The Island's Own Space

8. Blue Flames

The door of Matias's room slammed open and a tall man burst his way inside. Matias look up at the man with an indifferent gaze while the man, who was Lucaon, looked enraged.

He stomped his way towards Matias desk and slam down both of his hands on it causing a thundering sound. Matias ignored this and continued looking at the document he was reviewing.

"Where is she?" Contrary to the location's previous enraged actions his voice was calm but Matias didn't let the worries and anguish deeply hidden in his voice go unnoticed.

"Haa..." Matias sighed and ignored lucaon. this made the other irked.

"Where is she?!" Lucan's patience which was growing little by little from earlier had now completely vanished as he shouted his question once again.

Matias frowned and looked up at Lucaon's face, anger was plastered all over his face. He couldn't help but think that the man in front of him was very different from the man he knew before.

'I guess it is because of her.' Matias thought to himself and sighed inwardly. He knew that if he kept stalling time Lucaon would go out of his way and find Bella by himself but he couldn't let that happen.

He had a lot of reasons for this. One was because Bella had asked him not to tell Lucaon, and the second was because there were still people outside this village looking for the missing Lucaon.

It was very dangerous to go out alone, that is the case for both Lucaon and Bella. The only reason why he let Bella go outside where his eyes could go was that she had Lyca with her.

Lyca was a very mysterious creature even for Matias who had lived his entire life on this island. He snapped out of his thoughts and he heard the sound of teeth grinding against each other.

Lucaon had his neck veins bulging from impatience and anger. Impatience for Matias's growing stall for his wanted answer and anger toward himself for not thinking about the possibility of Bella running away or if she didn't run away then going out on her own.

Just as Matias knew how dangerous the people living on this island were, Lucaon had also lived long enough to know that the island was too cruel for a delicate and fragile girl like Bella to roam around by herself. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something was to happen to Bella.

"She went out. I don't know where but she was with Lyca when she left. And don't worry... Bella said she will come back." Matias broke the silence reigning between him and Lucaon.

He knew all too well that what he said wouldn't put peace in Lucaon's mind but with this he knew that Lucaon would, at the very least, try to understand why Bella had done this from the start after she comes back.

"You should respect her decision. She is her person after all. And Lyca..." Matias paused. He seemed to have contemplated whether to say what he was about to say or not but in the end, he chose to say it. "Lyca is the eyes of the island. That alone is enough reason for her to be the most suitable companion for Bella."

Lucaon fell silent for a minute. Matias stared at him at this time of silence. He was studying his reaction and was cautious enough to not let his guard down if ever Lucaon was to go berserk here.

"I understand." After minutes of silence and hesitation, Lucaon finally let his voice go. He turned around and left Matias's office with slightly slumped shoulders and a frown on his handsome features, but Matias didn't have the chance to see the frown for Lucaon's back was facing him.

***

"What could have made the blue flames enter whoever wrote this? Was this some kind of a mystery I need to unravel to leave this island?" Bella mumbled to herself as she stared at the text written on the cave wall.

She heard a low growl from behind her. She turned around and saw Lyca lying on her stomach while watching her. After their eyes met, Bella felt like Lyca's eyes were telling her something she just couldn't fathom it was.

"Can you help me?" Bella asked while her head tilted sideways.

Lyca was silent for a few seconds before she turned her head sideways. This action of hers made Bella sigh in disappointment. She again faced the cave wall and read every text she could understand thoroughly, trying to find answers to her thousand questions.

Meanwhile, Lyca, who was behind her, had her eyes glow a blue hue and a scene flashed in her retina. Lyca was using her powers of Absolute Eyes to see through the events that had happened inside this cave.

A man in his early thirties appeared in Lyca's retinas. He was scratching the wall, no, he was writing on the walls of the cave with a sharp stone. The scene was just like that. It felt like a repetition of the same scene but Lyca knew better.

The man was writing on the same corner of the wall but every time he starts to write a new text all the writing would disappear. No, it was more like a new wall had emerged in front of the existing one giving the man in his early thirties new space to write on.

The scene stopped at last when one of the blue torches' flames flew towards him and enveloped the man's body with the blue flames before it dissipated. Half of the blue flames had entered the man's body and the half had gone back towards the torch where it was originally.

The blue hue in Lyca's eyes vanished and she looked at the same corner of the wall the man was writing on before switching her gaze towards the torch where only half of the blue flame remained.

Finally, her eyes landed on Bella who was heading toward that very same wall the man had been writing at. Lyca carefully studied every Bella's move before she flinched when Bella's hands touched the first word of the written text the man wrote.

Lyca was sure that Bella couldn't read this text nor could she understand its meaning but for some reason after Lyca saw Bella's eyes, she felt like Bella could read and understand it all.

Bella's slender fingers brushed through the text before her forefinger traced the very first word written in the part of the cave wall. She felt like she was possessed by something but it was not like she was doing this against her will. That something which had possessed her was even guiding her into something she knew would be very helpful to her.

Bella traced and traced the text. She didn't know how many hours has it been since she started tracing the text. It may have been days since she started but Bella couldn't stop. She could not allow herself to stop now that she saw how magical the text she traced dissipated and another set of texts appears for her to trace. She felt neither hunger nor thirst as she kept on doing what she did.

It was until she traced the last unfamiliar letter of the text that it did not dissipate anymore. The blue flames wriggled in their respective torches and they swirled even though there was no wind inside the cave. The blue flames from the torches headed toward the centre of the cave and formed a circle from where Bella was standing.

One by one, the blue flames attached themselves until they formed a huge ball of blue fire. It looked incredibly large and hot that Bella thought she would die of burning if she ever comes in contact with it. She thought that the slightest touch would make her entire body burn and she would turn into ashes a minute after the flame comes in contact with her skin.

The huge ball of blue flames swirled and wriggled as it was enraged but to Bella, it looked like it was happily bouncing and swirling around as if it was glad that it was finally released from its cage like a bird opening its wings to fly freely in the sky.

"Come." Bella unconsciously opened her mouth and spoke. She had no idea why she did that but it felt like she finally found a part of her which has gone missing her entire life and now was coming back to her.

The blue flames immediately flew towards Bella at an immense speed. If Bella was scared that the blue flames might burn her earlier, she was now devoid of worries about getting burned. She was greedy and desperate to find the missing part of herself that she couldn't care less about that right now.

The blue flames swirled around her enveloping her body. The scene looked even more mystical than what Lyca had seen with her eyes when the man had half of a blue flame enter his body.

A couple of more seconds before the swirling blue flames became the shape of a spear and pointed its own at the centre of Bella's chest. It looked threatening but Bella smiled and opened her arms wide as a gesture that she was accepting the blue flames.

And just like that, the blue flames pierced Bella's body and she felt the warmth inside her chest swirling around from the centre to her whole being. It was warm and then it was hot. The blue flames were entering Bella's body from where they pierced its answers spreading in every corner of her body.

The large spear which had pierced Bella's body grew smaller and smaller until all of it had entered Bella's body.

Lyca who was alertly standing at the side was watching this spectacle happen. She wanted to go by Bella's side and help her but she knew that she should not interfere because something can go wrong if she ever did. She didn't know what the consequences of her interference would be but she was sure that it would negatively impact Bella. And for that reason, Lyca decided to just watch right now and see what happens.

Bella was sweating profusely but it evaporated easily from the heat of her body. She felt like she had a fever past 40 degrees celsius and would die of overheating but for some reason, something is keeping her heart cool. It was painful to feel her insides burning with the blue flames her body absorbed but she was strangely fine.

Her knees could not handle the pressure inside her body and she was about to fall to the ground but Lyca had leapt to her and helped her lay carefully. Bella opened her mouth to thank Lyca but no words could come out. Lyca's front paw landed on Bella's face and gently closed her tired eyes.

After several days of tracing nonstop and after everything that had happened. Bella was finally able to take a rest peacefully completely unaware of what was happening outside the cave.

Lyca had seen the situation outside but Bella's recovery was more important than helping the others outside and so like a guardian, Lyca lay beside Bella and had her senses activated to their maximum capacity.

***

After the blue flames left their respective torches, the entire island seem to quake. It was a small wave at first but it soon felt like the whole island was splitting into two. This was the moment when the large spear made from the blue flames pierced Bella's body.

"What is happening?!" Matias, who was about to go out of his office after a whole day of working at the papers concerning the village, had almost stumbled by the small wave which became stronger as seconds ticked by.

He reached his hands on the doorknob but before he could the door slammed open and Lucaon entered his line of sight.

"What is happening?!" He had the same question as Matias but did not have the same concern as he has.

'It's been 8 days since she left but she hasn't come back yet.' Lucaon thought, his mind was filled with urgency and worry.