The boys are awake, and as they get up, they simultaneously notice they are covered with robes. Clementine is already awake, stretching, surprisingly far considering her black dresspants could constrict her movement. Ari notices first that she is wearing a light purple dress shirt, with the 2 buttons that are undone.

  Clementine puts her brown trenchcoat on. Then, as she pulls out her flip-phone from her pocket, she begins spinning around elegantly. Ari's eyes widen immediately over the flip phone.

  Clementine spins on one foot repeatedly as she puts her flip phone back in her pocket. Her hands lifted in the air as she bounced with her spins. After a few seconds, she stops, her eyes darting with insecurity at the boys.

  Ari realizes how limber his body feels now as he easily lifts his torso off the ground in relief. He then quickly remembered his decision not to return to Jonthru and the Holy Trident. Shaking the thought away, he walks over to Clementine and hands her her dark purple robe.

  Leonardo removes his bandages and looks calmly toward the others as Clementine lifts her sword on her back. She moves her arms away from her body as the cool morning breeze passes through.

  “You two are finally up. I left my extra water bottle for you guys to share. Let’s move.”

  “Were you dancing just now?” Ari asked quickly.

  "You saw that? Stop staring." Clementine blushed.

  “Thanks, Clementine, for the water. I will try to preserve this as best as possible. I haven't been to Rockylia in the daytime, but I can only imagine it’ll be hot.” Leonardo stands up retrieving the water bottle from the ground.

  They get moving, noticing the trail Leonardo has shown them is full of trees once again. The uncertainty fills the air as Leonardo keeps pointing forward on the map, and he seems confident in his navigation.

  Clementine reaches into her pocket, pulling out her flip phone again. Something like this has never been seen in the Holy Trident. “I wish Red could answer his Flippie. I don’t understand why he went and got himself lost.” She said.

  “What is that cool robotic rectangle? It flips, too?” Ari’s jealousy is seeping.

  “It’s called a Flippie; the rumors are that this was created during the Old World. I need one to keep in contact with the OTF media, it's nearly hunting season. But more importantly, to reach my incompetent partner.”

  The Flippie, previously known as the Flip Cell Phone in the Old World, was rediscovered as an artifact two centuries ago. Then, after the initial creation of the OTF organization, they understood the technology. It was then mass-produced and distributed, which falls under less than 50 years ago. Its new feature is a hub for anyone who has a badge. The minimum rank requirement for receiving a Flippie within the OTF starts with second-year Hunters, and their only feature is participating in Hunting Season: Bounties would be broadcast for the hunters to participate in to further achieve glory and worth within their guild. There can also be special events unrelated to Hunting that are broadcast, such as Blast Ball games or Skyborn Races. Even though Clementine is a first-year, she somehow managed to attain one.

  “Cool, can I see?” Ari reaches out.

  “No, respect a lady’s privacy.” Clementine swats his hand away.

  Leonardo has not said anything; this could be due to the intense headache he is currently feeling, but this feeling is put aside immediately as the trees are seemingly clearing. It is when the warmer and drier air starts to hit their pores that they realize they might finally be out of the outskirts of the two boys’ home. In front of them is an entirely new biome. It was a harsh Desert. The wind pushes the sand and gravel so gracefully.

  Ari wipes the dirt with his mouth, “I need some water, please.”

  Leonardo hands Ari the water bottle as they view the terrain from left to right. There is a very broad distinction between the trees and the sand.

  Nothing besides sand is in sight, except bones and broken gems.

  “What happened here?” Clementine asks as she walks forward first, but suddenly halts, hearing a crunch beneath her feet. “...Is that a human?!” She lifts her feet to analyze the hollowed wrist she shattered.

  Leonardo takes a minute before going through his assessment, grabbing his head as it pierces with a sharp rhythmic beating, “There are born skeletons too. I don’t understand how there are so many bones of Borns and Humans. When I read about this place, I heard it was a Rock and Gem Auction Location. I don’t see a single building, though.” Leo finishes, now feeling a colder, more uncomfortable sensation through his skin.

  Clementine and Ari feel a similar sensation, but over the potential other bones they might find. They look around the anatomy and confirm their suspicions. As they continue walking, they see more than 10 human skeletons left behind, buried in the gravel of the sand. They feel a sense of overwhelming dread, but they recognize things might be calm, so they proceed with slight caution. Their feet drag along the soft sand, avoiding the excess skeleton parts lying around.

  The terrain started having inclines, and the bodies became less prevalent.

  It was at this point that Ari unceremoniously ripped the sleeves from his shirt and wrapped them around his head.

  “Okay, it's getting HOT!” Ari holds the now-empty water bottle in his hand.

  Leonardo looks at Ari’s hand. “Hey! Why did you drink all the water!?”

  Clementine rolls her eyes and continues to stride forward, while the other two bicker. What seemed like 5 hours was probably only 30 minutes, as they all have a piece of their clothing off. Leonardo decided to use his shirt as a turban, and Clementine tied her robe to her waist. They are hopelessly out of water, and Leonardo’s headache is not letting up either. He slightly crouches when it comes back in waves.

  “Are you alright?” Ari looks at Leonardo, noticing his lips withered.

  “Yes… I’m just…thirsty.” His body is getting weaker.

  “You wouldn’t happen to know places nearby to get water, right?” Clementien continues to walk in a limping motion.

  Leonardo had another headache, this one the worst of them all. But with this, he visualized them walking toward a cave in the Northeast. Leonardo saw this in Black and White, falling to the ground in shock. Ari crouched to him.

  “Okay, what’s going on? You’re not alright.” Ari tries to get his arm down to help his friend back up.

  Leonardo can see himself from the top down in this new vision he acquired in his ailment. He then saw the distance from themselves and this cave, and noticed it was only half a mile away.

  “I…saw…it…there’s a cave.” Leonardo points to the location, and Clementine raises her eyebrows.

  “You saw it? From the past or something that you remembered?” Clementine asked

  “No. I just saw it. In my head.” Ari's eyes widen as Leonardo is helped up by Ari, pulling his arm.

  The time is passing even more slowly, and the sun is beaming at its highest and unwavering in setting dawn. It has been 3 hours of them walking by the time they chat again. “Oh yeah, Leo, you still haven’t answered my question from back in the shuttle. But I think I understand now. Did Clergy Vauntess take you outside?” Ari looks directly at Leonardo in anticipation.

  Leonardo’s eyes shake slightly, “Yes, 4 of us were involved with...missions.” Leonardo looks down as Ari looks at him slightly longer before looking ahead at Clementine. “So what’s this Red guy like? He works under Bullseye, right? What else?”

  It became harder to hear or see each other, due to the wind picking up violently, blowing the sand in their face.

  “Well, He’s kind of crazy, but he has a good heart! Still very risky being around that guy, but I can admit he’s an extremely good hunter! My dad trusts him a lot and assigns him a lot of covert excavations!”

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  “Really!? How’s he risky!?” Ari’s eyes glimmer.

  Clementine grips her scabbard tight and rolls her eyes, “Well, it’s just that he doesn’t seem to care who’s in his way to get what he wants! He is very fun to be around as well. Too much fun. He helped me a lot when I was younger, training to become a hunter, when my dad or Dawnie couldn’t help back home. If that didn't work, then I'd have to stay near Mrs. Mighty!”

  “Mrs. Mighty, that sounds like a fitting name. Who is she?”

  “Ari! Sorry, but I need to save my breath.”

  “What!?”

  She turns around, “... Mrs. Mighty was the co-founder of the Guardians, and she is also the queen of the Land of the Mighty, where my mom and I were born and raised.”

  “Oh, cool, I’m sure your mom is happy that you turned out so strong, especially being under someone named Mighty!” Ari smiles.

  Clementine looks down and, with a shaky voice, suppresses Ari, “Yes…” Ari immediately sensed her tone and said nothing else as they continued to walk.

  They finally reach a giant boulder about 15 feet tall that is sitting perfectly aligned with the hole in the ground. The supposed location of the cave. Looking at Leonardo, he nods his head in confirmation, which is covered by his hands. The aching hasn’t stopped, but he helps participate in moving the boulder, which has a seemingly immense weight. Their combined strength was enough for them all to get through, which didn’t take much considering the slim shape all of them are in. Leonardo descends the rocky path first, followed by the other two, as they are greeted with a small pond with a stalactite that methodically drips water into the pond.

  The three walk extremely fast, Clementine and Ari even trip twice on the rocks, and fill up their water bottles. “Divinity works perfectly on purifying the water; you won’t need to use proper essence for this. Not that I assume the Holy Trident uses it anyway.” Clementine’s hands glow golden as the gravel in the water completely disintegrates.

  Ari’s hands are still normal. “...Leonardo, can you do it for me?”

  “You can’t do it?" Leonardo asked.

  “...No.”

  “Okay, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” Ari answered in sadness, knowing the question that was about to be asked.

  Leonardo pushes his spectacles up, “The way you attempted to fight Garrison, and the way you fought that Dark-Fur born, you didn’t use any summoned weapons we are supposed to train with. I haven’t noticed until now because I didn’t know you or any of your sector-mates. Are you unable to produce divinity?” He asked.

  Clementine jolted her head back and forth at the discussion between Leonardo and Ari and finally rested her head on Ari, who was looking down. “It’s true. I can’t. I would never lie.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this before we left? That’s huge. I know you were injured, but I’m going to trust that you can hold your own like you said, right?” Clementine crosses her legs.

  “Of course, I just said, I would never lie. That goes for that, too.” Ari lifts his head, finally.

  Leonardo moves his hand to his head violently, grunting harshly. Another piercing headache.

  “It's fine. I'm not judging. Can we get out of here, please!? My head hurts so bad.” He asked impatiently.

  Everyone gets up in a very rushed fashion as they refill the water bottles one more time. As they progress through the tiny gaps and unexpected inclines. Past the crawl through space, they finally reach a giant hallway filled to the brim with dark green gems.

  As they keep walking slowly, they notice it gets considerably cooler, and they can feel the wind pointing to the center of where they’re walking. Even throughout the many turns, it was easy to navigate this illuminated hallway.

  Before they can make it to the destination, Leonardo falls to his knees and rubs his head severely with his fingers. Clementine kneels as she puts her arm around him, and she gets very concerned. His groaning and erratic movements began to reach their peak. Regardless, he presses on, prompting Ari and Clementine to try not to worry about him.

  It was only a few seconds later when they reached the back of the cave.

  Ari’s eyes are diverted to a closed black book that appears before them, set up in a dark green gem shrine. He walks closer as the room gets colder. When he tries to touch the book, he feels a sharp pain in his fingertips. He was accruing frostbite at a supernatural rate.

  “Ow!” Ari jolts as he drops the book.

  Leonardo moves his hands away from his head. He starts regaining a normal demeanor and less, more tolerable pain levels.

  Clementine goes to touch the book, as she picks it up, “Why’s it so cold!! Is this an artifact?” She yells as she waves the pain away from her hand.

  As Leonardo gets closer to the book, he notices his body becomes easier to move.

  “Guys, I think I can pick it up.” He said.

  Everyone looks at the spectacle that unfolds before them as Leonardo reaches down below and holds this book so effortlessly. “It has to be an artifact, but I wonder why you two couldn’t pick it u--” He halts his speech as he opens the first page, blinking continuously, and his head jolts back.

  “Leo? LEO!” However much Ari screams, it is futile. Leonardo cannot seem to hear any of the cries from outside of his head.

  Darkness, as far as the naked eye could see, surrounded this new environment Leonardo was finding himself in. He was bound by swirling shadows around his entire body that were cold ot the touch, but could only move his head and eyes, leading him to believe he had been reduced to a floating head. The darkness swirls as he moves his eyes, making shapes that he can’t tell if they're hallucinatory patterns he is manifesting. It was hard to imagine a way back to reality. But out of the shadows to the right of Leonardo, a very tall man of 6’5 with silky white hair appears before him. Leonardo can’t discern his face, but he can tell his hands are behind his back. His pointy boots click towards him in the darkness that surrounds the floor.

  “The countdown has begun, Leonardo Killitz. I have been waiting for you to find this book for a very long time. Your appearance isn’t what I calculated from what I gathered about you. To be frank, this is not how I look right now. So please keep this interaction secret because it embarrasses me. This is the appearance I had when I initially interacted with this book. That was now 22 years ago.”

  Leonardo tries to respond, but his mouth is seemingly sealed shut in darkness.

  “You won’t be able to talk yet, considering you are inept with Dark Essence. As am I, but I can assure you right now your headaches will never happen again.”

  “Allow me to introduce the true concept of Artifacts that the Holy Trident withheld. Artifacts bond and grant access to their essence to the descendant of the original owner. This means an ancestor was the rightful owner of whichever artifact. Like how your companion, Clementine, is now holding Rainbeaux. But that’s not the case with this book; I have learned that this book belongs to you. I am unsure how this happened; it’s quite rare from my experience. But when you ran away from the Holy Trident while having headaches as you got closer to the book. I thought how fascinating that this opportunity finally presented itself for us both...we must be getting close to the countdown.” The voice that is filling the extremely dark shadows is very deep, calm, yet chilling. However, it didn't project any sign of wrongdoing or lies in anything he has said. Still, he just observes the man who is pacing back and forth with his hands still put behind his back. He doesn’t seem to want to cause any harm. Leonardo wished he could read his facial expressions.

  “I won’t be a bother for too long, but I wanted to make my presence known to you. The reason you had those headaches was that the Holy Trident, they had been trying to purge this part of you. This book will show you that after the headaches come the start of your new ability. And your predetermined future. There will be times when you find people may not agree with what that may look like, but you will adapt. This world capitalizes on dissimilar views anyway..." The man said, pacing back and forth briefly before stopping to stare into Leonardo's eyes.

  "...I know you have so many questions. I cannot answer any of your inquiries right now with what I have available at this moment. Except, I can grant three answers when I send you back, make sure to write them, and you will get an immediate answer back.”

  The silky white hair stops moving along with him as Leonardo can feel the man's eyes covered in the shadows, continuing to pierce his gaze. Leonardo looks away as quickly as he can. “I'm sure you're scared and have many questions. I am only here to help you find yourself. There is no ulterior motive for any of this, other than maybe my ghouls attacking your home, but that was necessary. I know you and that other boy were begging not to be punished. Instead, you boys were given a chance at a new life. A life of adventure, so whatever three questions you have, I will answer to the best of my ability. This is all until we meet face-to-face once again. I am merely a spectator reveling in your eventual greatness.”

  He finally moves one hand to feel the walls of the dark essence, “I am expecting much from you. You and I have a lot of work to do. We will create--” Leonardo’s vision is very wobbly as he jolts his back from the book and returns to having a body and the ability to talk.

  The gems surrounding the once-placed book start glowing red, and the three of them get alarmed by a jarringly piercing alarm that halts after 10 seconds, followed by the gems turning blue as they open a pathway outside.

  Ari has his hands behind his head as the cool breeze comes from the outside. “Starting to see why we call this world Terramyth.”

  “What happened? Did you see anything else? Is it an artifact?” Clementine puts her hand on her hips.

  “Nothing…the headaches finally stopped, and I feel very normal. But I haven’t seen anything since the path to this cave.” Clementine stands still, anticipating the next thing he has to say. “I think I know one thing is for sure, though, Ari, you need to hear this too.”

  Ari walks away from the exit, “Okay?”

  “Finding this book was no coincidence. You guys couldn’t touch it, and I no longer have my headaches.” Leonardo said.

  “Well, Clementien just told me about artifacts, and we think you bonded with the artifact. Maybe your great great great grandfather had it or something.” Ari peers at the black cover of the book.

  “No, No. This book belongs to me. I know that now.” Clementine and Ari scratch their heads as Leo fondles the pages of the book.

  “I’m the boy the Borns who attacked our home were looking for,” Leonardo stated.