Alex spent a few more weeks in the prison, with a handful of visits from the chief’s daughter as his only source of entertainment.
And it seemed he was her source of entertainment as well.
The chief had ignored her request, it seemed, but that was to be expected. Now, she only came here to talk whenever she was frustrated with her situation, or anxious about it all.
He was an outlet for her to lay out all of her problems. And Alex was an excellent listener.
She also wanted to learn more about him, so he told her. He told her exactly how he had come by her, how he had been dragged away by the Prison wall in the sky, never knowing where he had ended up.
It wasn’t until she mentioned that the inner desert was to the northeast that Alex finally realized that he had been teleported somewhere far to the west. It was the complete opposite direction of where he had been visiting from.
He told her more about the rest of the things that were fantastical to her. People flying around in boats, formations that could take you to literally any other part of the world, the freedom to cultivate beyond just the True Qi and have miraculous changes to their cultivation base.
She didn’t even believe him when he told her that there were hundreds of worlds out there just as strong as this one, and none of them were deserts. She also did not believe that most worlds out there were majority water.
It was just impossible for her to imagine.
A few more weeks passed, and Xichen’s visits lessened. She explained it when she visited the next time.
“I keep training and eating, and training and eating, and yet no matter how much I do it, I can’t seem to get strong fast enough,” she said. “What am I doing wrong?”
“This takes time,” Alex said. “You can’t rush through it.”
“But I have to,” she said. “I’m in a hurry.”
“I’m sorry, but you can’t rush through it,” Alex said. He truly wanted to help her, but there was nothing he could really do from inside here. Not that he was sure there was anything he could do once he was out there.
The best thing he could most likely do was injure the other two so that they took longer to become an Extolite. But that wasn’t going to happen since he was never going to leave this place.
The chief had made it clear whenever he came around.
It had been nearly five months since Alex had been imprisoned when Xichen came to him with a distressed look on her face.
“What’s going on?” Alex asked, concerned for her. As much as he hated her father for keeping him here, he cared for the girl. She hadn’t done anything to harm him.
“Fangmi,” she began. “There are rumors that he’s going to take the Extolite ceremony soon.”
“Already?” Alex asked. It was faster than he had thought it would be. “Do you have time to prepare for a ceremony of your own? How much have you improved?”
“Not enough,” she said. “What do I do?”
Alex had no answer. In many previous instances when he had seen someone be in trouble, he had always tried to help the person. In this instance, however, he was someone with no way of involving himself in the situation at all.
Within this prison, he was akin to an audience member, sitting in front of a theater play, enjoying the show on stage. He could only ever just watch them, and never influence the story of their play.
“I’m sorry,” Alex said. “But all I can say is that you have to prepare for the worst. There is nothing I can say or do that will be of help to you.”
Tears spilled out of Xichen’s face.
She knew this to be the truth, and yet, Alex’s words hurt her truly.
“This may be the last time I ever see you again,” she said. “If Fangmi becomes an Extolite, I will have to move to the Stoneclaws. I will never come back here again.”
Alex heard sadness in her words and found it reflected in himself.
“Whatever happens, stay strong,” Alex said. “Goodbye, Xichen.”
The woman nodded. “Goodbye, Alex.”
She was gone.
Alex hoped to see her again, but it was unlikely they would ever meet each other again. The Sunwardens hadn’t even begun preparing for the next ceremony, and yet the Stoneclaws were ready for theirs. That only meant that they were confident about the Fangmi fellow being able to pass the ceremony.
Alex could only hope that Fangmi failed.
“Well, how long am I going to be imprisoned for now?” Alex wondered. If the chief’s daughter were to marry off to someone else, he would have no need to keep Alex here.
“But then, he may be vindictive enough to keep me here forever.”
Alex sighed. “All I can do is get strong enough and leave this prison on my own. I can’t rely on someone else to get me out of here.”
With such a thought, Alex prepared for his years of loneliness, where his only source of distraction was the Intent training.
Weeks passed, and Xichen never returned. Alex wondered if she had been married already. The guards did not talk, nor express any emotion, so he could never know.
But then, a week after that, nearly a month and a half after she first claimed to be leaving forever, Xichen returned, this time with a wide smile on her face.
Alex raised an eyebrow, surprised. “What’s going on? Did Fangmi fail?”
“More than fail,” Xichen beamed. “He’s dead.”
Alex raised his eyebrow. “Really? How badly did he screw up?”
“Not just him,” she said. “His father is dead too, and so are most of the warriors he took with him to the ceremony. The Stoneclaws are in chaos.”
Alex was surprised. “Was the beast that strong?”
“No, it wasn’t the beast that killed them,” she said. “Rumor is, they encountered Death.”
