'What is this?!... Where am I?!'

I woke up heavily disoriented, seeing as I was in a room... no not a room, it was more like a brightly-lit cavern, with no memories of how I got there. I tried moving my body, but it was for naught as it did not respond accordingly.

I tried to look at my body, and it was then I understood why I could not move, I had the body of a newborn. But what puzzled me more, was the fact that a bird with a body of white flames, laid down on my body.

The bird in question was about the size of my stomach, seeing as it covered the entirety of it. I felt a connection of a sort with the flaming bird, almost like there were a series of chains... connecting us!

I could feel what it felt, smell what it smelt and I actually for a very brief second, saw myself through its eyes... or rather it was more of a mental image, as it was still in an unconscious state. I had no idea as to why I was not panicking or freaking out, but I just overlooked it momentarily.

And so I decided to give it a name, now knowing its gender after feeling the connection for some time. I understood it was female, and gave it a name accordingly.

'I'll call you Whishmae'

Her slit-like eyes jolted wide open as she stared at me, the gaze so intense it made me flinch, but it was filled with curiosity and for some reason, love.

I momentarily stopped thinking, coming to understand that I was also able to feel her emotions. I was taken aback briefly, as it was a shocking experience and quite an interesting one at that.

Her gaze continued, as she slowly crawled up to my face. Fear hit me not from the fact that she came closer, but from the fact that she had a body of flames. She seemed to have felt my concern, but this did not halt her approach one bit.

I closed my eyes in fear, as I was not able to move my limbs at all. Then I felt it... her tongue dragged across my face as I flinched, but all I felt was warmth from the flames, not soul-scorching heat.

I felt truly stupid at this moment as if I was going to be burnt, I would've been in that process a long time ago, as it laid down on my stomach. This caused me to laugh at how scared I was, of something that could not harm me.

Feeling my happiness, her flames flared for a second as she too was ecstatic. The first was at the fact that I had given her a name, and the second was... well from my own joy!

It then came to me, that I had yet to ask an important question that I should have asked myself, right from the moment I woke up.

"Who am I exactly?!"

I instantly got hit with an incredible wave of pain, as a load of memories filled my brain very quickly. I tried to clutch my head to ease the pain, but then again... I could not move a single limb properly. But my body as a whole represented how I felt very accurately.

I writhed in pain, as sweat appeared all over my body soaking it. I tried to scream my lungs out, but all that came out was a newborn cry, as my body seized on the floor. Whishmae on the other hand turned full black, and although I barely caught her on the side of my eye, as I was too busy writhing in pain, I felt fear once again.

Her previous body of bright pure-white flames and rose-golden colored eyes were now a polar opposite, consisting of a body of black flames, and blood-red eyes. I was already feeling too much pain, but I tried to feel what the cause of this was... and it was discomfort, from the pain I was experiencing.

The instant the pain subsided, was the moment I passed out. I heard voices as my consciousness faded away, but there was just about nothing I could do.

"How in the world did a baby manage to enter this place, without any of us sensing it until now... and even more interesting a Pheonix?!"

A particularly tall and muscular man said, and you could see through his facial features that he was quite an old man, as he possessed wrinkles all over. Though the vitality he emanated, was incredibly high for someone who looked that old!

There were 4 other people mixed between male and female, and every last one of them had the same surging vitality. They also had an incredibly overbearing aura, one that could suffocate people just by being around them.

"It seems our successor has arrived!"

This time around, it was a lady with a particularly alluring voice who spoke up.

"Aria, you're sure this is the one?"

The same old man who had initially questioned earlier spoke up, as every person's eyes shot up brightly. This was something that they had all been waiting for, as they slowly aged for several hundreds of years.

The anticipation in their eyes, made them look like lost souls who had their purpose rekindled.

"I have never been more certain of anything in my life, unlike someone sure that no one would be able to get in here without the barrier trapping them... Rol!!"

Aria said, causing Rol to just look away slightly embarrassed. Rol slowly went towards the baby boy and picked him up, then tried to pick up the baby Pheonix after coating his hand with mana, he was burnt by the white flames.

"What the hell?!... how is this boy not burnt to ashe... soul bound!!"

A smile crept on his face, as Rol knew it was by no means easy to get soul-bound creatures in this world, much less a Pheonix this strong.

"Do you mind?" A woman with a gentle voice spoke up, as she took the boy from Rol's hands.

"Not like I had a choice!" Rol humphed.

"Uhhh... He does not have any mana Aria, are you sure this is the one... Wait! It's all Aether, and his body is overflowing with it!!" Lea an alchemist, and also a highly powerful magus spoke.

At that moment all doubt was lost, as aether was something normal people did not possess, being as it is known by very few, recognized as the source of life or "Origin"!

And here lied a boy who had a literal logic-defying load of it!

"Hahaha! I'm gonna enjoy whipping him into shape before I die" Rol had said this with so much joy, it would seem like it would pour out of him.

"Hey, let us leave here, and put them on a proper bed for them to sleep!" said Aria

All 5 of the people there were so ecstatic, as they were close to their death, and had desperately been waiting for Aria's vision to happen.

The joy they felt was truly beautiful to witness.