"..."
"It's cold." Jayson said softly in his head. "Everything... is cold. Where am I? The air is so thick that I could barely breathe. Wait... I can't breathe."
Jayson was one of the thirteen unfortunate individuals who were not able to evacuate Aestus when everyone else did. Since he was alone and lacking the knowledge on how to perform the bubble technique, Jayson exhausted his own water essence reserve as he became one of the final few trying to hold up the entire lake. Of course, that task would prove far more difficult than what the young man could manage, so he ended up being engulfed by the falling water. The force and pressure of the water swept Jayson away, giving him zero control of his body as he was tossed around like a rag in a washing machine. It wasn't long before Jayson was struck by a stray piece of debris that knocked him completely unconscious. He then drifted through the wreckage of the village, slowly taking water into his lungs since he was unable to control his own breathing in that state. If he remained in this situation for another two minutes without resuscitation, Jayson would suffer from brain damage and die from drowning. Luckily for him, a creature of a divine nature intervened just in time. From the darkness of the depths appeared a pair of bright blue eyes that ominously illuminated Jayson's body and all of the nearby debris. The gargantuan mouth of the Leviathan then crept open and swallowed everything before it. Jayson included.
.....
Eight Days Later
Chirp Chirp Chirp Chirp
"Ngh... Ah..." Jayson groaned.
Once again, Jayson found himself waking up in an unfamiliar location all by himself. This time, he woke up inside of a two man tent with nothing but a quilt between him and the ground.
Chirp Chirp
Very slowly and in a groggy manner, Jayson pushed himself up into a seated position where he found a bright red cardinal hopping around the entrance of his tent. The bird seemingly inspected Jayson as the two stared at each other curiously before the cardinal hopped away. For some odd reason, Jayson felt compelled to follow after it, so he fell forward and crawled his way outside of the tent.
"Good morning." Said Kaden, who was sitting with his legs crossed just outside of Jayson's tent. "I don't think you should be moving around so soon."
"... What are you doing here?" Asked Jayson.
"I've gotten into the habit of meditating to start my day."
"No, I mean... ngh."
In an attempt to push himself up further, Jayson collapsed to the ground midway through his sentence.
"Like I said, you shouldn't move around much yet." Kaden restated. "You've been out cold for over a week, so your body needs time to regain its strength."
"Ha... ha... a week? What happened?"
"Well, only you know what happened to you. But as for everything else... Aestus was destroyed."
"... I remember that." Jayson replied after displaying a face of confliction. "The lake fell, and I wasn't able to make it out. After that... I don't know."
Kaden looked over at an obviously distraught Jayson who was struggling to piece together information from his own memories.
"C'mon, I'll lend you my shoulder." Said Kaden as he lifted Jayson and placed his arm around his shoulders. "Let's move from here, then I'll catch you up to speed."
.....
Kaden took Jayson not too far away but inside the trunk of a fallen redwood tree that had started to be hollowed out. For ten minutes, Kaden recalled the events of what happened eight days ago and how things have changed since then.
"Twelve bodies have been recovered from what used to be Aestus, and six guards died during the fight on the mountain." Kaden stated. "That brings the death total to eighteen. Over twenty thousand people had to witness their homes being destroyed, and an ancient diety was released in the process. Now that creature is god knows where while..."
After a brief glance over, Kaden noticed that Jayson's hands were trembling, and he was desperately trying to hide it while absorbing all of the information.
"... Thank you, man." Kaden said while looking off into the distance.
"... What are you thanking me for?" Jayson replied almost angrily as he thought Kaden was mocking him.
"The fire essence technique you taught me saved my life. If it wasn't for you, I would've been roasted by a dragon." Kaden stated with a slight chuckle. "... There's one thing that became very clear to me during that entire ordeal. I'm scared to die. I don't think I was before, or at least, I don't think I cared. But now I do. I don't wanna feel that pain ever again. Better yet, I don't wanna leave this world in that way. So I've made up my mind to become stronger, to the point where I can deal with any problem that comes my way. And to do that, I'm gonna need you."
"Me?"
"Yeah, you. Who else is gonna teach me how to use fire essence?" Kaden questioned. "If I'm being real, those Ignus guys got something coming for 'em. Whether or not the Elders decide to retaliate or not is up in the air, but either way, I'm not letting them off the hook for what they did."
"You say that, but still want my help?" Jayson asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm one of them... an Ignian. We're needlessly violent towards others and ourselves. Untrustworthy, callous, selfish, and manipulative to a fault. It's amazing that we even honored the peace agreement for as long as we did."
"Quit saying we." Kaden exclaimed. "You're your own person. I didn't really get to talk to him much, but all those words you said just now sound like that Kajar guy, not you. Everybody has their own conscience that helps them make their own decisions, so don't lump yourself in with those guys. And if I'm not mistaken, you're just as much an Aestian as much as you are an Ignian."
Jayson was fully aware of everything Kaden was saying already. However, still being a teenager, Jayson was prone to letting the expectations of others dictate his own actions. The idea of being the bridge that would finally connect Ignus and Aestus heavily influenced Jayson's train of thought. He felt obligated to become the person both his biological mother and Mother Merina believed he could become. Because of those expectations, Jayson had become oblivious to a simple fact Kaden had just vocalized. "You are your own person." At the end of the day, only you can define who you are.
"... I... I want to make a difference." Jayson said reluctantly. "I don't want anymore innocent people dying. I want to help everyone."
SWISH SWOOSH
Interrupting the boys' conversation was three streams of water that appeared from seemingly out of nowhere.
"Are you trying to start an uproar, Kaden?" Mai questioned as she came into view before them. "You're lucky it was me who noticed he was missing and not another guard."
"Relax, I just wanted to speak with him for a bit." Kaden replied. "You're not diving today?"
"Not anymore. Jayson Hillinger, I'll be taking you to the elders immediately for questioning."
"Not wasting any time I see."
"... I understand. I'll go with you." Jayson answered cooperatively.
"I'm coming with." Kaden declared.
"Kaden -"
"I have a request to make to the elders, and besides, I never said we were done talking."
Mai didn't even bother to argue with Kaden. She only sighed and proceeded to lead the way.
"I can tell you now, don't mind her rough exterior. She's probably one of the few people in the village that actually trusts you." Kaden said to Jayson. "The general consensus right now is that you and your group had something to do with the attack, so trust is something you're not really working with right now. Remember that."
As almost to prove his point, Kaden followed behind Mai without even looking back at Jayson. If he had felt the desire to flee, there would not have been anything to prevent him from doing so.
.....
Following the destruction of Aestus, the displaced villagers found refuge in the Redwood Forest. At least, that was the case for the majority. About one hundred Aestians decided to dissociate from the village and find a new home elsewhere. Very quickly, the news about what transpired in the capital had spread across the entire water continent, and now people from across the land were traveling to the Redwoods in order to provide assistance of any form to the Aestian people.
"This is different." Jayson said, looking around.
"What is?" Kaden questioned.
"They're all staring at me, but it's different this time. Ever since I've arrived on the water continent, the people have given me and my family a look of distrust, which is understandable. But now their gaze is full of detest."
"Well, you can't really blame them. Anybody related to the fire continent will probably get that treatment from them for a long time."
"Psssst. Hey, Mister!" Kumori exclaimed from behind a pile of timber.
"Hmm?"
Jayson paused as he noticed the little girl trying to get his attention.
"Is it true you're from Ignus?" Kumori asked, trying to stay hidden.
"Uhh..."
"Being nosy again?" Mai asked as she placed her hand on Kumori's head.
"Mmm, I'm not being nosy. I'm being curious."
"Hey Kumo, do you know what curiosity did to the cat?" Kaden questioned as he squated down to Kumori's level.
"Kaden, I'll punch you." Mai stated.
"Sounds a lot like curiosity."
"C'mon, let's keep moving. Talk to you later, Kumo."
"Laterrr!"
Kaden and Mai walked ahead, playfully joking around with each other, showing signs that their relationship had steadily grown for the better.
"... I am from Ignus." Jayson stated to Kumori.
"Huh?"
"Sorry about everything..."
As curious as Kumori was to know more about him, she was left speechless after seeing the depressed expression on Jayson's face.
.....
A spiral staircase around the trunk of a redwood tree led the trio up to a wooden platform where they encountered Damien on guard duty.
"What's the passcode you two?" Damien asked playfully.
"Splish splash, I'm taking a bath." Kaden said with confidence.
"No, but that amused me, you can go through."
"What'd I say? Everybody likes my jokes."
"Yeah, yeah, c'mon." Mai replied.
The two walked by Damien while Jayson followed close behind them. Damien didn't make eye contact with him at all. In fact, he acted almost as if Jayson wasn't even there. Conversating on the edge of the platform and overlooking the production of the village were Elders Treya, Aira, Claire, and Faye.
"Mai, isn't your dive squad scheduled for today?" Maleah questioned as she noticed the trio approaching them.
"I told them to go ahead of me, and I'd catch up midday." Replied Mai. "I assumed this would take priority."
Mai jestured to the still groggy Jayson as he took two steps forward towards the elders.
"Good morning, elders." Said Jayson respectfully.
"Good morning, Jayson. It's good to see you're in good health." Maleah stated.
"Thank you."
It was quite obvious that Jayson was feeling dejected about everything with the way that he couldn't even meet any of the elders eye to eye.
"...Since everyone is already present, why don't we get straight to it?" Treya suggested.
"Everyone? Weren't there two others?" Jayson questioned.
"Sister Mildred has been missing ever since that day." Faye answered sternly.
"I-I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?" Treya asked.
"..."
"There's a chance she's still alive somewhere." Maleah stated to Jayson's surprise. "After we evacuated the area, a general census was done to get a grasp on how many people were missing following the incident. That number, unfortunately, was thirteen. Of course, the next step would be locating those individuals, but we can't allow just anyone to enter Lake Aestus with the way it is now. So we established a special unit called 'divers'. Their job is recovery."
"That goes for any usable resources they may find amidst the wreckage, as well as the bodies of any possibly deceased individuals." Faye added.
"Mai here is one of these divers."
"Since we've started, we have recovered twelve bodies." Mai stated. "All of the missing people, with the exception of Elder Mildred. It's been four days now since we've recovered the last body."
"This is why you think she's possibly alive." Jayson concluded.
"... We have our hopes." Said Faye in a melancholic tone. "As for Brother Alex, he's been suspended from the council."
"Huh?"
"For withholding information from the council that could have possibly prevented our current reality if known sooner." Maleah stated. "So for the time being, this is the current Elder Council."
"Jayson, amongst the thirteen missing villagers, there was one other person who has seemingly vanished since the incident." Treya explained. "We've talked to a few of the kids that you brought to Aestus with you."
After hearing that last statement, Jayson became visibly more interested in where Treya was going with this conversation.
"Tell me, what do you know about Camie?"