Rising Shards

Lillia stepped into darkness. A jump fifteen, or a memory trial, was a potentially life altering event. At the very least, she’d have to recall a life altering event.

The cold silence did not intimidate her. She had been prepping for this for a long time.

“My name is Lillia Cadence,” Lillia called out into the darkness. “I do not need this explained to me, I’m fully aware of what a jump fifteen is, as well as its history.”

A deep voice in the darkness spoke.

“I appreciate your self-confidence,” the voice said. “Shall we begin, then?”

A glamorous door appeared before Lillia, covered in a mosaic of gemstones and mirrors. Lillia saw her distorted image reflected across the small pieces of mirror.

“Yes,” Lillia said, marching over and opening the door without hesitation.

Lillia now stood in a field of flowers, much like the one outside the void temple. She saw herself in the distance, standing in a nightgown in bare feet, twirling as she danced majestically.

A strange title lowered, no doubt an addition of the dreamlike nature of the void’s memory trial. It said, “Lillia Cadence at Thirteen.”

“I am the princess of Jecruible,” the other Lillia said.

Lillia felt the strange sensation of her present self fading away as she watched her past self. She was just a spectator now.

“As a princess, I-I, um, ca-can’t remember, oh, right of course. I am to be the queen someday, and therefore…I must.”

“OK, that’s good.” A woman said. The spotlights shone too bright in Lillia’s eyes and she walked to the edge of the stage.

“How…did I do—”

“Please refrain from speaking to the director,” a man in an orange beret that had a tiny mustache said. He was seated next to the woman. “Unless she directs you to speak to her. Eh?”

The woman wasn’t impressed. Lillia felt her stomach turn in knots.

“Rather mediocre, wasn’t it?” The play director said, turning to the mustachioed man. “Next!”

Lillia kept her face stone as she walked off stage. In the changing room, she let her lip quiver when no one there was looking.

The curtains drew, and when they parted again, Lillia was home, staring in a corner quietly. Her father was working nearby, attempting to fix one of the glass doors on the family’s trophy shelf.

“You know, normally a play wouldn’t have the set built for rehearsals,” Lillia’s father said as he attempted to finagle a piece of glass back into the door. “Or have you in costume. That speaks to a director with bad managerial skills.”

Lillia’s mother stepped into the room, giving the famous glare only the women of the Cadence family had mastered.

“And also, because she was very rude to you,” her father said. “That speaks to poor directorial skills.”

“Lillia, my poor dear,” Lillia’s mother said. “You put too much of a burden on yourself. There will be many better plays for you.”

Lillia didn’t answer. The door her father tried to fix screeched as he shoved the glass pane in, slamming the door. The slam of the door bumped a few trophies down. They landed with various clanks and clunks at Lillia’s feet. There were science trophies for Lyla Cadence, a future doctor trophy for her, and even a ’promising death metal band’ trophy. For Lilith, there were many trophies that all had some variant of ’young genius’ on them.

“Don’t compare yourself to them,” her mother said.

“The older you get, the more trophies you’ll receive,” Her father said.

“Right! You’ll catch up to them!”

“Lilith is younger than me,” Lillia said.

“…Ah.” Her mother said as her father stammered.

“I’m going to my room,” Lillia said as she got up. She slammed the door to her room as the curtains drew again.

Now, Lillia was at a science fair. The void sign above her said “Lillia Cadence at Eight.”

She couldn’t stand to look at it. A red ribbon on her experiment about the effects a Cani fang has on an ice cube. She’d spent hours trying to make the display look perfect.

“Lillia, Lilliaaaaa,” a young girl said as she tugged on Lillia’s shirt.

“What is it, Lilith?” Lillia asked.

“Look what I got,” Lilith said, holding up a blue ribbon.

“What?” Lillia said. “How did you…they let you enter?”

“Of course they did, because I am a genius.” Lilith said. “Congratulate me. I crave congratulations!”

“C-congratulations, Lilith.” Lillia said, a pit forming in her stomach.

“Yay! What did you get? Oh.” Lilith said as she saw the ribbon.

“Yeah, oh.” Lillia said.

Lillia heard Lilith start to cry.

“You’re so mean to me!” Lilith said as she ran off.

Lillia sighed, feeling very tired as the curtains drew on her again.