The Life I Gained From Dying

Chapter 51 - Message In The Wind

"Camie and all the others are orphans." Jayson stated. "Well, not Avery, I grew up with her on an island outside of Ignus in my early childhood. My dad sent me there after my mom died because he thought it would be a better environment for me to be in and to train my water essence. However, they kept my mother's death a secret from me until I returned to Ignus six years later. When I did go back, things in the capital were... different."

"Different how?" Treya questioned.

"People were protesting in the streets
outside of the palace almost every day. Saying things like 'remove the lazy king' and 'give us back our god'. My uncle Kajar was the primary person stirring the pot by sparking those protests, which eventually turned to riots. During that time, my father stayed neutral during everything, but his passivenesss was misconstrued as indolence. Kajar's people ended up giving him the same treatment as my grandfather."

"Damn, your family got issues." Kaden said out of the blue, which was followed by Mai glaring at him. "Apologies, please continue."

"After seeing how the public slowly turned on my father for no reason at all, a friend of his came to check on me one day at our residence. Her name was Mother Merina Canton. She was the director of a foster home not far from where I was living at the time. She periodically came over to check on me because my dad wasn't coming home as often anymore due to everything going on. Soon enough, I was going to the foster home instead to make things easier on her. Admittedly, I was beginning to feel lonely at home, so I thought it'd be nice to help out at the home. It was there that I met who I now call 'my family'. Nakayla and Shaedon were already staying there full time under Mother Merina's care. The others came in later on at different points. I never pried too much into their previous lives before the foster home because I always felt as if it didn't matter where they came from. I just knew I wanted to do anything I could to give them a better life now. Pertaining to Camie, there was one thing I always thought was strange. Mother Merina brought in all the others herself. Whether it be because of a message or an anonymous tip, she would go investigate the situation herself before taking in the child. Camie, however, just appeared on the front steps of the foster home one rainy night. She was only six at the time, so of course Mother Merina didn't turn her away."

"Did this Mother Merina not make an effort to find out the child's background?" Faye questioned.

"She did, but every loose thread tied to Camie came up empty. Even her last name, Baxter. There wasn't anybody in the Ignus registry who shared that name. It was like she just fell out of the sky along with the rain."

"Yet you bring her on an intercontinental journey with you." Treya stated.

"Camie was no exception from the others in regard to the relationship I had built with them. Like I said, it didn't matter to me what their previous life was, I just wanted to do anything I could for them now. She was smart and very resourceful. She had a quick temper towards the boys, but that was her way of showing that she loved them. Before the incident happened, Camie, Tanner, and Mano all disappeared while I was training Kaden. He told me that they found Mano and Tanner, but they never located Camie. This is why you're asking about her, isn't it?"

"Tanner and Mano were both unconscious and had bruising on the back of their necks, which made us believe someone knocked them out with a blow to that area." Maleah explained. "A severe strike to that area could possibly be deadly if done recklessly, so it takes some skill to successfully knock out two people like that without them even noticing you. The boys are well now and have recovered, and they've said that they don't remember what happened to them. They just remember being hit from behind."

"Kaden and Mai reported that just before the incident, they encountered a dense fog cloud near the swampland area." Treya added. "Tanner and Mano told us that they were in a heavy cloud of fog before they were knocked out, and Camie was with them. That fog cloud was a technique used primarily by Sister Mildred, so we can deduce that those two were in close proximity to each other before the incident."