text: Elisya Shuzuki hoisted her backpack higher on her shoulders. She walked down the streets of her hometown, San Francisco. It was afternoon, and she had just gotten out of school. Elli stopped at the crosswalk and hurried across. She strolled into her favorite hangout, Bella’s Bistro. She walked over to her usual booth in the corner and sat her bag on the seat, plopping down beside it. She opened up her bag and rummaged through the mess, looking for her homework. A waitress walked over to Elli, opening up her notepad. “The usual?” “Yes, please. Thank you Olivia” Elli pulled out her homework folder and opened it. A groan came out of her when she saw the huge pile of papers. Better get to work. She thought. Olivia came over and set down her food. Elli thanked her and sipped her root beer float. Her eyes wandered out the window to the wall of the next building. She was surprised to find a strange mark there. “Olivia!” Elli called. The waitress made her way to the back. “What can I do for you?” The tall brunette asked. “When was that symbol put there? It wasn’t there yesterday.” “What symbol?” Olivia sounded confused. Elli pointed out the window to the building. “That mark right there.” “There’s nothing there sweetie.” “You don’t see it?” Olivia shook her head. “Oh. Sorry for bothering you.” “You feeling okay?” Elli nodded. “Okay then. Enjoy your food.” She walked away. Elli stared out the window, wondering what the image of a shattered star was doing on the building. While Elli walked back home, she paused to stare at an old abandoned apartment building in front of her. Drawn on the side of the building was the same image as earlier: the shattered star. And she was the only one who seemed to notice it. As she lay in bed that night, she thought about the strange sign she had seen in two different places today. Elli yawned. It had been a long day. As she continued to think, she drifted off to sleep. Elli looked around. She was in a beautiful city. The buildings were all clean. The streets looked freshly paved. The city was covered in shimmering gold and pristine white. Confused and amazed, she slowly walked down the street. It was impossible to believe that this place was real. It simply couldn’t be. It seemed...magical. Elli took a deep breath. Even the air seemed too clean. A rumble sounded in the distance. She turned around to see...darkness. There was no other word to describe it. It was the blackest black she’d ever seen, darker than a raven against the night sky. It was a void of nothing. It seemed to be moving forward, moving towards her. She turned to run, but she was stuck in place.The darkness came at her, moving faster and faster. “HELP! Somebody help me!” Nobody came. It was just her, alone, against the darkness. It swooped over the city, consuming the pristine buildings. It swallowed up everything in its path. It barreled towards her and Elli braced herself. She waited to be swallowed up, and then...nothing. She opened her eyes. There was a burning symbol in front of her, holding it back. She gasped. It was the shattered star. She turned to go when she heard a smash. The burning star had disappeared. She tried to when the darkness came over her, consuming her until she was nothing. Elli jerked upwards. She sat in her bed, gasping for air. “It was just a nightmare. Nothing important.” She told herself. Still, she couldn’t help wondering about the shattered star. Why did it keep appearing everywhere? What was her dream about? Most importantly: What did it all mean? Later that day, in school, Elli was walking through the hallway. Her head was down, as usual, not looking at anyone or anything. She turned a corner and ran straight into someone. Her books fell everywhere, same as theirs. She picked up all her books and started to pick the other person’s books up. She gathered a few then stood up to hand them over. She paused. The person she had run into was a tall boy, with black hair that flopped over his midnight blue eyes. “Hi, I’m Jack.” He said. “I’m Elisya, but I go by Elli.” “Well it’s nice to meet you, Elli. Where are you going?” Jack asked. “Algebra” Was her response. “I’m headed to Science. Not a huge fan. Unless we get to blow stuff up-that’s cool.” Jack smirked. Elli grinned. “I love blowing things up!” “You sound like a very intelligent person.” Jack looked at her book. “Sword of Crows? I love this book!” “You’ve read Sword of Crows? Who’s your favorite character?” Elli was astonished. Jack was the only person she had ever met who read that book. “Blaze is definitely my favorite. Alvara is really cool, too.” “Alvara is my favorite. She is such a strong character.” Elli agreed. The warning bell rang. “We better get to class.” Elli said, disappointed. “Yeah. It was great to meet you. We’ll have to get together some time. See you later, Elisya.” Jack headed down the hallway to his class. Elli did the same. She got to her desk just as the bell rang. “How nice of you to join us, Miss Suzuki,” Her teacher, Mrs. Peters said. “We will be on page 394 in our textbooks.” Elli obediently sat down and opened her book to the correct page. She stifled a gasp. On the page was a small scrap of paper. On it was the shattered star, with the words Beware. We will be watching. Avoid the nothingness. Elli clutched her backpack tighter. She had skipped going to Bella’s today. Right now, she just wanted to get home as fast as she could. The shattered star had been on her mind all day. She couldn’t figure out how she was the only one who could see it. And how it kept appearing everywhere. Or how it got in her Algebra textbook. The whole thing gave her a creepy and ominous feeling, like something bad was going to happen. Elli turned down a street and there, on the side of a building, was the shattered star. Under it was an arrow and the words Come. There is danger. written on it. Elli hesitated, but her curiosity got the better of her. She turned down the alley the arrow pointed to. She walked until there wasn’t much light left. She turned around, but she couldn’t see the way she had come in. Panic set in. How would she get out? What should she do? What was happening? Thoughts swarmed her brain, overwhelming her, when a bright light shoved them all away. There in front of her, was the burning image of the shattered star, hovering in midair. “Welcome.” A deep voice said. “We are glad you are here.” Elli looked for the source of the voice, but found nothing. “Yes.” A female voice this time. “Without you, we stand no chance.” “Who are you? Where are you? A chance against what?” Elli screamed. A flash of light. Then, in front of her, stood two cloaked figures. The male spoke again. “Why, a chance against the nothingness, of course.” “What?” Elli was confused. “Who are you?” The girl spoke again. “We are some of your only allies.” “Why would I need allies?” Elli asked. “Because,” spoke the man, “You are the only one who can defeat the nothingness.” “The only one who can save us all.” The girl said. “The only one who can save the world.” The man followed. “And the only one who can wield the shattered star, the one force that can stand against the nothingness.” The girl finished. “So come with us. Come, and save the world.” The man held out a hand, waiting for Elli to come. “It is the only way.” The girl said. “You must come, or the world will be destroyed.”