The Phoenix Price, Part 1
The rebirthing always began with a dreadful clarity. Whereas the first (and only, for most everyone else) birth was in darkness and confusion, the rebirth was blindingly brilliant. Soft green flames licked every inch of my flesh, not quite painful but still tugging at me, like a million tiny hooks burrowed in my skin and pulling outwards ever so slightly. It dawned on me that the analogy probably would have sounded painful to anyone else, but really it was just immense discomfort that I felt.
Muscle and sinew and skin began to stretch outwards from the bits of myself that I could still feel, the flame mending and amending whatever had been left of my body before this all started. It was bad this time. I could tell, even this early on. I’d lost an arm, my left, many of my bones were shattered, and somewhere beneath the mess of it all my heart had punctured, although I couldn’t tell if that was by my broken rib or an outside object. It didn’t matter. None of it did. My body would return to the way it had been, in pristine health as though nothing had happened.
What mattered was the price.
I opened my eyes as feeling returned to my freshly reformed left arm, sticking out of my torn shirt as if the sleeve had been the only part ripped off. I flexed my fingers, bent it at the elbow, testing it. Yep. It was an arm. My arm. As though nothing had happened.
The familiar deep voice drew my attention from myself and to my audience. It was my sister that had spoken, looking down at me with that painfully familiar expression. Like she was being torn apart by both worry for me and anxiety over what would come out of my mouth next. That it would be her this time. It had been her once, but this time… Well best speak fast and ease her concerns.
“Jack. It was pretty bad this time, huh?”
I said it as nonchalant as I could muster, hoping that my usual attitude would ease her worries. Sure enough she did relax a little, when she realized I still recognized her. The trauma of being forgotten one had stuck with her all this time. I felt a familiar ache in my heart but tried to ignore it as I went back to making sure my body was functional.
“We were… Ambushed. On the mountain pass. One of them knew about you and before I could stop her, she’d… taken your whole arm off. You fell pretty hard after that. Took us hours to climb down here, even after we fought the rest of them off.”
“I would have jumped right after you, if someone hadn’t stopped me.”
A dagger-like voice stabbed itself in the middle of our conversation, and I realized another woman was standing a few feet to Jack’s side, head towards Jack but eyes glancing sidelong towards me. Just like me she was trying to bury her concerns, but I could read the anxiety and worry in her eyes, could practically hear her begging for it not to be her this time. I offered her the best smile I could muster and responded in kind.
“I think Jack was just worried about me accidentally burning you to a crisp in the middle of a fight, Carve.”
Elysia’s eyes lit up as I spoke one of her names and she visibly relaxed, not even offering one of her usual barbs. She might have been even more afraid of it being her than Jack had been.
“Thank goodness you’re okay…”
A third voice chimed in and I instinctively swiveled my head to see it’s owner.
Immediately I froze, the heavy lump of my tongue feeling like it was clogging up my throat. There was a third woman standing next to Jack and Elysia, one that I.. I didn’t recognize. She was shorter than the others, with a soft round face whose smile only made the icy feeling in my chest even more apparent.
I had no idea who this was, and the stark unfamiliarity made me want to cry somehow. Somehow, I still couldn’t hold myself back from asking the question.
Confusion set itself immediately on her face, as she stepped forward, placing a hand over her chest.
“What do you mean? Lena, it’s me, —.”
My brain refused to process whatever name exited her throat. Cold sweat tricked down my temple, reflecting the bright green flames still licking away at my body.
Words failed to process. My whole body felt so heavy it could collapse inward on itself. I… I got the sense I had lost something really important, something I could never get back no matter how hard I tried. My vision grew darker, my world being blanketed under the weight of new cruel reality. Whoever this person was in front of me, what had she meant to me? I tried piecing together my memories, stitching together the major events of the last couple years, even though I knew it was all in vain.
“—, she needs a moment to rest and I… I need to talk to you about something. Carve, you take care of Lena.”
The expression Jack bore as she walked the other woman off was apologetic and soft. If this was serious enough that she was willing to rely on Elysia then… things were really bad after all. The moment Jack was out of sight, I felt Elysia’s bony limbs tighten around me in a desperate embrace.
“I’m sorry.. I’m just… glad it wasn’t me. I’m sorry.”
I got that the feeling that… It wasn’t me that she was apologizing to. I forgave her anyway.
“I’m happy it wasn’t you either.”
My eyes never left the direction the other two walked off, even as I could feel Elysia start to sob into my shoulder.