The next morning, Martin woke up screaming. After what happened last night when both he and Isaac saw that same demon, the nightmares reached an entirely new level of horrifying. He quickly looked at his hands. There was a brief image of blood-soaked fingers, but they quickly faded away. He took in a shaking breath, and exhaled. He got up, and went to the shower.

There was one thing that puzzled him, though. Although the nightmare was terrifying enough, there was one image that made him not try to forget it. Out of place, untouched by the demon's rampage, there was a bird, and it seemed the demon was wary of it. What was interesting about the bird was it's colouring, and what surrounded it. One side of the bird was white, while the other was black, and the eyes on each side were blue and red respectively. In fact, the dream ended when the demon attacked the bird, and was met with a wave of blue energy.

What was that bird, Martin thought, and what does it have to do with my dreams? ...Does it have to do with Isaac? This thought passed through his mind because he knew about Isaac's family crest. It was created by an old ancestor, and apparently, it was a white-black phoenix rising from blue flames. Diana even gave Isaac a necklace that looked like that phoenix. And the phoenix looked like the one in his dream.

Well, whatever it is, I doubt Isaac even knows about it, Martin concluded, but it left him wondering what other secrets his father had kept from Isaac. He shook his head at one idea that popped up. No, that's ridiculous...still, it's been seven years, and we would have never suspected his Dad was a Center agent, or that he knew of the Center. After he was done his shower, he got changed, and went to meet Isaac, so they could discuss the issue that mattered at the moment: apologizing to Diana.

He sat on a bench, and he didn't have to wait long. In fact, he popped out from behind the bill-board on the wall nearby. Center portals always appeared behind something, and for good reason. But sometimes, they aren't hidden well enough, and people get curious. Other times, people stumble upon them accidentally when following someone they know. He chuckled to himself; that was exactly how Diana was first made aware of the Center. "Have I kept you waiting long?" Isaac inquired.

Martin looked up. "No, not long at all." He looked at Isaac as he took a seat beside him.

"You look a little pale, Martin," Isaac stated, "was it another nightmare?"

Martin was quiet. "Yeah, it was another nightmare. I keep on seeing villages burning down, people being torn apart, blood everywhere. Still," Martin muttered, putting a hand to his chin, "this one took a rather odd turn at the end."

"An odd turn," Isaac spoke, interested, "how so?"

"There was this bird in the dream," Martin stated, "a Phoenix, I think. The demon seemed wary of it, and they attacked each other as the dream ended."

"...A black and white Phoenix?" Isaac said, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Yeah," Martin stated, "just like that necklace of yours."

Isaac lifted the necklace up in the palm of his hand. "I had a dream last night, and it had such a phoenix in it."

"What happened?"

"Well, it seemed locked in a cage, and the cage was over-flowing with a blue light, like energy. It was sealed by a rune that I vaguely recognize from a Center entry I read a long time ago."

"Is that all?" Martin asked.

"...If that were all, I wouldn't be concerned by what happened next." Isaac stated. "There seemed to be fighting going on outside, between two shadowy figures and one of them was hurt by the other. The Phoenix saw this, and the seal suddenly shattered, and the other was obliterated by the energy that cascaded out."

"Wow, that's an odd dream." Martin said.

"But the same bird appeared in both of ours..." Isaac went silent, not understanding what it all meant.

Martin sighed, and put a hand to his forehead. "This is all too complicated for morning thinking," he moaned."

"Maybe for you," Isaac stated, "but my mornings usually start with thinking. At any rate, we have a more personal matter to attend to than the philosophical, paranormal...or the prophetic."

"What makes you think it was prophetic?" Martin enquired.

"Because in the dream, I was the phoenix." Isaac stated.

He wasn't told by Martin yet, but Martin was afraid that it may mean they would soon come to blows someday, if the dreams were prophetic. Because in Martin's dream, he left out one detail...

"Isaac...there's something you need to know."

"What is it, Martin?"

A cold shiver ran up Isaac's spine at Martin's next words. "...In my dream...I was the demon."