Helios takes a seat in a train; only Sara, Ray, and Riku are in there. Ray is writing in letters that Helios can't read, and Riku is meditating as his spiral energy increases. Sara is sitting on Helios's left side.
"What are you doing, Ray?" Helios asks, his tone curious.
"Creating runes," Ray says while writing on a piece of paper.
"Runes... I've heard of runes before, but I don't know how they work," Helios says.
"Runes work on life force, and they are ancient languages," Ray says, his focus still fixed on the piece of paper.
The crown talked about languages but never talked about life force before, Helios thinks. "What do you mean by life force?" Helios asks.
"Life force is the thing keeping all things alive in this world," Riku says, slowly opening his eyes.
"Why use life force to create runes when you have spiral energy?" Helios asks again.
"Well, let me give you a lesson, Leader," Sara says. "Life force is an energy in everything that lives, as we said, and it is used to activate runes. We can't use spiral energy because it's not energy from this world. So, we combine life force and spiral energy when we meditate, increasing our life force and making it stronger," Sara explains. "Runes can be written on paper or spoken, and both ways use life force. The spoken way is more interesting because everyone uses it," Sara adds. "When you say something, you use life force. That means everything you say is a rune; you just have to believe that it will work. But since many people are using the language, the rune is less effective."
"That makes sense. So you just need a language that not a lot of people use and your runes can be stronger? Does that mean you can use fireballs?" Helios asks in an intrigued voice.
"Yes, but a lot of people use the rune language I'm using, so I can't do anything that creates new things in the world," Ray says, finishing his writing.
That's no problem for me since I was a historical linguist, Helios thinks. Suddenly, Helios's head starts to hurt intensely. My head... what are these memories?
"Boss, you should sleep. That stone is not going anywhere," a person in Helios's memories says.
"I know, but this stone has an interesting story," a man says in Helios's memories, featuring black hair and golden eyes.
"My head hurts," Helios says out loud, grabbing his head.
"Leader, are you okay?" Sara says, offering Helios some water from a bottle. Riku and Ray look on with concerned expressions, though they remain still.
"It's fine, my head was just hurting," Helios says.
"Are you really fine, Leader?" Sara says, her face inches from Helios's.
"Yes, I am," Helios says, looking away as his face turns a deep crimson.
"Your face is red, you can't be fine," Sara says with a worried pout.
"He's fine, Sara," Riku says with a knowing smirk. "It's just that the leader is a little bit shy, isn't that right, Leader?"
"Why is he shy?" Sara asks, looking genuinely confused.
"Nothing. Riku is just saying nonsense," Helios says in an embarrassed tone, shooting Riku a sharp, angry look. "I have one last question," Helios says, trying to move past the awkward moment.
"What is it, Leader?" Sara asks, her voice still laced with concern.
"Why did we give Seer a position that has the same influence as a leader or a vice-leader?" Helios asks in an icy tone.
"That's because me and Seer are the only girls, and you said yes to the idea," Sara says.
I only said yes because I was distracted by how close you were, Helios thinks. "Okay, good enough," Helios says, but Riku and Ray give him a teasing glance.
"In all my years of work for the organization, that's the first time I've ever heard that," Ray says.
"How many years are those?" Helios asks.
"I forgot. Maybe more than one hundred and twenty. Seekers do live a long time," Ray says in a nonchalant tone.
Never judge a book by its cover, Helios thinks as everyone slowly falls asleep.
Helios opens his eyes and finds himself in a white space. A white creature with long hair is staring at him. "Oh, so you are the new owner of that dead guy's body," the creature says.
"Who are you?" Helios asks, his voice sounding hollow and distant.
"Oh, me? I'm the fallen in your body," the creature says. "Your soul looks interesting. Two souls trying to become one."
"What are you talking about?"
From the creature's perspective, Helios has one red eye and one golden eye. "Kneel," the creature commands, and Helios falls to his knees. "You're starting to remember too much for your own good," the creature says, lifting Helios's face with its foot.
Helios suddenly wakes up, gasping for air. "Are you okay, Leader?" Riku says, finishing his morning meditation.
"Yes, it was just a nightmare, but I can't remember it," Helios says.
"Well, we've made it to the Vermillion Mountains," Riku says, looking outside. Snow falls, blanketing the trees and the towering mountain peaks.
Everyone gets off the train and starts walking. "I heard that another organization wanted to hunt a Morpeth once, and half of their team was wiped out," a member of the organization whispers.
"I heard that Morpeths are stronger than Seekers in every way, including abilities. I really don't want to fight one," another person says.
"Guys, you can't show weakness. We belong to the strongest organization right now: the Order of Blackthorn," a third person adds.
"I hope it's a weak Morpeth," one person mutters as everyone walks into the snow-covered forest, the distant peaks looming over them.
They all stop when they reach a clearing. A bird, larger than the mountains themselves, flies overhead. Its yellow and red feathers look as if they are made of living fire, and its massive shadow swallows the snow-filled ground.
"No one said we are going to be fighting a phoenix," Helios says in a nervous voice.