The fire inside the right wing of the building raged. Everything is being devoured and turned to cinders. The tenth grade students using this wing evacuated earlier in an orderly manner. And they are now safely assembling in the school grounds designated as the evacuation area.

Students lined up in two lines by class. Their teacher-advisers right in front of them doing the head count.

“Everyone here?!”

“No one is missing right?!”

“Be sure that your buddy is with you!”

“Mr. Fallon! Ranzel is missing!” A female student from class seven cried.

The teacher, Mr. Fallon, immediately ran towards the student. “Where did you last see him?!”

“He said that he will skip….. homeroom and sleep on….. the roof!” the student tearfully answered.

Mr. Fallon clicked his tongue. “Ranzel again, I swear my patience is at its limit with that kid”, Mr. Fallon said to himself.

“Alright! Listen up everybody, DO NOT LEAVE THE EVACUATION AREA! If anything change, follow the instructions of the other teachers!” Mr. Fallon turned his back from his class and started running towards the burning building.

“How one earth will I find that kid?!”

Mr. Fallon thoroughly examined the right wing, trying to find a safe way in.

“If I use the emergency exit to the side of the right wing, I should be able to take the stairs straight to the roof”

Mr. Fallon followed his instincts and dashed to the location of the emergency exit. He then kicked the door open but it did not budge. He took a few steps back and run with full strength towards the door, intending to use his whole weight to bust it open. Still, the door seemed to defy all his effort and remained intact.

“Damn! What’s with this door?” His thin body slumped down in front of the exit. But when he looked up, he saw the door handle beside his head. He realized that the door swings open to the outside. It was designed to do so for it to not hinder anyone from the inside. It can then be easily used during emergencies and evacuation.

Mr. Fallon pulled himself up using the door handle. He swung the door open and rushed inside the building.

The heat was overwhelming. Though he cannot see the fire from his location; his skin felt as if he was inside an oven. The staircase right in front seemed to melt, serving as a warning for him not to proceed.

“Huff! Huff! Huff! I can do this, I can do this, can I do this? Why on earth am I doing this?!” He grumbled in his mind as he traversed through the stairs two steps at once. But by the time he was on the second floor, he ran out of breath and needed to stop.

There were two reasons behind this; first was the heat inside the building; second was the limit of his physical ability.

Holding both his knees, he tried to catch his breath. Two more floors before he can reach the roof top. He summoned all his strength to continue up the stairs. His heart beating faster with each step he took.

By the time he was behind the door that will allow access to the rest of the third floor, he can hear the roaring sound of the flames burning the interior of the building. This was the floor where the fire started according to the students who witnessed an explosion from the chemistry laboratory. It was an experiment gone wrong by the looked of it. That was the probable cause of the fire. And because of the different flammable substance in the storage room adjacent to the laboratory, the fire spread rapidly.

It was only ten minutes since then. It should take the fire department at least five minutes more before they can arrive at the scene. This is based on the department’s average time of response. It is time span way too long.

One more floor, two more doors and he will be able to reach the last set of stairs to the roof. As he turned to the corner of the stairs, he saw a young man slumped on the floor. It was Ranzel.

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“Kid! Wake up! Are you alright?!” Mr. Fallon worriedly asked his student.

“Mr. Fallon?.... Is that you teacher?” the student struggled to answer. One can assume that his strength left him a while ago due to the heat. But, blood can be seen dripping from his right temple.

“There was an explosion… after I ran back inside… the stairs to the roof where I was on collapsed… I did not mean it teacher… I am sorry… I did not mean it.” The student explained as if he was worried to be reprimanded by the teacher.

“Alright, don’t worry about that, at least you are still alive. Can you stand?” the teacher reached for his student to give him support.

“Let us hurry! The fire might spread to this place”, Mr. Fallon guided the student down each step, careful not to over exert their movements that may cause them to fall.

BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!

Just as when the teacher and student almost reached the second floor, the door near the emergency stairs exploded, blocking their way down.

Mr. Fallon clicked his tongue. “We have no choice but to go back up” he mumbled to himself. The only place they can go now was the third floor.

The pair struggled as they made their way up. Luckily, the door to access the third floor was still intact. When they opened the door, the temperature was raised many folds and they witnessed a raging inferno a few meters from them.

Mr. Fallon surveyed the scene to look for a way out. That was when he saw an emergency fire hose located near the window at the end of the hall.

“That will be our way out!” the teacher exclaimed as he almost dragged his student towards the fire hose to get away from the flames.

Mr. Fallon broke the glass protecting the hose. “I always wanted to do this, but not during a real fire” the teacher recalled his mischievous memories of wanting to cause a fake alarm to skip work. The teacher aimed the nozzle of the hose to the fire.

“Ranzel, I need your help! Turn the valve! We will try to control the fire a little and keep it away from us until help arrives”

The student, though lacking strength, followed his teacher’s instruction. After a few turns, Mr. Fallon braised himself for the pressure of the water to kick in. But nothing happened. There was no water, not even a drop came out of the nozzle.

Mr. Fallon’s heart sunk. He looked at Ranzel and saw the student collapsed yet again. The student used the last of his strength to turn the valve.

The fire is drawing closer, turning the ceiling to cinders. The floor now looked like molten rock, almost becoming lava. Some parts of it started to collapse to the floor below.

“Is this my end?! I have much to do…”

Mr. Fallon recalled what people used to say that life will flash by one’s eyes at the moment of death. But he did not experience this. “Is it because I really did nothing worth remembering?”

Mr. Fallon turned to the student again. “The least I can do now is to not allow you to become like me.”

The teacher tied the hose around the student and opened the window. He looked down and saw the ground free from any obstacle. “This hose should reach pass through the second floor, if I drop Ranzel from that height, he should not receive any major injuries”

The teacher struggled and lift his student and slowly lowered him through the window.

“Damn kid!!! What are you eating??? Metal???” Mr. Fallon almost let go of the hose because of the weight. The teacher greeted his teeth as he lowered the student one inch at a time.

Each second passed like eternity. And more and more, Mr. Fallon can feel the flames drawing closer.

“At this rate, I will turn to toast before Ranzel reached a safe height.” He tried to lower the student a little faster.

He then felt the flames engulfing the floor where he stood. The heat started to weld his pants and the skin of his legs together as if they are becoming one and the same. Pain rushed through the teacher’s mind but still he struggled not to let go of the hose. He continued his tasked as the flame crept up his legs, cooking his flesh.

He started to smell meat being barbecued. A smell that will make his mouth water for hunger if not for the fact that he knew it was coming from his own flesh.

His strength was rapidly leaving his body as his consciousness started to fade. The flames are now engulfing his torso and it started licking his face. His eyes were turning white, and he knew that a few milliseconds later both will pop out of his head. And finally, his hair burned and was engulfed with flames.

At that moment, he felt he was no longer able to hold on to the hose and finally let go. He did not know whether or not he was able to save the student. All he can feel was his body crumbling as if he was turning to ash. And it was then his mind went blank.

Mr. Fallon was burned to death.

<“Do you want a second chance?”>

“Huh? What is happening? Am I not dead?”

<“For the last time, do you want a second chance?”>

“Of course I do, everybody does.” Mr. Fallon was still confused and do not know where the voice was coming from.

<“Not everybody deserves one! But you… might”>

“Huh?! Might?! Deserve it? Well… if there is one, then I will take it”

<“Even though you can no longer go back to your previous life? Will you leave everything behind while still knowing what you had is still there?”>

“My life ended there. Though, I have much regret, starting anew means I can become a blank page. I can learn from my mistakes and live the way I want”

<“Then what do you want for your life?”>

“I want… I want to… I want to live each day as if it is the last. Give my all this time and not run away.”

<“Run away? But you did not, at least not during that last moment. Interesting… I want to see more of what you can do. I will give you that chance Magnus Fallon”>

“Huh?! Are you God?!”

<“No… I am not… I am the Vermilion Bird Suzaku… and now you are in the world of void.”>

“Not heaven? Or Hell?”

<“Hahahahaha… You may think of it as purgatory, at least that is what the people of your world call it”>

“Ehhhh? My world? Does that mean… you are not from my world?”

<“SILENCE!!! As what I said… I will give you that chance… I pulled your soul from your world that moment you died… now come… bind your soul with my core… and let us go to the world where you can become that blank page. I will become your ink and we will forge a new story in the world of Terra”>

Within the spirit of Mr. Fallon… Magnus… a dim light emerged from its gaseous mass. At that moment and the crimson crystal core of Suzaku slowly floated towards it.

It felt like years passed before the time the core was engulfed by the intangible mass of Magnus’ soul. A strong light then burst from the union, spreading through the world of void like sunlight.

A crack opened, tearing the already distorted space and time, showing a starry sky on the other side. Then, a beam of light dashed through the crack.

A falling star that looked more like a comet crashing was seen that night in the sky of Terra. Six dark figures watched as the falling star as it fell towards the southern part of their world. At the same time, three beams of light shot to the sky from the north, east and west.

It was a scene that will be recorded in history. But for the people of this world at that time, it was a moment that will trigger their longing for an adventure.

A new era has begun.