As usual, Medea was doing her highly activities in Etherium. But ever since Maya escaped with the one she was supposed to bring to her, she'd been more than angry. Every day she had been furious. She branded Maya as a traitor, making every one of her followers feel hatred towards the one who escaped with the girl who has been suspected of coming from the unknown fire nobody knew the source of. Traitors have never been liked. All their rights have been taken away whenever someone was branded as one by someone important. And who would be more important than the queen?
The Nullbounders had been actively looking for the Ashborn after they attempted killing the queen, but after years of trying they finally gave up. Now their main target was Maya, who the queen was setting a bounty on. And right now, Medea was giving a speech to a crowd outside the castle, setting said bounty on Maya.
"I'm offering 5 000 gold coins to whoever can bring that traitor to me. It's not dead or alive this time. I'm only accepting her alive," she said.
For an obvious reason, only bringing her alive in was acceptable. Medea didn't want her revenge by seeing her dead. The sick woman wanted to torture and torment Maya as she watched her die. But luckily for now, she hadn't been caught by the Nullbounders yet.
Speaking of not getting caught, Maya and Hexa were in their small apartment on the found island. They had been living together since they arrived a few years ago. Jennifer had become a close ally who agreed to help them settle in the lush village since the start.
Hexa's head had quieted down. Until one day when she was sitting alone on the couch. She suddenly heard two loud voices shouting at eachoter.
"Help me!", one of them shouted. It was her mother's voice. The memory of the voice she had cherished in her memory and it was now it was trying to destroy her again.
"The same will happen to my brother!" was shouted by a voice that sounded the same as her own inner voice, which made ot more terrifying.
"Come with me! It's lonely! Die!", her mother's voice screamed at the top of her lungs. It made Hexa cover her ears, which didn't help.
It's just thoughts. It's just my overactive mind, Hexa tried to calm herself down by thinking. It didn't help at all, though. She was not calming down. She may have not became the Embercaller's minion in Ashfall, but she definitely still heard those terrifying, threatening voices that thing was probably causing her to experience.
Even with no explanation on why that creature wanted her specifically, it was definitely sure it hated the fact they had escaped the island before it could keep her on the island. But maybe the voices were right. Maybe her brother was actually in danger, or were they just trying to lure her in like they did last time? This was making her anxious.
Thinking did lessen her hallucinative voices, but it also tired her out. Her eyelids were getting heavier and heavier every passing second of trying to think more. The couch suddenly felt more comfortable, causing her to fall asleep before Maya even got home.
On the other side of the door, Maya was already outside. She turned the doorknob and stepped in. The quiet felt unusual to her, since usually Hexa had greeted her whenever she came back from town. But when there was no immediate greeting, she was starting to get worried about her.
Maya had planned to investigate the Embercaller's weaknesses and powers when she gets home, but that was forgotten when she stepped into the living room and saw Hexa sleeping on it, cradling a pillow in her arms. It would have been hard for her to admit out loud, but she thought it was the most adorable thing she had seen in years.
Her profession in Etherium had hardened her, and she knew she needed to work on research, do she avoided waking up her sleeping partner. She looked cold, though. It seemed like she had fallen asleep on accident. Maya took one of the blankets and covered Hexa with it, her own lips curling into a final smile before she walked to her office room.