"Is it really okay for me to come here on my own?" Kaden pondered to himself.
On the far outskirts of Aestus, Kaden found himself traversing an unbeaten path, which led to a well-kept cottage at the end of the trail. During his fruitless search for Elder Aira, Kaden instead encountered Elder Treya, whom he then expressed his concerns to. Treya then gave Kaden the directions to this house, which was roughly one mile outside of the main village. She only had one other thing to say to him before he went there, and that was:
"Do what you feel is necessary." She said before walking away.
The puzzled Kaden took those words without knowing where he should need them. Nevertheless, he went forward towards the cottage.
Knock Knock Knock
"Ding dong, anybody home?" Kaden exclaimed as he stood before the front door of the cottage.
Footsteps from inside were easily heard from the outside, but after a few seconds passed, there was silence once again.
"Should I knock again?" Kaden thought as he stood there waiting for a response.
He raised his fist to the door once more, but before an impact was made, the door swung inward, revealing one of the inhabitants of this cottage.
"Is there an issue?" Jayson questioned.
Kaden took a second to inspect the person he had met once before.
"How old is this kid?" Kaden questioned in his head. "He's tall, but he looks like a high schooler."
"You're that guy that came through the gate back then?" Jayson asked.
"Yeah, that's me. We didn't properly introduce ourselves last time. Kaden Adams." He said while extending his hand out to him.
Jayson stared at Kaden's open hand with an indifferent expression before grasping and shaking it just once.
"Jayson Hillinger." Jayson replied. "Is there a reason for your sudden visit today?"
"Well, I heard through the grapevine that you're a fire essence user." Kaden stated as he turned to look out into the front yard of the cottage.
"Through the grapevine?"
"I doubt you're gonna believe me, but I actually am a fire essence user too."
"..."
Amidst the silence, Jayson watched Kaden with a suspicious glare until Kaden finally turned to look back at him.
"I knew you weren't gonna believe me, but could you at least say somethin'."
"I'm sorry, but who exactly are you?" Jayson questioned.
"...They say I'm a lost soul." Kaden answered in a melancholic tone. "I died in another world and was about to pass on to the afterlife, but for some reason no one knows, I ended up here instead. So now I'm completing the gates so I can possibly go home."
"..."
"What, you still don't believe me?"
"It isn't that." Jayson replied as he stepped outside and closed the door. "I can tell that you're being serious. I've read a little about lost souls when I was younger, cause someone I know was really interested in that sort of stuff. Personally, I thought that kind of stuff was all just water continent folklore. Shape-shifting cats, a lake that could revive the dead, and people traveling here from different realms all seem like superstitions."
"And moving water and fire with a mist that comes from your body doesn't?" Kaden sarcastically questioned.
"I'm guessing no such thing exists where you came from?"
"Nothing even close to it."
"I can't even begin to imagine a world without essences." Jayson stated.
"Well, that's the world I'm trying to get back to. It would help me a lot if you taught me how to use fire essence."
"Even if I had the time to do that, I'm not permitted to start any fires while I'm down here."
"You wouldn't need to start any." Kaden quickly assured. "I just want you to teach me how to draw the essence out of my body. After that, I'll teach myself if I have to."
Jayson then paused before slowly approaching Kaden while staring him directly in the eyes.
"Why are you so eager to return home?" Jayson questioned.
"What kind of question is that? I'm eager to go home because it's my home."
"That isn't what I'm seeing in your eyes."
"My eyes?" Kaden questioned as he took a step back.
Jayson matched Kaden's step backward with his own large step into Kaden's personal space.
"Avery is much better at this than I am, but even I can see you're lost."
"What're you talkin' about?" Kaden asked with his annoyance growing.
"The eyes are gateways to the soul. At least, that's what Avery says. One good look, and you should be able to determine the character of a person. And right now, it appears that you're in a state of loss."
"Get outta my face!" Kaden exclaimed while pushing Jayson away.
"... Sorry for intruding on your space."
There was a slight look of regret on Kaden's face, which he quickly masked before turning away.
"It's a simple yes or no question." Kaden stated. "Can you help me or not?"
"... Fine then."
A slight shock of surprise had hit Kaden as he was no longer expecting him to cooperate.
"I understand that there isn't anyone else in the village that can help you with this. So I'll assist you, but only with drawing out your essence. Anything beyond that, you're on your own."
"... Appreciate it." Kaden replied hesitantly. "I'll swing back tomorrow to start."
Without ever looking back, Kaden departed from the front steps of the cottage and began walking home.
"I know you're all listening!" Jayson exclaimed. "Starting tomorrow, I'll be helping that guy who just left here, so expect to not see me around as often from tomorrow onward."
Just as Jayson figured, all of the kids, as well as Avery, were listening in on his conversation with Kaden.
"That guy didn't look friendly." Sayu said while pouting and leaning onto Nakayla.
"I'm sure Jay knows what he's doing." Nakayla reassured her.
"He most definitely does." Avery said with a grin.
.....
The Next Day
Kaden was readying himself to leave the comfort of his treehouse and to once again make his way to the edge of the village. He opened the hatch door and began climbing down when something floating in the air just outside his periphery caught his attention. A blue bubble casually floated right before Kaden.
"Do I know you?" Kaden questioned to obviously no response.
He ignored the bubble after a few seconds and continued to climb down to the ground. After walking for a short distance, he quickly realized that the bubble was following him, which prompted him to inspect the bubble once again.
"Is this one of the Elders?" Kaden thought. "I don't remember Mai mentioning any sort of bubble powers from any of them."
"It's a message." Said Kuria, startling Kaden as she suddenly appeared beside him.
"Where'd you come from?"
"On my way to class." Kuria said in a monotonous tone. "There's a message in the waterball for you. To open it, all you have to do is shroud your hand with water essence and penetrate the ball. Then, just spread the water, and you'll see the message."
"You sound like an NPC." Kaden replied.
"Maybe I am."
"Wait, do you -"
"I don't know what it means, I'm just humoring you." Kuria quickly stated.
"Heh, I prefer you over the other twin."
Kuria visibly flinched upon hearing that remark from Kaden, but she quickly covered it by pointing up and directing his attention back to the bubble.
"You should try opening it." She suggested.
Taking heed of Kuria's directions, Kaden attempted to open the bubble, and with just one attempt, he was able to do so. The water formed into a very short message.
"Follow along to the training location."
-J.H.
"You're training somewhere different?" Kuria questioned. "But who is J.H.?"
"Do me a favor, and don't tell Mai that I'm -"
Before Kaden could have finished that thought, the water from the message formed into an arrow before swiftly flying off.
"You should follow that." Kuria stated.
"Yeah, I'm going." Kaden replied as he sprinted after it.
Kuria's facial expression didn't change in the slightest as she watched Kaden run off. She did sigh heavily before kicking a rock off the path and continuing onward to her class.
.....
"I know he said he'd be going to train that guy today, but I figured he'd still be here when we woke up." Nakayla stated as she, Camie, and Tanner inspected his empty room.
"He probably knew we'd ask to go with him." Camie said.
"Of course he'd know, this place is boring."
"It really is." Tanner replied as Nakayla began walking around Jayson's room.
"A part of me wishes we were still out adventuring." Nakayla stated. "It almost feels like we're being kept captive in here."
"But Avery said this is the best place for us to be right now. Yeah, traveling was fun, but there was danger everywhere we went. Except for here."
"Even so -"
THUD
As Nakayla turned to face Tanner and Camie, she accidentally knocked over Jayson's bag, which was open on the ground and leaning against his bed. A metallic sphere rolled out of the bag onto the wooden floor.
"What's that?" Camie questioned.
"I forgot about this thing." Nakayla stated as she carefully picked up the item. "Remember when Jay got knocked out in Himawari? Avery said he was holding this in his hand with a tight grip even though he was unconscious."
"Does Jay know what it is?" Tanner questioned.
"How would I know?"
"There you guys are." Avery stated as she walked up behind Tanner and Camie. "Have you guys seen Shaedon this morning?"
"No, we just woke up." Camie answered.
"Shaedon's missing?" Tanner asked.
"... I have a good idea where he went." Avery replied. "You all please stay here while I go get him. That kid is way too good at moving in silence."
.....
"Bro... what the hell... where even are we?" Kaden questioned as he struggled to catch his breath.
After chasing behind the arrow for nearly half an hour, Kaden finally found Jayson on the very edge of Aestus. The water that flowed through this area was a bright blue color, and the air itself felt heavy.
"Morning." Jayson said as he looked out over the village. "This should be a good place for you to practice. It's a geothermal area, at least the edge of one."
"That's why I'm so hot."
"The heat here should help you out a bit. When I was a kid, I trained inside of a hot springs every day when I first began using fire essence."
"You talk like you're not still a kid." Kaden exclaimed.
"Does it matter if I am? My problems aren't waiting for me to mature."
"Thou speeketh wiser beyond thy age."
"Come on, let's get started." Jayson said as he removed his shirt. "I have my own reasons for why I decided to train you, so I should tell you that I will be looking for a repayment in the near future."
"How near?" Kaden questioned.
"... I don't know. But I feel it will be very soon."
"Just so you know, I don't fully trust you. I just need you. There has to be a reason why everyone here despises your people."
"That's fair. Then you should know I don't trust you either, and if I were you, I wouldn't trust me too. Trust is earned, not freely given. I only request that you judge me and my family with your own eyes and not with the words you hear from others."
"... Fair enough." Kaden replied after glancing at the ground for a brief moment.
"Let's begin."
.....
"If there were any intruders, Elder Faye would've sniffed them out by now." Ty said as he walked through the swampy and uninhabited area of Aestus. "Besides, no one could even get down here without being identified by Elder Faye."
"Yeah, but it's still very important to monitor this area, especially with the winter season approaching." Damien explained. "I'm guessing you don't know what's around here yet?"
"Not a clue, but I guess it's something important given how Elder Alex was talking about this place."
"Important is an understatement."
"You're not gonna tell me?" Ty questioned.
"I don't trust you." Damien quickly responded.
"C'monnn, aren't we friends?"
As the two guards continue their patrol through the area, a shadowy figure pertrudes their head out from a tree behind them. With very light footsteps, the figure quickly crosses the path and disappears into some bushes. Damien pauses and glances over his shoulder for a brief moment.
"What is it?" Ty asked.
"... Nothing, thought I heard something."