19. Thank you, Tha

At first, I didn't hear any replying voice, but when I yelled again, "Sister Tha?!" A little cheerful voice was so easily recognized. I ran down to the closed part of her cage.

"Mirai, have you eaten? How are you doing?" I really missed the moment we carried on our mission together like sometime back.

But, instead of a reply, I would hear from that little girl, I heard a curse. "Are you crazy?!" Winnter snapped, "Why are you going back here?" I laughed. She was locked up not far from Mirai.

"You girls, how are you doing?" It was a simple question, but it was not so simple when the whole prisoners of Alpha Camp were getting boisterous. Some were asking to be freed, and some asked me to replace them and stay in the cage. I laughed at them as a reply.

Distinctly I heard a hissed sound, and I knew it was Falak. It seemed that our noise had woken him up, and I was right. He was suddenly right in front of me. I tried to be relaxed in front of him because I knew he was not dangerous to me as long as I didn't behave badly. "Is it nice to meet me?" I just asked with a light joke.

Falak didn't reply to me. He hissed again, and then he checked every cage before he finally glided down.

"You really want to make our heart stopped?!" Winnter scolded me. I chuckled lightly to hear her words.

I took a deep breath and blew it hard. "Winnter?" I wanted to tell her that Summer had been brought by Charon the previous night.

"Yeah?"

"Summer" but I found it hard and confused about how to start telling her.

"Thank you, Tha." Her voice was hoarse. I knew she was crying.

I cleared my throat slowly and then sat by the edge of that huge hole, swinging my legs while looking at the hanging cages and flame of fire down there. It felt like just yesterday I stayed here. I just hoped that Winnter and Mirai would complete their punishment soon so that we might be able to work together for a mission in one team. We could work together as a team as we could get along well and communicate well despite our different backgrounds.

"Why are you here?" She asked, sitting by my side instead. "If Azalea knew, you would be locked here again. Maybe?" she said to make fun of me. She was correct. That woman wouldn't think twice about doing anything.

I just smiled and showed off my teeth. I was reluctant to comment on his question. "Why is the training room so quiet? There used to be many people practicing there, right?" that place became quieter than the last time I went there. Apparently, many people had already left.

"When Yon came here, many people were killed, right? Hana," Shashin turned to me. "My friends, and many other soldiers."

I almost forgot that incident. When the halls were flooded with blood and a very strong rancid smell everywhere, including spiders' threads. So many were victimized at that time. "I wish my father was punished, so as Antonie,'' Despite the fact that it was Antonie who brought me here to save me.

"It isn't easy, Tha." Shashin ran his gaze straight in front of him. "Your father isn't like us. Although he is exiled and isolated from other wizard groups, the laws can't touch him. He is the son of the previous Elder leader. Meanwhile Antonie has got what he deserved for his bad deeds."

Now, his eyes turned on me, and he smiled. "You are really cool! You could kill him. I wonder if I could do that, though."

I took it as an appraisal, although it still sounded like I was acting barbarically to do that assassin. I was relieved because I committed the murder, not in my place. In my own place, if I did that assassination, I might have been rewarded a lifetime sentence. "I will stay here much longer," I said.

"You can do that, but it is not good for you." I was surprised to hear him say that.

"Meaning?" I asked back, feeling confused, looking at the man sitting next to me. 'Is it because I am a human and I don't have such skills like they do to live here?' I thought.

"Don't you see that your father may look younger for a man of his age?" Honestly, I never paid attention to him. It was because I saw him only a few times. "Time runs slower here than in your place, although the difference isn't significant. But if you stay here longer, you'll be affected somehow." He explained.

Indeed, that was something that never crossed my mind. I thought that Shashin came from a certain race which made him look younger than he really was. But it seemed like it was a matter of time in this dimension. "That means I will not grow old?" If it was true, it was good, wasn't it? I would be like him, looking younger than he was supposed to be.

"Possibly," He hesitated, trying to recall something. "But that isn't where the problem lies."

The next second, he spoke again. "Imagine; you were fifty years old, but you still looked in your early thirties. When you looked at the mirror and saw your own reflection, you didn't feel old at all because your physical look simply just didn't match with your age. Somehow, you might be surprised with all the changes around you when you were back. It is because it felt like you just left them for some years, but in fact time moved so slowly since you were gone." These things never crossed my mind, honestly.

"This place is so different from your place." He added. "You have to think differently because some things have to be treated differently, too. A simple example is when you send messages."

"You are right" I just realized then. But I had no other choice. The Camellia couple also asked me to hide here, and I hoped I could take all the risks.

A few seconds passed, a guard showed up. "You'd better get out of here soon or Miss Azalea will be angry," such a warning forced us to get up from our place and rush out of that detention room.

…