It was dark. No, it was dim, with small yellow lights swinging from the ceiling above. Maroon velvet curtains were hung randomly through the dusty wooden room, collapsing over rusty bird cages and shelves containing jars of dried insects and animal parts.

"Ugh," Kasey gulped, plugging his nose from behind Destery. "I feel like I'm going to puke."

Destery nodded in silent agreement. It did smell bad; like rotten eggs, a flood of sewage, and Kasey during his month long game of not showering, all in one room.

"Are these tarantulas?" Kasey plucked up one of the glass jars off of one of the slanted wooden shelves against the walls, creating a small cloud of dust. "Where are their legs?"

"Kase," his partner hissed. "Put that down and come here."

The socius did as was told and slid to Destery's side.

"Don't touch anything."

"It was only a jar..."

"What if you had dropped it? You would have blown our cover."

Kasey rolled his eyes. "Okay, I get it. First, we'll sneak up on the shaman, beat all the information out of them, and then I can go touch the jars."

Destery slipped a sigh, then sucked in as he noticed a dried wooden door with golden misty cloud seeping through its cracks.

When Destery and Kasey reached the door, they took one glance at each other for reassurance. There was no doubt he was in here.

Kasey squeezed his leather wrist, pulling out one, and then a second dagger. Destery squeezed his Illuminos resting against his hip, feeling it burn into his palm. Not in a painful way, but a calming, soothing way.

Destery placed his hand on the loose bronze doorknob and heard Kasey say, "Cool."

Instead of being dragged out of the mission by Kasey's attention span the size of a grape, Destery threw open the door, hearing it smash roughly against the rock wall.

"You actually did find this place," a familiar female voice said, feigning awe. "Felicia, I owe you an apology."

"And a trip to the spa."

Destery took in the scene with surprise. It was dark, the floor a golden mist hiding his feet, and in the center was a dark skinned man lying flat on a short, square table, with a round bowl filled with feathers from birds and smooth animal bones.

The man wore a colorful, but tacky, robe-a mandatory outfit when casting spells.

"When did you get here?" Destery asked Felicia and Chloe, who stood at the opposite end of the room.

"Hours ago," Chloe answered honestly.

"And you let the witch doctor just go into the Astral world?" Destery asked incredulously.

The girls glared at him.

"Of course not. He was already there when we got here," Felice answered.

Destery considered their response. If that was true, then what could the witch doctor possibly be doing in the Astral world that would take hours to do?

"Kasey," he began, suddenly aware of the light behind him, "close the door."

His partner, who was busy entertaining himself with a shrunken head tied to the knob of the askew door jumped as if he was caught breaking the law.

With no protest Kasey closed the door, his eyes lingering lovingly on the head until it was out of sight, on the outside of the room as the four phoenixes were now trapped alone with the unconscious man.

"It's weird," Felice confessed suddenly, breaking the eerie silence.

"Good," Kasey sighed in relief, pressing a hand to his chest. "I mean, trapped in a hidden cave with girls that clearly have an attraction towards us-"

"That's not it," Felicia snapped.

"And in your dreams," Chloe added.

Kasey rolled his eyes, believing their strong denial was further proof.

"What's weird is the connection with Lydiana," Felicia explained.

"What do you mean?" Destery asked.

Felice shook her head. "I don't know. I'm just talking nonsense."

"Well, maybe Mr. Witch Doctor may be able to give some answers to your nonsense," Kasey crouched beside the passed out woman's face. "That is if he ever will wake up. Have you checked for a pulse?"

The girls looked at each other in surprise, as if they expected the other one to have done the action.

"Typical," Kasey grumbled, reaching forward for the man's wrist. As soon as his fingers pressed against the flesh, the witch doctor jump started awake, flying into a sitting position.

Kasey was instantly thrown away from the portly man.

Felicia caught him, preventing him from smashing into the jagged wall.

The shaman panted, as if he had been running a marathon, and looked about the room with wild white eyes.

"Young Ignis Volucres," he began, his white eyes slowly dissolving to a black, "I have been expecting you."

"We may look young, Witch Doctor," Felicia began seriously, "but I can assure you that we are very old and are to be treated with respect."

"Ah," the man answered, unfazed. "And how long will you be here for?"

"You're the shaman. You should know," Kasey retorted smartly.

"You want answers." The witch doctor folded his hands politely on his lap. "I, Zulyion, will try to help as much as I can."

The kids were wary. No shaman had willingly cooperated with Ignis Volucres before-not them, at least. Shamans were impassive when it came to Volucres troubles.

But perhaps Zulyion had seen something in the Astral Plane that told him something-something that involved giving them information.

"And the cost?" Chloe asked, earning glares from the two boys.

Cost? Who cares about the cost. All that mattered was finding Lydia.

"The cost is nothing much. I am actually being very generous," Zulyion assured the group.

"What is it?" Destery demanded, annoyed at the delay.

"One memory of love," Zulyion answered, "from each of you."

"Well that's easy," Kasey stepped forward. "I have a lot of girls I wouldn't mind-"

"I said love. It does not necessarily have to be from a relationship of passion. It could be family, or friend," Zulyion explained.

"Why do you want something like that?" Destery asked.

The Witch Doctor shrugged. "I have my reasons."

Kasey and Destery exchanged an uneasy stare. They had no family, and throughout their entire lives they had never fallen in love. But they did care about each other-they were practically brothers.

"Oh come on," Chloe snorted. "You would sacrifice your lives but not your memories?"

"It's not like you can't make more," Felicia added, more gently.

"For Lydia," Kasey encouraged, eyes still locked onto Destery.

His partner turned with squared shoulders at the witch doctor.

"Fine. Tell us what you know, for half of our memories. And if we think the information was valuable enough, we will give you the other two."

"How do I know you won't trick me?" Zulyion asked with narrowed eyes.

"We don't lie," Felice assured from the side.

Zulyion clicked his tongue with a crooked smirk.

"I'm sure you don't. Pretty girl there. Pretty boy there. Come here and show me a memory."

Chloe and Kasey reluctantly treded towards Zulyion.

"I didn't know you knew what love was," Kasey sneered at Chloe. "You sure you want to give up this one little memory of your charming Volucres Teddy Bearfriend?"

Chloe glared at him, her eyes burning bright.

"Just know this Kasey: You are going to wish I never came here someday."

"Too late," Kasey replied as he held out his hand to Zulyion. "I already do."

The witch doctor plucked up Kasey's hand with two cold calloused ones.

"Think of your happy memory now and hold onto it as I cut you."

"Wait-cut?! What kind of shaman are you?"

With force, Kasey quickly tried to dig up a memory of love. The word itself was odd, uncomfortable.

"Ugh!"Kasey winced as Zulyion dragged the bird talon diagonally down his palm, releasing a trickle of blood.

The peculiar shaman released Kasey's injured hand and gestured for Chloe.

"Next."

Chloe quickly held out her hand, not showing any emotional response as her hand was quickly sliced open.

"Chlo," Felicia murmured as her friend walked slowly to her side, "are you okay?"

The other Volucres did not reply. Her eyes were flat, cold, and resentful.

"You better hold onto your word, Ignis Volucres," Zulyian warned Destery.

"Did it work?" Destery asked, kneeling down to his socius who was busy wiping his bloody hand against his green shirt.

"I don't know. Maybe. I definitely thought of something but now I don't remember." Kasey sounded mournful, but inside he was devastated, longing for a memory that he would never be able to retrieve.

Destery patted Kasey on the back for comfort. "Okay, Zulyion. What do you know?"

"About what?"

"You know what."

"If you want specific answers, you will need to ask specific questions."

"Where is Number One?" Chloe jumped in irritably. "Is she alive?"

"Number One is on her eighteenth year," Zulyion answered.

The Ignis Volucres' straightened in surprise.

"So she is alive," Kasey confirmed.

"That's what I said."

"But do you know where?" Destery pressed.

"The Astral Plane is a big place and she is no longer in it. But she will be someplace where the weather is hot."

Kasey moaned. "It's hot everywhere. It's hot here!"

Zulyion shook his head. "She is not here."

"Does she know that we are looking for her?" Felice asked, although they were fairly certain they knew the answer.

"She does indeed know what she is," the shaman agreed, "but no."

"No? What do you mean?"

"Number One is one of you, but not one of you. Your duty to find her is no longer necessary. Your duty has ended seventeen years ago."

Destery paled. "What do you mean it ended?"

"That is all I know," Zulyion shrugged. "I did not go to the Astral Plane for Number One. That was simply knowledge I already had."

Destery raced forward and wrapped his hand around Zulyion's thick neck, crushing it inwards.

"We had a deal."

"To answer your questions to the best of your abilities," the shaman wheezed. "But this is the best I can do."

"Then so is this." Kasey's partner pulled back his hand, revealing a small but extremely lethal flame vibrating in his hand. If it was so much as slightly pressed against the shaman, he would instantly collapse to his death.

"I swear this is the best I can do!" Zulyion cried. "Please!"

"We didn't come for a fortune reading. Give us real answers."

Zulyian began to mumble words. Prayers, perhaps. Or...

Destery kicked the bowl of bones and other ingredients across the room. "Don't bother escaping to the Astral Plane," Destery growled at Zulyion.

"But if I go there I may be able to get some answers!"

"I wasn't born yesterday," he snapped. "Just give us a location of where Number One may be and we will be out of your hair."

Zulyion cringed. "I can't."

"What?"

The witch doctor slumped, shrinking away from Destery. "I will be killed if I tell you. I'm not even supposed to know."

"If you don't tell us, we will kill you," Destery assured him. "Give us the location."

"Maybe if he tells us who he is scared of, we can find them and get the location that way," Felicia suggested. "Zulyion won't have to be scared and we all win, right?"

The witch doctor flicked his expectant eyes from Felice to Destery, who gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Fine," he relented. "Where is the thing you are afraid of? Be specific."

Zulyion shivered and mumbled, "Sid Perry. He lives in Ashwood, California."

"And why are you afraid of him?" Kasey asked.

"Well," the witch doctor hesitated, "your kind call him a Charcoal Volucres."

Without revealing the tidal wave of surprise that Destery felt during Zulyion's confession, he released his hair and stepped away.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

"Wait!" the doctor cried as the group headed for the door. "What about your remaining memories? You promised me that you would give me the other half."

"If the information was valuable," Destery said without turning around. "The reason why we came here was to know where Lydiana was, and you failed to tell us."

Felicia screamed, causing everyone to turn and see Zulyion shredding into the Ignis Volucres' outstretched hand.

Destery raced forward, ready to tear Felicia away, when there was a sudden flash of light and a deafening explosion vibrated the room.

Zulyion's weepy red eyes dimmed and he flopped hard onto the table, revealing Chloe standing behind, one red palm outstretched.

"Oh," Chloe's hand was frozen in the air, her face stricken with shock. "I didn't mean-I mean, he had Felice-I couldn't-"

Kasey hopped over the deceased shaman and helped lower Chloe's hand. "It's okay. Let's just get out of here."

"Yeah." Felicia smeared her bleeding hand on her white short skirt.

Destery held the door open for his group, watching Chloe walk out of the room like a zombie, an arm slightly wrapped around Kasey for support.

Destery was used to killing. That's what Volucres' had to do.

But when it came to humans, including shamans, using their abilities to take a life would always affect Destery. Lydiana being a Volucris was a second chance he would ordinarily never get. If any phoenix who took an innocent life had the opportunity to bring them back, they would-Destery knew they would. Well, the Ignis Volucres he had met would.