The children waited anxiously in the corridor to the grand hall. They've turned ten this year, and as the tradition of House Sol they must take the blood trial, and only those who pass may stay in the house. The others would be sent to Nirvana, never to return. The children have been told about Nirvana, a place where failures and rejects belong to, a horrible place to be with scorching fire and haunting dark spirits. Though, they thought it was just a tale told by adults to naughty children to get them to behave, but only those who fail will find out that it is no mere bedtime story.

Mirasol stood silently in front of the door while the other children chattered quietly behind. She wore the most luxurious and elegant outfit she had as did the other children, for the ritual was sacred and spectated by all the adults, along with guests of high stature, and even the King himself.

"You think she'll pass?" one of the boys said.

"Who knows," a girl said.

"I'm really nervous," another girl said.

"Me too, I really hope I pass," a boy said.

"Will we really be sent to Nirvana if we fail?"

"Of course not! There's no such place. You'll just be banished and become a commoner."

"Yeah, and I heard Emily said that she saw her brother a while ago! He wore really poor clothes, definitely became a commoner."

"I would hate that."

They shifted lightly.

"Don't get too close or you'll get burned," a girl giggled and said.

"She's scary."

"Shush! She'll hear us."

They suppressed their voices as much as possible, but Mirasol could still hear their every word. The whispers crawled under her ears and made her back numb, she tried her hardest not to show it and fixed her amber eyes on the door.

"Poor Jake..."

Mirasol shivered. Though, she didn't recall knowing a person named Jake. Or anyone for that matter, in the last few years.

As the chatter went on, the tall doors slowly and heavily opened ajar, and a servant popped her head out.

"Lady Mirasol, it is your turn," the servant said.

Another servant came and opened the door wide, and Mirasol stepped into the hall. Directly in front of her was an opulent table with a golden goblet on top, it had intricate carvings and sculptures and was filled to the brim with a dark red liquid. A few servants just finished cleaning the area and were leaving, their mops and rags were stained red.

The doors closed soundly behind her as she walked towards the table, dragging her dress along the pale marble floor. The hall was massive and imperial, the white marble pillars were decorated with lifelike sculptures and the ceiling was painted with gorgeous artworks. Mirasol turned to face the goblet, in the distance were the spectators, they sat at the end of the hall and on the platforms above. She saw her father sitting on the side, he smiled at her and she smiled back, lightly; behind the spectators was the King. He sat on a fancy throne and his crown glistened under the chandeliers. Mirasol thought he looked rather young for a king, but the presence he presented was definitely fit for a ruler, his eyes condescending and his expression stern and intimidating.

Mirasol greeted the spectators in typical noblewoman fashion, as she was taught. She then graciously picked up the goblet; the sinister liquid inside wobbled, it had an unbearable rusty stench. She was told it was just wine, but she seriously doubted it. Hesitation was not allowed in this ritual as there were many participants, and so she blocked her nose and poured the liquid into her mouth.

Gulp.

...

Mirasol followed Gavin nervously into the eerie tunnel, the door slid close and the elevator shot up. Haunting mechanical noise shook the tunnel, she could feel it at her feet as the elevator ascended. Gavin stepped further into the tunnel and Mirasol followed closely, holding tightly onto her pickaxe. The tunnels diverged and twisted into many different paths. Something seemed to be waiting around every corner, one can't help but imagine what incomprehensible horror lies beyond the twisting shadows. Perhaps hideous creatures, or eldritch abominations. But as the shadows came and went, they revealed nothing but just more tunnels and occasionally other miners, thankfully.

Gavin turned every corner with ease while Mirasol waited for him to go first before following. Some paths led to dead ends or stone chambers where tiny, dark red crystals grew out of the walls, and there were often people swinging their pickaxes at them. Their movements slow and dragged, and a lot of them had bright burn marks on their skin; Mirasol was frightened when she saw the side of one of the girl's face, there was a large patch of swollen pink flesh where her eyes supposed to be. Mirasol quickly turned away and caught up to Gavin.

"Here seems good," Gavin said after they walked on a bit more. They reached an empty chamber and its walls glittered with those crystals Mirasol saw earlier. They twinkled sinisterly under the light. Gavin took off his backpack and stretched his back.

"This is the stuff you need to mine," he said as he pointed at one of the minerals. "It's easy, just hit it with the pointy bit of your pickaxes." He demonstrated the action, every hit made earthly sounds with the wall that echoed throughout the chamber, and the stone around it crumbled into dust. It did not take many swings to break out the crystal.

"Your turn," he said after picking it up from the ground, it's a tiny piece enclosed in rock and dirt.

Mirasol hesitantly approached a crystal and tried to do the same. She went for a large swing and raised the pickaxe all the way over her head but found it difficult to control and missed the crystal completely. The momentum pulled her off balance and she almost fell, however Gavin thankfully caught her just in time.

"Woah there, don't be so greedy, take small swings and work your way through it," he said as he pulled Mirasol back to her feet.

"Okay," she said.

Mirasol tried to do as Gavin advised, but it wasn't easy. The head of the pickaxe was quite heavy, so she had to really work her back and shoulders to control it, and it wasn't long before they began to ache. Despite her efforts, Mirasol still missed and lost balance often; she grunted harder and her movement became sporadic, which only made the work more difficult. Eventually, the rocks around the crystal all fell apart, letting it drop onto the ground. She rested against the pickaxe and took in deep breathes, feeling relieved. On the other side, Gavin swung his pickaxe almost effortlessly, the crystal shards drizzled down around him like glitter. Mirasol bit her lip after seeing him mine, and tightened her grip on the pickaxe and went back to mining.

The chamber was filled with noise of labor, much like the rest of the cave. Mirasol and Gavin's shirts were covered in sweat and dirt in no time, and their faces were the same.

"Nnngghhh!" Mirasol grunted as she used the last bit of her strength to make one last swing, it hit the target and the crystal fell onto the ground. She bent over and collected all the minerals into a small compartment in her bag, and collapsed against the wall and let out a long sigh.

Gavin walked over and handed Mirasol a towel. She looked at it, then at him.

"It's new, I didn't use it," he said.

"...thanks," she said as she accepted the towel and wiped her face with it.

Planting her face in the sweet-scented towel, she recalled a similarly sweet memory, and her body relaxed. It felt slightly numb yet reassuring.

"Ever done anything like this before?" Gavin said.

"I worked in a farm before," Mirasol said.

"Really? Is that part of tradition of Sol?"

"Y-yes. It's to appreciate the fruit of the farmers' labors, so the children don't waste food." Can't let him know I was abandoned at a rural town, she thought.

"I see," he said and leaned against the wall, "I was also at a farm once, it seemed like tough work and there was a bit of a drought at the time. I tried helping them, but...," he lowered his head and said. "Did you milk cows? I always wanted to try."

"Yeah."

"How was that?"

"Squirted milk all over my face the first time," she said and stared at the towel. Janet had laughed so hard she almost fell onto the ground when that happened, and went into the house to grab a towel for Mirasol, all while hugging her stomach. The memory made Mirasol's mouth curl up, but she also felt an ache in her chest, as if something was missing.

Gavin chuckled, "you're not supposed to drink out of the udders, you know?"

She pushed the towel back to Gavin and hit his shoulder,

"Owh," he rubbed his shoulder and said.

Mirasol hugged her legs close and rested her head on her knees. Eventhough Gavin just made fun of her, she was surprised to find herself not feeling as stressed or scared as before, if at all.

The chamber felt a bit stuffy, Mirasol could feel the air weighing down on her. Occasionally, other miners would pass through the opening, dragging themselves across the tunnel as if even their shifting shadows were a drag.

Janet...she thought. How long has it been since we fought? She invited me over, and then...what happened? I woke up here...her memories were cloudy here; she couldn't fully recall of what had happened.

"You should have some lunch. We'll go back after mining some more."

Mirasol shook the cloudy thoughts away and opened her bag and pulled out the lunch bag and water. In the bag was a stale ham sandwich, the lettuce did not look fresh and the bread was a bit hard. She looked at it apprehensively and eventually took a small bite, it was as stale as it looked and was difficult to swallow, and she had to push it down with some water.

Gavin opened a metal lunchbox and the scent made Mirasol's mouth water, a steaming meatball spaghetti. It was nothing too fancy but compared to what she had, it was a gourmet meal. She turned back to her sandwich when Gavin noticed her wanting gaze, he smiled and pointed a fork with a meatball at her.

"Want one?"

The offer was attractive, but Mirasol didn't want to owe him any more favors so she shook her head and declined. But Gavin swiftly placed the meatball between the bread then smirked.

"Don't be shy, it's on the house."

"No...," she said, and just when she was about to ask him to take it back, her stomach rumbled.

"Your stomach disagrees," he said smugly and chuckled.

Mirasol blushed, she wanted to refuse but she was too hungry and the meatball smelled too delicious, so she bit into the sandwich eventually. The meatball was delicious, and made her lunch bearable.

"Thanks," she said quietly while chewing.

"You can have lunch like this too if you work hard. It's possible to move into better rooms too," Gavin said, then twirled some spaghetti with his fork and fed it into his mouth.

So I have to work for edible food now...great, she thought. What are these crystals for anyways? She looked at Gavin, who was enjoying his warm lunch. He probably knows...

Gavin noticed her gaze and turned to her, she was staring at his lunch. He picked up a meatball with his fork, "want another one?"

Mirasol whipped her head away. "I'm fine," she said.

"It's still hot."

"I'm not a child."

Her stomach rumbled again.

"Seems like Ms. Tummy has some objections~" he pointed his fork at her belly.

Mirasol's cheeks reddened and bloated and she abruptly ate the meatball from Gavin's fork and finished the rest of her sandwich with haste, then sprung up and went back to mining. Her swings large and hard and her grunts heavy.

"Slow down there, you're missing everything," Gavin called out from a distance, but she didn't seem to have heard him.

He chuckled to himself, and stared at Mirasol's blonde hair waving around as she swung her pickaxe, and let out a soft but longing sigh. After a while, he got up and went back to mining too.

...

"Come on, you're still upset?" Gavin said as Mirasol walked in front of him with grumpy steps in the twisting tunnels.

"No." The crystals in her bag made twinkling sounds as she walked. She took many turns in the branching mineshaft, as if she was trying to lose a pesky bug. She can barely feel her arms and the bag felt like it was made of lead.

"I was just pulling your legs," he said. "You ate most of my meatballs you know. What if I starve to death down here?"

"Then I'll spit them out and feed them to you."

"Wow you're too kind."

"I know."

She quickened her steps.

"Hey, wait up," Gavin called out from behind.

Mirasol kept walking for a while, and suddenly froze at a crossroad. A stream of blood flowed across the intersection, glistening under the lamps. A familiar rusty stench filled the air. Goosebumps crawled under her skin when she heard soft, almost unhuman murmurs from around the corner, and sounds of a heinous act being committed. The space between her and the trail of blood seemed to stretch long and thin into a sliver of reality as the stream quickened and widened.

A hand suddenly grasped her shoulder firmly and the world around her blinked back to normal. Mirasol startled and snapped her head around, it was just Gavin.

"Wrong way," he said, "you missed so many..." he noticed the horrifying expression on Mirasol's face and looked behind her at the river of blood. "turns...Let's go," he frowned and said, then led Mirasol to walk the other way.

"This floor is usually very safe and tamed. Can never let your guard down though...some people rely on robbing others to survive," he said.

Disturbing breathing and slurping sounds suddenly came from behind. Mirasol turned her head around and gasped at the young boy crawling in the stream of blood and desperately drinking from it, like a thirsty animal in a desert that just found oasis. His white hair and clothes stained in red and he hyperventilated as he drank, splashing blood over the ground and edges of the corners.

"Another wasting Scarlett..." Gavin sighed and said, then pulled Mirasol away. "I don't know how much you know about Sanguis, but blood is drug for them, take too much and they become like that."

"Why are they still one of the most powerful houses then?"

"They're our best soldiers and armies, because of their incredible physical abilities, especially after drinking blood."

Mirasol shivered.

"You didn't know? It should be taught quite early on," he said.

"..."

"Well, they can buy blood from Pips, so you don't have to be too afraid. Just try not to bleed when you're around one of them," he said.

Mirasol nodded. Her whole body ached and her arms felt powerless, as if they had fallen off. Trying to hold up the pickaxe required using all of the tiny amount of strength she had left, and her steps became clumsy.

Gavin looked down at the tired little girl, barely able to keep her eyes open, and grabbed the pickaxe out of her hand and rested it on his shoulder. She was going to protest but her arm no longer felt heavy as lead, so she closed her mouth, and looked away. She also had no strength left to protest.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"My pleasure," he said.

Mirasol looked behind, the young boy was now sitting on the bloody ground, he held his head and his body twitched. She thought she heard sobbing sounds but they were too far away to hear it clearly. It became softer and softer, until they went around a corner, and the boy disappeared along with the sounds.

...

They were back at the elevator hall, it was mostly empty and a lot quieter than before, the record player can now be heard clearly.

"After you're done mining, you select 'Deposit' and dump everything you collected in the tray," Gavin said as Mirasol followed his instructions on the Pip.

She dumped all the crystals into the tray like Gavin said and closed it, they were immediately sucked into a pipe and delivered to elsewhere. On the screen was a crystal icon in the middle and a long bar under it, on the far right of the bar was the text '0/5000'. After the crystals were delivered the bar filled up a bit and the text changed to '142/5000'.

"So little..." Mirasol said.

"They were tiny after all. You get a pass for the first month though, so you don't have to worry about the quota yet," Gavin said. "We were actually lucky to find any so soon."

"I see."

"Now go back and choose 'Storage', then 'Store'," Gavin said, then the tray popped out again. "Dump everything in there, you can retrieve them later, so now you only have to buy some food and water next time."

Mirasol nodded and did as he said.

"And now we are done for today. Want a ride back?" he pointed to his bike and said.

Mirasol shook her head firmly.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow then," he shrugged and said, and walked towards his bike. "Still have to show you the actual city."

Mirasol took out her card and placed it in her pocket. The lights in the elevator hall were off now, and the record player had stopped playing. There were only the idle sounds of the Pips now, it was so empty and quiet that Mirasol almost couldn't believe she was in the same room. She stared at the screen displaying 'Insert Card', faintly reflecting her face, tired and alone. A hollowing ache creeped into her chest, unbearable.

The odd feeling was dispersed when Gavin called out from behind. "Hey, by the way, there's a canteen on the way back to your dorm. It's not great but it's free. Be sure to eat plenty," he said.

Mirasol turned around. She found herself feeling relieved.

"See ya," he waved and said, then cycled away towards the city, it wasn't long before he disappeared into the light.

For a moment, she saw Janet waving goodbye to her on a warm afternoon against the red sun.

"See you tomorrow!" she would say before going off.

"Bye-" Mirasol whispered and waved lightly. She closed her hand and stared at it. It felt nostalgic, and painful.

Why does it hurt so much to think about you, Janet?

...

Mirasol arrived at the canteen on the way to the dorm. She didn't see it on the way to the cave because she was riding behind Gavin's bike. The front door had a wooden sign that said 'canteen', it was crude and falling apart; the doors were also poorly maintained and dirty. She pushed them open and stepped inside, it was filled with people, noble children, delinquents, and other kinds of misfits; the canteen was rustling, the people chattered and murmured as they ate some plain-looking food on their plates. Mirasol froze at the entrance, the rustling made her feel uncomfortable, it creeped up from her fingertips to the back of her ears. Unpleasant memories lurked into her mind, the customers in the canteen became dark and distorted figures around her. She couldn't bare it and ran out.

Outside by the doors, Mirasol sat on the ground panting and shivering, trying to clear unpleasant thoughts from her mind.

"I...I didn't do it...I didn't mean it...I didn't..." she whispered.

After a while, she calmed down, and leaned against the wall. The ceiling of Nirvana was so high and ominous, thousands of copper pipes ran along the ceiling to all parts of the facility, like blood vessels.

What was I saying..., she thought, has being locked up for years and then abandoned drove me insane?

Her thoughts were dispersed by the rumblings of her stomach, but she didn't wish to go back in; she couldn't, even the thought made her shiver. She hugged her stomach and rested her head on her knees, not knowing what to do. Eventually, she sprung up and walked towards the elevator hall, after recalling that one could buy food from the Pips.

Thankfully, the Pips were still on. Mirasol navigated to the 'Food' section. There was a wide selection, from regular sandwiches to spaghetti and burgers. The luxury options were tempting, but she was thoroughly disappointed after checking the prices. The spaghetti and burger were both 50 credits, she then checked her balance on the top right: '50', and sighed and chose the sandwich, which was only 2 credits. There were other cheap items such as wraps and tosti for 5 to 10 credits, but she couldn't afford to spend much.

Her dinner dropped into the tray; it was the same stale sandwich she ate for lunch. She sighed and walked over to the record player and plugged it in, and sat next to it.

The jazz was empty and lonely. Mirasol chewed on the stale sandwich as it echoed throughout the dark hall. The light from outside brightened up the areas around the opening, but she sat in the shadows besides it. The sandwich was difficult to swallow so she had to chew a lot, meanwhile she thought of ways to escape and how to find her lost ring. But nothing came to mind.

Mirasol continued to eat while the record player sang its lonely song, with lights from green-lit bulbs above the elevators and bright Pips' screens as company. Occasionally flickering, as if they were having their own conversation, but she cannot be a part of it.

It took a long time to eat the sandwich as it was so stale and dry, but she finally finished it and made it back to the dorm. She was exhausted, and wanted nothing but rest, and that was when she realized she'd forgotten which room she woke up in. She never checked the room number. There was a long row of doors along that corridor, no way could she wake up people who were probably sleeping to check if it was the right one. She wandered for a bit, pacing through the corridor back and forth trying to remember which one it was, but to no avail. Her steps became chaotic and she couldn't piece together a coherent thought anymore.

As Mirasol was panicking, a door down the hallway creaked open, Mirasol looked over and Sophie's head poked out. She felt so relieved and ran over to it.

"Number 12," Sophie said and pointed to the sign on the door.

"Yes, thank you," she said while panting.

They went inside and Sophie closed and locked the door. On her bed was a story book and a metal box; she opened her drawer and placed them in it as Mirasol undressed. Her clothes were soaked in sweat but she had no strength nor spirit to find out where to bathe.

"Goodnight," Sophie said, before flipping the switch.

The room fell into complete darkness again.

"Goodnight," Mirasol said as she crawled into her bed.

The world fell silent. Mirasol turned and tucked herself in. A lot had happened, and it was all flooding in her mind again. She was first abandoned by her father, then was captured into a facility she shouldn't be in, forced to do physical labor and eat stale food. She had no idea why any of this happened, or how to find a way to escape, or how to find her lost ring, from her mother. Worse, the haunting imagery of the young boy and the uncomfortable crowd in the canteen joined the mockery and stirred up her head. It was overwhelming.

She turned and turned, but her mind couldn't be cleared. Tears trickled down her dirty cheeks, and she sobbed softly.

Shuffling sounds came from Sophie's bed, something was pulled out of a drawer and opened. Mirasol held her breath and forced herself to be quiet. Sophie tiptoed over and placed something besides Mirasol's pillow, then quietly walked back to her bed. Mirasol reached for it, it felt plastic, and hard. A piece of candy. She unwrapped it and ate it, a pleasant orange flavor filled her mouth, reminded her of a sunny autumn afternoon. It was just an ordinary piece of candy, but it chased away the dark thoughts and calmed her down.

He really cared for you. A tender voice said in her head. And she fell soundly asleep.