Arthur opened his eyes early the next morning, he had slept by Kira's side all night. He picked himself up and went into the temple, to find Miko and Jin still asleep, with only Hazel awake. She stood in front of the statue of the woman.
The woman wore a robe, and she held a staff in her hand. Her features, albeit slightly covered by dust and vegetation, were still beautiful. Hazel stood in front of the statue, rooted to the ground, as she stared at it.
"What are you doing?" Arthur asked, and Hazel turned around and looked at him with those sorrowful eyes of hers. He didn't understand what was wrong, but he couldn't ask. Maybe it was her trauma, he thought.
"This statue… It feels alive." Hazel said as her eyes went back to the statue. Arthur was puzzled, as he used his rune when he got here and there was no life in this place.
Hazel walked toward the statue and placed her hand on its base. She removed the vegetation gently, her eyes slightly watering.
"Yesterday, when Erin held me captive, I…" Hazel felt her tears stream down her face. She couldn't look at Arthur in the face, so she bit her lips as she forced down the sobs. "I… hated you for it." A sob leaked from her mouth, but she didn't want it to stop her. "Even after all the times that you saved me," Her head touched the base of the statue as tears kept streaming down. "I'm so sorry."
Arthur felt his heart aching at this sight. He wouldn't say he was okay with her hating him for yesterday, but it was still hard to call her ungrateful after all that happened. She was only human.
He took a step forward as he reached his hand to pat her back, but the hall started rumbling. A bright light shined from the statue as its eyes lit up with sky blue colors. The rumbling woke everyone up, and they witnessed the statue bathing in mana as a voice resounded in the temple.
"Why are you crying, young one?" A gentle and ethereal voice came from the shining statue. Hazel was too shocked to wipe away her tears that have gathered under her eyes. Before she could say anything, the gentle voice came again.
"What is it that you wish?" The voice asked again, and everyone felt like it was ridiculous. The overflowing mana proved otherwise, however, as it was enough to make them unable to breathe.
"I…" Hazel wiped away her tears as she tried to think of what to say. She wanted to get stronger. To live the way she wanted without being pushed around. The only thing on her mind was regret. She hated this feeling.
"I just want to live with no regrets."
"That's an answer I like." The statue smiled, shocking Arthur and the rest further. "Of everyone I have encountered over the years, only you can hold my legacy. Only you have a gate to the world of souls."
Everyone understood what she meant by this, as Hazel was someone who could only summon souls. Even though it sounded impressive, the souls she could summon were only a few.
Hazel's heart was the most chaotic, as the words felt like a divine intervention from the heavens. All of her life was filled with misery and ridicule because of her ability, but now she was being told that she was the only one who could receive a legacy.
"What… do I need to do?" Hazel took a step forward toward the statue, asking with longing. She was tired of being bullied, pushed around, and being forced to betray her principles and live with regrets.
"To receive my legacy, you need to find my body. In the far north is a castle of ice, surrounded by ice golems and demonic monsters. Defeat the castle's lord to retrieve my body, only then can I pass down my legacy to you.
"Remember my name, child, I am The Witch of Icy Islands, Anabel. Let your friends help you in your quest, and may the gods bestow upon you a better fate than mine."
The light in the statue flickered before disappearing, the hall was quiet again with only four shocked people standing there. A sense of déjà vu overtook Arthur, and he remembered the time he received his legacy. This time, it was Hazel's turn to receive hers.
The others weren't as calm, as legacies were rare despite being known. Receiving a legacy was like receiving extra abilities, further strengthening the receiver of the legacy.
Only Hazel stood there with her body, trembling all over. After calming herself, she turned around and looked at the other three. Her eyes full of determination, she bowed her head deeply as she asked with a shaky voice.
"Please, everyone. Lend me your help."
***
"Why did you agree to help her?" Miko asked, bewildered, while she looked at Arthur's back. He picked the rabbit they had hunted and looked at her, also bewildered by her question.
"First, she's my friend. Second, isn't it obvious that we need her to get stronger to leave this world?"
"Are you talking about the plan you had earlier?" Miko asked, feeling her patience wearing thin.
"Obviously, why?"
"It's just stupid. Why would we risk ourselves to do this, when we can just look at other ways to receive an insignia!" It was the first time she raised her voice at him, and he looked at her calmly. His golden eyes resembling the sun as if they were its daughters.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"I…" Miko looked for words to say, but she failed to answer him. Why did she care about this? She was just repaying his debt of saving her life, feeding her when she was the weakest.
She then realized it. It was this quality of his that bothered her the most. This quality of always helping others if he can, even if it didn't bring him any benefit. He was the only one here not considering the trial an opportunity to rise above the rest. Even while being like this, others failed to appreciate it. Yet he took no offense with that, simply treating it as normal.
"You're a good person, Arthur. However, you're also stupid. Don't let others take advantage of your kindness." She said, hoping it would somehow change his ways.
"Miko…" He looked at her, chewing on his words like he was rearranging them. "Are you okay with this?"
"With what?"
"The trials. The killing. Being trapped." He was angry, not because of her, but something else. He laughed bitterly and shook his head. "Why is everyone treating this like normal? Why is everyone okay with others dying here, away from their family, cold and forever decaying in this rotten place?"
His words were nails to her apathetic heart. He questioned these because he was an outsider to the families, the world of awakeners, and the struggle between the major powers in the world. They had lived for so long in the shadows, fighting and killing, trying to rise above the others for a chance of survival, that they had forgotten what was normal and what wasn't at one point.
However, she wouldn't change her ways. He was simply ignorant of the real world. He held desperately into his naivety, that it would kill him at one point.
"I'll break this world." He declared his tanned skin bathing in the light of day. His golden eyes staring into her soul, telling her that he meant every word of it.
"Not just the trials, but…" He paused, seemingly hesitant. "In the end, at some point, I'll fight the whole world if I have to."
"Fight the whole world? For what?" She asked, his words stopped to make sense to her. He looked at her a bit longer before he sighed and turned away, heading back to the temple.
"For us to survive, or so I was told."
She was left there standing, unable to comprehend what he meant by the last sentence. As she looked at his thin back from behind, his figure started growing smaller as he walked away through the forest. Miko felt lonely all of sudden.
"You have failed your mission, it seems." A voice so familiar that she was sick of it came from her side. It was a while since she met him, but she didn't miss him one bit.
"None of your concerns," She coldly replied with her usual poker face back. She looked at the man standing by the tree. One of her seniors, the Prince of Berilo Kingdom, Kirk Berilo.
"Don't use that tone with me, dear cousin."
"What do you want?" She curtly answered, bothered by his appearance.
"A simple thing, try to get closer to that man, Arthur Silvera." Miko felt like he was grinning under the hood, making her stomach turn.
"Why?"
"There are things you don't know, cousin. We need that man for our plans."
Miko's body turned cold, almost shivering, at the sudden realization. Arthur's words and her kingdom's plans… If her guess was right, the world would turn upside down.
"Even without you telling me, I plan to." Miko's heart was conflicted for the first time in her life.