“Relax and have a piece of spiced jerky,” the bedridden Lia ordered, her tone cool and even, completely opposite from Destery and Kasey.

“Yeah, you should celebrate,” Felicia joined in, plucking a long, flat piece of meat out of a plastic container on Lia’s lap.

But they couldn’t celebrate, and they certainly couldn’t calm down.

When Destery and Kasey abandoned Santana’s backyard, they expected to appear before the Ash Order with Perry right beside them. Instead, they appeared in a giant glass room with water trickling beneath their feet.

“Welcome back,” a low voice boomed. “Did you have a safe journey?”

Destery glanced at Perry, who clung his hands, shivering like she had just seen something terrifying when it was only just an ancient man with wispy white hair and mustache with wise wrinkles, hazel eyes, wearing a black cotton robe.

“I take it this is Number One?”

“Yes, sir,” Destery and Kasey answered in unison.

“Excellent.” The man glided smoothly towards Perry. “You did a very good job.”

He pressed his two left forefingers against the young girl’s head, magically knocking her unconscious.

As she slipped by the pull of gravity, the old man swooped her up and cradled her like a damsel in distress.

Kasey and Destery gaped at him in surprise.

“What are you doing?” the man asked them. “Don’t worry any longer. The Ash Order will take it from here.”

“But-”

Destery grabbed Kasey’s arm, mutely warning himself to shut up. Fighting the Ash Order was the last thing they should be doing.

“Should we go visit the girls? They might be awake.”

“They’ll be monsters if they are,” Kasey muttered. “But the sleepless loves company.”

“That’s misery. Misery loves company.”

“That works too.”

They trudged to the Spark Stone Infirmary. As they reached a giant, double door entrance room emitting bright light, Kasey winced.

“How could anyone sleep with so much light on?”

“This isn’t your first time being here,” Destery reminded his partner as he peeked inside. “Remember the time your hand…”

He glanced down at Kasey’s burned hand, suddenly recalling the previous fight only hours ago.

“You should get that checked out now.”

Kasey puffed out his cheeks.

“I’m fine.”

“We’re already here.”

“You know how those vultures are,” Kasey hissed, poking the air aggressively. “They poke and stab at you, not caring how much it hurts.”

“It’s the cold-heartedness part of them that makes them such good doctors,” Destery reminded as he pushed a door wide enough for them to step inside.

It was eerily quiet, except for the shallow breathing and snores of the injured. The infirmary in the Spark Stone building was huge, and that was not surprising, since it housed nearly a hundred of phoenixes. Most did not actually live here. This place was more like a vacation resort. Most actually came to be healed or were summoned by the Ash Order.

If an Ignis Ales was called to meet the Ash Order in person, it was almost always over something serious—the Order did not waste their time on trivial events such as the daily duties that Ignis Ales like Destery and Kasey used to run.

The two phoenixes strode quickly past red and gold curtains that each concealed a mystery patient until they were almost halfway through the infirmary.

“Lia? Felis?” Kasey whispered through a golden curtain that had the paper nametag “Number 509” attached on it.

“Get in here,” a familiar voice barked, forcing two reluctant young men to slip through the curtains.

Lia, propped up in her white bed wearing a crimson patient outfit, her burnt leg wrapped in mummy cloth and propped up by three layers of pillows, glared at her visitors.

“Could you make us wait any longer?” she snarled.

“Well-”

“You didn’t get him, either, did you?” Ophelia interrupted Kasey, one arm pointing accusingly at Destery. “I told you to kill him.”

Destery bowed his head, ashamed.

“You did.”

“Lia, calm down,” Felicia said, holding a small paper cup filled with steamed water. “Here are your painkillers. Take them with this.”

“No.”

“Lia.”

Ophelia glared at the white goddess. “I’m not taking them. I’m fine.”

Felicia sighed, knowing she might as well be arguing with a bull, and placed the cup and two round pills onto the nightstand beside Lia.

“You knew I was fine already,” Ophelia began, “Felis told you via flame. Which means you’ve got something else to say.”

“It’s about Number One, isn’t it?” Felis asked, clasping her hands together lazily.

“We found her,” Kasey confirmed with a nod. “But she doesn’t remember us.”

Lisa smiled sarcastically at Destery.

“Good for you, Des. Now you won’t have to worry about her forgiving you for killing her.”

“Thanks,” Destery replied with a scowl.

“Such a serious atmosphere,” Felis noticed. “And at such a late time.”

Lia leaned over to her nightstand, dragging a plastic bag of dried beef jerky onto her lap.

“Relax and have a piece of spiced jerky.”

“You should celebrate,” Felis added, bringing Kasey and Destery to the present time. “You did just find the girl everyone has been trying to find for centuries.”

“When we came here an old man appeared,” Kasey described the phoenix.

“Cale,” Lia nodded. “What about him?”

“I knew the vulture looked familiar,” Kasey mumbled. “His robe is the same uniform as those masochists who work here.”

“Cale is not a vulture. He’s actually pretty nice,” Felicia corrected. “And they have a name, Kase. They’re called Mana Retrievers. You think you would know that, seeing how you’ve been in here more than any of us.”

“That’s exactly why I know better than all of you that they don’t retrieve anything. They take it all away until all that’s left is pain,” Kasey bellyached.

“So Cale is a Mana Retriever?” Destery asked, turning his attention back to the sensible ones in the group.

“Yes. He has been one for a long time—and very kind, too. He’s nothing to be suspicious about,” Felis assured.

“Well,” Destery sat on a rolling stool, “he took Number One. She was hurt. Was she brought in here?”

Opehlia and Felicia stared questioningly at each other.

“Not that we know of. It’s been really quiet so I think we would have heard Cale come in,” Ophelia answered.

Destery glanced at Kasey, who was lost in thought.

“Then where could he have taken her?”

“Maybe to the VIP Infirmary?” Felicia offered. “You know, for the phoenixes with exceptional status or injuries out of the norm.”

“Maybe…”

Lia sighed in exasperation, whipping out the last two pieces of jerky in her container.

“Here. You two need to eat this. Overthinking and starving yourself will do you no good.”

“Give him my share,” Kasey replied dismissively. “I had my share of spices for the night.”

…

Perry loved heat, loved partying, loved playing games, loved stealing, and loved simply being mischievous. And she always believed that there was no such thing as “too much”, except for when it came to Christmas lights. The less there were hung on the house, the less tacky it appeared.

Perry could have unlimited fun with living under a consistent boiling summer season all year long while commiting all her signature felonies-there was no such thing as getting tired, sick, or bored when it came to the things she enjoyed.

But as she lay melting like a popsicle trapped inside a disturbed volcano, Perry began to doubt her ideals and beliefs. Maybe there really could be too much doing something Perry enjoyed. Maybe it could kill her.

She strained to open her eyes, blinking up to see herself staring at a pale ceiling with a yellow light glaring straight onto her face, cooking her medium rare.

Perry could feel cloth, layers and layers of it, on top of her. And although she tried to throw it off, she found that she was strapped down into place, making her victim to becoming a baked potato.

The heat, for the first time becoming so unbearable, stole the breath that she attempted to use to scream and shriveled her lungs to breathe.

Her only solution to this problem was to escape the feverish temperature as quick as possible.

Perry leapt out of her body and off of the patient table that she had been tied to by leather straps.

Seeing her unconscious body, shriveling because of the heat, drowning underneath blankets of comforters, made her nauseous.

The young teenager glanced around, trying to get a better idea of where she was.

Perry stood in a room, square and white, a lamplight over her, a silver tray with unfamiliar instruments resting patiently on it.

A man dressed in black with frizzy white hair had his back turned to her, sitting on a rolling stool beside Perry’s body, waiting for something.

Dread drained the little color on Perry’s soul face as she finally understood the situation: those two phoenix boys tricked her. They led her into their unknown domain so that her nightmare would finally come true. She would be dissected and analyzed like aliens from outerspace.

Perry’s anxious eyes landed on the only door into the room and raced to it faster than she ran to anything before, only to find it locked. She shook the doorknob softly, but it stood firmly in place.

“There’s nowhere to go,” the mysterious man said without looking at her. “Even if you manage to escape this room, we can all see you and we can all touch you. It isn’t like outside in the human world.”

Perry’s heart stuttered and she could feel her legs give in, dropping her body onto the floor.

“There is no reason to be afraid,” he said, swiveling around so she could see his face. “I will not hurt you.”

Her blue-gray eyes widened at the instant recognition of the man.

“You were that man I saw when that flame thing disappeared. You touched me and then-what did you do?”

“You were injured, you needed healing, and I am very well associated with how humans interrogate others with useless questions, wasting precious hours that could be used for better means.”

Perry scowled. “I don’t think it’s useless.”

“I don’t either,” he confessed. “But if you want your answers, you must heal first.”

“Well? Am I?”

“Come see for yourself.” The old man waved his hand to the motionless girl on the patient table, but Perry didn’t move.

“No, thanks.” She expected him to assure her once again not to be afraid, that she would be safe around him, but found his response completely irrelevant.

“My name is Doctor Cale,” he introduced politely. “What is your name?”

“You know my name,” she mumbled.

“Yes,” he agreed with a gentle nod, “you have many names. Number One, Lydiana, Perry. But which one would you prefer me to call you?”

She almost told him that she wished he wouldn’t call her anything at all, when he added, “What would you like people to call you?”

The girl almost automatically said Perry. She went by Perry her entire life, this life at least, and why should that change?

But if her father wasn’t really who he said he was, did she want to constantly be reminded of that by carrying his surname?

“Um, do you know,” she swallowed, “if Lydia is my real name? These phoenix boys told me something about having only one name…”

Cale bounced his head.

“Yes, Ignis Volucres go by one name and no surname.”

“No surname?” she cocked her head to the sideways. “Why?”

“Ignis Volucres do not have family,” Cale answered simply. “Not the same way humans do at least.”

“Is that because they are born out of ash?” Perry inquired. “Is that how it all starts?”

“It’s a complicated process, and I don’t have the rights to tell you anything else. The Ash Order will explain.”

“The Ash Order. They will tell me about who I am?”

Cale opened his mouth to respond when a voice echoed in the room.

“Mana Retriever Cale, the Ash Order has arrived and is ready for council with Number One.”

Perry’s eyes widened and she was sure if she was in her body her heart would have stopped completely.

“Yes, Mana Retriever Valena,” Cale responded to the air. “I will be there with her shortly.”

When there was no response, Cale lifted the massive pile of blankets at the bottom half of Perry’s body.

“What is it?” she asked, standing reluctantly.

“You need to return to your body.”

“That sauna?” Perry pointed at her body like it was a coffin. “I’ll die.”

Cale pushed the lamp light away and unstrapped the leather buckles chaining her down.

When he had removed all of the blankets, Perry saw that her body, now pink from the heat, had not a single mark on it. No scar, no bruise, no sign of the previous tragedy that had occurred that morning.

“It may be a little toasty, but if you want answers,” Doctor Cale began, his eyes locked onto Perry’s, “you must go into your body now.”

Gradually she slid her smooth, bare, transparent feet across the flat floor towards her unconscious body, waiting to be maneuvered like some robotic shell.

Once she stepped inside, there was no going back.

Doctor Cale gently grabbed Perry’s right hand and helped lift her back onto the table.

As she began to sink into her body, Doctor Cale told her with a smile, “Lydiana is your real name, Ignis Ales Number One, and I hope that you come to accept it, for as soon as you wake up in your normal shell, Perry will no longer exist.”