still have my face." Glisteen said.

Sinlivbie giggled. "How's your sister?" she asked. Glisteen remembered she had to apologize.

"Yilasia's good, but if you'll excuse me, I have to apologize to her for yelling at her." Glisteen explained. "Be right back."

Glisteen walked over to Yilasia, who had been talking to Raya. When Raya spotted Glisteen, she smiled to Yilasia and walked off. Yilasia turned, saw Glisteen, and scowled.

"Yilasia," Glisteen started when she reached her. "I came to say I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. It wasn't right of me."

Yilasia nodded. "It's-it's fine. Did you find anything out about them?" She whispered, gesturing to the pictures on the wall.

Glisteen's breath hitched for a moment.

"Yes." she replied.

"Who were they?" Yilasia asked.

"What I was told, was... They're our parents, they won a competition here, because two could win that year, and fell in love, they had us and sent us to the orphanage. Then... they killed themselves." Yilasia had stayed silent the whole time, then nodded. "Yilasia..." Glisten trailed off. What could she say? She put a comforting hand on Yilasia's shoulder. "It will be okay." she whispered.

"I know." Glisteen was startled by the determination in Yilasia's voice."I will be okay."

Glisteen nodded, too startled to say anything. "Well, okay. I love you." she said, before walking back to where Sinlivbie was. The key word to that is was. She wasn't there when Glisteen got back.

"Sinlivbie?" Glisteen whispered.

"Yeah?" said a disembodied voice beside her.

Glisteen jumped. "Please, become visible. I hate not knowing where you are."

"Why?" Sinlivbie's voice asked.

"Because I won't be able to stop you from going overboard." Glisteen retorted.

Sinlivbie appeared in front of her, and pointed west, or at least Glisteen thought it was west.

"Look." Sinlivbie said.

Glisteen looked. The sun was setting, casting beautiful oranges, reds, and pinks across the sky. Had Glisteen been on the boat that long? "Wow," was all she could whisper. The sun disappeared, casting the world into darkness, lit only by the moon and stars.

Soon, everyone went below deck, where they would sleep. The room was musty, and had two rows of creaky, old looking beds. There were seventeen, (one for each competitor plus one extra,) and only seven people. More would be coming. Sinlivbie got on a bed in the farthest corner from the door, Glisteen claimed the bed beside her. Across from the foot of her bed, Yilasia claimed that bed, and Raya laid down in the one in the corner across from Sinlivbie. Sabecary got in the bed in the corner closest to the doorway, and even Hepas came in and laid in the bed across from Sabecary's.

Sinlivbie handed Glisteen a pair of pajamas, when she realized Glisteen didn't have any. "What?!" she exclaimed. "I'm not changing in here with them!"

"Relax." Sinlivbie soothed. "We can kick them out while we change." With that, Sinlivbie turned to a girl with black eyes, and black hair, that turned to white as it neared the tip. "Mictochra, you know what to do."

Mictochra nodded and waved a hand toward Sabecary. His hair slowly leached into a light purple hue.

"Hey!"

"Girls changing! Get out!" Sabecary and Hepas left the room, Sabecary's hair back to its normal white color.

The girls changed without difficulties. The boys walked back in, in their pajamas. Was there a room where they could change? Glisteen shrugged. She didn't care so long as she could change, without the boys in the same room.

Glisteen laid in her bed and was soon asleep, knowing she had another interesting day tomorrow.