Heather's Adventures: The Search for Maxamus

Chapter 57. Rheannah

We continued to march on back to Issola. Heather was more determined than ever to get back there to fight, although she was perhaps the weakest of all of us at the time being. I've never seen such passion burning in a person's heart. I know her heart's power was eternal flames; I heard her shout it aloud. But something tells me it should've been something like passionate flames or something.

Eternal flames sounds too broad and powerful. It just didn't sound right for her, unless she has some secret.

But even then it sounded like she didn't know what this secret was. Or perhaps she didn't want to admit to it.

"We're here." Heather stopped in the forest by a large boulder mountain, "I remember it, because of this." She pointed to a flower that was blooming.

"A moonlight lily from the caverns is blooming out here?" I asked cautiously. This wasn't normal at all, just like everything else with that girl.

Heather nodded, "I wondered where it came from. I still do. Yet it thrives out here."

Max took a vial of the pure moonlight water and sprinkled it on the flower delicately. It brightened in color while it seemed to bloom more. "Someone has been watering it from inside of Issola. I want to take it with. Sheria, can you do that?"

Sheria nodded, "yeah that's easy. I have an extra cup to carry it in. Where do you want to plant it?"

"Back with the rest of the moonlight lilies. It doesn't deserve to be left out here, alone. It should be with the rest of the lilies."

"No one should ever be left alone. That's why we are communal beings." Heather stated dryly. I've never heard anyone say anything like that before. It startled me. It sounded to me as if she didn't want to be alone herself.

I realized something: Heather was different from everyone. Yeah she had Sheira, but she didn't connect with Sheira. Sheria didn't have the same powers. Her friend Zena was a little closer, but she wasn't around Heather's age. Josh and Dawnlight were just teachers. Heather had grown so accustomed to them being there. She needed some new stimulation.

Max was around her age, had the same 'special' powers—he could even read scriptures and talk to her in the language. It was the first time she felt like she connected to someone, ever. She just wanted to belong. She wanted to have someone who understood her.

That's why she thrived and played risky with Max. She felt like she understood him. If that was anyone else on the bridge she would've never done that.

When I fought beside her, I realized that she wasn't that much different. She just felt different since she was "stronger" than the rest of them. She realized that I was strong with my sword and respected me. She realized that she fit in here. Max and I were her family. So was Sheria. She respected us.

Perhaps she learned it when she lost everyone else. We were family. And we all belonged.

I mean, Max was looking for the same thing: just somewhere to belong.

I guess here was it. Out here with our small little team.

It didn't take long for Max to be able to scoop up the small flower with Sheria, "these flowers protect people. They say there's a flower out there for everyone with ties to the Merrywell family. One sprouts when a new Merrywell is born by the village or town that the person is born in. It's just funny, because there's never been a Merrywell born in Issola, nor anyone who has been born in Issola been married to a Merrywell. Nowhere in the history has it ever happened."

"Yet it's stated if the flower is returned from its location back to the caverns and fields of moonlight lilies, the person who which the flower is for will be protected and become part of the Merrywell family. That's why they're my favorite flower. They protect others." I watched the strange flower carefully, "it's just odd being all the way out here."

"It'll be back with the rest in no time, we just need to get in here first..." Heather move a large rock out of the way to a tunnel, "there's always a tunnel. It was as if someone was planning for an easy escape route or an easy entrance in secret."

"What do you think they were hiding, you know whoever built it?" Max asked of Heather while he helped Sheria put the flower in her backpack.

Heather shook her head, "I don't know. Part of me doesn't want to know, meanwhile the other part of me has a feeling I'm going to find out." She started to lead the way through the tunnel, "well are you guys coming or not? We've got a lot of ground to cover. The outfields of Issola are huge grounds the school uses. It's not like we're just going to end up by the town in a matter of minutes, it'll take a few hours just to get there by walking."

"You sure you don't want to take another day of rest before we go?" Josh asked her, "the world can wait for one day. You need to rest up before you will be able to make it through another fight."

Heather nodded, "I'm positive. The world can't wait for me. I'm the only hope for some people. I won't let Jen wait another day if I could've helped her remember who she really is right now. Jen needs me. Everyone out there needs me. If there's someone trying to do something and I have the power to stop it, I'm going to stop it. I don't care what it does to me. I can't just sit back and watch people be evil! I'm not just a mere pawn in a game of chess!" Heather's fists were on fire. She noticed quickly and put them out.

She had lots of passion in her heart. I could see in burning in her. Just why did she have eternal flames, not passion of flames or something like that? She was passionate and devoted to helping people. She didn't care the cost...just why? What could withstand the time?

"Alright then, I guess we're going to be going forward. Heather, lead the way," Josh told her as the rest of us followed her in the tunnel.

All I knew was I understood her more. She understood more things the rest of us, she just didn't understand herself. Perhaps she was leaving herself out of everything.

After all, she was taught to never take anything personal. That's how they train them here in Issola. That's what we were told back in the caverns at least.

And we were also told to never take ourselves out of anything. If we were in it, we were in it all the way.

So why was Heather taking herself out of everything?