As a radiant ball emerged at the horizon, the sky lightened in streaks of pink and orange. Beams of light illuminated the town below and intensified with each minute.

From the rooftop of an eight-story tenement, Mika looked down. So, that was where all the scraping noises and chatters came from. Underneath the mesh of tiny lanterns, people were dragging and pushing chairs, tables, and hawker stalls out of their houses.

It had been at least five years since Mika visited the Chinatown for its cuisine. As she jumped from one rooftop to another with Katrina, she scanned the buildings across them for the hot pot restaurant she used to visit with her mother. It was still there; Mika recognized the cartoonish picture of a smiling hot pot and "Yuan's Steamboat" underneath a line of embossed Chinese letters on the red signboard. The images of her mom putting shrimps into the simmering pot of soup flashed across her mind, and her stomach growled.

"Focus, Missy!" Jyuji shouted from the sky above. "I ain't gonna pick you up if you fall."

Mika nodded and returned her focus to the road ahead. The end of the block was near.

Katrina leaped first. Then Mika followed. As she soared across the sky, she wondered what would Brandon think of her when he saw her make such a big jump. Must be something along the line of "I'm so proud of you."

Once Mika's feet touched the ground, she ran after Katrina. The rabbit woman glanced over her shoulder, probably to make sure that she hadn't run so fast that Mika couldn't catch up with her.

"Stop!" Jyuji descended to the rooftop. "I see a colorful horse-sized bird."

Everybody stopped moving. Looking up, Mika spotted a huge silhouette of a bird in the sky. It drew closer and closer, showing off the blue, green, and yellow hues that decorated its red feathered body.

Then it landed in front of them.

Mika's jaw dropped at the sight of the creature, an amalgamation of various birds. It had the head of a pheasant, the body of a duck, the wings of a swallow, and the tail of a peacock. For some reason, whirring sounds escaped from its body as though it hid an engine within.

Slowly and gracefully, the bird walked towards Mika. "Silver-haired girl," it began in a deep woman's voice, its- no, her glowing cyan eyes fixated on Mika, "are you Mika Asagi?"

Stepping back, Mika gulped. "H-how did you know?"

"Master Wong sent me to escort you to our hideout. It was a request from Brandon 'Beyond the Grave' Heat."

"Brandon?" Mika gasped. For real? Had her father woken up and made his way out of the university? Did he teach that bastard David a lesson during the breakout?

"Hey, birdie," Jyuji spoke in a condescending tone, "do you actually know where that undead guy is?"

The bird looked at Jyuji. "He is at Metaslica Faculty of Science. Somehow, he made David Rossi call Master Wong very early in the morning."

"As expected, Brandon tried to find you, Mika." Katrina stroked her chin. "I have a feeling that he beat David up and made him call Mr. Wong."

"Wow!" Mika smiled broadly. That was her beloved father. She knew she could always count on him.

"Do you trust me, dragon?" the bird asked. "Honestly, you look unusual for a dragon. My partner is one, but he lacks wings. Instead, he has a serpentine body, the mane of a lion, and a pair of deer antlers and very long whiskers."

"Oh, yeah? I can't wait to see him. I wanna see how strong he is."

"You will regret it."

"I'm not scared, birdie. Take me to him."

"Very well." The bird paused. "By the way, I sense no evil from you. Are you the dragon who destroys the windmills at South City and the slum?"

"He is," Katrina cut in. "However, Mika and I have tamed him."

Wait, Mika couldn't take so much credits for taming Jyuji. "Uh, Mrs. Ka-"

"Tamed me? My ass!" Jyuji snorted, puffs of smoke shooting out of his ears and nostrils. "I chose to be a good dragon, get it?"

"We snapped you out of Draco's influence."

"Hey, rabbit woman! You can kick Draco outta my mind, but if I choose to be an evil dragon, there's no way you can stop me!"

Mika laughed softly. Typical Jyuji, acting as if he were the meanest guy in the world when he was actually a nice person. The bird laughed as well; maybe she had seen through Jyuji's facade already.

"By the time we arrive at the hideout, my partner must still be at the Garden of Contemplation with Master Wong." The bird bowed. "Before we depart, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tie Fenghuang."

"I've heard of the fenghuang," Katrina commented. "It's the Chinese equivalent to a phoenix, but with more grace and without the resurrection story. As far as I know, a dragon and a fenghuang symbolize perfect harmony in the myth."

"Precisely, rabbit woman."

"What does the 'Tie' mean by the way?"

"Iron. I am a methdroid, a mesh of folk-powered engines coated in a thick layer of alien metal." Fenghuang turned around. "Hop onto me, Mika. With my speed, we can reach the garden in a few minutes."

Slowly approaching the bird, Mika looked at Katrina. The rabbit woman simply nodded as green aura coated her body.

"Get on her already, slowpoke!" Jyuji barked from behind. "We can catch up with you!"

It wasn't a matter of speed, actually. Before they started their journey to the Chinatown, Katrina had admitted how she could carry Mika to save time; however, the rabbit woman decided that letting Mika travel by her own feet would strengthen her legs and allow bigger jumps.

Katrina wanted her to be independent, unlike Brandon, who would've carried her all the way to the Chinatown.

Mika jumped onto Fenghuang's back and wrapped her arm around the bird's neck. Strange. If Fenghuang's body were made of alien metal, why didn't the feather prick her? Perhaps the bird willed them to be soft, so that Mika could ride her? She had to ask the bird later.

The creature exclaimed, "Hold tight!" Then she leaped and rocketed across the sky.

Everything blurred. Mika's stomach churned, and acid crawled up her throat. Head throbbing and heart pounding, she tightened her hug around the bird's neck. The strong gusts of wind could blow her off any time.

A moment later, Fenghuang decelerated. Mika's vision was still blurry and spinning, but it gradually stabilized as Fenghuang dived. Her head throbbed less now, while her heartbeat slowed down a bit. However, sourness hadn't left her mouth.

When Fenghuang set her feet on the ground, Mika remained on the bird's back.

Fenghuang glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, it seems like we have to wait for the dragon."

Mika looked back. With her green aura fading, Katrina jumped off a shoddy six-story tenement and landed behind them.

"Still dizzy?" the rabbit woman asked.

Mika smiled. "I'm feeling better now." After releasing Fenghuang's neck, she hopped off the bird and looked at the dilapidated tenements around them.

"Master Wong can have these tenements demolished when he needs it." Fenghuang pointed her wing at the structure ahead. "Look at that."

Mika couldn't help but mouth a "whoa" at the structure. A roof similar to an upturned artichoke leaf rested atop the center of the stone wall. A huge circular hole lay underneath it; beyond the opening, a stone path and various plants awaited. The view resembled that of a forest, but for some reason, peace and serenity flowed out of the crevice and relieved her of the discomfort from traveling.

"This is the Moon Gate. It will take us to the Garden of Contemplation, where Master Wong and Tie Long await. Tie Long is why this garden exists; he is too large to enter Jiugang Castle."

"Tie Long?" Mika stroked her chin. "Another methdroid?"

Fenghuang nodded. "He is the dragon I spoke about."

"Uh, may I ask something, Fenghuang?"

"Yes."

"You said your body was made of alien metal. Why didn't your feather hurt me?"

Fenghuang chuckled. "My feather is naturally soft, but I can will it to be hard and sharp."

"I see." With Katrina beside her and Fenghuang leading the way, Mika walked towards the moon gate. Just as she reached the hole, she spotted a dragon-shaped shadow beneath her. Looking up, she found Jyuji flying over the roof.

"Stop right there, dragon!" Fenghuang shouted; for once, Mika noticed anger in the bird's voice. "Master Wong will not tolerate any damage to the garden!"

"I'm not burning anything, birdie!" Jyuji kept flying. "I just can't wait to meet your dragon partner!"

Fenghuang sighed. "One cannot enjoy the beauty of this garden by flying over the trees and seeing everything at once."

Once they walked past the opening, Mika paced very slowly. The breeze. The plants. The tranquility. The garden had everything that could make even the most stressful man relax.

Wondering what granted the garden such an aura, Mika studied the vegetation while walking. Her jaw dropped; only a pro botanist could identify all the shrubs and trees. Out of everything, Mika only recognized chrysanthemums, bamboos, pines, and plums.

When they went deeper, Mika's ears registered the burbling of water amid the rustling leaves. Jyuji's angry voice echoed, which made her wince.

"He must have met Long." Fenghuang walked more quickly, but still as gracefully as ever.

Mika and Katrina sped up as well. Soon, they arrived in a grassy opening with a large koi pond. Jyuji hovered before the head of a gigantic serpentine dragon, right beside a gazebo. The sapphire dragon looked so small; hell, the humongous jade dragon could swallow him if he wanted to.

Antlers of a deer, very long whiskers, the mane of a lion... The serpentine dragon must be Tie Long! He looked a little weird for an eastern dragon, though; his body was segmented, as if they were made of large blocks of jade metal. There were five parts, with the top being the head and the bottom being the tail. The rest, except the one in the middle, had a pair of long, clawed hands.

"What didja say? Defeat me easily?" Jyuji spat at the pond, scaring off the nearby school of koi. "C'mon, let's fight!"

Long laughed. "Master Wong forbids me from fighting, little dragon. I can level this district with ease if I am not careful."

"Then let's fight in the sky!"

"Why should we fight? It will hurt both of us. We must stay hale and hearty to face the mist."

As the dragons continued to bicker, Mika noticed that Fenghuang's attention was at the gazebo and the bridge leading to it. Stepping past the bird, Mika spotted a white-haired man in the gazebo. As he slowly crouched and extended his hand, he opened the bamboo fan in his other hand.

Although he was in red-and-gold pajamas instead of a changsan, Mika recognized the thick eyebrows and bushy mustache. The old man was Richard Wong, the leader of Gatou Gang.