Young Writers Society

Hey guys ^^ I think I posted this on YWS once before when it was an ickier draft, but since I'm cleaning out my folders and I don't want to lose my old ideas, I'm posting it again as a back up. It's an idea on hold for the time being. Feel free to review if you'd like ^^

Preface:

I felt something flutter in my stomach.

“Welcome all students, teachers, members, and friends of the Nova Corporation to Illusion Square for our annual challenge,” The company president announced. The sound waves of his voice boomed from the loudspeakers, forcing my body to resonate along with its hum.

Anxiety? Excitement?

“Pay attention, Aaralyn!” This is no time for spacing.” Shira snapped, nearly ripping my arm off as she shook it.

After blinking a few times to fade back to reality, I recoiled my arm.

“Sorry, Shira. Just thinking about stuff…” I whispered back to her, but she had already turned her attention back to the Nova Corp president. Rolling my eyes, I snorted and sunk into my chair like it was quick sand.

Standing only three rows in front of me was the distinguished stage of Illusion Square, and standing on top of the stage was the archaic President Nova. The very man speaking upon the platform was probably one of the most important, richest men in the world, and yet I couldn’t seem to care less.

A million thoughts buzzed past me, preventing any form of concentration. The fact that a government alliance stole me away from my family was no longer the issue that concerned me, nor was the concept of attending an academy located on a private campus with hundreds of other “gifted” people like myself. Kaleb Valter was the person on my mind, him and the rest of the mysterious Rave Academy panel.

An average person who’d lived a normal life for fifteen years would be awed to a point of mesmerization by her own supernatural surroundings, but then again, I’m not an average person am I? It’s only expected of me to get into the complicated affairs of Mirage Academy’s top rival, Rave Academy. And it’s only more expected of me to become completely fascinated with their top student, Commander Kaleb Valter. Kaleb is the leader of Rave Academy’s panel. In other words, he’s the leader of my enemies, well Mirage’s enemies.

Although Mirage and Rave Academy are on the same private campus and are both owned by President Nova, they’re still rivals competing for the gold like they’ve been for decades. When the Nova campus opened years and years ago, the goal of the President was to create a safe environment for people, kids in particular, with special abilities and powers. He wanted to strengthen their skills and make them as great as they could be.

Along with the birth of the Nova campus was the birth of a tradition that still continues today. A special team of students called “The Panel” is formed in both Mirage and Rave Academy each year. The Panel consists of the top five students in each school that are hand-selected by principals such as abilities, strength, skills, intelligence, and power.

The ceremony that launches the event is held at Illusion Square. Throughout the years, the competition’s objectives have been altered to fit the company’s as well as the governments needs. That’s where the panels of each school come in. We’re the players of a game, a game we didn’t even choose to play. But once you enter, you are forbidden to leave until the end of the competition. That’s what the rules say, anyway.

If you run away, they’ll find you. If you refuse to take any action, they’ll make you play. The government always gets what they want here, by any means necessary. They say it’s for the good of the nation, and for nations all over the world. They say it’s an overall benefit for everyone, but what about us? Is it even something we choose to do? Is forcing innocent people against their will simply because they have charismatic abilities for the benefit of everyone? How come we never got a say in a decision that would last a lifetime?

It’s because They have all the power, that’s why.

In this world, power is everything. Whoever has the most power is the strongest player in the game called Life, a game in which only the fittest survive. Play your cards right and you can live a happy life. Make a wrong move and you’re in serious trouble. There are no breaks, no time-outs, and definitely no rewind button. What you do is history. It’s all about what you do right now that affects your outcome.

Life is a game that requires tactics and strategy to conquer all obstacles and battles. But even more, life is a game of chance.

Things are never completely fair, no matter how much justice you deserve. It’s all luck, chance, and the course of destiny. You can always change the course of destiny, however. The way your life starts may not be your decision, nor will the way your life ends, but the way you live your life is something completely up to you. Our lives are individual novels, each of us being our own authors. The pen is in our hands, now if we could only have minds broad enough to realize that…

“Aaralyn, stop spacing!” Shira hissed, almost knocking me off my chair. I had to grab onto the bottom of my seat to keep myself from slipping off the edge. Just as I opened my mouth to retort, the president began to speak.

“I am proud to announce that this year’s Dream Catching Challenge is once again in play,” the president continued. Each of his words were enunciated with great precision, his voice profound with many years of experience latched to them.

I squinted, trying to get a better look at the president since he rarely ever showed himself. From the looks of it, he was a tall man with broad soldiers and a pressed suit. Rai would surely bet that every inch of his suit was bullet proof, even if it did look like silk. Body guards with earpieces, weapons, and midnight shades surrounded him. A snow-white fluff covered the head of Nova’s president while hundreds of wrinkles rode his face like the waves of the ocean.

Like his body guards, he wore dark sunshades that completely covered his eyes unlike those grill-shades they have nowadays. Some people say he wears them because he has some sort of laser-vision that could destroy us all. Others say that it’s because he’s got a messed-up eye or something, but to me he looked like a normal old man, just covered head-to-toe with defense mechanisms and weapons that could probably destroy a planet.

A person’s a person no matter what, right? Didn’t Shakespeare establish that centuries ago when he wrote the Merchant of Venice? We do good, we do evil; we do right, we do wrong; we breathe and we laugh; we live and we love.

In our world, we use differences as reasons to keep us apart, to separate us from each other. You may be richer than the next man and you may be stronger then your brother, but does that make your heart beat any different? Some may do good in the world to help other people and others may cause destruction, but does that not mean we all don’t have dreams?

All of us have dreams deep within us, desires that can only be satisfied once we take action. Dreams are the birth of life. They are the heart of our motivation. Every person wants something, there’s no harm in that. It’s only the matter of how we achieve these dreams that seems to be troubling.

“The tradition of our annual competition has been passed down for decades, only a few things subjective. This year, that will all change.” The president’s lips curled into a wry smile. The crowd gasped, their bodies leaning closer toward the stage as if being magnetized. “Like last year, the goal for Rave and Mirage Academy’s panel is to work as a team to obtain dream power in order to provide energy for their academies. What kind of dreams and how they obtain them is of no matter, but there are some rules that go along with this challenge. The members of the panels may not put anyone to death during this challenge. They are not to destroy buildings or houses and they may not let any humans see their powers or capture their identity. Any breaking of the rules will result in immediate loss of points or temporary suspension. The challenge has no time limit until further notice.

"The point system is as follows: points will be given depending on the power of the dream. Each member will be given a dream holder to store dreams. After their missions they shall empty their dream holders into the dream converter in their headquarters and points will be added into their systems.” He explained, gripping the podium before him. “Be warned that until the dreams are deposited into the dream converter, they are still in the game. The positions of each house have already been filled in advance. Their first mission shall be this evening ad midnight.” The president lifted his head away from the microphone, placing his shoulders back to adjust his posture. The audience froze and remained silent.

What happened to the big change? I wondered, my bottom at the edge of my seat.

Silence lingered the crowd until one spoke up. Upon the red-headed lady was a brave face, beside her, clenched fists. From the end of her skirt I could see her knees tremble as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

“What’s the new reward for this challenge?” She asked with ringing confidence. The crowd once again gasped in unison. The lady ceased to tremble.

The wry smile rose back on the president’s face and he began to chuckle.

“Oh yes,” He said smugly. “I forgot about that.”

A sigh of relief escaped me. He really forgot, or was he just trying to get us all worked up?

“As you know, I have been the founder, creator, and owner of the Nova Corporation for years. I have dedicated my life to this business and to building the Nova Empire.” He explained, not in any way hurrying. “From decades and decades of work, I have come to realize and evaluate the concept of not living forever. No human can live forever. We all have a time to enter this world and a time to exit this stage. For most people, death is something that only affects the lives of a few people or their family. However, if I were to die, my death wouldn’t affect only but a few people, would it? The problem stumped me for quite a long while. If I were to leave this world, what would happen to my empire and the millions of people that depend on me to live their lives? What would happen to all the long hours of research, studies, and hard work if I left? And then again, wouldn’t I like to leave something behind in this world to be remembered by? And wouldn’t I still want to achieve my dream of being able to help the world by all means possible.

After months and months of deep contemplation, I have come to the conclusion that this is my final year leading the Nova Corporation. After this final year I shall no longer be the commander of Nova’s operations. It is in my best interest to keep the national icon alive through youth, and that is why I shall renounce my title.” As the president finished his speech, he bowed his head down, a weak smile growing on his face.

There had never been anything weak about President Nova, until then.

“But who will take your place? Who can take your place?” I turned my head in the direction of the speaker. It was the same woman from earlier.

“That is where the change is in this year’s competition.” The president flashed a toothy grin. “he winning team of this year’s competition shall be the new leaders of Nova. Do not fear that they are not experienced enough, for they have been trained their whole lives for a destiny such as this. They were built strong and nurtured with intelligent minds. I have complete faith in entitling any one of them with this company, but only one team shall be victorious.” The president concluded his last sentence with a dramatic pause before walking off the stage for the last time.

His body guards walked off with him, positioning themselves at every angle danger could possibly appear. The second he exited, the lights in the square shut off, leaving the students and the teachers in the later afternoon sun. Dusk was coming and the shadows of the surrounding buildings were growing longer.

The challenge was only soon to begin…