Remy had obtained a slingshot from Aatos, and Ocean had finished making his spear and made the rest of the sticks into arrows for Aatos's crossbow. The group was now planning to attack the castle and defeat all the Nullbounders with just homemade weapons.
Remy had visited Hexa's tent a couple times, though. She was never there. It was almost like she had something to do with this.
"Why can't Hexa just find us and help us out? She's never home. Is the queen keeping her captured or something?" Remy asked, worry evident in their tone.
Aatos spoke in a soft tone. "That is possible. She usually spent most of her time inside, so I doubt she'd choose to be outside. Maybe when we have gotten our revenge, we can get your sister back too," he said, getting a nod of approval from Hazel.
"Right, we'll make this the most meaningful stunt in the history is Etherium," Hazel said.
Remy paced around the spot restlessly. It was clear they were anxious about the upcoming fight. Suddenly, they tripped over a rock, falling face flat on the ground with an 'oof'. They quickly recovered and got up like nothing happened and kicked the rock aside.
Before asking if Remy was okay, Aatos's attention was drawn to the rock. It had an unusual color, and part of it was possibly dried lava or some kind of magma.
While the children were deeper in the forest, Maya, who had gone out of her house after hearing about the fire, was somewhere nearby, investigating the burnt remains of the cottage the kids once lived in.
Soon, Maya noticed the charcoal symbol burned on the ground. An eye with a still-burning, colorless flame in the middle.
She reached her hand to touch the flame, quickly realizing it burned her hand like a normal flame would. But this one was different compared to normal flames. It seemed to be watching her, observing every breath she took and move she made.
The Nullfire was here.. The last Embercaller has proven it's existence, and the fire caused a huge hazard in the whole island. Wait.. Oh, right what I learned in my fire safety classes. A fire also means they can't keep prisoners locked up in cells, because we all need to evacuate as quickly as we can. Even them. I may need to stop that purple-haired girl, whose action I misunderstood, from getting trasferredfirst, Maya thought in her head.
Committing the placement to her memory, she a far way back to the Null research facility. Again, the flashed her badge to confirm her profession and identity.
When she got in, her eyes widened in horror as she looked around. Blue fire everywhere. It dripped down the walls to the floor of the halls. It smelled like smoke, just like normal fire, yet everything it was on was untouched.
One note on the table was circled with fire, yet never caught it. Maya quickly grabbed it and ran out of the facility, the doors closing behind her.
At the same time in the kingdom, Blacklight prison had already transferred most prisoners to safer islands, but Hexa was still rotting in her cell. Nobody had noticed the broken handcuffs, and she was starting to think they are blind for not noticing anything on her.
But when looking at the prison outview, the food was terrible, same with the planks attached to walls they called beds. She was kind of happy to maybe get a better place to spend the next four years in. Yes, four years. A year was added to her sentence for the threat with the phone.
A female guard with short, brown hair showed up at Hexa's cell. Not to transfer her yet, but talk to her. She was one of the only guards who Hexa didn't hate.
Hexa was curled up in the corned again. She barely even glanced at the guard who had just appeared outside her cell.
"Did you get the bread you wanted, or did they try to force feed you that crap again?" The guard asked, her voice part playful, part serious. It was hard to tell if she had any hidden motives.
Hexa didn't answer her, a clear sign that she just wanted to be alone until she was tranferred. The guard understood it all too well.
"No one stays here forever, kid. But don't fool yourself to think they are free, though. No one goes free, even after leaving this place. That's the harsh truth," the guard said, before turning and leaving the hall, her steps echoing through the now mostly empty cells.