Zestos hurried out onto the lawn. He looked up and bit his lip as a circle of stars disappeared. But then he saw an aura of flames descend from where that circle had been. Whatever was coming down along with the aura had to be huge. Zestos then put his hand to his forehead. The power he was feeling was literally giving him a headache. It was so massive! Suddenly, the landscape around him flooded a gray color. He looked around in wonder as everything had seemed to freeze...like time stopping.

And then it made sense. Time did stop. He wondered if Katie was affected, since she was a time user. Looking up, he could now see that it was a giant blazing phoenix! Wondering if this meeting was meant for him, he walked to the edge of where the flaming aura met the ground. The inferno of flames of the phoenix slowly descended to the ground in front of him. He gaped as he saw that the huge figure was suddenly in front of him. It must have been at least ten feet high! Looking very closely, he finally found its eyes. They were like any other eyes, except for the colors: yellow pupils, orange iris, and red scleras--like flames. It suddenly spoke in a voice that was flat, and male. "Zestos." The phoenix nodded his head to him.

Zestos suddenly straightened up. There was something about him that was of authority. "Yes sir?" He even felt that he needed to add sir to his reply. The phoenix responded in his monotonous way. "Power is among the worse things you can have. You're subject to become corrupted, you are often pestered by those weaker to train, you must always prove your power; the list goes on and on. Even your power does not save you." Zestos raised an eyebrow and wondered what this phoenix was getting at. "With all of the power you collect over the years, you find your struggle was pointless and that you've wasted your life. Therefore, I'm giving you the core of myself...In hopes that I will have finally done something with my power that is good."

He closed his eyes and wrapped his great wings around himself. He shrunk about two feet before reopening his wings. Zestos was shocked to see that the phoenix had changed into a demon! The demon was wearing a kimono of sorts with flame designs on it in different colors, being red, blue, and yellow, trimmed in white. Zestos also noticed that his wings followed his eye pattern, but continued over and over. He was also the first demon that he noted that had feathery wings, other than Akio. His body was a deep blood red, and he had a single, black horn on his head, just above his forehead. A faint yellow light around his head gave him a halo. He cupped his giant, black clawed hands and an orb matching his eyes appeared. "For millennium I have been around, in charge of all demons." He gave a bow. "I'm the Sol Demon, the Sovereign of All."

Zestos was overwhelmed by all of this. He had no idea of what to say to him. He starred for awhile until the feeling passed. "I...I accept your gift...humbly." His face sweated from the intense heat he felt all around him. The Sol Demon spoke again. "This power is for everyone." The orb split into fourths. He put his massive hand down to Zestos. Zestos took the orbs from his hand and pocketed three of them. "Power is enriched by greed. I do hope they get to your friends. The consequences will be dear not only to them, but to yourself as well if they don't." Zestos nodded. "What do I do with it?" The demon seemed less bright now and the aura ring had calmed. "You are a star without a core..." He said as a reply. Zestos raised an eyebrow, but then got the message. He pressed the orb to his heart and felt it entered into him. His entire body then twitched with intensity. It was like his mind was exploding. He held on to it with both hands as he fell to his knees. "Can you take this extreme? If you cannot, then you are a hopeless cause..." he said as flat as possible.

Zestos shut his eyes as the pain was unbearable. "N-n-n-no...I will...I will...take...it..." His breathing became erratic. "I can stop it..." Zestos put a hand out. "No..." The demon replied. "Very well then." The burning eyes bore into him. Zestos coughed harshly and a bit of blood came up. He finally rolled over on to the ground and laid there silently for some time. The demon only stared at the limp body. "...You may get up Zestos..." he said. Zestos lay there with his eyes forcefully shut. he then opened them. His iris alone now matched the Sol Demon's full eye colors. His breathing slowed. "...I'm alive..." He sounded dumbfounded. The demon closed his eyes. "My power has given birth to demons... Why? It was a selfish reason. I wanted to ease my loneliness. I left behind something for power...and it gave me nothing. I have never been truly happy since... longer than my memory should have been. My power has given birth to a new seed of my power... in a human, like it should have been." Zestos rose and wondered what he was rambling on about. He found that he could now ask, for at that moment, he vanished and the area was flooded with color again.

"Zestos!" A call came from behind. He turned to find that Peter was calling to him, and the girls were following. When they arrived, they had noticed that the energy had left. "Was that your power Zestos? It couldn't have been..." Cerulean exclaimed. Zestos smiled. "I was visited by a phoenix... He told me to give you these. But I warn you, it will hurt to absorb it." he took out the orbs and handed them to each. Peter held it up as if appraising it. "Lareo had something like this... But this power is even greater." Zestos watched as the three took them in. He comforted them through the process and delivered them to their rooms to recover. Only he seemed to have recovered instantly. It was probably because he was fire. But now....He was Sol. A Sol Human. It was until the next morning that Zestos had found that his group had recovered. Blade awaited them outside, not knowing their new power.