Coming Here is like a Dream Come True (Open, Intro)

Finally, he was here. Phoenix Island, the island which holds the guild he was trying to join. Alex Hata walked off of the boat, and gave a quick thanks to the fisherman who was unloading his goods. The man offered to give Alex a ride because he too was going to Phoenix Island to trade, as it was a major trading port. This made Alex wonder, if the Magic Counsel tried to take any control over it, since a major trading port could be useful for international trade. Then again, a major legal guild rested on the island, so they have minor control over it to an extent. And that was the problem right there, the guild rested on the island. Where, Alex had no idea.

Taking the first steps off and trekking through the city, looking around at the many stalls and stores that sold various goods. This city was bustling, and Alex was sure that eventually he'd get an answer as to "where is the Golden Phoenix guild?" Someone had to know, at the least. So he continued, with patience being his virtue, slowly and drowsily walking through the city, bumping into people left and right, and trying his best to maintain composure. The people scoffed and laughed at him as some drunken lady, but he paid no mind to those who thought that.

Alex came across an elderly man selling watches. Alex happily bought one, and then asked the man if he knew any information about the guild he was looking for.

"The guild is guarded by phoenixes, as the legend goes. If you find phoenixes, you'll find the guild."

"Er... would you happen to know where any of these phoenixes might be?"

"Perhaps on the mountain, I've never traveled up there. I'm too old. Anyways, I provided you with all the information I can. So long, young lady."

"B-But... I'm a guy..."

"Oh please, you can't fool me so easy. I may be old, but I hear that voice, and see how... voluptuous you are..."

With that, Alex quickly bolted off, not wanting anything further to do with this old man. He needed to do something about being a guy sometimes, as his body, voice, and essentially everything about him screams "female." People just didn't understand that he was a male. However, there was not much he could do. It wasn't like he ran around wearing a sticker that said "I'm a guy," but it wasn't like he would wear something like that in the first place.

Coming upon the mountain, the sleeping man looked up. A normal person would have trouble climbing this mountain, and traversing to the top. However, it would be easy for Alex, considering of his dream land. Alex simply took another step forward, but his leg was lifted up higher than normal. He then took another, and suddenly his point of view had him standing perfectly upright, but to others he was parallel to the ground. He walked along the mountain as if it were a normal road, with his center of gravity switching entirely. This would make the trip easy, almost too easy...

After about 45 mins of steady walking, Alex heard a screeching sound. Suddenly, out of nowhere, in the sky a giant bird dove down to attempt to tear Alex in half. Screaming, he jumped aside and avoided, albeit extremely barely, the attack. The bird's heat could be felt when avoiding the blow, and it made Alex sweat profoundly. Standing back up, Alex tried to rationalize the situation.

What... The hell... was that? A bird that radiates heat... No, it couldn't be? If that is the case, I guess the legends were true... But if that is also the case, I guess that means I'm dead now aren't I?

Taking a sigh, Alex put his hands to his head, and a magic circle appeared. Flying out from it was the guardian of Alex's dreamland, Dilon the giant hawk.

"Dilon! Distract it! I'll see you later!"

Alex swiftly bolted off, while Dilon attempted to fight the fiery bird, and it didn't take too long for the phoenix to obliderate Dilon. After the hawk tried to attack the giant flaming bird, it just dived to avoid, and slashed the bird into bits with its talons, shattering it into golden light. Alex knew Dilon wouldn't last long, but the spirit animal wasn't alive, it was apart of Alex's imagination. Sprinting forward at his fastest speed, Alex soon felt the heat of the bird once again. While running, he put his hands to his head, until he suddenly fell. He fell into a cavern, which looked like a giant hole from Alex's point of view. He fell, and shifted his gravity so that he was now standing on the ceiling, upside down. The bird apparently didn't follow him in, which gave him a second or two to think.

A-Alright, I'll just uhm... Think for a second. I'm in a situation of check, and I'm the king. I need to move, or else I'll be killed, however if I don't make the correct choice, I'll have put myself into a position where the opponent will likely get a checkmate. Now then, the legend goes that there are multiple phoenixes, and if there is... I'll likely run into more. I should divert their attention, but how? Phoenixes are made of fire, I could use the robot... but then again the one phoenix was strong enough to destroy Dilon in one go. It's likely a whole lot tougher than a normal bird, and will likely take a hit from the robot... That's it! I'll use Porkchop to speedily divert their attention, and then the robot to serve as a bait in case Porkchop fails... yes, that'll work.

Alex put his hands to his head again, and suddenly a giant pig appeared, destroying much of the ceiling of the cave. Alex pointed in the direction opposite of where he was going, and the pig charged. Alex, after hearing not one, not two, but three birds fly down, quickly ran and sprinted forward, towards the summit. Not after long, he was forced to raise his hands again, hearing the birds. Suddenly, a giant robot, made entirely of panties, no less, appeared. It raised its arm, then shot a cannonball also made of panties at the bird, which were quickly incinerated. Again, not after long, Alex heard a loud explosion, but not before he reached the summit of the mountain. A small, confined space with nowhere to run. This was definitely checkmate.

"Hm... Death bird here, death bird there, death bird everywhere. It looks like this is checkmate, my king is taken. Guess I won't make it to the guild."

Before the mage's final words, he wanted to say goodbye to those he'd never see again. So, he drifted off even further, the world around him seemingly melting away, as they were replaced with a cloudy land with many doors and random things about. Dilon, the hawk from earlier, was perched at the desk, as usual, and he greeted Alex with his normal butler-esque greeting.

"Master Alexander, how are you? I assume you managed to get away from the wretched birds from earlier? Perhaps you already made it in-"

The bird was cut off by Alex putting his hand up, which silenced the bird entirely. This gesture made the hawk know what the situation was, and he began to frantically panic, which once again was shushed off by the dream mage. He controlled all that happened here, of course, so whenever he wanted silence, that's what he got. The mage conjured up his father's guitar, and began to play it, waiting for the dreamland to fade away, replacing it with blackness. This was how he wanted to go out, lost in dreams like normal. But... Something was strange. Alex felt no pain, he didn't see the world around him fade away, so this made him wonder: Why did the birds stop? They obviously weren't going to have a change of heart anytime soon.

Walking back through the door, the world was once again replaced with the blackness of sleep. The sleeping part of you when you don't dream, and all there is is black. But Alex was familiar with this blackness, it wasn't like something new, like death. He was alive! But then again... How.

Not paying attention to his surroundings, and focusing primarily on thoughts, Alex only now heard the other voice. One he'd never heard before. Not being able to make up their physical form yet, as he did have his eyes closed, Alex turned to greet the woman, who had apparently just saved his life.

"I'm here to join a guild, yes. Unless I've been lied to, I assume I'm in the correct place. I thought I'd never make it there, to be honest. Also, I'm-"

The mage cut himself off. His life was just saved by this person. Now was not the time to correct people about his gender.

"I'm Alex. I'm here to try to join Golden Phoenix."

So the entrance to the guild was via portal. That was a new one. Considering that the mage couldn't see anything in front of him, he realized that whatever was there was intangeable. It didn't have any physical forme. The only thing he saw was the ground, and this woman in front of him. Alexander then thought: Where had this woman come from in the first place? It must have been the portal. That gave the situation at hand a whole lot more sense, considering that with the thought of the portal in mind, Alex could piece together how this mysterious woman, who apparently had control over the phoenixes, appeared out of nowhere and just in the knick of time.

However, what this woman before Alex said next caused a short chuckle to come from the tactician's mouth. She thought he was afraid? A good tactician is always afraid prior to battle, and never in it. The scary part is devising a perfect plan, because there has to be no flaws, else the outcome would be loss. Loss itself isn't the scary part, but invisioning the loss is. When he thought he was going to die to those phoenixes, Alex simply realized his battle was lost, so he was prepared to face his judgement for failure.

"Oh, I apologize for not telling you beforehand. I'm not afraid of anything bad happening, I lost all of what tiny sense of fear I had once you arrived. I'm just... how do I put it... 'Sleepwalking?' I dunno if that's the proper term, though... but yes, I'm asleep."