A Special Prisoner

In the 'Time prison', there was a woman, chained to the wall. This woman was tied at the wrists and ankles, half hanging from the wall. She was wearing a white dress and shale, that had obviously seen better days. Kary ran to her side, breaking the chains with her sword.

Kary gently helped her down, bringing her to sit on the ground. The woman slowly opened her eyes, turning her head to look at Kary. When Kary looked into her eyes, she was taken aback. In the woman's pupil, a small flame was burning. Kary blinked, thinking it was her imagination, but the fire was still there. The woman opened her mouth trying to talk, but her voice was broken. She evidently hadn't spoken in many years, locked up in this prison, alone. Kary handed her some water and waited for the woman to drink a little, helping her regain a bit of voice.

After a while, she finally spoke in an audible voice.

" Thank you, child, for untying me. What is your name? " The woman said, with her hoarse voice, looking straight into Kary's eyes. Kary was in a daze when she heard the voice as if it could speak into her soul. After gawking for a second, she finally answered.

" My name is Wandering Hero " She proudly said.

" Child, tell me your real name. Do not think you can lie to me " The woman simply said, looking at her seriously.

" Ohh, ahh. My name is Kary. Kary Laflamme " Kary replied, her cheeks flushing.

" Ahhh. Laflamme. Yes, a good name. A daughter of fire. Just like me " The woman said, a smile hanging on her lips.

" Can I ask for your name? " Kary asked, still unsure how that woman's voice had such impact on her.

" Yes. My name is Hestia. Goddess of the hearth and protector of its flames. " The woman answered solemnly.

" A goddess? But why were you tied in here? " Kary asked in surprise.

" It is a long story, child. I do not think you want to hear it " Hestia answered.

" Please, goddess. Tell me the reason you were given such bad treatment " Kary insisted.

" Very well " Hestia conceded. " A long time ago, my father, Cronos, was vanquished by my brother, Zeus. He was then banished into the Tartarus, where he was to stay for eternity. Only, he escaped from Tartarus, eons ago, and vowed to have his revenge. When he escaped, he started going after his children, wanting to end them. I was the first one he got to. When he caught me, he banished me into this prison, outside of time itself. Only he could open this prison. Therefore, I believe you have slain him and restored peace " Hestia recounted.

But she wasn't entirely right. Kary had not defeated Cronos, nor had she restored peace anywhere. Which led to Kary being a little embarrassed. She looked at Hestia and confessed.

" I'm sorry goddess Hestia. I have not slain your father. Neither have I restored peace to anywhere. I stumbled on this prison by sheer luck " She said, looking pitifully at the goddess. Hestia looked confused after hearing that. She was sure no one could find this prison. Let alone a mortal.

Nonetheless, she was happy to have been found. Her divine essence was running out, and she couldn't stay here much longer. She looked into Kary's eyes, looking straight into her soul. She had already felt the fire within her, and now she could see the river of fire, burning within her. She could feel that this river had a small quantity of divine essence. She could tell it was probably from a creature of her lineage or heritage. She had to go back to Olympus to recuperate, but she couldn't just leave without properly thanking the girl that saved her. She knew what to do.

" I have a gift for you, child. For saving me, I offer you a part of my essence. It will not be much, as my essence is already greatly exhausted, but it will help you a lot in your future " Hestia told Kary, before closing her eyes and focusing.

She started shining a soft red glow before fire started coagulating in her hand. The fire then took the shape of a flame, then solidified. It was no bigger than a bead. Hestia then pulled out three strands of hair, before braiding them together. She then passed the newly braided thread of hair, into the top of the solidified fire and handed it to Kary.

" Here, take this. It will help your fire burn strong and bright. Now I must go. I am tired and need to replenish my strenth in Olympus. I hope to meet you again someday, Kary Laflamme, daughter of fire " Hestia said, smiling, before slowly fading away into nothingness.

She had gone back to her world to rest, leaving Kary and her group in this wretched place, alone. Kary was still in a half daze, looking at the pendant in her hands. She could tell just from holding it, that this item held a lot of power. She could feel heat coming off of it in waves like it was pulsing. She put it on before even looking at its stats.

When it touched the skin of her neck, she jolted. The pendant had reacted to her, shooting its power inside her body, heading right into the river of her power. The river instantly turned tumultuous, picking up speed and eroding the edges of its bed. Kary quickly reacted, feeling that her power was going wild. She instantly sat down and started meditating. She wasn't worried about her body, her allies still being around her.

She rotated her energy as strongly as she could. The river was quickly expanding, eating away at the riverbed. Her energy kept expanding at a quickening pace, finally overflowing into the rest of her body. She was quickly swept by its waves, menacing to drown her in their strong current. She had to stay concentrated though, otherwise, she was risking her energy going out of control and probably killing her. Kary refused to become a slave to the current, mentally fighting it to her maximum. She fought, and fought, feeling her body trying to break her. She fought on until she felt a barrier break in her mind again. With a 'Kacha' the barrier was swept away by the river of energy, being released totally into her mind. The river became a sea, calming down again. This gave Kary the chance to get back to shore and see what had happened.

Once she looked at what used to be a large river of energy, was now in its place a small sea, calm and magnificent. Kary looked on in awe, as her inner energy was now a huge basin, feeding smaller rivers, going around her whole body. It would no longer rotate in her body, but instead, nourish it through this focal point. Being safe now, Kary reopened her eyes and looked around. Her allies were all looking at her weirdly.

" What? " She asked.

" Nothing! " they answered, all looking in different directions. But one of them finally broke and looked back at her. It was Harold.

" You were burning, leader. And none of us knew how to help you. You seemed totally calm, sitting inside an inferno too hot for us to get close. Then it just stopped. are you okay? " he timidly asked.

" Yes, I'm fine " Kary answered. With this explanation, Kary understood why they were all looking at her like she was a ghost. She had been sitting in a fire and was unscathed. Anyone would react the same. It defied nature, after all.

" Okay, let's get moving. We've spent enough time here. We still have a dungeon to conquer! " Kary finally said, getting up.

The group just nodded and headed for the door. When they left the room, the door shut itself and simply disappeared, as it had never been there. The group found it weird, but it still couldn't beat watching their guild leader simply sitting out a fire that burned hot enough for all of them to back up. Kary led the people down the path they had come from and turned left into the other tunnel.

This was the path that led to the next part of the dungeon. Nala and the others were waiting for them there. They had finished clearing the nest, not so long ago, and headed there to regroup. Of course, they all knew what had happened. Messages had been sent in panic from the members of Carol's team. Carol had even personally messaged Marc and Anthony to tell them what was happening, only she wasn't concerned. She had even said 'There she goes leaping ahead again' in her message. The boys laughed it off together. They were happy for Kary but were also a little mad, being left in the dust again. They swore to themselves to catch up to her when this was over.

It took ten minutes to Kary, and Carol's team, to make it to the exit of the nest. From there, they rested a little, before leaving for the next zone. They were still far from the end of their adventure.