"You really came here and threw the entire village upside down didn't you?" Damien asked as he was walking Aaron back.
"It's not like I came here on my own." Aaron answered.
"I guess you're right. It seems you were a problem they just couldn't leave alone."
"I understand why bringing a person back from the dead would be extremely taboo and would deserve a great punishment, but isn't killing the person that got brought back kinda harsh?"
"What, you scared of dying?" Damien questioned.
"Not anymore... By the way, why do you talk to me casually like this? The other guards hardly say a word to us."
"I just be bored." Damien answered nonchalantly.
"Fair enough."
.....
"My final answer is no and I will stand on that!" Elder Mildred exclaimed.
"This is a very sensitive situation sister, so we should take everything into consideration before jumping to a decision." Treya stated.
"What is there to consider? The boy is a resurrection. For centuries all resurrections were treated the same by the previous Elders, execution immediately after capture. Why are we even giving a second thought to this case?"
"Because of the complexity of this case." Faye stated. "I am just as educated about the history of our home as you are sister, and from what I've gathered from our archives, both the appearances of a lost soul and a resurrected soul are equally as rare. There's only been two documented cases for each in the past century. There has never been a case where both have occurred at the same time. Now in the beginning I didn't think that this would have been anything significant, but that changed when it became apparent that these two souls knew each other. They both came from the same realm and from what sister Aira has informed us of, it seems they both died at the same time. This may be more than just a mere coincidence, but signs of a greater event coming our way."
"So you're suggesting that we allow that bad omen to stay here in the village?" Mildred questioned.
"His name is Aaron Cooper, he has a name so we should use it" Aira interjected.
"Well, I believe Mr. Cooper has a big role to play in events going forward." Alex stated.
"And why would that be brother?" Faye asked. "You heavily favor Kaden Adams without even knowing the kind of person he is, but even so a person who can control all four elemental essences would be valuable for obvious reasons. But now it seems like you're favoring Aaron Cooper in the same way. The obvious difference is Aaron can only use wind essence. So why are you so interested in these two?"
"I'm just an old man who sees potential in some capable young men." Alex replied facetiously.
"This isn't the time to act oblivious brother Alex." Treya said. "We understand you usually keep things to yourself and move on your own accord, but this is a situation the majority of us are already invested in. If there are factors that we aren't seeing would you please lay them on the table for us."
"...In time, both Mr. Adams and Mr. Cooper will find themselves useful to Aestus."
"What is your reason for thinking that brother?" Faye questioned.
"You all are well aware that I've been alive for quite a long time now, that is no secret. Some of those reports and documentations, I was actually present to see and make. That said, there are things that many of our previous Elders including myself have left out those archives. Unfortunately, Aestus has just as dark of a past as the other great nations whether you would want to believe that or not. To summarize, it's soon time for the sins of our past to catch up to us."
"Shouldn't you elaborate more?" Aira asked.
"...I believe that Kaden Adams and Aaron Cooper are vital pieces for us if we are going to continue keeping Aestus safe moving forward. That is all i have to say for now."
"After what transpired today, Kaden is not going to just sit idly by and watch his friend die again." Aira stated. "Even if we still go through with the execution, Kaden would most certainly lose trust in us. Actually it's safe to say he already has."
"So the first vote for this meeting is whether or not we should continue with the execution of Aaron Cooper." Faye decided. "All in favor of calling off the execution, please raise your hand."
Without hesitation, the hands of Elders Aira, Treya and Alexander stretched out into air while Faye's and Claire's hands followed hesitantly afterwards. Elder Mildred panned her head from left to right as she remained the only one with their hand down.
"Absurd. Absolutely absurd."
"The execution of Aaron Cooper is hearby dissolved." Faye ordered.
"We still have the issue of that girl however." Treya mentioned.
"Via Heder." Faye said. "A punishment is still very much deserved for her actions."
"I stand by Aaron's request that her punishment shouldn't be severe." Aira replied. "She is very much a victim of circumstances and why yes that certainly doesn't change the fact that she used the lake. It was a last option situation for her because of how far her heart's been stretched in her young life."
"I would like to make a recommendation." Claire said with a smile as she raised her hand again.
All the others looked over to the youngest Elder as this was the first time she spoke for the entire gathering.
"The girl is from the air continent, correct?"
"Her parents was yes, but she was born on this continent." Aira clarified.
"So she is an air essence user. If that's the case I'd like to give her a proposition."
.....
As the sun makes it's decent behind the cover of the horizon, the sky's blue hue gets painted over by reds and oranges closer to the horizon, while the opposite end of the sky displayed more purples and indigo as it slowly faded into the black of the nightsky.
"LANDDDDDD IN SIGHT!!!" Sayu shouted over the edge of the ship. "Get me off this this thing."
Avery laughed as Sayu collapsed to the ground out of exhaustion.
"I thought you were the most adventurous one Sayu. You tired of this journey already?" Avery asked as she stood over Sayu.
"This... isn't... what... I imagined."
"Before we started I asked you all of you were ready for this and you were all so enthusiastic and optimistic." Jayson said as he walked onto the top deck.
"This has been the longest two weeks of my life." Nakayla stated as she hung herself over the side of the ship.
Shaedon walks up to the top deck behind Jayson while Tanner and Mano lied face first on the deck with Sayu.
"Where's Camie?" Jayson asked.
"Probably in the bathroom again." Nakayla answered.
"We'll catch her up when she gets here then. As some of you can see we have as good as arrived at the water continent. Avery it's your call, do we anchor down here or should we beach the ship?"
"I say we beach it." Avery replied. "It's still going to be a while before we reach Aestus and who knows how long we're even gonna be there."
"Take us to shore please captain." Said Nakayla still slumped over the edge of the boat.
"Ai ai passenger, prepare for landfall everyone." Avery said as she made her way back to the helm.
"Have you all prepared those travel packs I gave you several days ago?" Jayson asked to a group of half conscious children.
"...Mines is packed and ready to go." Shaedon replied.
"Good job Shaedon. Do me a favor and tell Camie we'll be making landfall in a few minutes. I'll try revive who I can up here."
"Um, Jay?"
"Yeah Shaedon?"
"When we arrive back on land, do you think you could train me to use my essence better?" Shaedon asked quietly.
"Of course I can. I didn't want to do any fire essence training on the boat for obvious reasons, but when we get on land I'll be training all of you."
"Okay, but that's not..."
"What's the matter?"
"Umm, nevermind." Shaedon answered timidly as he descended back down the stairs.
Shaedon hung his head low and clinched his fist while slowly walking away. Jayson didn't notice the frustrated body language from Shaedon, instead he moved over to Sayu and the others.
15 Minutes Later
The crescent moon took control of the night sky as the sun vanished from view behind the horizon. The sky became plastered by stars and other celestial bodies, with the light from it all illuminating the waves which rolled calmly onto the sandy shoreline.
"Finallyyy!!!" Nakayla exclaimed as she fell face first into the cool sand.
"We'll be setting up camp here for the night guys." Jayson said as the others dropped their bags onto the beach.
"Why don't we move further up into the grass bluejay?" Avery suggested.
"Why don't we just sleep on the boat if we're staying this close?" Tanner questioned.
"Nope, out of the question." Jayson replied. "It's time to adjust to your new sleeping situation, so come on let's find a good spot in the grass."
"This is Aestus?" Sayu questioned as she observed her surroundings. "It's a lot different from what the stories said."
"No, this isn't Aestus, it's just the water continent." Avery clarified.
"Ohh... so where's Aestus?"
"About four hundred miles in that direction." Avery said as she pointed far into the horizon.
"Four hundred?!" Nakayla repeated in shock.
"We did say it would probably take us three weeks to get there by foot."
"The hard part of this journey is just about to begin." Jayson said as he pulled two daggers out of his pocket.
Holding a dagger in each of his hands, Jayson skillfully spun them around with his fingers before clashing them together. The clash produced a few sparks which Jayson used to quickly ignite a bright flame.
"What? How did you make a fire?" Tanner asked.
"You'll all soon realize, it only takes a spark to make an inferno." Jayson replied as he held the flame in his palm. "I've been planning some things to say to you all once we arrived here, but honestly I'm not the best at giving speeches."
"Not in the slightest." Avery added with a grin.
"Yeah yeah... in my eyes, all of you look just like little sparks. Right now our home isn't in the best shape."
"That's an understatement." Nakayla stated.
"It really is, but I plan to eventually change the state of Ignus. The hostile environment, the discrimination towards people in poverty, and most of all our concealment from the outside world. Everyone should be free to explore this world and shouldn't have to second guess entering another land because of how the 'nature' of our people is perceived. We're in a foreign land right now and we have to assume that every person we come across view us as a threat unless proven otherwise. In time, I'll change that. So I'm asking that you would trust me as your leader not just for right now, but for the future of our land. Allow me to transform the few sparks of hope in front of me into a full on inferno."
"..."
"...Did I, make a mistake?" Jayson asked nervously.
"No, that was just quite the speech for a group of kids." Avery pointed out.
"Well-"
"Whoa! What's that?!" Sayu asked as she ran over to inspect a glowing object in the distance.
The light was pulsating similar to how a firefly would, but this wasn't a firefly because it was glowing a light blue color.
"Sayu hold on." Nakayla said as the others followed behind her.
As she approached the light she realized the light was also moving towards her direction. Sayu stopped and waited for the light to come even closer.
"Sayu, we don't know anything about the creatures in this land, we need to be careful approaching stuff like this." Jayson said as grabbed her hand.
"Ohhh it's a butterfly!" Sayu said pointing at the light.
As the source if the light flew by them, they were able to identify the creature as a butterfly with glowing wings.
"A bioluminescent butterfly." Avery stated as it flew by.
"There's another one!" Camie exclaimed as a green butterfly started flying around them.
"There's one over here too." Mano said.
Soon enough they were all caught in the middle of a kaleidoscope of butterflies. Red, yellow, blue, green, orange, pink and many other colors illuminated their surroundings in a beautiful display which infatuated them all.
"There's so many!" Sayu said as she laughed and began frolicking though the field.
"They're so prettyyy!!" Camie exclaimed.
"Did your dad write about this?" Jayson asked Avery.
"Nope, this is new to me. Wait... do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
Avery and Jayson went quiet while the kids ran around played with the butterflies. After a few seconds, what sounded like a sail flapping in the wind became apparent to all of them. They all looked around, trying to locate the source of the sound as it became louder and louder with every passing second.
"Um... does anybody else see a shadow coming this way?" Nakayla asked pointing over to the west.
A large silhouette floated through the night sky about fifteen feet off of the ground. Everyone watched it in silence until it also produced its own pattern of colors. A butterfly that is about twenty feet in length shined like a disco ball in the night sky. Unlike the smaller ones, the pattern on this butterflies' wings were multicolored.
"Ahhhh!!!" Sayu screamed as she ran over and latched onto Jayson's legs.
"Shh shh shh, you're alright Sayu." Jayson said as he bent down to her level.
"Maybe if we don't move it won't bother us." Tanner suggested.
"Maybe that'd be the case if Sayu didn't just ran away screaming." Nakayla replied. "I don't think it's interested in us."
"Butterflies eat nectar, not people." Avery stated. "There must be some gigantic flowers close by."
They all watched in awe as the majestic creature flew by overhead.
"Maybe they're welcoming us to the water continent." Tanner said.
The others smiled as they considered the unlikely possibility, but no matter how unlikely it is, they will still think that this was there warm welcome.