It was around midnight before Michael actually managed to get to sleep. It was pretty late. Not generally a time that most people would actually go to sleep.
Michael decided that he was going to do some research into the beings that called the Unknown world their home. Maya had helped him with some of this research.
There were a few surprising things that he learned. First of all, that the phoenixes, demons, and dragons could speak the language of humans. That was something that the Eclipse had never told them.
The second thing that Michael learned was that Phoenix’s could turn into human-like creatures. The only difference was that they always had a feathered object on them. This wasn’t a choice, they had to have it on them otherwise they wouldn’t be able to turn back into a phoenix.
The last thing that Michael learned was about the powers of each of these races. The dragons had one breath weapon that they could utilize. The demons had the power of a phobia that could take form in many different ways. Then the phoenixes had the ability to control two elements. Those elements could include the power of light and dark.
After Michael had finished his study session, he had told Maya about this as she had helped him with some of the studying. She found it interesting, but didn’t know how necessary it was going to be.
As Michael started waking up in the morning, he gathered his things and started to head out into the main room.
Carpet rubbed against the bottom of the door as Michael pushed the door open. Harmony, Maya, and Steven were all sitting on the couches in the main room.
They had all made it out before he did, which was becoming pretty standard at this point.
“Are you ready for today?” Harmony asked Michael.
“Yes, I’m looking forward to finally getting on this mission,” Michael replied.
Michael took a seat beside Harmony and started to check himself over. That bag that he had brought with him would have everything needed to survive any situation.
A knock on the door made Michael shoot his head up and look at it. The door swung open as James, Lillian, Mori, and Chrys stood outside the room.
“It’s time for you to get going on your mission,” James declared, “follow us.”
Maya jumped off of the couch. As Michael got up he slung his bag over his shoulder and started to follow after James.
It was curious that Mori was following James and Lillian. Michael wondered why they had her following them. He had only briefly met the girl, but he already learned a little bit about her.
While they were walking, the only sound that echoed through the long hallway was the sound of their footsteps. No words were spoken which only amplified the sound that there was.
The halls seemed eerily inactive for being the headquarters of the Solar Sword. To Michael, there was definitely something going on.
The walk to the chamber that they went to seemed longer than it did the first time they went there. Eventually, however, they managed to get to their destination.
“There is certainly more tension in the air today,” Maya commented as they entered the chamber.
There was a high tension between the whole group. The only ones that didn’t seem affected by it in the slightest were Harmony and Steven. It was pretty normal considering their personalities. Michael tried to calm himself down, but it wasn’t working at the moment.
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This suspense lingered even when they got in front of the stand. James, Lillian, and Chrys lined up in front of the stand while Mori joined Michael and the others.
James cleared his throat, “we have finally decided what mission we are going to send you on. It isn’t going to be that dangerous as you are going to have supervision. Nothing is certain though. I will give you a moment to discuss what you are going to do after we speak.”
“First of all, the mission that we are sending you on is a mission up into the mountains. These mountains are home to a phoenix that has been attacking a base that we have there.”
“This base is called base Bright Burn. They are having trouble dealing with the phoenix, but they are about to launch a strike against the giant bird.”
From what Michael knew, base Bright Burn was one of the Unity’s most utilized bases. Although not a lot of people knew about it, Michael had time to read up on it with the little free time that he had.
On top of that, dealing with a phoenix was going to be difficult. It appeared that the research that both he and Maya did wasn’t for nothing after all.
“This mission shouldn’t be as dangerous as you will be accompanying the base to fight off the phoenix. Nothing is certain about the risks however,” James continued.
“You will get a briefing on the phoenix when you get to the base. I recommend that you listen to what they have to say carefully,” James said.
James took a moment. He seemed to be thinking about something.
“Finally, the leaders of the base know who you are and where you are from, so try not to make them angry,” James concluded, “now take your moment to discuss.”
Michael motioned for the group to huddle together so that they could talk. It wouldn’t hurt them if James, Lillian, or Chrys heard the conversation, but Michael valued having a little privacy.
“Should we take this offer?” Michael started off the conversation.
“I think it would be in our best interest to,” Maya replied, “there isn’t much else that we can do.”
“I’ll go with whatever the group decides to do,” Steven stated.
They all turned towards Harmony and awaited her decision. The calm that Harmony was keeping up now started to deteriorate. After all, they were putting a lot of pressure on her.
“I don’t see why we shouldn’t go on the mission. There’s only upsides to it,” Harmony blurted out quickly.
Michael let a little smile through, then promptly broke the circle that they had formed.
“We have decided to take on the mission,” Michael announced to James.
James nodded his head.
“Now that you have decided that we can go onto our last thing,” James said, “you are going to need supervision for this mission.”
As James said this he motioned at Chrys and she took a step forward.
“Chrys is going to act as that supervision,” James explained.
“Is there anything else that we should know about,” Steven asked monotonically.
“In fact, there is something else. Mori is also going to join you,” James responded, “I know you have already met. You are practically in the same boat as her.”
Michael looked over at Mori. She was writing something down in a notebook. There was a blank expression on her face, which made Michael think that she wasn’t paying attention.
Something was strange about Mori, but Michael couldn’t place his finger on it. It would be something that he would have to figure out later. Right now he needed to focus on the present.
“That’s all I have for now,” James said, “Chrys will help you get ready. Have a good day.”
As if rehearsed beforehand, James and Lillian spun on their heels and walked out the door to their side.
The door closed behind the two and made an incredibly loud banging noise. Just like every door in this building, they were sturdy. Michael made a note to not try to run and push one open.
“Today is going to be a difficult day,” Chrys announced, “the first thing that I recommend doing is training so you can hone your skills.”
Michael nodded in agreement. It would help them if they got a little practice in. They were going to fight a phoenix after all.
Everyone else in the group also seemed to agree with that sentiment. They were also all prepared, which made Michael feel like he had accomplished something, specifically with Harmony.
He finally made Harmony realize that he wasn’t training for nothing. That feeling of victory quickly faded as he realized that she was correct about him spending too much time on it though.
With no words, the whole group had agreed to the practice session.
“All right then, follow me,” Chrys said, turning around, “it’s going to be a long day.”
