That night after his mother left his room, he lit his lantern once again, this time without the journal with him. He decided to gaze upon the night sky, counting the stars that could be seen above the high reaching walls.

Just how many stars are hidden by those walls?

Out of the corner of his eye, Mavis saw a light flash from one of the street corners. Shifting his gaze to the source of the light, he saw a young girl he knew very well, conjuring a small ball of light to get his attention. She had long flowing golden hair, with emerald green eyes that seemed to shine against the light.

Abigail.

As soon as she saw that Mavis noticed her, she gestured eagerly for him to come down. His room was on the second story of their cottage. He held his finger up to signal her to wait a moment as he returned her eager smile with a warm one of his own. Kneeling down next to his bed, he pulled out the journal before getting back up and blowing the fire out from the lantern. Carefully he crawled out of his window, checking both directions of the quiet, sleepy streets to make sure nobody was nearby. He was wearing a simple white tunic and white trousers, his usual night time garments. Abigail waited patiently, huddled against the corner of an alleyway as Mavis slowly stepped over the rickety shambles of his roof. The loud creaks couldn't be avoided as he stepped slowly, trying his best not to alert anybody of his mischief.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed onto the edge of the roof with one hand, hanging from the side of his house as he looked down, aiming his footing with the crate below him.

Simple drop, Mavis, Simple drop.

Letting his grip go, he dropped down to the crate, landing on it without injury. With a proud smirk, he gave a thumbs-up to Abigail as he quietly made his way over to her, clutching the journal to his chest.

"Are the others here?" Mavis asked, peeking around Abigal down the dark alley.

"They're waiting in the usual spot, come on." She nodded with a smile as she began to walk down the dark alley, with the moon as their only guiding light.

They soon came to a small hole through a stone wall, with an overgrown tree covering the top of the wall and nearly blocking the hole. The two children knelt down, going through the makeshift entrance as they arrived inside a small garden of sorts, with the ceiling being that of an overbearing tree. A lantern sat in the middle of the hidden hole-in-the-wall room,

In one corner sat a boy the same age as the pair that just entered, he had spikey black hair with fierce eyes that he inherited from his father. Across from him sat a meek girl, with olive hair, draped over her shoulders, bangs nearly covering her glasses. Huddled in the back was a boy a bit larger than the rest with tanner skin and burgundy hair with a ponytail.

Ash, the boy with the fierce eyes, and the most hot-headed of the bunch, waiting anxiously to explore the world outside. Misha, a girl dedicated to her studies, wanting to see the outside world to satisfy her hunt for knowledge. Tristan, the largest of the group, and the one who could be seen as both their enforcer and their protector. Abigail, a gentle yet ambitious girl with a gift for light magic. Then there's me, Mavis, the leader of this small yet ambitious group of children. We all met during our preliminary years in the academy, all sharing the same boundless desire for the outside world.

Together, we call ourselves "The Seekers". Since the day we formed this small team, we decided it was our mission to leave these walls on our own. We've studied the times the guards patrol the walls, their rotations, and which spots would be the best route to escape from.

Mavis stepped into the centre of the small hideout, setting his journey on the ground and opening it up for the others to see. He flipped to a page he left indented, lifting his gaze with a confident smile as he left his finger on the page for the others to look at.

"Frederick wrote it down here. The method he used to escape the walls when he was young. In the eastern district, he made small holes in the wall, just big enough to give him footing. He repeated this process for months, sneaking out every night to climb out slowly, carving new holes until he finally reached the top." Mavis explained with a beaming smile on his face, his eyes glimmered at this entry.

"Well, how did he even get down?" Ash asked, tossing a small ball between his hands as he gazed at Mavis with those fierce eyes of his.

"Easy, he brought a small hook with him and carved it onto the top of the wall, then tied a rope to it and climbed down that way. It should still be there, nobody stands atop the walls." Mavis answered as he ran his finger across the page.

"Are you sure the footholds are still there? What if they got filled in over the years, I mean, don't they run inspections on these sort of things?" Tristan asked, playing with his ponytail.

"He has a point," Ash added on.

"Don't worry, I already checked it out a few days ago. Listen, we've got our ticket out of here. This is the chance we've been looking for, we have it right in front of us." Mavis lifted the book.

"Then when are we doing this?" Ash asked again.

"I'd like to say tomorrow night but I'm sure you all need a bit more time to get ready. How does a week from tonight sound? We'll meet here then make our way to the eastern district during the darkest hour." Mavis gave his plan to them.

Abigail stood beside him, glancing at the book before she looked back up with a smile.

"I-I'm still not sure about this guys, we probably won't see our families ever again once we cross the walls." Misha hugged her knees.

Abigail sat down next to her, brushing her hair.

"We'll come back, for sure. When we return, we'll be heroes." Abigail assured Misha, holding her hand.

Mavis gave Abigail a nod of approvement and smiled, closing the book. Tristan nodded to himself before looking around the small base, then at Mavis.

"What if it isn't just the five of us that go?" Tristan asked suddenly, that question seemed to shift the atmosphere in the room.

Mavis rubbing his chin for a moment, pondering to himself before looking back at Tristan as he stretched.

"The more people we bring, the higher the chance this all goes bad. Fewer people means less suspicion, a mass of people will draw attention. If a large group of kids just vanished during the night, they would surely send out a team after us." Mavis answered.

"What makes you so sure they aren't going to send people after us with just the five of us leaving?" Ash tapped his foot against the ground.

"Because they live in fear of the outside. It's not like I know for a fact, but its common sense that the less of an event this is, the less of a chance they actually send people to retrieve us." Mavis waved his hands around as he explained. "Why are you even asking this question?" He looked between Ash and Tristan.

"Well, uh." Tristan had a faint blush appear on his cheeks as he averted his gaze.

Mavis chuckled and shook his finger, "I get it, there is a girl you like from the academy isn't there?"

"I wouldn't say "like" is the right way to put it." A rare flustered side of Tristan was on display in front of the others.

Ash slapped Tristan on the shoulder with a sly smile.

"Don't gotta hide anything from us, Trissy!" Ash teased, sitting down next to the flustered Tristan.

Mavis and Abigail briefly looked at each other before laughing at the situation, wiping away tears of laughter after settling down. Misha seemed to be lost in her own world, thinking deeply about something, just like Mavis had always done.

I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking we were siblings. Misha and I both share that same thirst for knowledge that is outside of our natural reach, losing sight of the reality in front of us to fantasize about what unknown could lie out there.

One week from tonight, we'll be free. Free to find the answers we seek, free to find new questions to ask ourselves.