Spathodea: Mmm. Hey! I see it! Over there!
Spathodea: It's beautiful, even more beautiful than the one I saw in my dream.
A Grayhound bus closes its doors and drives away, honking and leaving the girls standing by the road in a puff of dust and smoke.
Desert Flannel: This is a miracle of nature like the Great Barrier Reef. Of course, it's pleasing to the eye.
Desert Flannel: Many would wrestle with the heatwave and travel all the way here from Alice Spring by bus.
Desert Flannel puts down her sunglasses on her head and flips her hair over her face.
Desert Flannel: Hah. I have to admit, it is worth the effort.
Vertin: The temperature here will get even higher at noon.
Vertin: Ezra has prepared plenty of Cooling Tablets and water in the medical kit for us. If anyone still suffers sunstroke, we also have the Budgerigar Coat as an emergency measure.
Spathodea: So that's why Ezra took you to the room before we left? To tell you all these?
Vertin: Ezra is worried about you, and so are we.
Spathodea: Hmph.
Desert Flannel: Ooh. Someone is feeling bad about what she said earlier.
Desert Flannel: If you ask me, that human girl has a good heart. Maybe she can work on her ways of communicating with people, but that altruism in her is almost angel-like.
Desert Flannel: And she has the face of a little angel. Wouldn't be such a bad idea to put her in some baby care commercials. I heard those things pay you generously. I might as well ask what she thinks.
Vertin: Huh?
Flame: Go forward.
Spathodea: Wow! It's talking again!
Desert Flannel: What? Who's talking again?
Spathodea: The flame! It's talking! Didn't you hear it?!
Desert Flannel: Nah, it sounds the same to me. This is just the sound of fire burning, snoring, like my late old man.
Desert Flannel: Well, maybe you can also try turning off this little thingy's TV. Maybe it will jump up and shout "I'm still watching."
Spathodea: I'm not joking! It's really talking! Listen!
Lifting the flame with both of her hands, Spathodea puts it as close to Desert Flannel's ear as possible.
Flame: ...
Desert Flannel looks more and more alarmed in the silence.
Desert Flannel: Wait. Its temperature has gone up, and ... it's transforming? What is this, a rocket?
Flame: No more waiting.
Spathodea: Whoa!
As swift as an arrow, the burning fireball radiating heat waves flies towards the other side of the desert.
Spathodea: Hey, hang on! Where are you going?!
Spathodea: I thought we were good friends! Are you ditching me already?!
The agile Spathodea is the first to catch up with the flame.
Behind them, the Grayhound bus in the distance is starting again.
Vertin: Everyone, mind your steps and keep up!
Desert Flannel: A race in the desert. Great. I wonder why I'm not as clever and creative as you are.
The noisy crowd has gone. Where they once were, a slim figure pops out of a tree.
Ezra: Ms. Vertin ... Was she talking to me? She always looks over, perhaps she knows that I'm following them.
Ezra: But ... no. I'm hiding well. They shouldn't know.
Mumbling, Ezra sketches a fire pattern into his notebook.
Ezra: Having emotional turmoil, acting impulsively, feeling fanatical about the retrieved memories ... and the unstoppable urge to return to the "homeland."
Ezra: These all match the description in the research notes.
Ezra: And now, the fire, which is also the key in this case, is burning vigorously.
Ezra: The notes end here. That's all we know about "reincarnators."
Looking up into the distance, Ezra walks from one bush to another.
Ezra: I can't deduce more based on the current data, but at the same time, the unknown can be dangerous yet exciting. It might bring about catastrophes or miracles.
Ezra: Just like arcanists, so charming and lively.
Ezra: My job is to help and protect them, so their burning enthusiasm will not be dampened. Like what Mom said, this is our mission as mankind.
The human child once again opens the backpack and checks it for the 1,001st time.
Ezra: The Annular Jumper Frog Mushroom, the Fairy Ring Powders, and the Butterfly-shaped Portobello Mushroom ... Very well, I have them all. This time, I'm prepared for any danger.
Spathodea: Hah! Gotcha! You are not running away from ...
Flame: This is ... the beginning ... of the journey.
Spathodea: Beginning of the journey? No, we set off from Melbourne!
Spathodea: We're close to Uluru now, so it's almost our destin- ...
Spathodea: Gosh, what are these?
Vertin: These are murals. No, they are reliefs. All the marks are carved out of the wall.
Vertin: These carvings existed long before any murals, and they are rougher.
Desert Flannel: Of course, they are. Just think, when did our ancestors learn to draw with paints? And when did they start carving with sharp stones?
Spathodea: They are beautiful, like star trails, one circle in another.
Spathodea: I think I've seen them before. They feel familiar and make me thirsty at the same time. Look, this circle is just like a spring.
Desert Flannel: We don't need a spring. We brought water ourselves. Drink as much as you want.
Desert Flannel: Hmm. Look here. These are most probably some ancient relics. This one looks like an animal, and this, a plant!
Desert Flannel: Emm? And what is this, a birdy?
Vertin: They have something to do with people's lives. These marks have to mean something.
Vertin: Maybe they will lead us to the entrance to the Stadium.
Desert Flannel: This is the time when Spathodea's opinion matters more than ours. Come, key girl, take a look at this.
But they can't find the girl who was talking about her thirst anywhere. The water leaking from the fallen dusty-covered cup is absorbed into the hot sand.
Desert Flannel: Spathodea? Where, where did she go?
Desert Flannel: And that fire, they are all gone!
Desert Flannel: What the hell is going on again? She'd better be pulling a prank on me. I heard her footsteps behind me just now.
Vertin: Relax, Desert Flannel. We've got help.
A slim figure emerges from behind the tree.
Desert Flannel: Ezra? How, how did you get here? Wait, how long have you been following us?
Ezra: From the beginning, when you were at the hospital. Sorry, Ms. Desert Flannel, please let me check this first.
Ezra frowns, quickening his pace when nearing the wall of reliefs.
Some mushrooms break into pieces under the pressure and release a pungent scent of spores.
Ezra: This smell ... I can't be wrong—This is Devil's Thorn.
Desert Flannel: What's that? Does it have anything to do with her missing?
Ezra: A rare kind of mushroom that grows in the desert. Allegedly, it's genetically connected to lizards. I've only seen its pictures in books.
Ezra: It has wide, open pileus with sharp spikes, and its roots are as absorbent as sponge, which allows it to absorb and preserve underground water. They only appear around water sources, and with this spiral pattern on the wall, I think ...
Ezra: I think I might have a way to find her.
Ezra: Ezra stands up and takes out a metal dowsing rod from his pocket.
Ezra: Please come with me.
Thirst. She felt the dry thirst throughout her body. As if she had never taken even a single sip of water, or she was a beast that must keep running and running for its survival.
A gout of flame pierces through the formless dark.
Spathodea: Little flame?
Spathodea: coughs My throat ... It hurts ... Water ...
Flame: Do you remember me?
The fire pulses and comes closer to her, like a beating heart.
Flame: I traveled through the endless flood, drought, rain, and waterfalls to finally reach you.
Flame: Do you remember me?
Spathodea: I ...
Her dry throat keeps twitching as if a toad was resting there.
Spathodea: I do, but ... not really ...
Spathodea: I can't recall your name or your face, but I do remember ...
She curls up in a tight ball. Her palms and feet getting hotter and hotter.
Flame: Do you remember our fight?
The boiling raindrops mixed with fire are splashed on her spine.
Together, they pour into her dry throat.
Spathodea: Ugh!
She is not sure if she is standing or crawling on the ground. The only thing she can do is breathe like a fish.
The fire flows from the back of her ears to her eyes, like a warm hug from behind.
Spathodea: "Weigh the anchor of the current feelings and seek in the boundless net."
She hears a different voice coming from her own throat.
Spathodea: "Seek me, seek the past, seek the intelligence and spirit we are bound to find."
Spathodea: I don't wanna make up with you! You dumb ball of fire!
Spathodea: "Neither do I, you stupid girl!"
Spathodea: My hands are burning, like they are soaked in fire.
Spathodea: "That's because you reached into me. We had a fight, attacking each other with nails like two cats."
Spathodea: Ah! This is just like the day we first met!
The scene in her mind becomes clear. She can see the clue of this ancient memory within her reach.
Spathodea: I can feel my knees trembling again.
Spathodea: I know this game, a sport which is not popular enough to be included in any commercial or professional games.
Spathodea: It's also the sport for which I've been secretly training myself every day after lunch—the light-bulbs-picking game, Malingee's Harvest ... No, no.
Spathodea: But these are not light bulbs for the athletes to pick up from the ground, but fire ... And I don't have such a burning campfire at home. It can only be found here.
Spathodea: Beside the flowing spring, under the starry sky, on the scorching sand, I saw the burning campfire and the sparks scattering in all directions.
Spathodea: My hands surrounded by blazing flames, I touched the inner cone again and again as I flew by. Immersed in great joy, I dove down from the air.
Spathodea: "At that time, our hands held each other in the flames."
Spathodea: "Our traces went on from one torch to another."
Spathodea: Yes, I know. I remember it now.
Spathodea: I once drank the cold water in the spring and covered my limbs with colorful strips. I sang and danced until a pair of wrinkled hands touched my forehead.
An elderly man staggers to his feet and rises from the depths of the dark cave.
Priest: Good girl, my good girl ...
Priest: Your hands are dusted, but you win the game, and your soul is sparkling. It's you who find the hottest fire for us! It's you who connect to it and make friends with it!
Priest: I shall grant you the scepter and lead you to the highest platform.
Spathodea: I shall become the next Priestess of the Uluru Temple.
Spathodea: I shall take responsibility for every drop of sweat on the red soil, and I shall eulogize all the significant, fair competitions.
Spathodea: I shall store the flame in my mouth, my stomach, my heart, and my ribs.
Spathodea: I shall protect her, not to let her extinguish, nor to let her go astray or away.
Spathodea: I hereby swear ...
Spathodea: I shall be with the Uluru Games, until ... forever.
Spathodea: M-Mom ...
Spathodea: M-M-Mom never told me ... w-w-we are descendants of the Red Dragon ...
Critter: roars
Spathodea: Ah?! I-I'm awake now. This is the entrance to the Stadium!
Spathodea: Then that howl must be ...
The girl bends and rolls on the ground in a circle to avoid the sharp claws' attack.
Spathodea: The guardians of the Stadium, I knew it! coughs
Spathodea: I'm too weary to stand up! Shoot, there's no way I can beat them just rolling around!
Ezra: Ms. Spathodea!
Spathodea: E-Ezra?! And Desert Flannel, Vertin!
Spathodea: Thank goodness you found me!
Ezra: These critters—they don't look like any kind that I know of. What are they ...
Critter: hiss
Facing the boulders thrown by the critters, Spathodea does a forward roll and hides behind a shelter.
Spathodea: These critters are the guardians of the Stadium! They are ... Ugh, I can explain it later. We have to deal with them first!
Spathodea: Hmm? Little flame?! Hey! What are you doing?!
The little flame floats leisurely toward the monsters.
Vertin: No time to hesitate. Protect Spathodea and engage!
COMBAT
Ezra: Great, they are down!
Ezra: Everyone, for the sake of prudence, please stay back and do not approach before confirming the danger has been eliminated.
Spathodea: No, there's no more danger now. Look!
A heated current of air surges from the top of Uluru Rock to the spring by the people's feet.
Among the remains of a guardian critter, a bone torch is engulfed in the flame.
Flame: No need to worry or hesitate.
The scorching heat storms around.
Spathodea: Now, it's all clear!
Spathodea: Long story short, mates, I've retrieved many memories. At least now I know who I used to be.
Spathodea: My name in the last life was Flammy, exactly what my close ones call me now.
Spathodea: I am still ME. I'm not replaced by anyone.
Ezra: You are still you, the modern version ...
Ezra: This has never happened to any "reincarnators" as far as we know!
Spathodea: That's because Flammy and I are very alike, and we both have the same duty on our shoulders.
Spathodea: ...
Spathodea: I am Flammy. I obtained the Uluru Flame from the fire with my own hands. I was the first Priestess in the history of the Uluru Games.
Flame: I am Spathodea. I keep the flame that traveled all the way from the ancient times inside me. I will become the next Priestess in the history of the Uluru Games.
The flame is no longer the small flame as it was. Now, it is roaring like a beast, rearing up into the sky.
Spathodea: Remember what I said, mates? My flame is our compass!
Spathodea: Mom said good kids never lie. So, I always keep my word!
Spathodea: Spathodea looks back and gives them a grin.
In an instant, she hurries her pace and jumps into the fire.