Elios and the calm monkey barely escaped—thanks to the impossible reach of Flexo.
Flexo dropped them onto the strange, uneven ground of the town, and Elios's face was frozen, glazed with residual terror and disbelief. He couldn't believe the swift, brutal violence he had just witnessed. Flexo was already scolding him loudly, his voice squeaky with frustration over the teenager's reckless behavior, when the monkey near Elios began screeching—a high-pitched, distressed sound that cut through Flexo's rant.
Irritated by the noise and the scolding, Elios picked up a loose stone and pretended to throw it at the agitated creature—but suddenly, a sharp, commanding voice rang out:
"WAIT!"
The monkey instantly stopped its frantic movements. In the next moment, its small, dark form began to writhe and ripple. Fur retreated, limbs elongated, and in a terrifying, beautiful display of energy, the monkey slowly transformed into a stunning woman. Her hair was a waterfall of golden blonde, her skin fair and seemed to glow under the island's strange, dim light.
Elios stood rooted to the spot, completely speechless, unable to process anything else on that constantly surprising, dangerous island. Flexo's eyes, however, performed a physical feat even he hadn't shown yet: they literally seemed to turn into hearts as he admired her sudden, breathtaking beauty. He instantly ran around in circles, stretching and twisting his rubbery body to show off his unique abilities, clearly attempting to impress her.
Then, without warning, the woman's grief and rage boiled over. She lashed out, delivering a swift, sharp kick that sent Elios tumbling to the ground.
"BECAUSE OF YOU, I COULDN'T ENTER THE ROYAL GATE!" she shouted, her voice thick with pain and accusation.
Her rage was momentary. Her face instantly went pale, and tears began streaming down her cheeks, though she tried desperately hard to hold back the sobs that clawed at her throat. She sank to the ground, her body shaking with suppressed emotion.
She then explained everything, her voice cracking as she spoke to Elios and Flexo. The brave Knight Warrior had been her last hope. He had just sacrificed his life for her sake—because her mother had been trapped somewhere inside the Royal Gate six years ago, taken just after the father of Elios disappeared.
The warrior had once been a close friend and had promised her father that he would help find her missing mother. But just a week ago, her own father had passed away from a sudden, tragic cardiac arrest, leaving her completely alone, her promise to him unfulfilled.
She revealed that in her family, she was the only one who had inherited the rare Aether Power, which allowed her to transform into any animal, giving her incredible stealth and speed—but only for a fleeting ten minutes at a time.
The warrior had carefully planned their entry. He disguised himself as a common traveler and tricked the ox-driver into sneaking them past the first checkpoint near the Gate. He knew there would be a powerful Giant Guard protecting the main entrance, but he was ready to risk everything for her. She had begged him not to sacrifice himself, to wait for a better plan, but he was resolute and strong—both in body and in soul.
He had shown her a small hole on the side of the towering Royal Gate and told her that while he created a massive distraction inside, she was to climb through and search. But now, that entire plan had failed in a blaze of purple Aether and death.
Tears flooded her eyes once more as she cried out, her voice raw with guilt and despair:
"NOW HE SACRIFICED HIS LIFE FOR NOTHING! IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING!"
Hearing her heart-wrenching story, Elios's own heart sank, a familiar, deep ache returning to his chest. His eyes welled up with empathetic tears, the tragedy mirroring his own. But Flexo was still in a completely different world, still thinking of how to impress her with a perfectly executed, nine-jointed bow.
Elios gently moved closer, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. He spoke softly, sharing his own wound: he too had lost his father eight years ago, and that profound pain and mystery had brought him, too, to this horrifying island.
She broke down completely, sobbing uncontrollably. Without thinking, she simply leaned forward and cried against Elios's chest, the closest source of non-judgemental warmth she could find. Elios didn't move or pull away. He simply stood there, understanding that depth of pain completely. Beside them, Flexo sighed dramatically, a theatrical sound of personal tragedy.
"My love life is officially more twisted than my body," he muttered under his breath, shaking his elastic head.
Flexo immediately recovered and whispered urgently in Elios's ear, stretching his neck close. "Give her to me, I'll comfort her. My torso makes a much better pillow."
Elios ignored him completely, choosing to focus on the sobbing woman.
"Ignored by him for the second time!" Flexo grumbled to himself, throwing his hands up in defeat.
When the woman's sobs finally subsided, Elios asked softly, "What's your name?"
She wiped the tears and snot from her face, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "Gracia."
"What a beautiful name! It suits you perfectly!" Flexo shouted proudly, flexing his arms to show off his biceps, which instantly ballooned out and then deflated like balloons.
Gracia ignored him completely, a feat of pure concentration.
"Ignored for the third time! I'm breaking world records here," Flexo complained dramatically, collapsing onto the ground in a heap of rubbery limbs.
Elios introduced himself, and then Flexo quickly introduced himself again, showing off his elastic tricks one more time for good measure. Suddenly, a long, stretching hand appeared from nowhere and grabbed Flexo by the ear, yanking him violently upward.
"MOM! NOT IN FRONT OF THE BEAUTIFUL LADY! My reputation is still under construction!" he screamed, his voice strained by the pull on his ear.
An old lady in a violet gown appeared, looking sternly disappointed, scolding him harshly. "Flexo, how many times have I told you not to go near the Royal Gate? And to stop showing off your gifts!"
Flexo pouted and reluctantly explained everything that had happened, from finding Elios in the sand to the brutal execution they had just witnessed. The old woman's stern eyes filled with tears as she listened to the description of the Knight's sacrifice. She turned gently to Elios and Gracia. "That gate… it's cursed. Don't ever go near it again."
When Gracia told her about the brave warrior's death, Flexo's mother hugged her tightly and wept silently, a shared moment of female grief. "You should tell his son, dear," she said gently, pulling back. "He deserves to know the truth of how bravely his father died."
Gracia nodded nervously, her face troubled. She revealed that the brave warrior's only son was Titan, a young man who dreamed of becoming the greatest soldier in history. She feared how he would take the news.
Later that night, Flexo cooked dinner—a special, carefully made, brightly colored meal for Gracia, and a much plainer, boring one for Elios.
While they ate, Elios told Flexo's mother about his own father, the Symbol, the diary, and the painful six-year search. Her eyes widened, and tears streamed down her face yet again as she hurried, trembling, to the kitchen without a word. Elios and Gracia looked at each other, genuinely worried by her extreme reaction.
Flexo, sensing the shift in the room, showed them an old, worn photograph of his own father, now long gone. For once, the usually cheerful Flexo fell silent, his face pale and still, all trace of his rubbery antics gone.
Elios asked quietly, his own voice heavy, "What happened to him?"
The air turned heavy, thick with shared, unspoken loss. For the first time, the three disparate travelers—Elios, Gracia, and Flexo—all shared the same silence. The profound, heartbreaking silence of loss.
But in that silence, something began to change.
Their grief, rather than crushing them, became purpose. Their shared sorrow forged into a relentless, terrifying fire.
The quest to find his father had just become a quest for revenge