Remembering everything that happened, the people involved, and the large hit that Gary had suffered, it was almost as if he was going through it a second time. In doing so, the adrenaline running through his body was already high.
“Kai, you know I don’t usually say this stuff to you,” Gary lifted his head and directly looked into Kai’s eyes. “I want you to cut out the smart talk. What do you mean by that? Who didn’t make it? What happened?”
There were a number of possibilities. Since Kai had come to rescue them, maybe it was some of the Howlers gang members. In the worst case, maybe it was someone else—among those people he wasn’t able to see in the stadium.
“It’s Jayden Clove,” Kai answered. “I heard what happened to him in the ring, and why you got involved, trying to stop Harvor. After that, Harvor gave you a large blow, knocking you out, and Ice appeared.
“He took you all out of there as far as he could, but Harvor continued to chase your group. No one was strong enough to fight Harvor, and there was a good chance that he would take you all out.
“At that point, Jayden decided to fight back. He allowed you to get away and meet with us halfway on the way to Slough. We brought you all back in the end—everyone was saved, everyone came back safely—but Jayden hasn’t come back.”
The entirety of Gary’s body was shaking, and he was clenching his jaw. He started to think about what had gone wrong, what he could have done to change the outcome.
Maybe he should have used all of his energy to escape from the get-go, or maybe he could have used his position as a king to try and negotiate with Harvor. The truth was, no one knew how that would have turned out either.
Still, Gary was upset with himself. Jayden, who had helped him before—multiple times—and had been a person of guidance, was now gone, and Gary had been completely passed out at the time.
“ARGHHHHHH!” Gary screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice rebounding off the empty ice arena. He lifted both of his fists and slammed them into the floor.
The ice rink cracked in several directions, and something else occurred. Underneath Gary’s fists, steam was rising as part of the ice began to melt. In his anger, he had somewhat activated the fire attribute of his body.
Lifting his head, Gary stood up as he realized something.
“What about Xin? What happened to her? Where is she now?”
Kai turned his head away—it was clear he was hesitant to answer the question.
“I’ll give it to you straight: I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Gary asked.
“She came back with us to Slough. I was busy trying to get Slough ready in case of any sort of attack, but I had people following her. I was worried that she might try something… and I knew how you’d act if something did happen,” Kai explained.
“But she took out those who were following her. She didn’t do much to them, just enough to escape, and now no one knows where she is.”
Gary lifted both of his hands to his head, wanting to pull them apart.
What situation was he in? What had he done to deserve all of this? What had she done?
Gary was sure, although he was feeling completely distraught, that losing Jayden was somewhat like losing Kirk for the second time, but the feeling he felt now—it had to be multiplied intensely for Xin.
‘I was there. I was right there. I talked so confidently, I told Xin not to worry, and same with Jayden, yet both of them went away.’
“Xin… she must have gone back to Harvor to find her brother,” Gary said as he turned around. “I have to go get her, now.”
Kai reached out and grabbed Gary’s hand, holding and pulling him back.
“What are you doing? We don’t even know if Xin really went there. She might just need space for herself. If you go there, what would you do anyway?”
“Even if she isn’t there, I need to go and try. If I can at least help Jayden, then Xin will be alright as well. I can fix this, I can sort it all out—there won’t be a problem,” Gary said.
As Kai’s grip lessened, Gary continued to move.
“STOP!” Kai called out. He hated that he was right at this moment—how he could predict Gary’s thoughts. Xin was right about Gary’s actions as well.
“There’s no need to go back for Jayden. I’m telling you now, Jayden is dead. You will be walking in there for no reason,” Kai stated.
“Did you see him die with your own eyes?” Gary asked.
There was no reply from Kai.
“Did any of you see Jayden die with your own eyes?” Gary shouted across to the others as well.
There were no answers from them either.
“If you didn’t see him die with your own eyes, then don’t be killing him off yet,” Gary said.
Gary continued to walk, and as he did, the others started to move from their seats, making their way into the stadium.
“There was a reason I brought you here, Gary,” Kai said. “I thought this whole thing would get a little messy, but it’s my job to stop you from doing stupid things, and to make sure you’re walking the right path—even if I have to do it with my own hands.”