The world around me was hazy and weightless.
I stood in a strange, barren land—blackened earth cracked beneath my bare feet, and the sky was a swirling sea of red and violet. Heat pulsed in the air like a living thing, but it didn't burn. It felt... familiar.
Before me stood a woman cloaked in embers and dusk. Her presence was commanding yet strangely gentle. Long, flowing crimson hair danced like fire down her back, and her eyes burned with a deep, knowing violet—just like mine had that day.
"You've come far already, Sakura," she said, her voice layered with echoes—as if multiple voices were speaking in harmony. "But the path ahead is darker than you know."
I stared, frozen. "Who... who are you?"
The woman stepped forward, lifting her hand. Purple flames coiled around her fingers and formed into the shape of a phoenix mid-flight. "I am the first. The first bearer of the Amouranth Flame. The first to be chosen... and the first to fall."
"The one you met last night is formidable. A force so powerful she brings down governments, armies, even the gods themselves fear her. The one they call Leviathan. She will do whatever she sees fit to fulfil her master's wishes. And it seems this time her master has set his sights on you and your newfound power, just as he sought me. But you have the power to avert this threat. you must defeat Leviathan."
"You must grow stronger. Not just in power—but in heart. In will. Amouranth Flame is more than destruction—it is rebirth. But only if you master it."
"What am I supposed to do?" I asked, the words shaking in my throat.
She touched my forehead with a single finger. "Begin here."
A rush of warmth flooded through me. Images, too many to make sense of, flashed before my eyes—swords forged in violet fire, runes etched in ash, a field of fallen warriors, the haunting cry of a dragon—before all of it faded.
And then I woke up.
The warmth from the dream still clung to me like the last remnants of a fire long since extinguished.
I stood in front of the mirror, brushing my hair, eyes locked on my reflection. There was something in my gaze now—something that hadn't been there before. The memory of her words echoed in my head: "You must grow stronger. Not just in power—but in heart."
Leviathan. Thanatiel. Amouranth Flame. All of it felt like some strange fairy tale... only I was living it.
I shook the thoughts away, trying to focus. But my hands trembled slightly. My chest felt tight. I wasn't ready—not yet. But I had no choice.
Later, at school, everything felt off. I laughed when people joked. I answered when teachers called. I smiled when friends passed by. But none of it reached past the surface. I was distracted, distant, lost in that dream—and in the weight of what it meant.
It didn't take long for Kenji to notice.
During lunch, he walked up to me while I sat under the sakura tree behind the school building, the same place we always went to when we needed a break from everything.
"Sakura," he said gently, taking a seat beside me. "You've been off all morning. Even more than usual. What happened?"
I hesitated. My hands clenched the edge of my skirt. "I had another dream last night."
He frowned. "Was it like the others?"
"No. This one was... different." I turned to him. "She spoke to me. The first wielder of the Amouranth Flame."
Kenji's eyes widened, but he said nothing, letting me speak.
"She warned me. About Leviathan—Thanatiel's offspring. Said she was coming after me, just like she came after her. And she showed me things... things I didn't understand. Weapons, power, fire, pain. It felt real. Too real."
He leaned in, brows knitted in concern. "Sakura... this isn't just a power anymore. It's a legacy. A battle. You're caught in the middle of something ancient."
"I know." My voice was barely a whisper. "And I'm scared."
Kenji's expression softened. "Then let's get stronger. Together. We'll figure it out, just like we always do."
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"Today after school?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "Let's start."
After school, I headed straight home, trying to keep my nerves from showing. Haruka was in the backyard, running through his own drills with fluid precision. I watched him for a second—admiring his control, his strength, the calm focus that never seemed to waver.
He noticed me and smiled. "Back already? Want to get some more training in?"
"Actually…" I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "I was thinking I could try a few things on my own today. I've been reading up a bit, and I wanted to experiment a little with my footwork. Maybe test some stances by myself."
Haruka raised an eyebrow but didn't seem suspicious. "That's fine, just don't get lazy with the form. You want to borrow one of the practice swords?"
"Yeah, just for a bit," I replied quickly.
He gestured to the shed where they kept the gear. "Take the wooden one, and don't go breaking anything."
"Got it. Thanks."
With the sword slung over my shoulder, I slipped out quietly, heading toward the forest path that circled our neighborhood. I made sure no one was watching before ducking into the trees.
Kenji was already waiting, leaning against a moss-covered log with the journal in hand. His bag was open beside him, full of notes and scribbled diagrams. When he saw me, he stood up straight.
"Nice sword," he commented.
"Don't get any ideas," I said, grinning despite myself.
He handed me the journal, already opened to a marked page. "So… this is what I've been piecing together. The Amouranth Flame responds to emotional focus and physical motion. Which means... you need to move."
I raised an eyebrow. "Move how?"
"Fight."
He stepped back and gestured to the clearing. "Channel your energy into the strikes. Think of the flame like it's part of your blood—breathe it, feel it, and swing like it's alive."
I hesitated, then took a breath. The forest was quiet except for the breeze rustling the leaves overhead. I gripped the sword with both hands, grounding myself.
Then I swung.
At first, nothing happened.
But on the third strike, I felt it.
A pulse in my chest—no, in my very soul. The sword's edge glowed faintly purple, just for a moment, then faded.
"I saw that!" Kenji shouted. "Try again! Focus!"
I closed my eyes, picturing the woman from my dream—the way the flames coiled around her like living silk. I thought of Leviathan. Of the fear and pressure pressing in from all sides. Then I opened my eyes and moved.
This time, the flame burst out—not from the sword, but from my hand. It wrapped around the wooden blade, spiraling in wild arcs of violet light. I gasped, staggering back.
"I can't hold it!"
"Breathe, Sakura!" Kenji stepped closer. "Control it—don't fight it, guide it."
I knelt, grounding the sword in the earth as the flames flickered and roared, struggling to obey. But slowly, slowly, they began to settle. Dimmer. Warmer. Until they became nothing more than soft embers.
I fell back on the grass, panting. Kenji rushed to my side.
"You did it," he said breathlessly.
"No…" I managed a weak smile. "We did it."
Over the next few weeks, our secret training sessions became routine. Every afternoon after school, I'd come up with a new excuse, borrow a practice sword, and meet Kenji in the woods. At first, the Amouranth Flame was erratic, sometimes refusing to appear at all and other times surging wildly, threatening to scorch everything around me. But I kept trying. Again and again, I repeated the same movements—breathing, swinging, focusing—not just on strength, but on purpose.
Each time I failed, Kenji was there, patient and encouraging. And slowly, something changed.
The flame started to listen.
It no longer lashed out randomly but flowed through me, dancing along my arms, coiling around the blade like it belonged there. I began to move with it, syncing my breathing with the rhythm of each strike. In time, I didn't even need the sword to summon it. My hands alone could channel it. The power that once threatened to consume me now answered my call like an old friend.
And so, months passed.
Six months, to be exact.
I stood in the clearing now, not as the unsure girl who first swung her sword in frustration, but as someone who had earned her strength. The violet flame shimmered faintly around my fingers, pulsing gently like a second heartbeat. My right eye burned with that familiar glow, a permanent purple shimmer that no longer scared me. It had become part of me—one I now wore with quiet pride.
Kenji circled me, notebook in hand, observing my form as I moved through a series of rapid strikes, each one trailed by flickers of flame. He nodded in approval.
"You've come a long way," he said. "It's like the power was waiting for you to catch up."
"Or maybe I was waiting to accept it," I replied, holding the final stance, chest heaving lightly from the exertion.
He smiled, but then something shifted.
He blinked, stepping closer. "Wait… your eye.
"What about it?"
"It just—" He paused, staring intently. "There was a golden flash, like… a ring. Around your pupil."
I touched my face instinctively, but felt nothing. "A ring?"
Kenji knelt by his bag and ripped open the journal. He flipped through the pages feverishly until he stopped at one near the back. His finger pressed against a faded drawing—an eye with a golden halo around the iris.
There, written in neat, careful ink above the image, was a single word:
Guardian.
He read aloud: "The Guardian mark appears only to those chosen not just to inherit, but to protect. A deeper power, dormant until the wielder is ready. Flame is but the beginning. Guardians carry the burden of legacy… and the weight of destiny."
I stared at the symbol, my breath caught in my throat.
"Does this mean…" I swallowed. "There's more?"
Kenji looked up at me, his expression a mix of awe and worry. "A lot more. And it's starting to wake up."