Mirasol suddenly woke up screaming and hit something with her forehead, the gunshot still rang in her head, so she really thought she was shot. She panted heavily and cold sweat soaked her clothes. She relaxed a bit after confirming that there were no injuries besides a bump on her head, it stinged when she touched it, the pain helped clear her head and she realized what happened was just a nightmare. She looked around but it was too dark to see anything, and there seemed to be nothing in the way for her to hit her head on. Light footsteps passed from not too far away, seemed to be going away from her, and suddenly light came on after a loud click, and she could see what's around her. It was a small room with crude wooden floor and no windows, another bed was opposite to the one she was laying on, and two doors were at the sides of the room. This was not where she usually slept. Mirasol also noticed a little girl had approached her bed.

It was a frail looking girl, her white hair messy and her red eyes tired. She wore vest and trousers that did not fit too well, and they had several holes in them. The girl stared at Mirasol's clothes in awe, as if she had never seen such an elegant dress before. It was bright red with a long and wide skirt that had many white layers on the inside, the sleeves were puffy at the end with white laces and she also wore black gloves and a sunflower hairpin. Almost like a doll on display.

Upon a closer look, Mirasol saw that the girl also had a red bump on her forehead, and her skin was pale. She seemed to have noticed Mirasol's eyes on her and met her gaze, she got flustered and quickly looked away. Her face turned red, and she shifted nervously.

Red eyes…a Scarlett from Sanguis? But she's so pale. Mirasol thought.

Mirasol stabilized her breathing and cooled down, then got off the bed and asked, demandingly, "who are you? And where am I?"

"Uhh-um, Sophie," she pointed to herself and said, still flustered, "your name?"

"Mirasol," she said. "What is this place?"

"M-my home."

Her home? "Did you take me here?"

"No! Not me. Big man, tall, bring you, in bag," she said while shaking her head then waved her arms around trying to depict a large man carrying a sack on his shoulder, as if she was playing charades.

A horrible realization came over Mirasol, she ran past Sophie towards one of the doors.

"M-Mirasol!"

She turned around.

"N-nice to, meet you," Sophie said softly while slowly put out her hand, it was shaking.

Mirasol glanced at it, rough and calloused, just like Janet's, it took her back to that riverbank where they first met, but it quickly smeared into the nightmarish image of the girl in that dark burning hallway, smiling cunningly, mockingly. Mirasol flinched and turned to run out the room, leaving Sophie standing in the middle of it, jittering nervously with her hands against her chest.

Outside was a long stone hallway lit by electric lights; large copper pipes ran all over the ceiling into every room, liquid seemed to be rushing through them. Mirasol approached one of the many openings in the corridor and looked out. In the distance was a well-lit city, the buildings were too tall to see past them but there were glimpses of colorful lights beyond; there was humungous pillar after all the buildings, dotted with light that went up to an extremely high ceiling covered in huge copper pipes, which ran all the way to where Mirasol was. Near the top of the pillar was what looked out to be a large control room, and silhouettes of people could be seen walking around inside. This was some sort of underground facility, and she was in its wall.

Mirasol's mind went numb, she couldn't make out anything about where she was.

"I'll leave you to it then," a deep muffled voice came from her right. A tall and broad man in black uniform and a silver mask with large goggles was talking to a boy with dark blue hair and blue eyes. The man held a large bottle of beverage on one hand and gave something to the boy with another.

"Thank you, please enjoy yourself, Mr. Gillen," the boy said, his voice smooth and his smile wide.

"Don't have too much fun now, I know how you are," the man patted the boy's back, and laughed as he walked away.

The boy waved at the man as he left, then noticed Mirasol. His smile faded into an expression slightly sorrow as he gazed at her hair blankly as it waved in the wind, as if he was recollecting memories from a lifetime ago. When he noticed her gaze on him, the smile quickly returned.

"Oh sorry, I didn't expect you to be out already," he said as he walked towards her. "You must have a lot of questions, but worry not, I will take you around and answer everything," he put out a hand, "my name is Gavin Kendra, pleased to meet you."

Mirasol immediately spotted that his smile was fake, didn't seem malicious but definitely not genuine, she'd become good at telling whether or not a smile was forced during the years she lived in the noble house. She had to be, for she had seen too many. Mirasol studied the boy in front of her, he was a few years older, a good-looking young man with sharp features, simple yet stylish outfit and well-kept hair, and he seemed to be quite charismatic. He was the kind of person girls would fall head over heels for. But not this girl, she had many admirers in the past, and turned down every single one.

Under any normal circumstances Mirasol would've simply ignored Gavin, however, she had no idea where she was or why she was here, and it could be dangerous to tread alone not knowing anything. Though, she still had her cautions.

A Kendra, from House Aqua, she looked out the opening and thought. Faint noises could be heard from the town and below, chatters between people, crisp and dull sounds of metal being hit together, almost rhythmic sounds of steam being released and mechanical sounds echoing throughout the cave. She stared at the metallic monstrosity, it was somber, and Mirasol felt a sense of despair. I have to get out and find Janet, and Father. I have to get answers. I don't know anything yet…I really, don't know anything…

"Mirasol Aphelion, pleased to meet you too," she said while shaking his hand.

Sophie poked her head out of the room and watched enviously.

"What an elegant name, I hope we get along."

"You can save the flattery, could you just tell me where we are?"

"Since you are an Aphelion, you must know what Nirvana is."

"Where those who fail the blood trial are sent to," she recalled being told many times by adults of the house, a place for failures, with no exits. "Don't tell me-"

"I'm afraid you're right," he gestured out the window. "You failed the trial and was sent here."

Mirasol gasped and was going to object but suddenly remembered her father's words before they departed. Never reveal your identity as the Sun Maiden to anyone. From today onwards, you are just a regular Aphelion, he had said. She clenched her fists and teeth at the shame, for she had passed the trial with the most spectacular results the house had ever seen. She turned to Sophie, who scurried away as soon as their eyes met again and shut the door. Seems like he's not lying.

"I know it is be difficult to accept, but that's how it is. I'm sorry," Gavin said.

I have to find a way out myself, there has to be one, there has to. "So, what now?"

"Now you should change into working clothes, don't want to get that pretty dress dirty. There should be some in the drawers under your bed, I'll wait downstairs."

"Alright."

"See you in a bit."

Mirasol went back into the room and Sophie nervously left with some more clothes on and a backpack. She opened the drawers and found old trousers, shirts, and boots, she hesitantly laid them out on the bed and began undressing. She couldn't believe this would be her outfit from now on, though, this place didn't seem to be worthy of her elegant dress anyways. After she took off the dress, she stared down at her under shirt, and suddenly realized something was missing. Mother's ring! It's gone! She panickily searched all over her body, the bed, and the drawers, but couldn't find it. Someone must've stolen it! She turned the drawers inside out and still found nothing.

Frustrated, Mirasol fell to the ground on the verge of tears, it was the only thing she had of the mother she couldn't meet, it was given to her by her father as a reminder that she too had a mother who loved her more than anything in the world.

She turned around and reached for Sophie's drawers, thinking she might've stolen it, and just before she was about to pull them open, she remembered the little girl's petite, calloused hand and her tired looking face, and felt an ache in her chest. Mirasol slowly backed away from the drawers and sat in silence.

After a little while, she carefully folded her dress and put it in the drawers. With her clothes changed and a new item on her to-do list, the fierce princess stepped out of the room and slammed the door shut. She walked down the empty hallway towards a stairwell, while been overlooked by the city in the distance. Images of her earlier nightmare still lingered in her mind; she didn't want to spend time in any more hallways so she quickened her steps.

Outside, Gavin leaned against the wall with a bike while Sophie jogged away, her backpack bounced up and down with metallic clank sounds from the inside. He looked over and smiled at Mirasol when she came out of the dark stairwell and into the road.

The street was wide and empty. The next set of buildings casted long shadows across the ground, with figures constantly shifting and contorting in the darkness. Hiding away in the corners of buildings, scurrying underneath the cave walls, and down at the end of the winding road ahead, where a few people walked towards. Their clothing ragged and their expressions blank.

She felt uneasy, eventhough there were some streetlights and lit windows on the buildings the road was still somber; and the monolithic buildings and the extremely high copper pipe filled ceiling above made her feel insignificant, like a grain of sand in a desert. Mechanical and steam puffing sounds continued to echo throughout the facility.

"Come on, let's go," he cycled over to Mirasol and said, leaning the bike towards her.

Mirasol looked at the backseat doubtfully, it did not look comfortable, or safe.

"It'll be fine. Just hop on and grab onto me," he said, with the same deceiving smile as before.

She looked at Gavin with his big grin and back at the seat, and sighed. "Fine," she said, then hopped on as she was told, and Gavin began cycling.

The road was bumpy, and the seat was even more uncomfortable than Mirasol had thought; every time they pass a bump or a pothole she was met with excruciating pain at her butt. Gavin looked back at the distressed girl, her hands grabbed tight onto his sides and her smooth blond hair flowed in the wind. He let out a soft smile as if they had done this many times before.

They soon passed Sophie walking by herself. She took out a piece of candy and fed it into her mouth, then stared at the colorful wrapper as she walked. Mirasol looked behind and gazed at her. The lit windows occasionally illuminated Sophie's face, her expression lonely and somber like the street. Mirasol thought back to the times when she'd walk down the corridor of her family's manor alone, sun shining through the windows and falling onto the floor. She'd look outside and see her peers playing on the fields or having tea in the gardens, and go on her way. She thought she probably held the same lonely expression as Sophie. Thinking of this, her chest ached.

Sophie looked up and met her gaze, she quickly looked away.

"How did you feel, after drinking the wine in the trial?" Gavin said.

"Not much," Mirasol said.

"Is that so? It's supposed to be extremely painful, for those who failed. Weak descendants reject the sacred wine as they put it," Gavin said as his grip tightened on the handles, his voice had a hint of harshness to it.

Shoot, I'm supposed to pretend that I failed, she thought and looked up, he never saw the people who failed again, and thus didn't know what they had to go through. Gavin looked forward and Mirasol couldn't see his face.

"I guess you just lucked out, good for you," he said.

Mirasol felt relieved. So it's supposed to be really painful for people who failed...And he failed.

She opened her mouth to speak but decided to say nothing after all.

They continued to cycle while being towered over by the buildings next to them. Mirasol looked behind again, but Sophie had disappeared behind the winding road. She did not turn her head back for the rest of the journey.

…

They arrived at a large opening with a long row of elevators inside, next to each one was a strange looking apparatus built into the wall. A lot of guards patrolled around the area and some stood next to the opening; they all wore black uniforms with masks similar to Gillen's, most were copper, fewer were silver and only a few guards wore golden masks. They were all equipped with firearms. Mirasol rubbed her butt in pain while Gavin was locking the bike, she really regretted taking the ride.

"You'll be fine," Gavin walked up to her and said. "Just a bit of soreness, no permanent damage. Come on, we have a lot to do."

People were trickling into the opening; some went into the elevators and others operated the machines; every time the door opened or closed steam was released with a loud puff; the machines operated with loud gear spinning sounds coming from the inside. A large phonograph was inside the room near the opening, it played a soothing slow jazz, but it was difficult to hear amongst all the noise. The walls were a metallic brown and on the ceiling was more copper pipes, some puffed steam and few were dripping water.

Gavin led Mirasol towards one of the vacant elevators. It had a large bulb above it glowing red and a dim button on the side; loud cable-screeching and mechanical sounds came from inside. When the noise stopped, the bulb turned green and the button brightened up. Next to the elevator was a metal contraption with a lot of dials on it, it had a screen that was pushed in and displayed the text, 'Insert Card', below it on the ledge was four buttons with arrow symbols printed on them and a long blank button; and at the bottom was a large, deep tray that looked like it could open. Mirasol was just tall enough to reach the screen and buttons.

"Take this, and don't lose it," Gavin said as he passed a key with a card attached to Mirasol. The card had her name printed on it and there was a set of holes on the side; the key was old and rusty and had the number '1' carved into it.

"Insert the card here," he said and pointed to a thin slit on the machine, above it was a green button with text 'Eject'.

She did as he said and gears began turning inside, then there were some metal clicking sounds like something was being locked in place, and the display on the screen changed. At the top of the screen was a line of large text that read, 'Welcome, Mirasol', and below it was four options: 'Deposit', 'Purchase', 'Quota', and 'Storage.

"Is this an ATM?" Mirasol said.

"You know ATMs?"

"I read about them in books, and also saw them around the city."

"I see. Well it's not really an ATM, these are called Pips, we deposit materials we gathered and purchase supplies through them. I'll explain more later, first select 'Purchase', use the blank button to select," Gavin said.

Confused Mirasol did as he told her, and different options showed up on the screen: 'Supplies', and 'Weapons'. Two other elements appeared on the top right of the screen: a bag icon, and a money icon followed by text 'Credits: 100'.

"Now 'Supplies."

The options changed again: 'Basic pack 50$', 'Advanced pack 200$', 'Gear', and 'Food'. They had distinct icons next to them too, 'Basic pack' had a backpack with pickaxe, helmet, bread, and water; 'Advanced pack' had more stuff around the backpack but Mirasol did not recognize them; 'Gear' had a pickaxe icon and 'Food' had a bread and water icon.

"Basic pack."

The "Basic pack" option and the bag icon on the top right blinked and small '1' appeared on its top right corner.

"Now select the bag and click checkout."

A message box appeared: '50$ total, confirm?'

She selected yes, immediately her credits was reduced by 50, and the 'Basic pack' icon moved to the middle of the screen and a large arrow appeared below it, pointing downwards. The machine began operating, the gears spun inside, the dials spun like crazy and it puffed steam. It also vibrated hard despite being inside the wall. Moments later the icon followed the arrow to the bottom of the screen and disappeared, and a heavy object fell into the tray. It opened suddenly and startled Mirasol, inside was a backpack.

Gavin took out the backpack and pushed the tray back in and the screen went back to the menu with the four options at the start. He opened it and there was a pickaxe and a miner helmet inside, he gave the pickaxe to Mirasol and put the helmet on her head.

"There's some food and water in here too," he said as he opened a small compartment in the back, inside was a water bottle and lunch-bag. "Just a sandwich and an apple, not much but you don't eat a lot, right, Ma-" he stuttered and a shadow flashed on his face, "Mirasol?"

"What's all this for?" Mirasol said as Gavin helped her put on the backpack, she was too confused to notice what Gavin said.

"You'll see very soon, now press the 'Eject' button."

She pressed it and her card popped out.

"Always remember to take out your card, it's your lifeblood in Nirvana," Gavin said as he handed the card and key to Mirasol, the screen changed back to text of 'Insert Card'. He then inserted his own card and operated the pip.

Mirasol looked behind and saw that Sophie had just appeared from the corner of the buildings, but her attention was quickly drawn away by the city of Nirvana. The metallic monstrosity. The central pillar overlooked the entire facility, a road was paved connecting the center of the city and the elevator hall, it diverged at each ring of buildings surrounding the pillar. The center was covered in colorful lights and rustled with life. She looked up at the control room and a single shadowed figure stood in front.

She looked back at Gavin, he stared blankly at the screen, she could faintly see his sorrow expression in the reflection. When he noticed her gaze, he quickly operated the machine and turned around with a wide smile after picking up his items.

Mirasol shivered slightly.

He put on a similar helmet and pickaxe, and pressed the glowing button by the elevator, the door had the number '7' written on it, the bulb on top turned red and similar sounds from before came from inside. When it arrived the bulb turned green again followed by puffs of steam releasing around it, and the door opened.

"Come on in," Gavin said as he stepped into the elevator.

Inside was a column of buttons numbered 0 to -5, each one except 0 had also a keyhole next to it. A soft jazz played from the speakers on the ceiling. The elevator was quite rundown, the metal door was rusty, the light was dim and flickered often, and there was an unbearable rotten stench.

"Use your key here," he said and pointed to -1.

The button glowed up and Gavin pressed it. The door slid close with a steam puff and gears began turning. Mirasol looked at him wearily, and he returned with the same smile as before.

"Hold on tight, it's a shaky ride."

The elevator began falling at a high speed, it shook and wobbled as if it could fall apart at any moment, and made loud noises a functional elevator shouldn't make. Mirasol held tight onto the railing, it was not quite secure and wobbled like the rest of the elevator, her hands began to sweat and she felt nauseous. She looked over at Gavin, he stood there nonchalantly, as if this was a perfectly normal elevator. He looked back and smiled widely.

It finally hit the destination and violently screeched to a halt, after a puff of steam the door slid open, revealing a mineshaft with twisting tunnels. The walls tight and suffocating, electric lights and wires ran along them and lit the tunnels dimly, they ran far inside even after the tunnel diverged into many paths; soft, chill wind caressed Mirasol's cheeks and sent shivers down her spine, accompanied by deep and hollow ambient sounds echoing throughout the tunnel. If was as if the cave was breathing. The ambient noise was mixed with crisp clinking sounds of metal, and chatters and grunts from people.

"Welcome to Nirvana," Gavin placed his hand on Mirasol's shoulder and said, then stepped into the cave.