No Hero: Lost Among the Flame

Unforeseen dangers

Aden

"Do you think my parents will be proud when Aunt Freya tells them how I turned out?" Andi asked, breaking the silence that'd fallen over us during rounds.

I turned my attention away from our path to glance down at my niece. "What do you mean by that?" I asked.

The little warrior shrugged her shoulders and crossed her arms. "I want mom and dad to know I didn't give up, do you think she'll tell them?" she mumbled.

With a sigh I switched my bow to my other hand to be able to lightly hold her shoulder. "I'm sure Freya would explain everything to them if she could" I told her. Our walk slowing to a stroll.

Andi frowned, "But she will see them soon, won't see? She's dying."

I stopped the both of us and secured my bow to my back. Kneeling in front of Andi I took her hands out of their crossed position. "Your aunt is not dying. She's hurt but she will get through this. Especially with you and Heda here to help her through. Freya's the strongest person I know, she's not going to leave you or any of us" I tried my best to reassure her. Andi coming to the conclusion so soon that her aunt is moments away from death was worrisome. I gave Andi a shake and added, "the day any of us have the honor of telling your parents just how proud of you we are is a long way away."

She nodded even though she wanted to cry. I knew she wouldn't let me see that. "I miss them" she said softly. A second later she leaned into me to wrap her arms around my neck in a hug.

Their sacrifice will always weigh heavily on me. I rubbed her back comfortingly. Sirus would have loved the strong warrior she's becoming. Well Anna would love the compassion her daughter still has. "Your strength will out last us all" I told her.

We separated from our hug after another minute. There wasn't much left of rounds. What Heda said about Bekka's betrayal got me wondering what else she was hiding. At the end of our rounds I led us down into the hall where Freya's old room is. Andi didn't question me even though I know she wanted to check on her aunt. Bekka moved out of Freya's room immediately. Each time I came to talk to her she met me outside her room. With her upstairs with Heda now was the perfect time to do some snooping.

"I've never been in here" Andi said as I picked the lock.

"Me neither" I said quietly.

The lock clicked finally opening. Standing up, I pushed the door the rest of the way open. Upon stepping over the threshold bright lights kicked on. I had to throw my hand up to block the light. "Woah" Andi gasped behind me. Blinking, I lowered my hand as I adjusted to it.

The room was completely unlike any of the others on this floor. A bed in the corner was the only thing that didn't look like a laboratory. Anna explained what the lighthouse was like. Bekka must've put her old lab back together. I couldn't figure out what I was looking at. All this tech came from the bunker? "Be careful" I told Andi.

I picked up a few pieces of metal that had wires hanging from them. One looked more put together but still rough. I gently placed them back on the table. Next I leaned over to look at some of the stuff in the back. Everything sort of resembled the same thing. My ears picked up on pages flipping. Andi squinted at a notebook. "What do you have there?" I asked.

She shrugged confused and held the notebook out to me. "Hmmm" I hummed, looking it over. Pages and pages were filled with numbers and notes in what could've been another language. How was she suppose to read this? It was so confusing. Pacing the length of the room I kept flipping through, hoping to understand something. Whatever Bekka is working on she's adamant about finishing it.

Finally I flipped to the last page that had writing. There was a drawing of something that paralleled the flame in the center of the page. Above it she wrote, "Flame X-5.0". Bekka's creating another version of the flame? There were already two working versions in existence. One of which was already in her head. Below the drawing was an explanation, "The Flame X-5.0 is a new innovation that piggybacked onto its predecessor will tap into the memories of its host. Allowing  its controller to access the hosts skills and competencies at any given time."