Chapter 42 - Reunion of Embers

Twenty-five minutes prior.

"Guys, maybe we should try and find an adult now." Tanner suggested. "We've wandered around this place for a whole day now, and we haven't found Jay or any of the others."

"I just need food." Mano replied while rubbing his belly.

"Camie, what if we were the only ones that got teleported down here?"

"Then do you think the people here are going to be kind to us?" Camie questioned.

"How do we know they won't?" Tanner responded, firing back at her.

"Look at where we come from! Ignus... our home... is a bad place. You guys saw how the people in Himawari looked at us and treated us when we first went there. Then, because of us, they were attacked... I wish I had grown up on the water continent. Everyone is nice to each other here, and they're living peacefully. I only want a piece of that life... All our people do is break apart that peace. If I were them, I wouldn't want us in here."

There was a brief moment of silence as Tanner and Mano solemnly looked at each other.

"...Well, I think you're missing something out." Tanner exclaimed. "No matter what those people thought about us, they still helped us in the end. Because, like you said, they're all nice people. Back in Himawari, they took us in and gave us shelter. Moya and Noya didn't even hesitate to help us when we met them. I'd like to think the people of Aestus wouldn't turn their backs on three kids in need of help too."

There was no hiding the uncertainty on Camie's face, but Tanner's words left an obvious impact on her.

"We'll be fine, Camie." Mano reassured her. "They might even help us find Jay and the others."

"Oh, be quiet! You're only thinking with your belly!" Camie fired back at Mano.

"That's better than not thinking at all."

Following that remark from Mano, the three shared a moment of innocent laughter.

"Well, where do we go?" Camie asked.

"Oh! I saw a building through the bushes over here. Follow me!" Mano stated as he ran back up the path.

Tanner and Camie followed closely behind him, and within half a minute, they were in sight of the building Mano had mentioned.

"Wait, what is that?" Tanner questioned, pointing at something near the building.

A phosphorescent ball of blue light danced around in the open field.

"It's pretty." Camie stated.

"Let's check it out." Tanner suggested as he went ahead without waiting for the other two to answer.

Mano and Camie eventually followed behind him but were visibly acting a bit more cautious than Tanner was in this situation. As they approached the light, they quickly realized that it was a flame floating in the air. It was a will-o'-wisp. Tanner stopped about one foot in front of the ghost like flame and casually lifted his hand out toward it.

"It doesn't even feel hot." Tanner exclaimed. "It's like a cold flame."

"I think we should leave it alone." Camie suggested.

"One second, I wanna see something."

Tanner concentrated on the will-o'-wisp, then carefully moved his hand to the side, moving the flame with it.

"We can use our fire essence on it!" Tanner said in excitement.

SPLOOSH!

Without a warning, a torrent of water crashed into Tanner and sent him rolling several feet.

"Intruders!" Kumori shouted as she and Kuria watched them from a distance.

"Tanner!" Mano exclaimed, running over to him.

"Dammit, we were found." Camie said in frustration.

"I'm fine guys, it's alright." Tanner stated as he stumbled onto one knee.

Camie ran over to both of the boys and grabbed each of their arm, pulling them along with her.

"Come on, let's hide inside." She said while running into the building.

"We have to catch them!" Kumori declared as she became ready to run after them.

Before she could, Kuria grabbed her by her arm and pulled her back.

"Kumo, isn't this the place where you said you saw Elder Aira visit Aaron?" Kuria questioned.

"Yeah, the prison... THE PRISON!"

Camie, Mano, and Tanner were disappointed to see that the inside of the building was completely bare. There wasn't anyplace to hide.

"We're sitting ducks in here." Mano stated.

"Let's run back out while we can." Tanner replied. "Those two girls looked our age, I'm sure we can take them."

Before they could have made it to the door, a wall of water flooded the door frame, which stopped them in their tracks. After a few seconds passed, the water began to solidify into a block of ice, completely sealing the entrance.

"Huh?"

"... Good job Kumo, they should be trapped now. Now let's go find an elder and bring them back here." Kuria said to her sister.

"I saw Elder Aira going to the courtyard earlier. C'mon!" Kumori exclaimed as she ran off.

The twins sprinted away from the building, leaving the three Ignus children stuck in the place where they tried to attain refuge.

.....

"The message didn't say anything about the Luminents being there." Elder Aira stated.

"From his description, two of those people sound like the exact same people that attacked us in front of the gate." Treya added.

"You're telling me they got all the way to Himawari from Aestus in only two weeks' time?" Mildred questioned.

"That's beside the point." Faye exclaimed. "They protected Jayson and drove the attackers away from Himawari. For what reason would they do that?"

"You have no idea what they said to the attackers?" Aira questioned.

"No, I was unconscious when it happened." Jayson answered.

"What about you?" Mildred asked Shaedon, who was silently watching on. "He said you were one of the kids that witnessed everything, right? Did you hear what was said to the attackers?"

"Uh, no ma'am." Shaedon nervously replied while looking everywhere except ar her.

"If that is all now, I'd like to go." Jayson requested.

"Yes, of course, let's -"

Elder Aira paused after noticing a large bubble ascending into the courtyard behind Jayson and the others. Everyone else then took notice of the bubble as it floated over to the center of the courtyard beside the fountain.

"Who would this be from?" Treya asked.

Since Elder Aira was already rising from her seat, she took the honor of opening the message. Once opened, the words read:

"Sorry for the intrusion, but we have Kumori and Kuria Ichinose down here, and they're claiming to have captured three kids that they've seen using fire essence. They're requesting help from an elder."

"This must be more of your party, Jayson." Aira stated.

"Were they teleported directly down here?" Faye questioned.

"I'll find out. Let's go, Jayson."

Elder Aira led Jayson, Shaedon, Nakayla, and Kenzo out of the courtyard and down the staircase in a rush to confirm with the twins what they had saw. Once making it to them, the twins didn't waste any time and immediately moved to guide everyone where they found the "intruders."

Twenty minutes later.

Elder Aira, Jayson, Kenzo, Ty, Shaedon, Nakayla, Kumori, and Kuria all closed in on the dilapidated prison where Aaron and Via were once imprisoned.

"What were the two of you doing out here?" Elder Aira asked to the twins.

"Ummm, just enjoying a day off from studying." Kumori stated with a sly grin. "As of recent, the days have gotten boring, so I figured we could do a little exploring. Right Ria?"

"She said she found this cool place a while back and took me here to show me." Kuria explained.

"Whyyy?!"

"Miss Mai keeps telling you to stop lying."

"Good job, Ria." Aira responded while lightly chuckling.

The group arrived at the ice barricade, which was blocking the entrance.

"Kumo, you can remove this now." Aira stated.

"Kay kay." Kumori replied as she placed her palm onto the ice.

Immediately, it began to thaw back into water, which Kumo then removed from the doorway.

"Jayson, you can confirm whether or not they are your people." Aira said, letting him enter first.

With a simple nod of his head, Jayson stepped forward and into the prison. Tanner, Camie, and Mano anxiously awaited the entrance for whoever may be coming through the door. Their anxiety quickly turned to relief once they saw Jayson step into the room.

"Jay!" Tanner and Mano shouted in unison as they all ran over to hug him.

A heavy sigh of relief was released from Jayson's lungs as he warmly embraced the three.

"You guys don't know how worried I was." Jayson said softly.

"You had us scared!" Camie exclaimed.

"Is anyone else with you?" Tanner questioned.

"Yeah, out here."

Upon exiting the building, Nakayla and Shaedon joined in on the hugging as they too were relieved that their friends were safe.

"Is it only you three?" Nakayla asked.

"Yeah, we walked around this entire place and couldn't find any of you guys." Mano replied.

"So what about Avery and Sayu?"

"They're not down here. Well, at least we didn't see them over the past day." Camie stated.

"You three were down here and went unnoticed for an entire day? Elder Aira questioned while looking over to Kenzo.

"Elder Aira, this is Camie. And these two are Mano and Tanner." Jayson introduced.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Aira replied.

"Any idea what's going on?" Kumori whispered to her sister.

"Not a clue." She replied.

"There's still two more of us out there." Jayson explained. "A twenty-four year old female with blonde hair and scarlet eyes. And a seven year old girl with black hair and brown eyes."

"Kenzo, I know you just returned from the outside, but would you be willing to join me Jayson and Ty in a search?" Aira asked.

"We may not have to." Kenzo replied, looking up towards the lake.

The group all joined him and turned to look where he was and saw two bubbles descending from the lake above.

"That's most likely Sister Claire and her party. They would have traveled into the Redwoods, so we should hear from them if they've seen anyone."

.....

"We're flying!" Sayu exclaimed happily.

"It's more like we're falling." Avery corrected. "So this is Aestus. The description in dad's journal doesn't really do it justice." She thought.

"Prepare to land." Mai announced.

"Will we be living here now?" Sayu asked while looking up to Avery.

"...I don't know what the future holds for us, but first thing first, we should find Bluejay and the others." Avery answered.

"Why do you call him Bluejay?"

"Well, when we were younger, he was just like a bluejay. Actually, he still is. They're very smart and resourceful birds."

"Oh, it's a bird!" Sayu just realized.

"Yeah, it is." Avery replied with a chuckle. "The main thing they have in common though is that they're both very territorial and protective."

"Territorial?"

"Yep, it means they take a lot of care of what's their's. So their home and their family."

When Avery said family, she gently placed her hand on top of Sayu's head, implying to her that she was Jayson's family. Mai's bubble then made it to the ground, followed by Damien's, which was carrying him, Via and Elder Aira.

"I'm guessing the others will be in the courtyard now if Jayson Hillinger is truly in Aestus." Claire stated. "Damien, I'll let you rest, Mai will escort us there."

"Understood ma'am." Damien replied.

"I'm gonna find Aaron and tell him about the trip." Via said happily before running off. "See ya later!"

Claire and Sayu waved her off, both smiling, followed by Damien marching off as well.

"After you, Elder Claire." Mai said.

"Thank you." Claire replied while walking ahead with Avery and Sayu following closely behind. "Oh?"

She came to a sudden halt after noticing Elder Aira approaching her with some people behind her.

"BLUEJAY!" Sayu shouted in excitement as she ran over upon noticing him.

The young girl leaped into his hands as Jayson himself couldn't help but smile from ear to ear now that his group was back together.

"That was fairly easy." Aira casually stated. "Sister Claire, I take it your trip went well?"

"Very much so." Claire responded.

Elder Aira then noticed her granddaughter, who was quietly taking in everything before her.

"Welcome back, Mai."

Mai replied with a subtle grin and a nod of her head.

"I've missed you guys!" Sayu exclaimed to the others.

"I've missed you, Sayu!" Nakayla exclaimed while hugging her.

"Hmph. After one day with you, she's calling me 'Bluejay'." Jayson pointed out to Avery.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She replied also smiling heavily. "I'm happy you're okay, Jay."

"...Same here."

.....

One Week Later.

"I told you to bring the boy back here if it's the last thing you do. Yet you return empty-handed."

"My sincerest apologies, sir, but there is a reason for our sudden return." Nix replied, kneeling before Kajar. "Exactly ten days ago, we confronted Jayson in a village on the outskirts of the water continent, and at the same time, we encountered a mysterious person. We believe she's a part of the group your brother recognized as 'The Luminents'. The woman gave us some information that I believe will be to your liking."

"My liking?" Kajar questioned as he slowly stepped forward. "I would've liked for you to bring back that little shit, but now he's probably already in Aestus. Leaking our information and plotting against us with those thieves. Nothing that you provide for me now will erase that fact."

"I understand stand that Commander, and once again, I apologize. I graciously accept any punishment you may have for me, but first, I should relay this to you, sir."

Nix whispered to Kajar what Kiri had told him, and the Commander's face immediately turned into one in disbelief.

"Is any of this confirmed?" Kajar questioned.

"One of the children Jayson escaped with matches the description." Nix replied. "As for the other point, we believe that it would correctly line up with recorded events."

The news instilled Kajar with a sense of satisfaction he hadn't felt in years. He inhaled deeply until his very lungs were filled with air, and upon exhaling, a cloud of smoke was released from his mouth.

"Heh heh... haha... HAHAHAHAHA!" Maniacally laughed Kajar as he released his overwhelming emotions. "It's time. No more hiding."