I trudged through the jungle with Blu contently sitting on my shoulder, who was relaxing. My clothing was soaked, the humidity was suffocating, and to makes things worst my underwear began to chafe against my legs. I gave a sharp glare at the blue macaw as he happily hummed to himself.

"Lazy ass." I angrily said in my mind.

"I can hear that!" Blu's voice echoed through my noggin.

"Can you please tell me why this is happening to me?" I said mentally, why talk aloud when he can hear my thoughts I figured.

"I guess I'll start with what you are probably wondering most."

"What are you?" I asked. Blu smiled and looked at me.

"We are not normal beings, which you obviously figured out." I stopped him before he could continue.

"What do you mean WE?"

"Daniel I don't know how to explain this any other way than just laying it out flat to you," He looked down and smiled even wider at me, "Daniel you are what I prefer to call a guardian."

I looked forward and continued walking, "A guardian to what?"

"You protect messengers, for example I am your messenger."

"I'm confused…" I stopped in my tracks and brought the bird face to face with me. "Why do I have to protect you, why was I chosen? I don't recall agreeing to this."

"I know you didn't, but it was passed on as your duty when…when your father failed."

"My father, you know my father!" I yelled aloud.

"Yes, but he failed to succeed where you will."

"Failed at what?" I questioned as I continued walking on.

"There are four pieces in this world, four pieces that are sent down from the heavens above every century. These pieces when together have the power to do great good or great evil. Think of it as a test for humanity."

"And if we fail?"

"Then you all die if they are used for evil." Blu explained bluntly and straight to the point.

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at the bird, "Whoa, what was that? Are you kidding me!"

Blu smiled and nodded, "No I am dead serious."

"So the ENTIRE human race depends on me!"

"Yes, you are the last hope."

"Okay now I am calling complete horseshit, it was nice talking to you stupid bird." I threw him off my shoulder and walked the opposite direction.

"You can't run Daniel."

I looked back as Blu flew above me, mocking me with a grin. Frustrated, I grabbed the nearest rock and chucked it at him.

"That isn't being a very good guardian!" he laughed, easily dodging the rock.

I grunted in frustration and began sprinting through the thick brush. I could hear Blu snickering in my mind and the flapping of his wings from above. Finally I entered into the clearing on far side of town, Blu's snickers immediately died.

"Daniel, you don't need to be here." He flew down next to my feet.

I ignored his request and continued to walk into the town looking in horror at the destruction and slaughter. I walked past a few bodies who I recognized, one being Jack. I stopped over the body of Jag and bent down. His brains and cranium were splattered over the ground and picking past the tid-bits of what was left of his head I grabbed his finely crafted cutlass. I always admired the sword; it hung on a plaque in the shop next to the anvil. When Jag was out on business I would often take it down and observe my reflection off the sparkling white steel. Now I looked into the blade to see it tainted with blood.

I took the sheath off of Jag's body and walked back to Blu. The two of us silently walked to my house, I was wiping the blood off the blade with my damp shirt. Satisfied with my cleaning of the blade I smiled into it clearly seeing my face.

"Just like new." I said.

We arrived outside my house and I felt the same sink in my gut as my eyes fell on the corpse of my mother. We took the back way into the home avoiding her body in the front door. I took Blu into my room and sat him down on my dresser. He shuffled about the piles of drawing atop the dresser.

"These are very good Daniel." He complimented.

"Thanks." I grunted as I pulled the heavy chest from under my bed. I threw the chest onto my bed and flipped up the latches. A storm of dust emerged, coughing I brushed it away from my face. I reached inside and pulled out old notebooks, documents, sketches and an assortment of other clutter until I found the old cigar box.

"Before I give you this I must ask, how did you know I was the one with it?"

"The medallion is the first of the four pieces; it will lead us to the second and so on. I am able to have a sense of where its location is so as long as you have it with you I will know where you are."

"In case we get separated."

"Exactly, now if you will please let me see it." He urged.

I lifted the cigar box out of the chest and placed it next to Blu. I slowly opened the box, as I did a strange blue light seemed to be emitting from the slightly opened crack. When I swung the box fully open I saw that the navy blue sapphire in the middle of the gold circle was brightly glowing. I looked over at Blu who was smiling with his eyes wide. He reached his claw into the box and the ground began to tremble with great force, sending me falling to the ground.

"BLU!" I yelled.

Then everything went hazy and blurry as I slipped into a flash of white light.