The walk back to the temple wasn’t far as they crossed through the abandoned portal room. Maxxine led the group forward, watching his surroundings before he felt a hand land on his shoulder, quickly turning around to see Xenos. 

“You’ve certainly gotten used to this adventure.” Xenos smiled. “Leading the group forward.”

Maxxine rolled his eyes; a slight grin crossed his face as he faced forward and kept walking. “Well, I’m sure not letting Vania do it-”

“HEY!” Vania shouted from behind Maxxine with a pout. The group burst into laughter.

“I’m doing everyone a favor!” Maxxine declared, then quickly dropped the topic as the temple came into view. “Careful, everyone.”

Maxxine and the others began to walk inside the temple, into the large, overgrown, and unkempt library. He looked over the thousands of books that lined the walls. Some books seemed dull and older, while others remained polished and looked to be in good condition. Before moving onto the next part of the temple, he examined the books more. Every single book had a name written on the binding in gold ink. 

“This is incredible.” Maxxine turned to see Mari looking up, some books rearranging themselves as they hovered around. He went back to scanning over the shelves before coming across some familiar names. Residents of the Oasis Colony. 

“Hmm,” He kept going farther down before coming across his family. 

‘Carwyn Pyxis’

His grandmother. She was a mysterious woman. It was unfortunate that he never got to know her as well as he had wished to. He pulled out the book, noticing the odd tint on each page. Some were much darker than other pages that remained pristine white. He flipped to the darkest page on the book, near black with gold ink writing.

‘What has been done? 

The Oasis Colony is now bathed in the blood of the innocent. Guilt clings to the soul like a shadow is tied to the mortal.

I was wrong.’

The ink faded from gold to black, becoming illegible. He shut the book, placing it back on the shelf, but not before noticing how every page that followed remained dark. He then picked up another book.

‘Vania Pyxis’

The book was much smaller. He flipped open to a dark page, curious as to what would be on it.

‘Fate: Changed.

Another has trailed off course. Future is to be determined.’

He quickly closed it, placing it back on the shelf. He felt sick at whatever that could mean. 

“Maxxine! "Are you ready to head over?” Vania turned around the corner, bouncing over to Maxxine. “What are you looking at?”

Maxxine stepped in front of some of the books before she rounded the corner, facing her as she came into view. “Yep, I am.” He gestured for her to take the lead.

“I thought you didn’t want me leading.” She stuck her tongue out teasingly.

“Enjoy it while it lasts.” He gently pushed her forward to walk before he followed behind. The others waited for Vania and him at the entrance to the hallway. He noticed Xenos recognized Maxxine’s own worries.

Maxxine entered the hallway and faced the odd text across the wall. He opened up his bag, pulling out Zayn’s journal. He flipped it open to the page full of translations for these odd symbols before lifting the journal and holding it beside the passage on the wall.

The bold letters read clearly, “Traveler’s Key.”

“Traveler’s Key?” Xenos was puzzled at the words on the wall. “What does the rest of this say?”

Maxxine pulled out his own notebook, starting to write out the translation as he pieced it together. Vania hovered over his shoulder, only to be dragged back by Mari to give Maxxine space, which he was thankful for. Once it was finished, he read it aloud.

“In a world where shadows creep and bind,
A hidden truth many seek to find.
To mend the world where darkness won,
Free the goddess to call the sun.

A key of gold, with ancient grace,
Unlocks her prison, a hidden place.
Seek the heart where silence reigns,
Free her hands from corruption’s chains.

What must be turned to heal those so great?
The key that will assist and heal silenced fates.”

“OO!!” Vania quickly hopped away from Mari and back to the wall, placing her hands firmly on her hips. “A riddle!”

“Is this some joke?” Maxxine groaned. Then the lights flickered. Then, the hall shifted to black.

“So, you were the people at the camp.” Maxxine shot his attention to where the voice came from, looking back and forth and realizing no one was there. No one, including Vania, Mari, and Xenos. 

“Xenos?” He whispered, staying frozen where he was. “Vania? Mari?”

….

“Guys?”

“They aren’t here.”

Maxxine twisted his head around and took a step back. His eyes were wide with fear. He held his bag close to him as he tried to locate the source of the voice. His ears perked up at the sound of a sharp whistle in the air, shoving the bag between himself and the spear that was about to whack him in the side. He fell back, looking up with anger at the familiar face.

“Zayn! How did you get back here already? Where are the others?!” The edge of the spear was directed towards his face; the blade was sharpened and taunting, marked with small dents that indicated it had been used for battle numerous times. A battle weapon he wants nothing to do with.

“They’re somewhere.” They answered with a stone-cold face. “Hand over what you’ve stolen.” They loosened a hand from their weapon and held it out with great demand.

Maxxine held the book tighter and lowered his head. “Hand back my friends.”

“I believe I have much more leverage than you do.” Zayn sneered and still kept their open hand out expectantly.

Maxxine pushed himself up and held the journal out to the side. He felt as power channeled through his body and down his arm, and wind began to warp around the hand that held the journal. “Really? Then you wouldn’t care if I tore this apart. After all, I’ve already figured out what this says.” He pointed to the wall. “And you have written this whole language down, which leads me to asking more questions, like why would you have known such an ancient language?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“That allyship you requested seems to be becoming more and more impossible to obtain with each lie. Then again, you may just be lying through clenched teeth to protect the deal you’ve made with Singing Woods.” 

With a snap of Zayn’s fingers, the journal flew at them, and they swiftly caught it with their free hand. “What does the wall say?”

“You think I’d help you after you still haven’t given my friends back and you threatened me with a spear?”

“This mission isn’t for teenagers; it is mine, and I will finish it.” Zayn’s eyes almost seemed to steam with a glowing teal mist, and their crystal horns glowed brightly. Maxxine stepped back as Zayn turned the spear down, now aimed away from Maxxine. He took in a sharp breath and examined Zayn. One word came to mind, and that was protector. A protector who had failed, and this is what was left. He noticed a strange symbol that seemed to burn Zayn’s wrist with how the grip on their spear shook and blood bubbled up in the small lines. It was the symbol from his visions, the one that tainted the Singing Woods’ banner.

Maxxine sighed heavily as he debated sharing the visions. Xenos- the others- would want him to be more open. 

“I don’t know why you are tied to this, but I’ve had visions. Horrible visions that leave this world in ruins. My friends and I want to fix this before it spirals out of control. I want to fix this.” His mind buzzed, and fear ate away at him as the uncertainty of where his friends were weighed down on his shoulders. He continued to analyze Zayn before he reached for his bag and pulled out a pen and his notebook. He began to quickly copy down the other note in his journal with the translation. He ripped the paper out. “Tell me where my friends are, and this is what the text says.”

“You are fully aware that I don’t need to wait for permission from you to take that, right?”

“I’m hoping that there’s an ounce of decency that allows you to spare innocent lives.”

Zayn hesitated at his words before they reached for the paper. “Fine. I have more important matters anyway.” 

Just as Zayn grabbed the paper, they vanished. Maxxine was left alone in the hallway, trapped within his thoughts. Where was everyone?

“Maxxine!” He whipped his head around as he saw the three figures of his friends emerge from the library. Vania sprinted over and hugged him tightly. He flinched as she grasped onto him, but in that moment, he felt relief wash over him, nearly suffocating him. He wrapped his arms tightly around the taller girl, peering around her to see Xenos and Mari. 

“Are you all alright?”

“We were just locked in the library.” Mari then gestured to Xenos. “Lover boy was worried about his prince-“

“EITHER WAY!” Xenos cut her off. “What happened here?”

Maxxine released Vania from his brotherly hug. He felt his face heat up before he shook it off. “Zayn was here. They demanded information about the text on the wall.” He pointed at the wall.

“You didn’t give it to them, right?” Xenos asked.

“I- I panicked. I traded it for your safety. I still have the translation though-“

“YOU GAVE IT TO THEM?!” Mari snapped; rage and, strangely enough, fear filled her eyes. “YOU GAVE A PERSON WE DON’T TRUST INFORMATION?”

"Mari, calm down!” Vania piped up, swishing her head back and forth as she scanned the group.

“Vania, I love you dearly. But that thing is a monster.” 

“Don’t call them that!” Vania grabbed the sides of Mari’s arms firmly. “We don’t know enough to even be allowed to judge them!” 

“I know plenty.” Mari hissed before her ears flattened as she realized how aggressive she was. Maxxine watched Mari switch, like day and night. He grew defensive and protective over Vania; he quickly moved and stepped between the two.

“Everyone needs to relax; we are all on edge.” Xenos stood beside the group; worry shone on his face. Maxxine nodded in agreement. He allowed himself to loosen up and stepped aside.

“Sorry, I’m just worried.” Mari mumbled and avoided eye contact with any of the group. 

“It’s okay, I forgive you!” Vania smiled. Maxxine noticed how forced it looked. Of course, the sudden hostility would hurt her. It hurt him too. It fueled him with anger. But he couldn’t allow that to take control.

“We should leave the temple. Do we have any more leads on this? What could the ‘Traveler’s Key’ even be?” Maxxine asked the group.

“Maybe an artifact? This temple seems ancient, so what we are looking for may be as well.” Xenos shrugged.

“A frequent customer at the shop I work at knows a lot about artifacts.” Mari informed the others. “I know where he lives, but we will have to go to Starlit Caves.”

“The same colony that’s supposedly been aggressive?” Maxxine groaned.

“Well, we’ll never know unless we try! I say we should at least visit!” Vania looked at the group for anyone else to agree.

“Xenos, Maxxine. What do you think?” Mari targeted the question at them both. Maxxine felt unsure. He took a look at Xenos, who waited for Maxxine’s answer. 

Maxxine sighed. “Lead the way.”