"Phoenix?"
I mutter under my breath, rummaging my brain as I search for where I've seen the image of this bird before.
Ah! Yes! On the crest of my guide and the uniform of the guards. And also on the red robe of the Patriarch. There were specific drawings of a bird coated with flames. I thought it was just their symbol, does that mean this phoenix is?
[Your family revere me because I was the one who delivered to your founding father; the first king of the Flameworth's– The flame of eternity. He wielded it, and the world knew his name. They believe I was the one who gave him those flames. Meanwhile, I was not. I am only a messenger, a channel, and the source is above me.]
"Then who is the source?"
[THEY.]
"Who are they?"
[Their names cannot be mentioned, for the weight of it on a mortal is too much to bear.]
"..."
What is this? What is it saying? What does it mean?
"You said you are a messenger. Now, tell me. What.. message did you bring to me?"
[THEY have seen your resolve. You are the first child born of the Flameworths to ever survive in this pool for this long without breathing or passing out or... Dying.]
"Wait. How long have I been here?"
[Two weeks. They all think you're dead.]
Two weeks? That's... that's long.
[You are to go to Ludia, the city of beginnings. There, you will align with your destiny. To slowly fulfill your purpose.]
My purpose? Does it mean the reason I was brought to this world? I'm all shades of confused right now.
"Why should I do as you and your 'THEY' say?"
The being let out a small, dry laugh.
[Don't you want to see your wife Edward? You have no other choice.]
My heart jolts at the mention of my wife and my real name.
My fists curl and my eyes narrow into a suspicious sharp glare that I shoot at the Phoenix.
It knows I was reincarnated.
[Don't look at me like that. I don't know anything, I only said what THEY told me to say. THEY know everything.]
My confusion heightens as I hear the words it utters.
Are they... gods? Just what the hell.
"I don't trust you... Or them."
[It's not a matter of trust Edward. It's a matter of destiny. You were chosen not by THEM or by me, but by fate, and THEY only serve as a guide to steer you in the right direction, towards your Destiny. To fulfill your purpose.]
I scoff at the being's words.
"Screw all that shit. I don't care about all that. How did THEY say I can see my wife?"
[It's simple. All you have to do is follow your path. Power awaits you on your journey. And with that power, you can do all things.]
I muse about the words of the Phoenix.
My head lowers, I start thinking seriously about my wife and my two kids.
Isn't it the same thing? The same thing I said I would search for? It's right in my face. If there's a way to go back then I'll gladly follow that way...
Even if I have to make a deal with the devil.
I nod, slowly accepting the bone that fate threw for me to chew like a dog.
[Then..]
The Phoenix moves its wings toward my bubble.. and bursts it.
The water surrounds me now. It's of a normal temperature and I'm floating instead of sinking.
My eyes focus on the Phoenix. I'm not afraid or shaken.
I know it can't hurt me. Because it– no, the ones who sent it; need me.
It stretches its wing toward my forehead, tapping me lightly.
[Along with my message. A gift from them.]
My surrounding fades into darkness as I shut my eyes.
"Arrgggggggggg!!"
It feels like a bomb went off inside my body. A burning sensation surges through every single artery and vein inside my body system. No– every single cell.
I grit my teeth and endure the pain.
After a while, my eyes flutter open.
A bright red light from the wings of the Phoenix is flowing into my body through my forehead.
The time I spend observing the sight is short as another surge of pain blasts throughout my whole... Everything.
It feels like my entire being is being rewritten, like my soul itself is being burnt to ashes.
Tssshh
"Argggh"
The peeled skin on my body starts regrowing slowly.
Crunch Crunch
I can't breathe well, I'm tired. My bones are breaking and regrowing. Repeating the process over and over again.
"I– I– I.. is.. it. Not.. enough.?"
My voice weak and strained.
My eyes are heavy, it feels like the weight of the world is pressing on my eyelids.
The world is blurring.
"Marce–..."
I pass out.
______________________
(Phoenix)
The Phoenix stared at the unconscious body of the young boy.
Finally, after many years, the flame of eternity has a new wielder...
It took its wing off the boy's forehead and tapped his chest.
[Don't forget boy. Your destiny is far greater than any other's.]
And suddenly, the boy who was passed out disappeared from the waters.
A smile plastered on the face of the Phoenix.
Its beak parted slowly.
"It is done."
The Phoenix disappeared, like it was never there, as if all that happened was but a dream.
_____________________
(Alexander)
It was a normal day in the main mansion of the Flameworths.
Alexander, the Patriarch sat down on his chair, facing the documents and other books on his table.
He wore glasses with golden rims, he always wore them while he wrote, not because his eyesight was bad, but because he deemed it 'Regal'.
Clink!
He dropped the quill he held on his table, and rubbed his forehead as he let out a weary sigh.
That kid– Charles. He had potential. It was a pity he died, he could have been something.
But It's very unlikely he'd still be alive, it's been two weeks.
Everybody spent a maximum of five days in the mana pool. During my time, I spent five days before passing out and waking up outside. But him? He's probably dead.
"I really need to eat cake and take a break from the heap of work Faleso gave me this morning."
He adjusted his black hand glovesand kept writing.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Alexander's eyes snapped open intensely. His face contorted into a horrified expression.
His heart tightened with anxiety. The chill he felt was... eery.
No- what he felt wasn't a chill. It was pure heat that wrapped around him like a blanket.
That same heat– like a wave, washed across the entirety of the Flameworths estate.
Buckets of sweat slid across his skin, his lungs heavy as his breath heaved.
He clutched the shirt on his chest.
"What the hell was that?!"
He gathered his composure immediately and stood up from his chair, running toward the door with great speed.
He had one just one destination– the source of that eery heat.
__________________
Everybody in the entirety of the Flameworths estate felt it.
The maids, the gardeners, the workers, the trainees, the mages, the family members, they all felt that intense wave of hot mana that reverberated across the estate.
And the cause of the commotion– Charles, stood at the entrance of the metal door that led to the cavern.
Unconscious but somehow still standing. His eyes flickered with serpent-shaped flames and an intense heat radiated from his body. His clothes were torn and he was naked, leaving the flame of eternity as his only covering.