Three years had passed since Aatos passed away. Everyone had changed a lot in those years, that were more or less of a rocky road. For others, it could be more fitting to describe it as a lucky road. The Etherium village was rebuilt, and the residents got free housing in new buildings instead of the old, wooden ones.
Remy was now a teenager, but their determation, and lack of social skills, had stayed, letting them burn brighter and improve the skills they had learned from him. They also found out how creative they could be. Building tools became a hobby for him, and he kept improving, until today Remy finally built their own crossbow just like Aatos had once done.
But they never actually got to use it the way he had made his for. It was only a memory of their late friend now. The Ashborn was a name everyone knew, everyone hated, and most importantly, it was a name to blame for burning down the village of Etherium while trying to attack the queen. Nevertheless, none of those people knew the context of the situation, just blind hate towards the children, started by the queen.
Neither were the children of the forest in the position to do anything about it. Inside the goup the Ashborn was forgotten in the span of three years, and never spoken about, the weight of what they had done slowly fading away as the years passed.
Until one day, when Remy was sitting on their self-made bed, gripping the blanket with both of their hands, distress evident in their now-sharper features. When the boy with long, blonde straws of hair walked into the room, Remy's distress seemed to grow further.
Ocean sighed. "You're hyperventulating alone again?" He asked. It was more of a sentence he often had to say than a question.
Remy snapped out of their state. Mostly, at least. "I'm fine," they said, althrough it was clear it wasn't the case. They had in fact been in a panicked state and Ocean's appearance was making it worse.
"Still haven't gotten given him? I get it," Ocean said, sitting next to Remy, but not too close. He still kept his distance to them.
"I said I'm fine," Remy stubbornly said again. They scooted further from the young adult sitting next to them. Their words and actions all pushed people away, but it could still be seen that all they needed was someone to make them feel better.
That demeanour caused Ocean to sigh, get up and leave them alone. He made his way out of the door, slamming it shut behind him. He shook his head at the short, emerald eyed, ginger preteen and the girl with the eyes of two different worlds colliding and hair colored like the insides of a blueberry, signaling them the confortation had failed.
"So they are still staring at the rough wall of this damn cave?" Hazel said, facepalming. It was more like an internal monologue coming out of her mouth than an actual question.
A blink.
Hazel already managed to get a cut on her finger. Well, it was quite easy in a cave with walls had been left natural. Aurora immediadly went to get some paper, but when she pressed it on Hazel's thumb, something happened. The cut was gone. Hazel felt no pain at all. Strange. So strange even Ocean stared in disbelief.
"Do you know your parents?" he asked Aurora, his eyebrows slightly raised. He was genuinely intiqued about this newfound power.
Aurora shook her head firmly, staring at the hand that had just done a small miracle. Something was off. Maybe her parents were more than she had ever known about them, and it freaked her out.