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He sighed, taking a long look at me before he replied, “Wrong answer, kid.” His tone was the same as the first time he said it, but this time, when he left, he spared me a glance over his shoulder.

And I held his gaze without blinking. “I won’t go anywhere till I find the right answer,” I said with determination, my fists curled by my sides.

Something in my words made a rare smile lift his lips, and he nodded, disappearing behind the gates.

So for the next sixty days, I stood outside the temple, surviving on stale food that a nearby restaurant threw out every day. And at night, I would huddle between garbage cans, draping a plastic sheet over my weak body to keep me warm.

I might not have the right answer to his question. But I knew nothing was ever going to stop the rage in my blood to avenge my family. I was hungry for it. And I would do anything for it.

But one night it was different. One second, I was in the middle of a restless sleep, and the next, someone grabbed my skinny legs and put a bag over my face that robbed me of my vision.

My heart thundered awake, and my gut churned in fear, freezing as the man lifted me into his arms. Not again.

It took exactly twenty-four counts of my breaths to react. “Wh… who are you?” My words came out as gasps before I found my voice and asked louder, “Where are you taking me?” I shouted this time, my limbs fighting and squirming against him. But I couldn’t even move an inch in his strong hold. He was like steel, and my small arms were like branches of wood. Weak and puny.

“You’ll stay quiet if you know what’s best for you,” said a deep, calm voice.

I stilled, the fight leaving my body as I recognized it, and for the first time in a long time, hope bloomed in my chest. It was Akiyama.

Maybe he was taking me to ask the same question again, or maybe… just maybe he found me worthy after all.

There was no fear in my body like when those five men destroyed my family or sold me at that wretched place. Instead, all I felt was resolve taking over me.

Resolve to fight for another day.

I didn’t know how long I remained blindfolded as I was thrown into different transports. It even felt as though I was on an airplane at one point and then a boat. I didn’t know for sure.

“Get up.” Akiyama gripped my shoulder, helping me up after what felt like hours.

I nodded, blindly following him as he guided me through something soft and grainy, and my feet sank with each step as I struggled to keep up. Cold air rustled my skin, the kind of air that smelled sweet but lingered with something bitter. Like salt.

“Here,” he whispered before he suddenly yanked the sack from my face. Blinded by the sunlight, I fell to my knees, but instead of pain, I landed on something soft. Sand.

For a minute, I couldn’t see a thing before the light of the bright sun leaked through the edges of my vision, and my sight slowly started trickling in.

“Akiyama?” I muttered as I took in his blurry form standing in front of me. “What’s this place?” I blinked my eyes, looking around at the pristine white sand and the deep blue waves crashing on the shore. The air felt different. All I knew was that I wasn’t in America anymore.

“The Valerian Mountain,” Akiyama answered me, his arms folded behind his back. “And you will address me as Sensi. Every soldier in our organization is expected to make it through here if they want to be one of us. It won’t be an easy feat, Ms. Esteal. I expect complete discipline and effort from you.”

I nodded. I didn’t know what I was agreeing to, but for the first time in my life, I felt like I had a purpose. And I clutched onto it like it was my last dying breath.

It didn’t take me long to confirm the truth of Sensi’s words. Hard wasn’t even the right word. It was more than that. It was excruciating.

I was given a room to share with the only other kid here. His name was Shouma, and he had already spent almost a year in this place and had no clue when he would make it out. According to him, some made it out in less than a year, while some trained for decades and failed. I was determined not to be the latter.

I soon learned that this organization was called Valeria and recruited individuals from all over the world for one purpose—maintaining world order. I didn’t know clearly what that meant, but I slowly took it all in, making it through one day at a time.

For the next months, every resolve in my body was tested, mind-numbingly. It felt like I was dying but living at the same time. At times, I was doused awake with cold water being thrown at my face in the middle of the night, deprived of food, and of a sense of being.

And the sparring sessions were the most cruelest of them all. I was too skinny and small, and was easily knocked off my feet more times than I liked. It didn’t help that I had to touch people when that happened. It felt like tiny ants were crawling on my skin and eating me alive.

But I shouldn’t complain. I had no room for that in my life anymore.

The only area I excelled in was my reading classes.

But every time I felt like giving up or failing, my mind snapped with the images of my mother’s death haunting me every night and the thought of my sisters out there surviving and doing their best. It only made me try harder and harder.

A year later, I was still a low-ranking recruit, but I was better than yesterday. And that thought kept me going.