By the time Ginger and Ira reached the great wall of the institute, the plump dragonling had been about to burst. What Ira had said before leading him away had subconsciously made Ginger clench his rear cheeks.

He hadn't expected it at all.

He had wanted to immediately blurt out the words, "What are you talking about?!" but he quickly held his tongue.

Secret?

What secret?

No. Which secret?

Ginger was so nervous.

On the day he met Ira for the first time, he never really considered what was written in it all that much.

No. That was a lie.

Ginger did wonder a lot about it, but the way Ira had reacted when he read it back then, didn't give the impression that Ancor had told him more than what was necessary.

Well, perhaps Ancor had a different definition of what was necessary.

Had the Shaman told Ira everything?

Just how much did Ancor trust him?

Ginger only tore himself from his concerns when Ira turned to him with his sharp, ocean-blue eyes.

They had reached a spot within the school that was painted with a heavy shadow from the large statue above the wall; a depiction of the Azure Dragon.

Ginger immediately recalled that last time, when Ira had intended for them to have a private discussion, he had led them under this particular statue as well.

Was there a reason for this?

Ginger's eyes darted to Ira, then to the Azure Dragon statue.

'Does it have anything to do with how they have similar scales?' he thought, his curiosity temporarily overpowering his anxiety.

Ira suddenly grabbed Ginger's shoulder.

"Don't panic," he said simply before pulling Ginger into the wall.

Contrary to the mediocre warning, Ginger was visibly perplexed when his face was forced to meet the solid wall without reason.

Unlike what he expected, however, his skin didn't register any contact with something hard. While furiously blinking, and with his heart beating chaotically, Ginger saw a cramped room before him.

"Whoa..." he said in wonder.

He didn't understand how the transition worked just now, but he didn't question it – not audibly at least.

The small room seemed to aspire to be an office but was a few years of extension, renovation, painting, and reorganization away from that dream. Only a small wooden desk of outlandish quality, three odd chairs that looked to have been made by a partially blind carpenter, and stacks upon stacks of scrolls could be seen within this space.

"Don't mind the mess. I rarely use this place. A gatekeeper doesn't need much of an office, eh?" Ira said as he kicked a dozen large scrolls away, grabbed a chair, and set it near Ginger.

He then grabbed one for himself and sat down.

Ginger faced him after taking a seat and then endured the terribly awkward silence that followed. The plump dragonling couldn't meet Ira's gaze.

His eyes darted to and fro.

'Shunting Shamans! Speak for crying out loud!' he thought while scratching his thigh lightly.

Why had Ira suddenly grown quiet? Didn't he want to talk about his secret?

"Your Kardia is quite unique, more than I thought, little imp," Ira finally said after half a minute.

It turned out he was appraising Ginger's Kardia all this time, something the dragonling hadn't realized.

Ira leaned forward and narrowed his eyes.

His eyes not only looked sharp, but they felt so too.

'Good eyes? I feel like I'm being poked by a knife!' Ginger thought.

"Noam told me about your First Burning. From what I can tell, the Othoni-Kardia was right about you having very little Kardia Aeras. Hmmm, I suppose your Kardia is a little stronger than normal too, but the speed of its flow is something hard to determine with its dual nature," Ira said with his eyes staring at the right side of Ginger's chest.

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He only withdrew his gaze after Ginger shifted uncomfortably.

He wore a smirk, which quickly disappeared, and lazily leaned back on the chair.

"So, your secret..." he said.

Ginger's insides twisted into a knot and he sucked in a deep breath.

His eyes started pooling with tears, but he opened them wide and cocked his head back, refusing to let them fall down his cheek. He jerked his head down again and bit his upper lip.

What about his secret?

What was Ira about to say?

If Ancor really trusted him with that knowledge...

But Ancor wasn't here!

What if Ira wasn't as accommodating about it?

What if dragons viewed it as taboo?

What if...

"Hey, relax," Ira said with a calm tone.

Ginger suddenly felt a warm, almost palpable embrace coil unseen from Ira and wrap around him, forcing him to calm down.

Before he knew it, he was looking at the gatekeeper with a solemn, sullen face.

Ira's visage didn't hold the judgment he had expected. It was still, but not hard or condemning.

Ginger took a deep breath.

"What did... Ancor tell you?" he asked.

Ira folded his arms and emitted a light, almost inaudible sigh.

"Everything. Everything about your father, about your mother, your younger brother.. and you," he said seriously while watching Ginger turn a little pale. "I didn't want to rush to conclusions on the first day regarding your particular... condition. Your First Burning didn't tell me anything out of the ordinary, so I waited until your Second."

Ginger gritted his teeth behind his lips.

"I will tell you now. I have never heard of a dragon with two souls."

Ginger shook.

Ira really knew.

He had hoped that... But no. Ancor really did tell him.

"I'm sure Ancor has told you that it's only his theory, but even I am convinced. If what he said is exactly what happened, then there is no reason to doubt it. Ancor might be a Shaman, but his skill is comparable to Merccina Sorcerers," Ira said, his face turning even more serious.

Ginger took another deep breath.

His father had told him.

Ancor had told him too.

Yet there was a difference in how the two had told the story and how they interpreted it.

Years ago, when Ginger's mother was pregnant, a local Shaman – an aged, knowledgeable hag – had told her that she would have twins. She had shown Ginger's mother and father the two sets of life force burning within the former's womb.

As time passed, it became irrefutable even with the bare eye that truly, two children would be born.

However, when the day of labor came, only one child flourished from the womb.

Ginger's mother, who had expected a beautiful pair of children, was left stunned and devastated when not even the body of the second child could be found.

It was only Ginger that she had birthed.

...

"Ginger..." Ira called.

The plump dragonling had been sucked into reminiscence.

He had begun to recall his father telling him this truth.

That day...

He hadn't been able to sleep after being told about it, especially with the slightly accusing tone his father used when addressing him.

"What do you think about it? Do you blame yourself?" Ira asked without a shift in his expression.

Ginger didn't answer for a while. When he finally did, he seemed to have aged a year or two.

"No," he said. "But my father did. For a while. That was why he told me about it... when I was only four. He said I ate my brother in my mother's womb."

There was a pause.

"Hmm..." Ira hummed with a nod, keeping his thoughts to himself. "What happened afterward?"

Ginger blinked a couple of times, his head hung low.

"He apologized a year later..." he said, much to Ira's surprise. "I don't know why... so suddenly, but... I was happy. After that, it was like he was a completely different person."

For the first time, a small smile crept on Ginger's face.

Ira nodded, but he didn't know what to make of it.

He would have loved to ask more questions, especially about his mother and brother, but he wanted to maintain the semblance of happiness Ginger had hung onto. If he tapped into that subject, he was sure Ginger would break down.

Ancor had warned against asking about those two in his letter.

Ira resolved to shatter the somber atmosphere altogether.

"Well, I'm not sure how any of what happened to you occurred, but it would explain how and why you have two different Kardia types," he said.

Ginger looked up.

"I... thought so too," he said.

"I can imagine," Ira said. "You haven't told anyone, have you?"

Ginger wore a constipated face, but only for a second when he thought about Reiss.

"No," answered.

"Good. Keep it that way for now. The attention on you is enough as it is," Ira advised.

"Now, about your Kardia. Given that it embodies two traits that seem to have different levels of potential, however, I assume your duality has different qualities – your souls likely have different levels of, let's say potency. The results you got from the Rebounding Seether... Your Alien-type Kardia manifested as blue sparks, while Pooling-type was expressed as orange. The two parts of you must represent the two types and qualities depicted here."

Ginger reeled at this.

Before asking any questions, he drew his flask which he had slotted in the tight pocket of his pants.

As soon as he willed some Kardia to rush from his second heart, blue, sputtering sparks emerged within the glassy interior along with a pool of orange flame immediately below them.

Reiss had hastily explained to Ginger why the other First Years had been erupting into surprise whenever someone emerged from the Seether with a Kardia designation that had white or blue hue.

When it came to the flames that a Cinder-Born could manifest in any capacity, the color of it mattered as well. Naturally, the color of a flame dictated its strength.

Blue fire was the hottest, followed by white, then yellow, then orange, and then red.

The cast of one's scales determined which kind of flame a Cinder-Born could utilize in their lifetimes.

The fact that Ginger had his Alien-type Kardia with a designation that had a blue hue...

"Despite your inferior cast, you have something about you that can match the higher quality cast of other dragons," Ira explained, which turned Ginger's face bright.

Could it be true?

He hadn't thought about it in this way.

Ira scratched his nose.

"I also think that your First Burning opened a path for strange, rather, odd things to happen to you because of your condition. There's no telling what could happen to your body if you do indeed share it with another soul. According to Ancor, you can't sense this other soul of yours, right?"

"Perhaps it will do strange things that you might notice. Things you may have already noticed. Did anything unusual happen during or after your Burning? It could be after the First or even the Second Burning today," he asked curiously.

Ginger's eyes bulged.

Come to think of it...