Kai is wide awake in the middle of the night.

He steps out of his temporary assigned sleeping quarters, his bare feet meeting the cold marble stone floor. The narrow hallway is dark and empty, and there isn’t a single person in sight when he perks his head around to check – it is, after all, past midnight.

Closing the door behind him quietly, he begins making his way to the centre room. His room is perhaps the last in the long corridor, so he has to walk quite a bit before reaching his destination.

Apart from darkness and seclusion, there’s also no sound except for his light footsteps that are heard in such serenity.

The Kingdom of Caelus’ great walls never held Kai, so he believes that this “secret base” of theirs would not make any difference. He’s sneaked out a couple times before, and this is nothing compared to the entire kingdom.

There is a reason. He doesn’t want to do this if he hasn’t a choice – he desperately wants to keep a low profile, after everything they’ve been through. A lot of time has already been wasted when he’s stuck with the inner debate. But here he is, ultimately choosing what he will, without fail, do under any circumstances, what is necessary, even if it’s less wise. He needs to see his family.

They are probably worried sick by now – maybe even thinking he’s dead. Kai never leaves the home for more than an entire day, and he’s certainly never not tell them about it, no matter how briefly he tells them about where he’s headed to.

Yet it is a rather half-baked plan. It’s not about himself; rather, Kai is worried his family might be endangered if he pays them a visit. The warning they’d saw earlier this morning already marks him as a criminal. The worst thing is, he isn’t even sure if his face is already sensitive and being hunted, and he is less sure whether his family is already aware that he is involved in this mess.

Nevertheless, the best thing he can think of now is to simply leave them a note and check if they are well just from afar. As long as they are fine, his uneasy heart will be lightened. There will be no risks if they do not make contact.

When he finally makes it to the centre room though, he stops dead in his tracks.

Kai thinks he’s heard wrong, but now that his footsteps aren’t pounding on the ground anymore, he is certain he hears sounds.

Even if he continues walking, his footsteps aren’t making the only sound. Because he’s not alone.

Heart racing, Kai scans his surroundings. The centre room is empty. But when he closes his eyes and even holds his breath to try and make out where the sounds come from or even what the sounds are, his heart only begins pounding faster and louder in his ears.

Because he has already made up an excuse if he’s ever caught – although really unlikely, in his opinion, he isn’t afraid, only curious. Just what are the sounds, so soft and distant, yet so close?

Nobody should be awake.

Taking a few random steps around and about the centre room as quietly as possible, Kai stops again when he finally hears the sounds clearer. They come from one of the many corridors sprouting from the centre room.

Cautiously, he closes in on the source. Although he can’t seem to see anyone, he hears it clearly now – those are voices, as soft as murmurs. But who is it, and where are they?

His curiosity grows when there is clearly no one in the deserted corridor; he is obviously standing alone in the dark. To make things more suspicious, Kai only realises then that the hallway he’s standing in is the furthest from the centre room and the most isolated one of all corridors – it has no rooms, no nothing. He’s noticed, when they’d arrived earlier today along with Rose that this corridor isn’t populated and isn’t filled with people like how the others are. And since it’s located far away from the other corridors and hallways, he is sure the voices aren’t from anywhere else but here.

So where are the voices coming from?

When he walks deeper and further into the dark hall, the voices become clearer and audible.

“… Are we sure?”

It is a familiar voice Kai remembers: General Trajan’s. He remembers it all too well, the memory of his challenge at the door is burned at the back of his mind. If he has to name some people that he should not get involved with, Trajan will probably be almost the top of his list; he is too strict and stubborn for the greater good.

As he presses his ear lightly against the uneven wall where he believes the voices are coming from, he hears another voice, but this time an unfamiliar one.

“… Risky. We have to get them all… potential threats.”

Kai frowns. He leans closer, but the voices are still rather unclear and muffled; although he does make out bits and pieces, he still has no clue what they’re talking about. After a while of not knowing what they’re talking about and even where the voices are coming from, he nearly gives up – that is, until he hears something that catches his attention.

“Do not leave any single one of them alive.”

What are they talking about?

Taken over by curiosity and anxiety, Kai leans closer to the wall again, this time pressing his hands to the wall. But he certainly did not expect the wall to budge, even if it’s only ever so slightly.

And his heart skips a beat, racing quickly when he hears the unfamiliar voice say, “what was that?”

Clearly, they are having a secret discussion in a secret room. There’s a hint of light lining the opening, where Kai has just managed to open. He freezes, not breathing until he hears Trajan, after a quiet pause, say, “it’s just the place being old.”

Although he is aware it’s not nice to eavesdrop, he is very suspicious of their topic.

But in a split second, he jerks up, suddenly alert and realising something nearby. Adrenaline rushing through his veins as he regains his senses only then after the sudden scare, he readies himself to burn whatever it is, yet it’s too late – something hit him in the head immediately as he turns around, hard, and he falls into nothingness.

*****

When Kai comes to, he finds people hovering above him through his blurry and hazy vision, sending him a strong feeling of déjà vu. Apart from the light-headedness, his senses are normal. A cold sensation is draped over his head, it’s wet and icy.

“He’s alive!” He hears Rose’s loud, energetic voice, and finds it funny how it is able to easily lift his heavy mood.

When he shuts his eyes to get rid of the vagueness, a familiar soft hand touches Kai’s forehead gently. He opens his eyes again at the touch, flinching slightly. His eyes meet a pair of sea blue eyes. “Kai?”

“I’m not dead,” he says wearily, pushing Alaina’s hand away. “No touching.”

“What hit you?” Lancaster asks, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

Wincing, Kai sits up clumsily on the bed he’s been lying down on for however long he doesn’t know, with the help of Alaina. “What happened?”

“That’s our question,” Lloyd says. “What happened to you?”

A haze seemingly clouds his memory, because he doesn’t remember why is he currently struggling to stay conscious with a heavy head and a searing pain on his right forehead. When he lifts his hand to the source of the pain, his fingers brush a gauze pad on his forehead.

“What is this?” Kai asks, frowning, but the others in the room only look at him in concern.

He remembers staying up late in the night, and waiting for everyone to sleep. He remembers walking down the dark corridor from his room, then pacing the centre room, and thinking about his family. Yet, he can’t seem to remember what he should remember – the question still remains. How did he end up here?

It’s as if that certain part of his memory is gone.

“Did I fall?”

“Only you know,” Lloyd says, shrugging and raising an eyebrow.

“Were you attacked?” Lancaster suggests.

Kai mirrors Lancaster’s frown. “Don’t be stupid. I can burn anyone and everyone.” He runs his fingers through his bed hair, careful not to touch the gauze to prevent triggering the pain. “But the memory is hazy…”

“So, you don’t remember.” Lloyd’s eyes narrow as he allows his mind to search for plausible theories. “Maybe it’s because you hit your head; perhaps the memory will come to you soon.”

“At least you’re still alive,” Rose states.

“The world shall burn before I die.”

Alaina raises a brow at the statement, crossing her arms. “At least you haven’t lost your mind yet. What, do you have a habit of fainting?” she asks teasingly, a grin spreading across her face.

“No; but I did faint – twice, even – after meeting you. Do you have a habit of making people faint, then?” he asks back, not really sure what he’s saying.

Flustered, Alaina turns away, flicking her hand. “I take back my words, he’s lost it.” Her face brightens, turning pink. “Whatever. Just rest up, Pyro.”