Phoenix’s senses were disoriented and sounds felt distant. Upon opening her eyes she saw the walls of the machine, she could hear some sort of commotion – people shouting that something was wrong. Had someone told them to turn it off? She shook her head, but the world didn’t seem to clear. It felt distant – as if the world was slowly drifting away from her. And she wondered if this was how her death truly was. Perhaps disintegration was painless, and it meant slowly losing her world. Yet if there was no pain from disintegration, why was she still suffering from the splitting headache she had received from the metal walls.

The world slowed in motion as she began to fall backwards as the ground disappeared beneath her feet. The world of metal was replaced with bright blue. She could feel the wind whipping through her hair and she was enveloped in the sensation of falling. Instinct took over - habit developed from running through the High City. In seconds her feet slammed into the ground. Her body took the impact - the shock spreading throughout her limbs. Her muscles and bones ached as she remained still, crouched close to the ground. Her eyes focused on the ground – as the green abundance of grass that was spread beneath her palm. Her fingers curled around the plant life. Never had she seen so much green – except for when she had made her escapades through the Capitol.

Her brain cycled through many thoughts and questions. Was this heaven? Why did she not feel dead? Was she truly a spirit because she could feel the grass? Perhaps she was alive and just lost in her mind? But if all this was true – why was she bleeding?

Lifting her other hand, she placed it on the back of her head, trying to assess the damage to her cranium. Her gash in her head would take quite some time to heal. And while the fall had not killed her, her body still ached from the impact and that too would take recovery time. Even if she was dead and this was the afterlife, she sure didn’t feel that she had the energy to move very far from her spot. With the thoughts trickling through her head, she lifted her head to get a better look at the world around her. There before her – not too far away – was another person. A girl who was very different from any resident of the High City.
---
Gavin had taken off immediately towards the town marked on his map. The map provided him with the information he needed to participate in the quest. He knew where the rumors were. He knew of the legends that and rumors that were spoken by the royal family. Yet, while wise men had put together this map, he felt that he was going about this in the entirely wrong way.

If he was to participate in this chase just like everyone else, it could possibly take years to produce the true artifact. Years were exactly what Gavin did not have. He would see Vincent ascend to the throne. So perhaps his job wasn’t to the truth from the lies. If he produced the most credible and believable artifact the game would be over.

Or would it? Perhaps the old king was insane – but cunning. In order for this plan to work, Gavin would have to fulfill his two orders: find the Thief of Time and eliminate anyone in his way. So if he could just find the one person most likely to go after the throne, his job could become a whole lot easier. Finding some legend and killing some exiled prince – now that seemed like the jobs he was used to being sent on.