Deku’s cave was large and spacious, with beautiful luminous lights hanging from the ceiling. The floor was made of blue diamond, and in the middle, was the giant Dragon Lord. He sat on various colourful pillows, and he wore a crown of golden leaves. His scales were light green, his wings were the colour of the time of twilight and his eyes seemed to continuously change shade, from pink to gold, yellow to blue.

Birdhead gasped in amazement at the breathtaking view.

“Good to see you,” Beakfall greeted, looking up at the colossal dragon.

“You, too.” Deku replied politely, his voice no longer sounding like a majestic boom. “Let’s get on with the Fire.”

Birdhead stared in wonder as the dragon created a curious flame in his right claw. It glowed of red and orange, with blue at its very top. In his other claw, he brandished a piece of string and circled it around the flame. It connected and formed a string necklace. Slowly, Deku enclosed the necklace around his claw. It gradually shrunk, until it was small enough to fit around Birdhead’s neck. He handed the Fire to Birdhead, who reached for it with his orange wing. “Thanks.”

“Now, I would like to present you each a new ability to help you on your quest.”

“To Beakfall: A golden tear-shaped stone of time and sight. It allows you to freeze time and improves your vision to the vision of an eagle.”

“To Zelda: The sky-blue tear of the healing alicorn, Mipha. It allows you to heal any wound, if it isn’t Ash venom.”

“To Myrtlelana: The pink diamond key to shape. It allows you to turn into any size you wish.”

“To Lionessfire: The topaz Thunderbolt. It allows you to control the weather, whether it’s sunny or stormy.”

“To Peachu: The sapphire heart of invisibility. It allows you to make yourself invisible.”

“To Melody: The power of light. It allows you to summon a source of light whenever you are shadowed by the dark. This ability settles in this round pearl stone: Take it.”

“That is all: One last tip, do not leave the path of the Dark Forest, shall you be lost forever.” Deku smiled.

Birdhead nodded, and one by one, the Mythicals thanked the Dragon Lord for his gifts and left the cave. It was sunny as it always was, but the fountain was not there, nor were the paths. The team left the Grove, enjoying what could be their last moments of peace and sunshine.

Midnight covered the sky and shadow was free again.

Zelda once again hopped onto the back of Beakfall, inspecting the stars, then yawned.

“We’ll fly somewhere undercover first,” Birdhead instructed. “C’mon. It won’t be long until we find a forest.”

The Mythicals took off in the night, the darkness covering their shapes. Quite true, as Birdhead had told them, it was easy to find a forest. Yearning for sleep, they all slumped down on the cool grass and fell into their dreams, leaving Birdhead keeping watch.

Beakfall awoke at early sunrise, when he ordered Birdhead to sleep.

When the sun rose completely at seven o’clock in the morning, all the Mythicals awoke, ready for a long journey ahead of them. Once again, they rose to the air and started to head towards the Dark Forest: The surrounding woods of Ashgle’s tall, mountainous castle which was impossible to pass unless you were the Dark Ashgle or an Ashdragon.

The sun was warm and beautiful and awoke many hungers in the Mythicals’ tummies.

“Mm, I would dearly like a lizard or so for breaky,” Zelda sighed.

“Me too, I’m a little hungry,” Peachu groaned.

Beakfall looked with interest at the Mythicals.

“Why do you not move and hunt, then?” he asked curiously.

“Because Birdhead isn’t gonna let us.” Zelda replied, rolling her eyes.

“Whaaat?” Birdhead yelped. “Um…uh…”

“See?” Zelda said. “You should ha…”

What’s happening?  Birdhead shook his head in confusion, but a scene of a gold female phoenix and her child engulfed his thoughts.

“What’s for bedtime story, birdy?”

“The Lee-g-end of fee-are!”

“Ha, ha, it’s the Legend of Fire. Okay!”

The mother phoenix picked up an ancient scroll from nowhere, as it seemed to Birdhead.

“Okey-dokey: Chapter 1 continued: “I’m happy to be on time! As Deku had said to us, we should reach the Dark Forest before the sun sets, because then the open pathway will be fully operated by the Ashdragons so there’s no chance of getting in. Me and me team (of course, includes Lakayru the sphinx, Faroar, the wingless Ellemendragon (a wingless, small-headed dragon that holds one element only until they perish, so they can’t be taken over by Ash) and the hippogriff Beakfall, who was a reaaally big help) are going through the forest…”

“BIRDHEAAD!” Zelda yelped.

“Uhhh,” Birdhead moaned, he was lying on the fresh grass of a wide plain, and the Mythicals were crowded around him. His back ached and his wings felt like they had been grabbed by sharp claws.

“Ur? Uh? Wah? Ah? Hah?” Peachu squawked. “You just FELL OUT OF THE SKY!”

“We literally FREAKED OUT, MAN!” Melody roared.

“No thanks to you, Melody,” Zelda snarled.

“Hrrr. I’m okay.” Birdhead snapped, standing up. “Um, you guys need to eat? You can.”

Beakfall? He thought, his mind buzzing. Beakfall helped defeat Ashgle before? No wonder he seems to know Deku.

“It’s okay, Birdhead,” Beakfall whispered as the others left earshot to hunt. “It’s just the Fire. It helps you remember memories that’s useful for your quest. Sometimes this special Fire is named the Gift of Memories, but you can’t hear that name so often nowadays, because most mythicimals forgot about Ashgle and Deku.”

“HYAAH! Ooof,” Zelda yelled. “Beaaakfall! Help here!”

“Okay, you idiot,” he said quietly, just loud enough for Birdhead to hear.

“Wait! Shouldn’t we – Beakfall,” Birdhead called after him.

“I know what you saw in the memory,” Beakfall nodded, and he walked off. “You are our leader, not me – I should be the one asking you the questions.”

Birdhead sighed and flapped his wings lightly to follow the hippogriff.

“Could ye get me a snake?” Lionessfire asked, imitating a pirate.

“Just a second or two…” Beakfall scanned the area.

Suddenly, the great hippogriff sped off, past Lionessfire, and crash, into strands tall, long grass and rotting bushes. He briskly returned and held a snake in his right claw. In his other, though, he held a lizard, which he passed to Zelda. “Thanks.”

The snake Beakfall had caught was blackish-grey and had a red underbelly. It gave Birdhead a sudden pang of fear. Where had he seen something like that before? The…when…

Birdhead tumbled into another memory.

A memory he shouldn’t have forgotten.

“Hey, birdy, I’m going out for a very short amount of time, be good and stay away from the garden, okay?”

The mother phoenix smiled and patted the child. “Promise me?”

“Of course, mummy.”

The golden phoenix walked out of the room. “Bye, birdy! I’ll be back in five minutes or so!”

And she disappeared. The little phoenix sighed and walked over to a small shelf and pulled out a piece of parchment, bottle of ink and a quill. He started to draw, slowly and slowly.

At first, it was a flower petal. The lines were thick, and there were little crinkles to make it look 3-D. Next, came the feathers. Long hair flowed down past the neck, and aqua eyes sat beneath pink diamonds. The phoenix had long claws, a warm smile, and her name was Myrtlelana.

The little phoenix dropped the quill and peered outside the open window, which seemed just to appear in the blurry scene, then the clock. His mother wasn’t back yet. It had been ten minutes already.

The phoenix groaned, then he wrote down a note. A note that changed history.

‘Hey.

It’s your birdy. I’ll like to say, I love you mummy.

I’m a risky phoenix. I don’t know what scares you in the garden, but mum, I’m a phoenix, if I die, I’ll come back from the ashes!

So please excuse me.

xx.”

Flapping his feathers, the little phoenix hesitated, then flew out of the open window. All Birdhead could see now was a little orange bird, hovering in the centre of his view, its tiny wings moving up and down, and its emerald eyes blinking cheerfully. Slowly, a little bright bush appeared, followed by towering sunflowers and giant iridescent chrysanthemums. The young phoenix yelled gladly at the dazzling sight.

He placed his wings on several eye-catching plants and gasped at the growing, pink cherry blossoms. He smiled with glee, watching unsuspecting insects buzz around the scene.

“BIRDY! What are you doing?”

“Mummy! This is great! Come see!”

“NO! GET OUT! NOW!”

The panicking mother dived down to her child, attempting to pick him up and run.

It was too late.

The Ashsnake hissed with anger and showed its menacing fangs. It arched into an S-shape, and bit into the flurry of feathers, and disappeared into a puff of black smoke.

The mother screamed and dropped her son. “Mu-mmy!”

It seemed that in the distance, a magical glow came and circled the shrieking mother, and suddenly, her hair grew long and orange, and a golden diamond pressed onto her forehead.

“Mu-mmy?” the young phoenix squeaked, terrified.

“What? You’re mad, I don’t have a child. What are you?”

The words hit the small child with hurt. He cried in despair, and reached for his mother, but it was not her mother: for she was gone forever.  

And so, the phoenix the little phoenix had called mother for five years, turned away and Birdhead slipped out of the memory of despair.

“Wakey-wakey,” Zelda yawned loudly.

He was lying on the grass with his wings clutched at his chest.

“Again?” Peachu asked lamely.

“You saw something horrible, am I right?” Beakfall asked.

“Yes.” Birdhead sat up and glanced nervously at Myrtlelana. “I – uh, let’s get going now.”

“Whatever you say,” Lionessfire agreed, but still looked curiously as if wondering what he had saw.

Birdhead shook his wings and glided up into the air, as Lionessfire chewed the rest of her snake. Beakfall ripped a dead goat in half as he lifted off with Zelda on his back. The hippogriff threw one half at Myrtlelana and catching it, followed him. Peachu grinned as Melody handed her a small blueberry, accepting it politely. The two slowly accompanied the rest of the Mythicals slowly after chewing quietly on their berries.

The sun was not yet high up in the air, but bright and smiling. Birdhead closed his eyes and took in the warmth, and the little trail of the past in the breeze, from the soft flapping of Myrtlelana. Beakfall glanced warily at the surroundings, spying for lurking Ashdragons. The flight was peaceful and calm, with trees swaying softly below them, and towering green mountains standing like soldiers in the far distance.

To break the lonely silence, Zelda faintly started to tell the Mythicals a little story, unknown to be true or false.

“When I was young, I used to play with my prophetional powers.”

Lionessfire lifted her head in wonder.

“It was…Interesting. I saw many possible futures that I forced my mind to tell me. I saw an orange phoenix, with calm emerald eyes and soft words. He held his wing with a smaller one, one with golden feathers, blue wingtips  and tail-tips, with the same emerald eyes, but filled with hope, and a small spark of a blue fire.”

“Blue power,” Beakfall corrected. “In legend, this is what connects with the golden flame, the Fire of Courage. If this connection is broken, peace is disturbed, and shadow awakens. This blue power, is what I would call the Power of Peace.”

Zelda shook her head.

“It was a flame. A flame, blue and powerful, filled with the history’s wisdom. The little phoenix was unaware of this, he was only aware of a life of tranquillity, with his older brother and his revived mother.”

Myrtlelana tilted her head to the right. “Revived?”

Zelda nodded.

“The vision said that she was possessed by the power of shadow. Some sorta ominous Ashgle thing, I guess. The child was happy and lived a great life, but darkness awoke.”

Melody rolled her eyes.

“Let me guess: Ashgle again.”

The occamy sighed.

“No. It was…the new sort of Ashgle, its birth created by…the…what?”

She closed her eyes.

“The broken connection of the blue power…The fire? The Fire of…Intelligence? Smartness? Oh…Wisdom…The Fire of Wisdom.”

Beakfall looked surprised, and Birdhead turned to look at Zelda.

“Zelda, who is the phoenix – the younger one – in the vision?”

Zelda groaned. “Hajime.”

The name was like a spark of inspiration in his mind. His vision blurred, and his mind tumbled…Not while I’m FLYING…

The phoenix, ‘birdy,’ looked up hopefully at his mother.

“It’s okay, birdy. We’ll think of one.”
“Will I really have a brother?”
“Yes, birdy.”
“Can I name him?”
“Oh, well, that’s complicated…There’s…”
“A pet name when he’s in his egg?”
“Okay…but that might not be the real…”
“YAY!”
Birdy bounced over and hugged his mother.
“Let’s name him something dramatic!”
“Birdy…”
“Let’s see: Manaka? Nup, girl’s name. Phoenixlike? Sounds like a Like- Like, nah. Koji? What about Koji?”
“It’s Japanese, birdy.”
“I know! Koji means peace.”
“It’s not as dramatic, if it’s peace…”
“Great! Let’s think of more. Kosuke, as in rising sun?”
“Birdy?”
“What about Hajime? Beginning, as in?”
“Okay, good name, but Birdy…”
“YES, mummy…”

“Look, you’re back now.” Zelda moaned.

“Third time now!” Peachu groaned. “Do you really have a brother, mate?”

Birdhead shook his head. “But I think…If the Fire…”

Beakfall tapped Birdhead on the back gently with his wing.

“It’s okay. It just triggered the memory for you. I believe it will help you in your journey to defeat Ashgle.”

Birdhead gaped at the hippogriff.

“Really? Do I really have a little brother named Hajime?”

Beakfall smiled. “You’ll see. Deku has some amazing powers when hope is lost.”

The phoenix looked in confusion at the great hippogriff and launched into the sunny sky.

“Oi, don’t just run away!” Melody snapped, lifting after him.

“Should I continue the vision?” Zelda asked. “Well…”

“Don’t you dare!” Peachu screamed. “Birdhead will fall out of the sky if you do so!”

“Not true!” Birdhead yelled. “I will NOT!”

“Oh yes you will!” Peachu howled. “Would you like Zelda to demonstrate?”

“I’ll like to see her try!”

Zelda snorted and glanced at Beakfall. He shrugged, as if saying well, it will help Birdhead if he has another flashback.

“Weeelll anyway,” Zelda interrupted. “The phoenix, Hajime, accompanied by…his mother, Cherry…and his brother…Wait. His brother. He was once a saviour of Pheonixia, and the kingdom. His brother defeated the terrifying Ashgle. Emerald eyes, gold, orange and a little of yellow feathers. A heart of selfishness, turned into pure gold. And…Birdhead. You really do have a brother named Hajime. But he was given birth by your mother, Cherry. Your mother’s name is Cherry?”

The phoenix ignored Zelda’s comments.

“No. Don’t talk to me about her.”

“Which means your mother isn’t dead, is she? Did you see a memory on her?”

“I…did. They always have her.”

“No, specifically about her disappearance?”

“Yes…But…”

“What about it? Look, I can help you if you tell me. I can help resurrect her.”

“She isn’t dead.”

The Mythicals looked shocked.

“She’s…Right here now.”

Peachu snorted; Zelda sighed.

“Don’t speak metaphorically, I NEED to know…Wait, wait.”

Birdhead rolled his eyes.

“MYRTLE,” Zelda declared, before Beakfall rudely interrupted her.

“SHOOSH, ZELDA!”

Myrtlelana looked cautiously at the angry hippogriff. “Well, if you don’t mind, let’s get to the Dark Forest already.”

Beakfall growled and dived down to the ground. Birdhead nodded and cued with his wings for the others to follow. The entrance of the Forest was an archway formed black birch trees. Peachu peered into the opening and squinted.

“Nothing I can see. Just pitch black. I think we’ll need some light, Melody.”