"Leave this place, before you get yourselves killed." Eliah's dad warned.
"Killed?" Jayson repeated quietly.
Jayson stepped forward from his group with his head held high, eyeing down Eliah's father.
"Bluejay..."
"...Is there a reason why you're threatening to kill my family?" Jayson asked in a stern tone.
"It's because your kind has taken away so many of mine in the past." The dad replied while also stepping forward. "You may be a bit too young to know boy, but the flame raids weren't as long ago as people make it seem. All those water continental people captured and killed and for what? Sport?"
"That's a sin Ignus will forever have to live with, but that history has nothing to do with me."
"It has everything to do with you!"
At this point Jayson and the man were right up in each other's faces, staring holes through one another. With tension flaring, Avery and the others became increasingly more worried with Sayu grabbing onto Nakayla.
"I was twelve years old, when I witnessed my father being beaten within an inch of his life by your people." The dad said. "My mom wailed and begged for them to stop and when they eventually did, they dragged him away, never to be seen again. Multiple families were viciously torn apart and traumatized without ever even knowing why. After they took my father, one of those guys came back to me and said 'When it's your time make sure you put up a better fight.' He said that with a grin... That's the kind of people you come from. That's the kind of blood that's in you all!"
"My blood!..."
Jayson stopped himself from shouting any further and recollected himself.
"My blood, is mine and mine alone." Jayson said calmly.
A shadow suddenly came over the entire congregation which pulled everyone's gaze with the exception of Jayson's to the sky above.
"Who's that?" The dad questioned looking back towards the townspeople.
"That, is me." Jayson said as he took a step back.
An enormous pool of water hovered over the settlement which was being controlled by none other than Jayson himself.
"I'm a descendant of both Ignus and Aestus lineages, but neither of them will define who I am or what I will be. That's a choice I'll make for myself."
"...What's your name kid?" The dad asked.
"Jayson Hillinger."
"...You're the kid that was born during the peace arrangement."
"Yeah..." Jayson answered as he returned the water back into their farms. "...All I want to do is bring about that peace I was supposedly going to represent. I have a message that I was entrusted to deliver to any of the Elders in Aestus."
"And you brought kids with you on this journey, knowing the type of attention you all would attract?"
"The safest place for them to be is next to me." Jayson exclaimed. "Please we just need a place to rest for a while. We intend to be gone by daybreak tomorrow."
Eliah's dad pondered about the situation whilst looking back at his fellow townspeople. He then looked over Jayson's shoulder towards Avery and the others, who were waiting nervously.
"...Elijah." The dad said as he extended his hand.
"Huh?"
"My name, it's Elijah Crowe. I'll arrange a place for you."
"...Thank you." Jayson replied as he shook his hand.
Elijah turned and went to inform the other townspeople of the decision he's decided on. Sayu ran up behind Jayson and wrapped her arms around his torso.
"Those people are scary." Sayu mumbled.
"They're saying the same thing about us." Jayson replied while patting her head. "C'mon, let's go."
There were some townspeople that were completely against Elijah's decision, however after explaining the situation, the majority of them complied and accepted Jayson and his crew. They then followed Elijah to an unoccupied home which was located near the center of the town.
"You all could spend the night here." Elijah said as he opened the front entrance of the relatively large residence.
Avery entered first, followed closely behind by all of the children.
"Thanks again for doing this for us." Jayson said to Elijah.
"Question, how old are you kid?"
"I'm sixteen."
"Mmm, to be honest, I still harbor a lot of hate towards your people."
"And I understand why." Jayson quickly responded. "The inhumane acts we've practiced for decades has affected so many, that no matter how hard I try there will always be stains on our name. I'm sorry about your father. I wish I could offer you more than an apology, but words is all I have."
"That's fine kid." Elijah said as he patted Jayson's shoulder. "Those words is the most I've gotten after all these years. Listen, I can tell your a good guy. But while your here I just have one request. Keep your kids away from my kid." That's it."
"...Okay." Jayson answered.
"Good, you all enjoy yourself, I'll be back to check up."
Elijah left directly after that conversation, leaving the crew to become comfortable in their temporary house for the night.
Avery readied everyone's bed while the kids sat around in silence.
"Jay?"
"Yeah Sayu?"
"Are we... the bad guys?"
"...Of course not." Jayson replied after being caught off guard by the question.
"But all of those people were bothered by us being here." Sayu said softly.
"Do you think you're a bad person Sayu?" Avery asked.
"No."
"Okay then. We're fine, unfortunately for us though, our people have done very bad things in the past. Now that doesn't have anything to do with you, me, or any of you guys. We just have to put our best foot forward in everything we do. Think you could do that?"
"Yeah." Sayu said as she nodded her head.
Jayson quietly watched on as he leaned against the wall next to the window.
.....
An Hour Later.
"A settlement surrounded by towering sunflowers aptly named 'Himawari'. It's safe to say we're close."
"Captain Nix, there's another marker here."
"Alright gents, remember Jayson Hillinger is to be taken alive along with the lighter he was given. I couldn't care less about anything else."
"Yessir." Answered a group of five men all wearing clothing which had colors of black and blood red.
.....
"I don't see any smoke, I'm guessing we made it in time."
"If it wasn't for your constant deviations from the path in order to 'explore', we would have made it here yesterday Guren."
"Cut me some slack Kiri, you and Mateo were both born on this continent, so of course you two would be less intrigued than I am." Guren replied.
"If we missed this event you'll be the one doing all of the answering." Mateo stated.
"A real man lays in the bed he made."
"Yeah, I hear you."
"Do you really hear me Teo?"
"Enough of that." Kiri said sternly. "Let's accomplish what we came here for and quickly return."
Mateo, Guren and Kiri arrive at the outside of Himawari, where several different roads are about to crossover.
.....
"In terms of supplies, what all do you need for the rest of your journey?" Elijah asked.
Jayson and Shaedon found themselves strolling through town with Elijah as a guide. The others stayed at the hostel and rested their sleep deprived bodies.
"It's actually not much we need." Jayson replied. "We've been able to hunt and scavenge for all the food we need easily, and fire essence is very useful in survival situations."
"Yeah I could imagine. So you just came here to rest?"
"Essentially, yeah. We'd appreciate some guidance on how to exactly get to Aestus from here. We have a rough idea, but we would appreciate the help of a local."
"...I could feel her watching us again, but from where?" Shaedon asked himself.
Shaedon carefully scanned the area around us and took note of everything that was moving. From other townspeople walking pass, to the wagons they were carrying and the cats that were walking around aimlessly.
"Hmm."
Shaedon stopped and quietly broke away from Jayson and Elijah without them noticing. Eliah was squating behind two barrels filled with rosemary, while attempting to lure a kitten over to her.
"What're you doin?" Shaedon asked as he snuck up behind her once again.
Eliah jumped slightly but overall gave a more tamed reaction to Shaedon spooking her.
"How do you move around so quietly?" Eliah asked.
"It isn't that hard really, the amount of presence you have is similar to the amount of self worth you have." Shaedon replied as the kitten Eliah was playing with walked over to him.
"So you're saying that you-"
Hoot. Hoot. Hoot.
The two looked up to the roof of the nearest building and saw an owl perching up there.
"I heard that seeing an owl in the daytime means good luck." Shaedon stated.
"I heard that if you hear an owl hoot three times it signifies death is approaching."
"Um, let's knock on wood for that one."
"Knock on wood?" Eliah questioned.
"Uhh, it's a figure of speech." Shaedon explained while petting the kitten. "It's something people do to avoid bad luck."
Eliah gazed over to the barrels that were sitting next to them and softly knocked on three times.
"Like that?"
"Yeah, we should be fine now." Shaedon replied.
At the exact same moment Jayson paused from walking with Elijah and looked up to the hillside.
"What's the matter kid?" Elijah asked.
"What's this pressure?" Jayson asked himself.
With only a few seconds passing by, Jayson then began to notice a dark cloud rising over the sunflowers. A few townspeople noticed the cloud as well and halted what they were doing to observe the abnormality.
"The hell is that?" Elijah questioned confusingly.
The cloud became larger and larger, slowly eclipsing the entire western sky.
"...It's ash." Jayson realized. "Elijah, I'm sorry in advance for what's about to happen."
"What do you mean?"
"Evacuate your people, a fight's about to kick off!" Jayson said as he ran back to the hostel.
"Hey kid! What the hell's going on!"
Shaedon watched as Jayson ran by him, but decided not to follow.
"My dad seems mad about something." Eliah said.
"...I think you should join him." Shaedon replied as a piece of ash fell onto his arm.
"Is this snow?" Eliah asked. "It feels hot."
The area where the cloud first emerged from began to glow a deep red color. That light then traveled higher up into the cloud before bursting through the cloud itself. A giant molten rock flew through the air above the settlement before crashing into one of the buildings. Chaos then ensued inside the town as people began to run away in fear, screaming and panicking in result of the attack. More pieces of molten rock shot through the cloud and descended upon Himawari, one of which was hurdling straight towards Shaedon and Eliah. Before it crashed into them Shaedon grabbed her arm and ran away with her, leaving the kitten to get caught in the destruction.
"Let's go, don't look back!" Shaedon said to the terrified Eliah.
Jayson burst through the front entrance of the hostel where Avery and the others were panicking themselves.
"C'mon, we're leaving!" Jayson exclaimed.
"Where's Shaedon?" Nakayla questioned. "He went with you didn't he?"
"Of all the times to disappear." Jayson thought while looking around. "I'll go look for him, Avery take them and get to safety."
"Jayson!" Avery shouted as he ran off.
.....
"Don't get carried away, like I said we need the boy alive." Nix stated. "Clint, Travis, you two descend into the town. Bring the boy to me."
"Yessir." They replied as they began to descend the hill.
"Honestly, we really didn't need the highest ranked fire essence users for this one child." Nix stated.
"Which is why you should let us cut loose a bit."
"Calm yourself Cardinal, the time is soon here to take back what is ours."
.....
"Which way was it again?" Shaedon questioned as he struggled to get back to the hostel.
Ash fell over the town like snow and lowered visibility while simultaneously absorbing moisture out of the air.
"Eliah did you see where your dad was having us stay?"
She stood there speechless, taking in all of the carnage around her that she's never experienced anything like before.
"Hey! Eliah!" Shaedon said as he placed both hands on her shoulders. "I promise to protect you, but need your help! Do you know how to get back to where my friends are?"
"...Mhm." She replied while nodding her head.
"Okay, then I'll follow you."
They began to run in the direction of the hostel before they were halted by a stream of water which intercepted their path.
"Eliah!"
"Daddy?" Eliah replied as she spun around.
"Get away from him." Elijah said aggressively.
"But he needs my help to-"
"What did I say!?" .
Eliah flinched from the aggressive tone her father displayed towards her.
"We shouldn't have taken in you problem people. How can you tell me that this isn't their fault?"
"Elijah hold on!" Jayson said as he ran up to them.
The stream of water immediately left from behind Shaedon and Eliah, and swirled around where Jayson was standing.
"You Ignus people are nothing but a plague on this land. I shouldn't have allowed you in here to begin with."
"Elijah this isn't the time for this, I will go through you if I have to." Jayson stated.
While that was going on, Shaedon realized that there were two shadows coming towards them from the thick ash cloud. One of the shadows began to emit a red light and Shaedon almost immediately knew what it was. He sprinted into action, running in front of the unsuspecting Elijah, at the same time a fireball flew towards him. Elijah turned and noticed the ball of fire, but was too late to give a reaction. Shaedon was engulfed by the flame and launched onto the floor.
"Shaedon!" Jayson yelled.
"Chalk another one up for me." Travis said.
"I'm letting you have the smaller fish, cause the big catch is right here." Clint replied.
Jayson displayed a look of rage as two of the Ignus insurgents finally approached him.