A masked girl strode beside Fenix as they entered the other side of the prison.
They repeated what they had done before—destroying the lights and knocking out any guards who got close.
The girl with him, Panther, moved swiftly through the darkness, sometimes fading into the shadows.
When they reached the Men's cells, Fenix turned to her and said,
"Release everyone else while I explain what's going on to my father-in-law."
She nodded, melting away into the shadows on the walls. Many doors were flung open behind him as he walked over to the one labeled Nicolai Anima.
"Clear the way for me!" he called, his voice carrying down the corridor.
A second later, he busted the door down. Nicolai was lying in his cot, staring at the ceiling.
His eyes slowly moved towards Fenix, the chaos outside barely drawing his attention.
"Where are you taking me?" he asked simply. Fenix smiled and replied,
"Aura sent me to get you out of here." Hearing his daughter's name alerted him, so he sat upright immediately.
"...My Aura?" he asked shakily, his voice full of disbelief. Fenix nodded. Nicolai then jumped out of bed and stretched. "What about my wife and Mirror?" he added, while making eye contact, scanning for any sign of deception.
"Your wife is waiting outside for you, and Mirror is with Aura. They're both safe." Fenix explained. Aura's father stood silently, but moments later, his eyes filled with tears. He quickly turned away and wiped them.
"Well... lead the way," he muttered.
Panther had already gotten the other prisoners outside, and once Fenix joined them, she set off another signal flare.
After some time had passed, three aircraft hovered above the area, blowing away some of the surrounding fog. Rope ladders fell, so Fenix and his team yelled,
"Climb aboard if you want to leave!"
The prisoners rushed to be the first to climb up, but Fenix lifted Aura's mother in one arm and her father in the other, raising them both into the air.
"We're flying?!" Sera exclaimed, terrified.
"Sera…" Nicolai murmured, eyes fixed on her while she clung to Fenix, too panicked to notice him.
Once they landed safely inside one of the ships, Nicolai rushed to embrace his wife.
She stiffened—then slowly hugged him back.
"Is it... Really, you?" She muttered. He answered by kissing her, cupping her cheeks after, and saying,
"I've missed you." Her face flushed, as tears streamed down her face.
"I missed you more." They kissed again, and Fenix cleared his throat, gaining their attention back.
"I didn't want to interrupt, but... I should explain what's happening next."
They nodded, still holding each other.
"Okay..." Sera replied.
"You'll be reunited with your children on an island called Talitha... When you get there, the inhabitants will make sure you get settled..." He assured, then he added in an unenthusiastic tone, "I can't come with you because there's not enough room to carry all the prisoners today. I need to stay and make sure everyone here gets to leave when more transportation arrives tomorrow."
"Why do you have to wait?" Nicolai asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well... My powers work better for crowd control than my teammates, and if something unexpected happens, they'll need me," Fenix explained. His eyes shifted away, and he pulled his mask down before continuing, "Aura wouldn't be happy if I only helped her parents... So I'm doing all I can to release everyone here."
Her parents stared at him quietly, and it was around then that the other prisoners finally reached the top of the ladder and joined them.
"I'll see you soon," he said before dropping back to the ground below.
They landed in Talitha two days later.
The prisoners were all given special medical examinations to make sure they were healthy and also free of any tracking devices. After that, they were given information about Talitha and allowed to ask questions before being escorted to their new homes.
"We're really free?" One woman asked while raising her hand. Noct, who was in charge of giving information, replied,
"Yes. This island exists so the cursed can live as normal citizens," he explained in a clear, patient voice. Another woman raised her hand, so he pointed to her,
"But we don't have powers," she stated with a hint of confusion.
He took a breath before addressing her.
"...But you are all relatives of those with powers. You have also suffered injustice because you dared to care about those relatives. Some of you were beaten, locked up, and even sterilized just because of those relationships you had no control over," He extended his arms and looked among everyone in the crowd as he continued, "You may not have powers, but you are one of us, and we will protect you." There was a hush in the room until one of the prisoners said,
"Thank you!" and another shouted,
"I was so sick of eating that prison garbage!"
"I thought I would never see my wife again!" Many more cheers of gratitude filled the room until Noct shushed them.
Once they had all quieted, he said,
"You should be thanking our leader, Pierce, and his son; it was their choice to release you and invite you in," he explained, then added, "If there are no more questions, please line up, and one of my team members will give you a map and your new address. Again, welcome to Talitha." He left the podium, and dozens of uniformed workers moved in to distribute paperwork.
This process took a few hours, and as soon as they left the airport, Aura and Mirror came face to face with their parents.
Most people didn't know about the former prisoner's arrival today, but thanks to the updates from Fenix, the two sisters did.
It still felt unbelievable to see the parents whom they hadn't seen in over a decade.
The parents who fought so hard for them that they ended up in prison.
So for a moment, the four simply stared at each other, unable to move.
Mirror's face scrunched up as she held back tears, and Aura pinched her hand to be sure what she was seeing was real.
When the disbelief finally faded, Sera and Nicolai rushed to embrace their children, and they all broke down, overwhelmed with joy and relief.
Before anyone realized it, the sun had started to set, so Aura said,
"Let's all continue to catch up at my place." Sera smiled and kissed Aura's cheeks before saying,
"Tonight... I want to get settled into my new home here. Your father and I have also been separated for all this time. We have some things to... discuss in private," she explained while glancing towards her husband.
"Yes, that's true," he agreed, clearing his throat.
Aura's shoulders slumped, so Mirror hugged her and turned towards her mother and said,
"We should meet up for breakfast tomorrow and spend the whole day together. I can introduce you to my boyfriend." Sera gasped excitedly and put her hands over her mouth while Nicolai scowled and said,
"Can't wait to meet him," though his tone sounded displeased. "It really has been over ten years..." he continued, "you've both grown up and got into relationships. I missed so much, it feels like you're still children."
Mirror laughed off his words while Aura was struck mute.
"Both of us?" she muttered. He sighed and said,
"He didn't explicitly say it, but it's obvious you're with that guy who broke us out," as he spoke Aura's cheeks flushed,
"Yeah, he said you were just friends, but no one does all that for a friend." Sera chimed in, amused. "That boy is completely crazy about you," she added with a smile.
"He stayed behind because he didn't want to let you down by not rescuing everyone. I have to acknowledge a man willing to go so far, my daughter." Nicolai commented, folding his arms and sighing again.
Aura's heart pounded, and she looked down at the ring he'd given her.
Even when she screamed that she hated him, she never had the guts to remove it. Her shoulders were shaking, so Mirror cleared her throat, saying,
"Alright, Mom and Dad, let us see that address so we can escort you home." They returned their attention to her and handed over the documents.
Aura could no longer hear anything being said but trailed behind with her thoughts elsewhere.
Soon, they reached an apartment complex similar to the one the girls had been given.
"Looks like this is the place," Mirror announced, "Oh, I'll show you how to create a PIN for your keypad door," she continued. Nicolai raised his eyebrow and followed after her mumbling,
"My what?"
Sera stayed back with Aura, her eyes set on the stars above.
"What's on your mind, love?" she said, breaking the silence between them.
"I... I'm just so happy... but... that's not all I feel. I should be grateful, but I'm still angry, and I don't know what to do," Aura replied. Sera turned her attention back to her daughter.
"Angry?... About what?" she inquired.
"We... we're brought here... on our own terms. I didn't want to enjoy living here because of that, but..." Aura inhaled shakily, "They brought you back to me. I'm so happy, and I hate it." After admitting this, tears spilled from her eyes, so her mother held her gently and rubbed her back.
"... I'm glad that you can still open up to me, even though we've been apart so long," Sera said sweetly, and Aura's weeping transformed into soft laughter,
"You're glad, while I'm crying?" she noted sarcastically. Sera hummed and replied,
"Yes, I'm glad you feel safe to cry with me... I'm glad that you're still my daughter and... I understand being upset, but I thought I would never get to live with you again... So I hope that we can stay here. Together," she emphasized her last word and let it settle in while she kept Aura locked in her embrace.
Nicolai left the porch and kissed his wife's cheek while stroking Aura's hair.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
Aura quickly escaped from her mother's arms, wiped her eyes, and forced her expression to be as neutral as possible.
"Yeah, everything is fine. We'll catch up more tomorrow," she said. Sera smiled at her,
"My daughters are so cute! I'm so lucky," her husband laughed.
Mirror walked over to join them. That's when they said their goodbyes, and everyone went to their homes.
For the first time, Aura felt happy to be here on the island. Glad that she now lived in a place where she could see her parents anytime, it was hard to fully take in.
She lay in her bed, on top of the covers, staring aimlessly at her ceiling fan.
Time stretched, but she couldn't relax at all, so she stayed awake.
Forced to face the one feeling she couldn't escape.
Her deep longing for Fenix.
So she closed her eyes and chanted silently over and over,
"Please be safe," all through the night.