The police officers left, and I was done with signing in. Simone, that receptionist with the odd smile, led me to her desk. She placed her thumb on a pad, then backed away. A small camera emerged from the wall to perform a retinal scan. Everything seemed to be in order and the door opened, letting the both of us in.

I stumbled into the new environment, amusement clouding me. The clothes hanging on endless racks made me feel like I was in a department store of some sort.

"Don't just stare, pick up some clothes," Simone said, with a small smile tugging at her lips.

A small smile forced its way onto my face at the thought of picking all the clothes I wanted, then it dawned on me. Maybe it was just the Council's way of making us comfortable before the rigorous exercises started and we had to bend to their every will. After all, the Council always tried to come off as good to people. I guess it made it easier for them to treat them as their very own puppets.

I was very selective with my clothes making sure to only pick out those in dark colours. They just had this strange appeal to me. After all, it did show a little bit of the inner devil my parents always wanted to bring out in me, and they could come in handy while sneaking around.

Feeling quite content with the amount of clothing I had acquired, I made my way back to Simone but something had caught my eye on my way. Slowly coming to a halt, I studied this strange woman in front of me. She stood firmly with her chest out and head held high, giving the illusion that she was a bit taller than her small stature. Her shoulder length, black, kinky hair was put in two neatly done conrows. And her eyes, they were reticent but unafraid. Her hazel pools reflected fierceness and determination, but I could see through all of that pretence. I could see the pain that she had nearly managed to masquerade, after all I had known her for all the nineteen years of my life. She was me.

I snapped out of my daze and pulled my eyes from the full-length mirror. "You have important things to do, Alyssa," I murmured to myself as I looked through the clothing items piled in my hands once again. With a nod, I sauntered to where I had last seen Simone.

The plump woman waited at the door as she tapped her feet rythmically while picking at her not so neat fingernails. She nodded in approval after seeing the items I picked and we left the room.

When we were back at her desk, she gave me a keycard. It had the numbers 010 on it.

"Here's your room's keycard. In case you forget, it has the room number written on it."

"Okay, thank you." I turned and was ready to move when her soft yet firm voice stopped me.

"Wait! Here's a map of the school just so you don't get lost." She adjusted her glasses, her gaze never leaving mine.

I nodded and smiled before turning and moved down the halls. Feeling the chill air landing on my skin, I gazed at the vast empty space, its emptiness amplified by the white walls. Shivering, I wished I had grabbed my jacket, as I only wore a black tank top and a pair of grey jeans.

I made my way to the second floor. The passage was littered with several Guardians in training from various backgrounds as both the upper class and lower class were included in the training, as well as individuals from all races. Their faces were painted with bright smiles as they conversed among themselves.

Brainwashed idiots!

How could they be happy with blindly serving in a planet where they had no say in how things were done? They were like mindless sheep that had no other choice but to follow the herd.

My domicile wasn't hard to find as the rooms lined up in ascending order.

With the wave of my keycard the door opened. My eyes were greeted with nicely decorated room with two medium-sized beds to each on either side. The walls were bland with only a little bit of colour giving it some appeal.

"Hi, there!" A silver-blonde haired girl chirped, cutting my observation short. She pointed to another girl with purple locs seated by the window. "That's Trish."

The newly introduced girl lifted her eyes from her book for a brief moment and greeted me with a small smile which I returned. She diverted her attention to the book in her hands once again. A part of me begrudged her. That part of me envied the calm aura she had dancing around her features. The way her eyes focused on the pages of the book easily told that she wasn't in this room anymore, but absorbed in the lives of the characters it held.

My eyes met with the cheery girl once again. "I'm Alyssa." I introduced myself with a small wave.

"Well Alyssa, I'm Lisa. Nice to meet you." Lisa said, a small smile decorating her rounded face as her green-blue eyes glinted with warmth and kindness. I returned the smile as she inched closer. Lifting a finger, she pointed to the bed closest to the door. "And the girl on that bed is Chloe."

Chloe ran her hand down her chestnut brown hair and muttered something to herself, her eyes wide. Hiding her slim frame was a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of black shorts.

It seemed like Chloe wasn't in the mood for any chit-chat, so I diverted my attention from her to Lisa. "So where's my bed?"

"It's the one close to where Trish is."

I nodded, making my way to the bed I'd have to get accustomed to for the next couple of weeks. I brought out my things and started sorting them out.

"So do you want to be a Guardian?" Lisa asked, her bright green eyes staring at me.

I stopped what I was doing and looked at her. "Sure," I lied as I picked up another piece of clothing and started to fold it.

I heard a small sigh escape Lisa's lips. It was laced with dissapiontment which ignited a spark of curiosity in me. I looked back at her with an eyebrow raised. "Why did you ask?"

Trish sighed and her lips contorted into a frown. The dark skinned female sat on my bed and closed the book she was holding. "Being a Guardian seems like an honour and all, but I don't want any of it. I'd rather live a simple life with my family."

"Yeah, I also don't want to be a Guardian. I don't even think that I'm supposed to be here," Lisa chimed.

I nodded in understanding. It was nice to know that not everyone was brainwashed and didn't see becoming a Guardian as some sort of destiny or great honour to the society. "So you guys are going to try and get yourselves eliminated on purpose?"

Chloe dropped the shirt in her hand. "No! I actually want to be here," she replied, almost sounding like her answer was programmed. It creeped me out a bit.

"Well, we don't," Lisa said gesturing towards herself and Trish.

Trish nodded in agreement before looking back at her book.

"Fine, but I actually want to travel around the galaxy, maybe I could even visit Earth. I want to be part of the people that make this place safe. What about you, Alyssa?" Chloe questioned.

"Same here," I answered sharply, eyeing Chloe with intent. There was something off about her.

She nodded with a small smile on her face and continued searching through her things. Her movements were so mechanical that it felt forced.

"Good luck!" Trish said with a little laugh, sarcasm dripping from her words.

Chloe rolled her eyes at her comment and pulled Lisa's hand. "Lisa, can you please help me find my contact lenses?"

"Sure," the girl answered.

Poor Lisa had to deal with Chloe while Trish rested on her bed, feeding her brain with the contents of the book she had.

I dropped the clothes I held and moved towards the window.

I observed the breathtaking scenery. The sky looked even whiter today, than the usual azure colour it graced us with. The two moons made a subtle appearance accompanied with the scorching yellow sun. I breathed in the air and sighed.

"All students are to go to the main hall on the ground floor." A man's deep voice came from the speaker, interrupting my survey.

Begrudgingly, I tore my eyes from the picturesque view above me and looked at my roommates once again.

Lisa looked at Chloe with furrowed eyebrows, her eyes warm and her lips slightly parted, before she decided to speak. "We need to go now. Can't you go without your contacts?"

Trish snickered and I found myself wanting to laugh too.

"No. You should go, just save a seat for me if we are going to be sitting down please," Chloe answered.

The three of us went to the main hall together, leaving Chloe behind.

A man dressed in a suit stood on the podium. He informed us on how things were going to be run throughout the training. We were going to train for two months, and once that was done we would start competing to be part of the top five. I only hoped that I would have enough time to get the information I needed and make my parents proud of me.

After a few minutes, Chloe came. She looked different. She seemed composed.

Lisa went to her and brought her to where we sat.

Time passed, we got to know our schedule. It read:

Monday- Spaceships and Flying.

Tuesday- Self defense.

Wednesday- Survival techniques.

Thursday- Math.

Friday- Weaponry.

After I had studied it, I put it in my pocket and listened to what was being said.

We paid attention to the aforementioned rules for two more hours. The man whose name I recently learnt was Joseph, ended what he was saying and introduced the council.

We all stood in an act of respect. They were four in number, normally we had five council members but my dad had supposedly died and they had not found a replacement.

I knew all of them.

Vega was an estate allocated to the council members and queen. I lived in Vega for 10 years so I became quite acquainted with the council and their children. The queen was an exception, I rarely saw her, only the council members had that chance.

Lillian stepped forward. She was the only woman in the council. The red-headed woman walked with elegance and grace. She still had that powerful aura. Next to her was Sirius--a dark skinned man with dark brown hair. His lips were in a thin line and everything about him said strict despite the fact that he was the nice one among them. Lucas followed. He had black hair and unlike Lillian and Sirius, he had a smile plastered on his face. He was the persuasive one. The man always had a way with his words.

Lucas walked forward and started to speak, "From 2024 till date, we have had Guardians sacrificing their lives for your own benefit--for our own benefit. They understood that they could either make or break this planet. They understood that they could take this planet to greater heights and see to it that we were on top." He paused and shoved his hands into his pockets.

He resumed, "And that would not change with this set! 2063 would be no different, because we ensured that we got the best trainees we could lay our hands on, and we are going to push you until you feel like you can't go any further. We grew until we became who we are today. As a planet, we need to make sure that we protect ourselves and make sure that Annexia remains a great planet."

Swiftly, he came down from the podium and moved around, studying each of our faces. The thought of him seeing me again made anxiety wash over me, leaving my hands clammy and sweaty.

He kept on moving, and I knew that he would see me soon. He stopped in shock. His eyes were on me, and his mouth was left open from the surprise. He probably thought that he wouldn't be seeing me again after the news of my father's death.

His aura radiated "douchebag" with a whiff of "moron". At least I wasn't going to be around him all the time.

Trish nudged me and whispered, "What's going on?"

I whispered back with my eyes still on Lucas, "It's nothing."

Lucas adjusted his tie, regaining his composure before continuing.

"We need Guardians to watch over our planet and Earth. There are Earthlings and a few Annexians waiting for the time when our planet will perish. They believe that Annexia shouldn't be inhabited by anyone and are constantly trying to destroy us and our planet, but we will not allow that to happen. You will train. You will strive to be the best," and he ended calmly, "And we will remain great!" His speech was rewarded with an applause from the trainees. Well not all, I simply just stared at the man.

After that, the council left, and we sat down. My shoulders sagged in exhaustion, and my eyes were beginning to droop. Personally, I thought that information we had received was enough. Joseph came back again, but this time he talked about the time duration for the classes, and the behavior we were expected to have.

We were dismissed after what seemed like an extra year and all students had gotten up, approaching the exit.

In the swarm of students, I got separated from my roommates, leaving me alone admist strangers. All students were expected to be in the dining hall for dinner, but I didn't feel hungry and my body ached for the comfort of a bed. I walked slowly, trying to avoid falling or bumping into anyone.

I spared no time in changing into my pajamas the moment I entered my room. I laid on my small bed and stared at the ceiling as I let my mind drift off.

A screeching sound came from the speaker. I stirred in my sleep, forcing my self to ignore the noise but it came again. I couldn't take it anymore so I got up from bed, irked that my sweet sleep was disturbed.