He opened his eyes. Or at least he tried to. His eyelids felt heavier than lead. He closed his eyes momentarily, trying not to fall asleep, subconsciously knowing he had done that for longer than usual.

He took in a deep breath, but nearly regretted it. His ribcage felt like it had been shattered and wrongly misplaced. Breathing lightly didn't seem to be an option either. He needed air and was losing it quickly.

He tried to move his legs, but was numb waist down. Mentally cursing in his head, he opened his eyes once more and struggled to keep them open.

After succeeding to win the battle with his half lidded eyes, he looked around him. Giant red and orange silk curtains flooded around him like a messy, but comfy canopy. The room was heated, yet provided a certain breeze that often cooled the area.

He then looked down and saw his body hidden under a thin, but comfortable blanket. No, that wasn't the right word. It was more like lava that was materialized into some sort of cloth.

God, it was beautiful.

Suddenly, he felt his right arm moving on its own. He creaked his head to the right to see a young attractive woman tending to his arm, bandaging his forearm.

Her hair was fiery red and constantly moving, like a living flame, and pulled back into a high bun. One thing that stood out was one big black curl that hung loosely around the bun.

She was wearing a black sleeveless top and ripped shorts. Her necklace was gems that were molded into each other to create a new gem that he had never seen before.

The girl looked concentrated, almost disappointed that she was bandaging his arm.

"Who?" he croaked. His voice sounded like it was going through puberty from a frog's perspective.

Instantly, a thin finger was on his lips as if to silence him. Never in his life had he seen someone move so fast, especially after intense concentration. They should've at least been delayed a moment or two.

"Sh, sh, sh," the girl shushed him. "Don't exert yourself too much. Look more, speak less."

As her finger removed itself from his lips, a new surge of energy filled him. Not enough to get up, but enough to talk and breath a little more normal.

"Who are you? Where am I? What happened?" he said, using his new energy quickly, but it left him exhausted.

The girl smiled lightly, as if she has been through this quick interrogation before. "Call me Naphtha, you're in the Chamber of Rocks, and…you almost died."

"Oh." That was a nice way of putting it.

She continued to bandage his numb right arm, moving slowly to his palm. He couldn't think clearly. A total migraine had taken him over, but whenever she spoke, he felt nice and was relaxed.

They sat in a few more moments of silence before Naphtha sealed off his bandaged hand, leaving the fingers exposed.

"So, do you remember what happened?" she asked him, leaning on her right arm over his right leg.

He would protest, but he couldn't really feel anything and also, she had this majestic appearance about her, even though she was dressed commonly. He felt it would be disrespectful.

"I, uh, don't really know." He mumbled.

Naphtha looked away in thought before looking back at him again. "Fine. Let's start with your name. Who are you and where are you from?"

"Why do you need to know?" he replied, immediately regretting his response.

She smiled amusingly. "I already know. It's you who needs to know and remember."

He frowned. "It's not like I have amnesia…do I?"

Naphtha shook her head. "No, but you have an immense migraine right now, which makes it difficult to think. But I need you to try on your own."

"Um, sure. Anything." I can't believe I just said that out loud. He thought.

"So, go." She urged.

He thought intensely, even though it shouldn't have been that hard. He closed his eyes, but it stung his eyes after being exposed to air for so long.

"I am…Tadashi Hamada… and I come from…San Francisco-"

"San Fransokyo."

"Right. I meant to say that. I have a brother, Hiro and—Oh my goodness!" He sat upright and immediately slid back down like a vegetable.

Naphtha sat him up normally within a flash before he hit the bottom of his cushion. "I told you, don't exert yourself."

"But, but, but, m-my brother! A-and the fire!" Tadashi gasped once more. "Professor Callaghan!"

Naphtha's bright orange eyes flared, but she seemed to calm down at the last second. "Hmph. A professor who doesn't value any sort of human life."

Tadashi turned his head towards her, confusion plastered over his features. "W-wait. You know him? What do you mean he doesn't value human life?"

Naphtha sighed and looked down into her hands. She silently took Tadashi's bandaged hand and stroked it, as if she was scared to lose it.

"He almost killed you and many other people through the fire last week."

"Hold on. Last week?!" Tadashi felt pain; emotional and physical. His migraine was getting stronger.

"Yes. You were unconscious for seven days."

"What?!" More pain, but at this point, he didn't care anymore.

"Yes."

He put his fingers to his temples and rubbed them tiredly. "Best professor killing me…unconscious for a week… what about my family and friends?"

"Oh, they won't be okay. Emotionally, at least. Your brother has fallen into deep depression, but your aunt and friends will be alright."

"Oh…" he sighed wistfully. "Oh, no. Okay."

"You're saying strange things," Naphtha pointed out.

Tadashi's brown orbs looked through Naphtha's fiery ones. "Is that bad?"

She smiled softly. "No. Four billion years and you'd think I've seen worse."

Tadashi laughed, but it turned into coughing not long after he started. "I'm sorry, what?" he said once he calmed down.

"I'm four billion years old. Maybe more. I sort of lost count." Naphtha trailed off, as if thinking about how many birthdays she really commemorated. "Yeah, I lost count. But that doesn't matter right now."

Tadashi simply stared at the young looking spirit, thinking she probably went insane. On second thought, maybe he was just insane and she was just making a joke. But as far as he could see, Naphtha's expression deemed pretty serious.

"Are you joking?" he asked cautiously, expecting to get laughed at.

"No."

Tadashi raised a thick eyebrow. By this point, he was wondering whether she was really human or not. The way she spoke about humans…as if she wasn't. The look in her eyes always bore into his own, added that her eyes were the color of fire.

The very aura around Naphtha was almost heavenly, like an angel's glow. Even her name, Naphtha, sounded very much like an element in fire transliterated into Ancient Greek.

Tadashi pursed his chapped lips. "You might think I'm crazy for asking you this, but humor me."

Naphtha shrugged.

"Are you human?"

"No. I used to be."

"How long ago?"

"It's…complicated."

"How so? I can understand."

Naphtha looked at him skeptically, which told him he was wrong. "I was human over 10,000 years ago and I somehow traveled back in time to the beginning of all beginnings: when Earth was nothing but lava and volcanoes." she recounted.

He thought about this. "So, what are you exactly?"

"Who, not what." Naphtha corrected. "I am a spirit, queen of fire, also known as the Magma Queen."

Tadashi furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "You're the oldest spirit alive, then?"

"Yes."

He rubbed his temples, even though his pain had subsided. "This is a lot to take in."

"Exactly why you need to rest." Naphtha smiled, showing off a straight array of white teeth. "I'll check on you in the morning."

Before he could protest, she reached out and touched his forehead. At her touch, Tadashi instantly shut his eyes and succumbed into the most peaceful sleep he ever had.