An ancient city lost to the annuls of time, rocked by catastrophe after cataclysm. The last remnant of the civilization before the Jadendajuda first appeared on this world. The buildings were falling apart, heaps of rubble turned into mounds at their foundations. Slowly but steadily the forest worked toward reclaiming this ancient relic of a city. Moss and vines that once grew sparsely on the buildings now nearly covered them completely. Trees pushed through some buildings, giving the illusion the building was a shrine built in reverence of the tree. Wild grasses had all but completely covered the ancient brick roads. A once ornate building decorated with stained glass windows stood tall in the center of the city. A palace or a church, the difference did not matter to the five greyskinned beings currently seated at one of the few tables that was still intact.

  "Father's received summons from the oracle a lot lately." said a young boy.

  "These are uncertain times my child," the boy's mother replied, "just be patient, we'll eat as soon as he returns."

  "The oracle can't keep up with the rapid changes in the prophecy since a month ago." an aged man entered the room, "It's almost as if there's something beyond all comprehension influencing it of late."

  "Any good news this time around?" the boy's mother asked as she passed wooden bowls around filled with a thick and heavy stew.

  "If only I knew what to make of it." the aged man shook his head as he sat down at the table and replied, "the oracle I received changed the message so many times it finally just told me to come back later when everything had a chance to settle down, and that's why I was suddenly called now. I had hopes it would actually make some sense today."

  "By your tone, your hopes were crushed." the other male at the table responded, "What are we supposed to do then?"

  "From what I could make out before the oracle went stupid on me," the old man wasn't one for mincing words, "... and that was a month ago; I've already told you this. A vessel was chosen, the date of the ritual was decided, and upon success it would be sent here for protection and isolation from the world. That was the last time the oracle had made sense."

  "Since then..." the old man accepted the wooden bowl from his wife as he continued, "The oracle stated that something went wrong with the teleportation, the destination piece of the spell was interrupted or hijacked... the oracle wasn't sure on which. Whatever the case, the vessel of the prophecy ended up in the Ominous Forest."

  "I can't figure out for the life of me how she's still alive." the old man paused as he stuffed a wooden spoonful of stew in his mouth. "But apparently, she's somehow befriended a phoenix that's been keeping her safe."

  "...A phoenix? The oracle wasn't wrong about that?" his wife asked, her voice full of worry.

  "Haven't I been telling you the oracle hasn't been making any sense?" the old man ate another spoonful before he continued, "And then there's this latest one. The oracle thought she tried to commit suicide in something called the Eternal Pond of Youth, whereupon all the injuries she's ever suffered have been erased, like they never happened. And get this, the oracle said when the pond was done healing her, the water carried her to the surface and placed her on the shore."

  "Are you sure we can trust this oracle? Nothing makes any sense." his wife asked as she ate her own bowl of stew.

  "There's more." the old man placed down his spoon, drawing all their attention. "This miraculous healing water, also sped up her pregnancy by three full months. The child of prophecy will be born within the next couple of days."

  "..." the old man looked at all their dumbfounded expressions with satisfaction, "Yeah, that's how I looked too when I heard it from the oracle."

  "At any rate, hurry up and finish eating. We're going to head out to collect the vessel soon. From what I can figure, she's going to need our help."

  "That would be for the best." his wife replied and she continued to eat.

  "It's a two day venture in one direction, so be prepared for that." the old man got up from the table, "Our destination is the Ominious Forest, so we'll be masking our presence as best we can."

  "Are you sure it's working?" his wife asked worriedly, "Whatever is making that horrific noise is heading right for us."

  "Just don't panic. It's the strongest spell I have, not even a god should know we're here." the old man replied. He watched in the distance as a veritable dirt storm got kicked up and dragged along, heading straight for them accompanied by thunderous footfalls that were rapidly approaching.

  Closer and closer, louder and louder. And the dirt storm was only getting bigger.

  "We should move away from here..." the woman said as panic started to set in.

  "There's nowhere to find shelter where we are now." the old man replied, just as a grey skinned woman appeared before them, she was slowing down. The thunder from her footsteps long behind her, seemingly chasing her as she came to a stop before them.

  "..." they stared at the woman before their eyes in disbelief. A young woman, in the prime of health, with bright white eyes shining with the light of hope. They swallowed hard as they took in the aura she naturally exuded. There could be no better specimen of their race to be selected as the vessel. The thunderous noise finally caught up and disappeared, causing the six of them to swallow again. There was no doubt, this woman was the source of that entire commotion.

  "..." she stared back at them, a longing visible in her wet eyes. Slowly she wiped the tears from her eyes, collected herself and brought her right hand in front of her chest. Her hand and fingers seemed to dance about before closing into a fist and she drew her arm rapidly to her side; the time-honored tradition of greeting their race.

  The group of six witnessed that and all exhaled their collectively held breath, as they performed the same greeting.

  "Stop your magic." Vivian stated in as gentle a tone as she could manage.

  "But..." the old man was about to object.

  "Trust me, it's actually making you weaker." Vivian stated.

  "So you know..." the old man sighed but he kept the spell up.

  "You knew?" Vivian asked cautiously, "and you use it anyway?"

  "Safety is always first when it comes to family, no matter the cost." he replied.

  "I don't think you fully comprehend the cost in this case." Vivian countered.

  "Are you the vessel?" the old man's wife interrupted.

  "Viviiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaan!" a shrill high pitched voice broke through the air originating from a long distance away.

  "That silly phoenix... I hope she brought all the skin with her. Probably not though."

  "So it is true? You've befriended a phoenix?" the six cautiously took a step away from her.

  "A baby phoenix." Vivian corrected, "but that detail doesn't actually mean much."

  "And you attempted to drown yourself?" the young boy asked.

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  "...What? No, I didn't attempt to drown myself, although I admit I didn't think that action through properly. If the water hadn't pushed me onto solid ground when it was done healing my body, I would have drowned." Vivian said as she reflected on that hasty decision. "But that's not important right now."

  "So it's true that the water hastened your pregnancy?" the old man asked.

  "Yes quite true... I'm pretty sure it'll just be two more days." Vivian answered.

  "We should head back to the city." the old man's wife stated.

  "Good idea, we can talk on the way." Vivian stated casually, and she received 6 blank stares, "As my companion declared so willingly for me, my name is Vivian. How about you?"

  "We don't... have names." the old man stated, "same as you didn't not too long ago."

  "Ah right... well anyways. Three... two... one." as Vivian reached one, Isa landed casually on her shoulder. "This is Isa, my friendly phoenix."

  "Isa?" the group of six took yet another cautious step away from Vivian.

  "Well... I can tell this will be awkward." Isa stated as she puffed out her feathers, "So I'll just come clean now. I'm not actually a baby phoenix."

  "Not a phoenix at all are you?" Vivian asked, although she said it so matter-of-factly, it was nearly a statement.

  "No." Isa took flight with a sigh and allowed her shapeshifting to unravel. Seven pairs of eyes were wide open as they watched her true form unfold.

  "This actually explains a lot." Vivian murmured, "I was curious how you'd overpowered that beldereaver. A baby phoenix couldn't pull that off, I had my doubts before then though."

  "A mirage dragon?!" the old man's heart skipped a few beats.

  "We're not quite extinct yet," Isa chuckled as she hid her true form once more, turning back into a baby phoenix, "You'd be surprised just how many of us are still around, hiding in plain sight."

  "We really should head back to the city." the woman repeated, "It's only a 15 minute walk from here."

  "Sasha, are you all right? You're awfully quiet."

  "Well, I wasn't going to actually. I figure it would be best to wait until you've cleaned up the anomaly, so you don't accidently corrupt them. Aside from that, I'm thinking you actually can't integrate with them can you?"

  Vivian felt Sasha's attention suddenly shift away. Vivian gave up the idea of communicating further with Sasha until she spoke again.

  "How long have you been living in this place?" Vivian asked, noting how the city looked more like a testament to living side by side with nature than a thriving city. It was actually a comfortable sight to her and helped her to relax. After all, her race had always lived as close with nature as they could, going as far as preserving its natural state and helping it thrive.

  "A very long time. What generation are we again?" the old man stated as he stopped his camouflaging spell.

  "We don't rightly know how long it's been." his wife added, "but as long as we can remember."

  "Isa," Vivian turned her head to her shoulder. "I don't suppose you have that skin you were supposed to collect?"

  "Er... no." Isa admitted, "I dropped everything when I heard you running."

  "That's fine actually." Vivian said absently as she slowly looked over each of the six people she was walking with, "Would you mind finding us something to eat?"

  "I'll be back shortly," Isa replied and flew off like a shot.

  "You interact with your guardian so casually..." the old man stated in shock.

  "Guardian?" Vivian asked, well that does make some sense actually given everything that's happened.

  The old man simply nodded, not volunteering anything further.

  Vivian looked over the six of them again. "Ugh, it's so frustrating."

  The six of them looked at her cautiously after her little outburst.

  "I'm calling you Elder," Vivian said to the old man.

  "You'll be Matriarch," Vivian turned to his wife.

  "I...I dare not be called that." his wife refused immediately, "That is a title more befitting of you after all."

  "I don't want to be called that either." Vivian shook her head dismissing that idea, "You're Lulu."

  "Is it too late for me to refute being called 'Elder'?" the old man asked.

  "Daryl." Vivian sighed.

  "Bayne." Vivian pointed to the other adult male.

  "Molli." Vivian pointed at his wife. The woman nodded in silence.

  Vivian looked at the two children, a young boy and girl. Their eyes were shining as they waited in anticipation.

  "Emily and Evan." she looked at the girl and boy respectively.

  While the two kids were openly expressing their jubilation, the adults were wearing deadpan expressions. But deep down they were all equally excited.

  Now then, with that restriction out of the way... Vivian silently made a request of the system.

  I gave him the name... why am I referred to as the Matriarch? Vivian felt a bad taste in her mouth as she drew up the next one.

  Vivian sighed and continued on while shaking her head.

  Vivian dismissed the box and moved on.

  Should I just accept that I'm the Matriarch? What even makes me qualified? Vivian pondered in silence as she summoned the next.

  Vivian was attempting to read about Emily, but the little fireball was running around on endless energy. Vivian managed to catch Emily as she ran around and between her legs.

  "Aren't you just precious?" Vivian asked as she lightly pinched Emily's cheek causing her to giggle.

  Vivian didn't realise she was staring at Emily the whole time she was reading the system box, her face had developed a frown as she read along. The little girl had fearfully shrunk in her arms. Vivian gave her a brief hug, forced a smile and propped her up on her shoulder. So this little girl wants to spend more time with her parents. I can't say I blame her.

  "This way, Matriarch." Daryl stated as he led the way. Isa returned bearing a large wild boar.

  "Please, call me Vivian." she replied as she matched their pace.

  "..." the four adults exchanged glances in silence.

  "Just accept it," Isa chimed in, "it will be your official title before much longer anyway."